Skyhammer Farm - Specialty Hops & Craft Brewing

Earlier this week, I showed farmhand #2 how to start the car - useful with the winter months upon us already. Well, I planned to show him how... "Clickclickclickclickclickclick." After a calling AAA and putting the kids on the bus, I settled down on the back porch with my laptop to check on email and other things. A great guy from Liebenow's came by to test and ultimately swap out my dead battery (or as my coworkers call it, the hamster). While I typed away, wirelessly connected to the world beyond our driveway, the 4 roosters milled around my bench, looking for dropped birdseed or dog food. Their ultimate destiny hasn't changed, especially now that they've all learned to crow, oh joy, but we kept good company until the car repair was finished.

Thank you to everyone who came out to try our beer! We had a great time dodging raindrops, rounding up cattle, and chatting with friends, fans and family. Many thanks especially to family members who helped with set-up, cleanup, bottling and labeling. Here's looking at you, Peaches.
Emperor's Own: SOLD OUT. Still some Hoppity Hip and Eyepatch Porter left - email us if you're interested.
We'll post more photos on the Skyhammer Farm Facebook page.

Very, very busy here at Skyhammer Farm, hence the radio silence since June. So what's new?

We have 4 chickens left - lost two. Unfortunately, they all seem to be roosters. So no eggs, but there's a strong possibility of roasted free-range chicken in our future.

And Farmer Jim has a new beer a-brewing. Emperor's Own Black IPA. It's on the dark side.

Hoptoberfest is October 1st this year. No pig roast, but lots of other food, beer on tap, and plenty of bottles to bring home. Hope to see you there.

Doublefile Viburnum (Viburnum plicatum). I don't know the name of this hybrid because it was an $8 WalMart special, bought 4 years ago. It started off as a sad little stick of a thing (ah, don't we all?) and now it's starting to look like a real shrub.

Variegated Solomon's Seal (Polygonatum Odoratum 'Variegatum'.
That's a lot of "um's".

Also, Spotted Dead Nettle (Lamium Maculatum 'White Nancy'. This kind doesn't have little stinging hairs like a common nettle. Very pretty and spreads to fill in little corners.

It looks like the black bull, Oreo, may end his career early. He has the springtime Steve McQueen impulse of a typical Holstein, and we are getting tired of cattle rustling. So are our neighbors.

The new chickens, on the other hand, have been pretty easy to deal with this year. They are Buff Brahma Bantams. Jim & the Farmhands made a new coop, and Jim's dad gave us a great idea for a light, moveable playpen made of PVC & chicken wire. Too bad we didn't think of this when the Farmhands were small.

A beautiful spring day always brings with it a bit of anxiety - how much can we get done today, before the rain/snow/cold returns?

Today Farmer Jim drew up a site plan to show the town planning board tomorrow, in our ongoing quest to make brewing more of a business and less of a hobby. He also burned some brush, picked up grain for the cattle, and started on a new chicken coop.

(click on photos to enlarge)

Jim shows the Farmhands how to back nails out of these old fence parts so they can be re-used in the chicken coop. Green farming, or too cheap to buy lumber? You decide.

I planted peas and radishes - never put them out this early before, but the ground was "workable". The tomato cages are just there temporarily, to remind the Farmhands where not to walk.

Millie cat has been sleeping on top of my garden tools all winter. There used to be a stack of seat cushions here, but they were unceremoniously knocked to the floor.

I gave the "fancy grass" (Miscanthus) a spring haircut and raked out the dead stuff to find daffodils poking out of the cold ground. There's still snow in this garden bed.

On the cold side of the yard, the snow and ice have finally let go of my mother-in-law's Christmas tree, which was dragged away for burning. Yes, I know, it could go in the woods to become a nice habitat for birds, but we have 17 acres, 3 of which are covered in logging slash. The birds have plenty of nice habitat.

I also put away the Christmas lights that were on the bushes. Yeah, we were one of THOSE houses this year. I did leave the lights on the shrub by the back door and on the hop trellis.

All south facing windowsills have been commandeered for seedlings in these little Jiffy Peat Pellets. They start off as something the size of an Oreo. Add water, and watch them expand as the water is absorbed.

Tomorrow is the first day of Spring, and we're expecting that old standby, "Wintry Mix". Here are some nicer images from around the farm, shot during this gorgeous weekend, to help us get through it. March is always the longest month of the year for me, and it's hard to remember that there is a light at the end of the cold, wintry tunnel, even if you have to slog through 3 feet of mud to get there.

Mud. The ugly side of Spring in the Hilltowns, and yet I find brown to be such a nice color after all the white and gray. I can say this NOW, because our road was paved a few years ago. When we first moved here, it was a dirt road, or in March, a dirt soup road.

Hamammelis x. intermedia 'Arnold Promise'. One of the first things in the yard to wake up after a long winter. The flowers unfurl on warm days and curl up tightly on cold ones. Only about 4' tall now, but will eventually get to be about 15' high. Pretty foliage in the fall,too.

Crocus over the septic tank in the back yard is always a reliable early bloomer. Did you know that saffron comes from the stigma of a crocus sativa? I don't think this is a saffron crocus, however.

Salix integra "Hakuru Nishiki", or variegated willow. This thing is huge - if you plant one, leave plenty of room for it, or be prepared to prune it hard every year to keep it under control. I love it in early spring, even though it isn't showing the variegated pink and green foliage for which it is known. It's not a pussy willow, but the branches turn a lovely pinky gold color just when the buds are forming.