It has now started.....the daily picking of our sweet corn.  From now until late September we will be picking our sweet corn fresh daily.  We usually do two pickings, unless we need more.  One in the morning and one in the afternoon to ensure that the corn on the cart is constantly fresh.  I pick our corn from the field in 100 pound feed sacks.  When I fill one, I carry it out and get another to fill.  Yet another reason why I will never need a membership to the gym.  A full bag is about 80 pounds.  Quite a workout I would say.  Enjoy the corn!

There are a couple of finally(s) to write about this morning......
      - it has finally rained (just joking) but it is raining again.  The ground here is just saturated.  Even making our hay the ground was wet.  The hay was bone dry, but the tractor tires were wet.  Despite the rain, we have only seen a little crop damage.  One corn field has some wet spots that did not allow the corn to grow well.  And one field was never dry enough to spray for weeds.  It is a jungle now!
      - the sweet corn is here.  We will have it on the stand and available next week.  I expect to ask $3.50/dozen again this year.  I hear it is going a considerable amount higher locally, but we will stick tight.  It did not cost me any more to plant this year from last.  So, we will not be charging any more. 
    - the first cut hay is over.  We have finished our first cutting with 2500 bales put up.  Last night we baled a field of oats to bed our chickens and hogs in over winter.  Overall we were luckier than some.  We had a good harvest of nice hay.  None got wet or rained on and we are finished.   There are a lot of farms that are still going because of the rain.  We should be able to get a nice second crop off of some fields.  The rest we pasture.
     - new red potatoes are here!  I love reds for eating.  I could eat them every meal.  And now, with them ready, we do.
     - Veggies are in bloom.  Mid July to October is by far my favorite time of year.  We get to see what we have worked so hard for in May and before.  Everything we plant comes ripe.  No more frozen vegetables from the prior year.  It is all fresh.  Some of my wife's meals are just fantastic, although I have not had a meal that I could not eat.  Knowing that everything on our table came from our dirt and our pastures is very appealing to me.  I know how the vegetables were grown and how the meats were treated and cut.  That peace of mind is why we are in this.  We are also glad to be able to bring that to all of our customers. 
                             ENJOY YOUR NEXT FRESH MEAL!
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE FRESH MEAL?  FEEL FREE TO LEAVE US A COMMENT AND TELL US WHAT YOU EAT.

I think it’s fun to look at the differences between Dave and me.  I read this on a “Pioneer Woman” post and decided to think of how Dave and I are different.  We really have a lot of similarities, and most of those similarities  started happening over time in our marriage.  I think our differences are what makes everything work, including the farm, because our background knowledge and experiences in life are so different.  I provide another perspective on things due to my very lack of knowledge with the farm so we really complement each other. 
  
He was raised on the farm.
I was raised thinking all cows were black and white (Holstein milking cows)…so not on a farm.
 
He has to have coffee in the morning.
I’d have hot chocolate.
 
Relaxation to him is riding on a tractor.
Relaxation for me is reading a book.  
  
Dave loves the smell of silage.
Bleh, even on a good day I can’t stand it.  When I’m pregnant and I smell it…look  out!
 
Dave can have something explained to him orally and he can grasp every bit of it.
 I’m a visual learner…better draw me pictures.
 
Dave hates snakes.
I actually like them and don’t mind picking them  up.
 
Dave jumps into the pond to cool off.
I prefer a swimming pool (I don’t like swimming where I can’t see my feet or see what’s swimming around me).
 
Dave sleeps all spread out with maybe 2 square inches of the blanket covering him for warmth.
I sleep in a ball with the sheet and comforter up to my neck so all you can see is my head sticking out. In the summer, I MIGHT sleep without the comforter, but I still have the sheet (our son, David, also sleeps like me).
 
He’s not a fruit fan.
I love fruit (though it's still second to chocolate).

He prefers the barn to be bigger than the house.
I prefer the house to be bigger than the barn.  
  
Dave puts on sunscreen because I make him.
I’m a sunscreen lover.
 
Dave wants a big farm office so he can draw up more buildings we have to build.  
I want a big “sports room” with a big-screen…the works for watching the games.
 
Dave likes to travel to the barn, the chicken coop, the fields, the butcher shop, etc.
I like to travel and go places like Disney World (hint, hint).
 
Dave would like our kitchen styled like the butcher shop.  
I would love a Tuscan-styled kitchen.
 
Dave can stand on a roof and talk to someone on the ground with no problem.
I can’t even look over a staircase railing.  Having someone stand too close to stairs makes me so nervous I get  nauseous.  
  
Dave loves rollercoasters.
I get scared and sick just looking at them.
 
Dave doesn’t mind needles.
Until I had kids, I passed out every time I got a needle.  Now I am okay with needles, but not with IV’s.
 
Dave hates having his teeth worked on and asks for Novocaine.
I get fillings in my teeth without Novocaine (that's how strong my fear of needles are...I'd rather the pain than the needle).
 
Dave can get sliced, stabbed, cut, gouged, etc. by various things on the farm and walk in acting like it’s a paper cut.  
I knock my shin on the hitch and need to sit down because I don’t feel so good.
 
Dave likes the cold weather as well as the hot.
I love warm weather…all year long.
 
Dave enjoys swimming in cold or cool water.
I want any water that comes in contact with me (other than drinking) to be warm like bath water.
 
Dave keeps all of his thoughts/ideas in his head.
I make list after list (which Dave usually laughs at due to my need to put time frames on my “to do” lists).
 
However, we make a fantastic team on and off the farm…and well, we obviously make beautiful children.  And no, I’m not biased, it’s the truth! Please keep in mind that no offers for girlfriends will be accepted until they are 25.  But thank you for your interest!  

Saturday marked our second broiler harvest on the year.  It went as well as the first.  We processed another 75 birds that are all gone.  Our pasture raised birds average 4 pounds when finished at 7 1/2 weeks old.  They are raised outside in floorless coops from about 3 weeks on. They are supplemented with a grain we buy from our friends at Platt's Mill in Spartansburg.  Thanks to our fantastic cutting crew we can process a batch in just over an hour.  When finished, we chill them in ice water before bagging them in shrink bags.  Here are our birds on pasture before processing takes place.  We move the coop twice daily to ensure the birds get fresh grass and bugs!  Below is our processing facility.  Click on each picture for a description.