A few announcements then on to the farm news.
Here is a picture of my thumb in front of a clutch of turkey eggs. I almost scrambled the eggs while a was cutting the grass around the field. The mother turkey scared the bejeezus out of me when she took off. I didn’t think turkeys could fly that far! As of yesterday she was back incubating her eggs. I’ll keep checking occasionally to see if/when the baby turkeys hatch. We could be offering a new TurkeyShare this fall!
The first MeatShare delivery is this Friday, June 3rd. You can either pick it up this Friday (or by appointment) or pick it up at your first veggie pick-up later in the month. If you’d still like to order please let me know ASAP. We have three versions. The standard MeatShare has various cuts of beef, pork and chicken as well as processed meats like brats. The GrillShare has varieties of cuts that go great on the grill. Finally Burger&Bird is a MeatShare with just ground beef and chicken. All animals are raised on pasture. All supplementary feed is organic. All processed meats are free of nitrates, nitrites and MSG. If you eat meat please consider MeatShare.
Speaking of shares, the first week of the season will be either June 15th or June 22nd. We are still assessing when things will be ready. Hey wait, aren’t those Wednesdays? Why yes, yes they are! Unlike humans, plants start their week on Wednesdays and end their week on Tuesdays. Seems odd but that is just the way it is. So if you pick-up on Mondays (or at a drop site where delivery is on Mondays) your first pick-up will be the Monday following the Wednesday that we start. Your last pick-up of the season will be the last pick-up of the season so don’t worry, you will still get your 19 weeks.
We still need help selling the remaining shares. If you know anyone who eats please tell them about us. We can still add eggs, cheese, bread, meat, ice cream, coffee, fruit, flowers and winter storage share to your account. You can order through our online farmstand or send me an email. Help real Community Supported Agriculture survive!
Farm News
So a newsletter or two ago I mentioned we were having trouble getting the Allis Chalmers model G tractor working consistently. At the beginning of the season it started reasonably well considering it sat all winter. Then I decided to do a tune-up by replacing the points, condenser, oil and oil filter. It seemed to run well with these changes; I was quite proud of myself. So off I went using it off and on for a few weeks. Then it started to not run so well. I figured maybe the carburetor got fouled up a bit so I cleaned that out. No change. Then I figured I would just rebuild the carburetor. No change. Then I replaced the spark plugs. No change. Then I replaced the spark plug wires. No change. Then I kept adjusting the carb, cleaning the carb, trying this and trying that. Nothing seemed to work. So I posted my dilemma on both our Facebook page and on an tractor forum.
I got a few responses from the tractor forum to do the things I already did. One person suggested putting the old points and condenser back in. Unfortunately I already tossed them. One of our Facebook followers suggested replacing the condenser. Seems like a trend was forming.
I went back to the store that sells old tractor parts and they no longer carry old tractor parts. Yikes! But there are stores on the internet that do. Unfortunately my $6 in parts cost $12 to ship! But at least they had the parts. A few days later the new points and condenser arrived. I put them in and vuola the tractor runs like a brand new 67 year old tractor! And more importantly has been running great ever since.
So I don’t think I spent any unnecessary money, just some unnecessary time. Who would have thought my brand new part was faulty? I guess people who work on old tractors that’s who. So now that I know I will be stocking up on condensers for future replacement. Seems like it is a typical thing to go wrong.
As always do not hesitate to send in questions, comments, jokes, brain-teasers and other unnecessary things that clog up the internet.