Customer Party 2013 a complete success!!!

Anthony started the fire in the roaster just before 6 am.   The pig was finished cooking around 11:30am.  He shut in the fire and let the pig soak up the last of the smoke and heat while waiting on the party goers to arrive.

Anthony Hilliard roasting the hog!

 At 1pm there were still only about 15-20 people here so we decided to go ahead and pull the hog from the roaster and start setting up the food so we could eat as everything was ready at 1pm and we did want it getting cold.   I was happy to have Steven Jordan, my partner in the pig operation, here this year to help out as well.  He wasn't able to make it Saturday night to help slaughter the pig and get it in the roaster but he was here pretty early Sunday morning to get the chairs and tables and help set up.

From left to right;  Steven Jordan, Anthony's dad, Anthony Hilliard.

 It took them about 20 minutes to pull the hog from the roaster and pull all the meat.  I was a little worried that the pig wouldn't be big enough.  However, I was always seeing him next to the sows and the boar.  The sows are 500-600#'s and the boar is pushing 900#.  So anything looks small next to them.  Anthony estimated this hog to be about 200# live weight and probably 150# on the spit.  That gave us roughly 70# of awesome tasting pork for the party.  Just as we finished setting all the food out to eat people started pouring in.  It was awesome!

The start of the pulling process.

 I am missing quite a lot of picture at this point as I spent most of my time trying to spend time with everyone that came to the party or setting up for the party.  If anyone has pics please send them and I will post in another post!  I did manage to snap a few myself and I have a few from one customer already.

As I was waiting for everyone to get some food I got a couple of quick pics of everyone starting to eat.  My wife is in the first pic getting ice for someone.  She did an awesome job as always.  She cooked macaroni and cheese and coleslaw for sides as well as a fruit bowl and some other misc. items.  She also cooked the beef main dish which was two beef briskets and a beef roast.  There was roughly 14# of beef that she cooked and we ran out before everyone got some.  We will definitely be cooking more next year!

My awesome wife helping out and the party goers in the background.

 The next pic doesn't do justice to the number of kids that came this year.  The play area that my two children get to use all by them selves was packed this year.  Packed to the point that it was a great thing my wife installed a tire swing in the tree in the front yard.  My wife also got water balloons and a helium balloon kit for the kids.   So all the kids had their own helium balloon to play with and they also had a great time getting the organizer of this entire operations (me) wet with the water balloons. 

Dr. Zina Kaleinikova on the left and the kids in the background.

After everyone was full of awesome food we got the cake out.  This is always cool for anyone who hasn't seen it yet.  My wife has images of the cuts for the beef and pork screened onto the cake.  Makes it quite unique and educational at the same time!

The cake!

After everyone was done eating we all headed to the barn to check out the source of the yummy goodness.  When we got down there we found our Boar, Red Balls, taking a nap.  As everyone started pouring into the barn he immediately got up and walked out.  He didn't even stop when I offered him a snack.  He wanted to sleep and that was it, so he left for some shade in the pasture. 

Red Balls napping during the party.

 Most of these pics are from Keri Helgerman.  Keri and I were in All Ohio State Fair Youth Choir together way back in the day.  And now she is one of my customers.  She also turned out to be a pretty darn good photographer as well and got some pretty sweet pics.  I am sharing a few of them here. 

This is Kwanzan and the white steer beside her is one of the two calves born at last years party!

 The cows figured out how to access the pig barn to lick up any treats the pigs miss when I feed them.  So now the cows not only answer to my calls for them but also come quite quickly when I call the pigs as well.  Fifty is our oldest cow and actually turned 10 years old this year.  She is the matriarch of the herd and is always first to eat!  Here she is waiting to try and get a snack before the pigs do!   The farm we got her from fed grain to the cattle so she knows what is going on when I feed the pigs and will take any opportunity to get a bite she can.  Now to feed the pigs we have to shut the gate to keep the cows out while they eat. 

Fifty waiting on a snack!

Loading up to go for a ride.  I may need to get a bigger wagon next year!

 I love seeing pics taken during the hay rides.  All I ever get to see is from the tractor and I am usually watching for babies and where we are going and that everyone is safe.  I don't get to enjoy the ride.  I stopped after entering the pasture so everyone could see the new baby calves and the ones from last year to compare.  As we pulled away I told Steven, who was riding shotgun in the cab, that I figured the cows would follow us as we went.  I was correct and Mario was leading the way! 

One thing I never thought of with the hay wagon is that on this one you can look through the cracks between the floor boards at the ground below.  The kids figured this out as we were crossing the creek that our farm is named after.  

The kids looking at the water as we went through Conser Run!

I absolutely love this pic!  This is Chilli and her calf.  She was the first to have a baby this year.  

Chilli and her Angus x Charolais calf. 

Having fun on the farm!

Mario keeping an eye on everyone!

The cows coming up the barn as we all headed in the give the pigs a snack.

This is my son Alex.  He played quite hard yesterday.  Hard enough that he got up for about two hours this morning and went back to sleep and is still napping as I type this post up.  I am not sure what he is thinking in this pic but it is probably something ornery!

Alex enjoying the hay ride!

 I didn't get a pic of the kids petting Mario but Keri did get a pic of him snacking on the pigs food shortly after.  You can see the kids in the background.  Mario did really well and stayed calm even with all the people around!  He is a really good donkey!

Mario snacking on the pigs feed!

Candy Apple licking her lips after licking the dust out of the pig trough.

This is one of the two steers that are headed to the butcher in July. 

This years party was a blast.   We ended up with a turnout of around 60-65 people.  I always enjoy giving back to everyone who has helped us grow and sharing the knowledge of how and where their food comes from.  I also know there were a lot of people that came to learn that have not been our customer to date but hope they will buy from us in the future to allow us to continue to grow and share our knowledge learned and some great food.

Thank you everyone for another great year and lets stride forward to another one!

Kenny

It's party day!!!

The hog is in the roaster and my super awesome wife is cooking like a mad woman to keep everyone full!!   Please say thank you to her when you all show up today cause this could never happen without her!!

Finally some morels and the start of a new hay season!!

I have been searching the woods here on the farm for almost a month now and finally I found some morels yesterday.  I haven't been in the woods for about four or five days and went out yesterday in the rain to check.  I found only one around the tree that I have been finding them on for years now.  So on a whim I decided to check another spot that I have found them twice before but only a couple at most. 

This year I was thrilled to find almost a bag full.  They were all blonds and most were quite large, almost the size of a pop can.  I then proceeded to check all of my spots and only found one more small one.  I should have just stopped after I found these  instead of spending three more hours walking and driving the four wheeler in the rain and getting completely soaked with cold rain.  I guess that is why they call it hunting mushrooms, not finding mushrooms!

My first morels of 2013!

 Well, due to the hotter weather we have been having the hay is maturing quickly this year.  All of the orchard grass started setting heads this week and the heavy rains we had yesterday caused it all to start bolting today.  Now, from the day the orchard grass starts bolting (the seed head pushing up to bloom) the feed quality of the leaves of the plant start to diminish.  This is due to the grass putting it energy into producing seed instead of leaves.  The leaves on the plant will begin to mature and get stemmy and become less digestible to the cattle.

To keep the quality and production high for all subsequent cuttings you should cut the orchard grass as soon as it starts bolting.  This gives you a high quality, highly digestible for first cutting as well as all following cuttings.  Furthermore, by cutting it just as it starts to bolt the plant will go into a vegetative state where it will simply produce leaves and build its root system the rest of the year.  If you cut too soon it will simply bolt again and will not do well the rest of the season.  If you cut too late you will have a lesser quality first cutting and reduced yields on all following cuttings. 

Before mowing.

 It took me about 1.5 hours to mow all ten acres of hay I have here on the farm.  To the guys who have big farms and do thousands of acres of crops that is a long time to do 10 acres.  However, for someone like me who used to mow with a seven foot wide haybine that took me 5-6 hours to do the same field I think it is pretty darn good!

Some day I want to be big enough to have a front mount mower to go with the side mount one on the back.  By adding one to the front I could double the amount I can mow in an hour because it essentially works like a zero turn mower eliminating wasted time at the end each pass.   Plus I would be mowing twenty feet each pass instead of nine!

Kubota 9540 with cab and a Taarup 3 point hitch disc mower

I am hoping for a good year this year for the hay...just like every other year.  However, this year is quite important for us here on the farm.  This should be the year we turn the financial corner and start to generate income that covers expenses!  Unless you are born into a working farm that is paid for or have enough money to pay cash to start one up it takes a while to grow to a point where it goes from a hobby to a business.  This year I expect to pass that point and the hay is the start of it all!

Have a great weekend everyone.  Now off to bed to get some rest for a busy day tomorrow.

Kenny

Customer appreciation party

Hello everyone.  I have been unbelievably busy the last couple of weeks.  On top of things getting busy at my day job I have also been helping the neighbor with a new milking parlor installation as well as getting ready for our customer party here on the farm on the 26th of this month.

For anyone who wants to come or is already planning to come please RSVP me this week so I can be sure to cook enough food.  We will be roasting a hog and some beef brisket this year to go along with our hay rides to the pasture.  We also have plenty of space for the kids to play so we look forward to seeing the entire family!!

Now, off to bed to get some rest before another long day tomorrow. 

BTW, we had our first calf of the year this week as well!!!