Author Archives: Reber Rock Farm

March weather has proven as fickle as ever. We have had warmth and sunshine to shift the color scheme of the farm from blankets of white to earth tones of mud and tree buds. In an effort to get our chicken back in stock as soon as possible we have chicks in the brooder whoContinue reading “Easter Hams”

I love hot dogs. As a kid my family ate very little meat, let alone the forbidden “processed foods” of which hot dogs were the poster child. After all, it was well known that you could not trust what was in those processed foods. I have some ill-formed image of butchers scraping the floor bitsContinue reading “Hot Dogs and Health”

I make an effort each week to write my thoughts for the week before Saturday evening. This gives me time to reflect on what I’ve written, solicit editing and feedback from Racey and my dad and not feel crunched. This week I’m starting these words at 7pm on Saturday evening. A fitting end to theContinue reading “Wins and Losses”

Like ice on the river with the warming of spring, Racey and I have begun our journey downstream. River ice starts to flow haltingly, often stopped by ice jams and so we too have begun. The weather and the calendar have played their usual motivational role, the soft feel of March mud under foot remindsContinue reading “River Ice”

We tapped two large maples near our house, each tree with two taps in the trunk and we quickly surpassed our families appetite for drinking sap. Like so many lessons on the farm, I find my own insights as Lewis and Lovett explore and imitate what we do. On the farm we have thousands ofContinue reading “Maple Sweet”

With unseasonably warm weather the past week we began tapping our maple trees. A generation ago it was unheard of to tap your trees in February in this part of the world, these days however most of the big operations start tapping in January. This winter has been topsy turvy from the get-go with ourContinue reading “Sweet Sap & Super Pigs”

Being a herding dog is like being an electrician. Give me the right tools, some wire, a power source and I can make just about anything happen. For herding dogs, and especially our pup Susu, the tools are herd animals like sheep or cattle and even chickens! Their natural instinct is to come together, andContinue reading “Hiding or Herding?”

On weeks like this the glory of winter’s luster has waned. The crisp crunch of snow on our morning chore walk has been replaced with a slick path of packed snow and ice, which now requires micro-spikes or a few good slips and slides. February can bring biting cold to our farm here in theContinue reading “Weeknight Steak Dinner”

Nathan is away this week in San Diego, so it’s Racey here in the driver’s seat. He is participating in a three-day retreat with his cohort of somatic mind-body coaches as they wrap up their training. His graceful transition from pain to coach over the last 18 months is leading to life transitions for ourContinue reading “Vortex”

It’s not even the end of January and we are already out of Chicken Breast. Whole Chickens, Chicken Thighs and Chicken Wings are dwindling as well. With our 2022 price freeze until March 1st, now is a great time to stock your freezers. We hope to buy in some Pasture Raised Organic Chicken from ourContinue reading “Chicken While It Lasts”