Happenings on the Ranch

My name is Karin Nead Velez and my husband, five children and I run NV Ranch in Peculiar, Missouri. Peculiar is a small town of about 2600 people in a rural area southeast of Kansas City.

I’m starting this blog to keep our customers updated on what’s going on around the ranch especially during the growing and harvesting seasons. We are beginning our first year of CSA in spring 2008. CSA is community supported agriculture. The consumer signs on to the program to support their local grower. In return, they receive their share of the weekly harvest during each season. If you’d like to know more about our CSA program, click here.

Right now, things have turned quite cold around here. We were having very spring-like weather and then, boom, the cold weather hit. Most of the animals are adjusting well to the sudden temperature change. Our broiler chicks have had a bit of trouble, though. Unfortunately, we’ve lost several of them over the last week. Our chickens are allowed to roam and even though the youngest ones are fenced in for their protection it seems some of them just couldn’t find their way back into the warmth of their coop when necessary. I’ve started keeping them locked in the coop on the really cold days to prevent losing anymore for now. When they get a bit bigger, they should do just fine.

We didn’t get nearly all the winter prep chores done before the weather changed; there was just too much to do. So Arcenio and the kids and I are frequently outside during the midday warm-up mending fences and reinforcing shelters for the winter. I hope we’ll be done soon; it’s time for a break!

I’m new to blogging, but I’ll try to keep everyone posted at least a few times a week if I can. Even though it’s winter, there is always a lot going on around here. At least two of the goats are pregnant for sure and I think the other two are, as well. I’ll try to get some “fat girl” pictures of them posted so you can all see. And, of course, I’ll let you all know when the first kids arrive.

-Karin