Eliza’s 2024 Birth Story

To understand Eliza's calving story, you must first understand Eliza. She's…. unique. "Derpy" is the word I most often use. And don't get me wrong, we absolutely love her for it, but she's always been a bit "off" from the beginning. Her head is permanently tilted to one side, and she's always mulling about like she doesn't quite know what's going on. The wonderful woman I bought her from said that Eliza would do well at a small farm where she could get a bit more care and attention than in a bigger herd. So here she came to Maplebrook in the summer of 2021 as a first calf heifer.

 
 

Then in the spring of 2022, our vet confirmed her bred, with a calf expected in the fall. That day he also told me one of my other cows, Krimson, was not pregnant.

WELL... when Eliza's due date rolled around and she wasn't showing any signs of going into labor, I started to worry.

And then to my complete surprise, Krimson popped out a baby shortly thereafter! So there was a little mixup and a switcheroo in which it turned out Eliza was never pregnant and Krimson was all along.

 

Krimson with her 2022 calf, Klover. 

 

After that I tried fervently to get Eliza bred and to get her back on track to join the milking herd again, now long into her dry period. After about 6 months I refused to give up on her and reached out to a fellow Sterling farmer to see if he'd be willing to let Eliza join his beef herd for the summer of 2023 with the hopes that his bull would breed her naturally.

We preg checked her in November and to my shock and disappointment, she still was not bred. Dave, being the kind and generous person that he is, told me he was happy to keep her over the winter and we could check her again in a few months.

So fast forward to this June and I knew that it was time to check Eliza one more time and make a final call on shipping her for beef if she was not pregnant. A heartbreaking prospect on a cow we'd all grown to love in her own unique way.

 
 

I'm a "prepare for the worst but hope for the best" kind of person, so I mentally prepared myself for sad news.

But to my complete shock, we found out she was indeed pregnant and due relatively soon.

The thing that made this pregnancy a bit different from all of my other cows', was that we didn't know Eliza's due date. She was bred by a bull and not with artificial insemination.

So we waited patiently as we watched her udder swell with milk over the last 2.5 weeks wondering if each day would be THE day.

Then finally mid-morning on Friday, August 9th, when Eliza's udder was a giant balloon that looked ready to burst, and with with milk leaking from her teats, we knew it was finally the big day.

 
 

We watched excitedly as she'd lift her tail up in the air and squeeze her belly with each contraction. She'd stand up for a bit, then lay down, then get back up again. She was licking the milk streaming from her teats, and was even spinning in circles at one point.

Finally we saw a hoof emerge. We want calves coming out in a "diving" position, with their two front hooves first followed by their head. I worried- was it a front hoof, or back? Where was the other?

 
 

Thankfully another hoof emerged a short time later, followed by the tip of a nose. We watched as Eliza would lay down, push with all her might, but fail to make progress in pushing the calf's head out. 99% of the time cows give birth completely on their own. It's actually best not to intervene, as that can cause more harm than good. So I waited. She got up and ate more grass. Time was ticking. Once labor starts there is a limited amount of time to get the calf out. If the umbilical cord breaks during labor, the calf can suffocate if stuck in the birth canal too long. Next time Eliza laid down, I pulled on the calves legs with each contraction to assist. It wasn't budging.

Eliza stood up again to graze, and wouldn't let us get close to her.

 
 

It was time to take serious action now if we wanted the calf to live. We started moving her towards the barn where we could handle her more easily. We didn't speak as we walked her there. The mood was somber as we all thought the same thing- this calf probably isn't alive any more. It's been too long. My concerns were turning now to Eliza and the toll on her body that pulling a stuck calf could cause.

 
 

Eliza went willingly into the barn, especially when she saw a bucket of sweet grain waiting for her. We quickly tied baler twine around each of the calf's legs (ideally we'd be using calving chains, but I never needed them before and thus didn't have them... a big mistake on my part). My uncle and I each pulled on one leg, our bodies nearly lying on the ground as we leveraged all our weight against a twelve hundred pound cow. I talked to her, urging her to help us out and give us contractions, a language foreign and unacknowledged.

Meanwhile, Eliza was eating from her bucket of grain like it's a casual sunday brunch.

We started to make sloww progress and got more of the calf's head out. We pushed back the amniotic slime from it's eyes. Suddenly two little eyelids, which were closed, popped wide open and stared at us in shock. I'm sure the look we were giving it was about the same. We all shouted in delight that it was alive. What a strange sight to have a calves partical head sticking out of a cows backside, staring wide-eyed at us as we attempted to pull it into this world.

Finally the whole head was through. Nearly in the clear. Eliza had been standing the whole time, so I braced to catch the calf as it slid out for a slightly more graceful landing onto the concrete floor.

I quickly wiped the goo from the calf's nose and mouth so it could breathe, and moved it up next to Eliza's face so she could see it and lick it off.

 
 

Naturally the next step was to check to see if it was a heifer or bull...

To our delight, it was a GIRL!!!

 
 

Turns out Eliza is a terrible mother who was too-aggressively licking her, head-butting, and kicking her as she tried to nurse, so we separated them immediately and I think they're both much happier for it.

We've taken to calling her Eloise and we all just love her so much!

 
 

Hopefully she'll be apart of our farm and milking herd for a very long time. She's half Ayrshire, half Brahman... they are a dual purpose breed so we'll wait to see how she does as a milk cow.

 
 

Snapshots & Stories: First Snow Day of 2024

There’s always something special about the first snow of the year. While the novelty of it wears off quickly in the weeks to come, the first storm brings about a little twinkle in one’s eyes. Old man winter is here. And thank goodness for it, because mud season was getting a bit out of hand.

Despite what many people assume, animals that are acclimated to living outdoors are actually very hardy to the cold weather. They often do much better in the cold of winter versus the heat and humidity of peak summer. Wind can chill an animal to the core, but the cold is nothing a hardy goat (or cow, or chicken, or farm dog) can’t handle.

