2025 a Year in Review

Good morning,

Thank you to all the many people who responded to my email last week with their own thoughts on what to bring into the new year. I am inspired by the the intentions, opportunities and kindness.

Another tradition I love is looking back on the previous year. There is so much wisdom gained through time and experience. A new game I have learned and tried recently is to contemplate the wisdom I have now gained, and to look back through the year using the lens of this perspective. Truly we are always growing.

Here is a fun photo tour of 2025 at Reber Rock Farm

January

Reber Rock Farm is building the cow herd in collaboration with our neighbor Tully and our friends down the road at Asgard Farm. In January we purchased breeding stock and a bull. The bull arrived later in the year.

February

In February Lewis and Lovett traveled with me all the way to Indiana to pickup 12 piglets. We prepared chili for dinner on a hot plate powered by our electric truck. We fluffed the hay for the piglets in the back to keep them warm on the long cold drive home. Everyone settled in nicely.

These pigs are the beginning of our new adventure in having mama pigs and giving birth to our own organic piglets on the farm in the spring.

We enjoyed walks on the shores of Lake Champlain and admired the ice!

Our last renters moved out of our old farm house and we began fixing up the house to welcome new staff all the way from Jamaica. They came under the H2A program for seasonal farm workers and the housing is inspected by the department of health so along with my usual care and cleaning there were a few details from the state I had to attend to.

March

Lovett's ducks started laying eggs and we practiced writing on the egg cartons. Remember the ducks?!

Wilbur the pig got sick and Lovett helped me every morning before school give her some syrup and apple cider vinegar.

April

April arrived and I built a new room for our brooder to keep the chicks warm.

While my fingers are still cold and wet, the pigs could not get enough of a little sunshine and mud!

Of course the first batch of little chirping chicks arrived, not without their most attentive caregiver.

Lewis and I played our first music together! What a proud papa moment for me.

May

May brought the tragedy of the ducks when all but one duck were killed. After many tears Lovett realized we had many eggs! Could me hatch ducklings from the eggs? So we borrowed and incubator and tried.

Lewis, Lovett and I picked up Malik and Keygon after their first ever plane ride and departure from their home in Jamaica. The adventure begins!

With the help of a grant from our friends at the Essex County Soil and Water Conservation District we started construction on a gravel compost pad to help us make compost from our butcher and processing waste.

Cows on grass!!!

Chickens on pasture!

We were joined by my cousin Beatty Swett for the second summer in a row and she immediately got her hands dirty helping with the pigs!

June

The first duck eggs started to hatch! What a joy to see those little ducklings pip and peck their way out of their shells and find their way into this life.

We welcomed Sheneka and Precious to the farm to bring our crew to 4 amazing folks from Jamaica to help out for the season. (I don't have a picture of Sheneka's arrival)

Cattle and pigs grazing. I think the cows were more curios than the pigs. They are separated by an electric fence. Each species helps disrupt the parasite cycle of the other, and both contribute their own flavor of fertility.

Oh the ducklings!

Did I mention pigs love MUD!

Lewis helped me build a stage for our first on farm food and music event.

And what an amazing event it was. We gathered, we ate amazing food, prepared with Jamaican flare by our staff, the weather was sparkling and the music was enjoyed by all.

Even the drummer.

July

Lovett's ducks grow up so fast! 21 eggs hatched of 24, we decided to sell all but 8 of them.

It was a summer of helping. Lovett was with us on the farm for most of the summer and she loved to help. She learned to tape boxes, pack orders, print and apply stickers...so much helping.

Our summer piglets arrived and they were our largest group ever! There were more than 50 piglets. When they arrive they are not familiar with electric fence. So we setup the panels and fence you can see and have electric fence inside that they can sniff and "learn" about. The whole group learns to respect the fence within a few days.

Pretty soon they were all sleeping in the shade.

Lovett learned to drive! We picked up fence for a day and she was a great help.

August

At the beginning of August our pig breeding stock arrived. We purchased 12 guilts (young females) and 2 boars from a breeder all the way in Indiana. (Remember those piglets from Indiana in Febraury? They were the same genetics and helped us get to know what the breeding was like before investing in the stock.

We climbed sawteeth mountain, our first family high peak. (A high peak is defined by an Adirondack mountain that is more than 4000 feet in elevation)

September

Racey and I prepared to host our second annual Reber Rock Retreat! Look how great our barn classroom is, Racey is a master at curating spaces.

It was a beautiful weekend with great food and wisdom.

The pigs kept growing, loving life on pasture and entertaining any visitors.

Sunset in September is always marvelous.

Racey and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary. We hiked Haystack, and it was cold and misty at the summit. We enjoyed lunch at the top of a high peak and reminiscing about 10 years of marriage, and what the next 10 years might bring?

October

October marked the last batch of chickens on pasture. My brother Dakin brought his drone out one weekend visit and we took these pretty awesome shots. You can see the fertility the chickens leave behind, they help our pastures produce more grass and support more food.

Sheneka, Precious, Keygon and I made chicken sausage. Yum. Sheneka is showing off her "uniform" links. It is a skill to create 1/4 lb links every time!

Hurricane Mellissa made landfall in Jamaica and we waiting anxiously to hear from friends and family as cell connectivity, electricity and water all were lost in the home parish of Saint Elizabeth for our staff. We raised over $18k to support their efforts to rebuild lives at home. You can still donate to support their efforts on our GoFundMe page.

November

Cold weather means broth making time at Reber Rock Farm. Precious, Sheneka and I started making broth. We made Chicken Broth, Beef Broth, Lamb Broth and Pork Broth. All made with our bones and organic vegetables.

After a great summer on pasture it is time to harvest the pigs. Keygon and I setup a corral in the pasture where we could back up a trailer and load them easily. We learned that if we shut the group into the corral and let them explore the trailer on their own, they would walk on the trailer without hesitation when the time came. Stress free animals is the name of the game.

November also brought our first snow and the cows wondered, "where has all our grass gone?"

We processed our first batch of a total of 36 pigs in our own shop this November. Lovett helped me package pork chops. Gwen helped us design all new labels and we used our plant based bags on more than just chicken.

December

At the beginning of December Keygon and I introduced the boars to the sows in a much anticipated meeting for Lovett. There was much grunting and snorting by the pigs, and not quite as exciting as Lovett anticipated. 

And then the weather got cold. Our friends from Jamaica experienced one morning of -5F and anything outside was frozen solid. We wrapped up the last of pork processing and said farewell to Precious, Sheneka and Keygon who were the last to leave. It as a cold December day and Keygon wore sandals with not socks to the airport, already preparing for the warm weather he told me.

Thank you to everyone who touched our lives and our farm this year. We had 352 NEW customers this year, welcome to our farm family.

Your Farmer, 

Nathan