Okay, they’re technically called goat kids.

Anyways, have we mentioned that here at BOTL Farm, we have plans? One of our plans is our “birthing plan.” Our sheep and goats typically breed in the fall so they birth in early spring. This gives the lambs and kids the whole summer to graze on the lush grasses before fall harvest, then the process starts over again. 

This past fall the goats had a different plan. They declined to breed on time and have been slowly getting around to it this spring. For the first time ever, we had a goat give birth during summer months. She’s a first-time mom and surprised us with twins! (First-time moms almost always single). The goatlets are doing great on pasture with daily moves, although they needed a little assistance from the farmers for their first move when they were just a few hours old, aka we picked them up and carried them to the new pasture. If anybody needs tips on getting goatlet poo out of their clothing, we can help you out.

Because the goats messed up our grand plan, we will not have any goat meat available until next spring. We’ll still have lamb available this fall, but no goat. Darn.

As farmers, we can talk nearly endlessly about the weather. We’ve gotten clear and consistent feedback from our non-farmer friends that, maybe, it isn’t that interesting to talk endlessly about the weather. So now, we’re going to definitely talk about something that has to do with the weather, but is NOT the weather. Very sneaky.

During our first few years, there were several places on the farm that would flood and erode during heavy rains. Rainfall felt scary and threatening (probably also because the roof of our house leaked. A lot.). It got bad enough that parts of our farm could have been classified as navigable waterways during the rainy months.

Fast forward to this month, where we’ve received epic amounts of rainfall. We’re excited to report that no portions of our farm look navigable anymore! The regenerative farming practices we’ve been using for years have increased the amount of grass biomass both above and below the ground, which (to summarize) helps stabilize soil structure and absorb rainfall. To us, this is the epitome of regenerative farming — seeing the vast improvements to land quality that can happen, even in short timeframes! Bring on the weather!

This spring we teamed up with Doug at Dragon’s Blood Elixir to highlight our bacon in a custom-blend hot sauce. He created a bacon avocado salsa verde that went amazingly well on breakfast tacos. It was so much fun that we asked him to make a second batch for us, so we now have Smoky Bacon Harissa hot sauce. It has our bacon (duh) as well as hot peppers grown by our friends at Assawaga Farm in Putnam. It also has avocado in it, but a stronger roast-y pepper and garlic flavor than the first.

We’re still making up new Meat Boxes every few weeks. Current selection is the Sausage Sampler box, which includes a smoked pork chop for funsies, as well as four types of sausage. There’s links, patties, and loose sausage. Check our social media for the latest in Meat Box news.

As of this weekend, we’ll be back in stock with some cuts that have been out for a bit, including country-style ribs, kabob, and jowl bacon. 

New Country Organics is mostly famous for their chicken feeds, but they also make lots of other super-premium feeds. In addition, they source high-quality single-ingredient items, such as organic alfalfa pellets, field peas, and the lesser-known lespedeza pellets. A few of you have been asking for lespedeza for a few months now and it’s back in stock! NCO said the harvest this year wasn’t great, so quantities will be limited, but we’re bringing in as much as they’ll allow us to buy at a time. Let us know if you’re interested in any!

Place an online order and choose any market location as pickup! How convenient. You’ll love it. 

On farm store: Tuesdays noon – 2pm, Saturdays 1 – 3pm. Pre-order

Tolland Farmers Market: Saturdays from 10am – noon at the Country Butcher on 74. Days we’ll be there in August: August 12, August 26. Pre-order

Assawaga Farmers Market: New hours: Saturdays from 9am – noon at Assawaga Farm in Putnam, CT. Days we’ll be there in August: August 5, August 19. Pre-order

Sturbridge Farmers Market: Sundays from 9am – 1pm on the Sturbridge Town Commons. Dates we’ll be there in August: August 6, August 20. Pre-order

Andy’s Neighborhood Canteen Farmers Market: Wednesdays from 4 – 8pm in Webster, MA. Dates we’ll be there in August: August 02. Pre-order

Third Thursday Street Fest: Third Thursday of the month in Willimantic, CT. Dates we’ll be there in August: August 17. Pre-order

It’s too many numbers! Save me!

Page Last Updated on 2023-08-01