If it was colder, we'd be buried in snow!

The title says it all, it's been raining a lot these days around here. But, after almost an entire summer without it, I think we're all content to live with it for a while.
We start pruning today, so let the season of cold and wet afternoons begin! It's times like these that we appreciate the hot-tub again. After not using it for the summer months, we forget how nice it will be to jump in after a chilly afternoon hugging a pair of pruning shears!
Other than pruning, there are still some odd jobs here and there to get done, but the biggest project we have recently completed was renovating part of our large barn into a band 'jam' space for some co-workers of Katies! It required some framing, insulation and drywalling, along with some carpeting and a little electrical work, but overall the project went quite smoothly, and the band hopes to be able to move their stuff in as quick as possible. Go team for finishing by December 1st! A lot of hard work went into making that happen.
As for the household, we bundled up the kids after lunch today (it was pouring rain) and headed down to the field to pick out our very first household Christmas tree! Bryan and Lynn had planted Christmas trees on certain parts of the property several years back, and we are lucky enough to be reaping the rewards. So, we trekked down there, soggy boots and all, (the kids had to jump in every puddle imaginable, and they may have taken their own puddles home with them later) and carefully selected which tree would be the lucky tree to decorate our living-room. Now, a smart move here would have been to measure out our ceiling space before selecting said tree, right? Nah. Winging it is way more fun. As a result, the ceiling above the spot we had picked in our living room for the tree to sit was too low, and we mis-judged how big our tree was by a long shot. It's taaaallll. Beautiful! But tall. So, after some living room shuffling, (and some tree-shortening) it now sits proudly in front of the large bay windows for all to see. See for yourself!

We still need to decorate it, and we're hoping the kids can handle the responsibility! We'll need a few chairs to reach the top, that's for sure!

Katie's Entry

Sorry this is late in arriving - Katie dutifully sent it to Liz....who kind of forgot about it for a while. Whoops! Here is an entry Katie wrote back in October (my bad) about the excursions of getting our cows and pigs off to the butchers, and general good times!

As the meat of out labours (... somehow that doesn't sound inviting...) rests in the capable hands of our butcher, we can now look back on the insanity which was October 14th and laugh. I'm sure that anyone from a larger farm would read this and think to themselves "They only had to round up a few pigs and a couple cows?? That's NOTHING!" Well, to us, it sure was something! 

The animal transporter guy was due to show up at 10:00 am, so Jon and Marc were out there in the pig pen bright and early rounding them up into a trailer so they would be more easily herded into the back of the truck. It really doesn't sound hard, but until you've tried to get a 300lb pig up a ramp and into a trailer, think again. Oh, and to make it even more fun the sky chose that particular day to release the last 4 months of pent up rain on us unsuspecting hog herders. The pigs were super happy wallowing in their mud puddle until Marc and Jon came in with the trailer, rain gear and a strong resolve. The pigs had other ideas. After almost 2 hours and a bunch of pig wrestling, they had all but one in and settled. 

Along come Laura and I with 6 of the 7 kids (Elijah was at his grandparents because Josh and Liz were in the Caribbean) to watch the fun, innocently thinking that they would be wrapping up by now. We watched, and admittedly laughed at, them chasing the one last lady who just would have nothing to do with getting up that ramp. She even took Jon for a bit of a ride getting in between his legs and taking off! I really wish I had had my camera. I'm not sure what possessed me, but after this I went in there too, perhaps in an attempt to be one more body to direct it from running in pretty well any direction but toward the trailer. 

After watching us for a few minutes the kids were starting to get soaked, and the babies were losing patience. Laura, super mom and muscle woman that she is, heaved Evelyn in one arm and Charlotte in the other, for a total of about 50lbs of wet squirmy babies for a good 20 minutes, and got everyone back to the house for hot chocolate. The kids sure loved all of the puddles they got to splash in on the way back to the house! 

