December 1, 2022 - Day 4

It's DECEMBER?! Man! This year went fast!

Okay, now that I am 4 days into posting here - I just wanted to put this out there. This is basically my daily diary. So if you are not interested in my babbling about this, that and the other thing no worries...don't feel compelled to come back. I promise as we move away from the holiday season, I'll have more time to dedicate to doing all things farm. 

So, yesterday was another running around day. Found a place to drop off my sewing machine for service. A place that is more than 10 miles from our home. Generally I choose places that are close to home. I just don't like to be away from home. Call me a hermit.

The last time I took my machine in for service was nearly 10 years ago. So I was still working and sewing wasn't a high priority activity. However now that I am retired I have more time to set aside to sit down and sew a little bit. I LOVE IT! Anyway, the previous place I took machine to is so much closer, BUT also the wait time is more than a week :( This new place, while not close to home, is FAST! She had very good reviews and I will be heading out in a little while to go pick it up! Oh yeah, my sewing room will be whole again!

Before going home I dropped by Walmart to pick up a couple of items and then met a friend of mine at our church food pantry so she could shop.

The one thing that did happen yesterday that I never expect is that a gentleman left a note for us. Basically he wants to buy a boar. If I didn't have plans for the four boys that are currently wandering around our farm I would totally sell him one of the brothers, Bill or Ted. The former Farm Manager, Mr. Windswept, went and texted him a very curt message telling him that we didn't have anyone available. 

OH COME ON!

After telling him that he stepped into my farm manager role, I told him that I would contact the guy. This is how we get people interested in American Guinea Hogs and OUR hogs. So, we'll see what happens...

Have a great day!!

Just a Slacker

My last post was July 20th?!

Yeah, I'm a slacker. There are days that I think that I'll pop on here and post something just to update a little, but it doesn't get done. I might have too many things to do.

So, what have we been up to here? Well, nothing and everything!

We FINALLY tagged Miss Bridgette's ear and I sent in the registration form electronically on Tuesday. We'll get her certificate in a few weeks - she is now officially counted in the AGH population. Before we could submit anything we needed to tag her. If we don't then it will never happen. Case and point - I have had the tags and the pliers for about a month. These both were moved out into the garage and as we all know, out of sight out of mind. So finally last weekend I decided to retrieve the pliers and at least bring them into the house. Plan A was to get her tagged before last weekend was over. However, the junior swine had both spent the majority of the weekend in the wallow since it was so hot and they both were muddy like all over! So, plan B - we wait until Monday and see just how much mud she still has. Fortunately, it wasn't as hot and they didn't mud spa a ton so it was time. Before we did anything, Tom watched several videos on how to tag a pig's ear (where would we be without YouTube?) We had eaten dinner and were ready to head outside for the evening and gathered up our supplies and got to it. Bridgette is a good girl, not real squirly at all and she let Tom touch her ear and use an alcohol swab and stuff. After he had cleaned her ear she plopped down on her belly. That was a good thing since I would be the one attempting to keep her from moving around. She didn't really move or make any noise until the tag was applied and then there was a medium squeal and then it was over. Tom DID it and Bridgette is now bonafide!

Our girl is officially Windswept Bridgette

Since my last post we lost one of the turkeys. My suspicion is that it was one of the males and it was sparring with one of the other males and somehow got tangled up in the netting and ended up strangling itself. This was a very sad thing since I LOVE the turkeys so much. They are so sweet and not mean at all. They are so curious and when they are happy and exploring a new place like my garden, they making a really cute chirping sound. This morning I saw that we have two lil Toms. DANG IT! I was really hoping that we only had one. They both were strutting around and looking for some sort of reaction from the girls. Just like real guys...right?

They spent a lot of the day in the garden. Surprisingly, they didn't destroy anything. They spent a lot of time picking at the weeds and taking dust baths. Plus, it's a good play pen for them. They just do their thing, chirping away and find a little shade when they get too warm. They are so curious, so when they see something new they will examine it and then proceed with caution. Once they feel safe then it's back to happy chirping and exploring. Everyone should have turkeys!

