Unity Farm Journal - Second Week of May 2016

It’s Spring so it’s time for new farm babies.   Welcome Athena and Apollo, two baby geese born this week.    They have the benefit of 3 mothers and 1 father watching over them.   The adults took them to the pond and taught them how to swim within a few hours after hatching.   We’re keeping the goose pen closed during the day when we’re not around because of all the hawk activity.   A week old goose is an easy target.Temperatures are edging up to the mid 70’s so the pigs are getting hot.   Yesterday, we moved them to their summer paddock with its shade and cool mud.   The pigs are very smart and aren’t sure why they are on “vacation” from their usual home, but I’m sure they will adapt soon.Now that the weather is warmer we’ve been able to drain, clean and maintain all the ponds around the barnyard.   A winter of accumulated goose poop can create quite a cleaning challenge, including a rotten egg or two in the muck.    All our water features are running perfectly now and we’re ready to be the local watering hole for dozens of species over the summer.This week we sold lettuce, mushrooms, and spinach to Tilly and Salvy’s, our local farmstand.   We’re learning an immense amount about consumer behavior  - what we should grow and how we should package it for maximum sellability.   Although we’re nearly done with our Umass organic farming courework, it’s the day to day activity of sell...
Source: Life as a Healthcare CIO - Category: Information Technology Source Type: blogs