2024 Brings all new challenges!

This year has been a lot of changes and a lot of trial and error.

We started hardcore into haskaps- Over 500 plants! We got a bunch, but we discovered the sheep love them too… 

We continued on with our cows… electric fence good… permanent sheep fencing- a hurdle to jump over…

Our egg layers- Do Not like to be disturbed= change is bad…. They went into full refusal mode to lay eggs when we put their roost in with the cows. We were thinking, “Oh, here’s a way to save on time and keep the chickens a little warmer”. Nope. Chickens do not like cows invading their space. Back to the chicken coop, et voila! Back up to everyone laying every day!

Our sheep- love them. Sasha ended up having two girls this year- Lucky and Lucy.  Lucy has the most beautiful coat, and Lucky… well… 

Lucky has a lot of energy!  Savanna had two girls as well- Lola and Lady.  Lola has the most beautiful white face, and Lady is a little timid. We almost lost lady about a month ago. Mineral deficient, barber pole more than likely.  Believe it or not, kept her alive on craft beer for an afternoon while the multivitamin and dewormer could kick in. Yeah… Having a beer with my lamb… kept her alive and kept me focused on how else to save her.

Our eggplants have been truly abundant this year. We’ve never been as successful with eggplants as we have been this year. Our cucumbers do not like pots. At all… thinking about tearing them all down from their trellising. Sorry kiddos, no pickles this year!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

The Great Purge…

As we start a new year, we are looking to learn from past mistakes, create better systems, and start fresh.

Like many at the start of a new year, we are purging our household of any unwanted, needed, or unused ‘things’ we find around the house. Like Henry David Thoreau said- “You don’t own things.  Things own you.”

With the added farm responsibilities, I find myself purging around the farm as well.  The broken shovel that we continue to use or say that we ‘can fix’… gone.  The pile of wood that has tarps stapled on it, from a previous project… pulled apart, tarps tossed, and wood ready to use for a new project.  We have a little window of melt right now and I find we’re trying to take advantage while we can. 

We also have been trying to use our spaces a little bit more effectively.  Still haven’t quite figured out the best system for the feed, but have moved everything into the barn for now.  Under the watchful eye of our guardian dog.  The gatekeeper.  If the sheep even have what she deems as ‘too much’ hay, she lets them know and stands in front of the hay stack.  Good thing for some, as a pesky red squirrel has been getting into our feed out in the barnyard. I have- up until now- kept a large  water-tight container in the barnyard for the chickens.  Easy feeding, easy access.  Not anymore.  The red squirrels have gone through two lids now, putting tiny shards of blue plastic around the bins.  Now that I’ve moved he feed into the barn, they don’t seem to want to take on ‘Elsa’.  Hhhmmm… maybe she should get a treat in the morning… 

“Mommy, the chickens are stinky.  We need to do something about that.”

-3 year old farmer, ready to take on the world! 

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Here we come!

We started this farm with the goal of being self-sufficient and to know where our food is coming from.  We hope that we can help other families to know their farmers and to know where their food comes from, too!