Some rambling & some news!

Good morning friends! So I'm not so great lately at keeping this blog updated - it's been yet another month (almost 2) this time...

There have been many ups and downs...sliding through life over here...

To clear up the rumors and questions - B woke up sick the couple Thursdays ago - fever, headache, chills, upset tummy...you know...all the symptoms for COVID19... I called the clinic, they sent me over to the amazing ladies at public health. Yep probably should have her tested...special area of hospital set up - nurse pleasant & we stayed in the bus...she got the swab shoved into her brain...fast forward...true quarantine...no one in/out...of course we have to get livestock feed...thank God my daddy's amazing & delivered for us.

Friday - more of the same no news... Saturday - again more of the same...then late (7-8PM I don't remember for sure) the amazing ladies from public health called to let us know that the test was negative! B was SO excited to come out of her bedroom...she said she felt like a prisoner - even asked us to send the littles to her window to talk Friday evening...

We are all doing okay, but this makes it more real right?!? This pandemic or plandemic or whatever you're calling it...this is SO hard...

May is Mental Health Awareness month. Mental health is just as important as physical health... this looks different for everyone. So in some cases getting your hair & nails done fixes your mental health - well...during this time salons have been closed...for some people working out daily at the local gym is their mental health coping mechanism - gyms have been closed... pretty much everyone has "something" even if they don't recognize that's what it is.

So what can we do to help others while we are social distancing? Maybe a facetime or facebook video call... maybe a drive by "hi" or park in the driveway & chat with them at the doorway... doorstep drop off some baked goodies, colored pictures, or pretty flowers from your garden or even a road ditch! Prayer works wonders...if you're not a praying person sending positive thoughts or vibes works too. Whatever your "go-to" for goodness is...send it to others...

I have no less than 5 friends with new babies (one is what 5 months old already!) that I haven't seen other than Facebook pictures...we did a drive by baby shower drop off for one...Plotting them for the others...but it's just not the same. Then we have all these high school seniors in this weird limbo - they've "graduated" but haven't really been able to "celebrate" in a traditional sense. We have the long term care facilities in this weird holding pattern of no visitors/ no trips...it's so sad especially for the families who are missing out on the already limited time left with their loved ones.

Many have asked what is going on as far as opening the state...I read a report today that says unemployment in some states is as much as 20% of the workforce (I didn't fact check!) but DANG!!! that means out of 100 people who are able to be working 20 of them are not...and it's because there are no jobs for them. I heard on a radio report that 1/3 of all small businesses will not be able to reopen after this is over. I know of one for sure that has closed its doors permanently - and they were a very popular BBQ trailer.

This brings me to what actually impacts us...I am waiting on official confirmation, but we believe it will be too hard to revamp the Greenfield Farmer's Market this year...the park is still closed...there can't be any entertainment...there can't be any vendors that aren't food/produce....this was a large amount of our vendors. Bringing personal care products & crafts...not as many vendors with produce & food. So ... add that to me already planting LOTS of sweet pepper & tomato & celery & broccoli plants... we have decided that we will go to Madison County Farmer's Market in Winterset each Saturday morning from 8AM - 12Noon. We will keep Thursdays from 4-6 PM at the farm (or maybe a spot in Greenfield - trying to figure out still to make it easier on everyone.)

We are set up to take Senior & WIC Farmer's Market checks - so if they are offered to you please let us know what you're wanting & we can even arrange doorstep delivery (to keep everyone safe.)

New this year we will be offering a few baked yummies in addition to our eggs & produce! These will be prepared in our home kitchen. It's not "professional" but it's clean & all food will be prepared using safe kitchen practices as learned in the Iowa State University "Lessons" at (https://www.extension.iastate.edu/foodsafety/lessons).

We have no pets in the house. We are not regular smokers and never in the house. We are not currently set up for gluten free baking and we are not a "nut free" house, so I cannot 100% guarantee there won't be allergens.

Wheat Bread (it is 50/50 wheat/white flour)

Mom's Blueberry Muffins (Carlita won Best of Show at the 2019 Adair County Fair with these!)

Mini Powdered Sugar Donuts

Ranch Snack Crackers

Par-Tay Mix (think Chex mix, but a little different!)

Depending on the week there may be a little different options.

We will always have our chicken eggs. We have almost tripled the size of the flock this year! They ladies lay a variety of color of eggs from a light cream to a deep brown...some are speckled too. They are pretty spoiled - in addition to always having layer feed and oyster shell available they get to free range the farm at least 3 hours a day - usually more...with all this rain they've been eating a TON of worms & bugs. They also get all our food leftovers and sometimes I'll buy a bag of the clearance fruits at Fareway & throw them out for them too.

I am temporarily not selling duck eggs because we are going to try hatching some baby ducklings. A friend traded a Black Swedish drake with one of our duck hens...so we can offer duck eggs for more people!

We hope to have broiler chickens for sale later this summer too...Possibly offering them on a regular basis if the need is available. We batted around the idea of raising some turkeys for Thanksgiving, but decided right now we don't have a great place to raise them the way we would like to...so maybe down the road will add them.

If you lasted through all this Thank you! Please reach out to us if you would like to order anything directly :)