Too Hot to Think?

Hey There !

Dave from McElhoes Family Farm/Belmont here.

The heat has been catching up to us. We did, finally, dig far enough to locate our two waterline leaks. It is great to not have to carry water across the pasture many times a day. The corn is junk, maybe none this year. The peas are booming, or were until the heat. Now they are yellowing and trying to set seed.

The strawberries we planted as an experiment, and in the hopes of a crop for next year, are looking fantastic! We planted AC Valley Sunset and AC Wendy. The "Wendies" are early - nearly done - but they are THE BEST TASTING strawberries I have EVER tasted. Like "fresh" strawberry candy. I don't care for artificial flavors, but these are like what candy should be. Not just sweet, though they are, but just... I can't really describe it. This isn't hype, I have none to sell yet, but I will be expanding for next year. The "Sunsets" are just starting, so I will keep you updated.

The broiler chickens, our first crop of Old Fashioned Country Chickens are about half way grown. They race to the fresh grass each time I move them. It is hard to believe that a grocery store chicken would probably be unable to move away from the feed trough at this age, and it would be a race to harvest them in the next week or so before they died of heart trouble and obesity. Ours are still lively teenagers living a good, healthy chicken life.

Eggs are still in the Farm Stand, though supply has been a little limited as they sell quicker than we can gather them. We are getting the first pullet eggs in the pasture, and hopefully our supply will soon increase.

I used the heat as an excuse to go to the post office for our mail, and was excited to find the latest issue of Local Culture has arrived. It is one of the few print magazines I still find worth subscribing to. It is the print face of The Front Porch Republic.

Jeffrey Bilbro from Grove City College is the editor of the website, and he curates thoughtful essays from different points of view regarding localism in many forms. The Local Culture magazine, is similarly curated by Jason Peters, whose writing is what interested me way back in 2008. I encourage you to take at least a look at the website, though I will be finding a shady spot to peruse the print magazine. I reckon I'm old but I prefer hard copy. If you do head to the website, I personally found this article to interesting.

Thanks for listening,

Dave