O'Hara's Corner Farm

12/26/2022

We hope you all had a Merry Christmas! We are looking forward to a great New Year.

12/23/2022

Staying home today and making chicken broth from the backs and bones from this year's meat birds to help heat the house on this cold windy December day.

11/12/2022

Out in the greenhouse on this snowy morning, on a cucumber scavenger hunt. They won't last long in this cold blast coming, picking everything we can find.

10/07/2022

Frost touched the top of our pepper plants earlier this week and the weather forecast is calling for a full frost tonight, so we decided to spend a bit of time this afternoon and pick everything worth picking.

Which means I have several dozen of these green beauties sitting on my kitchen table this evening.

We will cut up and freeze several pints for winter use; if you would like to do the same or even just would like a few to snack on over the next couple of weeks, send us a message and we'll make a deal 😉

09/05/2022

Early September=tomatoes. We picked every ripe one in the garden.

08/07/2022

Summertime supper: bruschetta with home grown tomatoes, basil and garlic on homemade easy sourdough focaccia. 😋

07/07/2022

In the last couple of years we've managed to acquire a trio of hens all the same, unfamiliar breed, that go tremendously broody every summer. It is not our favorite way to get new hens, the resulting chicks tend to be kinda feral and lay their eggs all over the place. But like anything else, it's hard to resist watching the babies.

Seeing them wander the yard always makes me think of the verse:

"How often I’ve longed to gather your children,
gather your children like a hen,
Her brood safe under her wings—
but you refused and turned away!"

Luke 13:33 MSG

06/22/2022

Happy summer solstice! Our thermometer hit 100 for a short while late this afternoon! Small blessing that it's not quite as humid as a week ago.

Squash and cucumbers are thriving and there are a few early tomatoes and peppers.

We are down to the last week with our Freedom Rangers; we would prefer cooler weather to finish them but they're pretty hardy, as long as they have plenty of water and shade, they tolerate the heat decently. They just don't eat and gain as well when it's hot.

Hope you're finding some relief from the heat where you are and living up the longest day of the year 😁

06/17/2022

Pictures of our garden in June make the OCD part of my brain happy, everything looks so in control and like we have our 💩 together. Really it's just the calm before the harvesting and preserving storm of July/August/September when weeding falls by the way side 😭
Cucumbers and squash are blooming, so it won't be long before our road stand is out 🥒🍅🌶️😁

06/04/2022

Spring is a busy season here on the farm. Too busy planting and weeding (!!!) to document much.

Even though it's early we are already harvesting: asparagus season, short and sweet, is almost over, radishes, lettuce, spinach and kale.

We like radishes but always find we have more than we can fresh eat. We thought we'd try something new, radish quick pickles. If nothing else they look pretty in the jar. 🤷🏻‍♀️😁

05/19/2022

Why we get our meat birds on grass as soon as they're feathered out . . . They love to forage! This video was captured about a minute after the chicken tractor was moved to new grass patch. They really go after the grass flowers and seed heads that are forming this time of year, as well as bugs and worms.

Yum for them equals yum for us on down the line 😉

05/19/2022

Back when Buddy the gander was cute, before he became the terror of the barnyard. Having more than 1 male goose, 0 stars, do not recommend 😭

04/17/2022

Taking advantage of the relatively warm weather to do some gardening this afternoon. 400 onion seedlings in the ground and a pile of grubbed out saplings from our neglected perennial area. Get through the next few days and it looks like we're going to have some weather that will make the asparagus noses I saw poking through really pop up ☺️

Happy Easter ✝️💐🐇

04/13/2022

Spring is springing here on the farm. The number of animals has been rapidly increasing this past week.

Last Thursday we brought home Herbert and Harriet, occupants of the refurbished hog house, who are big fans of the food scrap bucket already.

Friday we picked up Grace's 4-H project, 2 young New Zealand rabbits, Ash and Ember.

Over the weekend we readied our brooder set up for the 50 Freedom Ranger meat birds arriving in a few days.

We are starting to get the hang of having plants in the greenhouse, onion starts and brassicas are very happy; the tomatoes need transplanted into bigger pots and the peppers are looking better after a poor germination.

