Greetings
Hello beautiful blog readers! Welcome to our 3 Corners Farm and Homestead monthly blog, where you can learn about what we do as farmers, what makes us different from others, and what our purpose is.
Our Recent Farm Happenings
If you are new here, we run a small market garden which focuses on growing organic leafy greens by utilizing recourses, such as land with water rights, from other farmers in exchange for produce, our teaching methods, and other trade offs.
Some farmers in our area are no longer working their fields, but if they do not utilize a said amount of their water per year, then they risk getting their water rights taken away. By allowing us and other small farmers like us, the use of their land and water, it ensures that they will not be at risk for losing the water which, lets face it, these days water is becoming more and more of a hot commodity. This method also continues providing needed and healthy food for distribution and consumption, and everyone wins!
In this blog I will be sharing what we have accomplished recently. For starters, we sold almost triple the amount of produce in October compared to this time last year!
-We sold $1,698 worth of produce in October 2021.
-We sold $4,272 worth of produce in October 2022.
How awesome is that? What a difference!
Plus, Travis has already planted a one-hundred-foot row of garlic on the one acre farm lot in Odell, in preparation for next year. Here on our Homestead, he has put in fence posts that will block off a future small greenhouse from our animals. We are not sure yet whether it will grow produce for purchase, or solely for us on the Homestead. It may depend on inspection and licensing but either way we will get plenty of use out of it!
This week was also our last harvest and delivery round for the year. It is bittersweet but we feel fortunate that we were able to still have produce up until this time due to the extra warm and mild October we were blessed with this year.
Homestead Happenings
On the home front we are turning our attention to wood cutting, hauling, splitting, and stacking enough wood to see us through another winter. We were beginning to wonder if we should just buy cords of wood because our county (Wasco) remained on fire watch all the way up until just recently, preventing us from harvesting wood.
The weather finally turned and we got one night of freezing temps, accompanied by a bit of frost the next morning. Currently, we have been experiencing heavy rain and wind for the past 24 hours. Will we see snow here soon?
Possibly!
We also got stocked up on animal feeds including five bags of senior feed for Willow, as well as grass hay and alfalfa.
With these seniors and incoming cold temperatures brings forth medications for arthritis and hip dysplasia, as well as constant monitoring and care to ensure that all are comfortable, well, warm, and have a continuous supply of food. We have a multitude of special diets to keep track of and currently I feel it is the old dogs in the house that are requiring the most care of feedings, but that is subject to change at any time.
I believe these animals are what makes us unique because many of them are rescues that can no longer contribute or do a specific job for humans, other than share their sweet presence and companionship. Caring for them is a great cost to us but we will always do our best to give a handful of various unwanted animals a home for as long as we can.
Cost of feeds:
-Two tons alfalfa=$350.00 each plus gas to drive far to get it. (There is none available in our area).
-Three tons grass hay=$350.00 each
-Five bags senior feed=$165.00, plus will need more in a few months time. (Our senior mare can only have one specific type of this feed).
-Vitamins and minerals, supplements, and medications, plus other small animals feed and supplies=roughly $200.00 per month.
Not to mention farrier costs.
It is no easy feat to provide for these creatures! But it is our special way of giving back, and we are grateful to so many who have helped us provide for them along the way, through various past fundraisers and donations. We could not have given them this life otherwise. We are greatly blessed!
Tiny House Build and Other Updates
Other than that, I can say that we still have so much work ahead of us, from winterizing the Homestead, helping our son Trevor get his tiny house prepared for his first winter living in it, and we have a multitude of writing/video projects, and on-line work to do. Farming is only one of our jobs!
Trevor has been busy getting started on winterizing his tiny house by placing "skirting" around the bottom exterior of the cabin to ensure that no critters (like skunks) make a home beneath his feet. Plus the skirting will prevent the wind from blowing underneath his house, and that will hopefully help a bit with heating. He also put up a clear windbreaker on his porch, on the side where the wind blows straight at the house. The barrier protects sideways rain and snow from covering his porch at the entrance door.
In this moment while typing to you all, it has begun to rain again and I am watching a flock of wild turkey out the kitchen window, with a lovely thick fog moving over the damp earth, and the fall colors are present everywhere! This scene confirms that regardless of the very sunny and warm October we had this year, the autumn season has officially arrived, and I love it!
So...I am going to sign off now and get back to work. I promise to enjoy every minute of it, and I will be back next month with another blog update. Until then, may you have a wonderful fall and Thanksgiving season with your loved ones.
Stay well and be blessed,
Amy E. Darr
3 corners Farm
Mosier, OR. USA
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