Colonel’s Blog, Earthdate 21 June 2023…
Hey Y’all!
Good evening and happy Tuesday from Air2 Ground Farms! It’s a hot, dry day with a high of 88. Like yesterday, the animals are finding shade wherever they can. The veggie pic is our garden harvest this morning! The cucumber plants are starting to really produce and the squash aren’t far behind. We cut some Swiss chard, collards, and lettuce. There were a couple of zucchini and a few jalapeños. The other pics are the pigs enjoying their breakfast this morning. The beef chickens are still very excited every morning when they move to fresh grass. The beef and dairy herds are still separated for another hour or so, I’ll definitely give an update tomorrow. The bottle lambs are adorable! They keep their bellies full of green grass and milk. They spend most of the day laying on their sides, bellies bulging. We moved the brooder back to the barn and secured some areas where it was a bit wobbly. I also cut off the legs so it is shorter and easier to reach into. While I mowed a couple of acres that the beef herd just left that was overrun with persimmon saplings Shelley staged and took pictures of the different cuts of pork for our new online store. I’ll let you know when we get it up and running so you can check it out. We now have a variety of things to cook over the next few days. While I’m writing, Shelley is cooking the fresh squash picked this morning as a side to go with hamburgers from the beef we had processed last fall.
Well... today is important for a couple of different reasons. First it is the summer solstice, the beginning of summer and the beginning of the decline in daylight hours. So, happy summer! Second, it is the 2-year anniversary of our life on this farm. We showed up to begin our life here on June 20, 2021 so June 21st was the first morning we awoke on our new property. The top graphic is of us on that day in front of our RV and us today in front of our house. Boy, has a lot happened in two years! By 22 June 2021, the next day, we had our State of Missouri Certificate of Organization forming Air2Ground Farms, LLC and our IRS Employee Identification Number. We got our first animals, the three original livestock guardian dogs the first week of August and guinea keets and ducklings on 12 August. By 25 August we had 3 dozen layer chicks and had built our first chick shaw. On 26 August, we got 3 kittens. We figured out how to install hose bibs on our frost-free cattle waterers by 2 September and by 3 September we had our first group of sheep (To include our first dead sheep—yes, about 30 minutes after those crooks unloaded that load of market culls (that they said were grass-based, closed flock, parasite resistant, etc…everything we were looking for) one died and they continued to die for the next few days until we finally figured out they showed up with pneumonia.). Over the next two days, we built a pig training pen and then got our first 10 pigs on 5 September. We got two more batches of sheep in September and by 8 October we had our first 7 cows and the bull. We started moving dirt for the driveway and house by the beginning of November and by the end of the month we had a 6,300 sq/ft concrete pad. Over the next few months, we assisted the construction crew in building the frame of the house/porch/garage/barn until they were complete in March. We processed and sold our first pork in March, bought the next batch of 10 piglets, and began the work on the inside of the house. We got our first batch of 100 beef chickens in March and processed them ourselves the beginning of June. That was a very quick overview of our first year and we haven’t slowed down yet. Looking back over the past two years, it’s easy to see why we’re never bored! Happy 2-year farm anniversary to us!
Local Farm Report for 20 June 2023:
Harvest:
24 Chicken eggs
2 Duck eggs
1 Goose egg
6 3/4 Gallons of milk
Cheers!
Psycho & Shelley
Happy Farm Anniversary!
I have to say this life seems to suit you guys quite well!
Not to mention the benefits to those of us who are blessed by the fruits of your labor.
For me, not the least benefit are the 4 A2G eggs I am eating right now, for dinner. The first meal since last night (22 hours!) which could never happen if I was still running my body on carbs like before you evangelized me into Keto!
Thanks for all you do!
Tim
Happy 2 year anniversary! Very excited to see you guys continue to grow and provide the regenerative and sustainable products to your community and others around the US!