Snakes Alive!

Remember the story about the black rat snake we found under the sheet metal? It seems we crossed paths again. We were out in Morrilton on Tuesday until almost twilight and I had not gone to the farm to put everyone to "bed" for the evening. As daylight was quickly departing, I made it to the moveable chicken coop only to discover a large pile of what looked like poop in one of the nest boxes. As I looked closer, it moved! It was a coiled up black snake with a diamond pattern on it's back. He had a large lump behind his head, which was an egg he was actively trying to swallow. (If you look closely in the picture below, the lump is right behind his head and between two eggs.) I tried to remember how Steve Irvin handles snakes all the time - crikey! I got a stick and tried to lift him out of the nest box, but that just seemed to upset him. So now he's slithering in and out of the boxes, but I can't get him up and out of the coop. Allow me to paint this picture, daylight waning, chickens coming in and out of the door while I'm repeatedly lifting a snake and dropping him. I finally figure out the balance point -which is behind the egg lump - and lift him out of the coop. In the process of lifting him out, his tail hits the bar by the coop door and he wraps his tail around it three times. There is no way I'm pulling him off this now, as he is holding onto the bar while I'm holding his upper half suspended in the air right behind the egg lump. He gets the bright idea that if he lets loose of the egg he might be more mobile. He begins to disgorge the egg, which under normal circumstances is a fascinating thing to watch. I'm just nervous that once he drops the egg he'll get under the coop and with a lack of daylight means - he wins. In no way am I going to be bested by a snake, but I have no time to contemplate this because about that time he drops the egg on the ground and now he's off. I “golf swing” the stick knocking him into the coop. Now the chickens are getting freaked out by my swinging the stick around and whacking at the snake, so they are flapping and jumping around and coming in and out of the door. I pin the snake's head with the stick and now there is another decision point. Do I grab it or kill it? I quickly determine with the amount of litter on the ground it is too soft to kill the snake inside the coop, so I decide he must be picked up. I'm not real excited about killing him as he does serve a useful purpose other than eating my eggs. Recounting mentally how Steve-o handles snakes, I grab him behind the head. Not being an expert, I'm not sure how firmly to hold him. I don't know if it was my grip or what, but he seemed really limp and his mouth seemed to stay open. Final decision time - what do I do now? I'm kind of in pacing mode - walking first one direction then another thinking what to do with him, when I spot the bluff. I figure if he survives the fall, then he deserves to live. I wind up and fling him over the trees as he did his best helicopter impression soaring over the tree tops. I take solace thinking he may have survived the fall. I wonder if he tells his snake buddies to stay away from “that farm” where the crazy guy chokes you and throws you over the treetops.

Let's Talk Turkey

Whew! It has been a very busy week. So busy in fact, when I sat down to update the blog I was going to apologize for not posting in over two weeks, but when I checked the last blog date it was only 8 days ago. Apparently we have managed to fill this last week with two weeks worth of work. Jeff and I have been hitting the pasture before the children awake and working until breakfast time, then heading back over after dinner and going until dark. This makes for much cooler working conditions and I have even come to enjoy those times of shared purpose and accomplishment. Farming is definitely not for the lackadaisical. So here is what has been going on since last week: the broiler chickens have grown exponentially,

we built 2 more hoop pens,

and started 40 turkey poults out on pasture (aren't they so cute?).

Those are just the highlights, but you get the gist of our workload. I will let Jeff fill you in on all the drama and excitement that has accompanied our latest projects, so think of me as the play-by-play announcer and he's more the color commentator. So far our brooder experiment has been successful. The brooder ring within the hoop pen out on pasture has been a lot easier to manage and a lot cleaner than the traditional boxed-in on litter approach. We have only lost one turkey so far which is a very good percentage, considering this is our first experience with turkeys. The second batch of turkeys (our heritage breeds) arrives later this week and then we can take a breather for about a day and then the work begins on getting everything spruced up for the Turtle Rock Farms Tour Day on Sunday, August 8th. Be sure to let us know if you are coming. The event is free, but we need to know how much food to have on hand. I'll be posting directions to the farm on the Locally Grown Markets and sending out an email to those that RSVP to turtlerockfarmsgood@gmail.com account. This is really getting fun now!

The Second Batch of Meat Chickens Is Here!

