Rainy Market Day

It was cool & rainy at the Beaver Farmers' Market on Saturday, but the market still had a good turnout. 

LFLF picked up baked goods, apple cider, & green beans before putting away the umbrella & jumping back into the truck.  We saw grapes again, plus new this week were chestnuts, decorative corn, bittersweet vines, & gourds.

The fresh winter squash & eggplants looked great glistening in the gentle rain!

To Market, To Market .....

Lambs Munching 2nd Cutting Hay

The recent rains have been great for the pastures & the ewes started a new rotation today.  The sheep will be enjoying the cooler weather.  Fall is market time for lamb at Wild Rose Farm.  We've been fortunate to get good prices for lambs the last 2 years.  We'll be taking in freezer lambs for a couple of customers in the next 2 weeks.  We also have some registered Rambouillet ewe lambs that will be going to a new home.  
Work continues on clearing an area for a building site for next year.  There are old fence posts in a line through this area & a "dead furrow" where the ground had once been plowed.  It's probably been 60+ years since that area was a pasture field judging by the size of the trees.  Just look at some of the firewood & timber that we have built up.  We'll be calling in a small portable sawmill to saw the cherry logs into boards. 

Logs & Fire Wood

Clearing & Brush Pile

2011 Fair Wrap-up

2011 Hookstown Fair

Wild Rose Farm got in a couple of fairs this summer.  The Hookstown Fair had great weather & we got some good pictures of the 4-H kids showing market lambs.  What was the new catch phrase this year from the judge?  As readers know, we're alert to new trends in livestock judging and the show ring this year did not disappoint!  In separating a 1st place lamb from the 2nd place lamb, the judge indicated that "my second place lamb would have had to have been a couple of clicks better to win the show tonight" over the first place lamb.  Love it! 

Good Sportsmanship - One Click Better!

We got shut out of the bidding on the market poultry pens at Hookstown - prices went way up - so we ended up at the Big Knob Fair the following week.  We successfully bid on a market hog that we are splitting with friends.  It's a great opportunity to support the 4-H youth who work hard on all of their projects.
Our final shot is from the Canfield Fair.  It was really hot on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend, so we got there early and were leaving by 1PM.  Whew .......
The Largest Squash contest is always impressive, but if you look, the weight was down this year.

2011 Canfield Fair - Grand Champion Largest Squash!

Hoopiefest Found!

Hoopiefest Has A Special Theme This Year!

It took an event like Hoopiefest to bring Wild Rose Farm back to the blogosphere!  We've been very busy & things are finally starting to settle down a little at work.  Enough so, that we made it to the Beaver Farmers' Market Saturday morning.  Strangely enough, a few days ago, the thought of "hey, isn't it about time for Hoopiefest?" came to mind.  As I was wandering around the market (see other blog here), one of the vendors mentioned being invited to Hoopiefest.  "WHAT?", I said! 
"Oh, some old neighbors of mine have a party the 3rd weekend in August each year ..... my sister usually goes, & this year I got invited .... I volunteered to bring the corn, but they already had it lined up."  "It's out in the middle of nowhere." 
I couldn't believe it!  I mentioned the saga of trying to track this down for 2 years, but no directions were forthcoming ......  hmmmmm.  So ..... I returned to where we've seen the sign before and was not disappointed. Again we turned down the back road.

One Lane Bridge On The Search For Hoopiefest

  We drove on along the road looking for any indication the Hoopiefest was near ........ up ahead were a bunch of balloons on either side of a hidden driveway.  But no, this wasn't Hoopiefest. :(

A Baby Shower!

Just when it seemed like we'd gone too far & had surely passed it up - here it was!  Looks like it really is an honest to goodness Hoopiefest!  The picture has been cropped to protect the innocent.

Now You've Made It To Hoopiefest! 

Work, Work, Work ......

Lot's of work going on here at Wild Rose Farm!   The barn has gotten a seal coat of linseed oil & the trim is painted white.  We may paint just below the roof line drip edge on the front ..... The other white is bold enough to balance more white on top, right? 

The WRF sign was turned over and we have a bright looking farm sign again.  The sheep & background in the center of the sign was handpainted by Campbell Signs & Apparel  over 12 years ago.  I'd recommend them to anyone looking for original art, not just computer generated clip art signs!
Here's Glenda standing near us as we look over the area that was cleared last winter.  We've seeded it with rye & orchard grass, but we really do need some rain.  The locust tree roots are sending up sprouts everywhere.  We had just finished trimming Glenda's hooves.  Here's an interesting tidbit.  We collect the hoof trimmings & give them to the dogs.  They like them better than pig ears and rawhide chews!  Life on the farm ......  :) 

Weekend Activites

Last weekend was the weekend to trim feet & deworm the sheep at Wild Rose Farm.  This time of year is when the parasite load seems to take hold & we don't want to lose any of the ewes or lambs.  This weekend, the humidity is down & the sheep are spread out a little grazing just before sunset.

Fawn In Pasture With Sheep

 As I walked back to check on the sheep, I spotted a fawn in the pasture with them.  The fawn was curious & stood frozen watching my approach.  I got pretty close before it panicked, took off all the way along the fenceline behind the sheep, ran up over the hill, and disappeared out of sight! 
This weekend we started the process of working on the barn.  The plan is to seal the wood with linseed oil & then paint the accent trim with white paint.  Here's the first coat of primer going on the trim.  The siding has already the clear seal, so it just has a slightly wet appearance.

Painting Barn Trim

Neighboring Farmers

WRF went on a quick drive to the nearby McElhaney Family Farm - they've been raising Shorthorn beef cattle for 3 generations.  We wanted to check out a piece of hay handling equipment that we might like to buy for our farm.  Well, in true farm style community generosity, the equipment was at someone else's farm being used, so we'll have to wait to see it. 
The McElhaneys sell their dry aged freezer beef at several farmers' markets including the Sewickley Farmers' Market on Saturday from 9AM to 1PM and the Ambridge Farmers' Market on Thursday from 4PM to 7PM. 
They were moving some cows and calves when we arrived so we snapped a couple of pictures of their cattle as the sun was setting .......