Spring is Here!
Spring is Here! I'm so excited when we finally start to escape winter's clutches. I know that I'll be pining for snow and cold weather by the time a hot, sweaty August rolls around, but for now, I can dust off the gardening tools and get started on this year's plants! My flowers have started to pop up. Time to finish pruning and mulching everything!
Egg Collection
Egg Collection As those of you who have stayed know, we have a flock of hens that lay the most tasty, colorful, eggs. Part of afternoon chores is stopping by the henhouse and collecting the eggs. On Friday, however, I had a bit of a surprise when I opened up the nestboxes: Apparently this guy figured out how to meander into the henhouse and take a nice little nap. Probably after he helped himself to an egg or two for lunch. Some animals, like raccoons or foxes, are problematic - they tend to wreak havoc on the [...]
Wasp Nest!
Wasp Nest! I noticed this little gem in the trees over by The Apartment in the fall. The winds yesterday finally knocked it down: I have a pretty laissez faire attitude when it comes to creatures of all kinds on the property: Leave me alone, and... ...I'll leave you alone There are really only a couple of exceptions. First, if you happen to be an invasive, then I will take great glee in tearing you out of the ground / sky / water and destroying you. And, if you happen to be the kind of insect that [...]
Brrr…. 🥶
Brrr.... 🥶 We got our first really cold weather of the season this week! It got down to -17C with a -25C wind chill. That's officially chilly by any measure. For those speaking in Fahrenheit, that works out to about zero with a -10F wind chill. It was a rough morning doing chores, that's for sure! I broke out the skates and took a little spin on the pond, since the ice was so thick (and pretty smooth, all things considered). I found our floating dock that had gone AWOL - it wedged itself in the reeds over [...]
Happy Holidays!
Happy Holidays! We hope your holiday season is restful, joyful, and everyone is healthy! ZzZzZz...
Unusual Arrival
Unusual Arrival... I was feeding our chickens this morning, and one of the roosters was being a little more aggressive than usual (keep in mind, this is "aggressive" on the chicken scale, which means I was basically ignoring his attempts to protect his ladies from me). But as I looked around, idly looking at the flock, that we had not two roosters...but somehow three. This handsome gentleman, what appears to be a male barred-rock, was strutting around. As a farmer, I am accustomed to losing the occasional animal due to predation, illness, or bad luck. This is [...]
The Apartment now Available
The Apartment - Now Available Some of our guests have asked about access to the kitchen, or a room that can comfortably sleep more than two guests. We are pleased to make The Apartment available. This room, located next door at 29 Camps Road, has a full kitchen, laundry, a queen bed, and a high-quality fold-out futon to allow up to four guests. It comes with all of the same great hospitality and breakfast (mmm...home cooked baked goods!) that you expect from The Cozy Inn. Book it Now before it starts filling up!
It’s a Sign!
It's a Sign! But not that kind of sign. We've gotten a lot of feedback that it's hard to find us, especially at night. So, I've been working on getting a sign for the Inn, and I'm excited that it's finally put together and installed! I took down the old sign for Camps Road Farm (which is been subsumed by the brewery), cleaned it up, and painted it. I ordered letters from an online service, glued them on, and did a few coats of poly to protect it from the sun. Hopefully the letters won't fall off...otherwise I'll [...]
First Frost!
First Frost! After an unusually warm October, Mother Nature finally gifted us with a good, hard, frost. Fortunately, it doesn't seem to bother the chickens too much: They are continuing to produce a bounty (maybe not quite as bountiful) of fresh eggs for our breakfasts and baking. The hawk netting is making them feel a bit safer and more comfortable after a rough summer of predator pressure. Soon we will be moving them to their winter quarters, hanging out with Big Mama, Oreo, and Ginger over by the solar array towards the hop yard. Feel free to [...]
Closing Up the Garden
End Of the Garden Season It's that time of year, where the last bits and pieces of the garden are giving up. I've just about finished tidying everything up - next week I'm going to plant garlic for next year. Garlic seems to grow really well in my garden, and I went off to the Bethlehem Garlic Festival and bought entirely too much seed garlic (probably two full beds worth): I also finished harvesting all of the squash and pumpkins. I tried out a new system of growing the vines directly over grass (from little, boxed-in seedlings) and that worked [...]