Today we picked up our second batch of broilers from the county 4-H office. They are just such cute little yellow cotton balls when so young. Alas, they grow out of all the cuteness in about 4 days when they start putting on the meat. We are shooting for a good showing at the market sale this year, which will give the children a nice bit of spending money. They will have earned it after all the feeding, watering, feeding, pen-moving, and feeding. So some of these chickens will have to wait until after the fair to become someone's Sunday dinner. They seem to be adjusting just fine to the new brooder. The next few days will determine if it is a keeper design. Now on to the next project--turkey poults are arriving Friday, so stay tuned.

Make Plans For A Farm Tour!

Come visit Turtle Rock Farms on beautiful Petit Jean Mountain on Sunday, August 8th from 2:00-5:00pm. Join our family for an afternoon of farm, fun, and food! You can tour our gardens, see where we raise our pastured poultry, and sample some our homemade/homegrown delectables: Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream, Stuffed Eggs, Iced Tea, and Tomatoes. We will be running a hay-ride shuttle from our house to the pasture and holding a knife throwing contest for the youngins. You are welcome to bring the whole family, just be sure to RSVP before August 4th via phone or email so we can make enough for everyone. We hope to see you there!
The Croswell Family
turtlerockfarmsgood@gmail.com
(501) 733-6389

Turtle Rock Farms, LLC!

We just received our official notice from the Secretary of State of the Articles of Organization of Turtle Rock Farms, LLC. This is our first time to start a small business and are very excited! Now to go about the business of business--opening checking accounts, meeting with CPA's, setting up filing systems, keeping records, organizing the farm office, etc. Wait! Where is the "small" part of this small business?

New Addition

Since we are a community farm, we share our space with Sheep and now Horses! Here are couple of pics of the beauties. We have some more exciting news to share, but that needs more time to explain. So check back for the official announcement.

This Also Is for the Good

There is an encouraging saying in Judaism, "Gamzu l'tova," which means "This also is for the good." Today we received a call from our hatchery telling us they underestimated the demand of turkeys this year and were all sold out of the type of turkey we ordered 2 months ago. What?! No turkeys?! What about our pre-orders?! We are dead in the water! Or so I thought. While the hatchery was out of all the large production breeds, they did still have some heritage breeds, which were small in size and 50% more expensive. Yikes! That's not what first-time turkey growers, who may or may not kill them all the first week, wanted to hear. However the gracious supervisor at the hatchery offered us a substantial discount on the birds so that the difference was less than a dollar! Now we had to rush around and educate ourselves on these different type of turkeys before they arrive next week, so we got out the "Backyard Poultry" magazines and fired up the google search engine and what we found was very exciting. Our turkeys, Bourbon Red and Blue Slate, are rare heritage breeds that have not been genetically bred for super-production, but are very beautiful and natural birds that have outscored production white turkeys in taste test after taste test. These breeds have retained the natural instincts such as, mating, brooding, mothering, and best of all for us, foraging on native grasses. Wow! All of the sudden the pit of despair and disappointment in the bottom of my stomach became a flutter of excitement in my chest. I know we will feel better about raising this type of historical, natural bird, and we hope our customers will, too. We are already planning to hold a few back this year to start a breeding program in order to have a continuous supply of these regal birds. So yes, I think "This also is for the good!"

Snake!

The other day while out at the farm we were inventorying some old corrugated metal sheets to see if they would work for the new brooder roof. I've been here in the country long enough to know to lift anything in tall grass with my boot and not my hand. I had three helpers with me, helping by playing football in the field. As I turn over the last piece of sheet metal, I see a flash of black. There are several varieties of snakes that we have seen around that are black: rat snake, cottonmouth, and my personal fav - the king snake. I immediately called the kids over to see it. I assumed it was a king snake, but he started shaking his tail like a rattler. This puzzled me as the kids came running. He was pretty nervous and kept trying to tunnel under the grass and the sheet metal. The kids finally made it and as I was pointing him out to them with my boot - he struck! He hit my boot, recoiled back under the grass before I even flinched my foot back. I laughed and said excitedly, "Boy, did you see that?" The kids all in unison said, "Make him do it again, Daddy!" Yep, they are adjusting just fine to the farm life!

We got home and they excitedly told momma about our adventure. Of course, they were mostly talking football, but then got around to the snake discussion. So we looked it up in the Arkansas snake guide and it turns out he was a black rat snake. When startled or when they are defensive, they shake the ends of their tails like a rattler. Nothing's on the end of their tails, but ours was just a shaking it. So if you ever see a black snake that is shaking his tail nervously without a rattle, he might be a safe guy to keep around.

