Secondly, we are expanding our vegetable operation. We plan to add another acre of squash and potatoes, and are collaborating with a like-minded grower to help process/package and deliver our wares to our Iowa City markets. Thirdly, we are reconstructing our hen house to include a house movable on wheels — to allow for us to move our chickens around on pasture. Pasture-based chickens are great in helping break down manure left by other animals, and they also get a larger portion of their diet from the ground instead of eating bought feed.

These are challenging times in our economy. We feel this is the best time to be on a farm and growing our own food for our family, our friends, and our community.

This year was one of the more challenging years for a while. The winter lasted much too long (mid-April), and spring was much too wet for too long. My market garden was 3 weeks late, and the harvest showed it. I found that onions do best planted as early as possible (but not too early to be heavily frosted). Squash needs to be replanted if there is a pounding downpour that heavily crusts the soil. Oats also do much better planted in March, not April. But, I don’t want to complain — even with vegetable setbacks the forage crops this year did quite well. I was one of the lucky (blessed) ones this year as I had no hay rained on — a miracle!! I know farmers that had every single hay crop rained on. I was able to store most of my winter needs in May and June, and sold the higher quality July/August cuttings to either neighbors or at the hay auction.

Animal health was fairly consistent this year. I havent’ wormed my sheep herd for 3 years now. I feel my brood herd is fairly resistant — the ones that lived are genetically  predisposed to parasite resistance. Although it seems cruel to let sheep die (without worming them), I had to do it to get the right genetics as I want to reduce my cost and labor in my sheep herd. I do not want to mollycoddle sheep, they need to be hardy. Saving sheep that probably should die and breeding them on produces offspring that are also weak. In the wild predators fulfil this function, in dometic settings the shepherd needs to step up into this role, in my opinion.