We have enjoyed a very busy summer and have many new projects to report on. The weather was rather humbling and taught us to spread our risk over other areas of the farm.

The spring was cold and wet and then June 20th hit and and it turned hot and dry. July was so hot not many plants put on fruit or vegies, but we had eggs! We ran water to our plants most days and we kept things growing. August hit and we had great weather for our crops. September was cold and dry, but things kept growing and we had produce for our Membership program and the market. We picked our first Pristine apples and learned we need to plant more of that variety. September 1 we purchased 125 day old pullets to mature right after the holiday. Then the big change!! We (Jim, that is) purchased two milking goats. This started a new time in the life of Wesley Acres Produce.

Our first two does came from Lynne Davis of Antioch IL. Daisy and Reilly are great quiet little gals and have started us on the road of milk production. What a great venture. We picked up two more Alpines from Boone Iowa. Libby and Loretta joined us on October 2. We purchased two Toggenberg does from Linda DuShane of Lynn Center. What a great time here at the farm. We will start kidding in February and we look forward to many of you coming out to see the little one. Our grandson Will and our granddaughter Rhianah have both enjoyed time with our new livestock and we will have them here when the babies start coming. Here are some pics of you new girls. Thank you for the great year!

Jim and Linda

Today was another typical day at Wesley Acres Produce, filled with work from both Jim and Linda Johansen of Wesley Acres, and from a group of Augie students, who are involved in the Environmental Conservation Learning Community at Augustana College in Rock Island.

Thursday’s work began with the morning routine of milking goats, a new addition to Wesley Acres, and which provide delicious and creamy milk for the Johansen’s. Jim, being a regular was able to keep a steady rhythm when milking the goats, as were a few Augie students who lent a hand and learned the tricky process of goat milking. The goats themselves didn’t seem to mind the new hands, as long as there was plenty of sweet feed and apples for dessert. Thursday is also time to fill and package Wesley Acres CSA food orders. This sent a number of the Augustana students into the field to harvest green beans, patty squash, and tomatoes. The students enjoyed a break from picking green beans with freshly baked cookies from Jim’s mother, who also lives on the Acres. An early morning drizzle picked up right as the students filled their buckets full of colorful and fresh produce, ushering them indoors to begin processing invoices and filling food orders. The Johansen’s kitchen was teeming with activity; students were washing produce, weighing out lettuce and okra, itemizing and packaging the day’s orders. The work went by surprisingly fast, due in part to the large turnout of Augie students who enjoyed the day’s work, and who look forward to more of the same here at Wesley Acres Produce.

Our little pullets are now 3 weeks old, we have been able to turn the heat down some and they are growing very well. I think this weekend we will put them in a pen in the shed and keep it at about 65 for temperature. When we first got them they kept to themselves. They did not mix between the boxes we received. As you can see, they now mingle together.

The girls are still a bit shy. you have to remain very quiet to get them to relax enough to get good pictures

Linda describes this as the teenage years. They are getting larger, but they almost take on a prehistoric look. The necks get longer, the legs grow and they are not all feathered out, but they are not just balls of fluff either.

Our membership program is nearly full for this year. I hope you have signed up if you were part of the program last year. We have opened it up to new members and we are receiving a great deal of interest. We appear to be in store for some warm weather. That will be great. Contact us if you are interested in eggs.

Jim and LInda