Come visit our farm stand and say hello to the pigs, chickens, rabbits, and Baxley the pup on Wednesdays afternoons 4-6 or Saturday mornings 9-11. Vegetables, Chilmark Coffee (brewed and beans) and hot apple cider for sale. Enjoy it all while catching up with neighbors and friends around a cozy fire. See you there!

Animals

So much has happened at Slip Away Farm the past few weeks.

In addition to settling ourselves into our new home, we have moved in some of our first farm animals: pigs, chickens, and rabbits, oh my.

We have two pigs on loan to us from the Farm Institute. It is the ideal situation, because the Farm Institue pays for the grain, and we put in the labor of feeding and caring for them and get to have the benefit of pigs on our land. They act like little rototillers, pulling up poison ivy and briars with their sturdy noses. I love pigs. They have huge personalities and are constantly amusing, particularly when they are feeling enthusiastic and psyched on life. They leap and twist in the air, kick their heals up, and bound and skip across their pen. It is endlessly entertaining, and I am always left smiling and wondering how such heavy animals can find the energy to bound so effortlessly.

We also bought ten two-year-old hens, a mix of Rhode Island Reds and Buff Orpingtons, with the hope that they would keep our household well supplied in eggs. Despite a luxurious and cushy chicken home, however, these hens seem to have decided against laying. Usually every two or three days we find an egg or two. I always praise the ladies heavily, but no amount of kind words has yet encouraged them to lay more.

In order to boost up the flock, we ordered fifty chicks that will arrive in the mail in two weeks. We will brood them in the basement and then move them in with the other chickens in a few months. If all goes as planned and the old hens don't teach the new hens their bad laying habits, they should be laying come April. Once that happens, we will hopefully have plenty of eggs for ourselves and to sell at our farm stand.

Old Evil Eye

Our friend Meg gave us a rooster and he struts around proudly and tries to look menacing to all who enter his chicken castle. Despite his small size, I have to admit that I am sometimes a little bit intimidated by him, and he knows it and plays me for the wimp I am. I swear he gives me the evil eye, so I am always careful to keep a good distance between us. I just hope the hawks feel intimidated too.

And finally, we have three sliver-fox rabbits given to us by our friend Taz. As some of you may remember from a post early in the summer, I have already tried and failed at rabbit raising for Slip Away Farm. After much encouragement from Taz (who also gave me that first rabbit, Harvey aka Cottontail), we decided to try again. These three ladies are pretty adorable. Almost too cute to eat. But the plan is to raise them for a few months, breed them with another silver fox, and then have their babies for meat next fall.

The other news this week is: Jason caught a fish! When we moved to Chappy, Jason-- who used to fish as a kid on the Vineyard-- started fishing frequently. After many trips without a bite, I learned that the point of fishing is not necessarily to catch a fish. Apparently, it is sometimes more about being out in a beautiful spot at a beautiful time of the day and enjoying the act of fishing rather than being about bringing home the big one. Actually hooking a fish is an added bonus. I stopped hopefully asking each time Jason returned: "Did you catch one??" And just when I was forgetting altogether that sometimes the result of fishing is an actual fish, Jason returned home on Monday night with a beautiful, foot and a half long bluefish. We grilled him whole and had him for supper. So good!

Many thanks to Alan Muney for the chicken and rooster photos.