Yes, even farmers have to work some in the winter! And these farmers are intent on extending the growing season into the cold months if at all possible! Below are some pictures of the latest happenings around Fiat Farms:
Filling the New Greenhouse
As many of you know, we've tried to get things to grow in the new greenhouse for months...well, after discovering how caging our chickens in in a giant circle around the greenhouse cut down on the dang grasshoppers, we've had little trouble since. The cold weather helps, too, of course. As you can see from the pictures below, things are doing quite well this time around! We have lettuces, spinach, carrots, and turnips thriving there finally. We've enjoyed several wonderful bouts of turnips and spinach in our own homes, and we are looking forward to more throughout the winter. The Hyatt Harvest Kitchen has also benefited from our fall/winter greenhouse bounty, thankfully, so things are looking up. Our older greenhouse is ready to be planted, as well, so we hope to have lots of early things available for all of you come April!
Around the Farm
This year, we established a wonderful pasture out in our big field around the edges of the garden, and we were able to harvest over 170 bales of hay from it! Our goats, chickens, and pigs are quite happy now that their usual forage has decreased with the advent of cold weather. These bales take some protection from the rain, snow, ice, and dew, however, so Kevin spent the day today building a roof over the top of the bales. Our grainery barn, which will house our On-Farm Store this coming spring, is already starting to look a little different! We're excited to show you all the changes we make to it as they come. Here's your first glimpse (and, yes, Kevin built this whole lean-to in one day):
