July and August are some wet months for us here in SoMD! You know when it gets so thickly humid outside that it feels like you're breathing through a wet blanket... that's when the rain comes again! 

We've been a little insane the past two months and working outside in the pouring rain seems to be a regular thing these days.  At least I don't need to water the vegetable garden... lol.

We still look forward to seeing you between 8am-2pm on the 3rd Sunday this month along with our good friends, Glory Fields with their delicious vegetables and beautiful flowers!

We're also excited about the first Poultry Swap of the year! Erin hosts the June swap at her Green Hill Farm in Sharpsburg, MD.  We had to cancel both April and May swaps due to COVID but we're going forward with June!  The June swap will be split into back to back Saturdays to keep the crowds and vendor levels lower than normal.  So head up to Sharpsburg, MD on June 20th and/or June 27th.  We will be hosting our home market in Accokeek on the 21st so expect to see us at Green Hill Farm on the 27th!  All the details are on Erin's website at ghfarm.org.

What’s available this month (June):
 
For Your Table:
Meat is reserved here: http://www.moosemanorfarms.com/meat.html

• A limited amount of our hand crafted Kombucha "aMooseBooch"
• Pasture Raised Whole Chicken
• Pasture Raised Lamb by the cut

For Your Incubator $45/dozen:
All photos & descriptions are at http://www.moosemanorfarms.com/livestock-for-sale.html

• A selection of rare waterfowl & landfowl based on what is collected that morning. Breeds available are the same you see below.

 
For Your Coop & Pasture:
All photos & descriptions are at http://www.moosemanorfarms.com/livestock-for-sale.html
 
Rare Ducklings $12 ea:

• Indian Runner Assortment (may be a selection of Penciled, Emery, White, or Saxony)
• Golden Cascade
• Black Cayuga
• Ancona

 
Heritage Chickens $12 ea:

• Black Copper Marans
  
• Light Sussex

Other Chickens $10 ea:

• Transylvania Naked Neck
  
• Frizzle/EE
  

 
Meat Makers Available Now:
Get them here: http://www.moosemanorfarms.com/livestock-for-sale.html#Lamb 

• Polypay Lambs to grow for your freezer: $100 ea.  Lambs are just weaned and ready for your pasture! Raised naturally on their mother's milk while out on our pasture, a wonderful multi-purpose breed known for their exceptional flavor profile and "non-gamey" taste. 

 

• Mellow Mutton: $300 ea.  3+ year old pastured ewes that are ready for you to take to your butcher now.  The meat is a darker red than that of most lamb you see on the market. But it is also well marbled with a mild, yet distinctive flavor.  Grain finished.

 
Meat Makers Available for Pre-order:
Get them here: http://www.moosemanorfarms.com/livestock-for-sale.html#RedKing  

• Broadbreasted White Turkeys: $8.50 ea.
  • Minimum order of just 3 poults. Reserve now for pick-up in July – perfect for your Thanksgiving harvest.

See you at our little market on Sunday, June 21st!

Please continue to wear your facemasks and maintain social distance... ya'll have been so very good at that for all my markets! Thank you for being so considerate! Plus, I love seeing all the creative, hand-crafted masks out there, what a great way to be unique :)

We have a nice selection of baby ducks and oh so many white Indian Runners! But they really are the sweetest babies in the bunch... such little loves who enjoy snuggles the most. 

We also have a small selection of baby chickens.  Most notably, we have 3 Fabulous Frizzles available.  All of them are large fowl, they hatched from colored eggs, and the black one has feathered legs which will be super fun when fully grown!

Here's a fun video I took today... all their cuteness!

What’s available this Sunday (May 31):
 
For Your Table:
Meats can be reserved here: http://www.moosemanorfarms.com/meat.htm

• A limited amount of our hand crafted Kombucha "aMooseBooch"
• Chicken or Duck Eggs
• Pasture Raised Lamb by the cut
• Whole Roaster Chickens

For Your Incubator $45/dozen:
All photos & descriptions are at http://www.moosemanorfarms.com/livestock-for-sale.html

• A selection of rare waterfowl & landfowl based on what is collected that morning

 
For Your Coop & Pasture:
All photos & descriptions are at http://www.moosemanorfarms.com/livestock-for-sale.html
 
Ducklings $12 ea:

• Indian Runner, White
• Golden Cascade
• Black Cayuga
• Ancona

  Chicks $10-$12 ea:

• Fabulous Frizzles
• Light Sussex

Meat Makers Available Now:
Get them here: http://www.moosemanorfarms.com/livestock-for-sale.html#Lamb 

• Polypay Lambs to grow for your freezer: $100 ea.  Lambs are growing fast and ready for your pasture! Raised naturally on their mother's milk while out on our pasture, a wonderful multi-purpose breed known for their exceptional flavor profile and "non-gamey" taste. 