 

It’s not often I arrive to the farm as the sun is coming up, but on this particular day I did. The soft glow of winter’s blanket of snow made everything in sight look simply magical.

My first greetings and hay delivery every morning go to the “Baby Squad,” as I like to refer to them. Many of you, I’m sure, have met them. Krisp and Miranda the calves, and Louie the goat who all reside just beyond the farm stand. Despite the wind and snow outside, they stay snug as bugs inside their little huts.

Most days I thankfully have the immense help of my mother who watches Elliott in the comfort of her warm home while I get barn chores done. This particular morning he was stuck with me. Turns out an empty trash can is the perfect place to plop a baby who wants to constantly be on the go!

Sweetheart Mariah. The most gently cow in the whole herd to milk.

Kendra. One of our newest dairy gals to arrive on the farm. She’s very cautious of all movement and changes around her.

I absolutely love the stillness and peace that envelops the land after a fresh coating of snow.

The first storm of the year dropped about 16 inches of snow; or roughly half an Elliott. :-)

Baby’s first snow day, and he was NOT a fan! Kept trying to barrel-roll out of the sled, covering his whole face in snow. Poor kid looked like a bona fide snowman after our adventure out.

Gina enjoying a snow snack. Goats completely loathe the rain, but surprisingly don’t mind the snow one bit. Heavy snow often brings pine branches sagging closer to the ground, and the goats love having access t0 more tasty treats.

I had to stealthily snap a quick pic of Kezra from afar because she instantly comes running up to me as soon as she sees me. But I wanted to get a photo of her enjoying her new dog house, lovingly made by my partner and his son. This is Kezra’s first winter with us. From all accounts I’ve read, livestock guardian dogs do not like to go inside shelters because it prohibits them from having a 360 degree view of their surroundings. I was so happy to see her hunkered down in it during the snowstorm.

While a hindrance to many aspects of daily life, I sure do enjoy looking at a snow-coated world after the first one or two storms of the year!

 

Our farm family is growing!

Maplebrook Farm’s 5th generation is arriving in 2023!

 

In February my partner and I are welcoming our first child together… the 5th generation to join Maplebrook Farm. Considering that there are so few good surprises in life, we have decided to wait until birth to find out if it’s a boy or a girl.

I have been blessed with a very healthy, easy pregnancy that I accredit entirely to an agrarian lifestyle abundant with fresh air and exercise. I ditched the traditional modern approach to prenatal care, and have opted to work with a midwife and plan for a home birth. I have loved every aspect of working with a midwife, and highly recommend it to anyone considering an alternative path from modern obstetrics.

I so appreciate all of the well wishes, words of support, and gifts that we’ve received from our amazing community of farm supporters. To those who have asked what items we could still use in preparation for this new bean, here is a link to the registry.

An abundance of gratitude and thanks to my sweet friend Shayna, owner of Simply Beloved Photos, who came over to the farm on a moment’s notice to capture these beautiful photos on a snow-dusted December morning before the sun came out and melted the magic away.

 

Two new calves!

In October 2022 we welcomed two new calves to our micro-dairy herd! Allow me to introduce them and tell their birth stories below…

 
 

On Tuesday, October 4th I arrived at the farm under darkness at 5:30am. Although Indigo hadn’t shown signs the night before of getting close to calving, I walked up to the pasture to check on her. To my great surprise, through the light of my headlamp I could see a lively little (err, BIG!) calf standing up next to her. And to my even greater delight, it was a GIRL! We always hope for girls (heifers, as they are called) on a dairy farm because that means that they will grow up to become apart of the milking herd and stay with us for many years to come.

Since her mama’s name is Indigo, we wanted to stick with an “I” name for this sweet girl. We finally chose Ivory, based on her mostly white coat and the similarity to her mother’s name, both being colors.

Although Indigo is her biological mother and does a phenomenal job taking care of her, one of the other cows, Krimson, also took Ivory on as her baby. I call these two the “sister wives” and they share mothering duties and both let Ivory nurse from them.

Because Indigo and Krimson are both such protective mothers who keep a close watch over Ivory, I let her stay with the herd for the first month of her life. We have “calf shared,” meaning that I milk the cows every day, but Ivory can also nurse from them whenever she wants.

 

Two days after Ivory was born, on Thursday the 6th, I got a call from a concerned neighbor saying that there was “something hanging out of the back of a cow…. and it has hooves!!”

I went up to the pasture to check and sure enough Krimson was well on her way to pushing out a calf! This was a major surprise to me because I had no idea she was pregnant (farmer fail!)! Although I had bred her a few times over the past nine months, I didn’t think she had taken because we had ongoing health issues with her and trouble getting her to gain weight. I was in disbelief that there was a healthy calf inside her that whole time!!

Krimson pushed the calf out with little trouble… another girl!! She licked her off for about 5 minutes before promptly abandoning her and returning her full attention to Ivory. Although it was a balmy fall day, this babe was still wet and shivering, and the sun was quickly setting. The pasture would not be a safe place for her overnight with no mama to keep an eye on her.

We took her down to the barn where we dried her off and gave her a quart of warm colostrum from a bottle. This is the first milk that a cow produces after she calves and is full of very important nutrients and antibodies that need to be passed onto the calf within hours of it’s birth.

This little peanut has super long legs. Her legs and joints were a bit folded up and herky-jerky for a week or so after birth, simply because she was squished into a small space in the womb. This is not unusual for calves, and the body eventually straightens itself out with exercise.

I decided to name this sweet girl Klover, given that her mom’s name is Krimson. Krimson wants absolutely nothing to do with her, and even head-butted her into the side of the barn once. So Klover is my babe now and she gets lots of love, attention, and warm bottles of milk from us.

 

At a month old now, both calves continue to thrive under their own unique circumstances. I’m not able to link youtube videos to this blog post, but you can view a handful of videos from the first week of these girls lives on my channel by clicking here.

 

How to turn your goals into a reality

A central conversation around the start of a new year is on yearly resolutions. And while we often set lofty expectations of ourselves that last about a week (if you’re lucky), our resolutions often lack intention and articulation to accomplish them in the long-term.

