Christina and I have Christmas break off from our office jobs and with the weather being damp and cold, we have used the last few days to catch up on rest and start planning for 2023.
2022 was one of the biggest years on the farm since we transitioned over from Dad running it. We started off with a short but rough winter, losing power every few weeks and a bad ice storm. Although we enjoy the winter time to slow down and rest, losing power makes it really tough to keep the barn from freezing up and generally makes operations harder.
We were able to use the winter time to really build a great list of events for the entire year that included seed saving, bouquet making, Forest Bathing, and a herb planting workshop to name a few. Christina really did most of the work on developing the curriculum and supplies for them, where I helped get them up on the website and helped set up the event building. These workshops really brought our vision for the event building to life since we had planned for these in the business plan for the building but COVID really got in the way of that the last few years.
Haying season, I can safely say now, was the best haying season since we moved back to the farm. I was able to get all the manure on last year, I had it all chain harrowed twice and all the equipment worked (after getting all new gear the last 3 years). We made over 3600 square bales over the home lots and a neighbor's field and over 500 bales of second-cut hay. Having this much hay the last two years, with a smaller herd of 9-10 cattle takes the pressure out of feeding them. It only takes 1500-1700 bales to feed our cattle all year and we make almost 4000 bales, which means, not only do we have lots of hay, but we can sell some as well.
In August we also had a big surprise! One of our heifers, which we didn't think was pregnant, had a calf in the field, in the middle of a big storm. To say we were shocked, was an understatement and little "Stormy" was a lot of work initially to get connected to its mother (a first-time mother) but after working to keep them together, she finally took the new calf under her wing. This made up for a hard loss we had in April when "Molly" lost her little heifer calf, so we were very thankful.
Later in the fall we had a big loss in the family with the passing of my Dad. He was a huge mentor for Christina and me over the last 11 years living here and to say we are able to keep the farm going here because of him is an understatement. Growing up with Dad he taught me everything about working in the woods and on the farm, and it was amplified over the last 11 years when we worked together every day until he couldn't get up to the barn as much and we talked a lot on the phone or in person. In my last conversation with him, the night he passed, he asked about the cattle, Christmas Trees and Christina's wreath workshops. Although I am at peace with his passing as it was in his sleep and painless, he loved the farm and was a sounding board for so much of what we are trying to do now since taking over operations. As he passed close to our u-pick and Christmas tree season in New Ross, he was a presence in all we did during that time and so many people shared stories of him cutting their tree, like my brother or I did this year for them.
2022 was a year of highs and lows but one of constant reflection. The joy of living on the farm was one I shared with Dad during my visits during the last months of his life, and being able to share all we were doing, with his approval, will forever be in my mind as we move forward into 2023. We are excited for more on-farm events, haying and growing seasons and the upcoming farm stay but all in the shadow of the last 5 generations of Meister's before us.
