It’s been a while…time to catch up on what’s happening this summer on the farm!
I actually intended to send this post several weeks ago, and ended up having a baby before I could finish it! So, please consider this my official apology/explanation for why this newsletter is so behind. ;D
A whirlwind spring spun right into an intense June for us! We officially moved to our new farm in Howard City mid-May. Of course, it wasn’t without its delays & hiccups, but we managed to only lose a few milkings instead of being shut down for a whole week, like we initially planned. Our deliveries have made the switch, as well, and, overall, I hope our customers felt the transition was as seamless as possible.
We are, of course, offering on-farm pickup for milk {weekends only right now} and deliver to Cannonsburg on Mondays, Grand Rapids on Wednesdays and Lowell on Fridays. One of our projects for this summer/fall is renovating an old chicken coop turned brooder house into an on-farm store…sound familiar? Seems like we just did this a year ago… ;D
Once we built our new milking parlor, we moved all the livestock – chickens, pigs and cows. We had already been moving most of our household items so then “move-in” day looked a lot more like moving boxes from the barns into the house. Once we were operational at the new place, we spent 10-12 days going back to Lowell, deep cleaning barns, the house, planting flowers, mowing the lawn and doing general prep work for listing the house again.
The house was re-listed at the beginning June and on June 14 we accepted two offers {one as a backup}. Then began the crazy 10 days of every inspection known to man – electrical, well & septic, water, radon, general structure, etc. Our appraisal then came back with some repairs needed on our upstairs windows and we had to add a reverse osmosis system. A few thousand dollars later and we’re hoping to be closing by the end of July!
I think the back and forth has been the most difficult part for us during the move. We have anywhere from 4-7 hours of minimal work on a daily basis; adding an additional 45 minutes drive {1+ with trailers} on either end, plus work in the middle was absolutely exhausting. Add a very pregnant wife, and then a newborn baby, and we are ready for a summer slowdown.
After we re-listed the house in June, we went right into first hay cutting of the year at the new farm, which meant a few days of troubleshooting equipment and making sure we had a good window for the weather. Everything managed to work out well and we have several hundred square bales in the barn for this winter! We have another field to round bale when we get a break in the weather, and then we’re looking at second cutting sometime in July, depending on how the grass is growing.
On June 27 we finally welcomed Baylor Merton to our family! He was born at home around 12:49 AM and was 7 lb 14 oz and 19″ – a peanut compared to our others! He presented at the brow and had an arm over his face, so he was the toughest labor I’ve had, but at less than 3 hours of active labor, I can’t really complain! Plus, he’s a cutie and has been a pretty chill baby so far.
Our efforts around the new farm are already turning towards winter – even in the heat of the summer. More hay to put up in the barn, trash/junk/general cleanup, and winterizing buildings for livestock housing and milk production…We had 3 calves born in June {plus Baylor} so we’re enjoying the lull in births around here, too. 😉
So many of you have mentioned wanting to visit the new farm and we are in the early planning stages of a fall open house with food, tours, and lots of animals to pet. We’ll send more details as we determine details but we’re excited to host everyone with more space!
As always, thank you for your continued support in living the farm life!
-Dan, Whit, Cecilia, Beau & Baylor
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