Welcome sweet baby girl!
On Tuesday, October 18th at 12:32 am, we welcomed our daughter Sigrid Louise Heydt earthside! She was born swiftly and beautifully in the comfort of our home at Rucker Farm. Toren was asleep through the 3 hour labor and only woke once we were all snuggled back in bed! We are unsure if he was more excited about Sigrid or that we were now sharing mama's stroopwafels she was saving for postpartum treats. We are slowly and somewhat begrudgingly coming out of our new baby cave, though we are excited to begin this farming and life journey as a family of 4! So let's dive in!
Our final chicken processing will be mid to late November! We have both good and bad news here, several proactive customers have already pre-ordered from this flock, in addition, 75 birds are spoken for by the local Food Pantry. Winter inventory will be lower than planned and we will not be able to sell to our wholesale markets. We are going back to the drawing boards this winter to discuss offering chicken subscriptions in the 2023 year to help better provide our customers a consistent and predictable shopping experience. If this sounds like something you are interested in, please send us a quick email so we can add your name to the list and we can include you in creating packages that "meat" your needs!
In addition to chicken subscriptions, we are now selling eggs! Our 40 layers are in rotation with our sheep in a mobile coop and are supplemented with food scraps and non-gmo feed. Yes...I did just say sheep! With the support and mentorship of Mike Sands from Bean Hollow Farm, Flint Hill, VA, we are beginning our own grass-fed Katahdin sheep operation. We currently have 10 bred ewes that will lamb in early spring! Since August, the herd has been watched by two great pyrenees livestock guardian dogs named Wojo and Polly. Polly is currently raising 4 puppies that were born on the October Hunter full moon! The two dogs were rehomed from a flooded farm in Kentucky, though you would think they have lived on Rucker their whole lives!
Winterberry season is right around the corner! This year we are planning to host a few "Cut your own" events in December in addition to some local holiday markets where you can find your seasonal wreaths and bouquets. We will continue to offer wholesale purchasing, please reference our website for more information, order form, and remember you can email us directly with your questions.
Thank you all for your patience and support during this time! Sending love from our even bigger hearts!
-The Heydts