Oh, so let's address the garden. This year's garden sucks. BIG TIME. I don't know what happened, but it is so very discouraging. The only thing that is really doing well (better than decent) would be my Salvaterra tomatoes. With everything out of control everywhere else, why not my garden too? 

The bunny population has been higher than I've ever seen it in all the time that we've been here. Even the larger bunnies are able to squeeze through the fence and we suspect that they have been nibbling on the tomatoes that are lower on the plants and probably topped all of the bean seedlings. A suggestion from a friend was to attach burlap to the bottom of the fence to keep the bunnies out. It's worth a try, so we now have 100 yards of 12" wide burlap. We'll see if it is effective. 

Three pounds of tomato goodness

Even though garden boxes are doing MUCH better than the crop garden, there are still a couple of things that are not working out great. As soon as I'm able, I'll harvest the ripe veg and then pull up the plants that are in the boxes and get ready to do some greens for the fall and winter. I will still need to protect everything from the stupid chickens, but that a small price to pay for fresh eggs daily. 

While I'm completely disappointed with the garden this year, I think back and realize that not every garden was a lush and productive as last year. One year I couldn't even get flowers to germinate! There's always next time. 

Yesterday I did a canning project. My friend Lorna came over to learn and help and we had a wonderful visit. We talked and laughed and did enough work to get the jars filled and into the canner before she had to leave. She is a treasure and I wish that covid wasn't a thing anymore so we could do more stuff together. Maybe in the near future we could do dinner or something. She is far more comfortable with not practicing physical distancing - where I am not, but with her I'm okay with it.

Today, Sunday, might be another day of canning. This time I will get the pears ready for canning. Hopefully the pear that I picked last weekend are close to being ready. It should be a nice project for a not so hot day. 

I've decided to make a long weekend so I'll be home tomorrow as well. So far the whole weekend has been filled with projects and activities - today & tomorrow will be no different.

Farm Life is a Full Life!

Hump Day

Two more days and it will be weekend time again. I think that the days at home last so much longer doing tedious work projects when I really want to do farm projects. Also, I feel a little forgotten. sigh.

Oh well, at least I have things like this to lift my spirits - even just a little...

This morning was a reminder that the piglets are growing and their needs or their little brains are progressing as well. As per the schedule of the last two weeks I went out before dawn to give Fiona her pre-breakfast ration. Most mornings up until this morning the piglets would go to their creep and settle back into sleep. This morning was quite different! A couple went to the creep and settled down, but within a couple of minutes they went out and joined the others and were clamoring around Fiona for their first meal as well.

Look at these little fatties! Once I took a look at this photo, it was a very cute thing and I decided it was time to let them do what they want to do. They ARE nearly three weeks old afterall!

Tonight I hope to get them out with Fiona behind the structure that has their shelter. They seemed to like to poke around a couple of nights ago. Last night they preferred to run around in the paddock.

They are a perk for me while working at home. I just wish I could spend more time hanging out with them while they are eating, sleeping and just being piglets.

Farm Life...Best Life

Herding Piglets?

Today the piglets decided to explore beyond their fence. The tricksy little stinkers figured out how to get out by going under the fence. We either need to keep the fence energized all of the time or just let them do what they do. 

After dinner tonight I decided to go ahead and let Fiona out and leave the fence open so that the babies could join her and 4 of them did! The other two were napping within their area and missed the opportunity.

It's hard to stay upset with the situation as it were. They are too cute and how can anyone be upset with these little faces?

I do believe that this life is everything that I want to live out for the rest of my days. Just need to drop the work thing....

Farm Life is the Best Life!




Fun Video...

Daily Note for April 9, 2020

Okay, so we'll see how long this lasts - my track record here hasn't been very good. However, since I am stuck at home during this COVID-19 crisis, I may as well record some daily happenings.

Probably the cutest thing from the day had to be one of our itty-bitty American Guinea Hog piglets was getting a full-body massage.

From our experience with his big daddy, Rex, it didn't surprise us that this little dude enjoyed a good belly rub. With Rex sometimes all we would do is barely touch his side and he would totally plop down for a full-body massage like his off-spring.

Yep - the CUTEST!

Yesterday, the meaties finally were transferred out of the livestock tank that we used for a brooder and into the new and improved Stress Free Chicken Tractor.