Our "Re"cent Farm Activities

Part of the thrill of farming for us is to find ways to re-purpose, recycle, and re-use materials in our various projects. Our chicken coop, chicken tractor, hen-mobile, pasture pens, raised garden beds, tomato trellises, flower pots, nest boxes, waterers, and even our bathroom sink are all functioning in their second life. This morning we were planning out our day and knew we needed to build more roosts for our hen-mobile. We had the idea of harvesting some of the bamboo from the back of our property, cut to length, instead of using traditional lumber and all the cutting and screwing involved. It worked like a charm, our chickens are happier, and best of all, it was free!

Market Expansion

This week marks the first week we are selling some of our products at the ASN Local Food Club/Little Rock Locally Grown. We are very happy to be expanding our customer base and to reach a larger area with our "Family. Friendly. Fresh." approach to farming. Be sure to check our daughter's newest products--Duct Tape Wallets & Checkbook Covers. She came back from 4-H Entrepreneur Camp a child on fire for selling and marketing! We are so proud to see her embracing the simple farm lifestyle and modeling after our farming efforts. So not only is Turtle Rock Farms expanding into other markets, but we are expanding into the next generation!

A Note of Thanks

We wanted to send you a note of gratitude for your continued support of our efforts here at Turtle Rock Farms. Our family farm could not be a success without our loyal customers who desire a more wholesome, local product. As we continue to grow and try new projects we hope you will be there along side us. We want you to think of Turtle Rock Farms as “your” farm and that we are your resident farmers. We want to produce products that meet your standard of freshness and quality. We would love to hear your thoughts and ideas for future farm products, as well as feedback on how we can improve our existing items. Currently we have organically-grown heirloom tomatoes, eggs from our pastured hens, fresh-milled organic flour and my daughter’s organic herbs. We plan to offer pastured broiler chickens beginning the middle of August and will have pastured turkeys ready for you in time for Thanksgiving.

We have set up several avenues of communication that we hope you will use. We have a farm blog detailing the happenings around the farm found at www.turtlerockfarms.blogspot.com and we have a fan page on Facebook titled Turtle Rock Farms. You can also email us at turtlerockfarmsgood@gmail.com. We know you want to know how your food is produced and where it comes from, so we want to be as transparent as possible. We frequently post photos and updates on our blog so that you can follow along with our farm adventures. We plan to schedule farm tours later this summer and invite you to beautiful Petit Jean Mountain for a visit with our family.

Thanks, again for your support!
The Croswell Family & Turtle Rock Farms
Family. Friendly. Fresh.

Rain: Our Love, Hate Relationship

The rain has not been our tomatoes best friend. It has caused a lot of cracking in our Cherokee Purples. The overwhelming response to them at market has been exciting, but I am not sure we are going to meet all of the orders this week. We feel very strongly about providing a high-quality product and anything less is just not good enough. I will be making salsa and red sauce this weekend with the rejects, so all is not lost. Next year we are considering low covered tunnels for growing so that we can maintain a steady water regimen. Always learning!

Independence Day

We spent the 4th of July with family out in the Pocahontas area. We spent the trip learning about our day of Independence. We also learned about the history of our state flag. One of the additional pluses of home-schooling, school's always in session when your parents are the teachers! Once we got to Granny and Paw-paw's house we had the usual eats that you would associate with a 4th of July picnic. Corn on the cob, watermelon, hamburgers, hot dogs, brisket, potato salad, chips, and the list goes on. As each one of those cobs of corn were finished and each watermelon rind was thrown away I was sad. Now my father-in-law is a big proponent of composting, so he was saving all the throw-aways. But I was sad to see him throw it in the compost when we knew our chickens would have feasted on all those leftovers. I did manage to sneak a beef rib bone to our dog, but then found out right before we left he threw up in the house. Granny was not happy about that. So we left without chicken scraps, but ready to get home to the farm nonetheless. Everything was doing well, no new predator threats or problems. The tomatoes are looking gorgeous. There is just something about those Cherokee Purples. It's like they grow too fast, they have scaring on them - every one of them. The Travelers are much prettier to look at, but I prefer the taste of the Cherokee Purple. Let's have a quick poll - which ones taste better, Cherokee Purple or Arkansas Traveler? Vote in the comments below.

Poultry on Pasture

Today was a special day. We completed the move of our laying hens to their new home on acres and acres of tall, grasshopper ladened pasture! It was an adventure in and of itself, but then again, name something here on the farm that we've tried that hasn't been! I love it when dreams become reality!