 

• Mellow Mutton: $300 ea.  3+ year old pastured ewes that are ready for you to take to your butcher now.  The meat is a darker red than that of most lamb you see on the market. But it is also well marbled with a mild, yet distinctive flavor.  Grain finished.

 
Meat Makers Available for Pre-order:
Get them here: http://www.moosemanorfarms.com/livestock-for-sale.html#RedKing 

Broadbreasted White Turkeys: $8.50 ea .Minimum order of just 3 poults. Reserve now for pick-up in July – perfect for your Thanksgiving harvest.

See you Sunday!  ~Dana

Our May farm market will be super small and we'll be hosting an equally small number of hyper local vendors, most within a stones throw from us,  direct from our own neighborhood:

Longview Farm will be here with their humanely raised heirloom pork products.  I believe Pennelope even has her amazing artisan salami available now!

Mina of EWBA Arts will be here with her Good Vibes artwork and hand screened T-shirts.  She might also make some of her amazing stew that's been flying all over our neighborhood lately!

Glory Fields will be joining us to rejoice in the positive stewardship of the land with a few varieties of kale, some salad mix, and plenty of cilantro.  I can't wait til the flowers are ready!

Rootbound Farms will be here with their small & sustainable fresh greens, tomato & cucumber starts, and all-natural soaps.  If you ask Woody nicely you might even see some hand crafted kimchi ;)

Moose Manor Farms will have the following for reservation: Any item you reserve and do not pick up by 2pm will be made available for sale to folks at the market:

What’s available this month (May):

 
For Your Table:
A limited amount of our hand crafted Kombucha "aMooseBooch"

Pasture Raised Lamb by the cut reserve here: http://www.moosemanorfarms.com/meat.html

For Your Incubator $45/dozen:
All photos & descriptions are at http://www.moosemanorfarms.com/livestock-for-sale.html

• A selection of rare waterfowl & landfowl based on what is collected that morning

 
For Your Coop & Pasture:
All photos & descriptions are at http://www.moosemanorfarms.com/livestock-for-sale.html
 
Ducklings $12 ea:

• Indian Runner Assortment (may be a selection of Penciled, Emery, White, or Saxony)
• Golden Cascade
• Black Cayuga
• Ancona

 
Adult Trio Saxony Runner Ducks (POL) $60:
 
Meat Makers Available Now:
Get them here: http://www.moosemanorfarms.com/livestock-for-sale.html#Lamb 

• Polypay Lambs to grow for your freezer: $75 ea.  Lambs are just weaned and ready for your pasture! Raised naturally on their mother's milk while out on our pasture, a wonderful multi-purpose breed known for their exceptional flavor profile and "non-gamey" taste. 

 

• Mellow Mutton: $300 ea.  3+ year old pastured ewes that are ready for you to take to your butcher now.  The meat is a darker red than that of most lamb you see on the market. But it is also well marbled with a mild, yet distinctive flavor.  Grain finished.

 
Meat Makers Available for Pre-order:
Get them here: http://www.moosemanorfarms.com/livestock-for-sale.html#RedKing  

• Broadbreasted White Turkeys: $8.50 ea.
  • Minimum order of just 3 poults. Reserve now for pick-up in July – perfect for your Thanksgiving harvest.

What beautiful weather we’re having here in Southern Maryland! We were surprised to be greeted with a cool and blustery Passover this year but I expect a sunny Easter.  I hope all the Seder Suppers were a splendid gathering of family - either in person or virtually; chag Pesach samech!  I hope for an Easter Sunday that's sunny and bright with family gathered in whatever way possible in these interesting times and, most of all, I wish that the miracle of Easter brings you perfect peace.
 