I’m here to help you change that! I’ll walk you through the process of creating goals that you can easily turn into a reality in no time. You can do this on a blank sheet of paper, or print out this custom guide and fill in the blanks as you go through the process outlined below.

  1. Write down your goals

    • ex: Exercise more, eat healthier, etc.

  2. Rewrite each goal as a tangible action

    • ex: Go to the gym for 1 hour, 3 mornings per week, make a home-cooked dinner 5 nights per week, etc.

  3. Set a date by which you’ll accomplish each goal

    • ex: I will do “X” for the entire month of January.

  4. Write down steps or systems that will help you achieve your goal

    • ex: laying out your workout clothes the night before, meal prepping for the week ahead, etc.

  5. Write down any fears you may have associated with this goal

    • Acknowledging the challenges you think you’ll face will help you to mentally overcome them before and during the process of working toward your goal.

  6. Write down how you’ll celebrate your accomplishment

    • ex: Special date night with your partner, having friends over for a dinner party, etc.

Remember, you always want to have SMART Goals. These are goals that are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-bound. Follow the steps above and you’ll be on your way to accomplishing you big goals and dreams in no time at all.

 
 

Hannah’s 2022 Goals:

I have spent the last 4 years of my life heavily devoted to this farm and growing my business. So much so that many other aspects of my life, like my personal health and relationships have taken a back seat to business and farm growth. This year I’d really like to focus on the family, friends, hobbies, and wellness practices that I’ve neglected over the past few years. The following is a short list (minus the action steps) of the goals I’ve set for myself in 2022:

 

  • Prioritize family and close friends over work

  • Start Quilting

  • Begin writing a book

  • Get back to hiking in the White Mountains

  • Serve farm customers better through consistent emails and more free offerings

  • Outsource some farm/business work

Snapshots & Stories from the Farm in December 2021.

We were blessed with a slow and mild start to winter, and were able to keep all of our animals out rotational grazing on pasture until December 20th. A new record for us!

Here is a bit of the highlight reel from the past couple months…

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In Mo(u)rning

I always say that there’s no such thing as a bad day on the farm unless an animal is sick or dying….

We can’t have good days all the time…

Polly was pregnant when she arrived at the farm this spring. That was the plan before I got her. Cow’s have a 9 month gestation just like humans, and we waited excitedly over the past six months as her belly grew bigger.

Her due date was (approximately) November 6th. That day came and went and with small signs that she was getting ready for baby, but no major developments. Her udder started to get bigger, the ligaments around her tail head softened…

Finally on Friday the 12th her udder was ginormous and we figured baby would come at any moment. The the sun rose and set… nothing. I left the farm after the evening milking hoping that she’d wait until morning. Of course that was not the way it went.

She went into labor in the early hours of the morning, and by the time we checked on her, she had already had the calf, a bull. Unfortunately, it was born dead… most likely the cause of being in the birth canal too long during the labor process.

 
 

We all mourn the loss in different ways. There is little time for mourning when one is a farmer. It takes place while I work… In the depths of thought as I wash equipment, clean eggs, carry out farm chores. My mind always wonders, “What could I have done differently? How can I do better next time?”

For Polly, it is just a matter of time. Cows, much like people, vary in their maternal instinct. It was evident immediately that she had strong mothering abilities.

I left the calf with her for a couple hours, so that she might be able to understand that it was dead, and not just missing. She licked it off attentively, cleaning the mucous-y fluid from its body. She reluctantly left watch over it to go to the barn for morning milking and then off to pasture to graze for the day. When it was time to head back down to the barn for the evening milking on Saturday, she took off at a faster-than-usual trot back to the spot where she gave birth. She bellowed out for the calf and looked around in distress. That happened for the next couple days until she slowly adapted back into her usual routine.

Remarkably, Polly recovered phenomenally well, physically, from labor. Many problems can occur in dairy cows in the days following calving. We are hyper-vigilant of such warning signs. While she shows no physical ailments, I imagine the emotional stress will take a bit longer to heal from, as is true for us all.

 
 

We buried her calf a few yards from the place she gave birth, next to a big beautiful Spruce tree. I call it the Tree of Life… a fitting place to for eternal rest if you ask me.

 
 

This is the hard stuff. The things we don’t want to go through, much less share with the rest of the world. As farmers we can try to do everything right, and still things will go wrong. These things happen. It’s life. It’s most especially farm life.

We can choose to live in a sugar coated world where there is no suffering or death. Where every animal lives and eating plants saves the planet… Or we can be present for it all and take the hardships and rewards in equal doses.

As unexceptional as death is on a farm, life is cherished. Perhaps we hold life so close because we know death is never far.

RECIPE: Stuffed Peppers

 
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Stuffed peppers are one of the easiest meals to put together. Just mix all of your favorite ingredients together in a bowl and stuff them inside a pepper. Bake in the over for awhile and voila! You’ve got a healthy, filling meal.

I like to make about a dozen of these at a time, cook one or two for a dinner on the spot, and freeze the rest, uncooked, for even faster meals in the future.

The best part about these is that you can use literally ANY ingredients that you want. The following is a very basic recipe that I go by when I make 10-12 stuffed peppers at a time. You can add more or less of any of the ingredients listed for your own unique spin on this classic recipe.

Ingredients:

  • ~10 Peppers

  • One box of Near East wild rice

  • 2 pounds of Maplebrook Farmstead ground beef

  • 1 pound of ground sweet or hot Italian sausage

  • 1/2 lb mushrooms, sliced

  • 1 medium sized onion, diced

  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced

  • Salt and Pepper

  • Your favorite shredded cheese (I LOVE “rustic cut” extra-sharp cheddar from Cabot)

  • Marinara sauce

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

  2. Core the peppers, rinsing out the seeds and discarding the stems. Any parts of the pepper that are edible can be saved and tossed into your stuffing mixture.

