It is hot as Hades outside and we are getting ready to plant pumpkins! Hopefully we might get a splash of rain to help the dry ground loosen up a bit. We are now in survival mode with all of the heat and dry weather. The okra and the black eyed peas are in heaven, the tomatoes are in stall mode,the peppers and eggplant are in high gear, and the squash and cucumbers are trying to decide to keep producing or just call it a day! The blackberries are providing plenty for the market, but not quite enough for u-pick. We are getting a few raspberries and the peaches have been delicious. Did you know that the cling variety are the first to produce? The freestone peaches are later in the season. All of our white peaches, like the Georgia Bells are a couple of weeks out , yet. The melons are coming along and we should have a good crop of cantelope and watermelons in July. Our market hours are 10:00 until noon Thurs and friday, and Saturday from 10:00am until 4:00. We now have some of Sloans Creek farms heritage meats available in the market, beef and pork. We have our own ground beef and ground goat meat also. The bees are in full honey production keeping all of the fruits and veggies polinated. We should start harvesting this years honey soon. Speaking of bees........ on hot summer days the girls find a favorite watering spot. I have a small fountain in my little garden that is the watering hole of choice for many of them. Mid day will find hundreds covering the fountain getting a drink. They cool off a bit then go back to the hive and fan the queen with their wings, the hive is kept a constant temperature of about 91 degrees. For those interested in picking black eyed peas, they will be ready in about a week, so gear up . We will pick by appt. so just give us a call. Early mornings or later in the evenings before dark are best as it is cooler. The peas will be $30.00 a heaping bushel if you pick . I will post when the snaps are ready. From our farmstead to your table, thank you for all of your support!

And I thought watching strawberries ripen was tedious, well I forgot about how slow tomatoes are to turn bright red! We are patiently checking morning , noon and night for the first signs of a blush, and I think there a a few varieties starting to turn. For those of you waiting to make the perfect salsa, or pasta sauce from fresh tomatoes, the wait will be well worth it. Things are rockin along here at the farm, the watermelon vines are setting blossoms, the okra is blooming and oh, the black eyed peas are making little peas already. We will be doing the u-pick on the peas in a couple of weeks. The blackberries are not quite putting enough out at one time for a u-pick, but we do have some to sell in the market. Our hours are now Thurs and Fri. 10:00am until Noon and then Saturday, 10:00 am until 4:00 pm. Some of the peaches are ready, so we will have some in the market this week. My computor has influenza of some sort, so if I leave you quite suddenly, it is because it has passed out on me. I am hoping to get it fixed in a day or two. We are starting the next round of goat babies, so far all is going well. There are several girls yet to kid, then we will be through until next Spring. We have a heifer that is going to calve in about 3 weeks, so more fresh milk. Her name is Godiva, as she is chocolate colored. Wish she would give Chocolate Milk! From our Farmstead to your table , thank you for all of your support!

I am probably the last hold out this summer to turn on the air conditioner. Rocky is about to die! He goes to the cafe/gas station for lunch and spends about 2 hours so that he can cool off. I just hate to shut the outside world out, there is nothing like the cool morning and evening breezes coming through the open windows, and hearing the sounds of nature busy with their days activities. This time of year separates the true farmers from the wimp farmers, as it is a true test of dedication to the occupation, if you can spend a better part of the day outside doing what needs to be done this time of the year. The early summer crops are doing wonderfully, as everything is in its peak of production. The tomatoes , okra, and black eyed peas have a little while yet to go. We are picking cucumbers, peppers, green beans, onions, assorted summer squash, beets, carrots, a few peaches, and blackberries and rhubarb. The garlic is ready, and soon we will have summer melons. We have dug all of the potatoes and we have a bumper crop. We are going to extend our market hours, and will be open Thursday, and Friday from 10:00 am. until noon and Saturday from 10:00 am. until 4:00pm. Starting next week June 7. We will have dairy products available also. We are down to the last of the last honey from last fall, and will soon be harvesting this years gatherings. For those of you who have asked about cream we have a heifer that will be freshening in a few weeks, so we may have a little extra milk to gather cream from. Butter is a lost sweet memory. ( It takes a gallon of CREAM to make a pound of butter). From our farmstead to your table, thank you for all of your support!

