Yorkshires in the old garden

Poland China's breakfast fruit

Rainy Monday

Snouts down

Chicken Again!

At 4:40 pm, I told my sister in New York that I only had one more thing to do before I went home on Monday... the one thing was to load 400+ chickens/broilers into crates for their trip to the processing plant on Tuesday morning. Brian, Cameron, Phillip and I completed the task in 2 hours!

Crate loading is really a form of quality exercise as you are actually interval training: repetitions of squats and lunges then lifting and loading 70# crates onto a flat trailer for transport. If anyone is ever interested you can contact me by email. We can get you signed up. Why pay for a gym membership when you can load chickens instead?

Tuesday's 4 AM wake up call came too early with me slow to rise. I think it took all of the trailer loading prep time plus 1 hour drive time before the coffee took effect!

Total time spent in travel:  5:00 AM - 7:30 PM = 14.5 hours
Mileage: 172 round trip
Coffee Consumed: One Gallon
Song of the Day: Mercedes Benz- Janis Joplin (as sung by the crew at SS Enterprises)
The Ones That Got Away: 2 feathered and live chickens spotted today have been in hiding for 24 hrs

Vacuum packed and ready to load

An old goat photo

December 22, 2009

Farm Raised Turkey Dinner and The Wild Kind (just to watch)

Above is a fried Wedge Oak Farm raised domesticated turkey. Thanks to everyone that chose to have one of our Wilson County pasture raised birds in honor of the 2011 Holiday Season. We hope yours was delicious! Below are some of the wild and roaming kind that love to nibble the feed of pigs, cows and poultry on the farm. I watched them wander into the woods as they went to roost for the night.  They are a very different bird from our farm raised version, but wonderful to watch.

 

Wedge Oak Farm's mangalitsas are looking primo! They are loving the fall weather and the cool and rich Tennessee soil.

Bruno's View

Muddy Water, Fall Eggs and a Unknown Guest

My grandfather, we called him Pa, used to tell us "you've been drinking muddy water" as you stood between him and the Saturday afternoon classic, The Lawrence Welk Show. It meant he could not see through you and was a less obvious way to ask you to move out of the way. This Mangalitsa piglet is making muddy water for her friends. Thirsty?

So there is a Fox Squirrel in the tree about dead center of the page. I tried to insert an arrow but gave up as I think I might be merely wasting time. Maybe you can spot it? They are larger than the Grey Squirrel we are accustomed to at Wedge Oak Farm. At first we thought it to be the elusive Southern Weasel, that has feasted on WOF poultry over the last season. Not so though. They are nocturnal and way too crafty to allow us to catch sight of them.

Afternoon's fall egg basket

Mangalitsa in the leaves

Caught Red Handed!

This small lap-loving cat with the tiny squeak for a meow is a dedicated hunter. She came to Wedge Oak Farm 3 years ago and was caught trying to get into the brooder where we keep our little day old to 3 week chicks. She was transfered into the house where she sat on the washing machine for the next several days....she was named Maytag. Her friends include another cat which she loves to bathe and 2 dogs that she likes to walk with,  and curl up with in the cooler months. She might like a house with another animal or a loving person.
Until this year, we have been able to keep her out of the chicks, but she has officially decided that WOF chicken tastes better than cat food. Hence, we must re-home Maytag. She is current on all of her shots and was spayed as a kitten. She would love a person with a free hand for a back rub, a lap for a visit and a yard to prowl, in the morning. Please let us know if you are interested. Call Anne at 615.497.3434

The Turkeys are Coming!

Wedge Oak Farm is enjoying our growing flock of 24 hour a day pasture raised, turkeys! They are healthy, happy birds eating native grasses, weeds, bugs, seeds and our locally milled feed made free of medications, hormones, animal-by-products and antibiotics! They sleep in the moon light and roam in the sun on our sustainable farm.
Let us know if you would like one reserved for Thanksgiving 2011.
Call us at:
615-497-3434 or 615-547-4222
Or email us at:
Wedgeoak@gmail.com

fun in the woods

Enjoying the end of the day

Ding! Canned Tomatoes

I finally got some tomatoes put away for the winter. Made juice too. An expert told me about pressing the skins through a food mill for a thicker juice. It looks and tastes great! It will make an extra special brunch beverage this fall!