  3. In a saucepan, cook rice to the specifications on the package.

  4. In a large mixing bowl, combine the cooked rice, ground beef, sausage, mushrooms, onions, and garlic. Add a hefty dash of salt and pepper.

  5. Mix together all of the ingredients thoroughly. I find its easiest to roll up your sleeves and mix by hand.

  6. Stuff your peppers.

  7. Any extra stuffing mixture can be saved and stored in the freezer sans pepper. For stuffed peppers that you’d like to save for another time, store uncooked in freezer bags in the fridge for 12-24 hours to let the flavors develop, then store in freezer.

  8. For peppers that you’ll cook now, place them in an appropriately-sized baking dish that will keep them upright as they cook. Fill the bottom of the dish with about a quarter inch of water. Cover with tinfoil.

  9. Place in over and cook for about an hour, until the stuffing sticks together in one large clump (rather than crumbling apart).

  10. Once they’re cooked, remove from oven and add marinara sauce and your favorite cheese to the top, if desired.

    Bon Appetit!

Meet Krimson & Eliza

In mid-July I added the two final cows to my starter dairy herd…

 
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I had always planned to get four cows to start my initial herd. The first two, Polly and Indigo, have always been tremendous cows. I didn’t think I could get bovines better than that, but…. when Krimson and Eliza showed up, I was blown away once again.

Krimson and Eliza came from Scapeland Farm just south of Middlebury VT from one of my farmer-idols, a woman who is well regarded for raising healthy, mild mannered Ayrshires with great genetics and milking components.

These gals are two of the sweetest, friendliest cows I have ever met, and they integrated seamlessly with Polly and Indigo.

Krimson

 

Photo credit to goat hiker Barry F.

 

Krimson is super friendly, and loves coming up to me for scratches and neck rubs. While the other cows tend to shy away from people, she likes to be near them. She is beta-cow, just behind Polly in the herd hierarchy, although it wouldn’t surprise me if she takes over one day.

 
 

Eliza

 
 

Eliza is the youngest of all my cows- just barely out of the teenage phase of life. She likes running, which is funny to watch because usually dairy cows are quite slow and lackadaisical. She is Krimson’s shadow, going wherever Krimson goes. If you look at her straight-on, you will notice that her head is slightly tilted to the side. She was born that way, but it doesn’t effect her ability to function normally. She’s a bit of a derpy cow, but as always, we love her for it!

 

My herd finally feels whole and I love these cows with my whole heart. There’s no doubt in my mind that the dairy-farming life was meant for me.

Snapshots & Stories from the Farm in Summer

Summertime is in full swing in Sterling, Massachusetts. Here’s a look at some moments on the farm from the past month…

Golden Hour…

 
 

My absolute favorite time of the day on the farm. A whimsical glow shines over the earth for just a few fleeting moments not long before sunset. I’m convinced this is what magic looks like.

Our barn got a new coat of paint! This barn is well over 200 years old, and hasn’t been painted in at least 70 years. A fresh coat of paint an she is looking good as new! Slowly but surely we are catching up with of the long-overdue repairs and maintenance upkeep that our farm has lacked over the last half a century. It feels so good to work on restoring it to it’s original glory.

New Life…

 
 
 
 

I discovered a nest of baby Robins tucked onto the windowsill of an old chicken coop that we no longer used. It was incredible to watch their growth and development every day. Within two weeks they were big enough to leave the nest and fly free.

The Goats…

 
 

Eleanor loves to rough-house with her little brothers, Buddy and Bronco.

 
 

How many goats can you spot in this picture?

The goat herd is moved to different areas of the farm every few days to give them a variety of plants to forage on, and also to help us with weed management! Here they are within the exposed roots of a Spruce tree. It’s one of their favorite hangout spots- great for shade, climbing, and rolling around in the sand!

 
 

If you’ve been following along with our farm over the past few months, or if you’ve been on a goat hike recently, then you know Buddy (more about him here). He has quite a low goat IQ, and is always off in his own little world. One small child on a goat hike once coined him as “the goat with the brain injury.”

People always ask me how do we know he’s not very bright… The video above is a prime example. When I walked the goats back to their fenced in area one day after a goat hike, they all followed me without issue. I closed the fence up, started to walk away, and realized Buddy was not with the rest…

Rest assured, what Buddy lacks for in brains he makes up for in abundant cuteness. :-)

The Chickens…

 
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Every 7 days our flock of ~450 laying hens are moved to a new spot of pasture to graze on fresh grass. Pictured above is Janice, a very awesome volunteer who shows up bright and early every week on the morning of moving day to help move coops and set up fencing.

The best tasting eggs come from chickens who free range on pasture!

 
 

Here’s a video of a chicken laying an egg. Just because that’s something you don’t see every day!

The Dairy Cows…

 
 

Polly and Indigo, our two Ayrshire dairy cows spend 23 hours a day outside on pasture grazing and snoozing to their heart’s content. Video’d above, they are munching on grass around the honey bee hives. We appreciate their lawn-mowing services!

 
 

Polly with her bug net.

This time of year the flies become soo bad. They swarm livestock, most especially the cows. Fly sprays with strong chemicals are the typical go-to, but I try to take a more holistic approach to the problem. That is one of the benefits of being a micro-dairy farmer; I can enact practices that wouldn’t be practical on a large-scale operation. Polly and Fiddle both wear bug nets on their faces to keep flies away from their eyes.

 
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We now have cow milk soap for sale! Oh man, this stuff is LUXURIOUS. Is is made by Elzire’s Acre in Princeton MA, who make their own goat milk soaps. Their soaps are by far the best I have ever cleansed my body with ever, and I am so honored that Terri offered to make a custom batch with our very own cow’s milk.

Along with our milk, this soap has ghee from Full Moon Ghee in Greenfield, MA, and high quality oils and essential oils. It is scented in lavender and lemon grass and smells divine. I decided to call it “Dream Chaser” because it is the culmination of work between three women following their dreams; myself as a dairy farmer, Hannah (another Hannah!) of Full Moon Ghee, and Terri the soap creator.

