Full Summer Hello!

Hey There !

Dave from McElhoes Family Farm/Belmont here.

The heat and drought continues, but we had wonderful weather for Independence Day. We did have a mini stampede Saturday night, as the herd did not appreciate the fireworks up in town as well as we did, but Sunday was peaceful, quiet, motionless and hot, and really just ... sublime. Does anyone really use that word anymore...?

Earlier in the week, we received our new ram, to whom Katie has affixed the moniker "Moose". We have thus far kept him in quarantine to give him time to adjust to his new home. Also, we have to train him to the electric fences since he has not yet experienced them. After he gets through these lessons, he will still have to make his bones with the current ram, "Meaty Boy".

"Meat", as he is known for short, has been such a good ram, and well behaved to boot, that we have kept him long after most rams would have retired. He was born here on the farm, and after some training from a then 8 year old Katie, worked his way into our hearts too. Rams aren't cuddly, think a bull, a bit smaller perhaps, but still dangerous. Meat has never been aggressive to people, and we kind of hope he will help train Moose. Time will tell, I suppose. A good farm would send Meat away, but we intend to let him live out his retirement here. We're too sentimental.

Summer continues to progress more quickly than my progress here on the farm. After the wet and cold spring slowed us down, the heat and dry has nearly stopped us. The pasture needs clipped, as it is too old to make into good hay, and too deep to allow the tender grasses to grow up through. The garden and truck patch have been replanted multiple times, and although we have had a few things like lettuce and peas on the table, we are way behind on all things flora. As I am getting a bit older, I expect to move a bit slower, but I cannot help but see the irony that having finally (mostly) finished the Farm Stand, I have less to stock it than I am used to.

Several different sets of broilers are now out on grass, with more in the brooder, and probably at least one more batch due to be hatched next week. We are sold out of the Chicken Club memberships for this year, but we will have a few of our Old Fashioned Country Chickens available after Club Members are taken care of. I am usually a bit slow in updating the quantities on the website, but I have been (trying to get) better.

"Let a man walk ten miles steadily on a hot summer's day along a dusty English road, and he will soon discover why beer was invented."

~ G. K. Chesterton

I reckon the same may be said of Northwest Pennsylvania.

Thanks for Listening,

Dave