What's up around the farm.

    Summer was fun. Lots of learning experiences.  We sold at the Martinsville Henry County Farmer's Market and met a lot of wonderful folks.
    Currently we're looking for retail shops that are a good fit.  Tuggle Farms gift baskets are at the top of everyone's shopping list this year - right?
   The chickens are doing well. I took them for a walk yesterday. They were well behaved, engrossed in exploring the new grass, until Barney and Betty decided to make a run for it.  No problem. A little food enticed them back.

A sampling of Tuggle Farm products.

We'll be at the

      Charity League
      Holiday Crafters Market
      National Guard Armory
      Fri  Dec 2, 2011  4 - 8
      Sat  Dec 3, 2011  9 - 3

  Hope to see you  there.

The Black Prince and family

I can remember my Dad having bragging contests with his gardening buddies about who would have ripe tomatoes before the 4th of July.  At Tuggle Farms, it is a joint effort. My brother Dwayne, my cousin Thad and I each have a hand in the physical side of things. Mom was involved with the Farm Supply business for many years at Bill's Feed and Seed; she keeps us on track with planning and processing help. Dad is still involved as farmer emeritus and is a wealth of important information about how, when, where, what to do and what not to do. 

This year we've been joined by Thad, who has done a great job attending to the details of production in the vegetable garden.  I give Thad most of the credit for the tomato you see here. Sliced on July 4th.

It is an heirloom variety called Black Prince.  It comes from the siberian region of Russia and is supposed to be cold hardy.  It's more a chocolate color than red or black. We got the seeds because we've long loved Cherokee Purple tomatoes and wanted to try some more of the darker varieties.  It also meets the approval of the taste testers!!

At the Farmer's Market

You'll find Tuggle Farms' salsas and preserves at the Martinsville Farmer's Market on Saturday mornings. The hours are 8 - 11 AM. Come on out and join us!

Other happenings around the farm: The chickens are happy with their new enclosure. They now have a fenced lot where they can scratch and peck and explore. The vegetable garden is coming along nicely. Taters, corn, beans, onions, beets, okra. squash, cukes and basil are among the happy plants. Tomatoes and peppers make up the biggest part of the garden. We have planted lots of heirloom tomatoes and a wide variety of peppers: hot and sweet.  Wapsipinicon Peach Tomato was one I had to try just because of the name. We'll see how it goes.

Fresh Garlic and a Farmer's Market

An armload of fresh garlic for Tuggle Farms' Garden Salsa. We made a lot of salsa. These batches are particularly good. The secret recipe is now complete. Hot, medium and mild for your individual tastes.

We'll be at the Martinsville Farmer's Market for the season opening Saturday, May 21st from 8 until 11. Hope to see you there! 

Chickens Everywhere and an Egg Thief

I went in to feed the chickens this morning and inspected the nesting boxes for eggs; turned around and the whole flock was outside the pen. Evidently the door had come open and while my back was turned they decided to go to the place where the grass was greener.  They were happy.  Most of them went back in pretty easily. The rooster and one of the Barred Rocks decided they wanted to see the countryside. But after a few minutes of herding they were back inside.

After that taste of freedom, they made another break for it. This time exploiting a weakness in my door design. Thad and Dwayne rounded them up. I found out about it later.

About 6 PM I went down to gather eggs and give them their evening feed. I had noticed 6 eggs earlier. When I went to the first nesting box there was about 8 inches of black snake tail hanging out. Like any good blogger, I first went to get my camera. I also grabbed a box and a pole. I removed the snake, which turned out to be a very fat black rat snake, and put it in the box.

I turned around and the chickens had taken advantage of my preoccupation and were grazing outside again. Who could blame them? I was wrestling a big black snake in their coop.

The chickens went back easily. Three of the six eggs remained. And, I relocated the 6-foot black snake to a chicken free home.  Farm life is wonderful....

Around the Farm

Thad and I spent the day in the kitchen yesterday making batches of jam. The peach blueberry jam looked particularly tasty. The blackberry is pretty special too. We plan to be out at the Farmer's Markets soon. The next batches will be garden salsas. All flavors: hot, medium and mild.

