News and Blog
Hopefully we will see you Wednesday 29th and during December.Sarah will be a the culinary school market near Market Common from 1 to 6 pm Thursday. The farm market will be open Friday and Saturday this weekend. Then the Wednesday before Thanksgiving Sarah will be at Myrtle's Market and the farm market here will be open until 12:30.
Cabbage and Broccoli are just starting to come in. we are picking peppers , tomatoes, carrots, turnips, slick mustard, curly mustard and tendergreens, sweet potatoes, diakon radishes. We plan to make more apple cider early next week.
The bakery is coming along well For opening in December.
This past weekend marked an Historic landmark in STOCKPIG Racing. In over twenty years of Stockpig racing there rarely has been a close finish for the championship. Before the point system was implemented the percentage of wins was used to determine the champion. A pig had to win over 80% of their races to qualify as a hall of famer. It is not easy to do and with the point system it still is very hard to reach that upper level status. This past Saturday saw the No. 2 pig , Baby Pam in the lead by 12 points over the No. 5 pig ,Sunshine. All week long the pigs ran well in practice with Sunshine getting a clear edge on the others, but Baby Pam was her shadow just behind her ready to take advantage of sloppy finish. Saturday’s racing got off to a tough start for No. 5 who did not even place in the first race. No. 2 went on to win 3 races before No.5 finally got a win. It got interesting after that. No. 5 went on to win 4 more wins while No. 2 won 2 more races and securing a strong lead. But in the final set of races, the No. 5 pig came on strong winning Her last 3 races and taking the lead by 4 points. With one set of races left on Sunday evening ( a traditional race held for Faith PCA church each year) it was not certain who the champion would be. After failing to place in the first race No. 2 won one race. But No. 5 sealed the championship by winning 3 races for a total of 279 points. No.2 finished with 258 points. The No.6 pig picked to finish last had some good racing efforts to move ahead of No.7. The final placing for the pigs was, sunshine 279 No. 5
Baby Pam 258 No. 2
wolf 180 No. 1
hubba hubba 162 No4
moonshine 102 No3
big moose 69 No. 8
charisma 51 No. 6
racer 48 No. 7
The pumpkin patch will be open from 10 am to 2 pm Saturday Oct.28. hay rides, hay maze, Stock pig racing and more will be going on at the farm.
The talk around the track this week is filled with attention on the two pigs going for the championship this weekend. Things are so close that no one can predict the winner.
With just a 6 point lead there is little room for error on either pig’s part. Practice runs have been fun to watch. The No. 5 pig Sunshine has dominated the track with impressive consistent wins. No.2 baby Pam has been like a shadow and has made some strategic finishes.
As a whole the pigs are running very well. Several first turn spin outs have occurred during practice but the pigs quickly set their sights in the right direction. With four sets of races scheduled for Saturday this could be one of the most exciting race days in Stockpig history.
It should be a fun day with hay rides, corn shelling, cob throwing,etc. plus we have more pumpkins in the field for PYO.
Hope to see you there!
The Pumpkin Patch will be open this Saturday from 10 am to 2 pm. Pig races will be on going at various times during the day. If I can get enough help we will try to have cob throwing , corn shelling, stilts, pumpkin archery and other games available. The barnyard, Hay rides and the Hay maze will be open also.
Yes, we will be open Labor Day. The fall season looks like a wobbly legged new born foal. You are amazed to see it but wonder what it will mature into. I smile at the pumpkins that really look good right now. The bean crop that is progressing well. Special thanks to Jim Hill for his advice on repairing the planter.
At the same time I realize that I don’t have the man power to make Farm Heritage Day and Pumpkin Day what they have been. Because of that, I plan to have four Saturdays of PYO pumpkins. We will miss the full impact of the event days although we will put as much into what we do as we can. We should be able to do night time hay rides by reservations. We want people to experience the real farm wonder of fall so we will focus on less but try to make the experience as good as we can.
Meanwhile we need help with tours and those Saturdays for PYO pumpkins. If you are interested or know of someone who may be contact us. Most people who help with the school tours actually enjoy the time. The schedule is week day mornings depending on the tours that are scheduled. You need not lock yourself into every day. Often it works well to have a number of people who can be flexible and work when it is most needed. I care about the tours and want people to learn about the importance of farms and food. The motivation behind our fall activities is to connect people with the good in farm life. With farm labor getting harder and harder to find and missing family members to help it is very difficult to cover all the ground that needs to be covered. Thank you for your understanding and support.
Wondering how the eclipse might affect the tides and soil while trying to get fields ready for making strawberry beds ended up having to deal with heavy rains that make soggy fields seem the norm. If you ever wonder what we do on the farm try putting as much into 24 hours as you can pack into that time frame and add the days and weeks on top.
Preparing strawberry beds, planting strawberries, making repairs, planting and caring for fall crops, getting the barnyard ready for the fall, training race pigs, making repairs, getting fall tours lined up and PYO pumpkins plus night time hay rides and making repairs. Somewhere in there is a wedding for a special girl I’ve known since she was laid in my hands at her birth.
So if things seem a bit behind trust me there are many reasons why. The true measure of a human being may be less of what they accomplish and more of what they put into others. I am grateful for all who have intersected our lives. The fact you value our service is what makes us a community.
We still have good peaches, eggplant is plentiful, peppers are ready for roasting, stuffing or chopping. The main ingredient needed is you, your imagination and an appetite. We do have a few butter beans and various types of peas. We have planted a late crop of beans and peas we are hopeful they will produce. If you want beans let us know.
The grape season is coming on strong. We plan to make grape juice sometime in the mix of things to do. The mushrooms made a quick short flush. They should begin producing more frequent with this weather.
We will announce soon our plans for the Fall activities.
