Season's Close

in the heat of the summer

by Katie

This Saturday at Argenta will be our last farmer's market until next season. The simple truth is the further into fall we get, the face-to-face markets are slower and slower and it becomes increasingly difficult to justify the time and energy we spend preparing to attend. I can't speak for all the other farm girls, but I really enjoy getting to meet and visit with our customers every week, even on those blistering hot August days, and I look forward to the hustle and bustle that spring will bring again. Worry not, we're in the process of listing everything on the Russellville, Conway, and Little Rock online farmer's markets, so if you haven't yet please check them out. 

Its a bittersweet time of year for us as the excitement of the spring and summer fade into the quiet, routine winter months. In some ways, I relish the winter. There's just so much more time close to home. Time to spend with my young family, time to bring our kitchen back to life after many hectic months, time for careful planning and the endless possibility it breathes into next season. Of course, this warmth of hearth and home is very sharply balanced by the bitter cold of life on the farm. I'm not looking forward to frozen hands that disobediently cramp during morning milkings, the endless unhooking-draining-reattaching of hoses to keep water running in the troughs, and itchy, prickly hay in all its many winter uses. Cheers to a season's close and to down-season full of warmth and joy. Thank you all for making our 2010 a resounding success.

For our final market we're offering a few great deals to help you stock you freezers for the coming months.

• $0.50 off eggs- now just $4.00/dozen
• All sausage by 2 get 1 free
• boneless hams 40% off, now $4.20/lb
• every purchase gets a free bumper sticker
  

Of course, I have to offer one more plug for our calendar. I know its not everyone's taste, but we all know someone who would enjoy it- so give a girl a hand and help us afford some much needed tractor implements. We've got a great plan for pig-friendly forages next year (peanuts, turnips, all sorts of luscious greens) now we need the tools to make it happen.

Starting the new season

by Katie

Just this week, 2010 ended and 2011 began for the Farm Girls. The last of our 2010 hogs have gone to the butcher and the first of the 2011 piggies have arrived. In the video above you can watch Hampshire cross piglets exploring their training pen and eating grass. As some of you may know, pigs can't survive on grass alone any more than we could, but that doesn't mean they don't like it. Just like all the other critters, they have favorite varieties of forage including red clover, hairy vetch, and dock. Those are mostly cool season treats and since we're coming off the blazing summer, our pastures have less appetizing fair like common bermuda and fescue on the menu right now. Luckily, this lot of pigs doesn't seem very particular, going after the fescue in their pen with great enthusiasm.

in the works

by Katie

We've been hard at work on something super fun lately... the 2011 Farm Girls calendar! Everyone looks amazing and the shoots have been really fun, despite some technical challenges. For example, how do you make August look like November? Outside of a professional studio, there might not be a good answer. We've just done our best to theme each month appropriately, even if we can't conjure up fall foliage or a chilling fog. Also, our current Farm Girl roster includes a farm boy you've probably seen at market; Will French the egg guy. Should we include him in the calendar? We have an extra month without a spokesperson, but some of us don't think a boy belongs in the girls' calendar. Others of us feel that he's a "farm girl" so he should have to take off his clothes just like the rest of us. If you have an opinion, help us out and take the poll to the left- we're really in a deadlock on this one.
So far, we've got 8 shoots down with 6 more to go. Among the completed ones are yours truly with sweet potatoes and lambs, Sarah with watermelons and corn, MC in a canning how to (or how not to), Ashley with our lovely milk goats, and Lindsay cooling off with the pigs. Still left to do are the cover, fence repairs, bucking hay, chickens & ducks, tractor repair, and hopefully a special surprise pictorial.
Like last year's calendar we're planning another with 13 months and a stunning cover, but this time on premium recycled paper. Look for it at market, on the online markets, and on our website in late September and enjoy these outtakes in the meantime:

the best way to can tomatoes with MC

Sarah and her melons

how do you dig sweet potatoes?