Farm Field Days First Saturday of June & First Saturday in October!

A Glimpse of Day-to-Day

posted on

July 16, 2021

Have you ever wondered what a normal day on the farm looks like?


"That's neat that you work on a farm," people say when I first meet them. "So, what does a typical day look like for you?"


I smile, of course, and try to think of a way to answer that question that won't take ten minutes. We all know life is crazy. But farm life...


When you factor in weather, plus every piece of machinery that is hopefully (but not always) running smoothly, not to mention over a thousand animals living and breathing everywhere around you, life can be an entirely new level of crazy. That is not to say we don't have our routines. There are simply that many more monkey wrenches that can be thrown into those routines and flip them over on their sides.


For those of you wondering, for your entertainment, here is what just a plain ol' day looks like in the summertime at Sweet Grass Dairy, from my perspective.


5:30 AM: my alarm goes off. The coffee pot goes on. I am the only one on this farm who drinks coffee. Shocking, I know. So I have my morning coffee ritual with the cat, Smokey, and a guinea hen or two out at my humble camper. Sometimes the turkey waddles in and makes predictions about the weather according to what his knees are telling him.


7:00 AM: first on the agenda is chicken chores. Sounds simple, doesn't it? Well, thanks to the flow these guys have perfected, chicken chores are relatively simple, but rigorous. We have fifty-two 10x12 ft. shelters that get moved by hand down the hillside, and all those shelters need feeders filled and waters checked. Thanks to the in-ground water system that provides water hookups every two hundred feet, and lots and lots of quarter-inch hose, we don't have to haul any water. After years of raising chickens on pasture this way, Jacob and Elizabeth run this show like a well-oiled machine.


8:30 AM, maybe: someone gets on a dirt bike or a 4-wheeler and brings the cows from their current pasture to the barn, and we make ready to milk. We milk around 35 to 40 cows currently. In they go, ten at a time, graceful beings for sure. It may surprise you to know that cows can have attitudes. There is something lovable about them, still. My favorite cow is a Red Deven named Miley who came from Indiana. She is a classy lady.


We milk our cows once a day -- stay tuned for a future blog post on the reasoning for and benefits of this!


9:30 AM: someone has to feed the calves, and that's me! We are raising six calves born this spring to add to the herd. They are precious to be sure, but not the brightest crayons in the box. If they don't knock over their feeder before everyone is finished drinking, and if I get out of the pen without being stepped on by a calf, zapped by the electric fence, or spilling any milk out of the feeder, then I did an A-plus job. I'll nuzzle the baby goats. Everyone gets along great.


10:00 AM: this is usually when I'll check in on the Farm Store. Freezers get stocked, floors get swept (it's like making your bed in the morning -- gotta do it, even though it doesn't last long) and I try to pretty the place up. It can be a fun little social spurt in the day, as people will drift in and I'll get to visit with them as they pick up their goods.


 If you haven't been in our Farm Store, what are you waiting for? Besides being adorable, you know it's stocked with the best meats, dairy, eggs, cereals, and kombucha that your American dollar can buy. Everything we don't produce here is sourced as locally as it gets, and you can bet we wouldn't be carrying it if it wasn't oh-so-delicious and wonderfully nutritious for your body and soul.


There is a beautiful variation to the days, and after chores are done, anything could come down the pike. Pig fences will get moved every week, as do the sheep fences, and depending on the day we will be jugging milk and prepping orders. There are always projects to be done, things to be fixed, or animals to move, and it's all hands on deck.


5:00 PM: the calves get their evening meal, for which they are very grateful, and the chickens get checked again. I'll fill the feed buckets for tomorrow morning's chores, because tomorrow morning...


...it starts all over again!


8:00 PM: Supper is finished and things are usually wrapped up. Smokey the cat is back lounging on my patio mat. I'll sit with him awhile and read a book until it gets too dark to see, and then we call it a night. Farmers should obey Ben Franklin's advice -- "early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise."


(This doesn't always happen, but they're good words to live by!)

There. That took you ten minutes to read. Now you have an idea of what a "normal" day looks like at Sweet Grass Dairy. Come swing by any day and see for yourself!

More from the blog

A Dream,Thriving with Passion, Our Biggest Challenge Yet!

