AFTER THE RAINS, A GOOD SURPRISE!!!

Some folks proudly display pictures of their children and grandchildren, I boast of pictures of cauliflower and broccoli! The crops have been rejuvinated after their three day Spa experience. Lots of  rain and mist, some occasional sun and wind. Even the weather beaten tomatoes and peppers have yielded new growth. The pastures are flourishing and the blackberries are heavy laden with little green fruit. The strawberries, whipped stripped, and beaten by the Spring winds and hail, have started to set new fruit! We may have berries in the market for a few weeks. Our market hours are Thurs. Fri. Sat. from noon until 4:00 pm. We have all but given up on LuLu. She waddles down to the pasture, finds a place to laze in the sun, and just lays there swishing her tail.... taunting us. Her belly and bag are so big, her top, back foot can't touch the ground! Our good friend Dairy Larry, calls her " Stumpy,"  we are just proud to call her ours. From our farmstead to your table, thank you for all of your support!!

LADY IN WAITING!!!

There are no words to properly describe LuLu other than just how it is! A fat, short cow! She takes the term "How the Cow ate the Cabbage" to a whole new level. The cabbage, the apples, the pecans, the spinach, watermelon, not to mention the grass and hay. I realize she is eating for two, but she eats for two all of the time. What is truely amazing is that when she hears her name called, and sees a bucket, she flies across the pasture like she weighs 100 lbs. Quite a memorable sight! You can actually feel the earth move as she approaches. She is patiently awaiting the impending birth of her calf, we are impatiently awaiting for her fresh creamy milk!! At this time of year, we reflect on the season and the sacrifice that was made so that we can have redemption from our misdeeds. Thank you Father in Heaven, and a special thank you to Jesus the Christ. From our farmstead to your table thank you for all of your support!!

NO RAIN? NO PROBLEM!!!!

Did I happen to mention that the Farmer is the handiest man that I know? All I have to do is mention that the dryer knocks, or the faucet drips, or that I would like another raised bed in my kitchen garden, or maybe a nice three compartment sink with a vegetable sprayer, in the market would be nice! And there he is.... Johnny on the Spot. Well I mentioned that since we haven't had much rain, it would sure be nice to irrigate most of the crops. TAH-DAH!! He rigged himself up a gismo that will lay the drip line under the ground! Now there will be some sweet corn, and some okra, and some black eyed peas, rain be darned! I admit that there is still nothing like a soft spring shower to leave everything clean and fresh. We were so grateful for that hint of misty rain and calm winds we got a couple of days ago, as we can now see evidence of new growth, after the beating everything took during the storms. The MARKET HOURS: Thurs. Fri. and Sat. from noon until 4:00 pm. By the way, one of our devoted customers put the farm on facebook. Due to my complete lack of the workings of cyberspace, I haven't figured out how to post the little Facebook logo on our blog to make a link. If you put our name R & C Dairy and Farmstead on facebook we should come up! I will continue my efforts to search the vast beyond for information on how to LINK??? From our farmstead to your table, thank you for all of your support!!

SHORT, BUT SWEET!!!

The Farmer has made an executive decision, after scoping out the strawberry field. We are closing the strawberry U-Pick for this year. We will have some berries in the market this weekend, but the plants are doing all that they can do to withstand the raging elements they have been exposed to. I actually saw a hail stone the size of a golf ball. It was a great couple of weeks and we felt the season was a success and we are going to plant them again next year, but will prepare with wind breaks, hoop houses or something to give them some protection. Onward and Upward!! The corn and the black eyed peas are poking through the ground, the tomato plants are looking slightly pitiful, but we have an optimistic outlook for them, and I am an avid believer in the miracle of resurrection. The market will be open the regular hours Thursday, Friday, Saturday, from noon until 4:00 pm. We will have cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, asparagus, beets, lettuce, spinach, Swiss chard, onions, winter and spring, and of course some strawberries. Plenty of goat milk and not so plenty of cow milk, but we are anxiously awaiting for LuLu to come through for us. The blackberries should be ready in mid May. From our farmstead to your table, thank you for all of your support!!

COMATOSE BERRY PLANTS!!!

The berry plants that have survived the elements have decided to put themselves into a deep sleep, I am sure they are hoping to awaken to calm winds, fresh air, sunshine with a hint of rain! We still have berries, but are watching them ripen very slowly. We will be picking again on Thursday morning, at 9:00am, if all goes well. Check the blog early in the morning for an updated post. The farmer says he has never seen the wind and drought like this in many years. Our hearts go out to those that are dealing with much more severe conditions than we are. The Farmers team at the fire station are helping fight the East Texas wildfires......I am not going to complain about a few dried up strawberry plants and blowing sand. From our farmstead to your table thank you for all of your support!!

BERRY LULL!!!

Between the hail, the sandstorms, the hurricane force winds and the ardent strawberry pickers, we are giving the berries a little respite.We will not be picking again until Tues. morning at 9:00. We will again pick on Thurs. and Sat. at 9:00 am. until pickout. The cool weather at night is allowing the strawberry plants to continue to produce more blooms and set fruit. As a good share of them are bare naked due to the loss of their leaves during the extremes in the weather, we will watch them carefully to see what they do. In our guestimation, we should have at least three more weeks of production. Then on to the blackberries. They don't care what mother nature unleashes on them. They are the gladiators of the berry field and will stand tall and fully loaded, ready for picking mid May. The produce is slowly coming on, we have had cauliflower, cabbage, spinach, lettuce, asparagus, broccoli, and onions, in the market. We are anticipating beets next week.Market hours are Thur. Fri. and Sat. from noon until 4:00pm. The supply of honey as dwindling, as we are playing the waiting game for the bees to nourish the new brood and start making honey for the new year. We will  probably start harvesting some honey the end of May or first of June. Bag check is done on LuLu each evening. She knows that she has everyone on the Jersey milk list anxiously waiting for the white gold she is toting around, and could not care less! From our farmstead to your table, thank you for all of your support!!

SATURDAY PICKING!!!!

Up and at em! We will be picking this morning from 9:00 am until pickout which will probably be around noon. The next picking day will be Tues am at 9:00 . The market will be open today from noon until 4:00pm. From our farmstead to your table, thank you for all of your support!!