This is definitely a deluxe living space for the meaties! The first build was almost to the specifications in the Stress Free Chicken Tractor book. Almost because the bending of the metal conduit was not going well and Tom ended up using miscellaneous copper joints to make the frame that would be the roof. This one features plastic electrical conduit and instead of a tarp, wavy plastic panels. The other plus about this is that I can stand upright in this one and there is a lot of head space to boot. The meaties were very hesitant at first, but were convinced after I brought them an extra portion of food for the day.

The work that I did today was mind-numbing, but at least I have the piglets and the chickens and ducks to visit throughout the day. I have decided to take a day of vacation tomorrow. Even though I am home, I am supposed to be doing work stuff and not farm stuff. Tomorrow I'm gonna be a farmer!

Farm Life - Best Life!

Winter Mode

It has been a few months since my last post...and to be honest, I don't feel so bad about it.

The ladies on the garden.

A lot of life has happened since that last post, the garden has been cleaned up and the chickens are now working their magic for the upcoming season. Honestly, the chickens LOVE the garden! There is so much for them to do...there are all sorts of treats to be had in there.

Ms. Fiona 

Fiona is quite possibly pregnant. It has been a while since we last witnessed Rex hassling Fiona, so she might be with bacon bits. So for the past couple of weeks I've gone out to the pig pen to observe the two of them and really study Fiona. It's hard to say, kinda like the first time she was pregnant - I just stood there looking at her and wondering until all of a sudden there she was putting herself in an impossible situation. So the answer for now is a strong possibly.

Seed catalogs are slowly trickling in the mail...oh how I love a seed catalog! I have received catalogs from Seed Savers Exchange, Baker Creek, Territorial, Johnny's and a couple of others. My favorite is Seed Savers...love everything about that company! Check them out!! I want to love Baker Creek, but the seeds just didn't work for me for some reason. They do have a really nice Whole Seed Catalog that I purchased last year, I don't think I'll be getting it this year. Johnny's is great for garden tools and cover crop seeds. Territorial is local (Cottage Grove, OR) and I would LOVE to visit their store. That would be quite a trip though, just far enough away to not be a day trip. It would be more of an overnight trip. Overnight trips are out of the question right now - we need a farm sitter.

And I'm starting to do a few more indoor activities. Last week I broke in the new kitchen work table and baked some cookies. Last night I watched a quick tutorial on crocheting and learned how to do a single crochet properly. This coming weekend I'll be baking something and sewing.

the addition of this table makes the rest of the kitchen look really bad!

So yeah, I'm settled into winter mode alright.

As I look back on last year's gardening effort, I feel pretty accomplished at all that went well (beans squash and tomatoes) Then I think of what did not go well (onions). As I start planning for the next garden I am thinking about doing more - nothing new there. However doing more requires more time, and I don't have more time. This year I will learn time management!

I'm also thinking about how I need to replace some of the laying hens as they are starting to really slow down with their egg laying. The original girls are nearly two and a half years old and even though they are still laying, it's not nearly as much. In fact, we had to suspend our egg sales to our few friends due to the girls starting to get broody or just not laying much.

We have already got some chicks back in September, Sicilian Buttercups...

These little girls are so cute!

Also, there is an opportunity to gain a few young hens from one of my co-workers who lives not far from us. He and his wife have quite a flock of chickens and they have experienced some loss due to a predator and he is thinking of downsizing. This will be a good thing even if we have to pay a little bit of cash-ola for them. He said that they haven't started laying yet, so this would be perfect! We'll see though...nothing is for sure.

This winter I'm going to try to rest up for all of the activities that I have on my agenda for the spring and summer. Lots of things are on the list already - Freedom Rangers will be on the farm again in March, new hens, need to build another chicken tractor...chicken harvest in June. Hopefully there will be a puppy in May. All that AND getting seeds started for the garden and possibly for sale.

AND there needs to be time for....

POKEMON!

Ever Get The Feeling...

that you might be the weird one? Not only are we the "weird" ones, we also live in a very unique situation.

