Winter Scheming and Dreaming

Winter is the time we long for to rest, regroup and plan all the ways we are going to work ourselves silly for the next growing season! We are looking at a whole new management shift for 2014. After visiting our "farm hero" Joel Salatin we had a lot more insight into ways to better manage our pastures and hay grounds. So far this winter we have read tons of books on grazing, poultry and gardening. We are well armed with knowledge! Now we have to impatiently wait for spring! Here's a photo to get us in the mood.

Just Veggin

We all like to just "veg out" every once in a while.  It helps to restore our depleted energy on a cold winters day and allow our frazzled minds to wander to a better place.  For us recently, that better place has been a sunny summer's day in our garden.  It seems that each winter about this time we tend to crave the rich, fresh taste of one of the many varieties of heirloom vegetables that we grow.  Heirloom vegetables or fruits, (Generally recognized as those 1951 and before) selected for their ability to thrive in various climates, their size and great taste are just some of the reason that these cultivars were selected and passed down generation after generation.  So while we love a sled ride down a snow packed hillside just as much as the next person, these vegetables have been a driving factor in why we long for summer well before winter is even close to writing is final chapter. 
The photo here shows an abundance of produce that came out of our garden two summers ago.  We had many harvests just like this the past two summers from using only heirloom seeds, with ZERO pesticides, herbicides or any other 'cides whatsoever. It's truly a marvel to put a tiny seed into the ground and with a modest amount of care-taking watch it turn into something marvelous and healthful!   
So where does your mind go when you "veg out"?  If you've also spent many a winter weekends pining for vegetables like these here but don't have the space, time or desire to spend your summer weekends weeding those gardens, maybe it's time to consider investing in your health by purchasing a share in a Community Supported Agriculture.  With that investment, you receive weekly "shares" of the gardens bounty all summer long.  And not spending your sweltering summer weekends weeding, allows you to veg out and let your mind go to a better place like swishing down a snow packed winter ski slope :-)    We here at Cherokee Valley Bison Ranch are offering a limited number of shares in our CSA.  For more information, contact us via email and we'll send you out the details. 
Happy vegging!

Hot chicks!

My wife is so cool that when I said I'd like to spice things up and introduce some more chicks to our farm she not only agreed, but promptly placed the order herself!    Our newly arrived residents are Plymouth or Barred Rocks and will be laying us some beautiful and tasty eggs sometimes this summer.  Not the chicks I had in mind, but I love eggs!

Hog Heaven

It's been two weeks since we turned our hogs out to pasture/woods and it's clear (to us at least) that we have some happy hogs on our hands.  Our Tamworth hogs are a old breed range hog that's known for being able to thrive on pasture and woods.  Since we have all of our established pastures reserved for our bison, our thoughts turned to the large tract of land between our pastures.  This area is full of trees, briars, bushes and a nice stream down the length of it.  Both sides near the fence were also lush with mixed grasses that we need to regularly mow and weed eat.  Hmmmmm.....pigs can graze AND we don't have to mow.  Win,win.
The photo on the right is where they went this week.  The one below is where they've been for the past two. 

Pigs have rightfully earned the nickname, nature's dozers as they've plowed their way through the briars and turned over the dirt, stumps and everything else in their search for nuts, bugs and the need to root.   The penned in area where they spent the first couple of months was like a nice county fair.  Fun rides, some good eats and the ability to run around a bit - cozy.  Their new home is more like an amusement park and state fair combined.  Exhilarating rides, great variety of food and endless fun!  There is great natural shade, plenty of sun and fresh running water. Seeing our pigs being able to fully express the "pigness of the pig" as Joel Salatin might say brings a smile to our faces and a lot of happy snorting from our pigs.   If you'd like to learn more about our Tamworths pigs or pork products, send us a message and we'll get right back to you.

Going green

The term going green gets tossed around a lot these days.  We see it bandied about by corporations trying to convince "consumers" that it cares about the environment.  Here, we just felt that was the best way to describe the greening of our garden with delicious heirloom seed vegetables.

Featured prominently in the foreground is our ripening Rapini Broccoli.   A non "heading" variety, it produces shoots similar to asparagus.  It's also a great producer with excellent flavor.  Also pictured are regular "headed" broccoli, two different variety of beets as well as celery and radishes.
While it's a pleasure to see all of our beds going green, it's taken a lot of time and twice daily watering to get it to this point.    Last year we were coming off one of the wettest springs ever and this year we feel like we're living in the desert Southwest.   We're considering growing cactus!  At least they do well with little rainfall.  We also are looking at harvesting the plethora of weeds that grow whether we water them or not.  There's a bumper crop already!   Salad weeds anyone?
Mother Nature is rumored to be heading our way with a shower or two in the next few days, so please keep our fingers crossed.  Rain dance on hold.  

Seeing red

Most of us know that when somebody says "I'm seeing red", they are angry and somebody's in trouble.  But recently, for us here at Cherokee Valley Bison Ranch it means baby bison and baby pigs!     For those of you that haven't seen baby bison, they are born with a beautiful red fluffy coat! 

After about 3 - 4 months, they shed that red coat and begin growing in their brown coat for the cold weather ahead.  
Right now however, seeing red in the form of the ever playful baby bison is something we just can't get enough of.  Two boundless bundles of energy are frolicking in our pastures right now - one bull (boy) calf and one heifer (girl) calf.  Mommas Bessie and Buffy are doing a great job of rearing our next generation of bison.  Come on out and see them and bring your camera!




Seeing more red in the form of our heritage breed Tamworth hogs has also proved very entertaining!   We've raised a couple of feeder hogs the past two years and this year we decided to go "whole hog".  Raising the American icon bison also led us to look at other heritage breeds.  Tamworths, originating in Ireland are a true heritage breed that's not found on every hog farm, but it is gaining popularity.  Part of that popularity is due to this hogs ability forage and thrive on pasture.  Another reason is this hog's well earned reputation as the king of bacon hog!  They also raise large litters and are known for their excellent mothering skills!   Doesn't that sound like a winning combination?

Like every baby farm animals, our pigs are cute and very entertaining!    With our red hogs, our red baby bison as well as our red rabbits and chickens, everywhere we look on our farm this spring we're seeing red.  And we couldn't be happier! Make your way out to the ranch and see red for yourself!

Just kidding around on the farm

Who cares what is on the boob tube when you have a myriad of entertaining critters like we do here at Cherokee Valley Bison Ranch.   Goats we've found are some of the most entertaining.  Curiosity got the better of one of our little bucklings and soon we were rolling on the floor with laughter while he unintentionally entertained us.    To the right of him, his mother Crystal comments, "Nothing's funnier than a baby goat with a bucket on it's head. Ha! Ha! Ha!  Unless of course it's your baby goat.  I"m so embarrassed."      Of course, we don't speak goat, so she could have just told him to quit playing with his food?   Never a dull moment.

Till next time.
Carie and Jarrod - Ranchers