Dreams of Spring

Today is bright and beautiful. Our thermometer in the sun is reading mid-50s. It definitely is beginning to feel like spring. It can't come soon enough!

We started our flower planters yesterday in anticipation for the first day of spring. Our herbs, which we started little over a week ago, are already peeking their green and white sprigs up out of their pots. Hopefully, it won't be long before we'll be able to place them outdoors.

We're growing thyme, cilantro, and basil this year. We'll probably be adding more to that list, too. For flowers, we planted lavender, sweet peas, some kind of English bell flowers, and some wild flowers. We'll probably be putting these up in the planter behind the barn, where the goats will stare longingly at the blooms from their fence.

It's been a really wet thaw this year, probably because of the great snowfall we endured over those long winter months. Large swaths of our land are currently underwater.

But soon, the ground will be dry. Soon.

Happy spring!

Good morning!

We woke up to a fresh dusting of snow on the ground.

Yesterday, we finished up our first batch of maple syrup.

 Poached farm-fresh eggs with crushed black peppercorns, homemade waffles, and our very own maple syrup! Ahhhh, Saturday.


Have a beautiful rest of your weekend!

 

It's Maple Syrup Season!

This is the first year we tapped our trees, and they are really loaded! We brought in at least twenty gallons of sap already, and the trees are still producing. It's going to be a good year for it. The ups and downs in the temperature have been helping a lot.

We've already started boiling. Ah, the scent is magnificent... Can't wait to make up a batch of buttermilk pancakes and slather them with mapley goodness!

Here's to a fabulous season.

Welcome! - Who We Are, What We Do

Spring is for new beginnings; thus spring 2011 marks the beginning of our new blog.

We are the Meyerses. Our family consists of six crazy humans, four perpetually hungry dogs, six kooky cats, six nosy goats, and twenty-six curious chickens. The Great Bend Bakery Farm is our experiment in good old-fashioned north country living.

Our farm is situated just a short walk from the picturesque Black River in Great Bend, NY. This area has a rich history. A five minute walk will bring you to the remnants of a hydro dam and the gates of the army garrison at Fort Drum. In the old days, this was an important dairy and lumber area. One can still stumble upon the ruins of old cheese factories and lumber trails in the forests around here. Our farmstead is named for the bakery that once stood at the edge of our property (the foundation is still there).

 This is a beautiful area that can be enjoyed year-round. Maples, pines, and birches are plentiful. An assortment of spring flowers grow wild all around here, including daffodils, may apples, forget-me-nots, and trilliums. We also have a wonderful selection of edible wild plants, wild onions, asparagus, and fiddlehead ferns among them. A variety of wild animals inhabit these acres, including raccoon, whitetail deer, wild turkey, porcupine, and foxes.

From the architecture, one can tell that our house once served as a barn. Where there used to be stalls there are now quaint rooms with a cozy country decor. Antiques can be found all over our property, meant to evoke thoughts of earlier, simpler times.

We are trying to recapture this lifestyle on our little farmstead. Plans we have for our short-term and long-term future include putting in a pond, adding a boxed garden, raising pigs and ducks, and starting our own small vineyard. At the moment, we are happy to be involved in many hobbies, including milking our own goats, collecting chicken eggs, making baked goods, cheese, and sauerkraut, brewing beer and making wine, and making our own maple syrup.

We hope you will join us as we continue our foray into farming!


Sincerely,

 Great Bend Bakery Farm


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