When you think of homesteading or homesteaders what do you think of? Up until about four or five years ago I never had the thought of either homesteading or homesteaders or considered myself in those categories. Actually, I wouldn't have considered myself a farmer or think of us as living on a farm. In my mind I was growing a garden and it was mostly for fun, but we did enjoy plucking ripe tomatoes off the vine and harvesting some beans or whatever for a meal we would cook later. So, no, not a farmer - not even a little. Farmers have animals and big gardens and maybe even a tractor. What we have is a riding lawn mower...which usually requires the tires to be filled and the battery to be charged. In fact I didn't even know any farmers!

Until...

Tom discovered Justin Rhodes YouTube channel and he thought that what they were doing was pretty cool. It took me a little longer to see the value in those videos. After a few videos and Justin saying that he was the Permaculture Chicken Ninja (or something close) I got an idea.

You see, I've been wanting some chickens for a little while, but couldn't convince Mr. Tom that it would be a good thing. He was well aware of the amount of chickens my mom had accumulated during our time on the house in Fern Prairie. I assured him that I would not be that crazy - our house was the landmark for anyone giving directions to go somewhere, "Yeah, you know that house with all of the chickens?"

Anyway...

So, now we are watching this guy name Justin Rhodes who is living on a farm (homestead) with his family. They raise chickens and have cows and have a vegetable garden. We watched a lot of his videos and I was getting the bug...I could see chickens in our future. I don't know what happened, probably a lot of me saying "you know, we could get chickens" and still assuring him by saying,  "I won't be the crazy chicken lady, like my mom." The next season we started building a Justin Rhodes chick shaw, because I not so secretly found the plans on his website and presented them to Tom. I'm not that sneaky, but I do know what I want. After a few weeks we had 95% of the coop ready to go - we were waiting on something, but I don't remember what. It might have been the wheels. Anyway, while we waited on those, Tom built a brooder and we were off to Pioneer to pick up some chicks.

I'm pretty sure I had an idea of what I wanted for our first chickens which were Australorps, but Pioneer did not have them. What they did have were Jersey Giant chicks - they would have to do, since they were the only ones that were less than a week old at the time. Go HERE for that post. Since half of the chicks turned out to be little roos, we "had" to get some more chicks. Yeah, I'm still not a crazy chicken lady...

A search on craigslist and I connected with a woman who raises chicks on her farm in Woodland and the pullets would be closer to laying age AND she had Australorps. SCORE! We made arrangements and met her at the Safeway and completed the transaction like a drug deal going down in broad daylight...hehe...and we were on our way.

Thus was the beginning of our farm.

That season we added a gosling and duckling. Some people might just stop with chickens and waterfowl. Nope, not me...the following season which was last year, we added more chickens, pigs and more ducklings. We even grew our first batch of broiler chicks last year.

All of this would make sense for someone who might live out in the "country" someplace more rural at least. We live in a house on a piece of property that was once a farm many years ago. Our portion of the original farm is 2.71 acres. I'm unsure how much property made up the farm in the beginning. The fortunate thing for us is that we are just beyond the Urban Growth Area of Clark County and we are not bound to the rules of those who live within that area. In a way it feels like getting into this house/property was part of a greater plan.

Our home sits directly across the street from a newer subdivision of 15 or 16 cookie cutter homes. In more recent years we had been trying to figure out how to make this property more interesting and to connect to the world around us. More simply to our neighbors. Having neighbors is a fairly new thing for us as we have not had neighbors that we could actually observe from our front yard or from our living room at least.

Because these neighbors have witnessed the transformation of our property from a house on a couple of acres to a small farm. We truly are a spectacle. Anyone who walks to the mailbox at the corner across from our house can clearly see what is happening over here and will comment on it if we happen to be walking down their street.

The folks that live across the street are an interesting mix of retirees with grandchildren and families with young children. All with very different goals in life. Some are enjoying life without the daily grind of work and others just growing up their families as best they can.

We have connected with a couple of the families and have invited the kids across the street (along with Dad) to come observe/help with our last chicken harvest. One of the boys was a little traumatized at first and the other totally into helping - albeit brief. In time I hope that there might be just a little more interest - at least with the younger neighbors. An interest to learn exactly how their food is grown.

