One of my favorite things about living and working on the farm is that the sky is the limit when it comes to making my dreams a reality.
2021 will be a momentous year for making some of my very biggest dreams come true. So here’s the lineup of new things to come for our farm in the year ahead…
New Farm Stand:
First on the to-do list this year is to get a new farm stand built. The current stand has served us well, but our offerings have outgrown it’s size. Additionally, it sits on a trailer, which is preventing us from wiring electricity into it.
The new stand will be twice the size, and more permanent, so we’ll be able to install electricity in it for lighting, refrigerators, and freezers. This will allow us to expand our offerings and bring you more of the foods you’ve been requesting.
The new farm stand will be built in a traditional timber frame style.
On a similar topic: we have a new online store that features everything that’s offered in the farm stand (including these rad new t-shirts featuring Moe). You can place orders online to pick up at a designated time in the farm stand, or have many of our products (besides perishables) shipped to your home.
This time of year we have a very limited variety of farm goods, but as the weather warms up and the season progresses we’ll have much more to offer.
Goat t-shirts
A few more kids:
Goat kids, that is! I did not breed my goats this past year, so we won’t have any births on the farm, but because baby goats are just too cute, a few new kids from another local farm will join us within the next month or two.
After much debate, I’ve decided to continue goat hikes throughout this year. We are completely booked for weekend hikes about two months in advance, so keep that in mind if you want a baby goat fix!
Goat kids born in 2020
Chickens:
Layers- We’re adding more laying hens to the flock, which means more eggs! I currently have just under 400 hens, and get 21 dozen egg per day. You’d think that’d be plenty, right?! Truth is, we still can’t supply enough eggs to meet demand. So more chickens will arrive in April (the exact number I cannot reveal yet, as my mother may have a heart attack when she finds out LOL).
Currently you can buy our eggs at our farm stand, as well as at Cooper’s Hilltop Farm in Leicester (my beloved farm-away-from-farm) and Maker to Main in Worcester (an awesome source for all things local).
Broilers- I am taking the year off from raising meat chickens. They have never been my favorite farm animal, and with many new projects on my plate this year, I am trying to avoid spreading myself too thin. We still have chicken in the freezer from last season, so there’s still time to get it if you love pastured chicken or have been wanting to try it.
Photo taken by Brian Doben.
Veggies:
You asked, and we’re making it happen! We’ve had so many requests to offer vegetables from our farm. I am a livestock farmer through and through and have always rebelled at the thought of growing vegetables. BUT… one of my best friends from college, Julia, is a vegetable farmer extraordinaire, and she will have a garden on our farm this year to grow and sell veggies at the stand.
Julia, the veggie queen.
Dairy Cows & Raw Milk:
The moment I have been waiting my whole farmer life for. There are still many moving parts and details to work out in this plan, but my goal is to have dairy cows on our farm by this summer! My family owned a herd of Ayrshires for many decades, but sold our cows about 20 years ago. Ever since I decided I wanted to be a farmer, I have dreamed of bringing Ayrshires back to our farm. Ayrshires are a lesser-known breed of cattle that have red and white coloring, and are especially hardy animals- great for New England conditions.
We’ll offer raw milk from our cows directly to customers in our farm stand. Stay tuned for more details as we continue to finalize these plans!
Ayrshire Cow.