News and blog

Posted 2/19/2016 6:46am by Gregg Keckler.

Orchard Country Produce Farm News

Everyone is cozy and snug in all the winter snow and ice. The pigs, the chickens the new layers, the fruit trees and the garlic are all doing well and enjoying the respite. We hope that you are too.

Who's doing What

Gregg is making jam and shagbark hickory syrup. Gregg has been buying lots of seeds for next year's growing season. Many tried and true varieties, but he also loves experimenting with new varieties to grace the market stands.

Oliver is learning new skills. He has totally rebuilt the inside of his new old house. After knocking down all the horsehair plaster from the walls and ceilings to expose all the old logs and chinking, he has been learning how to chink, run electric, jack the floors up, put in a furnace, and hang dry wall ( why is it called 'hanging' dry wall especially when it is on the ceiling?) He is enoying his experience and learning many things. We remember a similar experience 32 years ago when we bought this house. It is a great time! Oliver will be getting married in October and he is hoping to have the house liveable by April since that is when the farm work really gets going.

Juan has been helping Oliver and teaching him about dry wall, window replacement and other renovation projects.

New Stuff and Old Things

We have finally got the electric in the high tunnel. Daniel did the box and Oliver ran the wires so we should have a better system for fans and side panels this year.

We have been fixing crates, cleaning, spreading manure and repairing many things.

We have a good spring of water at the Myerstown Road property very near the barn which would be great for getting water for the 500 chickens up there. We are trying to contain the spring and add pipes to channel it to the barn, but we have to be able to keep it from freezing. This project is still in the thinking stage.

CSA

We are into our new CSA subscription season. If you have not signed up yet now is the time. Do not procrastinate. May will be here before you know it. The deadline to sign up for the full season and get a 6% discount is May 15.

www.orchardcountryproduce.com

If you would like to have a drop off at your location. Let us know and we can get you started. We would like to have 6 shares (any size) to do a drop off.

Animals

We have already taken 5 pigs to the butcher in the last week. So we will be stocked to start out the year at the farm stands and markets in May. It usually takes about 6-7 pigs per year. So we are doing good. We still have a boar, gilt and three smaller pigs.

The five hundred chicks that we got as day olds back in December are doing well. We did have one disaster which costs the lives of about 85 of them. When Gregg and Oliver were transferring them from the brooder house to the big barn on Myerstown Road, they loaded them into the back of the pickup. ALL 500!! AT ONE TIME!! They thought that it would only be a very short trip and it was so cold that they would be OK even if it was a little too crowded. Unfortunately that was a bad idea. They were too crowded and began to over-heat. So we ended up losing about 85. So we probably only have just over 400 now. But since the move they are doing GREAT!

We butchered 50 of our old layers. So we will have some stewing hens for the first markets. We also ordered 300 broilers to be delivered later in the spring - for fresh chicken. We have found that by increasing the number of chickens that we do, we can afford to charge a lower price/lb. That will be good news for our customers.

We have 6 steers at this time. They are enjoying the great hay from the summer and old pumpkins and winter squash.

Markets

We are still going to be at the same markets and farm stands as last year, except Gregg will be going to Bush Hill Presbyterian Church on Fraconia Rd in Alexandria. If you are in the area, come out to buy on Saturdays beginging in May. It is hard to believe that the markets will be opening in May.

Winter Reading and Study

Gregg and I are always reading and enjoying new and old books. Gregg is currently rereading Thomas Sowell's Basic Economics book. He has just finish a good book call Ataturk in the Nazi Imagination by Ihrig. He just recently picked up The Chosen by Potok and reread it also.

I have been rereading Our Mutual Friend by Dickens, William Bennett's books on American History, The State of the American Mind edited by Bauerlein and Bellow and It All Turns on Affection by Wendell Berry.

We are always trying to improve our knowledge of animal husbandry and soil science as well, therefore Storey's books are always out on the table.

Besides his practical learning this year, Oliver has been studying pond management. He also bought an full size accordion and has been teaching himself to play. He is pretty good. At Christmas he went Christmas caroling with his accordion to all his sisters' houses serenading them in the middle of the night!

To All of You - Our Customers and Friends

Please enjoy the great winter time. It seems as if the plants and trees are just waiting to burst forth. We have been seeing flocks of robins, so we know that Spring is very close.

Let me know if you have any questions or if you would like to make the trip up here to visit and get some GREAT FRESH eggs! We are loaded with them.

Louise Keckler

Orchard Country Produce and Fruit Farm, Inc

www.orchardcountryproduce.com

january Farm News and CSA sign up

Posted 1/20/2016 3:42pm by Gregg Keckler.

Dear Folks,

We are anticipating a great new year for our farming, CSA and Farm Stands.

We will be returning to all the same markets and Farm Stands -except St. Mark's Episcopal in Alexandria will be moving to Bush Hill Presbyterian Church in Alexandria. We will also be planning to return to all the CSA drop off locations for 2016.

If anyone would like to get a new CSA drop off location added - just get at least 6 shares delivered to the same location and we will add your stop. Let us know if you would like any information about this.

It is time to sign up for the 2016 CSA season. You can go to the website www.orchardcountryrproduce.com and sign up. You will get a 6% discount for signing up for all three sessions if you pay before May 15. You can pay online with a credit card or you can arrange a payment plan online or you can pay with a check and save another 4%.

We look forward to providing you with fresh vegetables and fruit again this year.

We are busy into our winter jobs. Gregg is making jam and applesauce. He is also the main caretaker for all the hogs, chickens and chicks. Speaking of chickens, we still have 50 brown egg layers that are giving us lots of fresh eggs. They are beginning to pile up. So if anyone wants to make the trip to the farm, we will give you a great discount for buying some eggs. We also have apples and meat available. Let us know if you would like to come up. You could stock up and sell them to your neighbors!

Oliver and Juan are working on Oliver's house. They gutted the whole thing last month. Now they are chinking between the logs. (It is log cabin) and putting up drywall. Oliver loves giving tours and sharing his plans. Come for a tour!

We have an old three-bottom plow. It was rather worn and broken in several places. We tried to purchase new pieces, but they were not available anymore. So Oliver got his future father-in-law to weld parts and build new pieces for it. But before we could get it finished the ground froze. So now we will have to wait until spring to plow this new 3 acre plot that we would like to add to the vegetables.

Family news!

If you haven't seen it yet, we posted a picture of all of us on FACEBOOK. We are growing! We added two grandlchildren in 2015 and in 2016 we will be marrying off the last two children. Virigina is will be marrying Dan Shedd in April and Oliver will be marrying Elizabeth Brown in October. WOW! An empty nest! What will we do!

I made a New Year's Resolution - to add pictures or blurbs to the FACEBNOOK page periodically throughout the year. So if you keep up with those things follow us on FACEBOOK!

Let us know if you have any questions or if we can help you in any way. Have a great month!

Gregg, Louise, and Oliver Keckler

Orchard Country Produce and Fruit Farm, Inc

www.orchardcountryproduce.com

January Farm News - CSA Sign ups and Farm market news

Posted 1/20/2016 3:40pm by Gregg Keckler.