New Ewe Lambs, Chick Update, Max Produce & Dry Farming

Hello Friends,

Happy August to you. I don't know about you, but once August starts it seems like we blink and Christmas is here. As usual, there's a lot going on here at the farm. Last week we were so happy to welcome our three new ewe lambs to the flock. We would like to introduce to you Junebug, Pickles and Sage. Thankfully, they have settled in well with the one year olds and their mothers.

It's hard to believe that the chicks are already three weeks old. Only five more weeks to go until they head up to the production coop. Then it's another twelve weeks until they could possibly start laying eggs. I say possibly, because by December the amount of daylight is so diminished that we may have to wait until early March to see any of them starting to lay.

Did you know that the amount of eggs a chicken lays depends upon the amount of sunlight? Chickens generally need 14-16 hours of daylight to establish a normal egg laying cycle. That's why there's an abundance of eggs in the Spring, but come December Chickens still lay eggs, albeit much less than any other time of the year. Patience and planning are definitely two of the lessons you learn farming. Can you spot a new Rooster in the photo below?

With the ramp up of our CSA garden this year, we are now learning that August means maximum produce time here on the farm. Not only are we harvesting everything out in the field, but we are also turning over beds to transplant all of our fall crops. Here are some images of our white and red onions out in the field to curing for long term storage in our hayloft.

We have a new field under our stewardship, and so we have added three beehives and are trying an experiment. Have you ever heard of Dry Farming? Dry Farming means growing crops without active irrigation. We decided to try pumpkins and sunflowers, with an overcropping of buckwheat to fill in the spaces between so the soil is covered.

We are hopeful that this will be a successful venture for us, so that we can do it on a larger scale next year. So far, so good thanks to the rain we've been getting. We are really reliant on the weather in this endeavor!

Just a reminder that our next monthly tour is this coming Friday, August 7th from 9:30 to 11am. With all of the concerns in our country right now about the safety of lettuce and produce in general, rest assured that not only are you safer eating locally grown produce, but you can actually come and see the vegetables you eat in person, and learn about the work we are doing to regenerate the soil. Please join us and see how the choices we make in the field provide you with more nutrient dense food while restoring the ecosystem. You can sign up on the events page of our website by clicking on the link below.

https://www.maranatha.farm/products/maranatha-regenerative-farm-tour-2?_pos=3&_psq=farm+tour&_ss=e&_v=1.0&Title=Default+Title

Have you had your first tomato sandwich of the year yet? That's one of our favorite things. Toasted bread, a little mayo and a big basil leaf with a juicy salted sliced tomato. There's nothing better!

We hope that you're able to take time to enjoy the best that Summer has to offer before it's over friends.

May God bless you and your families today and always.

Sincerely,

Michele & the Maranatha Farm Team

P.S. A note to our valued CSA members: If you need to make any changes for your CSA share pickup, "Text is best", so please reach out to Martha at 908-432-5244. Thank you!