There is so much more to this story that I can't even begin to address in one blog post. Stay tuned and maybe learn a little more of what drives us. It's all very exciting for me...the reluctant homesteader.

Farm Life...it really is the BEST!

Slowing down...

Now that fall is here and Daylight Saving Time has ended we are doing the bare minimum during the week and doing projects around the farm - weather permitting. 

Last weekend I was feeling extremely tired and actually napped. I did a couple of things outside, but then decided that rest was more important. Mostly because starting this weekend I'll be a little busy doing Operation Christmas Child activities. Go HERE to check out this Samaritan's Purse project if you are not familiar with it. 

Anyway...

I was able to get some veggies in a couple of planting spots. The garden has been mostly pulled up..still need to pull up the flowers. The sorghum that popped up is HUGE and I can't get the plants up now that they are spent. Also have a couple of cabbage left, the kale and a few onions. Hoping to get things cleaned up a bit while I am off work next week. Then the tarps need to come out and the sand bags. However, I could let the chickens do the final clean up before the tarp goes down. We'll see.

Another project I hope to accomplish is to move Rexy & Fiona to the other side of the former parking structure. I am hoping to make that old structure into their new home. Once they breed (and we are hopeful) it would be nice to give Fiona a space for her and her piglets.

Question of the day:  Have they mated? 

Well, just a couple of days ago Tom did witness Mr. Rexy putting some moves on Miss Fiona and she wasn't pushing him away...

We'll see - maybe it will happen before the year is over. Missy is now 8 months old and it's time for her to get to work...hahaha. I was told a couple of months ago to watch for signs of mating. Since I'm not home all of the time I wouldn't know. However, it was encouraging to me to know that Tom had witnessed something. Since I like to research stuff...the American Guinea Hog Association says:

"Males can breed as early as approximately 6 to 8 months of age. Gilts (young females) can come into their first heat (estrus cycle) as early as 8 months of age. When exposed to a male, females can farrow (give birth) near or shortly after their first birthday."

Since we have absolutely NO idea what to look for I'm a little anxious to know if they will actually breed or if they will just be lazy and just want food. Given that Mr. Rexy-Pants has shown interest in Fiona I'm not worried about his intentions. However, Fiona might just play hard to get...

While we are on the subject of pigs. I got a text from Farmer Jason about harvesting one of their pigs and one or both of us hanging out and learning how it is done. By one I mean Tom...although, I would like to go and check out the process as well - because for some reason I'm not freaked out by harvesting animals, feathered or furry. This is a great opportunity as option #2 would allow us to bring home a portion of the pork at a very reasonable price. I see pork in my future...

So, while we continue to slow the pace a bit, we'll be enjoying the weather a bit. This is the time of year that we would normally get quite a bit of rain and we did a couple of weeks ago, but it was mostly the weekend and during the night. This week is looking good though...wish I could get home before sunset to help with the chores though. I'm missing my crazy little quackers! 

Sigh....Farm Life...

July 9, 2018

After a week away from work I have returned to my regular routine. 

A week away from work is just about the best thing for my soul - more would be better! So much about life last week felt right. Working around the house, keeping our feathered and furry creatures alive and well and working the garden. With all the extra time at home I was able to do a little cooking and even got the Ice Cream Maker out and made a couple of batches of ice cream. 

On Friday after spending extra down time at home I decided to go for some coffee and be-bop over to Freddy's to pick up items for the second batch of ice cream. While I was at Starbucks an old friend had stopped in to pick up some coffee and we ended up chatting for a couple minutes. 

He had asked how we were doing and asked what was new. It has been at least a couple of years since I last saw him so he had NO idea that we were doing this farm thing - complete with the poultry and pigs...

To say the least he was surprised. 

Then after another minute or so he had declared that we wouldn't be able to go on vacation if we are going to have a farm.

Ummmm....what? How did the conversation turn to vacations?

Anyway, I declared that it didn't have to be that hard and then he had to bring up a story that related to farming and no vacations...blah blah blah....

Here is my point - vacations don't drive me. There are people that just live for the next big trip...destination, but vacations are not the thing that I live for. Don't get me wrong, I have enjoyed the places that we have seen, the things that we have done and the memories that we came home with. However, traveling is also a giant hassle! 

