Chicama Run Family Farm

This is actually a very hard thing to do... yet as I sit with my new set up of Quickbooks Online open, it occurred to me how much of a business this is.

I love what we do - don't EVER get me wrong on that one.  I love living here.  Joe and I were talking last night about being able to make it work after he retires and being able to stay here.  This is a very expensive place to live - on a farm or in the suburbs - so this was a big conversation.  My favorite amazing tree is in bloom (it's a 2+ story Dogwood - if you can come and see it do so - it's worth it) and I can sit and smile at it.

BUT in order to stay here it has to be more than sustainable - it has to provide income.  This is my full time job.  It might seem some days that I just sit around - but hey you guys get a weekend most of the time or a day off right?  We really don't - so I get my "sit around" days because in a few hours I will need to milk cows, or check to see the new babies, or clean a stall.... well you get the point.

Can it be "profitable"?  Well nope.  I don't really think it can to the point most people would ever see it as a true "income".  Farming will NEVER be a late night infomercial promising you thousands in a few easy steps.  I know, we've all seen the ones about alpacas - but honestly, they are a lot of work too (and don't get me started on the price of each one of those animals!).

What we need to do is be business people as well as customer service as well as ..... well everything.  It's draining, especially when we need to put our foot down and say enough and be the bad guy no one ever wants to be.  We've done it before - Joe & I.  Running a computer store successfully for 12 years is an accomplishment and it was a lot of work - though honestly I can't say it was as rewarding.

Today I went and sat with a new "inventory" item - our new baby bull "Stretch."  He was laying out in the sun and I sat and hung out with him and scratched his head and said Hi for awhile.  Then I played with another "inventory" item (who sadly will one day end up in the freezer).... and had him follow me around for awhile.  4:30 this morning though I was putting in invoices and working on Quickbooks and trying to get the accounts correct.  Don't EVER think that's normal for me though - I'm not a morning person.

So we look around and see this entire thing differently.  It is our home, it is beautiful...... and it is our business.

So that milk you have doesn't smell too good anymore?  DON'T TOSS IT!  Make it into yogurt instead!

• Take 1 gallon of milk (souring is just fine)
• Heat it to 180 degrees (this does NOT make it raw yogurt - it does pasteurize it - but this is a simple recipe)
• Let it cool to 100 degrees (you can do this in an ice bath or let it cool down naturally - depends if you are in a hurry or not)
• Add 1 container of yogurt with active cultures (I used Dannon's Greek Plain Yogurt this time and it turned out really thick.  You can continue to use your own yogurt after this initial inoculation!)
• Mix it well with a whisk, then leave it covered overnight (or at least 8 hours)
• The next morning you will have yogurt!  Put it in jars and refrigerate - it will continue to thicken while it cools.

This morning proved it.  Forget the feed - there are WORMS on the ground!  Poor worms didn't know what hit them.

First I let out the ducks and they haven't eaten feed in a few days while it is raining.  Why?  Would you if a tastier dinner kept presenting itself from the ground?  I move the feeder, the ducks are there waiting for the bounty underneath..... move the water dish - the ground is cleaned up in a minute.

Next, I go let the chickens out from the coop.  This is just funny anyways because it always reminds me of those little clown cars where the clowns keep coming out, even when you think they are all out.  However, slightly rainy days are PERFECT!  Usually a bunch of worms are right outside the door - so that causes a MAJOR traffic jam (and you thought route 7 was bad).... then I open up the rest of the doors and no worm is safe.  Everyone ignores the feeders and just stands around eating worms.

Mind you this doesn't happen with just worms.  If a little field mouse got into the coop - heaven help it as ALL the chickens will chase it.  The chickens are worse than cats I think in that respect.

They have no qualms about eating their own either.  Sorry if this grosses you out a little - but while we are butchering chickens, there are other chickens just waiting for scraps!  On top of that, they are as bad as the dogs about the blood!  I try and tell them "that's not right" but they don't listen at all.

Why my little rambling about this?  Ok, besides my amusement this morning watching my birds... it's the new Perdue commercial they are running which states that their cage free birds are fed a vegetarian feed.  I laugh every time I see it, it's that funny.  Vegetarian chickens just aren't natural so don't force them to be!!  I know and understand about marketing and honestly, I am always amused by commercials that have chickens in them no matter what (I even make Joe rewind commercials sometimes so I can watch it - hey he gets to rewind the Victoria's Secret commercials!!)  but this commercial and I guess Perdue is now certified in some fashion by the USDA.  Good grief.... I've seen the land that some of these chicken farms are on... I see no reason NOT to let them outside to run around!!  But that's a different soap box and I'm done for this morning :)

Whew!

So it's 8:25 and I figured today would be a typical morning.... get up.... get 1st kid off to school....let out chickens... get the other 3 kids off to school....do barn chores with the addition of milking the cows in the morning to see if we can get production up some.

