Happy New Year

From all of us on Gryder Farm, we hope you have a great coming year. We are excited for all the new ventures we have ahead of us in 2011, and are thankful for a wonderful 2010. I'm not one for resolutions, but I do hope to keep blogging... maybe even on a more regular basis. This year has been so wonderful - the addition of sweet Olivia, birth of our first calves, lots of baby chickens, a wonderful summer and fall garden, and so much more. Hopefully we will continue to grow on the farm and extend even more into our community this year. I know Allen has high hopes off all that is to come. Stay tuned...!!

Lots of love from the girls of Gryder Farm!

Can it be?

Christmas already? But it was just summertime! I guess while I have been hidden away in the bank the last few months, time really has marched on. If nothing else, it definitely feels like Christmas time outside - brrrr!

Gryder farm has received it's Christmas present slightly early. Four healthy bull calves. Two brown; two black. Some belted. All cute. The girls love them. They enjoy helping Farmer Dad pull dying remains from our fall garden to feed them. The cows all love the attention. Allen has become proficient in night-time farming. It requires a good flashlight and a tractor with headlights. With daylight ending early and my job keeping me late, poor Allen has been stuck moving hay, feeding animals, and handling all farm duties in the pitch black cold outside. Well, except last night when he got a little lighting help from a gorgeous full moon.

I am looking forward to getting a little time at home post-Christmas to enjoy the new baby animals, sweet baby Olivia, ridiculous amounts of new toys, fashion shows from Emma, hot chocolate and hot coffee, and hopefully a few cozy husband-built fires. Wishing you and yours a very merry Christmas (since my slackerblogitis will probably prevent me from another entry pre-New Year).

Feliz Navidad!

Calf #2

We have another baby. Calf number two was born this morning. We are not sure yet it if is a boy or girl, so naming will have to wait until another day.

In other news, Gryder Farm has started cranking out the Christmas cookies. Emma has proven to be a fun helper this year. Keeping the girls off the tree and presents can be a full time job, but there is no question: we are in the holiday spirit!

Bring it on, Santa!

Introducing

Baby Face

New life on an old farm

Pale Face (cow) has dropped her calf. We have our first baby cow born on Gryder Farm today. Allen is currently watching all of our babies, so he hasn't gotten a chance to go check on Baby Face (I haven't ran it by Allen yet, but seems like a logical name) and mom yet, but hopefully we will have pictures of our newest addition before too long. Hopefully we'll be seeing a couple more calves showing up within the next month.

Happy Thanksgiving

I can't begin to write down everything I'm thankful for today. Right now, I'm thankful that there are still people out there reading my blog! Hope everyone has a great day and some great food. Thank you for being a part of our lives.

It's getting cold out here!

Winter is trying to sneak in on the farm. The occasional morning of ice on my windshield. A gorgeous weekend followed up by a freezing Monday. The frost killing off my basil before I got a chance to stock some away. The egg production dropping horribly low. I do believe we got the best of the cold weather Saturday night though. All the kids were away at least for the night allowing Allen and myself a lovely night for a potluck and bonfire. Good company, good food, good times! Now to figure out how to use up the extra 2 1/2 bags of marshmellows....

October update

What's that? You've been wondering what us Lowrances have been busying ourselves with for the past month? Lots! First we had some apple picking at a local orchard (Windy Hills). Emma and Mary Claire had a blast picking and eating.

We also visited Brattonsville for their Fall Festival and a bit of living history. The girls got to taste cider, make a beeswax candle, and each bring home a pumpkin from the hay ride.

Of course, there was the outside time on our own farm. What better ways to spend our weekends than playing on daddy's "tractor", snacking straight from the garden, and hanging out in the hammick?

And lets not foget the fun of just watching Olivia grow. She is so smiley these days. Emma and Mary Claire both love to hold her and help out.

And of course, Mary Claire's birthday. We celebrated it on the day (October 27) and will celebrate again tomorrow for a Spooky Birthday Party with our friends and family.