So, no matter how much I try to convince another person that I'm not that interested in vacations - what I realize is that they (my old friend) just isn't listening. As I think about this conversation it occurs to me that he doesn't really know who Tom and I are, he only remembers who we were. 

Our values are different now.  I don't long for the latest this, that or the other thing. I don't have to have an exciting vacation on the calendar. I just need to be with my hubby and our animals and that brings me so much joy. It's a lot of work, but it's good work. Having our chickens, ducks, pigs and the goose to take care of keeps me happy. As well as busy, but a good busy. 

Sometime during the Great American Farm Tour one of the homesteaders (either Jill Winger or Shaye Elliott) said something that clicked with me...

When we started our farm with chickens I couldn't imagine enjoying what we are doing as much as I do. Now that we have added Rex & Fiona and more ducks life has become even more fulfilling! Not only do we have fresh eggs and veggies to enjoy during the week we are outside every single day - rain or shine. Feeding something - feathered or furry.

The other thing that has happened is we are connecting with friends and neighbors. That's the whole purpose of this farm. Whether it's a long time friend or an acquaintance from Starbucks - we are creating meaningful relationships. 

If I take a vacation I'm going to miss meeting a new friend and/or neighbor. Why would I want to take a vacation from making new friends and strengthening other relationships?

One Month!

The Dynamic Duo, aka Rex & Fiona, have been with us for one month - as of June 5.

We are total novices at this pig raising thing, but I'm enjoying learning how to take care of them and watching them grow week after week. Since we look at them everyday it's hard to say how big they are getting. I'm sure there will be a day when we look at them and see just how big they have gotten...that might happen sooner than we think!

In the last month we have learned a few things about them.

They are incredibly friendly. In my research, I had read how friendly they are and how they are kind of like a dog and want affection and all that. Once they settled in they started feeling more relaxed around us they started coming up to us while we would sit in their pen and just plop down and wait for a belly rub. That really didn't take long at all, a week maybe less. It's like they are taking a mini-nap and just relaxing at our feet.

I don't know about other AGH, but these two like the people who come for a visit. We have neighbors and friends who have come to meet R & F and the pigs are pretty friendly with everyone. Most people who venture into the pig pen are able to pet them and experience them up close and personal...even kids. This past Sunday one of the neighbor boys came over and I invited him into the pen and he was just beside himself. He LOVED them! He kept going on and on about how cute they are...which they are, but he just seemed like he couldn't believe it.

Look at these cute faces...SO CUTE!!

Another thing that we are finding out about them - they are pretty frisky, as in playful. Since their area was increased this past weekend they have been happily exploring underneath the pear trees and as far as they can into the field. Yesterday Rex was jumping around and running after Fiona. So funny!

For the first couple of days they were hiding out in the tall grass

The afternoon they were moved I found Rex behind their shelter and in the tall grass. I was hoping at first that they would do their poo and pee business in this area. I know Fiona was...she had that look about her. Rex may have just been hiding out. He's not good at answering questions.

They don't eat everything that is tossed into their area. We start each morning with a couple of hamburger buns and a bit of hog/swine pellets. Depending on the day they may get some treats like kitchen scraps from friends and neighbors. They really like fruit...they are not a fan of radishes...artichoke leaves are okay, but they leave those alone for the most part. A friend of ours included a small hamburger patty with the bag she brought over and low and behold...they ate it! I think that Rex got the majority of the patty. That would figure being a boy and all...hahaha!! They get another ration of pellets and a couple of buns in then evening as well. Some days they seems famished...other days not nearly as much. They never turn their nose up to a meal though.

More than anything we are loving these two Guineas and look forward to when they finally achieve their purpose on our farm. Breeding and producing baby AGH! So glad that our farm is now complete and these two are thriving.

It's a rough life, but they make it work

Farm Life Is the Best Life!

Dreams Do Come True!

I know...it's been a little while since I was here last...I've been enjoying what we have been blessed with!

The idea to transform our property into a small farm was probably most definitley my idea. I usually have some sort of crazy idea brewing in my head. It doesn't help that I watch homesteader videos and think that we can do some of the things that "those" people are doing!