 I really don't know how they had done this for an hour and a half already, but after not even half an hour, I was exhausted and soaked to the bone. I honestly don't even remember what we finally did that succeeded in getting that last pig in there, but we did it. It would have been quite comical if it sauntered in there while we were off taking a breather, but I think it was actually a combination of luring it with food and walking slowly behind it with a stick while some of us held plywood and gates to act as a funnel. Whatever it was, it worked. Now onto the cows. Shoot. They are MUCH bigger, and even all three of us are no match for even one of them if they get riled up. So this time it was a game of smarts. Cows are not so smart you see, so we opened the gate to the small pasture and they wandered in and happily ate what was left of the little grass in there while we made our plywood and fence funnel again. By this time the transporter had arrived and maneuvered his big truck strategically into place at the end of the funnel. No where to go but up the ramp! Hazzah! Once that was all set up we basically walked around them until they began to move in the right direction and gave them even less places to go by having someone wherever they turned. Slowly, they made their way into the truck, rather easily. But anything would seem easier than those darn pigs at this point.  

 So there we have it. Sunday's animal round-up complete, one day reprieve then it on to catching 150 broiler chickens at 5:00am on Tuesday, and picking up 300+ layer hens Tuesday evening for sale on Wednesday. Oh the life on a farm. Somehow though, even with all of it's crazy adventures, I wouldn't trade it for anything. I love it here. Some days it isn't easy, but that's what makes it interesting. Keeps us all on our toes. I was thinking the other night as I was falling asleep, how did I go to bed in the house every night alone, aside from a sleeping Jeremiah, at our old place when Marc was doing night shifts at the bakery? No one else within 300 meters maybe more. I have gotten so used to having people around all the time, that the life we left behind seems so lonely and isolated now. No, I wouldn't trade this for anything. Meadowbrook Farm is my home, and I love it.

Katie.

Ahhhhh.

Wondering if we fell of the face of the earth? Expired as the last blueberry fell? Fear not, we are still here, and carrying on!
The end of blueberry season was a welcome relief for most of us, in the same sense as how you feel after a long day of work and you finally get to sit down and breathe. It was satisfying, and extremely productive, and we all got a great sense of what customers like and buy in terms of the other products we offer. Now that we've de-briefed, we are sitting down and looking at new and exciting ways to bring our farm business, and continue keeping our valued customers happy!
The house has settled more or less back into it's usual routine, and as our weather stretches on with all this sun, the kids are enjoying some extra time on the deck and running around outside before it starts getting too chilly. We're still having to tell them that, unlike the summertime, they probably don't want to go running out onto the dewey back deck in nothing but their bare feet right after breakfast, and it's a concept that will probably be learned the hard way. Soon, snow will be falling, and they will forget all about chalk on the back deck and will be too excited about making snow angels on the front driveway to care!
Something fun we did in early September was to throw a Harvest Festival, to bless and show our appreciation for many individuals who made this season possible for us. We invited our pickers, our neighbors, and anyone we could think of who pitched in and helped the season flow smoothly. Here are some shots from the evening of activities!

Musician Trevor played his guitar and filled our little valley with some wonderful music for the start of the evening!

Liz drove the tractor around the property and did hay rides for the kids and excited adults. Who doesn't love a good hay ride?

Our food tent, and Fanny hard at work getting those delicious hot dogs and hamburgers set up.

Liz spent part of the afternoon beforehand picking sunflowers and making these flower arrangements for the tables as decorations. Not too shabby!

Katie, getting some much needed grub.

We had a bouncy castle set up for the kids - they had a blast!

Over-looking the main set-up and stage. Amanda played us some beautiful piano music for the evening.

The hay bales worked quite well as seating! Not even that pokey!

Elijah, enjoying dinner.

A little better view of the food tent, and it's decorations. I'm not sure Susan or Fanny left that tent much!

Charlotte, just hanging out!

It was really great to see everyone mingling, and getting to know each other better. That's what it's all about.

We had a blueberry pie eating contest!! Marc spent the night before making these little tasty treats, and we had a prize for whoever could finish theirs the fastest. You could use your hands, or not, it was up to you how you got it down!

Josh didn't win, but he seemed like he enjoyed his, at the very least!

This was Jacob's expression more or less when he *thought* he had won, and when forced to swallow the massive amount in his mouth before being declared winner, was out-paced by Aaron. Poor guy...extra points for outfit preparation though!

Aaron, who GREW UP on this farm and has therefore had years of experience when it comes to blueberry pie eating, won the contest. Who saw that coming? ;) Here he is holding up his prize. (It's a game.)

The kids might have come in last, but certainly not for enthusiasm! What a bunch of monkeys.

Evelyn even got to try some of daddy's delicious baking. Not a piece went to waste!