Life is good on the Gryder Farm.

Slack blogger

Yes, I'm officially a slack blogger. My dream of the once a week entry has flown out the window, while I struggle to try and maintain more than one entry a month! So much has been going on with my return to work and Allen's adjustment to watching a 3 month old, an almost 2 year old, and a 3 year old. Oh, and then there's the planning of Mary Claire's (small) 2nd birthday, our 6 year anniversary, and our annual bonfire coming up. I almost forgot Halloween.... guess we need to do something for that as well. And no, I do not know what my kids will be. I do, however, know that we have a ton of dress up clothes at the house, including some costumes, so whatever they will be, it is already in their bedroom!

In farm life, we have definitely began enjoying some young, tender greens and salads. The deer have also been enjoying some of what our fall garden has to offer which has made it a little more difficult to share than we had originally expected. The chickens have started molting and with the cold weather starting, egg production has also dropped off a bit. Looks like we are all on a slightly lower than usual production level these days!

Any other news? Well, I just forced myself to eat a cup of yogurt when I really, really, really wanted a McDonald's sausage buscuit. If that's not an accomplishment, I don't know what is.

We have Oyster Mushrooms!

We also have little girls running in the pastures and feeding the chickens...

Fall planting

I love fall, and it's not just because of the return of the Pumpkin Spice Lattes to Starbucks (that I'm sipping on as I type). Yes, it is one of my few guilty pleasures that I cannot seem to reproduce at home! While I hate to see the days of summer squash, green beans, and tomatoes go away, I am excited about entering a whole new season of veggies to grace our table.

Allen made the semi-annual trip to the Farmer's Exchange on Wednesday to get everything we needed for our fall garden. After spending all day out there working today, I'm proud to say our garden has been made over for the fall. Seeing the compost we've been working on for years put to use is such a good feeling! The thought of slow-cooked collard and turnip greens leaves my mouth watering.

I am also looking forward to being able to start providing our community with fresh produce once again. The lack of rain and arrival of our third child cut our ability to produce enough to sell short this summer. Hopefully we will soon be offering baskets of fresh, locally-grown produce once again.

My apologies for the double posts without pictures but it's definitely too dark to document the beautiful garden tonight! Photos to come.

Transformation Complete!

We now have a "play room". Technically, it's also still the laundry room (and probably will be multitasking as an office in the future as well), but what was once a closed in porch is now officially a room. The girls were in heaven this afternoon with their new play space, and I am elated to have some more square-footage (and a new space to have them out from under my feet!). I am also looking forward to doing the laundry in a warm room this winter. No more mad dashes trying to get wet laundry moved over to the dryer while shivering! Since the room is still in being organized, I will save posting pictures for later. A big thanks to Hal (Allen's dad aka Papa) for helping Allen with the finishing stages of this project, and to David (Allen's friend) for helping in the beginning. Great work all around!

In other farm news, our "loaner" white silkies have successfully hatched a few of their own eggs. Ma and Pa Silkie will stay with their babies for a little while to avoid putting the babies into the brooder, then will head back to their home. The little white babies are super cute!! I am really looking forward to having them run around the farm.

Olivia, figs, and potatoes

As promised, I have definitely been slack with blogging since the arrival of sweet Olivia. Even without much produce coming in right now, we have been swamped here on the farm. There is the ever so time-consuming task of three daughters ages three and under. I have been enjoying my time off work by trying to do some things that are so hard to find time for with working 40 hours a week. The girls, our friend Allison, and myself took a trip on the Light Rail in Charlotte. The family, except Mary Claire, visited the Nature Museum in Charlotte as well.

The one thing we do have coming in now is FIGS! Lots of figs. So... fig preserves time! I made a batch with cinnamon in it that we have been very much enjoying.


I am also getting an opportunity to cook a little bit. Last night's dinner was accompanied with some home-grown okra and some roasted fingerly potatoes Allen grew. This was our first year doing potatoes and they turned out great.

