Exciting Times at Archie’s Acres

Life has been great lately at Archie’s Acres and we have some fun updates from the farm.

Weather is slightly more cooperative

We’re happy to report that the rains have finally given us some time to dry out. That said, we still get a little rain almost daily, but the 1-4 inch torrential rainstorms have slowed and the plants are finally looking and feeling healthy. Aaaaaand because of that it’s been a real tomato and pepper party over here!

We love having so many different varieties!

Which leads me to happily announce that we have begun selling produce to The Log Cabin Restaurant in Galena, IL! How exciting is that?! It’s such an honor! We’re over the moon about it!

 

Farmer’s markets are fun!

Farmers market life has been great. We’re enjoying our time at the Rockford City Market every 2nd and 4th Friday and we’re loving our guest vendor spots at the Glenwood Sunday Market in Chicago! The next time we’ll be at the Glenwood Sunday Market is September 24th. We meet so many amazing people at these events and we love being able to learn from the vendors and local farmers around us.

It’s great when friends stop by to see us at the market! Bernie and Nancy it was so good to see you!

Exciting development for next year

We’ve also decided to begin a CSA program starting next Spring! For anyone unfamiliar, CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture.  Members sign up to receive a box containing fresh, organic, seasonal goodies from our farm. Once or twice a month (depending on your preference), we will deliver it to a convenient pick-up location.

We’ve created a form in the “Shop” section of our website where you can add your information and we’ll email you when we finalize plans. In the meantime, we’d still like to share our chicken and quail eggs with people after the Farmers Market season is over. But that’s all a work-in-progress.

Critters everywhere

Tilly thinks the bed is meant for her

Our farm pets are doing well. Moose is growing by the literal second! He’s as big as Archie right now and he’s not even 4 months old! He’s fitting in with the goats and Tilly very well.

On that note, Tilly is a diva. She demands treats and pets and she regularly steals Moose’s dog bed. She shouts at us from the pasture every time she sees us. It’s hard to believe that she’s only 4 months old (born April 21st) because she’s such a presence on the farm already that we can’t imagine life without her!

Another hen has hatched a couple of babies in the last week. She has 2 beautiful little chicks and she’s momming like a champ! Just today I watched her teach her babies about the automatic waterer that we have setup in front of their coop. It was really sweet to watch.

Nelly teaching her baby how to be a chicken

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well that’s it for now! Keep following us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/archiesacres/

 

 

It has been a while…but we’ve been busy!

It has been a very busy couple of months on Archie’s Acres. We’ve begun working farmer’s markets and we’ve adopted/rescued a few new residents. We’re so happy to be able to give them happy homes.  Also, sadly, we had to say goodbye to our head rooster, Nacho, who died last week.

We lost our alpha rooster last week. Very sad.
Nacho was the head rooster on this farm. RIP

Nacho was a huge loss. Our hens have been staying close to the coop ever since; however, we’re hopeful that one of Nacho’s two sons will step up to protect the flock.

Farm life is an emotional roller coaster most weeks.

Meet Poncho!

He is our new 2-3 year old Nigerian Dwarf goat rescue. He’s a nice, friendly and well behaved guy. We adopted him from a couple in Monroe, WI who had too many wethered males in their herd. (By the way, wethered means fixed.) He was their favorite and didn’t want to see him become someone’s food. So we were happy to take him! He will join Tilly as a landscape specialist.

Our Nigerian Dwarf goat rescue.
Poncho.

He and Tilly became fast friends, Tilly was sooo happy not to be an only child. She hated being in the pasture alone so she hung out with the chickens, and for a time, thought she was a chicken. She even went under the house to cool off on hot days, like a chicken….

She is under the house trying to cool off on a 90 degree day.
Tilly thinks she’s a chicken.

Meet Betty White

Betty White came from our neighbor ( a few miles away) who is a goat farmer. She didn’t become a mom this past season so he informed us that the herd would see her as a drain on the herd and would most likely beat her to death this winter, so we gladly took her. We named her Betty White because she’s a feisty old broad who doesn’t take any lip from anyone. She’ll be an excellent addition to our tiny herd.

She's our newest goat rescue.
Betty White

These 2 goats have joined Tilly in the our 3.5 acre fenced pasture and will work as landscape specialists. I think we’re all very excited about this!

We are excited to announce that we could be at a farmer’s market near you!!

This was our booth at the Glenwood Sunday Market last Sunday, June 25th.
Our farmer’s market booth!

Currently we are participating in the Rockford City Market every 2nd and 4th Friday of each month. And this Sunday, July 2nd, we will be doing the Glenwood Sunday Market on the North side of Chicago in Rogers Park. We’ve enjoyed the process of having a booth at a farmer’s market. It has been fun and we’re very excited to be a part of these wonderful events. Being able to provide people with organic produce and tasty eggs is extremely rewarding. Stay tuned for more farmers market announcements! We’ll try to keep our calendar in the “Shop” tab of the website up to date so keep checking.

We’ll also announce our market schedules on Instagram @archiesacres and Facebook @archiesacres

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