Everything went as planned until in the barn I notice that a dairy goat is FINALLY giving birth!  Well, one was still born and she seemed to be having issues with the next one.  This required me to reach in and help.... HOLY CRAP there was another head!  She was having 3 at least and the head that was out was NOT the head attached to the legs that were out - those belonged to the head in the back.... and the sack was broken meaning the little goats are now breathing....

5 minutes and a lot of screaming from both our ends.... the 2 babies are out.  I had to come back inside for a few minutes to clean up and get the medicine.  This is one of those instances we need to use an anti-biotic as my hands reaching inside her were FAR from sterile, but by me doing so, it saved the life of all 3 (fingers crossed).

Deep breaths......

No, I'm not a miracle worker.... no I'm not a vet (though I wanted to be one)..... no I didn't study this.... you just see something happening and you have no choice but to help if needed.  That's part of being a farmer apparently - and I never read that in the job description.

One of my children said a kid in the class said "farmer's are stupid" - I believe by meaning their intelligence.  I would like to see the kids of today have ANY idea of what to do if they were faced in an emergency that needed immediate action, without a cell phone or computer... give me a farmer any day of the week - they might not have an Ivy League education... but I would be able to count on them not to back down from anything thrown at them at all.

When a couple gets married, they think about "putting down roots".  It doesn't happen right away - but you think about it.

Joe and I were no different.  16 years ago we wanted a place to call our own.  Our journey started in Winchester, VA with our first "real house" we bought (we lived in a town house first).  1/4 acre which backed up to a farm - perfect.  Then after a few years, and 2 kids, the commute became difficult and it wasn't working for us.

Then, we moved to Leesburg.  Honestly, we thought this was it.  We custom built the house in a great neighborhood, good schools, and lots of kids.  We were there awhile - and we liked it a lot - however, it wasn't what we wanted.

We started house shopping - and fell into this property.  It wasn't perfect - the house is definitely 30+ years old.... and the property needed a lot of work.

However, here we are.  Some days we would trade it..... but not for a long period of time I think.  We like that we are here.  It's opened up so many doors we never knew about or never seriously considered.

Our house is now becoming, after 5 years, a home.  So we aren't just planting vegetables and raising animals, we are planting our roots and raising kids.

Many people know we are foster/adoptive parents.  We are able to now open our doors to the permanency we are striving to have.  This in itself is a blessing and giving kids the opportunity to share "getting dirty" with us - experiencing losses, seeing the joys in births, and so much more.

We are here........ and we are home.

Some things make you think twice and look back further...

I made fermented ketchup a few months ago.  My family wasn't thrilled - and I have now decided they will get over it and I will start making it again.  How did I come to this conclusion?  Easy..... and believe it or not - I have my own mom to thank for this memory.

My mother didn't make ketchup (that I remember) - it was always store bought.  But she did cook all the time - and I don't think a ton of it was from a box as "instant".  Anyway, she bought the ketchup.... then one day we switched to a "new brand" - THEN we went back to the other brand and we all said "EWWWWWW"

Guess what?  The new "improved" brand was probably some sort of high fructose sugar loaded type of ketchup which we readily ate.  The older brand was probably something without all the additives!  How can I tell?  It took me awhile, but I figured out where I had tasted REAL ketchup before - my mom's kitchen!!

Amazing how a taste can take you to a strange/weird place in your past.  I guarantee my mother doesn't remember about this change - why would she?  It wasn't significant in anyone's life - yet it was.  This change was the moment I now associate with a noticeable change from traditional type foods to the HFC variety that have become such as staple in our households today.

BTW - in case you are wondering - no the ketchup in my house no longer contains HFC per my insisting (though this is still a HUGE battle - and yes it is over ketchup)....

I don't like numbers.  I don't care that I got an 'A' in Algebra or that I got another 'A' in accounting (to Joe's amazement)  - I don't like to run numbers at all - I give that work to Joe.

Last night I went to look at the pricing at the grocery store to see what prices are for meat.  I was astonished.  Sometimes I wear blinders as I can't tell you the last time I had to BUY my own beef or pork.  If we didn't raise our own meat, no way would I ever have a Delmonico steak - why?  I'm feeding 7 at this moment.

Our goal when we decided to start raising animals was to have meat for our family - period.  I wanted it to be the best we could give to our family....THEN as we grew I wanted to offer the best we could to our customers.

However, we need to do the best we can and keep it at prices people can afford to pay.

Then we have to go with our beliefs.  I don't think that "organic" is best - it's definitely not cost effective for that special word.  (3x the cost for the feed)  I think that seeing is best and knowing who you are buying from is worth a million bucks.  THAT is the backbone of knowing what is best (remember the hardware stores where the people knew you and actually KNEW what you were talking about? I remember that when I used to go with my dad to the store - they knew him and could actually help him find various items).

This is what I stand by and I know my husband does to as we look at this as our business - if we will not offer it to our family - we will not offer it to yours.