It is available for purchase in the farm stand, and can also be ordered online and shipped to your door.

 
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BUTTER!! One of my big dreams of having dairy cows was the opportunity to make my own butter. Since Polly and Indigo arrived, I have been diligently experimenting with it. There has been a huge learning curve, but yesterday I made my first successful batch! This is 1.5 pounds of butter, which came from a half a day’s worth of milk from two cows. It tastes incredible!

I have a bit more fine-tuning to do, but once I get the recipe justtt right, I’ll be sharing all the tips and tricks so that you can make your own butter too!

 
 

At one point last month, the goats, dairy cows, and donkeys were all right next to each other (along with the honey bees!) in their grazing rotations. Always a wonderful sight to see different species of animals cohabitation peacefully!

 
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I wanted to end this blog with a farmer selfie on the rare occasion that I was off the farm. Last week I had the opportunity to take a quick 30-hour vacation to go to a friend’s baby shower in Maryland. It is incredibly difficult, and stressful, to pull myself away from the farm for more than a few hours at any given time, so a 30-hour hiatus is no short of a miracle.

The chance to get away for a bit was really valuable for my mental health… clear my head, rest my body, and the chance to get out of grubby farm shirts and dickies man-pants. Not to mention the chance to visit family and friends who I love incredibly much, but rarely get to see in person. I’m not one for selfies, but in this moment I felt a huge sense of happiness, gratitude, and freedom, and wanted to document the moment.

So here’s a reminder from your local farmer to take some time for yourself this week. Whatever it is that makes you feel good that you rarely indulge in… treat yourself to it. Be kind to your body, you mind, and your heart.

RECIPE: Grilled Spatchcock Chicken

 
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Ingredients:

  • 3 1/2- 4 pound chicken

  • 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard

  • 3 tablespoons mayonnaise

  • 2 tablespoons chopped, fresh rosemary

  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

  • Salt & pepper

Instructions:

  1. Place chicken on a large cutting board, breast-side down. Using kitchen shears, cut along each side of the backbone and remove (save this to make bone broth).

  2. Flip over; press firmly with your palm in center of breasts to flatten.

  3. Whisk together mustard, mayonnaise, rosemary, and lemon juice.

  4. Season chicken generously with salt and pepper, then slather both sides with mustard mixture.

  5. Cover loosely and let stand while you prepare the grill (or refrigerate in a resealable bag up to 24 hours. Return to room temp 1 hour before grilling).

  6. Heat grill to 350 degrees. for direct and indirect cooking. Oil grates over indirect grilling zone, then place chicken, skin-side up, on grill with legs facing direct zone (this prevents the breasts from overcooking before the legs are done).

  7. Cover and cook, maintaining a temperature of about 350 degrees, until skin begins to brown and a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breast reads 150 degrees.; about 45-50 minutes.

  8. Oil grates over direct-heat zone. Using tongs, flip chicken skin-side down over direct heat. Cook, moving occasionally to avoid flare-ups, until skin is charred in places and chicken is cooked through (thermometer should read 160 degrees); 5-10 minutes more.

  9. Transfer to a tray. and cover with foil. Let stand at least 15 minutes before serving.

RECIPE: Refreshing Summertime Sips

These thirst-quenching drinks are perfect for any summertime gathering, and can be made kid appropriate or for adults only.

Watermelon-Mint-Lime Punch:

  • 1/4 cup sugar

  • 1/4 cup lightly packed mint sprigs, plus more for serving

  • 6 cups chopped watermelon

  • 1/3 cup fresh lime juice

  • tequila (optional)

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Cantaloupe-Grapefruit-Basil Punch:

  • 1/4 cup sugar

  • 1/4 cup lightly packed basil sprigs, plus more for serving

  • 6 cups chopped cantaloupe

  • 1/3 cup fresh grapefruit juice

  • Vodka (optional)

Instructions:

  1. In a small heatproof bowl, pour 1/2 cup boiling water over sugar and herbs. Stir until sugar has dissolved. Let cool completely, about 20 minutes.

  2. Strain syrup into a blender. Discard herbs.

  3. Add melon, citrus juice, and 1 3/4 cups cold water. Blend until smooth and then strain with a fine-mesh sieve.

  4. Serve over ice, garnished with an herb sprig, or store in refrigerator for up to three days.

  5. To transform these drinks into cocktails, stir a shot (one once) of alcohol into each serving.

RECIPE: Blueberry Pie with Coconut and Lime

 
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Ingredients:

Filling:

  • 5 cups blueberries (fresh from a local farm!!)

  • 3 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon cornstarch

  • 3/4 cup white sugar

  • 2 teaspoons fresh lime juice

  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

  • 1/4 teaspoon allspice

  • Pie crust (your preferred brand or recipe)

Topping:

  • 3/4 cup flour

  • 1/2 cup shredded coconut

  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

  • 1/2 teaspoon grated lime zest

  • 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

  • 1/4 cup brown sugar

Instructions:

Topping:

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

  2. Mix together flour, coconut, baking powder, salt, and lime zest.

  3. Separately, beat butter and brown sugar until light and creamy, about two minutes.

  4. Stir in flour mixture.

  5. With your hands, squeeze mixture into crumbly clumps.

Filling:

  1. Mix 1 teaspoon cornstarch with 1 cup of berries.

  2. In a medium saucepan, combine remaining 4 cups of berries, sugar, lime juice, salt, allspice, and remaining 3 tablespoons of cornstarch.

  3. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring consistently (be sure bottom of pan isn’t burning).

  4. Remove from heat and stir in blueberry/cornstarch mixture.

  5. Spread on a baking sheet and let cool completely.

  • On a lightly floured surface, roll out pie crust dough into an 11-inch round. Place into a 9-inch pie dish. Trim overhang, roll under, and crimp edges. Refrigerate while waiting for filling to dry.

  • Pour berry mixture into pie crust.Crumble topping evenly over berries.

  • Bake evenly until berry mixture is bubbling, about 1-1.25 hours. Let cool completely before serving.

