JOIN THE COCKTAIL FARM CLUB BY 6/5 FOR HUCKLEBERRY SPRUCE TIP SYRUP

Menu
Simple Goodness Sisters
0
  • Shop
    • Cocktail Farm Club
    • Drink Syrups
    • The Book: Drink Your Garden
    • eBooks + Recipe Cards
    • Gift Boxes
    • Corporate Gifts
    • Salts + Sugars
  • Events
  • Recipes
  • About
    • Our Story
    • The Sisters
    • Our Products
    • The Cocktail Farm
      • Meet the Farmers
    • Stockists- Where to Find SGS
    • Press
    • Blog
  • The Soda Shop
  • Sign in
  • Your Cart is Empty
Simple Goodness Sisters
  • Shop
    • Cocktail Farm Club
    • Drink Syrups
    • The Book: Drink Your Garden
    • eBooks + Recipe Cards
    • Gift Boxes
    • Corporate Gifts
    • Salts + Sugars
  • Events
  • Recipes
  • About
    • Our Story
    • The Sisters
    • Our Products
    • The Cocktail Farm
    • Meet the Farmers
    • Stockists- Where to Find SGS
    • Press
    • Blog
  • The Soda Shop
  • 0 0

Winter Farm Update

March 04, 2016

Since Belinda posted about her exciting Happy Camper Cocktail updates I figured it was time to post a winter farm update. DSC07208 Winter is a pretty slow time on the farm which is good because it gives us time to catch up on projects we don't get to during the busier seasons. This winter Farmer Ross has been focusing on selling some of the extra equipment we have laying around which will give us the room and funds to buy some new equipment. One of our most recent purchases included some refrigerators and freezers we bought to store our farm produce and meat. Our local grocery store went out of business which is a pretty big bummer, but it allowed us to make some really great purchases without having to drive all over the state to pick them up. 11143350_628061210665126_2515639112233131464_o We were REALLY late getting garlic into the ground this year (we planted February 6 and normally plant in November) which meant that about 2/3 of our seed spoiled so our harvest will be much smaller this year. We weren't too upset because we had already decided we want to try to expand our horizons and try some new crops so we feel like we were left with a manageable amount. I spent a small fortune at Uprising Seed Company buying seeds for the farm and garden. Uprising was recommended to us by other local farmers and I love that they are located in Bellingham, Washington. All their seeds are Open Pollinated, Certified Organic by the USDA, and grown by small family farms in the PNW. In addition to the warm, fuzzy feeling I get by supporting local farms, I love that the seeds they select to sell have been tried and tested by farms who are in the same growing zone as we are. 12646891_620875568050357_2887602599259695490_o This year we chose to send our female goats (does) to the breeders a little later than in the past so while everyone else is posting pictures of early spring kids, I am eagerly counting down the days until May/June when our kids will start coming. However, we recently learned that our herd queen EB is now a grandma! Ginger, EBs daughter, now lives with one of our fellow 4H families and she had triplets last night. Just like EB she has a strong mothering instinct and delivered with ease. One of the little doelings (the one with the spot on her rear) is going to go to one of the other 4Hers in our club so we will have mini EBs all over the place. 12801285_531331960361230_275941339841851267_n The pigs are growing like crazy and packing on the pounds. They outgrew their original pig pen so we spent a couple of weekends building them new digs. Like all things you do for the first time, we learned a lot. Now that we have our first round under our belt we are feeling very confident about our ability to do it again and again. I promise to write a whole separate post about our lessons learned raising pigs but the gist of it is there is a LOT of mud and they are VERY enthusiastic eaters! 12694720_620853198052594_1455988643377542762_o And probably the coolest thing that has happened on the farm recently is we had a calf! Our Red Angus, Big Mama, surprised us with a winter calf! When we bought her there was a little communication breakdown somewhere along the way and we thought she was due this summer sometime so we were a bit surprised when she didn't come up to eat one night and instead stood in the back bellowing. Farmer Ross being the good farmer he is, went back to check on her and found her cleaning up a fresh calf. Since Big Mama isn't very tame, we decided against bringing her in the barn and instead brought the barn to her. Cows are usually pretty smart when they calf and will find a sheltered area that is on high ground. Big Mama found a nice dry place under the trees to welcome her calf so all we had to do was provide some straw to help keep it warm until she could dry it off. After checking if it was a girl (heifer-which it is) or a boy (bull) Ross and I spent a couple hours sitting under the stars in the John Deere Gator, drinking a couple beers and watching the wonder of it all. Within a few hours, the calf was up walking around and the rest of the herd was greeting her. The next day we were able to get a few more pictures although Big Mama didn't want us to get too close so we let her have her space. We are planning to wean her a little early (4 months) so that we can start halter training her early and she can make an appearance at our local county fair.
DSC07233 Brand new calf
DSC07253 Getting comfortable
DSC07258 Hanging out
DSC07259 Getting her sea legs
DSC07260 Pretty girls
That's all for now. As the summer approaches we will be much busier around the farm so there will be many more pictures coming your way!
  • Share:


Also in Blog

Book Launch: Drink Your Garden: Recipes, Stories, and Tips from the Simple Goodness Cocktail Farm
Book Launch: Drink Your Garden: Recipes, Stories, and Tips from the Simple Goodness Cocktail Farm

April 01, 2025

Drink Your Garden: Recipes, Stories, and Tips from the Simple Goodness Cocktail Farm " is officially launched! We’ve found happy hour, fresh from the garden, to be one of life’s utmost simple pleasures, and we're sharing it, with this book. We love to learn traditional ways of making delicious things and preserving the flavors of each season through these methods.

Read More

DRINK YOUR GARDEN: BOTANICAL DRINKS FOR EVERY OCCASION
DRINK YOUR GARDEN: BOTANICAL DRINKS FOR EVERY OCCASION

January 13, 2025

Read More

Simple Goodness Syrups Will Debut Two 'Farm to Bar' Flavors at the Specialty Food Association’s Fancy Food Winter Show
Simple Goodness Syrups Will Debut Two 'Farm to Bar' Flavors at the Specialty Food Association’s Fancy Food Winter Show

December 20, 2024

Read More

Follow
  • Search
  • Contact
  • FAQ
  • Do not sell my personal information
  • Privacy Policy
  • Subscription Policy
  • Terms of Service
  • Join our Newsletter

© 2025 Simple Goodness Sisters.