Windrake Farm

06/18/2026

06/15/2026

This strong, hardworking and loving young man was helping on the farm Saturday, celebrating Capital Pride in Albany on Sunday and on the road for his west coast tour today. He’ll be making some stops in the Midwest as well on the way out. Check out where he’ll be and get tickets here: Sawyer Fredericks Tour dates https://www.bandsintown.com/a/2657036?came_from=206

06/12/2026

We are super excited to be at our first Grow Amsterdam Farmers Market this Saturday 9-1!! You can find us in between Karen’s Produce and The Hippie Hen Flower Farm. Can’t wait to make some new vendor friends and welcome the Amsterdam community to our farm family. Plenty of parking available- be sure to stop by and support our local farmers and artisans!
Gloversville: we will miss you this week, but we will be back next week on the 20th. There’s just one of me so we need to alternate the Saturdays, but the markets aren’t far apart. If you forget to stock up for two weeks of beef and pork, you know where to find me! And of course every Sunday we are at the Schenectady Greenmarket 🌱💚
Meanwhile, back on the ranch: there have been 5 new babies since my last newsletter! Three bulls: Guillermo from Gaia, Vivaldi from Venus, and Dandelion from Daisy. Two heifers: Iva from Ivy and Margaux from Maple. They all look a lot alike thanks to Jack’s strong genes, so I’m mapping out the spots and speckles to identify them, LOL! At least 4 more cows look ready to pop in the coming weeks. So I’m spending a lot of time in my happy place- in the pastures with the cows. We’ve also gotten three fields of hay into the barn and walked and repaired a LOT of fence line.

06/07/2026

New heifer from Maple when I got back from the market today! I’m calling her Margaux 🥰 Here Maple is eating the placenta while Margaux works on her walking and nursing skills. Some farmers choose to take the placenta away, out of concern for choking. But I prefer to let the mother clean it up, as they seem to feel it’s urgent. (Half the time this happens while I’m not there anyway, and I’ve only once felt I needed to drag a strand out of the mother’s mouth when she coughed. Most likely she’d have been fine and I was being over cautious.) I understand the primary purpose is to hide evidence of the new birth from potential predators, but it has many other benefits. It provides nutrients for the mother, stimulates milk production, and introduces a sampling of location specific information (bacteria, minerals, microorganisms) that the mother’s body can use to create customized milk for the calf. Amazing!

06/05/2026

I just love the symbiotic nature of small businesses, farmer’s markets, and local communities and economies. Sage & Cedar Cafe is a true Gloversville gem, with a fabulous farm to table menu, and wonderful people cooking and serving. So grateful for the many ways they are always looking to nurture our community.
Check out how they are helping to bring much needed attention to the Gloversville Farmers Market 🥰

05/30/2026

I realize I can have our pork breakfast sausage whenever I want, but I admit I get excited having someone else cook it for me 🤣 Scott makes a mean breakfast sandwich, with their fresh eggs from Jacob’s Farm, and just the right crispy caramelized sear on the sausage 🍳 These sold out last time, so grab yours early! See you at the Schenectady Greenmarket 🌱

05/23/2026

Impulse had her heifer, Imogene, around noon on Friday. I was anxiously standing by to assist, because last year she lost a breach calf. But this time she handled it all on her own! I managed to video the birthing scene, and y’all asked to see it, so here it is! Mama and baby are doing great!

05/22/2026

Its been a rollercoaster of a week! Nyxie had her first calf on Saturday afternoon, a long legged heifer we named Nori. Then the mini heat wave arrived! Nyxie kept Nori hidden in cool tall grass, and I couldn’t find her again until Wednesday morning when the heat broke. Normal behavior but still nerve wracking for me. Meanwhile, the herd was really struggling with the high temperatures so early in the season, because they haven’t fully shed out their winter coats. They have shady areas, and plenty of water, but it was easily 95 in the shade, and just brutal in the sun. A few cows were showing signs of heat stress, which can be deadly. I was out there with a hose, sprinkling the ones who weren’t stressed further by the water, carrying buckets to ones who seemed too overwhelmed to make their way back to the waterer, and dumping buckets on the ones too far for the hose to reach.
Everyone made it through, but it was a scary couple of days. It looks like more moderate temperatures for the coming week, and I’m grateful for that. We have 3 or 4 more cows that look close to calving, so I’m spending lots of time in the field. Praying for smooth uncomplicated births this year!
Find us this weekend at the Gloversville Farmers Market on Saturday, 8:30-12:30 and the Schenectady Greenmarket on Sunday, 10-2 🌱💚

11/30/2025

We will return to the indoor market on December 14th. See ya then!

Market will be closed November 30th for the holiday weekend. We will open back inside Proctors next Sunday December 7th 10 til 2 for our indoor season!

11/23/2025

Zoom in to see my wonderful helper, Sarah 🥰 I’m so grateful she made it possible for me to be at the market today. Even with the cold and snow, it did my heart so much good to see you all- thank you so much to all who stopped by for holiday meals, gentle hugs and just to say hi and welcome me back 🥹❤️🙏🏼