Mid Summer days are not always Dog Days!

The pace is really picking up at the farm this month. We have lots of visitors from the City and our family members coming and going this month. Our visitors from the city include:
Astoria Hellgate members Jim, Laura and their new son Luca. It's been a long time since such a small baby was at the farm and he is very cute. Our farm was a mid-trip rest stop on their way to Mont Tremblant in Canada for a wedding.
Astoria Arrow members Stacey and David who come north each summer to visit and work at the Fort Salem Theatre. The play Corn, The Musical was performed last weekend; written and performed by a variety of local folks. David also teaches music to children while he is here for the summer. Luckily Stacey's work is flexible enough to allow her multiple visits here and when she is here she helps at our farm. We had her packing orders last week and picking blueberries as a treat.
Chelsea member Frances is here to volunteer for the Salem Historic Courthouse fundraiser, the Al Fresco dinner. This annual event feeds about 500 people under tents on the lawn with all locally grown foods. This is a lovely summer evening community event. Frances loves the hustle of the activity in the certified kitchen of the courthouse where the food is prepared. The average distance the majority of the food travels is 12 miles (except for the olive oil - which makes the average 125 miles!). It is definitely fresh and delicious.
Our sister-in-law MaryNell brought her niece and grandniece from Americus, Georgia to see the animals. Kelly, age six is interested and wary of the animals at the same time. The cows, horse and donkey are pretty large from here perspective.
Our cousin Joan and her son Zachary are arriving today for the weekend from Minnesota, They are on a week long friends and family trip through New England.
My sister Beverly and Laura came again last week to see and help care for the new calf we are bottle feeding. "Lawrence" is so cute and well trained. We brought him out into the pasture with the herd and other new calves after a week of feeding in his stall nearby. The first two time I had a halter on him and a leash and we walked around and got used to being out and able to run. The next time I brought him to the field and when he was distracted from sticking by me and trying to suck the empty bottle, I headed for the fence and let him stay with the cows. Ever since then, about two weeks ago, he comes running from the pasture when we arrive and call him. We feed him two or three times a day with the half gallon giant baby calf bottle full of milk. He is growing quickly and has graduated to three-quarters of a gallon already. When hungry the calves are very gaunt just past their ribs, in front of their hips, yet whether he is gaunt or not, Lawrence devours the entire bottle and will keep sucking for quite a while before giving up. It is great to see that he naps and runs and butts heads with the other calves since his mother is at the dairy farm and cannot teach him herd etiquette.

We have been eating well with all this company between our lush vegetable gardens, giant blueberries and picnics and dinners at our house and my sister Judy's along the Battenkill River and even dinner out on occasion. We hope you too are enjoying the bounty of the season - we are eating all the fresh corn that we can! hope each week brings you rgeat foods and great ideas for delicious recipes. Take care, Nancy and Alan