We decided to start providing a snail mail newsletter to our customers. We sent the first one out in January. Here is a copy of the newsletter. If you would like to be added to the mailing list, please sign up for notifications and let us know!
January 26, 2024
Dear Supporters of Growing Roots Farm,
Greetings from our farm! We hope that the new year is turning out to be a great one for you.
This is our first customer newsletter. We hope to make it a periodic production to encourage communication and keep you informed about us.
Markets
In 2023, we participated in our first Farmers Market and continued to participate in various vendor fairs. We made a leap from offering only craft products to adding more “farm” products. This became an issue with marketing, so we developed Growing Roots Farm and engulfed the craft business into it.
In 2024, we plan to expand into other customer market areas.
Handmade items/gifts
We purchased a CNC machine in the early spring of 2023. This machine will engrave and cut out designs from wood. We took some time to perfect the processes and experimented with multiple types, bits, and designs. Our son has taken an active role in the design process of these projects.
We are now more comfortable with this machine and hope to offer our customers a larger quantity of unique handmade wooden items in 2024.
The master crocheter continues to work hard in producing quality crocheted items and they will be added to the inventory when available.
Chickens
We housed our chickens in the greenhouse on a deep-bedding method from December 2022 until March 2023. In March, our original flock of chickens were moved outdoors into their rotational grazing system. We also obtained thirty chicks and placed them in the brooder. When these chicks were old enough to be placed on pasture, we utilized them in a composting-on-steroids system. The chickens produced great composted material for our garden, but it wasn’t something that we wanted to dedicate our time to continue. We sold some of these chickens and integrated the rest into our original flock of laying hens during the summer.
The demand for our eggs increased beyond our plans, so we decided to expand our laying flock with 25 chicks in August. We made the mistake of integrating them with the larger flock too soon. The new chicks didn’t remain in their penned area, and we lost several to predators. Once the local predators discovered easy meals, we suffered some losses of older chickens. This forced us to adjust our rotation schedule and move the entire flock closer to the house for better protection.
We processed roosters and older hens in September.
We reset our rotational system to allow the chickens to follow behind our sheep and goats in October.
Due to multiple losses, we added more chicks in November.
We integrated the new chicks with the original flock and into the greenhouse deep-bedding method in December. This provides better shelter, improved watering systems, decreased chore time during winter months while we are developing composted soil for future gardening projects.
In 2024, we plan to move our flock onto pasture following the other animals on the farm (sheep, cattle, goats) in the spring. This will provide them with ample sunshine, fresh ground for improved nutrition and allow them to clean up any pests that are attracted to the remains of the other animals. In other words, this allows them to live the life of a chicken. We will continue to collect their eggs for our own consumption and to sell them to our customers.
Our son received a small incubator as a gift for Christmas. We plan to spend part of the year experimenting and learning the intricacies of hatching our own eggs.
Rabbits
We have been raising French Angora rabbits for several years. We harvest their fiber (brush them out and save their fur) to sell and save their droppings for fertilizer. In 2023, we had an issue with a predator (it has since been fixed) that decimated our numbers. We contemplated quitting the rabbit portion of our farm but realized that we do get enjoyment from these furry creatures. We purchased a couple of new rabbits and played catch-up as we experienced an unintentional breeding. We built all new rabbit enclosures and updated the systems for them.
In 2024, we plan to be more systematic and intentional with our rabbit products. We plan to sell French Angora fiber for knitting purposes and natural fertilizer.
Wood
We purchased a Wood-Mizer portable sawmill a few years ago. We have been utilizing it for home projects, craft projects and selling the excess lumber. In 2023, we improved the solar kiln and built a small dehumidification kiln for increased moisture reduction of the wood. We discovered a customer need for more raw lumber and was only able to meet a portion of this demand in 2023.
We plan to increase the time spent on harvesting wood in 2024 in hopes to provide more raw wood products to our customers.
Goats
We have been debating the role of the goats on our farm. Our two Pygmy goats have become very pet-like in nature. We decided to try small dairy production with the addition of two Nigerian Dwarf goats in August. We were told that they were bred by a Nigerian Dwarf buck. It turns out that these goats were not bred.
