It's the close of another busy day here at Miller's Orchards, and I'm excited to say that FINALLY our website is updated and available to the public. Certainly, there will be more content updates to come. There are several Fall Festival events that need to be solidified, and more updates on our Agrication* philosophy are in the works. And certainly we will continue to update the site as we come across new interesting bits of information... But at long last, there is a website with current information! Hallelujah!
Despite a few set-backs (like erasing 15 hours of html-code updates in one tragic left-click of the mouse) and a few handicaps (like coping with a non-linear brain while trying to accomplish a decidedly linear project!), I do believe we have ourselves a moderately functional (and hopefully informative) website. I'm looking forward to adding more content as it pertains to the "how-to's" and the "why's" of our farming methods. But I think I'll give my withered eyeballs a break for a few days!
Check it out at www.millersorchard.com
In the meantime, we are busily taking care of farm business. Walter and Lew have been baling straw, and we've been putting it up (both for our use and for sale) in our early 1900's bank barn. When you come visit the farm this Fall, be sure to check out this historic treasure that sits just behind our Farm Market. It's called a "bank barn" because it's built into a hill--the bottom floor of the barn is partially set into the earth creating natural insulation. The barn is high, making roof repairs treacherous. We were fortunate last summer to find a local contractor brave (or foolish enough) to replace the roof! The job required an extra-high lift, a rock-climbing-like harness (to strap the poor guy in!) and no small amount of chutzpah! (If you're out there Tim--please know that you are STILL the most beloved contractor to Your Farmers @ Miller's for this daring feat!!!) You see, it's hard to talk about a simple farm structure without a history lesson and another story from the farm family archives. Before you know it I'll be blathering on about Great Grandpa Miller...
Before I close, another tangent for your agricultural edification... Straw versus hay--do you know the difference? Perhaps you're too embarrassed to say you don't, or perhaps you simply don't care. If you're in the former camp, let me save you from your ignorance. Hay is comprised of grasses with their seeds/grains still intact. It is cut while it's still alive. Hay has nutritional value and is therefore used as food for various livestock (and pets!). Straw, on the other hand, has little nutritional value (other than colon-twisting levels of fiber!) because it is merely the stalk remnants of a harvested grain. Straw is used as animal bedding or as a part of an erosion-reduction strategy on lawns and the like. (It's even used as reinforcement in the making of bricks--especially in less-developed countries!) The straw Walter and Lew are baling this week is simply the leftover, grain-less stalks of the oats Lew harvested last month with his combine. The oats were used in the feed for our pigs and chickens. The leftover stalks will be used as bedding and will be sold in our Farm Market this Fall.
Enough history and trivia for today folks! Perhaps if you join us for one of our Guided Hayride Tours this Fall you can learn more trivial factoids (and suffer through a few more family anecdotes!)
In pursuit of trifling miscellanea we remain,
Your (rather busy) Farmers @ Miller's
*More on Agrication in a future post...
No comments:
Post a Comment