This is a copy of our first newsletter, from the Fall of 2009.
Happy Fall! Summer was pretty much a big wash out here on the farm. most of our plants and seedlings did not like all that rain and cold weather. We had 600 tomato plants that had survived and were doing pretty well, I guess so well that they were very tasty and the deer ate them all!! We did have a great crop of Oriental eggplant and some delicious roasting peppers though, and apparently they aren't on the deer's menu. We are still picking a few peppers here and there and our dahlias are still blooming, rather slowly. Our Cy's mixed greens are enjoying this cooler weather and a still as yummy as ever. If you haven't tried them you really should! We often have them at our honor system stand but would love to pick them to order. Now on to our newest project, chickens. Chickens aren't really new to us. We have had some great laying hens for quite a few years now. This summer the poor girls just couldn't keep up with production. There were days they were practically laying into cartons. So, we ordered 75 more Rhode Island Reds. Towards the end of the summer our neighbor gave Jeremy 'The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals" by Michael Pollan. He couldn't put it down, there was information about a man named Joel Salatin and his farming practices and morals. Jeremy began reading his books and even attended a seminar of his on the Cape. This all led to ordering not just the egg laying RI Reds, but 75 Cornish Cross, a meat chicken. So, on October 3rd, the Little Compton Post Office received a box no bigger than 2x2 containing 150 one day old peeps! They came without any shots- no steroids or antibiotics. They spent 2 weeks in our basement below our kitchen chirping day and night. For the first few days Jeremy was down there day and night checking on them, warming the smaller ones in his pockets. They are now outside in our homemade 'chicken tractors'. The 'tractors' are made from recycled metal lobster pots that a friend of ours was not using and some old metal roofing that another friend of ours sent our way. Everyone in the family helped with the construction! The idea behind the tractor is that they are movable, every morning Jeremy puts wheels on them and moves them to a new spot. This new spot makes them more sanitary as they are not standing in the same spot all the time. It also allows them to eat even healthier, they still eat the all natural grain, but also feast on grass and bugs. If you haven't seem them traveling around our yard, drive by and have a look. The egg layers will be moving onto our fields eventually to do some weeding and fertilizing and be ready for egg production by late spring. The meat birds will be moving on to processing around the end of November. They will be around 4-5 lbs, are $5.00/lb. We are taking orders and deposits now. Give us a call if you want to be on the list. We will have an exact date in a couple of weeks and let you know pick up time, or we would be glad to deliver to you. Our chicken nursery is now being transformed into a holiday workshop. We are gearing up for everything green! You can choice a centerpiece for Thanksgiving that we offer with greens, pine cones and candles at our stand in front of our house, or give us a special order for flower centerpieces and deliveries. Then we quickly move on to wreaths. We have been wrapping our own frames filled with sphagnum moss for years!! I started making these wreaths when I was 13 and I don't think there has been a wreath free December yet! Jeremy was eager to learn, but now I think he is regretting it. Most of the wreaths are boxwood or mixed greens on the sphagnum frame, we have started doing balsam wired to a frame as well. Our standard shape is of course a circle but we have done tons of others; squares, ovals, marques, rainbows, and even letters to spell out words, names or initials. Feel free to call us with any requests. Boxwood trees are also one of our favorites, decorated or undecorated. Our stand is usually kept well stocked from Thanksgiving until Christmas, but we love special orders and are more than willing to deliver for free in the area. We also ship. If you need us to hang some garland, green up your window boxes or do a more extensive holiday make over, we're here for you! If anyone has a vegetable that they want us grow, let us know. We have been trying to grow some basics with a little bit of a twist. Our tomatoes were Black Japanese Trifle and a large heirloom slicing tomato. We also had the cherry version of the Trifle as well, we were able to try a couple of them and they were delicious. As I mentioned before we had the Oriental eggplant that were so sweet. We lost our cukes in the rain but were trying a Indian variety called Poona Kherra and a lemon cuke as well. Of course we have to grow beans! We chose Red Noodle and a green foot long, both were skinny but super long and I think scared everyone off. We also had a great crop of Easter Egg Radish, but it seems nobody eats radish in Little Compton. We use as little chemicals as possible, we are not organic but with four children we are as safe as we can be. We try to offer our produce at a fair price, because we are not spraying all sorts of pricey chemicals all over the place, this price is often half that of the bigger farms in the area. After the holidays the seeds catalogs will be filling our mailbox and its like Christmas again! They are so much fun to go through, they get us dreaming of a busy spring. We hope you enjoyed our first ever newsletter! This will hopefully get the word out as to whats going on on this little farm. We welcome all comments and suggestions.
The Allens Jeremy, Polly, Cleo, Cyrus, Olive and Xan
Beanhouses104 South of Commons RoadLittle Compton, Rhode Island 02837401.635.4091bean4444@aol.com
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