Farm Notes September 25th

Did you know that goats eat brush?  The love it!  At our farm we use goats to clear the brush from hillsides.  We only have a few does (a doe is a mature female goat) and one buck (male goat) and their kids are raised to be sold for meat.  The purpose of clearing brush is to open the ground for grass to dominate.  After a few years, only dead stocks of brush remain and it is time to rotate the cows or horses through the area.  The hooves of the large animals knock down what remains of the brush and it turns into a very nice grassy pasture.  We can enhance the landscape of our farm by carefully stewarding animals and plants.

 

A goat nibbling on "Buckbrush."  The berries are poisonous to humans, but goats aren't affected.

 

Your farmer,

 

Peter

 

(taken from this week's delivery reminder letter to Bartlett Farm customers)

Farm Notes September 18th

My Grandparents from the state of New Hampshire have been visiting the farm this week.  It has been a few years since we showed them around, so many things have changed for us.  The most significant difference has come as a result of having great customers like you.  Our herd of 20 cows is ten times greater than the last time my Grandparents came, the chicken butchering has increased exponentially, the sow with her litter of pigs is a new addition, and the delivery network is outstanding!  Thank you for multiplying the impact of the Bartlett family by patronizing Bartlett Farm!

Left to right:  Jonathan, Grammy Ruby, David, Grandpa Ed, and Andrew Bartlett.

 

Your farmer,

 

Peter

Farm Notes September 11th

It's a balance between cost and efficiency, creativity and time.  Some things just make life a whole lot easier, and nipple waterers for chickens seem like one of those technological improvements that will make chores a little more productive.  Dad recently added 300 Plymouth Rock laying pullets to the brooder, and to supply them with fresh water, he inserted special nipple valves into a PVC pipe that is gravity fed from a five gallon pail of clean water.  When the chicks peck at the droplet of water hanging on the valve of the nipple, the valve releases more water into their beak.  In no time at all they had figured it out.  Now you can step inside the brooder and hear the clicking of beaks on the valves all day long.

 

 

Your farmer,

 

Peter

Farm Notes September 3rd

Meet Alice!  The latest addition to Bartlett Farm.  Alice is Della's new calf, a purebred Jersey heifer with a spot of white on her forehead.  Jersey cow's milk is known for it's richer cream and mineral content, compared to the big old black and white holstein cow's milk.  You might say that Jersey milk is "milkier," and more nutritious.  That's why we specialize in the heritage breed and raise up our young heifers (like Alice) to add to the growing herd.

 

 

Your farmer,

 

Peter