We have found another buck and plan to borrow his services in the near future. We will keep you updated with blog posts as to the progress and our future plans.
Worms
Our son received a gift of worms for his birthday in late 2022. He researched and constructed his own worm farm. In 2023, he grew this worm farm and sold his worm tea at the Farmers Market. He did a great job and discovered a need in the community for natural fertilizers.
In 2024, we are expanding the worm farm. He has extended the setups for his red wrigglers and we are looking into updating the packaging for his worm tea. He has added night crawlers to sell for fishing. Upon customer request, he is also building small bucket systems for sale to anyone that wants to start their own small worm farm.
Pigs
We started raising pigs in 2023. In the spring, we purchased eight piglets that were a cross between Hereford and Gloucester Old Spot (GOS). We rotated them throughout our woods in paddocks secured with electric fencing. This method provided better shelter during the summer months, improved the soil and decreased the amount of grain feed that they required. We sold a few of the pigs and kept the rest for our own consumption.
We love the pork that these happy pigs produced and plan to raise pigs again in 2024. If you would be interested in purchasing pork in late 2024, please complete and mail (or email) the form back to us so that we can plan accordingly.
Candy
We purchased a Harvest Right Freeze Dryer in May. We have been experimenting with various preservation of foods. We discovered that customers love the candy that the machine can transform. We will continue to offer a limited supply of candy for sale during 2024.
Vegetables
In early 2023, we planned to have a large garden for home consumption. When my son asked to set up a booth at the local Farmers Market, we did so with very little preparation. In order to provide vegetables to our customers, my son “stole” anything that was ripe from our own garden which limited the amount that I was able to preserve for our family.
In 2024, we are expanding our garden further and planning items to sell at market. We are looking into growing the popular vegetables as well as a few unique varieties.
Flowers
Our daughters wanted to participate in the markets by selling cut flowers. We didn’t plan for this in 2023 and they simply “stole” the flowers that we had planted for our enjoyment. Our daughter wants to expand this venture, so we are planting a variety of flowers for the intention of selling in 2024.
Ducks
In June, a friend at the Farmer’s Market had two Magpie ducklings they wanted to sell. We didn’t have ducks, so this sounded like a perfect opportunity to try it out. They integrated well with our chickens. In August, one of the ducks succumbed to a predator (we suspect an owl).
We are purchasing a few ducklings from a local farm and are excited to see the difference between chicken and duck eggs. Are they really better?
Sheep
We became sheep farmers in 2023 by purchasing four Katahdin ewes. We later found a St. Croix/Katahdin ram that we introduced to our ladies. We utilize Management-Intensive-Grazing practices for these sheep to avoid the use of antiparasitic medication and to provide a fresh salad bar of pasture for them on a regular basis. We love having these animals on the farm.
Based on the introduction of Buster (our ram) in November, we are looking forward to late spring lambing in 2024. We are also considering expanding our sheep operation but these ideas are still in the working stage.
Cattle
We added our first bottled baby calf in December. He was born as a twin to a cow on a neighboring farm. The cow couldn’t raise both calves, so we traded a woodworking project for him. We plan to raise him for beef sale in 2025.
Local delivery
We experimented with local delivery options during 2023.
We will continue to tweak this service and may increase our delivery options for our local customers in 2024. We are even considering the option of a subscription service of products if the customer interest is available. We are including an egg and candy subscription form in this letter. If you are interested in this option, please return it to us. You are under no obligation at this time, we are simply trying to determine if this service is desired by our customers.
Of course, for items that can be delivered by the regular postal services, we will continue to ship them throughout the country.
Photography
Our daughter discovered an interest in photography. She has been working hard to improve her skills and we plan to start offering her work to our customers in 2024.
We appreciate your encouragement and patronage. We are looking forward to serving you with a variety of farm-based products in 2024. Enclosed are a couple of business cards for you to pass along to others. If you have any questions at all, please let us know.
Sincerely,
The Hughes Family
Growing Roots Farm