We picked up a sourdough starter while on our spring break, so if you count yeast as a critter, that's one more to add to our list 😉

Our days are taking on new rhythms with all of these new additions, which seems overwhelming at a glance. But we wouldn't have it any other way 💗

03/01/2022

March 1, meteorologists mark it as their first day of spring, though the calendar says we still have 19 more days officially. Here on the farm we are diving into mud season, where every trip outside requires muck boots. Started our brassica family seeds, some herbs and flowers today. Spinach seeds planted a few weeks ago in the greenhouse are finally popping. Maple sap is finally flowing; we were starting to worry our taps weren't right. And there is one happy little viola that overwintered in the greenhouse, perked up and smiling.

02/03/2022

Scout wanted to go for a constitutional this morning, so we took a little tour up and down the road along our property and into the yard a little bit. Lots snow and drifts.

11/29/2021

Hoping everyone had a great Thanksgiving holiday. Photo of how our winter garden is doing so far in the new greenhouse.

10/26/2021

Spent a little bit in the garden tonight picking a few things before a possible first frost.

Never have I ever picked green beans the last week of October, but I can't complain; though I'm a little weirded out by the unseasonably warm weather that made it possible.

Made a little end of summer arrangement for my counter with basil and zinnias, the basil won't last but I'll enjoy the smell while it does.

Our 2021 garden wasn't our best; definitely not something to be featured in a magazine spread of perfection, but it has fed us well and stocked our pantry, and for that as always I'm grateful. Happy autumn! 🍂🍁

09/27/2021

07/23/2021

If you're looking for slicing cucumbers to add to your summer salad, eat with a sprinkle of salt for a refreshing, crunchy snack or make a quick batch of refrigerator pickles we can help you out. We planted both Straight 8 and MarketMore varieties and they are loving the rain and humidity of the last couple of weeks.

The farm stand will be open through the weekend, with slicing cucumbers and the remainder of the zucchini harvest available at 50 cents a piece.

After this weekend, we will be closing down for a couple of weeks to do some preserving, back to school prep and a little R&R. We will be back with green beans and tomatoes and peppers in August.

07/17/2021

Stop by the produce stand today and have a cup of lemonade and some smiles with your zucchini. 😉🥒

Greenhouse rafters going up today too😁

07/15/2021

Love it when the garden plans supper for us 😁🤤

07/06/2021

Didn't get as far on greenhouse this holiday weekend as hoped, but making progress. Check back soon as we should have green beans available.

07/02/2021

It's that time of year 😁

06/30/2021

These guys 11 week journey is over. Another successful year at putting chicken from our backyard in our freezer for the year.

06/23/2021

June evening garden haul. Probably the majority of our pea harvest right there 😔 This spring was not kind to plants that like it cool, mild and well watered. On the upside, our 12 squash/zucchini plants are just starting to gear up; we'll let you know when we have some available. 🥒

06/14/2021

As usual, our kale is growing faster than we can eat it. Dinosaur or curly leaf, $3 a bag.

05/21/2021

05/15/2021

After many years of unsatisfactory harvests from mesculun mixes and leaf lettuce, I've discovered the joy and secrets of growing head lettuce and I don't think we'll ever switch back 😊

05/15/2021

50 Freedom Ranger broilers ready for their tandem, 7 week march up and down the side yard.

03/07/2021

Busy weekend on the farm.

03/07/2021

Boiling down sap for maple syrup.

01/31/2021

Only members of our flock brave enough to take a lap around the snow covered barnyard. They weren't afraid to let the whole neighborhood know what they thought about it.

01/21/2021

It may still be winter but our hardworking hens are already sensing that the days are getting longer and are providing us with an abundance of multicolored eggs! For $2 a dozen, some of these delicious, nutrient dense lovelies can be yours!

01/17/2021

Ordered 50 Freedom Rangers Chickens today for delivery in April. Starting to get 2021 things in place on the farm. Looking forward to raising them in our two chicken tractors.

11/22/2020

Our row cover bit the dust this week, between the wicked wind and then the snow this morning. So it was time to bring in the head lettuce. Mostly salvaged the middles, the outer edges were frost nipped and wind ripped. Brightened the chickens' day with a nice pile of green scraps. We should be filled up on salads the next couple of weeks 😋🥗

11/15/2020

Trying out preserving our potato harvest by making dehydrated hash browns.

11/01/2020

Happy November 1st! Cold, Windy and Snowing!

09/04/2020

The farm stand is out and stocked for the holiday weekend! Lots of yummy sweet peppers and tomatoes, perfect for end of summer snacking, BLTs, salads and bruschetta. Stop by and pick some up! 🍅🌶️🥗😋

08/17/2020

Picked almost 10 # of peppers this evening. Stand will be restocked in the morning 🌶️😊