My Dad & Me Farm has been saving for a greenhouse for some time now and Thursday of last week we were finally able to place our order. Some of you may have noticed that David and I have already begun pounding in the foundation poles that will support the hoops of the high tunnel. We hope that this new covered space will be multi-purpose allowing us to shelter the cows during stormy weather and the cold winter months. We also hope to use it to raise replacement laying hens since they will need to be separated from the older flock until they can appropriately defend themselves. We might even raise a few winter squash or watermelons inside during down times. With an $11,000 price tag this represents quite an improvement for the farm. Thank you farm friends for your loyal support these past seven years!

   This past Saturday we had a very relaxed chicken processing day. We are having so many wonderful farm friends come in and volunteer their help that we are finishing up in record time. This also affords us the time to get to know some of our members a little better while we work together. Our next processing date is Saturday, July 13 and if any of you would like to come volunteer and learn how to process chickens then please email us and we will sign you up. 

   Most of you know we are using non-GMO, soy-free, organic feed now and we are still learning how to adjust our practices to produce just the right size bird. We will continue to tweak the number of weeks we raise them in hopes of developing a broiler somewhere between 4 and 6 pounds. At present we are coming in just under 4 pounds. The farm is a forever learning experience but we love the challenge.

   Just a reminder that we are strong supporters of recycling. Please save your My Dad & Me egg cartons and the quart and pint jars and we will continue to recirculate them through the farm. Actually it is more of a savings than one might think. We typically buy egg cartons $400 at a time so recycling is a valuable resource to the farm. 

   My Dad & Me is offering canning lids (for wide mouth quart jars) for sale. These are brand new just in excess on the farm since we purchase plastic lids for the milk instead of using the metal ones that come on them. These are offered at a discount price so if you need to do some canning this is a way to get reasonably price replacement lids.

   For those of you who enjoy lettuce, beet greens and swiss chard, we have a lot coming in now. If you do not see any in the egg fridge, ring the bell and we will be glad to cut you some. 

   We do have a few more broilers available for August 3 for anyone that is interested. Simply fill out a 'Broiler Order Form' on the back porch and clip your deposit to it or you can mail your deposit to us.

   This Saturday, June 15 between 10am and 2pm we will be offering "dig your own" strawberry plants. This will be the only day we will be offering this since we'll be plowing up the strawberry patch soon. Some of these plants still have berries on them but with the heat, the season is really over for all practical purposes. These plants will be perfect for starting your own strawberry bed for next spring's production. They would do wonderful in a square foot garden as well. Bring your shovel, plastic trash bags or buckets and come on out and dig some strawberries! Even though they are surrounded by weeds now the plants are healthy and beautiful. A few of the plants have ripe strawberries on them and you early birds will definitely get the worm!! They are $1 each with a 10 plant minimum. First come, first served and no need to reserve plants or an exact time.  See you Saturday at 10am.

   My Dad & Me Family Farm presently has over 500 active members and over 1800 subscribers that follow the farms activities. Thank you all for allowing us to be your farmers! 

See you soon at the farm,

  Willie and Baby Bump, Tina and David, Anna, Susan and Grandad

P. S. Here are a couple of links that are really worth checking out.

GMO Study on Pigs

Chickens and Bladder Infections?