There is a sweet satisfaction upon hearing the "ding" of jars sealing as they cool! What if every completed task was accompanied by a sound of success?

Ding!

Goodbye Roo!

What a rooster! 

Friday, at a glance

 Today, Tom Bayless and Josh Habiger came out and helped with the farm work and made friends with the hens and pigs too.

 We flipped a tank of water as we hauled it out to the sows this morning (the ladies love the aqua). So we pumped what we could with small pump that attaches to the cordless drill and bucketed the remainder to the pigs. It was nice to have two pairs of extra hands.

Quality Control

Mud Lover

Have a great holiday weekend!

Who is off to the Wilson County Fair tonight? We are!

Come check out the Farm to Table Booth at the Picnic Pavillion in Fiddlers Grove 6 p.m. tonight, August 18, 2011 in Lebanon, TN! You can talk to local farmers and gather information about what you can put on your table directly from Wilson County.

You can get all of the details below. 

www.wilsoncountyfair.net/home
www.wilsoncountyfair.net/home

Pick TN Products Celebrates 25th Year With Governor and First Lady

 Last Wednesday, Anne and I  picked up the afternoon eggs a bit early, watered the broilers, and washed off the farm dirt. We left Lebanon headed for the Tennessee Governor's Residence to enjoy a Tennesseee grown dinner with the Governor, First Lady and 25 other farmers from Tennessee.

Chef Matt Gallaher prepared our  own veggie loving, pasture turning, mud wallowing Wedge Oak Farm  pork as the main course!  The entire meal was produced here in the state of Tennessee. You can read the details below and even look at Mrs. Haslam's photos.
Cheers to ALL Tennessee farmers!



http://news.tn.gov/node/7608


Photos of the event are available at www.flickr.com/crissyhaslam.

News of the Wedge

• Wedge Oak Farm will have "Spring Chickens" Tuesday, July 19. Let us know if you might like a 16-24 oz. poussin that is just tender and delicious. Perfect as an individual serving.

• We will also have fresh pork available the following week, July 25th-28th. Place your orders now to get delicious pasture raised pork to throw on the grill or serve to your guests.

• The Farm number is temporarily disconnected, as the internet service changed on Old Murfreesboro Road and they turned off the farm phone in conjunction with the internet service. Unfortunately, we cannot have the phone reconnected until Monday, July18. Bare with us while we work out the kinks of a new provider.

You can contact us at:
615-766-3773 Karen's new mobile number (finally in the 615 area code)

615-497-3434 Anne's cell phone

As always you can also contact us by email:
wedgeoak@gmail.com

Hot Chicken

While I love an order of good "hot chicken", today's hot chicken consist of a flock of broilers keeping cool any way they can. Wading is always an option I guess.

When the temperature gets over 90 we try to keep the birds in a tree line for deep shade. Their small structures are good for a bit of sun and rain cover. However, there is nothing that compares to a tall healthy tree!

Happy Fourth of July!

Wedge Oak Farm Wishes All a Safe and Happy Independence Day!

A reminder from Carl Cat: Light fuse and get away!



Forget Your Farmer, Forget Local Food

From the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition….

The agriculture appropriations bill the House of Representatives just passed slashes $1 billion from mandatory farm bill conservation funding and tells USDA to drop the Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food initiative (KYF, KYF). The House measure would slash programs that support farmers who protect the soil and water on which our nation's future productivity depends. A provision denying any funding for the KYF, KYF initiative is a direct attack on new farm and market opportunities, rural job growth and public health.

Click here to

Protest these Cuts

Join the National Day of Action,Tuesday June 28th

Call Your Senators

As Obama and Republicans enter into a possible final week of budget negotiations it is crucial that you ACT NOW!

While the weather has been hot and unpredictable the Laying Hens, and their friends the Ducks have enjoyed a cool drink of water and even a nice refreshing bath!

Oh, rubber ducky you're the one. You make bath time lots of fun!