Potatoes are in the ground, along with some beets, tomatoes and peppers. I'm shooting for bushels of beets this time. We're going to try our hand at sweet potatoes too. I may have to break some more ground.

The chickens have been pretty consistent layers until the rain set in. I'm not sure whether it's the weather or if it's coincidence. They seems to be happy birds. I've still got my sites on a few more when the right birds shows up. Just looking for a few good hens!  

Historic Garden Tour 2011

Spencer Penn Kitchen is a great place to be starting a cooking related business. Not only is there a kitchen but there are a lot of opportunities to meet the public.

First Time in Vendor Heaven

Tuggle Farms did our first tour as a vendor yesterday during the Garden Club's Historic Garden Tours. Another first, we brought on our first employee. We set up in the Spencer Penn Kitchen and Bob sold jams and jellies while Thad kept the pots boiling and fresh product coming. Thanks to Thad's skill as a cook, Bob was able to answer questions about canning and home preserving while the process never slowed down. We provided free samples of jams, jellies, preserves and salsa. Carrie Denny, the kitchen manager, provided homemade yeast rolls which enhanced the Tuggle Farms goods. How could someone not buy a jar after tasting jelly on a hot buttered yeast roll? All in all, a lot of hard work was involved, but the joy of providing local foods products, loving prepared was plenty of reward. Pictures will follow soon!

Tuggle Farms Catering

We catered our first event last Saturday for a local Health and Wellness Coalition. In celebration of the work they do, Tuggle Farms Catering supplied healthy menu items including Quinoa in the Chicken Casserole and baked 'fried' apple pies. Many thanks to the folks at Spencer-Penn Centre and especially to Carrie Denny for providing such a wonderful venue for a planning retreat.

Chicken News

The two hens that I got last Friday have been producing about an egg a day each.  I'm up to 7 eggs. More than an omelette. Thursday morning will be the grand opening of the first Tuggle Farms' egg.  Time will tell how it will be prepared. It will surely involve Tuggle Farms Salsa on the side.

Big news. Six more hens have joined the ranks. Thanks to Gregory Poultry Farm near Stuart. Three Barred Rock hens, two Silver Laced Wyandottes and one Black Austrolorp have joined the two New Hampshire Reds and the very proud cock bird of undetermined parentage.

The rooster was happy but not so much the hens. The darker red hen, which I think is a New Hampshire Red, just to the left of the pole in the photo, immediately set the new ones in their places by trying to pluck out their neck feathers. She calmed down a bit after fifteen minutes or so.  The new ones would run behind the rooster when she came after them.

I've saved room for two more. I'm looking for two Buff Orpingtons to fill out the harem. So far chickens are fun. But profitable? I figure after about 30 dozen eggs, I'll break even.

Woo Hoo!! An Egg!

Can't believe it. When I went out this morning I only saw one hen. Oh no! But then I noticed the rooster was in one of the nesting boxes. Bless his heart. Trying to lay me an egg. And in another box was the other hen.

The rooster squeezed his big self out of the box and strutted around a bit. The other hen didn't want to get up. But she did and started putting up a big ruckus. Stood at the nesting box opening and fussed big time; Then she came on out. Low and behold there was this beautiful egg. Juevos numero uno! I truly believe she was so irritated at me she popped an egg out. Oh well. I think it's a good omen. Not quite an omelette, but a start.

Bringing home the chickens.

This fellow was quite the handful. Thanks goes to Matthew at Dancing Creek Farms for catching the protesting bird and loading him for me. Once inside the Jeep he quieted down. Everybody loves a Jeep.

Once inside his new home, his first action was to check out the window. Don't think he had ever heard of glass. It must have looked like a way out to him.

The hens are a different story.  She didn't seem to mind me lifting her out of the cage.

After about five minutes, they started exploring and scratching. When I checked on them 2 hours later, they seemed right at home. The chickens have arrived!!

