View from the Farm: April 2026

April's weather whiplash is making it a little hard to get ahead on some tasks, but we're getting ready for truly warm weather. There's lots of work for the horses to help out with and lots of ambitious projects to set up for the summer.

This bobsled we picked up in New York state needs a little work, but we're excited about the project!

Creamy Taco Meat

From: Kyle Swift

Seasoned meat and melty cheese come together to make a fun extra hearty version of taco night.

Ingredients:

1 packet of Hill Place Signature Taco Seasoning -- available in the Hill Place farm stand

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1lb ish of ground beef -- available for pickup at Hill Place Farm

2 cans of plain kidney or cannellini beans (or 1lb of pre-cooked plain kidney or cannellini beans)

1/4 cup of milk plus 1 tablespoon or cream cheese OR 1/4 cup of heavy cream

2 cups of stock (any stock will work, but best is half chicken, half beef)

Splash of oil

A hefty amount of a shredded good melting cheese, to taste

Instructions:

Heat a large frying pan as hot as reasonably possible. Add meat to hot pan and cook until completely browned. Add a splash of oil to meat with the spices and tomato paste. Mix and fry until there is no red tomato visible. Add the stock and the beans to the pan. If necessary, add hot water to the pan to ensure that all of the beans are covered. Simmer the mix for 15mins, or until the liquid is mostly evaporated. Turn off the heat and add the milk/cream. Stir in the cheese until melted. Season with salt & pepper as needed. 

Serve as your family likes-- with tortillas as a taco filling, with chips, or just with a fork! 

What's Blooming?

The bad news is that the last bout of snow was very hard on our daffodils. Looks like we won't have a harvest this spring, but the specialty irises are up and looking great. Expect the stand to be stocked with flower arrangements soon!

In the meantime, many of our annual field crops are already growing in the greenhouse and our basement grow room. It's only a few more weeks until they'll all be planted out in the field.

Want to be notified when we'll have bouquets? Send us a messageand we'll let you know when crops are coming in. Or follow our flower partner @daisyacresflowers on Instagram

Hen House Improvements

Our fresh batch of pullets moved out of the nursery into the auxiliary hen house. Eventually, they'll replace the older hens in the main house (which has lights and other perks), but for now they're enjoying their cozy house and yard. Now that it's warmer weather, we're working on plans for a new yard for the main house. This is also about the time when we consider how our setup will work for running a couple batches of meat birds.

Improved Horse-Power

If you've been following us on YouTube, you know how hard we've been working with our Suffolk horses to get everyone in

working condition. Now that winter is ended, that just means we'll spend even more time training and breaking Holly and Tilly; not to mention getting ready for Lena's colt!

Garden Prep

It's that time of year when we have to decide where everything will be planted and get the ground ready. We'll also have baby Christmas trees, some straggler strawberries, and fancy daffodils that all need to be moved to new areas. 

Hill Place Merch in the Wild

One of our granddaughters showed off her Hill Place shirt on a quick Facebook Marketplace run to North Adams, MA for this new toy for her and her baby brothers.