The Pigs WON!

After numerous days of 90 degree weather, feeding livestock, watering livestock, and falling into bed every night to get up and try to beat the heat doing all of the other tasks that are  "farming"... the pigs won!

Yesterday's well laid plan was for naught, as the 250-300# hogs were not interested in anything but a mud bath. The rain dance worked and the afternoon rain shower replenished their supplies of rich thick mud. This thwarted our attempts to ready a passel of pigs for this morning's trailer trip.


The people of Wedge Oak Farm relinquished  hopeing the 5:30A.M efforts would prove to be more effective. The truck and trailer made it out of the gate at 7 am and we will have fresh pork by the end of the week.

Note to self:
Do not try to utilize a new and unknown loading ramp with mud loving hogs,  after a summertime rainshower.

History Page Update on Wedge Oak Website

We have updated our History page on the website. If you are interested please click HERE!

Chickens for Sale (Laying Hens and Roosters)

Hatched on February 15, 2011 these chicks have received daily rations of chick starter till they were 8 weeks old—at that time, they were moved to pullet grower feed that gets them ready for the job they will start in the end of June or first of July, EGG LAYING!

All have been raised with care and concern for their health and happiness. We hope to find homes that will treat them the same. Hens start to lay eggs at 18-22 weeks of age. These pullets will begin to lay eggs the last week of June or first of July.

Available breeds:

• Ancona—Lays white egg, bright and snappy with black and white patches
• Brown Leghorns—Lays white eggs, spirited birds, rarely broody
• Turken/Naked Neck—Lays large brown egg, good temperament
• Araucanas—Lays blue, green, pink, yellow eggs
• Little Black Giants—Lays dark brown eggs, docile and easy to work with
• Welsummer—Lays brown egg, good forager, hardy in the cold
• New Hampshire Reds—Lay brown eggs, large plump carcass, chestnut red with black tail

Prices:

$10.00 per pullet. Roosters available also: $5.00 per rooster (Araucana, Acona, Brown Leghorn)

Contact: wedgeoak@gmail.com  or call 615-443-0836

Tomato Mouth

Guest made friends with Roo

Guinea Guest has followed Roo(ster) all day!

Unexpected Guest at Ye Old Hen House

3 weeks ago 2 dogs killed 7 guineas and at least 6 hens for sport.  Leaving one lone guinea to range with the laying flock. This morning we have a surprise guest at the Old Hen House...one lone guinea + one guest guinea brings it up to 2 guineas!

Wedge Oak Farming for a Day

Wedge Oak Farm was extremely fortunate to host some great people yesterday, and wanted to salute them and all the good help they provided.

Left to Right: Claire, Becky, Nick, Aric & John

Aric of Texas - Becky of New York - John of Tennessee

(and Brian of the Wedge far right!)

Claire (of Dozen) and Anne (Anne of the Wedge) loaded up some freshly laid chicken eggs for delicious desserts baked by Dozen - A Nashville Sweet Shop. Check Dozen out at The Nashville Farmers Market and the Franklin Farmers Market too.

Becky and Nick run their own farm in New York - to check them out click here.

THANK YOU ALL FOR EVERYTHING YOU DID FOR THE WEDGE!

Weekend at the Wedge

Just a few pics, as there was time to snap them, from this weekends wanderings around the farm. 

8 day Old Chick-lets

The chicks got a Bell Waterer today. It is gravity fed from a five
gallon bucket. Simple really. As the chicks drink the water in the rim
of the bell, it becomes lighter. As it lightens, the bell rises off a
weighted base and allows water to flow out into the bell and as it
gets heavy it shuts off the flow. Ingenious!

Poulet Rouge Chick-lets!

Did you know you can mail chickens? Sound strange? May be, but it's true.

Chicks are shipped in cardboard boxes and usually arrive at the Post Office at 6 AM—hungry, thirsty and ready for warmth.

Each chick is given a drink of water and is put under a heat light.  The temperature must be 95 degrees for the first week. Every week thereafter we drop the temperature 5 degrees. By the time we reach outside temperatures they will have their feathers and self regulate.