The Times They Are A’Changin’ and So Are We

Backyard chickens have enjoyed a renaissance in popularity in recent years, and with a rise in popularity comes a rise in costs -- for hens, for feed, for all things chicken.  This trend has touched Farmcolony as well as we have seen the costs of raising chickens on the farm continue to go up.  And the craze is only getting worse.  Raising chickens has become one of the hottest trends during COVID-19.  Google searches for the term “live chickens” recently spiked to the highest point in five years, interest in backyard chicken coops has exploded, and hatcheries across the country have sold out in the wake of runaway demand. We’ve all read about toilet paper and dried beans. Now people are stockpiling chicks, too. Brace yourself! Backyard bird owners…

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What to do if you see these invasive plants on the farm? Pull!

Hemp Dogbane Very invasive and toxic to livestock Discovered in Farmcolony’s hay fields, mainly pasture H3 Hemp dogbane is a very invasive herb in the milkweed family considered highly toxic to humans and mammals.  All parts of this plant exude a milky juice when bruised and all plant parts are toxic to livestock.  The plant has infested a large portion of our H3 pasture and is being treated with herbicide.  Smaller amounts have been pulled in another pasture. The hemp portion of its common name comes from the fact that Indians used fiber crushed out of the stems and roots of the plant to make rope and clothing. The woody bark became material for baskets. Ancient medicine used it as a sedative and treatment for syphilis, worms, fever, rheumatism…

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FARMCOLONY ANNUAL MEETING AND BOARD ELECTIONS SATURDAY, AUGUST 1

The Farmcolony Annual Meeting will take place Saturday, August 1 following a special board meeting at 12:45 p.m. called to address pending board business. 12:45 - Special Meeting of the Farmcolony Board of Directors 1 PM – Meeting and Voting Soft Drinks and Water Provided The community dinner that usually follows our annual meeting is cancelled this year due to the pandemic. A field of four candidates are running for four open seats on the Farmcolony Board of Directors. Those running include (in alphabetical order): Kathy Arbour Barbara Brecht (incumbant) Matt Hodges (incumbant) Bruce Sopher To help you learn more about the candidates, The Farmcolony Times reached out to the four candidates to ask them the same set of questions.  Three accepted the invitation. Q1: Why do you want…

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We Can Do This! Income-Generating and Cost Cutting Ideas for the Farm​

The long-awaited board meeting where members presented their ideas for income-generating or cost cutting ideas for the farm took place on Sunday, June 14, and the best idea of the day goes to (drum roll, please) Bill who crunched the numbers and found the farm could contract out the haying on the farm for less than it currently costs the farm to do it.  “We should not be making our own hay,” Bill explained.  “It’s costing us.  We break tractors. We burn a lot of fuel.  It’s too expensive.”  According to Bill, we can have someone cut our hay for $25 per bale.  “We can’t do it for that,” Bill added.  “What I would like to try this year, not next year, now, on the second cutting, is to…

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Down in the Dumps over Greene County’s Reduced Recycling Program?

For almost three decades residents of Farmcolony were able to recycle numerous items at the Greene County Solid Waste Facility in Stanardsville: plastic, junk mail, phonebooks, magazines, glass, cardboard, newspaper and metal cans. That is now a thing of the past.  Greene County has scaled back its recycling program to include only cardboard, newspaper and metal cans.  The other items are now being tossed into the landfill. Greene County is not alone.  Changes in market conditions for recyclables are making it difficult for municipalities across the country to cover the costs of their recycling programs.  That leaves two choices:  Pay higher rates to get rid of recyclables or throw it all away.  Most are choosing the latter.  Greene County is choosing the latter.  The Greene County Supervisors voted to…

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Is it Justifiable to Kill Fox on the Farm?

There is a constant battle going on between residents of Farmcolony and resident foxes over our chickens.  We want chickens to provide us with eggs.  Foxes want chicken for dinner.  Many of us still fondly recall our favorite rooster, Goliath, who lost his life trying to protect his flock in a predator attack.  Yes, we also missed the laying hens we lost  in the attack, although they were easily replaced.  A good rooster is harder to find. What should we do when a nuisance animal like a fox threatens our chickens?  Shoot it on sight?  That’s what happened to a fox on the farm the other day when it was spotted getting too close to the coop. It was shot and killed  on sight. True, the fox could easily…

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Scrap Hay. What is it? And What’s it to You?

Farmcolony is a cattle operation with fields of hay grown and harvested to provide for winter feeding of our livestock.  Each year, we mow and bale our own hay and always have a few spoiled bales leftover that cannot be used to feed the animals, usually because of high moisture levels in the bales that allow mold to develop.  These unsuitable bales become scrap hay. “I doubt we have records concerning scrap hay,” Bill explains.  “However, I can say that although we try to have only hay that is good for animals, we almost always have some bales that do not meet that standard.”  According to Dieter, “We generate anywhere from 2-20 bales (of scrap hay).  No typo on the 20," Dieter adds. "I can explain how that happened. I…

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What the preppers are saying now? “I told you so!”

Schools have closed, people who can are working from home, and grocery store shelves are emptying. As the less prepared scrounge through empty grocery shelves looking for the supplies they need to weather the storm, preppers are comfortably hunkering down in their well-fortified homes ready for whatever may come in this national emergency. How vindicated preppers must feel as they watch the ravages of a pandemic sweeping the globe. This new coronavirus will force many Americans to self-quarantine for weeks in their homes. Preppers are ready. They have been prepping for years, if not decades, for this and other kinds of calamities. Food? Preppers have enough food stored away to last them well into the future. How much food should you have stored away? Optimally, a one-year supply of…

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Limpy and the Greater Good

I saw Limpy the other day. You know, Limpy, the deer in our neighborhood that we see hobbling by from time to time. I have noticed that other deer in our neighborhood tend to travel in groups, but not Limpy. Limpy is always alone, perhaps shunned by the deer community who see her as weak. What happened to poor Limpy? How did Limpy become maimed? Most likely Limpy received her injuries in a collision with a car. And then there was poor Barn Kitty who was run down by a passing car on Pasturegate Lane. Wasn’t there a Barn Kitty2? Squirrels don’t seem to fare well on our roads either. When we start noticing animals in our community being killed and maimed on our roads by our cars, then…

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Farmcolony Mourns the Loss of Ray Rush

Farmcolony said goodbye last week to an old friend and iconic member of our community, Ray Rush, who passed away peacefully at his home on January 5, 2020, surrounded by his family.  We join Peggy in mourning his death and will continue to keep her and her children, Michael, Suzanne, Tommy and Bobby and their families, in our thoughts and prayers. As long-time former Farmcolony resident John Mitchell put it, “Ray was a good and decent man. There never can be too many Ray Rushes in this weary world.”  “He very much enjoyed being near the mountains and took many long walks with his beloved dog, Ellie,” his obituary noted.  His presence on the farm will be sorely missed as we remember Ray walking through the neighborhood with his…

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