Dairy Cows have Arrived!

I have had one ultimate dream since I started farming: bring Ayrshire dairy cows back to Maplebrook Farm.

Our family has lived and farmed here since 1935. In that time, we’ve always had a herd of dairy cows. Until 1998, that is, when my uncle sold his herd because of low milk prices. I was 2 at the time, and have few memories of the cows being here.

 
1998

1998

 

We always say that dairy farming is in our blood, and it has been my biggest dream since realizing that I wanted to carry on the family’s agrarian heritage to bring dairy cows back to the farm.

And not just any dairy cows! My family has always owned Ayrshires, which are a less-common breed of cows that originate from Scotland and have red and white markings. They are hardy, perfect for New England weather, and are known for their dominant personalities.

Ayrshire milk is unique from other breeds, too. It is naturally homogenized, meaning that the cream doesn’t separate from the liquid as with most other milk. The fat-to-protein combination of Ayrshire milk make it particularly good for making cheese, butter, and ice cream. It is easy to digest and known as the “ideal drinking milk.”

So when I set about to bring cows back to the farm, I was only going to be bringing home Ayrshires. Not only because of their wonderful breed characteristics that make them the perfect fit for our farm, but also to honor the family tradition of raising Ayrshires here for many decades.

 

This week, my biggest dream came true!

The countless hours of hard work, stress, tears, and lessons learned over the last four years culminated to the point of finally being ready to bring dairy cows back to the farm.

On Sunday night I picked up my first two Ayrshire cows from Upinngil Farm in Gill, MA and brought them home to settle into our new life together at Maplebrook Farm.

 
 

Polly and Indigo are simply amazing. They have adapted to their new routine here incredibly well. They are both producing milk, and have figured out the transition from barn, to milk parlor, to pasture right away. They contently hang out, grazing and resting, on pasture throughout the day and night, and they are gentle, patient milkers.

 
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Polly is the leader, but still has a very passive, timid personality. Wherever she goes, Indigo follows. She is 5 years old and expecting a calf in October.

Indigo is the follower, but has more of an inquisitive personality. She is 3 years old and took a bit more coaxing to learn the milking routine.

 
 

I will have raw milk from these ladies for sale within the next couple of weeks once my milk samples pass testing.

Do you have any questions about raw milk or Ayshire cows? Leave them in the comments below!

Snapshots & Stories: the Farm in May

The first half of May brought a variety of weather, from beautiful sunshine-y spring days to hours of steady rain. We welcomed it all! It was also a couple big week for us in terms of our farm plans and goals for the year. Here’s a few snippets from the last couple weeks…

Flowers in Bloom!

We had a limited supply of fresh-cut bouquets for sale in the farm stand when tulips and daffodils were in bloom. While they have mostly gone by now, we will have more bouquets for sale sporadically over the next couple of months until the official flower season starts in late July, at which point we’ll have bouquets for sale on a weekly basis.

 
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Celebrating Mom

Mother’s Day in our family is like most other days on the farm. We spend it getting projects checked off the to-do list, with an emphasis on the ones that my mother really wants accomplish. This year I was able to give her a bonus gift too (well, kind of).

My big Christmas present for her didn’t arrive in time for Christmas, and it just so happened to show up a few days before Mother’s Day. I managed to keep the gift a secret since last November, and finally was able to unveil it to her 6 months later. She’s always wanted a “ladies tractor,” because she doesn’t particularly enjoy using the larger John Deere’s that we own, and her wish finally came true. Now she has her very own International Harvester Cub that she can use for garden work. Keep an eye out for Big Nance cruising up and down Tuttle Road on her new whip!

 
 

In the company of Mother Nature

Every night just after dusk I do a chicken check to make sure that there are no stragglers left outside of the coops. After the trauma of loosing so many birds to cannibalism last month, I am taking extra precautions to ensure a high survival rate going forward. Every night I am in the company of Whippoorwills, who continuously call out for minutes on end. Most nights, the sound gives me an ominous feeling, but I’m trying to embrace it as a warm spring evening tune.

 
 

Here are a few cool facts about Whippoorwills:

  • They are crepuscular animals, meaning that they are active during dawn and dusk. During full moons, they will stay active the entire night.

  • They are named after the sound that their call makes, and they can produce up to 1,088 calls in a row.

  • They are often associated with sad or tragic events in literature because of the tone of their call.

  • Egg laying is synchronized with the lunar cycle, so that the parents can hunt for large amounts of food when nighttime visibility is high.

  • The mother will abandon the nest about 8 days after chicks hatch so that she can lay more eggs elsewhere. At this point the father takes over rearing the chicks until they can fly independently.

The Beefies

The beef cows said goodbye to their winter home in the woods and moved back out on pasture for the rest of the grazing season. We are all happy about that!!

The beefies pose for portraits while my Uncle Greg sketches.

The beefies pose for portraits while my Uncle Greg sketches.

As is typical every year, the excitement over this newfound pasture freedom spurred a wave of spring fever, and one morning I got a call from the town’s animal control officer letting me know that three cows were walking through a neighborhood across town and he thought they might be mine. Of course they were. So I drove the 2.5 miles to where they were gallivanting and then walked back to the farm with them through the woods. It’s always an adventure with these rascals!

 
 

Veggies are growing!

One of my best friends, Julia, is growing veggies on the farm this year to sell in the stand. Last week she stopped by to put the first few seedlings in the ground. There is always a sense of magic and awe that comes from planting, knowing that these tiny little seeds will one day grow into individual plants, each with unique colors, textures, and flavors.

The G.O.A.T.S

The goats (most especially the babies!) just bring us endless amounts of joy, and we are so grateful for their antics and companionship. They too are getting daily doses of grazing in green pastures.

 
 

Because the sight is just so picturesque, here’s a whole montage of photos that I like to call “Goats on Grass.”

