September Updates

I can hardly believe it is September already. It feels like just yesterday we were waiting on the spring grass to come up, and Jeremy had just started working out of town. Somehow, the whole year has flown by in a blur of chores, calves, and long days.

Calves and Milk

This has been a season of babies. Just two weeks ago, I restarted our butter subscriptions, hopeful that we had finally caught up on milk production. But then Holly gave me a gentle reminder of just how close she is to calving. I felt her calf kick while I was milking, and that sent me to the calving board to double check. Sure enough, Holly and Fralin are both due much sooner than I thought.

So both girls have come off the milk line to focus on their babies, which naturally shifts how much milk we have to work with for butter and cream. Natty also added to the surprise by gracing us with two beautiful twin calves, and for now those twins are drinking every drop of her milk.

Natty with her calves

This means butter will be limited again for some customers. The way I handle this is by honoring loyalty first. Those who have been with us the longest will continue to receive butter, while newer members will go on a temporary pause list until we are back in balance. This is simply part of the rhythm of freshening cows, and we are always working toward steadier production.

The exciting news is that two of our heifers will join the milk line for the very first time this spring, and both are heavy producers. With their addition, our butter and cream supply should become much more reliable moving forward.

Lambs

It is also time to wean lambs, which always feels like a marker of the year turning toward fall. We are now taking deposits for the lambs we will raise through the winter and feed until spring. These lambs will be processed in mid-May, just in time to fill your freezer for summer.

Deposits are important because they let us know exactly how many lambs we can keep and care for through the winter. Simply put, every lamb needs to have a home waiting for it in the spring.

For the first time we are offering payment plans to make it easier for families to enjoy this beautiful meat. If you would like to reserve a lamb for your family, please visit our sister site to claim your spot. www.rockyridgefarm.org

Eggs

Our flock is growing too. We were able to aquire Twenty six young hens that just started laying. I pick them up next week, so eggs will be steady again after the dips earlier this year. I am also planning to add another 50 chicks, so by next spring the baskets should be overflowing without interruption. It feels good to see this part of the farm settling back into abundance.

Pasture and Land

The land itself has had its share of care this summer. We cleared more invasive brush off the leased pasture and seeded it with a diverse cover crop, including a handful of perennials to lay down roots for the years to come. Walking across that field now, you can feel the difference. The soil is softer, greener, alive again. I can already picture our animals grazing there in seasons ahead.

The Work Behind It All

I will not lie, keeping up with it all has been hard. When Jeremy worked closer to home, we could spread the farm workload across the week. Now most of what used to take seven days gets crammed into four to six hours on the weekends when he is home, and that is if we are not already out delivering milk.

As for me, my days have been full from dawn to dusk. I spend hours milking cows, separating cream, and making butter, and then turn right around to tackle the rest of the farm chores. Thank goodness for my stepson Colten and his friend Aiden, who jump in to get hay when I need it and lend a hand whenever they can, even though they both work full time jobs of their own. Their help has been a lifeline.

And beyond the farm, my farrier business continues to grow. With such a shortage of hoof care in our area, the phone hardly stops ringing. As grateful as I am for the work, there are more horses needing care than I can possibly keep up with. It is a reminder of just how many people and animals depend on the quiet, steady work of people in agriculture.

Looking Ahead

The days are shorter now, the air finally a little cooler, and the farm is leaning into autumn. Thank you for being part of this with us, for waiting on butter, for reserving lambs, for cracking fresh eggs from our hens into your pans. Every family we feed, every meal that begins here, makes the long hours and the heavy lifting worthwhile.

There are days when I wonder how it all gets done, the milking, the butter, the cream, the endless chores, and now a farrier business that seems to grow faster than I can keep up with. But then I see a calf kick inside her mama’s belly, or I watch lambs racing across the pasture, or I walk through a field that is greener than it has been in years, and I remember why I keep going.

It is not easy, and it is not perfect, but it is worth it And being able to share this food and this life with you makes the weight of it all a little lighter. With Love always

Your Farmer,Hannah

PS to our butter families: Thank you for your patience with the natural ebb and flow of freshening cows. Butter is not gone, only shifting as we balance the herd. By spring, two strong young heifers will join the milk line, and with them, we expect to reach a much steadier rhythm.