Farm Update

Down on the Farm Vicky and I were gone last week.  Our thanks to Ginny and Harvey for taking care of the farm and the market.  Where did Vicky and I go??  A very tropical, beautiful spot called Ocean City. Have you heard of it?  It's a great time of year to hit OC.  If you luck out with nice weather, which we did, you have the beach to yourself practically, which we did, no waiting at restaurants, which we had, and a very relaxing time was had by all. It was a great time.  Vicky had oysters with practically every meal...enough said. From the "Everything's not always fun and games at the farm" department...We purchased 100 new layer hens to boost our egg numbers up a bit.  The new hens were sick on arrival.  We called in the Maryland Dept. of Ag and then a poultry vet to see what was happening.  The chickens had a virus that is extremely contagious to other chickens.  We had three choices: 1..Depopulate (kill) all the laying hens 2..Vaccinate all our layers and then feed them antibiotics 3..Let nature take it's course.. We decided on number three.  Obviously our whole point of having eggs is to have them natural without any antibiotics or medicated in any way.  The virus doesn't affect the eggs, although most of the sick chickens aren't laying anyway.  This is going to affect the amount of eggs we will be getting, but we felt this was the way to go for us.  Just wanted to let you know. We have been in contact with our friends at Oyler's Organic Orchard in P.A. to find out about getting apples, like we did last year.  They will let us know what varieties will be available in another couple of weeks.  We will let you know when we are ready to take your orders for apples and cider. In the market this week: Tomatoes Boston Marrow Squash Green Bell Peppers Red Bell Peppers Yellow Bell Peppers Jalapenos Hot Wax Peppers Arugula Lettuce Spinach Red Beets Golden Beets Red Radishes Watermelon Radishes Red Russian Kale Toscano Kale Winterbor Curly Kale Butternut Squash Japanese Eggplant Honey Eggs Chicken White Turnips Carrots If you don't see what you're looking for, please ask.  As the market isn't as busy now we are not harvesting a lot all at one time, rather a little as we go.  We probably have what you want, but may have to run out quickly and cut, pull or pick while you wait.

Locally Yours, Vicky and Steve