Midsummer’s Rest Period

This is the time on the farm that, while we’re in the middle of summer, we get a little break. Our spring chickens are all processed, the cows have lots of forage to graze on, and the pigs are keeping themselves busy by growing. The garden is quiet too. We harvested the garlic and put it up to dry. 

There’s still plenty to do but it’s more of the maintenance and other projects that we didn’t have time for in the spring. Updating the chicken tractors, working on the house, cleaning carburetors, and mowing, LOTS of mowing. 

Chicken tractor with new METAL ROOF! (It’ pretty heavy) ((Heavy Metal))

It won’t last long though. At the end of July we’ll have new chickens and turkeys on the farm. By mid-August the garden should be coming on strong with tomatoes to harvest, peppers to make into hot sauce. We’ll be going to the State Fair too, because we like it. September has more of the same plus cows to get ready to go to the locker, more mowing. Always more mowing. 

(No, we don’t plan to get goats to do the mowing for us 😂)

By the end of October we’ll calm down again and be getting ready for a long, cold winter (el Nino’s are supposed to be especially cold in Iowa). The cows go in September, chickens in early October, the hogs in late October, and the turkeys in early November. Then it will just be us, the dogs, and the laying chickens. 

What’s cooler than being cool? Iowa in winter!

So I hope your midsummer offers you rest before the busy fall. 

(technically midsummer was 3 weeks ago but I meant what you know)