I’m sharing my compost this year, so I’ve been working more diligently on it and am happy how its turned out.
Its hard to believe that a cow we lost to lightning in the spring has almost completely turned into soil.
UPDATE: Taking orders for delivery every other Saturday to Madison. Next date November 14th. Email Matthew with order and/or questions: oakgrovelane@yahoo.com. Thank you!
4 Comments | 
Uncategorized | 
Permalink
Posted by Curiousfarmer
Whatever you want to call it, these herbivores have been doing what they do. Its been another excellent growing season here in southwest Wisconsin and the cattle show it.
We are finally catching up to the extra demand for local meats caused by Covid-19 and the resulting shortages. We’ve taken care of our long-time customers and picked up a few new ones as well.
With all the turmoil and trouble so many are experiencing, we count our blessings every day.
UPDATE: Taking orders for delivery every other Saturday to Madison. Next date October 3rd. Email Matthew with order and/or questions: oakgrovelane@yahoo.com. Thank you!
1 Comment | Curious cattle | Permalink
Posted by Curiousfarmer
My friend Grant says this loaf of bread’s main ingredient is Curiousfarmer sweet corn. It tasted so good, I brought him more corn and commissioned more loaves.
Jeremy’s tomatoes are really starting to produce. My favorite is the yellow.
These two, plus Curiousfarmer sliced ham and mayonnaise, make a delicious supper most nights of the week.
2 Comments | Curious food | Permalink
Posted by Curiousfarmer
Twine threading through my New Holland square baler. We remove the last bale from the baler at the finish of haying season and have to rethread the twines at the beginning of the next. It doesn’t work unless its exactly like this, so I took this photo so I could remember, and save myself some frustration.
If I had to square bale every day I’m sure I would come to dread the job. But because we only do it a few days a summer, its actually exciting. We round bale a lot more.
Changing jobs frequently suits me well. Even menial labor can be pleasant if it doesn’t consume the whole day. This is one of the reasons I love farming. Often, my body is engaged in menial labor while my mind is busy working on a more difficult problem.
A new customer asked about the treatment of our animals from our farm to slaughter. I’m confident our animals are among the most humanely raised on the planet. We look at each species and strive to give them what they want: Pigs root, Cows graze in a herd, Chickens forage for bugs, etc.
And I deliver to our butcher and walk them all the way to the kill floor. I don’t stay to see them killed, but Avon wouldn’t have a problem having me stay as they kill as humanely as possible. I’m much more concerned with a slick walkway than with Avon’s slaughter technique, as hogs and cattle don’t understand they’re about to be slaughtered, but they definitely experience fear if they don’t have secure footing.
Another reason I like Avon is they’re changing jobs throughout the week just like my farming. They only kill animals a couple of mornings a week. The rest of the week they’re cutting up animals, or curing meat, or dealing with customers. Unlike threading my square baler once a year, Avon is doing jobs every week, staying proficient, yet changing jobs every day to keep things fresh.
UPDATE: Taking orders for delivery every other Saturday to Madison. Next date September 5th. Email Matthew with order and/or questions: oakgrovelane@yahoo.com. Thank you!
2 Comments | Curious farmer, Curious living, Curious meat | Permalink
Posted by Curiousfarmer
We always eat well, but these next two weeks are remarkable. It’s sweet corn season!
Above is a corner of my sweet corn field I carved out for my friend Jeremy. He grows tomatoes, eggplant, and cowpeas, and the rent he pays is all we care to eat. This is the third year we’ve said yes to this arrangement and its delicious!
UPDATE: Taking orders for delivery every other Saturday to Madison. Next date August 22nd. Email Matthew with order and/or questions: oakgrovelane@yahoo.com. Thank you!
1 Comment | Curious farmer, Curious garden | Permalink
Posted by Curiousfarmer
Planted April 6. I replant our annual Pig Pastures in the spring and they are ready to graze in 6 weeks.
These photos are from a paddock that is 9 weeks after planting. The peas are flowering and the oats are heading out.
This year I also planted an understory of Red Clover and Bluegrass which will come on later if the pig don’t root too much.
