Second week at the farm!

Hey everyone! It has been another great week here at J&L Green Farm. Still very cold…we had about 5 inches of snow last Monday and we are currently at 6 inches and counting! This long Winter thing is a lot more frustrating when you’re spending your whole day outside in it, as opposed to laying on the beach in Florida hearing about it on Facebook J. But Spring is literally almost here. It SHOULD be warmed up to a nice 70 degrees in the next two weeks.

Sheep and cows eating hay right after it
was rolled out

We have learned a lot this week and have experienced several new things. We went to church with the Greens last Sunday and met some great people, and then proceeded to have a party for Allison’s (their daughter) 1^st birthday. We had to skip church this morning because we spent more time at the farm laying hay for all the pigs in preparation for the snow tonight! We learned how to move cows this week. It was a lot easier because you’re setting up fence in an open field as opposed to doing it in the deep thickets of the woods for the pigs. Also the wire for the cow fencing is a lot thinner than pig wire, which makes it easier to manage.

Cows are much better at moving to a new paddock, pigs sometimes need a little coaxing. Speaking of moving pigs, we were out doing our daily chores the other day and we found two sows wandering around OUTSIDE of the fence.

Lamb staying close to mom

We put them back with the set we thought they came from, and as soon as they started fighting with the other sows we realized they weren’t from this set! Turns out they were from a set on the complete opposite side of the farm, and had wandered all the way across the property. We got one of them loaded onto a trailer by coaxing her with some food, but the other one wasn’t cooperating. We ended up having to chase her the whole way back to her herd in the snow while carrying these red boards while Jordan followed us with the tractor with the other sow. She went right back to her herd but by the time we got there we were completely out of breath! Needless to say we learned the importance of making sure you get those pigs onto the trailer as quickly and efficiently as possible! We discovered that a big branch from an oak tree fell on the fence and those two sows decided to go on a adventure.

Rachel and Mark preparing to set up cow
fencing

We also loaded up our first set of feeder pigs on Thursday evening. There were about 18 of them that needed to be loaded up and taken to the slaughterhouse. There were 5 of us doing the job and before we started, Jordan went over the plan with us. Basically you just have to set up a corral with gates leading up to the trailer and make the animals think that it’s their great idea to go inside of it. The more stressed or frightened the pigs are, the more difficult they are to maneuver. Jordan said the best way to do it is to get the majority of the pigs in the first move. And we did! We spread out and slowly, very slowly, herded them into the corral. Once most of them were in, we closed the gate behind them and tied it to the other gate very tightly. At this point, the pigs are so stressed and enclosed that they start freaking out so you have to move QUICK. We each had to stand on one of the gates because the 300 pound pigs get their noses under the gate and try to lift it up to escape. We got about 13 pigs the first shot, and with each of them weighing 250-300 pounds, that’s a LOT of power. They were ramming the gates like crazy and it really does not feel good on the knees when you’re trying to hold the gate down! Haha. Two people (Jordan and Mark) got inside the corral with the pigs, pushed them onto the trailer, and quickly closed and locked the trailer. There were still 5 pigs left that we needed to get, and since they were already frightened, they weren’t cooperating. It took us about 5 tries to herd them into the corral, but with some sweet talking we finally got them in. Since the trailer was full, Mark and Matt took it down to the shop and transferred the loaded pigs to another trailer (we call it the “Hearse”) which would be transporting them to the slaughterhouse. Jordan, Claire (another intern) and I stayed with the remaining 5 pigs to keep them from escaping from the corral. It was a very interesting, exhausting, exciting activity, and we will be doing this every week for the next 4 weeks! Woohoo!

Josh (another farm manager) setting up
rebar for the cow fencing

A few other things we’ve done this week: prepared the duck/chicken/sheep shade structures. It’s basically just a wooden structure with pipes and a tarp over it. Matt and I did one by ourselves and though seemingly an easy task, it was challenging at first because it has to be tight and straight, but you have the wind blowing like crazy and the tarp won’t stay down. We did it though! And it looks awesome and will shade the animals perfectly on those hot summer days. We also had to fix all of the feathernet fencing that they use for the sheep, chickens and ducks. There are about 24 fences, and they are each about 100 feet long and you have to go through every inch of fence to look for broken strings and clamp them back together. A very tedious task but extremely important! We fixed all of the broiler chicken feeder troughs.

