Thinking Spring!

It's still too cold and wet to do much gardening outside, but spring work has begun at Wickham Farm. Yesterday, I broadcast clover seed over about 5 acres of our hay ground. This method of seeding is known as frost seeding. The theory is that the freezing and thawing of late winter along with early spring rains works the seed into the ground so that it can germinate in the cool damp spring soils. My hope is  that the clover will help to boost the quality and quantity of hay that I get off of that ground. Clover is high in protein and adds nitrogen to the soil to help the grass grow stronger.

Jane is getting things started for this year's garden. She has already started several hundred plants on a shelf in the living room window. There are many heritage varieties of tomatoes along with green peppers and a small number of flowers for the yard.

Seeing these young plants starting to grown makes you feel that spring and the farmer's market season can't be too far away!

Raw Milk Sales in Iowa

Open Letter to My State Legislature.

I have recently learned that the Iowa bill that would allow consumers to buy raw milk directly from farmers has passed through the House Economic Growth Committee and is now ready for a floor vote. I am writing you to tell you that I am in favor of raw milk sales in Iowa. I feel that informed consumers should have the right to purchase raw milk if they choose to do so. I know that many people will tell you that drinking raw milk is not safe. I also know that if the milk is properly handled, there is no danger in drinking raw milk. All fresh food needs to handled properly. We have come a long way since the early 1900s when milk pasteurization was used to fix unhealthy production and distribution systems. With today’s information, pasteurization is not the only way to produce safe healthy milk. Data from the National Center for Disease Control from 1975 to 2005 indicates extremely low risk on properly handled raw dairy compared to other food products. Iowa is one of only 10 states that does not allow raw milk sales in some form. Thousands of people around the globe consume raw milk safely. I myself grew up in Nebraska where raw milk sales from the farm are legal and grew up drinking raw milk with no problems. It is time that Iowan's are allowed to make this choice for themselves also.

Walt Wickham

Maquoketa, Iowa

Breakfast with a Smile

Nothing is better than getting your breakfast served up with a smile. Jane thought it would be fun to arrange my bacon and eggs like a face. I don't usually eat food that is looking back at me, but this time I was willing to make an exception. The home grown bacon from our herd of red wattle hogs and the fresh eggs from our flock of laying hens certainly put a smile on my face.

New baby goats

The first baby goats of the spring arrived Wednesday...a boy and a girl. This is a sure sign that spring isn't far away! The mother is a nubian/saanen cross and the father was a lamancha cross. We like to bottle raise our baby goats. This makes for very friendly goats. Our other does will be kidding any time now so we should have a full barn soon!

The new chicks are here!

Friday, Jane picked up a batch of new chicks from Schlecht Hatchery in Miles, Iowa. This is the time of year that we order our replacement chicks. Schlecht's is not too far from us, so it is a convenient place for us to get chicks, and they are good people to deal with. Jane picked up 80 chicks of 8 different breeds. So far, all the birds are doing well.  Jane likes a lot of color in the flock so she gets a good assortment of breeds. Our egg customers seem to appreciate the variety of egg colors as well. Our son Nick will show some of our new girls at the county fair this summer. He will have a good selection of birds to choose from when deciding which ones to take to show. The breeds that we were able to get from Schlecht this year include White-laced Red Cornish, Blue-laced Red Wyndotte, Anconas, Golden-laced Wyndotte, Mille Fluer, Sex Link (Red Stars), Buff Orphington, and Americauna.These birds will spend the next couple of weeks in the house. It's just way too cold to move the fragile chicks outside. Once they are a little larger, have feathered out, and it's a little warmer out, they will go outdoors. By mid-summer, they should be laying eggs with the rest of the flock. It is then that they start to earn their keep. 

Anconas chick.

Snow Pigs

These two gilts were born July 25, 2010. The deep snow isn't slowing them down! They are pure breed registrable red wattle gilts that would be a great addition to anyone's breeding herd. We can't keep them all, and I would hate to see them go for meat, so if you are thinking about adding some new blood to your herd or just starting out, email us for more info at wickhamfarm@gmail.com. 

Groundhog Day Snowstorm!

The snowstorm of the winter hit last night. Just before the groundhog was suppose to come out and tell us if spring is coming sooner or later. My bet is on later. Besides, any groundhog with a smidgen of common sense is likely staying warm and secure in their den on a day like this. Do you think they really care about this weather predicting stuff anyway?

We received somewhere between 12 and 15 inches of new snow. Its hard to say exactly how much, because strong winds carried the snow off of the open fields and dropped it in other places like our driveway, animal pens, and the gravel road. We haven't seen the county snowplow yet. It's late enough now that we probably won't see it until sometime tomorrow. It's a good thing that we don't have anywhere to go today. The kids enjoyed the day off from school by playing in the snow and digging snow forts. 

The snow drifted to the top of the garage door. I guess I'll be entering the garage from the front instead of the side for a while!

Despite the cold and snow, I had a good time clearing the snow with the 1955 AC WD45 tractor. I had Jane, my wife, snap this picture. If you look close, you can see the ice hanging on my beard.Gotta love winter in Iowa!