Goats, as with most animals, each have very individual personality traits. Once you pick up on those traits, they tend to be very predictable. Beauty, for example, is the most stubborn goat at Maplebrook Farm. She does what she wants, and if you try to get her to do otherwise, she will collapse on the ground and refuse to get up. She will then start to roll over on her back like she’s having a temper tantrum. This continues until I get fed up waiting for her and walk off, at which point she will immediately stand up and continue with whichever activity she preferred in the first place.

 
 

Speaking of predictable, as you may know if you’ve met the two newest baby goats on the farm, Buddy is not the brightest goat in the bunch. Here is a case in point:

Every bottle feeding he struggles to properly place his mouth on the nipple. The willpower is there, just not the follow-through. During this particular feeding, he somehow got his leg hooked over Bronco’s back and didn’t care to move it until his bottle was empty.

 
 

For the final dose of cute in this blog, here’s a video of Bronco trying to drink water for the first time.

The Perils of Raising Chickens

There’s a saying in the farm world,

“If you’re gonna have livestock, you’re gonna have deadstock.”

Morbid, perhaps, but just reality when you truly think about it. None of us make it out of here alive, and when animals fall under our care, it’s our duty to keep them happy and healthy until their final days.

So when life doesn’t go as planned and animals die unexpectedly, it feels pretty miserable.

 
 

Two weeks ago, with the help of two very brave and generous friends, I brought home a trailer of 375 18-week old pullets (young hens), These chickens were to start laying eggs almost immediately, and would have doubled the total size of my flock.

 
Loading pullets into the trailer at a pick-up site.

Loading pullets into the trailer at a pick-up site.

 

I always buy ready-to-lay pullets, rather than chicks, because it saves me an exponential amount of time, money, and space. These birds are raised by a hatchery in Pennsylvania that does a tremendous job caring for them for the first 4 months of their life.

There is a learning curve to everything in life, and buying pullets is no different. I learned with my first batch three years ago that the transition from living in mostly darkness in the hatchery to suddenly being exposed to sunlight, as well as the rigors of travel, are very stressful on hens and can cause them to peck each other. When they peck from stress, it is always on the same spot on each chicken’s back, near the base of her tail feathers. Chickens are highly drawn to the sight of blood, so if they peck hard and long enough and it breaks the skin, they will literally peck a chicken until it’s dead.

I’ve come to expect this by now, and do frequent coop checks within the first 3 days of arrival. After that, they’re usually in the clear. If there’s any sign of bleeding, I remove that hen immediately and keep her separated from the flock until she completely heals.

Well this year… I experienced cannibalism on a scale far grater than ever before, and worse than I ever could have possibly imagined. Within hours of arrival, zombie chickens were running everywhere. I had five infirmaries going to try to keep the pecked hens away from everyone else, but it eventually got beyond a point of even remotely keeping up with. I lost dozens of hens over the course of a week and a half.

It was unbearable. Quite possibly the longest two weeks of my life. The worst part was that no matter what I did, it just kept happening. Everyday for a week and a half I would make the rounds every 2-3 hours to look for chickens in peril. There was an incredible amount of dread that came with knowing that inevitably every time I did a wellness check, no matter how frequent, I would find chickens who had succumb to the ruthlessness of their coop-mates. I can’t image a much worse fate than being pecked to death.

Because I don’t believe there’s such thing at failing, there were definitely lessons that I took away from this ordeal.

  1. There is a reason why some farms/hatcheries trim beaks. While some people may view it as cruel, I believe it is 100% justified and far more humane than dying from cannibalism. Out of the past 5 pullet orders I’ve gotten, only one batch had trimmed beaks. That was the only batch that I never had any issues with cannibalism.

  2. This time around I let all of the new hens free-range in the pen with the existing flock when we unloaded them from the trailer. In the future (and as I have typically done in the past), I will put them all into a coop right away and lock them in there for at least the first 12 hours in order to establish where their living space is and to create a slightly darker environment for them upon arrival. This way they’ll also be kept separate from the existing flock for the first few days of acclimation.

  3. This year I hadn’t yet gotten the chickens back out on green grass before the new hens arrived. Because they didn’t have much in their pen to scratch around in, I believe the pecking situation was more severe. Going forward, I’ll be sure to have the coops back out to pasture so as to give chickens old and new plenty of grass to scratch around in and occupy their minds.

  4. I came to learn than many other producers who had gotten pullets from this bulk order also experienced a similar issue this year. What a relief that was! These hens were two weeks older than typical, and we believe that them being that much closer to egg-laying age caused them to be even more stressed. A lesson learned for all of us.

Thankfully, we seem to have “flattened the curve” of cannibalism and three days ago I celebrated the first day of zero deaths by cannibalism since the arrival of the new hens. Life goes on and I learn from each experience, but it has definitely been a traumatizing start to the production season. Just one of those times when farm life is not all sunshine, rainbows, and happy hens.

 
Because I’d never subject you to photos of cannabilized chickens, here’s sunshine, (no rainbows), and happy hens. Back out on pasture for the 2021 grazing season.

Because I’d never subject you to photos of cannabilized chickens, here’s sunshine, (no rainbows), and happy hens. Back out on pasture for the 2021 grazing season.

 

Get to Know Hannah!

Hey there! I’m Hannah, the face behind most of the happenings on our farm.

 
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A bit about me…

My family has owned our farm since 1935, and I’m the 4th generation to farm here. In fact, I’m the only member of the 4th generation.

As a kid, I much preferred to stay inside and watch TV or organize my stamp collection (yeah, I was that kid) rather than explore the outdoors or spend time on the farm. Luckily, my family never forced me into having an involvement in the farm and that all worked out in their favor because now I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else. My whole life now revolves around being outdoors and taking care of our land and animals.

I graduated from the Stockbridge School of Agriculture at UMass Amherst in 2017 with a BS in sustainable agriculture. When I returned home from school, I started my own business on our family farm. It began with 50 egg-laying hens and has grown from there. I currently have over 500 laying hens, 8 goats that go for goat hikes , a few beef cows, and will soon be adding a micro-herd of dairy cows to my menagerie. We also have 7 donkeys, 2 ponies, 3 geriatric sheep, and a couple guinea hens the inhabit the farm and live under my uncle’s care.

