by Zach and Ben Roerden (ages 10 and 8) (Sung to the tune of 12 days of Christmas) On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me a chicken in a haystack. On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me two Ford tractors and a chicken in aContinue reading “12 Days of Christmas at Jo-Erl Farm”
Category Archives: Uncategorized
And the Weasel Strikes Again
by Laura Parker Roerden We had an entire blessed week of quiet here on the weasel front. I no longer braced myself before I walked into the coop. We had stopped leaving the lights on all night. I had turned off the baby monitor. I had stopped walking the perimeter. But this morning, after IContinue reading “And the Weasel Strikes Again”
Goodbye, Weasels!
by Laura Parker Roerden Most games have a buzzer that goes off, signaling its end. Victory is declared for whomever is ahead at that moment. Life is not quite like that. Though, as my good friend and comedian Dana Gould once quipped, “What hasn’t killed you, isn’t finished with you yet.” So, it’s with greatContinue reading “Goodbye, Weasels!”
Seven Random Things I’ve Learned from Weasels
by Laura Parker Roerden The news on the weasel front here at the farm is not good. Despite the heroic efforts of just about anyone who would be on my desert island list because of their superior survival skills, the weasel is winning. Killing has escalated, no doubt because winter is approaching and weasels areContinue reading “Seven Random Things I’ve Learned from Weasels”
A Farm Family
by Laura Parker Roerden We’ve had a couple challenging weeks here at the farm. A weasel has been getting into the chicken coop and biting heads off of our newly-raised heritage breed Delawares. Mornings I’ll enter the coop and cringe—another headless chicken lying on the ground, already stiff. At first, I could joke about it.Continue reading “A Farm Family”
A Day in the Life of a (Part-time) Farmer
by Laura Parker Roerden 5:30 am (May 8, 2014). I’m awakened by my cell phone ringing and the accompanying chime of a left voicemail message. It’s the post office calling: they have my forty baby chicks. The ones that were not supposed to come for three weeks. (Who knew that the post office opens atContinue reading “A Day in the Life of a (Part-time) Farmer”
Picking Out Chicks!
It’s spring, which means it’s time to incubate and brood baby chicks. But which ones to add to Jo-Erl Farm this year? Normally, we purchase 50-75 new laying hen chicks to diversify and stabilize production. I think of these hens as the workhorses of the farm. Rhode Island Reds and White Leghorns are what myContinue reading “Picking Out Chicks!”
Salt from the Earth and a Karina Dresses #Frockstar: a Home-Grown Partnership
by Laura Parker Roerden Many of you know that I’ve been a green ambassador for Karina Dresses for some time now—bringing tips for green living to the Karina Nation through their blog. Karina Dresses and Jo-Erl Farm have a lot in common. Founder Karina Cousineau is from Uxbridge, MA, where Jo-Erl Farm has fed fiveContinue reading “Salt from the Earth and a Karina Dresses #Frockstar: a Home-Grown Partnership”
10 Things About Cows That Will Amaze You
by Laura Parker Roerden 1. Researchers have discovered that cows tend to face either magnetic north or south when grazing or resting, regardless of the sun’s position or the wind’s direction. Why cows do this remains a mystery. 2. Cows have regional accents. After a group of dairy farmers noticed their cows had different moos,Continue reading “10 Things About Cows That Will Amaze You”
Farm Camp Chronicles: 1/27/14
By Evan Maietta and Gabby Morrow It was 28 degrees here at Jo-Erl Farm today. It gets pretty cold up here on the hill. We had our full “Farm Camp” crew of eight people, which is pretty unusual since everyone’s schedules are so different. We tried to clear any debris from the lower pasture, butContinue reading “Farm Camp Chronicles: 1/27/14”