Will Be Closed on Sunday, Mother's Day May 13

Hope everyone will be having a Happy Mother's Day!  I will be celebrating Mother's Day with my Mom and family.  The store will be closed and will reopen at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, May 14.

Somebody else will be celebrating Mother's Day at our farm!!!   One of the big, black Spanish turkeys just hatched eight babies!    I can't wait to go see them tonight and get a picture to post!   She is being a very good mom.

Here It Is May Already

We have been so fortunate to have a mild Winter this year.  Lambing was not nearly as difficult as it normally would be in February, March, and April. 

Here's a picture of a lamb born last week on a cold rainy morning.  His mom left him in the rain, and possibly her scent washed off of him.  We have been bottle feeding him and also letting him out in the pasture with another orphan we raised.

He is in the car for "take your lamb to work" day at Homer Village Market.  I knew he needed his bottle every few hours, and that day there was nobody at the farm to feed him.   He enjoyed the ride and all the attention.

Goings on at the Farm

Lambing season is just about done, but there are still a few ewes expecting lambs in the next 30 days or so.   We are weaning "Buddy" the one bottle baby we've been feeding for a couple of months since her Mom died giving birth to five lambs!  Buddy is the only survivor of them now, and he seems to be healthy though a little small for his age.  He has had several rides around town to visit friends and neighbors, and is always welcoming attention from humans.

Drilling of a traditional (vertical),  Clinton-formation gas well was just completed on the farm last week and is not yet operational.   It was a noisy week with the drilling crew working 24 x 7 to get it done.  This is the first well since we've owned the farm, and are looking forward to the day we will have free gas to heat our home, and maybe enough royalties to make some improvements to the property.  

I took a picture of the drilling rig while it was out there, so I'm posting it here.  The tower, trailer, and all the equipment are gone now, and we are waiting for the crew to return to install the pumping gear and pipelines.  We'll be putting in some new fencing and gates to keep the area secure but accessible to the gas company without letting our sheep out of the pasture.  Will be good when it's done!

We have a lot of brown lambs this year, and here is why!   Look at the Daddy!!!





Greeting Cards Are Here!

The next time you want to send a card, remember to stop by Homer Village Market to see the new selection of greeting cards including:  Birthday, Thank You, Sympathy, Wedding, Anniversary, Congratulations, Get Well, Thinking of You, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Graduation, and all the major Christian holidays.   Be sure to check out our display of gift mugs.  We also have gift certificates, and many fancy foods that make nice gifts.


We plan to add additional greeting card options such as boxed assortments, value cards, and collector's cards.   If you have any special requests of card themes, please let Jean know!

Lamb for the Holidays

We have sold out of leg of lamb about one week before Easter and Passover holidays this year.  For those of you who wanted a leg roast for your holiday meal but were not able to get one from Homer Village Market due to demand exceeding supply, I apologize.  We have a small farming operation and even smaller freezer storage space for those large roasts.  Next year we will probably take orders and make the roasts available a few months prior to the holiday so that you can buy what you need and store in your home freezer.  We wish that lambs had more than two legs, but that's all God gave them!  It's funny that we look at them and say they have four legs, but those two in front are their arms!!!   Shoulder roasts are much more flavorful than leg roasts, but they are a little trickier to cook since they require moist heat, and longer cooking at lower oven temperatures to be nice and tender.  Crown roasts and loin roasts of lamb chops are a festive and delicious meal for holidays but they also need to be ordered in advance due to limited supply and special processing required.  These chops and roasts are the most expensive cut of the lamb and are considered a delicacy.    Recipes are available on the website of the American Lamb Board (see links on this blog) and also on many cooking websites on the internet including food network and epicurious.

Early Summer? What about Spring?

Having several days in a row of 80 degrees and mid seventies with 50's at night makes a person want to do all the things we do in the summer such as gardening, eating ice cream and popsicles, spraying everything with the garden hose, and eating more ice cream!!!   I guess we could still get a snow storm, so planting flowers might be a little bit foolish--but so hard to resist!

We hope to get the food cart open in the next week or so if this weather holds out!   The local youth softball leagues are already practicing at the ball fields, and the parents are working up an appetite.
People are making campfires and doing overnight camping too!   The fish are jumping, and with all the rain we've had, the streams are a great place to enjoy the outdoors.  

Be sure to check out our website http://www.homervillagemarket-generalstore.com and see what's new in the store.  We just got Velvet Ice Cream back in stock today!  Today we also have strawberry rhubarb pies, almost 3-pounds a piece, ready for your oven.

Reopening Tuesday March 12, 2012

Wow, the time has sped by, at least for me, while the store was closed in February and early March!  I have missed seeing all of you in the store and around town!  

You will notice a few changes in the store and more to come.  We are introducing some new products in our dairy and meat departments,  and will be adding more as the weather keeps improving.   

Please stop in and say Hi!