Turkey Day

Thanksgiving has come and gone and along with it, the broad-breasted whites. I do miss them a little. We actually had fun raising them. I'll miss them pecking at my belt as I came to feed them. I'll miss them "tomming up", our nickname for when they would strut for the ladies. They were so ugly, but when they fluffed up they thought they were beautiful. While we cannot confuse them with smart, they were inquisitive. They would peck at anything on the ground. When we opened up their gizzards we found rocks, glass, and a few screws. The kids got some real life "anatomy and physiology". We still have some heritage breeds and some geese to keep us busy through the holiday season. We wanted to keep back a goose and try it, but the demand has outweighed our supply, so we may have to wait until next year. We did have enough of the broad-breasted whites to smoke one and it was delicious. My mother-in-law cooked a commercial bird in the oven and just so as not to hurt her feelings, we put our turkey out last after the first wave of eaters. It was no contest, all the kin were asking to taste our bird and all we had left was wings and legs. We have received similar compliments from our customers as to the taste of the birds. Overall, it was a success and so it seems we will stay in the turkey business. So until next thanksgiving, remember to be thankful for all you have and for how the Lord has blessed you today.

Electricity

I used to teach physics in High School and I was always trying to figure out experiments to demonstrate principles of physics. The farm is good for experimenting with physics as well. We have electric fences for all of our birds out on the farm, this is to protect the birds, but mostly to keep predators out. So far this has not been a problem for me, until recently. I have touched the fence when it is live and it has a little bite to it for sure. Here is where we have to think about the flow of electricity - it will travel to ground. When you grab the fence and have rubber soles on your boots, it just bites a little bit. Not enough to make you pee your pants, but enough to make you let go. I usually just step over the fence rather than unplug it. This time as I swung my leg over I caught my boot in the top wire. I somehow managed to twist my boot at the same time so it became a little tangled. I began hopping on the one foot trying to untangle the boot as I slowly began to get a little more into the fence. Each time I grab the wire to get it untangled, it keeps stinging me with electricity. At this point I am bad off-balance and I start to tumble. Now I have watched my kids fall over the fence many times and it makes me laugh out loud. I actually began to laugh as I fell because I couldn't believe I had gotten this tangled in the fence. Kendall also was lending her laughter to the situation. Here is where my predicament and the kids differ. They would normally trip on the wire and fall into the chicken yard - but clear of the wire. I fell into the yard still attached to the wire. Here is where our lesson on electricity comes back into play. Now if I am touching the wire and at the same time touching ground without any insulation, then where is the "best" path for electricity to flow? That's right - through me. I have seen on Youtube before someone being tased and they make this weird yelping, yelling sound - this is very similar to the sound I start making as I flop, twist and kick at the netting, while the full 8kV courses through me over and over again. Finally my spasms got me loose from the netting and I scrambled to my feet a little rattled. Kendall stared at me open mouthed not sure to laugh or be worried about me. I break into a wide smile and explain how electricity works.

Petit Jean Apple Butter Day is October 23rd!

The Annual Apple Butter Day at Petit Jean Farm is Saturday, October 23rd!
Join Turtle Rock Farms and other local farmers as we celebrate the age-old tradition of community cooking. With the help of our Amish friends we will be making kettle apple butter throughout the day with a local foods dinner being served under tents around the Honey Barn. Bring the whole family and enjoy all the food and fun activities. Make this the first year of a new family tradition!
Dinner $10
Apple Butter $5
Call or email us to RSVP
(501) 733-6389 or info@turtlerockfarms.com

Help Us Bring Isabella Home!

Our family takes the biblical mandate to provide for the orphan quite literally. We have adopted 2 children and are trying to adopt a 3rd. Isabella is a 10 month old little girl from China who has special medical needs. She suffers from a type of Spina Bifida and needs an operation to help her grow and function normally. The cost of her adoption will be well over $20,000. We are planning several different fundraisers and coupled with the generosity of you, our family and friends, we hope to be able to raise enough money to cover the costs of bringing Isabella home. Please consider contributing any amount, but keep in mind that 150 people giving only $100, helps us reach our goal. Thank you for doing your part in helping "birth" Isabella into our family.
Blessings,
Jeff & Sarah Croswell

Farm Tour Day Was A Blast!

Thanks to everyone who visited the farm on Sunday. Our family enjoyed playing host to all our friends and supporters. The weather was wonderful, the food was fantastic, and the hatchet throwing was hilarious! We hope to make this a recurring event for Turtle Rock Farms. For those that couldn't make the trip up the mountain, here is a slide show of all the day's activities. Enjoy!

New Website

It's official, Turtle Rock Farms is now your small, diversified, family, ONLINE farm! Our website hit cyberspace last night and is now a great way for you to keep track of happenings on the farm. Feel free to leave comments and feedback on the CONTACT US page. We want to hear your ideas and suggestions and to know how we are doing as your local farmers. Who knows, you may end up published on our website and other literature. Our blog will stay here until Sarah can figure out how to move it to our new site. It seems like everything we do comes attached with some kind of learning curve! Check us out at www.turtlerockfarms.com

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.