Something else fun we did was hand out prizes to some of our pickers. There was the prize for 'fastest returning picker', and 'fastest new picker', and we also gave out a prize for 'most enthusiastic'.

Overall it was a big success. As with any event, there are probably things we will do differently next year, but we had lots of people tell us how wonderful it was to feel appreciated, and to have a chance to talk and meet people in a less official and crazy time like blueberry season. 

So now what? Now we wait until the leaves have turned red and fallen, and the boys can begin the long and chilly process of pruning all over again. They feel confident that they have a good handle on it this year, with experience behind them and also being able to see the bushes during the summer, and see where they should have pruned differently. We have faith in you, boys! Liz has said she wants to give it a try and some point, so time will tell if she's a good pruner or not. You never know until you try!

Last but certainly not least, our farm will be growing by one more next April. Yes, Liz and Josh will be expecting their second, making the adults seriously out-numbered by little rascals next year! Heck, we're already out-numbered. What's one more?

The Season in Full Force part 2

While Katie and Marc are busy running back and forth from field to berry hut, house to field, etc, Liz is busy wrangling the household and the various children that still occupy it, regardless of blueberry season! Susan is blessing the household with her time watching the 3 oldest Godbeer children from 9 - 3, so after breakfast her crew gets dressed and clears out for fun time with Grandma. They've been doing all kinds of things - beach trips, petting zoo, playzone - the question remains: where does Susan find the energy?? You are amazing Susan.
Heather spent her first week here helping out around the house, and Liz found the extra pair of hands (and eyes) invaluable. Heather also had her friend Shae here this past week, and the two of them were a duo of superhuman child care! Liz was actually able to tidy up after meals without juggling too many children, and there were generally less fits and tantrums since the kids were getting the attention they want and need. Karen has been lending many hands as well to the mix, sometimes taking Elijah to her place for a change of scenery, or else actually offering to help tidy the place up on a rare quieter afternoon. Bless you!
Laura has been running the store front during the week, while juggling order bookings, sorting blueberries, and (when the time allows) her real estate! Customers have been very happy with the size and quality of the berries, which is encouraging since it's our first year, and it would have been a little disappointing if things hadn't gone as well as they have been. It seems for the most part that people are happy with us as the new owners. Happy customers makes for happy owners!

Elijah has proven to be a handful these days as he cannot yet walk, but has decided he can climb. Not yet baby boy!

Charlotte is on those two little feet of hers more often than not these days, and she loves climbing onto these 'riders' and moving herself along.

Evelyn, desperately wanting to follow Charlotte up the slide. Patience little girl, you will be running before you know it!

Some of Hannah's creations during playdough time!

Hannah working on her playdough masterpieces.

3 little prisoners...I mean babies. This is actually something they love to do while the older kids are outside playing. An entire playroom behind them, but really all they want to do is watch the older kids.

More playdough fun! 

The 3 amigos from behind. Elijah, you seem to have lost your pants, son. 

The Season in Full Force

The term 'blueberry season' is no longer a mythical future event, with unknown possibilities. It's here, and we're neck deep.
The day starts out with pickers arriving around 8:15-8:30, and with Katie leading the charge, they begin harvesting all those tasty tasty berries. The season started off with bringing in an average of 300lbs or so, slowly ramping up to 500lb last week, and our whopping total for today was a back-breaking 1500lbs! We are fast approaching the peak for 'the season' and it is fast and furious. Katie is doing a wonderful job of keeping track of pickers, Marc is getting better and faster at sorting (or 'grading' in the blueberry world) and their various helpers make the day go so much faster and smoother. Many thanks to Cliff and Jack who help out regularly at the hut, not to mention Bryan, Lynn and Beth, who don't need to help, but are ready and willing to do so anyways!!
Here are some shots from around the farm. Some of them are several weeks old, mostly because of how busy we've been.

This was taken just as the berries were starting to turn blue!

Marc walking through the fields, checking for ripe berries. Still waiting at this point.

A shot down one of the rows, still probably a week or so away from picking in this picture.

Taken last week, of a branch with various stages of ripeness.

Come on berries, save some room for the leaves!

It doesn't seem possible that this branch could hold this many berries.

3 nice juicy berries. These are the Patriot variety.

Part of our garage table layout for sales.

Jam and soap nuts! Not together.

