Greetings from the Farm!

Well I definitely didn’t meet my goal of keeping up with my farm blog this year… my last post was right after maple season. No promises this time! It’s always good to be optimistic, if not… we wouldn’t be farmers. Fortunately, despite our lack of communication, our family, friends, and community continue to show their support for everything we do. Simply, we are grateful. Thank you.

The ripple effects of the pandemic resulted in Tyler’s busiest Tree Care season yet. More people are spending time at home or in their second homes, and they want those lingering landscape issues taken care of. Some look for a better view of the mountain or lake, while others just simply want to take care of hazards before the next storm fells a tree on their roof. Like many businesses we’ve been effected by the labor shortage in the area. Brendan has been working for us since he was 15, and he took a gap year on college during the pandemic. We were fortunate to have him full-time for more than a year, but he rightfully returned to school in August to finish out his Arboriculture degree. Unable to replace an experienced employee and with little interest in our ads, we had to get creative. Fortunately we’ve developed great relationships with several tree crews in the area and are helping each other get the jobs done to finish out the 2021 season. We typically finish out tree care by Christmas and start up again in the spring after mud season.

Our family also kept busy this summer with the introduction of the Sunapee Farmers Market. Kelly was involved in the market planning along with some fantastic volunteers. Despite some rainy weekends, our local community and those visiting the area showed their support. We truly enjoyed visiting with friends and customers each week as we offered maple products, Faith’s handmade books, and a selection of our grass fed beef. Overall the market was a big success, and plans are already underway for next season. If you have feedback on the market, please let me know by email.

We continue to be grateful for the continued demand for our maple syrup and grass fed beef. At times this year, it’s been tough to keep up with orders. We strive for good customer service but please be reminded that we are a family business with only a few of us doing a LOT of things. As we move forward, I’m hopeful we can introduce a better online shop and potentially more shipping options. Stay tuned. Meanwhile, we’re gearing up to re-introduce our annual Holiday Open Sugarhouse event. We hope you can join us on December 4th and 5th at our sugarhouse. Our retail shop offers a welcoming space to shop maple syrup gifts while enjoying the cozy woodstove heat. We’ll be decorated for the holidays, and if all goes well... a fresh restock of grass fed beef will be available!

We’re certainly in the season of transition now… the snow showers this week remind us winter is coming. On the farm, the winter prep is underway – cleaning barnyards, adding good footing, preparing the barn shelters for cattle to come in off their far-off pastures, fixing drainage after a rainy year, and so on. We finished up our fall calving season with four healthy moms and calves. Despite all my work with cattle over the years, I still melt over the site of a newborn calf. It’s just the best! Our little farm boy, now 3 yrs old, enjoyed naming the boy calves after his favorite ‘Paw Patrol’ characters. As he grows, Brooks has become a decent helper with animal chores. He loves tractor and excavator time with his daddy. But most of all, he truly enjoyed the fall harvest of apple and pears in our small family orchard.

From our family to yours, we hope you enjoy the holiday season! Do not hesitate to contact us. It’s just unacceptable for any of you to run out of maple syrup. We can help! As for beef… we have a pre-order list, but cuts are available on a first come first serve basis. Check in during our holiday season for your best chance before the end of the year. If you’re in the area for Thanksgiving… join us at the Sunapee Turkey Trot, a great family tradition!