On the Farm

 Our chicks hatched last week. All six eggs.  5 barred rocks and one red that might be part barred rock.

 Drinking from the hose and filling buckets.

 Feeding the piggies.

This is the life. :)

Sisters and piggies!!  Beautiful morning for chores.

Happy Birthday to My Littlest Farm Girl

 Happy Birthday to my two year old!!  I can't believe she is two.  Crazy how time flies.

 Didn't even practice blowing out candles. 

 Using the hose and helping with farm chores.

Notice the top on the dog food.  Many reasons for that. lol

 Such a cutie.

 Oh, look at that, one of the many reasons.  lol

Next Year's Garden Area, Duck, and Grass. (not in that order, either)

 I have one female duck that has decided to set.  Less eggs, but one setting is better than all of them setting. She is so sweet too.  Makes little duckling noises when I'm around here.

 This is what the grass looks like here after the sheep and the ducks have been over it.  Very very nice.

 Right half of the future garden area.

 left half, behind the posts and goes to where the fencing behind the pigs are and across to the right. Nice big area. That will keep me pretty busy I think.  I'm going to plant a cover crop on it that will be seeded after the pigs and ducks tear it up and fertilize it.

Pigs!!!

We have pigs and I think I'm going to try to talk Steve into calling them Twig and Berry or Barry (hey, we could be nice about it ya know). lol If you don't already know, you'll understand in a minute. :P The black one is a Large Black/blue butt cross (hamp/yorky cross) and the spotted is a tamworth/berkshire cross.  We have landed!!

 The Large Blacks are a very laid back breed I am finding out.  Leslie from the farm that I got them from just raves about their personality and temperament. These are two boars by the way, less stressful not to cut them, plus they grow a bit faster. This will really show us the temperament of both breeds for future reference if we want to get into breeding down the road.

 He's thinking about it.

 Checking out their digs.

 Fighting over water.

And..uh...Berry/Barry? showing us his one and only descended berry.

2015 Garden

 I realized today that I haven't harvested from my own garden since 2009!! Crazy!  I've started plenty of gardens over the years, but had to move several times right in the middle of the season or at least before a good harvest.  So, plenty of people have had the benefit of my gardens except for me.  Well, its about time!

 This year I have just a small plot to use, but next year the bigger plot will be ready.  I will take pictures probably this weekend when I move the pigs into that area. :)

 Here is my first hot pepper.  It is a Tunisian Baklouti Pepper. Not sure how to use it yet.  I'm sure we will figure it out.

 My first time growing celery.  I need to read about tying it and do that soon.

My favorite cherry tomato, Isis candy ,yum. May I have some tomatoes in my salad in the next week.

 Oregano and Tam Jalapenos.

 My beautiful comfrey.   I need to make more salve soon.

 My first experience with ground cherries. I will report how it goes.

 

Our raspberry patch.  More picking to do.

 

This is as much as the kids would let me pick.  They ate at least one of these cups between the two of them.

 Big Mama and Emerald eating their supplements.  This was before the fantastic sheep shelter Steve and I built together.  (my farmer in crime by the way)

 Daphne in with the ducks keeping them safe.  This is the awesome Premier1 temp electric fence.

 Another view.  I have the incubator going, which reminds me I need to candle eggs tonight with the girls and see what to keep and what to throw out.  So we should have ducklings in 3 weeks and chicks in two weeks.

Me and my girl Daphne. :)

Moved onto the Farm and Finally Updating

For those of you who wanted to see sheep in a car, here they are:

 My hair got sniffed and nibbled on several times during the ride.  I put a small piece of stock panel behind the front seats to keep the sheep in the back and put two layers of plastic under them with plenty of hay that they nibbled the whole way and then they started chewing their cud and I knew they were pretty comfortable.  Not the best way to transport sheep, but it works if you don't have access to a trailer or truck. :)

So, I'm finally here on the farm, its been so busy helping get the house ready, moving in slowly besides taking care of the animals.  It will be easier as time goes on, but were still in the moving in process because its the growing season.

Moving on to a REAL Farm in 3 Weeks In Jump River WI

Wow, 3 weeks and I'll be living it up farming almost full time.  Maybe I will find a sane person to join in the fun to help.  I have an extra bedroom in the house I'm moving in and if I can talk someone into sharing rent with me I can go whole hog (I just had to do it!lol) on my farming projects and not look back!  It's exciting!!  I will have a fully functioning barn, garage and rabbit/duck house.  What should we call the duck/rabbit house?  duckbit? rabuck? The Duck Palace and Rabbit Ménage à trois?? (that is f'in perfect since I will be starting out with a buck and two does!!!).  Hahahahahahaha!!!!

I'm so excited to start this adventure!!!!  Wheeee!  I will be close enough to get the kids easily, but just far enough.  :)  Go me!!!

Sheep and Fodder!

 The sheep found my hay stash on the porch.  Heh.

Look it works.  I water from the top and it trickles down to the bottom.  Hahahaha!!  I've been wanting to set it up like this from when I started making fodder last fall.  5 minutes or less now instead of 10-15 minutes.  Really, I should have done this sooner.  It's never too late!!  Even 3 weeks before I move.  Heh!! 

Mama's Farm: Pastured Pork, Lamb and Eggs

 Yay, I finally decided on my farm business name.  And it feels right, like, I've had business names in the past and they just didn't feel right, this feels exactly right.  So, now I need to come up with a name for my Sustainable Farm Consulting business.  Hmmmm...... 

Maggie is Taking Pictures. :)

 Me and my poultry tractor.

 Feisty eating grass, we had to make a creep feeder so he could get in and out of the fencing otherwise he'd figure out other ways of getting out to get the herbs he needed when his injury was making him feel bad.  He's all better now and gaining weight again. 

 Some of Big Mamas head.

Dandelions.  I love this phase, James took a lot of pictures at this age too.  So fun!!

Sarah and Me. :)

Taken by my Maggie Mae girl.  :)

Farm Business Names

I've been thinking about farm names lately.  This is what I've come up with:

Cathy's BaaQuackOink

or

Mama's BaaQuackOink

or a myriad of other variations

Sustainably Grown

Meat, Eggs and Produce

Farm Scenery

This is a picture I've been wanting to take for a year or so on the drive to the thrift store.  It will be a lot prettier in a month or so when the trees bud all the way out, but I wasn't sure if I'd get another chance to photograph it any time soon since I'm in the middle of trying to find a farm to move onto.  :)  So, here it is.  Love it!

Sustainable Farming Musings......

It's amazing when you know exactly what your supposed to be doing with your life.  I had that overwhelming feeling after leaving a friend's farm today.  I held a piglet that was no more than a week or so old.  It's like my heart sang praises of "this, this here, is what your supposed to be doing!"  It's such an awesome feeling and after talking to a farmer friend and being intrenched in this life of taking care of the earth and its inhabitants, so rewarding.  This is where I'm supposed to be, RIGHT NOW!  What a feeling!!!

More Fodder

The grass here is still not up far enough to feed to the sheep so besides hay I'm feeding some fodder again too.  I realize with Big Mama, she would eat a whole tray a day if I had it available.  If you need more info on fodder, I will link my other post from my other blog on here.  Here's my set-up again: