In case you haven't noticed, we have changed the name of the Farm. Formerly Heartland Meadows Farm ( I know, I loved it too), we had to make the change because Heartland Meadows was taken by about 40 other people. After a much thought, Wayne and Wendy came up with a great new name - HZ Harvest (pronounced His Harvest). Since He has blessed us with this beautiful property and continues to look over us and protect us, it is only right to give credit where it is most deserved.
What a difference a week makes! Last Saturday we had snow all around us - today is in the mid 70's and beautiful. I swear I can hear the grass growing.
So many people have been telling me that their chickens have stopped laying eggs. I don't know what we are doing right, but we are still getting several dozen a day. Our little honor egg stand at the bottom of the driveway is doing quite well. We seem to have several return customers and new people are finding it every day. So far, everyone has been very honest and left the $2 per dozen in the slot. I love living in the country.
Fertility is abounding. We should be getting a new bunch of sheep, pigs and cows born on the farm in the next few months. the bees are starting to come out and do their jobs. The owls are taking care of most of the squirrels and we even have a couple of young eagles. Of course, the eagles also take a chicken every few days, but that's the price you pay. I have 95 baby chicks coming in the mail. They should be shipped from Moussori on Monday, so we will have them Tuesday or Wednesday. The post office is quick to call me (I have to go 20 miles south to Paso Robles to pick them up). They are very noisy and ready to be put in the brooders. We have great brooders that Del Andrus Handyman built for us. They are on legs and varmit proof with warming lights.
Ben and Angel have begun showing more of their natural Pyranees tendensies. I understand that the breed likes to collect their prey thoughout the night and pile it. We go out in the morning and find little piles of anything (boxes, brooms, binoculars) that have been left out, plus dead gophers, mice, rats, squirrels, etc. They have now become trash patrol too!
The baby vegies we planted made it through the cold weather just fine. The lettuce took a hit, but the brocolli, cauliflower, cabbage, onions and artichokes look great. This nice warm weather will make them even happier.
We had friends over the other night. They brought pizza for dinner so I put it in the oven on "warm" (I thought). An hour later, we opened the oven to find pizza jerky. In my defense, I have a very old and very basic oven. It only has a knob for the temperature - no read out and not even a light to tell you that it is on. Anyway, it wasn't half bad as long as you didn't expect it to have the texture of pizza. We giggled a lot and ended up eating the whole thing along with a nice pasta salad I had made. Sometimes the biggest mistakes are the most fun.
I am the co-chairman for the Paso Robles Chamber of Commerce Agribusiness Tour this year. We are having our 49th annual tour. Bob Tullock and I were on the radio for an hour talking about the tour Thursday. The tickets had just gone on sale on Tuesday. We sell approximately 320 seats. By the time the show was over, we had sold out. This is a great tour and will be held on May 4th.
Another group I am involved in is the Central Coast Lavender Growers Association. This is really an intersting crop to grow. Lavender not only looks nice in any yard, the deer don't usually mess with it and it has many uses - medicinal, culinary and cosmetic. We are currently planning our 3rd Annual Lavender Festival which will be held in the Paso Robles downtown park on July 9th. Vendor booths are only $45 so if you know anyone that would like to book one or if you would just like information about the event, check out the website at: http://www.centralcoastlavenderfestival.com/.
Well, it's too nice of a day to stay inside at this computer, so I am going to go outside and watch the chickens for a while.
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