UPDATE: Taking orders for delivery every other Saturday to Madison. Next date July 11th. Email Matthew with order and/or questions: oakgrovelane@yahoo.com. Thank you!
2 Comments | Curious crops, Curious hogs | Permalink
Posted by Curiousfarmer
UPDATE: Taking orders for delivery every other Saturday to Madison. Next date June 6th. Email Matthew with order and/or questions: oakgrovelane@yahoo.com. Thank you!
On the hoof at our farm. Other, much larger farms, don’t have the flexibility of space, and farmers have euthanized their pigs and chickens as a last resort due to complications from Covid-19.
How did we get here? According to Temple Grandin, the huge, meat processing plants that dominate our industry now, are more fragile than the smaller, more numerous meat packers our industry used to have.
“Big is not bad, it is fragile.” Temple Grandin
When one of the huge meat packers shut down, the few others available to take more animals, struggle to absorb the overflow. Animals which are designed to be harvested on a certain date, overwhelm a highly efficient, yet fragile, system.
I’m so thankful to have a close, working relationship with Avon Locker in Darlington. They’ve picked up a lot of new business and had to turn some away. Their business is booming, as everyone nowadays is thinking about their food and how to have it hyperlocal, like in their freezer right now!
And with a little patience we will put meat in your freezer. I’m sharing photos of our cattle on pasture and a new litter, reassuring customers we are working as always.
As people think more about their food, many are appreciating resilient, local food. I’ll conclude this post with a quote from one of our best, long-time customers, Heather.
Leave a Comment » | Curious business, Curious cattle, Curious food, Curious hogs | Permalink
Posted by Curiousfarmer
Craving fresh greens? Don’t want to shop? Look for a patch of Stinging Nettle, (Urtica dioica).
Wear gloves, or use the tough parts of your fingertips to pinch off the tender tops, being careful to not let your wrist brush against the little stinging hairs which line the stem. Don’t eat raw! It may kill you. But even a small amount of heat renders it harmless.
Saute` in butter. I missed the next step, but Isabel added mushrooms and onions. Delicious!
3 Comments | Curious diet, Curious food, Curious wild food | Permalink
Posted by Curiousfarmer
“Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil and you’re a thousand miles from the corn field.”
It may not be easy, but it is heaven on Earth for me.
Spring always seem like a miracle, but this spring’s new births are especially welcome.
I marvel at the promise of a seed, all the instructions it needs, packed tightly inside.
All I do is drop them on the soil, and in a few weeks, luxurious green!
Saturday morning Dane County Farmer’s Market closed due to Covid-19. Making trips to Madison for meat drops every other Saturday. Next delivery April 25th. Contact Matthew for more information: oakgrovelane@yahoo.com. Thank you!
1 Comment | Curious cattle, Curious crops, Curious farmer | Permalink
Posted by Curiousfarmer
Saturday morning Dane County Farmer’s Market closed due to Covid-19. Making biweekly trips to Madison for meat drops. Next delivery April 11th. Contact Matthew for more information: oakgrovelane@yahoo.com. Thank you!
For those of you with a small backyard, we also have compact models of our popular biological tillage machines. For an economical price, you can have your backyard tilled without using fossil fuel. And a bonus: most likely your neighbors’ yards will be tilled as well. Everyone in the neighborhood will know who you are!
Piglets are very mouthy, chewing on everything. While they are learning, observing mom, it also helps prevent baby pig anemia. Sows’ milk is deficient in iron, so the swine industry recommends injecting iron into piglets when they are 1 to 2 days old. When piglets are on dirt however, there is no need, as you can see these noninjected piglets don’t appear to lack for anything.
Piglets are also born with eight baby teeth, two upper and two lower on each side of their mouth. These teeth are called needle teeth, I think because they are so sharp. I’ve had piglets break the tough skin on my finger with their needle teeth.
I’m not sure what the function of needle teeth is, but the piglets do use them when they fight with each other. Sometimes they fight over space at the udder. Sometimes it appears they fight just for practice. I’m pretty sure that is what caused the abrasions on these two bold piglets in the photo below.
3 Comments | Curious garden, Curious hogs | Permalink
Posted by Curiousfarmer
