With the temps in the 90ºs, it sure feels like summertime is here. So what a better time to do a springtime wrap up of all we’ve been up to here on The Ridge!
It’s been an extremely busy Spring season for us, not only have we been scaling up our garden(s) but we’ve been working hard to make our poultry operation more efficient. On top of our full time jobs and keeping a household running!
This spring so far we have:
- Completely re-done our main garden by adding raised beds and pH tested garden soil. We also added two new gardens and a beehive!
- Started all of our produce plants and herbs by seed, transplanting over 150 plants.
- Hatched and raised 50+ chickens and over 200 quail.
- Completed a major farm clean up and revamp of our barnyard, even adding a new chicken coop.
Looking back on all we’ve accomplished since early signs of Spring in February, I am amazed by what a little elbow grease and a lot of motivation can do. This time last year, we were just really starting to get our small scale poultry setup built and had been desperately trying to get things to grow in our garden.
Now that we’re wrapping up the spring breeding season, I can proudly say we have successfully bred and raised dozens of chickens, and hundreds of quail for our own use and to help other local homesteaders and hobbyists establish their own flocks. (A big thank you to all of our customers who supported our micro farm!)
We’ve also been able to harvest a few dozen pounds of lettuce and greens, three types of peas and beans, four varieties of carrots, five pounds of potatoes, various herbs and so much more just from our main garden alone!
Because we have been feeling the motivation this year from our newly found green thumbs – we took the leap and added not one but two more new gardens on the farm.
Each of the new gardens will serve different purposes than our main garden that we use for produce, from cut flowers, to berries, to even a small nursery and greenhouse.
Outside of all of the new builds and tons and tons of soil moved from one side of the farm to the other – what I’m most proud of is growing everything from seed right here on The Ridge!
This alone has been a very large learning curve from last year, when we could barely keep store bought starts alive – to now being able to sow all of our own seeds both indoors and directly into the garden and getting a bountiful harvest from things we’ve grown all on our own.
While I wish we could sit back and enjoy summertime now that we’ve completed our Springtime To-Do List, it’s now time to maintain everything we’ve worked so hard to build the past year here on The Ridge.
The summer months are still some of the busiest, despite breeding season being over. From harvesting produce to keeping our garden healthy and also keeping our birds cool in the Virginia heat. But, life can’t be all work and no play, so we will be sure to make lots of time for barefoot garden walks, hikes and enjoying our little paradise with friends and family.
We’ll take the next month “off” from doing major farm projects and pick things back up in August so that we can prepare the farm for winter and plan future projects for 2025. Be sure to follow along to keep up to date on what we’re up to here on The Ridge!
Ravens Ridge Micro Farm 