As a business owner, I have to wear many hats. Not only do I look after my animals on a daily basis, but I also manage this website, send out all of the email correspondence from the farm, clean allll the eggs, and lead every goat hike. If you send an email, give us a call, stop by the farm, or write us a letter, I’m the one to respond.

If I had free time, I’d like to spend it hiking or travelling. Luckily, I was able to do lots of that before I settled down into the massive commitment that comes with farm life. Now, just having a glass of wine in a field of goats feels like the ultimate vacation.

 
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The backstory of our farm…

While this farm has been in existence for over 200 years, our family has owned it since 1935. At that time, my great-grandparents were living at the farm next door and raising 11 children. They bought this one as well, and when my grandparents got married they officially moved in and we’ve been here ever since. Our farm is 175 acres of hay fields, pastures, and woodlands, that are all protected under a permanent preservation restriction, meaning our farm can never be sold for house lots.

My grandfather and uncle were both full-time dairy farmers here, tending to a herd of registered Ayrshire cows. My uncle, John, sold his herd of cows in 1998, and since then our farm has been relatively inactive beyond yearly hay and pumpkin production.

My uncle (Unkie as I call him) is like a dad to me, and he retired right around the same time that I graduated from college, so I’ve had the great privilege of spending lots of quality farm time with him over the past few years. My ultimate goal is to bring a herd of Ayrshire cows back to the farm and continue the tradition of dairy farming that has been the lifeblood of our farm and family for decades.

The farm in 1912

The farm in 1912

My grandfather, Ralph Allen, with his very first Ayrshire calves.

My grandfather, Ralph Allen, with his very first Ayrshire calves.

My uncle, John, with his Ayrshire cows.

My uncle, John, with his Ayrshire cows.

Looking towards the future…

My ultimate goal is to make a life for myself on our farm, to honor the legacy of my family’s agrarian heritage here, and to care for this land and my animals in the best way that I know how. Allowing livestock, land, and nature to work in harmony for the benefit of all is at the forefront of my endeavors.

In this day in age where the majority of society is completely removed from agriculture, I have a passion for connecting people with our small, local farm. I enjoy having visitors at the farm for goat walks and offering the opportunity to connect with livestock and land in a genuine and meaningful way. The more that people can see for themselves and understand what actually happens on farms (especially in regards to raising livestock), the stronger our food systems and communities will be.

Truth and transparency are my highest priority in all of my communications about farm life. On the blog, you’ll find stories about the magic and joys of farming, but also about the perilous realities. This is an incredible life, but it is not without it’s heartbreaks and struggles. You can always count on complete honesty from me.

 
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Plan a visit to our farm by signing up for a goat hike, or shop at our self-serve farm stand 7 days/week year round. We always have eggs in stock, as well as a variety of other seasonal fresh products.

When you sign up for our email list, expect to hear from me once every week or two with updates and stories from the farm, as well as recipes, DIY crafts, and more.

Do you have any questions about me or our farm? Just want to say hello and introduce yourself? Leave me a note in the comments below!

Snapshots & Stories from a Week on the Farm: Late March 2021

Spring fever is in full force with farmer and farm critters alike jumping at the bit to relish in the new season. Here’s our week in review…

 
 

Spring Peepers!

One of those classic tell-tale signs that spring is here is the sound of spring peepers! These little frogs sing in chorus when the weather gets warm and welcome us all into a new season.

 

Eleanor

Eleanor hit a new milestone this week! She learned to drink water (may not sound too excited, but it was a proud goat-parent moment for me!). Eleanor still gets a bottle of milk twice a day, so she hasn’t been for lack of hydration for the first three months of her life. But with the warm weather now here, she took it upon herself to start drinking from a bucket. A very cute sight to watch her try to learn a whole new skill, as drinking from a bucket is a completely different action than sucking on a bottle.

And here’s a video of her eating hay too because I just find it so darn cute to watch her eat.

 

Cows on Parade

The cows have spring fever and took the opportunity to adventure when fallen tree took out part of their fencing. The took a very (unusually) docile jaunt around the farm to visit the other critters and then when back to their wood lot quite agreeably.

Although the snow has melted and the grass has just started to green up and grow again, we won’t put any of the animals back out on pasture for at least another month. The ground is too soft right now, and there’s the potential that they could do a lot of damage to the grass and soil integrity if we put them out too soon. So for the time being they are stuck staring at the grass that’s literally greener on the other side.

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From the Hen House….

Perhaps you’re familiar with Betsy the injured chicken, but if you’re new here, let me fill you in. Over the past two weeks we’ve had a MAJOR raccoon problem. At night, a raccoon has been trying to nab chicken through the slatted coop floors. Every morning I would find at least one victim who was either dead, (or worse) nearly dead, or maimed. Betsy was the only one to survive… until Darla came along.

Betsy and Darla live together in the chicken infirmary until they’re strong enough to be reintegrated back into the flock. That may never happen if they don’t gain mobility back in their injured legs, at which point I’ll look for a forever home for them. But for now we give them all the TLC and time to heal that they need.

These two have become best buds, and are always side by side with each other in the hoop coop.

I found a shell-less egg in a nesting box this week, which is pretty rare. Typically if an egg does not have a hard outer shell, it bursts upon impact in the outside world. This one was still intact, which is always a fun find. And even better yet… it turned out to be a double-yolker!

 

Spreading Sh*t

Last fall I celebrated my 25th birthday, and the only thing on my wish list was a manure spreader! I found a used one for sale out in the Pioneer Valley, and splurge on it as a quarter-century milestone gift to myself! This week I finally got to put it to the test and life was good. We have a ginormous pile of composted poo that has accumulated over the years on our farm, and I am one happy farmer to finally be able to put all of those nutrients back onto our fields.

It’s the simple things in life! :-)

(I have no idea who Gonyo is and why this is his “honey wagon”….

(I have no idea who Gonyo is and why this is his “honey wagon”….