Does anyone feel like January came and went like a hurricane? It was here and gone before I had to blink, and suddenly, here we are in the first week of February. WHAT?! We thought we’d give a little recap of what’s been going on at the farm and for each of us during Feb, so here is our January recap!
1. John started back for the spring semester at Purdue. He is teaching two courses this semester, the precision agriculture class is one of his favorites to teach. I think this is his 5th semester teaching, and I think he feels more confident in his planning and coursework. Teaching during a pandemic is hard, but everyone is doing their part to stay with in person learning by wearing masks and social distancing in classrooms. And on a fun note, his department moved into their newly remodeled building and it is NICE.
2. Point Pleasant Meats is officially an LLC! I know this isn’t a huge milestone, but it feels like a big deal for us and a huge step forward. We are so excited that a small round of our pasture raised, dry aged beef will be ready in March, with a full restock in August/September, and our pasture raised lamb available late summer too! This is dreams do come true stuff for us right here!
3. We’ve been enjoying several snowfalls, both at the farm and at John and Rachel’s in Indiana. I (Rachel) love how beautiful and peaceful it makes everything. I figure if it’s cold, it might as well snow too! I don’t know if Johnny and Dianne agree—they are the one’s doing livestock chores every day!
4. We’ve been plugging away at the online course through M5 entrepreneurs we are taking about marketing our business and shipping our meats. We were really blessed to have gotten a grand from Kentucky State University to help cover some of the education costs, and let me tell you, we are getting our money’s worth! I have learned so much about the best methods of shipping, behind the scenes on selling online, and how to better share our farm story. Plus, we’ve made a lot of great connections. I hope to have a blog covering some of the most important things we’ve learned from this course that would be helpful to other farmers looking to grow and expand and direct market their product.
5. The John Deere 420 restoration is still underway. John brought home to Indiana, the old JD 420 that his grandfather bought in 1958-59. This was the only tractor that he had on the farm for years and he used it for everything! It’s been sitting in a barn for at least 30 years, and John and Johnny decided it was time to get the old gal back in shape. John and I hauled it up here to our shop where John pulled off shielding and parts and split the front and back ends. Johnny came up and helped John pull and disassemble the engine and take it back to KY to get milled. John has been working on sandblasting and getting everything cleaned up to start going back together. It’s been a fun project and I know they have loved getting to work on it together.
I hope your January treated you well and you are geared up to go for February!