February News

What's up at the Genuine Faux Farm?

Somehow, we've made it through the first month of the new year.  This isn’t new because I recall feeling this same mix of surprise, relief and anticipation last year on February 1st. And the February 1st before that. And the one before that….

The good news is that we can use the turning of the calendar to remind us that we can always give the Genuine Faux Farm yet another try with a new (or newish) start.  And, while we're at it, we can give ourselves permission to dream about new and better things for ourselves and others in the coming eleven months.

The 2024 Farm Retreat

Tammy and I try to spend some time each January discussing what the Genuine Faux Farm will hope to achieve in the coming year. Of course, we discuss options and ideas whenever they come up and if we’re in the same place. But we have found that it is important for us to set aside a couple of significant blocks of time, usually on a weekend, where we just talk about our plans for the year. And, sometimes, our plans for the next five or ten years.

Unfortunately, we did not identify the value of following through with a yearly farm retreat until much later in the life our farm. Sure, we would have discussions that were split into a half hour here and a half hour there, and there was no lack of long-range planning. But we did not actually set aside a full-on, no holds barred, GFF Retreat until 2019. We actually reserved a meeting room with full-wall whiteboards and plenty of table space. We worked together for a full day.

And we did not regret a second of it.

Our 2024 Farm Retreat was not quite the same event as our 2019 retreat. But, it was valuable, just as our shorter retreats from 2020-2023 have served us well. I thought I’d share some of the results of that meeting today (and maybe more in future entries).

The new farm writing plan

You are actually witnessing the fruit of one of the decisions that was made during the 2024 retreat. This is the first Genuine Faux Farm blog written on Substack, which is a blogging tool that allows me to maintain a subscriber list. That means, if you subscribe, you can get new blogs sent directly to your email inbox. I have been able to move the old blogs into the Substack in the archive too - so I can have the old writing here with the new!

This is an important development for me, as a writer. I’ve been writing on Blogger since 2008 and the tools that system offers have been declining over the past few years. One of the first things to go was the ability to send notifications to interested persons. On top of that, social media has become even more inefficient for letting people know there is something new to read.

I write for an audience, even if it is a smaller audience. Believe it or not, there actually are some people who have indicated that they enjoy reading my writing. But, if they can’t find what I write easily, it becomes a moot point. Why write for an audience if they can’t find what you write?

So, the solution (for now) is this. The Genuine Faux Farm blog is here. Postal History Sunday is also on Substack. You may opt to subscribe to one, neither or both - as you desire. I am also trying some things out on Medium under my own name. I will be putting some of my writings for PAN as well as some select other writings there to see how that works. You may feel free to subscribe to that as well if you would like.

And, before you ask… Yes, it is difficult to change something after you’ve done it a certain way for ... ummmmmmm… 2024 minus 2008 is… too many years.

Poultry always gets planned first

One thing is certain - we intend to continue with the egg laying flock through the year, bringing in more chicks this Spring.  However, the order is different from what our “normal order” has been for the past several years.

We have maintained a laying flock of approximately 75 birds for many years now. The bulk of the flocks have been the reliable ISA Brown egg layers (55 birds) and we include 10 California Whites and 10 Ameraucanas. This allows us to put a few white and green/blue eggs into our cartons to spice things up!

This year, we’re trialing some new breeds to see which ones we might consider so we can maintain our own flock and raise our own chicks in the future. I’m sure there will be chances to write more about that!

We will also likely do one flock of broilers (about 100 - 125 birds), during the late summer time slot we did this past year.  And we will add turkeys back on to the list this year. But, we’re not going back to raising 75 turkeys as we have in the past. Instead, we’re going with an easier number - about thirty.

Then there are veggies and plants

Yet one more thing we wanted to put back on our list was raising starter plants that we could sell to those looking to raise gardens.  Unfortunately, the greenhouse project was put on hold his year, so it won't be as easy as we wanted.  Still, stay tuned - we will be providing a grow list of plants we hope to start.  If you have requests, this is a good time to make them.

We also anticipate that we will continue to offer vegetables as they are available in the coming year, while also taking food to the Northeast Iowa Food Bank and the St Elizabeth's Food Pantry.  We took our last load (about 300 pounds) to the Food Bank in late December and we feel good that we were able to provide quality food to them.

We’ve got a pretty good handle on the field plans now and I suspect I’ll share some of that in the future too.

Planning on less drama in 2024?

Of course, the biggest wild cards are the same ones that have limited us the past few seasons - health and our off-farm jobs.  The good news is that my (Rob's) off-farm job has stabilized with the hire of a new Communications Director at PAN.  It will certainly help if I don't have to perform two jobs for PAN at once!  Tammy, on the other hand, is going to have a tough Winter term.  So, coming up with a farm plan that has a high likelihood of success with reduced stress is important.

Still, we’re hoping that the biggest drama on the farm in the coming year will be linked to the miracles of seeds germinating and baby animals growing.

Now that’s a plan I can get behind!