January 25, 2010
Behind the Barn
BEHIND THE BARN will be posted and updated at least once a month by the members of Homestead Natural Foods, taking turns to talk about life on out farms/ranches. It should be interesting as each one of us are unique - we come to Homestead Natural from different directions.
Well it is supposed to be spring and I guess it is. The weather changes pretty fast, seems like you can get snowed on, rained on, froze and sunburned all in the same day and right now we are having a full on blizzard 30 mph wind and snow hard telling how much so far with the wind!
The Fluits are still feeding in Joseph with spring coming along a little later than along the Snake River plain, they calve late spring and early summer to be in tune with seasons. Mike and Joni have just recently weaned last year’s calves getting ready to start calving in May
The Gales are hustling around getting ready to irrigate when the water arrives in mid April. The grass is trying to grow at their Middleton and Ontario ranches but needs a little sunshine. Sounds like Lennie's hens are 90% in the egg department which is pretty good and Bill and Billy have the cows about calved out this spring. Never a dull moment around an all irrigated ranch. Bill and Carol have stayed busy this winter with Bill feeding quite a few Homestead steers and keeping up with meat orders, hauling steers in for processing and delivering meat around the valley. Carol has been busy keeping track of it all.
Keith and Sharon Heuttig along with their grand sons are busy with spring chores rotating the cows on pasture hoping to get some sunshine to bring the grass on. Keith has been busy selling and delivering beef and pork in the Twin Falls area and spreading the word on the health benefits of natural grass pastured meats.
Ed and Debby are wishing that spring would really get here and all of the yearlings are wishing spring would get here too! We turned the cows and calves out the 15th of March and the grass is slow coming but the days are getting longer and it will happen soon enough.. We are still getting calves and should be done by the end of April, one of the sows pigged in an 8 degree snow storm five live ones and look like they are doing fine we have three more that will have pigs in the next few months. Rachel, Lisa and Matt are raising some chickens, some for eggs and some for meat. Lisa and Shayne are brooding them then Rachel and Jake are taking some to raise on pasture and Matt and Nerea are taking the remainder to put on pasture also, not sure that Nerea knows this yet could be interesting??
All of here at Homestead Natural Foods would like to thank our customers, supporters and new found friends for all of your support; we wish all of you a good spring.
