Six Months Later– 8/7/2022

Welcome to our new subscribers! There’s not a lot philosophical about this post, just a ‘catch you up’ kind of article since its been so long since I wrote. I am feeling the creative juices flowing tonight, so I’m going to immediately start on the next post about the benefits I’ve experienced from a few changes in my daily routine. But to catch you up-

What a whirlwind year this has been!

Since I last wrote in February, we’ve done some restructuring, some graduating and some traveling, let me tell you all about it.

First came the restructuring. Due to some ‘surprize’ outside forces, we were required to eliminate our secure remote herd share refrigerator drop points. This was definitely a blow to our business, but due to the seriousness of the threat, we decided it was in our best interest to comply. This resulted in about a 25% loss of our herd share business as understandably, some members were just not able to make the sometimes two-plus hour weekly drive one way to the farm. We started brainstorming on other ways we could fill in some of the income gaps this created. We’ve since more than recovered, thanks to our members’ determination to make it work, and for that, we are still in awe. Needless to say, March-May were very stressful indeed, for everyone involved.

By the end of May we stood up our new membership structure- a Private Membership Association, JFR’s Sovereign Acres. This structure was chosen to create a membership model for our farm, and we now only serve PMA members. Our membership page gives more detail on this.

Then came a blow in the loss of a USDA high-tunnel greenhouse grant. According to our USDA rep, no high-tunnel grants were awarded in our region this go-round. This one wasn’t quite as earth-shattering, because it was something that we hadn’t offered before in any case, and I could plant a garden out in the sunshine as folks have done for thousands of years. Instead, we purchased beautiful plants from Slagle’s Family Farm in Felch, and I worked harder than I ever have worked on a garden, planting, laying paper weed barrier and mulch, finally fencing it off from the free-range chickens. It was looking pretty great right up until we left for our 12 day vacation… I’ve got about 1/3 of it cleaned out, and am weeding a row or two as I find the time. It won’t be perfect, but I’ll get there!

Another project that didn’t quite go as planned was our solar power installation. We had planned on applying for a USDA grant for that as well, but considering all the requirements of the grant, it was actually cheaper to go it alone, with significant help from my brother in law, Curt Wirtz. Thank God for Curt! We have the array in, and are just working on the rest of the components in between planting, haying and harvesting. We’re hoping to have that up and running in the next few weeks.

Then we went from all of that stress right into the fun of graduation and summer vacation planning. Our daughter Emily graduated from Bark River-Harris on May 26th. My dad and his wife Jill, and their friends Tommy & Judy came mid-May and camped out in the back yard for a couple weeks, and left the day after graduation. We had a very nice visit, and although the weather wasn’t fantastic, we were able to fit in some fun.

I actually planted the garden and started cleaning up around the yard after our guests left, wish they could see the flowers now! (but not the garden lol) We had Emily’s small graduation party at the end of June, and left for our 12 day vacation the very next day! I will never ever plan a timeline like that again, but it all did work out. We were up till 2 am celebrating graduation, up at 5:30 am to finish packing, and hit the road at 6:30 am!

Our vacation was made possible by the two crazy ladies pictured below, Andy’s brothers (especially Matt), our dear friend Todd Mosher, and our wonderful, best neighbor in the world, Greg Derocher. We did not have to worry one bit the entire time we were gone. They took such great care of all of the livestock, and the house, and our pets, when we got back it was like we never left!

We could never enjoy the lifestyle we have without their help, and no matter how much you love farming, sometimes you just need a break! We are eternally grateful for the opportunity we had to get away, all six of us, plus my mom and step-dad Alan, to get some much needed rest. We saw some wonderful places, but also spent days just relaxing together and playing games. We returned refreshed and ready to take on our ranch once again.

Here are some of my favorite memories…

Now we’re full steam ahead in UP State Fair preparations, Brianna is showing Karmel and Kutie in the dairy barn, and Emily a hog in the swine barn. Make sure to look for them if you go to the fair! We really enjoy the fair, and make tons of memories with our friends while camping there for the week. It’s one of our favorite times of the year and we start counting down the days to the next one the day after it ends. Brianna and Nathan start school the same week as the fair this year, adding another interesting twist to juggle.

Oh, and we have had five dairy calves and four bison calves born this year as of this writing! Below are some nursery shots-

And that brings you up to speed! We appreciate you all for following along on our adventures, and we look forward to sharing more as we go along, hopefully more regularly as we head into fall. Andy won’t be so busy on the main farm, and that will free me up some for more regular writing, and I love that!