Rachel setting up the wire for the cow
fencing

Matt hammering rebar in the ground for
cow fencing

They are wooden with a halved PCV pipe bolted to the wood to hold the feed. Matt’s woodworking skills came in very handy and he not only fixed the broken ones but decided to make a few extra while he was at it. What a guy! Matt got to go to the farmers market with Laura yesterday for his first time. Usually the interns make sausage, egg and cheese biscuits their first time going to the market (we make these fresh at the market and sell them there…they’re delicious!), but since Matt is too tall to fit in the trailer, Laura decided to teach him how to sell the products! So he manned the booth all morning while Laura and Lena (a farm manager) made the biscuits. He absolutely loved interacting with the customers, and although he didn’t know the answers to ALL of their questions about the products, he was able to answer questions about the day-to-day farm operations and he also did some upselling. Getting good practice for when we have our own farm! I (Rachel ) got sick this week and had to stay in bed all day Friday so that wasn’t fun, but I’m feeling MUCH better now and have most of my strength back. Thank you Lord! Matt has been taking Grapeseed extract to prevent him from getting sick too. We have also cleaned and sorted lots, and lots, and lots of eggs. We’re doing about 70 dozen a day right now, which doesn’t seem like much but when you have to do it all by hand it takes a little while! The birds were supposed to go out to pasture this week and next, but due to the snow and cold weather, we have had to postpone the move. Hopefully once they are outside the eggs won’t need as much washing. They are in the hoophouse right now which keeps them warm during the winter and a lot of the eggs get laid on the ground and stepped all over.

Cows moving into new paddock

Cows in their new paddock

There have been so many lambs being born this week. They are just popping up everywhere! Because of the cold, there have been several that didn’t make it, despite our efforts to save them. We have brought a few back to the shop to keep them warm and nurse them, but we usually get to them too late. It’s sad but that’s just the circle of life. You really get accustomed to the circle of life and death when you’re a farmer. You see it every day! It’s so amazing to see a ewe give birth to 2 or 3 beautiful lambs and to watch her clean them and take care of them. God designed animals with so many instincts, it’s amazing! You can’t tell me that this is all here by chance. Every day, especially on a farm, you see the work of the creator in everything around you!

Matt weighing and sorting chicken eggs

Rachel saved a baby lamb caught in
the fencing on this cold snowy day

Matt also got the chance to work with Jordan on the saw mill. They had to cut a total of 100 boards. Each average size log gave about 8 boards. So as you can imagine we went through a lot of wood. It was a really cool experience to actually be part of the process from tree to lumber.

Rachel and Matt repairing feathernet fencing

Big tree that fell after freezing rain

The infamous pig we chased all the way across the farm back to it's home paddock

Bought three calves and put them in the corral
to get acclimated, the cows from the herd
came running down the hill to greet the new calves
everyone took turns touching noses

Rachel and Matt putting up a tarp for the shade shelter
structure

Matt making chicken feeder troughs

The saw mill

The real "Mater"... everyone actually calls the truck
Mater which is awesome. It's a 1971 Dodge truck with a
hydraulic lift on the back from 1930. Still hauls
huge loads.

Matt helping flip a log with a log hook

Dangerous farm equipment will kill you

J&L's Eggs in the store!

Mark bottle feeding a lamb, Matt fed him as well

All safe and warm...

Driving in the snow in the old F-150 truck that has
no passenger window

Herding the sheep into shelter to protect them from
 the big snow storm.

Matt started a nice warm fire after a snowy Sunday afternoon

We are absolutely loving our time here and are trying to soak in every moment and every bit of knowledge to carry on to our future farming enterprise. Thanks for reading and please continue to follow us on our journey! Let us know if there is anything in particular that you would like to know more about. Love you all!!