Spoiler Alert: After 11 years of renting our farm and home here at Sweet Grass, we have the opportunity to purchase the property! We are excited for this next step of thriving into the future with our community of farm families!So, we're hoping to sell some special addition bundles to enhance our down payment as much as possible.Read the whole story below.11 years ago a young 26 year old couple set off to central Ohio to start their dream.Jake & Liz started their dream in 2013 by moving to central Ohio to rent a 160 acre organic farm. They had one 9 month old daughter at the time and had recently found out that baby #2 was on the way. They had passion, energy, and a drive to succeed in their new venture.As a teenager, Jake had been inspired by Joel Salatin. Jake had pursued farming on smaller scales growing chickens & beef with his parent's 4 acres and a job on a grass based dairy farm. His dream was to build a local food community on a bigger scale when he 'grew up'.Finding 160 acres of chemical free organic ground in the middle of Central Ohio was definitely providential. Liz, coming from a conventional farm, went through a complete mental shift in her understanding of farming. Jake pursued more regenerative farming education. They hosted a South African mentor to teach them more about grazing and how herbivores regenerate the ecosystem. Jake and Liz also traveled all over the country gaining a deeper understanding of regenerative farming. Life was and is all about learning each and every day how to grow a thrivingecosystem & community.They put everything on the line starting Sweet Grass. Both were 26 at the time with no debt other than an initial loan for the cows they purchased. A friend of Jake's also lent them $30,000 formiscellaneous start up expenses. 50 organic cows making milk for Horizon and a dream to build a local food community carried them into their first winter. Cows do not milk as much during the winter, so Jake started a job hauling Amish. Near the end of the winter they hit their lowest point with $37 left to their name.Spring brought on green grass, baby calves, and new growth on the farm.  Today:Those early days instilled in us an independent spirit. Our focus became our local food community. By 2018, we left Horizon Organic Milk to put all of our focus on growing regenerative food for our growing community of families supporting our vision for healthy food. In 2020, we started our home delivery route to meet the demand for food delivered right to front doors during Covid. 2021, brought the addition of our creamery so that we could diversify our dairy offerings. 2022, we added the sourdough bakery. We have exciting plans for the future and our farm family is at the helm of helping us build the future.Modern farming is rife with government handouts. It's not just the big farms accepting government money, even so called small 'regenerative' farms are taking handouts to fast forward their growth. Our commitment is to keep big government out of our farm as much as possible! Over the past 11 years, our commitment of growing healthy food has grown with support coming only from our farm families.2024 brings the biggest challenge yet. For the last 11 years we have rented our home and property here in Ohio. Renting helped us get started. But as we have become more established you could say our renting scenario was becoming risky. We continued farming and caring for this property as if we could purchase it some day. This October opens the next chapter with the 160 acre property purchase! Unfortunately, 11 years has dramatically increased the value of the property and current interest rates make traditional financing more expensive.So, we're hoping to sell some special bundles to enhance our down payment as much as possible. We're not asking for a fundraiser. But, we are offering several commemoratives bundles. These bundles will come with a customized cutting board (engraved by my "Jake's" Dad) to show our appreciation for your support as we take on our biggest challenge yet.These items are set up as preorders, with a fulfillment date of October 19th.  This will be our Farm Purchase Celebration Day. We will be serving gelato and other snacks for everyone that comes out to pick up their Limited Edition Bundles.Thank you for partnering with us in this next big chapter! 

Poblano Chicken

Poblano Chicken This recipe is unlike your typical Mexican dish. It is not a taco, a fajita, or an enchilada. It is not hot and spicy, but rather, it is packed with flavor and green goodness that will leave your family. asking for seconds. It is a dish that I allways include when I make meals for my, daughter and daughters-in-law when they have a baby, as it is a favorite of all of the grand kids. Since it freezes well, it can be made ahead and heated up quickly during those busy seasons of life. Give it a try. hopefully your family will love it like our family does.

New Year! New Baby! New Friends! Check out our 2023 Schedule

2023: Started off with a Baby Liz's due date came and went on December 18th with no baby coming. We thought for sure the Christmas blizzard was going to bring baby, but thankfully baby did not come.New Year's Eve came. Liz made 250 pounds of cheese that afternoon. We played games with family that evening. We wished each other a Happy New Year at midnight and went to bed.At 2am Liz woke me up and told me to call the midwife. Luckily she only lives 5 miles away. She arrived at 2.20am. Baby Reuben arrived healthy and happy at 2.39 am.We are thankful for a beautiful baby boy to kick off 2023!New for 2023, Lorenzo will be sharing a monthly recipe for our Sweet Grass Family.He will be cooking up a simple easy to make dish with one of our meats and sharing how he makes an amazing dish with great ingredients.Our hope is that we can make great grass fed meats simpler and more attainable to cook in a busy schedule.We're looking forward to learning some new cooking tips and recipes for our own home.Eggs!I keep hearing rumors for egg shortages and crazy prices. We are not singing that tune here!Our organically fed pastured hens are laying eggs like crazy.We've got eggs available this week for as low as $4.50 a dozen when you order the 15 dozen case!Also our Eggs for a Friend bundle is back for a limited amount of time. You all are our best advertisers. So to help you tell a friend we happily give you 2 dozen eggs. We ask that you share 1 with a friend and keep 1 for yourself.Shop Sweet Grass Eggs!Calendar of Sweet Grass Events! (New exciting events in the works)We've planned some exciting events coming this Summer. We are getting better at planning our events ahead of time.This year has two of our annual Farm Field Days.June 3rd - Spring Field DayOctober 7th - Fall Field Day  Seasoned & Chef Lorenzo are coming to Sweet Grass!Lorenzo & Jacob have been dreaming of connecting people to their food in deeper more intimate ways.What better way than to invite folks to the land that produces their food. Our aim with these meals to use foraged and grown food from here our our 140 acre organic farm. These evenings include a short farm tour and a family style meal served on the land overlooking cows grazing and watching the sun settle below the horizon.May 6th - Spring Seasoned MealOctober 21st - Fall Seasoned MealStay tuned for details.Check out Lorenzo's and Seasoned's Instagram pages.Crazy prices are real! I stopped at our local Walmart just to see for myself...Thank you for being apart of our Farm Family!