Getting ready for the Chickens

I've been reclaiming Dad's old chicken house. It's really a roofed area attached to the barn; half dirt floor and half concrete and walls on 3 sides. There are 6 nesting boxes and places to roost. It had been given over to storage. I moved that stuff during the past winter. The only thing left is fencing in an area in the field outside of the chicken house so they can ramble and not be subject to wandering canines. Today I did the finishing touches: cleaning and sweeping. I removed the old straw from the nesting boxes and put in new. In two of the boxes I discovered gnawed bones of some 4 legged creatures.  I asked Dad if he raised carnivorous chickens. He claimed it had to be a possum or some other interloper.

The chickens are on the way. Thanks to Dancing Creek Farm for providing a couple of hens and a lovely rooster.  They'll be here Friday. Next Tuesday I'm visiting Gregory Farms near Stuart and going hen shopping.  By the end of next week I'm hoping for a Tuggle Farms' omelette.

Happenings

Lots going on. The peach tree blooms are starting to open. One plum tree is in full bloom. Grapes are pruned. The ground is about dry enough to plow. Locust posts to finish the chicken yard have been located; just need to harvest them. Found a replacement pump for the sprayer so I can finish with the dormant oil spray.  Just got to go pick it up.

There are chickens in the near future. I keep just missing opportunities. But since the lot is not quite finished that might be a good thing. I'm expecting chickens to appear by the end of next week. Not sure where they're coming from but they're coming.

I met with a group at Spencer Penn Center working with bringing local food to the forefront in the area. They've already done a lot of work studying demographics and such. I think that there will start to be some tangible results soon.

I'll end this post by saying that the first Tuggle Farms Catering job has been scheduled.  Whoo Hoo!!

Seeds

Seeds have finally arrived. Among the embryonic treasures - heirloom tomatoes: Black Krim, Lillian's Yellow, Old German, Purple Russian, Arkansas Tommy Toe, Wapsipinicon Peach and Wins All. Tomorrow we'll be pruning grape vines and anoiting the fruit trees with dormant oil.  Beautiful time of year.

On the Air

Tomorrow, Thursday March 3, 2011, Tuggle Farms will join Spencer Penn community Kitchen in a live broadcast on the lcoal TV station BTW 21. You  can see it live at 7 PM eastern time at the following link.

http://www.btw21.com/

Join us!!

Tuggle Farms Labels

Beautiful day today. I spent a big part of it working on a label design that might make the Dept of Agriculture happy. I think this will do it. If not, they will not hesitate to let me know.

Spencer Penn Community Kitchen

I sat in on a meeting with the Dept of Health, VA Dept of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the Spencer Penn Community Kitchen folks. Very educational. Then it was a lot of fun working in the kitchen.  I got everything prepped for the 6 batches I need to send to the food science labs at NCSU.  It'll take a couple of weeks to get those results back. After that, I get to tackle the Dept of Agriculture approval process and then FDA.  Somewhere along about then I get to bring the products to market.

Test Batches

Tomorrow I meet with Carrie at Spencer Penn Kitchen and a Dept of Agriculture rep. Then do 6 batches of different products to send samples to NC State for testing in their food science lab.  Moving ahead pretty quickly. Glad it's going to be rainy tomorrow. It'll be good to be in the kitchen. Other news: waiting and wondering where the order of heirloom tomato seeds can be. It's time to get them started.

Getting off the ground.

I spent today listening to procurement officials from state, federal and local governments, colleges and small business vendors talk about getting started. A lot of good information was shared.  I discovered several more necessary forms and websites, both federal and state, that will be an advantage to me. I particularly liked the information on getting in on some of the 'small business' mandates that governments are required to follow.  More later.

Welcome to Tuggle Farms!

It's my first time blogging but I think it will be a useful tool. I can keep a dairy of the business and let you know what's happening at with the farm.

What is Tuggle Farms?

Tuggle Farms are several small family farms, located in Henry County, Virginia, providing value added agricultural products produced at Tuggle Farms or by other local vendors and crafts people. Our mission is to provide quality value added products to the community in a sustainable manner that honors the earth and its inhabitants.

Check back soon.