I’m so excited that it’s finally spring and I’m able to enjoy the colorful blooms and to watch the trees getting their pretty green leaves and buds.  The songbirds sound pleased as well!  Soon the hummingbirds will be at all the feeders and butterflies will be checking out my flower beds.  This newsletter is a little late because I was spending every available moment carving our 40' x 40' garden from scratch out of woods and lawn this spring!  Just one girl and a garden hoe 😊

The peas, beans, beets, and lettuces are all planted in the garden while the tomato, pepper, and eggplant are bushing out under the grow lights in their little greenhouse.  The broiler chicks are zooming around in their little pasture and plumping up nicely in anticipation of a late May harvest. I’m so grateful to be blessed to watch all the possibility of spring unfold day by day!
 
As we’re abiding Gov Hogan’s stay-in-place guidelines, we’ve cancelled the April market hosted here on the farm that’s normally scheduled for the third Sunday of each month.  Instead, we request that you make an appointment to come out individually to pick up your pre-reserved chicks, ducklings, or hatching eggs.  We’re teleworking so we can be very flexible with our schedule at the moment. We also request that you come wearing a facemask and follow social distancing guidelines.
 
What’s available this month (April):
 
For Your Table:
All photos & descriptions are at http://www.moosemanorfarms.com/meat.html
 
I mention the next two items simply because I’m getting a LOT of phone calls: We expect to have pastured poultry for your table in May. I’m tentatively scheduling 2 harvests, one for the 3rd weekend in May and another for the last weekend in May.  We’ll see how the broilers are growing out next month and see if Mr. Fox minds the fence...
 
We are suspending table egg reservations for the next several weeks because we currently have pick-ups scheduled out to mid-May and there’s no telling what the girls will decide to give me when the weather warms and they start going broody. 
 
For Your Coop & Pasture:
All photos & descriptions are at http://www.moosemanorfarms.com/livestock-for-sale.html
 
Pilgrim Geese:

• This is the only American goose breed which is auto-sexing. We aren’t offering goslings or goose hatching eggs this year while we’re carefully evaluating our offspring for future breeding selections. That means we have to grow the goslings out to fully feathered.  So this year we’ll be offering juveniles and adults only.  This month we have a small selection of juvenile geese and, in order to encourage you to take a pair (which is much better for the geese), we’re keeping prices much lower than normal for juveniles and offering pairs for $80.  Individual juvies my be purchased for $55 ea. and Adults are $85 ea. 

 
Ducklings $12 ea:

• Indian Runner Assortment (may be a selection of Penciled, Emery, White, or Saxony)
• Golden Cascade
• Black Cayuga
• Ancona (sex-linked only)
• White French Production Muscovy

 
Chicks $12 ea:

• Light Sussex
• Black Copper Marans (feather legged)
• Transylvania Naked Neck Turken (may be Frizzled or Smooth)

 
Meat Makers Available Now:
Get them here: http://www.moosemanorfarms.com/livestock-for-sale.html#Lamb 

• Polypay Lambs to grow for your freezer: $75 ea.  Lambs are just weaned and ready for your pasture! Raised naturally on their mother's milk while out on our pasture, a wonderful multi-purpose breed known for their exceptional flavor profile and "non-gamey" taste. 
  

 

• Mellow Mutton: $300 ea.  3+ year old pastured ewes that are ready for you to take to your butcher now.  The meat is a darker red than that of most lamb you see on the market. But it is also well marbled with a mild, yet distinctive flavor.  Grain finished.

 
Meat Makers Available for Pre-order:
Get them here: http://www.moosemanorfarms.com/livestock-for-sale.html#RedKing

• Red King Heirloom Broiler Chickens $3 ea.
  • Minimum order of just 5 chicks.  Reserve now for pick-up in May and/or June.

 

• Broadbreasted White Turkeys: $8.50 ea.
  • Minimum order of just 3 poults. Reserve now for pick-up in July – perfect for your Thanksgiving harvest.

I hope this newsletter finds you well both physically and spiritually/emotionally.  These have been a chaotic and peculiar couple of weeks for America and our global neighbors.  Our  dearest wish for you is that you find calm in the chaos and hope in the midst of the storm. 

Mike and I have taken this recent social distancing to telework from our gov't office jobs in DC, and rather than be frustrated with restricted bandwidth on overcrowded network drives I find opportunity to flex my office work schedule to hours when it's inconvenient to be outdoors (exempt of those pernicious conference calls, of course!).  This lends itself to greater opportunity to spend time outside gardening or taking care of routine animal chores during the beautiful weather we're having now.  So, before the sun comes up and after the sun sets,  while the animals are all secured in their barns... and the bulk of our coworkers are offline... I can be online working "the daily grind".  Life is about learning to be flexible and taking opportunity  to make hay while the sun shines!

