The White Tail RidgeLine

 Fall Update

The harvest is done. The winter’s meat, veggies, and fruit are in the freezer or canned almost. You’d think the farmer could take a little vacation now, but fall chores are in full swing and there’s no time to spare until the snow flies.

This year’s harvest included 4 beef, 6 pigs, about 300 chickens, and 252 dozen eggs. The garden produced green beans, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, tomatoes, sweet corn, beets, potatoes, cucumbers, pumpkins, butternut squash, and nasturtium blossoms. We sold a few green beans and tomatoes, but the yield was just pretty much sufficient for our own larder. We’ll need to expand our garden space to provide more goodies for customers and family next year.

The fencing projects took a backseat this summer, so much more work needs to be done before the ground freezes. The wire spinning jenny has been on the back seat of the ATV all summer and fall.

Barb learned the hard way that black feathered chickens are not the way to go. The birds were healthy and tasty, but difficult to clean and some would say aesthetically less than pleasing.

Our move to 100% grass-fed beef got a jumpstart with the purchase of Mr. Scott Bernard, a purebred Galloway bull, from John and Sue Holman, Hibbing, MN. The Galloway are the foundation breed for the Angus breed of cattle. Originally a Scottish breed, their genetics allow marbeling of the carcass on grass alone. More time must be allowed for this, however, the meat will contain healthy amounts of the omega-3 and conjugated linoleic fatty acids so important for health. Quality pasture is very important to this endeavor, and we’ll need to expand and improve the forage throughout.

Our three calves, 2 heifers and 1 bull, are in the throes of weaning. Thanks to the Havisto’s they have a nice grain mixture to ease their transition. We’ll keep the 2 heifers to expand our little herd and, unfortunately, Benedict the Bull will be sold or held for a market steer. We’ll have to see how he develops.

The pig enterprise was not a money maker this year. Nevertheless, Barb and Perk had so much fun with them plus they did a super job of renovating a pasture that we’ll be