General clean up day information: If the weather is questionable you can e-mail or call to see if we have postponed however we have many indoor projects that could be done so unless it is extreme weather we will likely continue as planned. Wear appropriate clothes for the weather, pants rather than shorts for most jobs are good and closed-toe shoes are mandatory. Hats, work gloves, sunscreen would all be good things to have with you. It is always helpful to have extra garden tools like rakes, and shovels. For building projects extra hammers, cordless drills and similar items would be nice. Please bring a water bottle for in the field. Children are welcome but need to be under adult supervision at all times. There are many tasks they can help with too. You need not be here when we begin or stay as long as everyone else. Can’t/won’t eat what we are serving? You are welcome to bring your own food. All the tasks sound like more than you can do, let us know and we will find other things that are less strenuous for you to do.

March 14th — Pre-Spring Clean Up Day
So many things, so little time. You can help us break through the clutter that has accumulated over the cold winter. We will be doing general pick-up and clean up of areas around the farm. Only tools required are hands. Also we will be constructing some pastured poultry pens as well as some minor repairs and maintenance projects on buildings. Extra hammers, cordless drills and tin snips would be helpful. We will provide sloppy joe meat (Please bring your own bread due to so many dietary restrictions.), tea or water and dessert. You are welcome to bring a side dish. Work begins at 9:00 AM and ends at 4:00 PM. Come for as long as you can, when you can. Please let us know you are coming so we can know for how many to prepare.  WHAT A GREAT TIME WE HAD!!!  THANK YOU!

April 18th — Pennycress Pulling and Spring Readiness Day
Some of the above work will continue but typically this is the time of year we need a lot of help with pulling pennycress. This fairly easy to identify plant is easy to pull up. It is the culprit of nasty tasting spring milk. Since we use no chemicals on our pastures we scour the fields (sometimes on hands and knees) pulling it up. Another weed to take care of at this time is thistle. Extra shovels to dig these up would be helpful. We will also be weeding in the garden and possibly doing some planting. Again work will begin at 9:00 and end at 4:00 but come for as long as works for you. Lunch will be chicken salad, veggie sticks and drink. Once again if you would like to bring a side dish to share or need to bring your own food for any reason you are welcome to do so.  Please do let us know if you are coming.

May 1st — Open House (Milk and CSA customers only) 6:00-8:00 pm
Come see the farm as we head into the growing season. See the new facilities: farm store, milking room, chicken processing, transitioning pastures, new pastures, new fencing, new pastured poultry pens, CSA garden and plenty of plans for other areas of the farm. This would also be a good time for people from the various Omaha co-ops to meet each other. Refreshments will be served. Please RSVP by April 30th.

June 19th — Summer Catch Up Day - NOTICE DATE CHANGE No longer June 13th
There are always plenty of jobs on a farm. Summer creeps up on us while we are still doing spring cleaning. Jobs will vary as before but may include dismantling a building, repairing fences, pulling weeds, planting, building, cleaning out stalls, taking down trees, and many other things. General garden tools, work gloves, hammers, and cordless drills all may be useful. Please bring a sack lunch. We will provide drinks and dessert. Due to the heat of summer we are planning for a shorter day. If you are able to and would like to arrive before 9:00 that would be great. We will plan on stopping mid afternoon unless it is a comfortable day.

July 26th — Ice Cream Social (Milk and CSA customers only)
Get some relief from the heat and join us at the farm to eat Mark’s special honey-vanilla ice cream made from our own raw cream and honey. Enjoy the quiet of the country with other like-minded people for a good time. 4:00PM-6:00 PM. You might like to bring along lawn chairs or blankets. If the weather is bad we will move inside. Please RSVP by July 21st.

September 26 — Fall Clean Up Day
Fall is a great time to get a lot of work done on the farm because the heat lets up and typically it isn’t as muddy as spring. We will need to clean out brooder areas, clear off some of the garden area, there are always building repairs, possibly stacking of hay, wood to cut and stack for the wood stove and a variety of other possibilities. 9:00-4:00. Lunch TBA. Please RSVP.

October 10 — Open Farm Day (open to everyone)
Come join us for a day. See where we work and live. We will give tours of the buildings and pastures. You can just sit and enjoy the sights and sounds of the country. Take a walk down a country road. Pet the animals. Likely we will offer a workshop or two. More details to follow as the time draws nearer. Pack a lunch and a blanket to eat out on the lawn or on a hay bale.

November 14th — Pre-Winter Readiness Day
Our last “work day” of the year! (Well not really because we work every day but you get the idea.) Time to pull in the pens, clean out the barrels, stack the feeders, put the garden to bed and clean out the buildings. We will plan on 9:00 to 3:00. Lunch will be potato soup or meatball soup, drinks and dessert. Side dishes are welcome. Please let us know if you will be here.

If none of these days work for you but you would like to volunteer some time on the farm just let us know when you would like to come and we will have plenty for you to do. Maybe you just have an extra half hour when picking up your order or you have a group you want to bring out for a day (or half day) we are open to all kinds of ideas. Working on a farm can be fun for church youth groups, scouts and just friends who want to support a healthy, local economy.

Thank you!

Mark and Molly