So, rather than looking at the news, we're out looking into the faces of our livestock as we prepare for spring.  We're cleaning the barn to put compost on the garden, we're hatching baby ducklings & chicks and getting them off to a good start. We're enjoying the beautiful spring buds and blooms while sneezing into the new grass that's greening up our small world here!

Just as every year, this month we have Red King Broilers available for pick up right now and Broadbreasted Turkeys for July reservation  for those of you homesteading or any who are interested in self-reliant food-security.

Building resiliency by providing high-quality food for your family year-round takes foresight and planning, plus healthy doses of commitment and follow-through.  Don’t be afraid to start small and build gradually toward food self-sufficiency.  A good starting goal might be to grow 10 meat chickens and 3 meat turkeys and assess your family need for what you've produced and what you can manage to harvest in a season. Perhaps you'd like to harvest 10 chickens every other month to make it work for you... every other month is what works for us too which is why we have Red Kings available every other month during the season. 

Happy 2020 Ya'll!

This month launches a brand new decade - a new Roaring 20's - and I'm excited to see what it brings.  Here at the farm we're finally moved into the new farmhouse, getting our new garden ready for this spring, and getting the animals situated in our new woods.  There's still SO MUCH to do to get whip this property into shape but we're attacking each project with gusto!

Our newest New Year change is how we're structuring our hatchery sales.  Previously, each January we would evaluate our breeders, do some math to determine our estimated seasonal throughput for each breed, then post an order form on the website with the total number we expected to hatch between April and September.  Our customers would make their reservations online and I would send an them an email when they were next in the queue for their babies, then we'd schedule a pick up date and time.  

The main stumbling block with this process is that, based on a first-come-first-served model, it could take a few months for some customers to come to the top of the queue for the breeds they'd reserved and often they would get tired of waiting so I would be greeted with silence when I notified them that their babies were ready to be picked up.  I would, of course, give them a week to get back to me before moving to the next customer in the queue.  And it went on like this until the ducklings were really big and no longer day olds.  It was an amazing amount of time lost, both in our administrative burden and on the customers end... someone out there was really, really waiting for their babies and I had to sort through all the non-committed folks to find them.  In this world of Amazon Prime nobody wants to wait for their stuff but Mother Nature has her own timeline!

Whole Lambs available for your freezer for the new year!

Reserve your lamb meat now and I'll send you a cut sheet for the butcher asap!

A brilliant blue sky, spice of Osage orange in the air, crisp crackle and snap underfoot, a fresh nip on the skin.  Ahhhh, autumn... a season for all senses! I love this gentle and gorgeous welcome to summer's end and fall's beginning as our trees sway in the cool breeze, blue jays head south, leaves change, and the approaching chill in the air comes with that homey smell of wood smoke.

It's amazing to watch the colors of autumn boldly replace summer petals with a riot of scarlet and gold.  Crisper air, warmer foliage...  here at the farm our lovely ancient oaks have strewn the paths with acorns crunching and rolling under our boots and brought out the squirrels to chatter and bicker loudly at the deer as they compete from acorn to acorn.  Fleeting groups of wild turkeys chuke-chuke-chortle over their shoulders as they slip through the woods into their hiding place.  Abundance blesses us all around.

This is also a time to focus on family and dear friends, taking time to reflect on our many blessings.  Enjoying gatherings full of big belly laughs, an abundance of amazing food, and meaningful memories. It's so nice to share our company and our favorite recipes, telling favorite stories with our favorite people.  This is my season!

From our home to yours we wish you a fantastic Thanksgiving!  Our sincere wish for you and your family is that both your heart and your belly are full!  Have a blessed holiday!

Moose Manor Farms is excited to host our 2nd Annual Fall Poultry Swap!  This amazing swap was created and has been hosted for the last 10+ years by our dear Farmrgirl-friend Erin Moshier Mark at her farm in Sharpsburg, MD.  It’s been a stand-out success for farmers in MD, WV, PA, and beyond!  And it’s grown so much that she’s expanding… which means that Moose Manor has taken on a Southern Maryland edition in order to reach our southern-most farms and be closer to VA, NJ, DE, etc.  We will be hosting this poultry swap each year on the last Saturday in September and are hoping that next year we’re able to add the third weekend in May.  ​For more information or to register as a vendor check our webpage:  
​http://www.moosemanorfarms.com/poultry-swap-somd.html