Pints!

The 3lbs are good sellers. Probably because most people realize that the pint size wouldn't make it to the end of the road...

Our berries, their berries. It just doesn't seem fair, does it?

The end of the day, depending on sales that day, can go either way. If sales were good, then we have fewer berries to freeze. Sometimes, like today, sales were really good, but we still had a lot to freeze! The nights tend to be later than some of us would hope, but we want to ensure our customers are only getting fresh blueberries, so anything that wasn't sold that day, is frozen that night. This way too, we have something to sell year round. In order to freeze them, we need to hand sort through all the berries and take off the stems, or leftover tree remnants, and weigh them into 5lb bags. When you have 150lbs to sort through, this can take a while! Good thing many hands make light work. :)

The time has come!

Hip hip hurray! They're here! And more importantly, so are our wonderful hired pickers.
Wednesday was our big start day, which thankfully for the sake of easing into the process, picking was only until lunch. Lynn was down in the field with Katie, mentoring her and showing her the ropes. Marc and Cliff spent their morning 'sorting' the blueberries, and the pickers did the most important job of all - bringing in those ripe plump berries! We don't want to brag (well, yes we do) but these berries are HUGE. Excitement is growing, and we are striving for a stellar year poundage-wise.
Heather is here now to help look after all these rambunctious kiddos around here, and we are certainly glad to have her help! The kids love her, and it always makes the day flow so much smoother if the kids are happy and enjoying playtime. We recently made some home-made playdough, and it was a huge success! It has helped keep the kids entertained for hours at a time. We highly suggest this activity to other moms out there. :)
Our piglets are no longer piglets anymore, and are getting bigger and bigger as they days go by! Liz recently discovered that they all really enjoy getting their ears scratched. They seem to have lost their fear of people, and now leave her muddier than when she went in for feedings. Pigs may be a 'clean' animal, but our jeans and boots say otherwise at the end of our time with them!
Our new horses are settling in nicely. Duchess and Kipling seem to get along well with the other horses, however Liz has held back from putting some of them all together in the field just yet. Horses can be funny about who they want hanging around their backside, and if it's a horse they don't quite know yet, she may wind up with a horse who's been kicked. Safety first!
The cow we acquired most recently (January) was sent off to the butcher about a month ago, so we are now back to the original two cows. They don't seem to notice she's gone, (poor January) but then again you can never tell with a cow. Beady eyes and all.
Lastly, Liz, Katie and Laura tried their hand at making some blueberry and raspberry jelly the other night! It is quite amazing how much juice you can get out of those berries. It was quite a success, and we enjoyed home-made jelly on our toast this morning. Some of the left-over juices and berries were turned into home-made popsicles as well. It's amazing the things you can make when you put your mind to it. Next? Blueberry fruit leather!

Turning Blue!

No, we're not going blue. But our berries are! Our (and your!) wait is almost over!
Something fun we did several nights ago was carefully, and precisely (ha) release ladybugs onto our blueberry plants. This is a natural and safe way to take care of those pesky little aphids that so love the plants. The tricky part? There were 2000 of them, and they all wanted out of the bag!

The trick is to even distribute them. So ideally you want one lady bug per plant. Did I mention there were 2000 of them?

You also need to do it at dusk, and preferably when it's cool, so they stay 'asleep'. 

Saturday was a fun day for the Farmily! We celebrated Elijah's first birthday, Charlotte's first birthday, and Jeremiah's third birthday! Marc stayed up all night making a Thomas the Tank Engine train for the party, and it was well worth it. Family arrived at 2ish, and we all had fun with the kids in the pool, on the deck with bubbles, and generally enjoying being outside in the beautiful weather!

The pool wasn't very warm, but the kids enjoyed themselves.

Goofball Gabriel!

Jess was very diligent with the kids.

Hannah blowing bubbles with the new wands!

Cake and present time! Charlotte opens a present with daddy.

Cake. For the first time. Of course, most of it was just something to play with, but some got to his mouth!

The little suit Mike and Wendy bought him!

He loved the candle.

Goofy grin!!

Marc's amazing cake!

Jeremiah got a super cool Thomas station, which has been entertaining him non-stop since he got it!

Overall, it was a very successful day. Kids had fun, and the grown-ups enjoyed some time with their grandkids. Stay tuned for more updates on the blueberries!