Here is what the farm will now look like:
Soap-Don’t worry! We are still going to make sure everyone is clean “wink”. Ashley has soaping experience and will be helping me with that.
Goats- We are retaining the core of our award winning Mini Nubian and Nigerian dwarf herd. We are selling all of our Nubians and a large amount of the other breeds that are not in line with our breeding goals. We are going from 75 goats to 40-50. For now only 12 are being milked. (usually we milk 30-40!) Ashley will also be running the herd for us.
Cheese- Cheese is currently on hold until God sees fit to send me an amazing person to run that section. We do have quite a bit aging feta in the fridges and will selling that until the back-stock runs out. We will not be making more until January, unless that perfect person shows up. If not, the Cheese room will stay on vacation another season.
Milk & Kefir- Most of the girls are pregnant now, and are starting to go on maternity leave, though some will not be bred and will keep milking to insure that we at LEAST have milk and kefir to sell all year round. This takes our milking chores from 3 hours a day to 1hour. Ashley is also heading this up, with maybe some part timers help.
Classes/Tours-We will not be having any community ones for now. Only private tours and soap classes on the farm. Contact me if you have a group that wants to come out. These will also be very limited.
Events- After the Fall Frolic we will only have one tiny event per month. At the most! I will plan and execute these myself.
Farm Venue-We love community and to be a part of life’s special celebrations. We have decided to begin renting parts of the farm out as a venue. It will be a really fun place to celebrate with a visual twist like no other! Perfect for weddings, rehearsal dinners, birthdays, anniversary parties, quinceaneras, business dinners and so much more! ONE PER MONTH, very limited availability, so if it sounds perfect for you let me know as soon as possible! Ashley, Jake and I will be tag-teaming this venture. We will NOT be planning it, only leasing the Venue, but I can put you in touch with our amazing team of photographers, chefs and even some event planners.
Cows and pigs- Most of the cows are being sold as family milkers as I cannot give everyone the attention they need. Most of the pigs are also being sold or being processed. I will have a good amount of pork for sale NOW, but not much next year.
There you have it. The farm will continue to be the farm, we will still garden, make milk, and raise animals, (you will still see our crazy antics online!) and I will still be at the markets. The rest will just scale back and it may look a little different.
I have been mourning all the loses of friends, that I miss desperately, and have spent so many years working beside. I mourn for things that must end or go on pause, but that time is at an end and I am looking forward with joy to this new season. More time spent with my children, people in my life and doing fewer things better. As always, thank you for your support your listening ear, but most of all your friendship,
See you soon!
Cole
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