The days are flying by and summer is approaching! On the farm warm weather means tomatoes, peppers, corn, okra, black eyed peas, eggplant , green beans, garlic, and ........ flies. We have had a good showing of new potatoes and onions and the sugar snap peas have gone crazy! The cucumbers are finally making themselves known, as well as the summer squash. Even though the lettuce and spinach have slowed down a bit, the swiss chard has been valiant in growing quickly after cuttings. We picked our first blackberries and they were delicious. The raspberries will be a couple of weeks. We will probably harvest the first peaches next week. The green beans are a little slow, as we were not able to get them in as early, due to the wet weather we had. Our market is open on Saturday from 10:00 am until 4:00pm. We will try to have a good supply of vegetables picked, so everyone will have a good selection when they stop by. We will post what will be available for u-pick . We are not sure about the blackberries, as this is our second year and we were not supposed to get many berries, but the bushes have berries -a-plenty. We will certainly have some in the market, and if there are more than we can sell, we will go ahead and start the u-pick blackberries this year. Also we now have farm raised ground beef @ $4. 00 per lb. It is delicious,and very lean . From our farmstead to your table, thank you for all of your support!

With great sadness and heartfelt gratitude, we announce the closing of our strawberry picking season. The heat has taken its toll on the cool weather berries. We have picked a few and will have them for sale in the market along with the seasonal vegetables that we are harvesting now. Our market hours are from Saturday 10:00am until 4:00pm. We will have new potatoes, onions, sugar snap peas, beets, carrots, various squash, a few cucumbers, garlic, cabbage, lettuce, rubarb, fresh herbs, and whatever else we can find. We are looking forward to tomatoes, eggplant and peppers in a couple of weeks. Our goat milk supply is plentiful, but we do have a waiting list for cows milk, as we have a limited supply of it. Yogurt, goat milk cheese, kefir are also available. Call or e-mail if you have any questions, from our farmstead to your table, thank you for all of your support!

It has been an eventful week here at the farm! We are still having a few stragglers having babies, the tomatoes are finally setting fruit, the okra has decided it is warm enough to emerge, and we lost our herd sire, to injuries he sustained while trying to prove he was the biggest and the best. Goats have a pecking order in the herd. If a new member is introduced into the mix, it is made evident immediately who is the leader and who is the follower. We raised a new buck this year to help with the breeding, as our herd is growing and we needed to explore a different lineage of dairy goats. Our existing buck needed a little help in the " AMORE" department . We have to separate the bucks from the does to protect the quality of our milk, so the bucks are together in a pen. Usually, after a few sniffs, and head butts, and a game of chase around the pen a couple of times, the boys settle down, realize who is the boss and turn their attention to eating and sleeping. Welllllll........ needless to say somebody thought he was the "cheese that standed alone" and was going to do whatever he could to rid himself of the young nuisance that was invading his space. He head butted and pounded and chased and butted some more. That young buck was running around and around the pen, trying to avoid a confrontation . We finally had to separate them as he was relentless in his efforts to bring the younger buck down. Well, the next day he was wobbling around as if he was drunk, and his head was swollen the size of a watermelon. He fell asleep that night and did not wake up the next morning. Kind of makes you stop and think, doesn't it! There are lots of lifes lessons that we learn here on the farm, and from this harrowing experience, we do not assume that older, bigger, and stronger, insures a long and healthy life. If you become full of yourself and are overbearing and dominating, your head may swell, but not for a good reason. So on that cheery note................. from our farmstead to your table thank you for all of your support!

As we stroll up and down the strawberry rows, we smile at the struggling efforts of the plants to just give us one last burst of production. The plants have been gracious and generous to our pickers. We are so grateful to all of those who ventured to the country to get a sampling of home grown fruit. We will be picking for two more Saturdays, then we will close the strawberry patch until next season. We are looking forward to the summer vegetables as they are coming on, the eggplant and tomatoes and peppers are looking very promising. We are already picking squash and a few cucumbers.The beets, greens, onions, new potatoes, broccoli , cabbage, and rubarb and more, will be available in our market. Our market hours are Saturday from 10:00 AM to 4:00pm. We will update all on the progress of the blackberries. From our farmstead to your table , thank you for all of your support!