Updates

It's been two weeks since Olivia joined the family, but it already feels like she's always been a part. Mary Claires LOVES holding her as often as we will let her. Emma is super sweet about telling Olivia how much she loves her. We are definitely adjusting well to being a family of five.

Sadly, the heat and dryness (along with the new baby) has brought our garden to a bit of a stand-still. The second planting for the summer did not quite happen, but the fall planting has begun. We are still getting a little here and there, but should be back in business in another month or so with some fall produce.

Today's task - Allen is making and canning salsa. A bit larger of a task than he expected.... the pot has ended up huge! We are looking forward to some good, homemade salsa all winter long. Thank you Granny and Papa for the extra tomatoes!

Olivia Jane Lowrance

Born July 22, 2010. 7 pounds, 10 ounces. 20 inches long. Perfect.

We cannot wait to share pictures of our beautiful new addition. Be on the lookout for them once we make it home from the hospital! Thank you to all our friends and family for the out-pouring of love and support as we have completed our family. We love you all.

Thursday morning, Allen and I will be headed into the hospital bright and early. Hopefully within a few hours, we will have sweet baby Olivia in our arms! Assuming all goes as planned, we will be returning to the farm on Sunday. A big thanks to Allen's parents who are coming in from Raleigh to take care of our kids, our animals, and our garden while we are gone (although I'm sure Allen will sneak home at LEAST once to make sure all is running smoothly!). Please keep us in your thoughts as we complete our family. We look forward to introducing all of you to Olivia in the near future!

Impending addition

I have become a slack blogger and unfortunately, it will probably get worse before it gets better! Within the next few weeks, these two girls will welcome number three to the farm. Three girls ages three and under -- Allen and I are in for a crazy ride! Please bear with us over the next month or so as we make the adjustment from a family of four to a family of five!

Support local!!

We are finally up and running our own "mini CSA". We are offering $10 assortments of whatever the garden is currently gracing us with. Just call ahead and let us know you are coming to pick up! You can come weekly, every other week... whatever works for you! We love sharing what we are doing with our community. Bring the family out - take a look around. For an addition $3, add a dozen eggs to your order.

And now... a few shots from the garden!

Black bean and corn salsa

One of our favorite things to eat is black bean and corn salsa. Let me tell you how much better it was when practically everything came out of our garden this time around - the tomatoes, red onion, cilantro, bell peppers, and of course, the corn!
Home grown tomatoes... a beautiful sight.

Cilantro. Yum.

Early corn - super sweet raw in this salsa, grilled, or boiled.

Does it get any better than this?! Some lime tortilla chips and we are in business!

Foxes on the farm

Unfortunately, our two new hens had a short-lived stay on here on the farm. Last night they were snatched up by a fox. Allen actually saw two foxes, but not soon enough. At 5 a.m. he was running out the door with the shot gun, but the damage was already done and the foxes were no where to be found. Albeit not the prettiest of chickens, we hate to see them go. Emma was already getting attached. The rooster did make it, but isn't of any real use to us with out his ladies. Guess back to craigslist to try and find some more sitters. And tonight, Allen is sleeping with one eye open ready to catch himself some foxes.

Unfortunately, we lost 12 chickens (3 black silkies and our 9 two month old chicks) the other night. Allen immediately set to the task of finding us some more "sitters" so we will be able to continue hatching some of our eggs. Today he and the girls went and picked up our newest additions. Then Allen called to warn me that we are now the proud owners of some of the ugliest chickens he's ever seen! The girls disagree; they are smitten.

Our crazy new trio of birds. Featherless necks and heads. Well, other than the pom-pom on top.

The rooster. Intimidating? Not so much. Fluffy head? Definitely.

White hen. Emma's favorite.

This kid has me thinking....

Maybe it's time for a milk cow?

Yes.... my youngest is currently on as close to an all-milk diet as is possible. Sorry Mary Claire - Mommy doesn't want to milk a cow at the crack of dawn! Maybe next year!