Having pigs was my dream (so I am told). Before we made the trip out to Cascade Meadows Farm I had envisioned where I wanted the pigs to be eventually. Underneath these pear trees. They are old and fairly ugly. The tree on the left actually had blackberry canes growing around it and up into the tree. It was a MESS!

This is from January 14.

Ever since that visit I had been anxious to get our piggies home, but first we had to prepare the space for them and get some basic supplies. Figure out how to house them etc. Most of all I just needed to be patient and wait.

Now that they are home we have had such a fun first month with them and have been acquainting ourselves with their personalities. They are really sweet and are so affectionate. They like most people that come to visit and they REALLY like seeing us coming toward the paddock. We are, afterall, the chuck wagon!

The Kids Waiting Patiently

It may seem like Rex is being frisky with Fiona in a rather familiar way, but I think he was just goofing around - especially when he head-butted her back end! She is fairly tolerant of the little dude, I hope that when it comes to breeding that they will be successful!

These two bring so much joy to my heart (especially after losing our Mr. Decaf a couple of weeks ago)...our farm really is complete with them. The space they are in right now is now complete and they now have a couple of trees to rest under when the summer heat arrives.

These are just a sample of the things Fiona and Rex do while we are out with them.

Really Rex? You couldn't walk another 5 feet to the pool?

Rex seems to be napping everytime I turn around!

I'm not kidding! Alway snoozin'

Farm Life Is The Best Life!

Adjusting

Now that we have even more critters to look after we have been busy! Chores start early - as soon as it is light out which is currently around 5:30 AM. I'm up early, so it's not that huge of a shock, but it does make the morning go quickly. I've figured out a good routine though, we'll see how long it works out.

Just this week I have learned that I need to let the two hooligans out otherwise Mr. Lenny will fly over the fence. He hasn't done that before and maybe he didn't realize what exactly he was doing, but I HAVE to get them out before I start working my way around the pens. In fact, when he popped over the fence and landed he just stood there somewhat dumbfounded - as if he were asking why didn't Sheldon follow him. I'm not sure that Shelly could actually make it. He's a duck and all, but he rarely gets his little squatty body off the ground and mainly uses his wings to run faster when he is playing with Tom.

ANYWAY

Boys come out and off to feed the pigs - they are super easy! I distract them with some bread and then quickly dump some of their feed onto the ground. Once they finish their appetizer they happily start munching away on the feed which then turns into a little grazing at the same time.

Rex is on the left...then girly Fiona with her cute pink nose and feet!

Next on the list would be the Magpie Squad...

We are still unsure what is going thru Lenny's head when he looks at the girls.

The little Magpies are just over three weeks old and growing like crazy! They definitely know where the food comes from and will stand at the end of their little courtyard and scream at the top of their lungs until I get over there to feed them. These 7 ducklings can make a lot of noise! That's okay - they are super cute!

As they grow I am noticing that most of them are quite large, there is one runt in the group. So I am hopeful that they are all female, just as I requested. The only thing about that is how does anyone know for sure. Man, I hope they're mostly girls...Sheldon is already pretty spazzy, what if we have one or two more drakes to deal with?

OYE!

Also, I'm not sure if we'll be housing these littles with the rest of the flock when it comes to that point. They might need their own home. Oh My Goodness...Lenny and 8 ducks?! We'll figure that out later.

Then at last the main chicken pen. The Javas are still not roosting in the coop at night so they are free ranging when I finally get to them. This is actually perfect though. Because they are new to the flock they still get bullied by the big girls when it's food time. So they get to eat before the others are released. While they get to eat, the hooligans are out foraging  so the Javas have a chance to eat in peace. As soon as a couple of the Javas are done eating and start wandering around I let the rest of the girls out and chaos ensues! 

Time to make my exit! 

Depending on the day, sometimes it is a chore to get the two dudes back in with the girls. They are usually pretty good though, except for yesterday. Little stinkers! Lenny was unhappy with me...which is fine because I was REALLY unhappy with him. Most of the time they are pretty easy and want to get back in and eat. It seems now that we no longer have a rooster, they don't care so much about going back right away. I don't know if they were trying to protect the girls from Thor, but they were always ready to head back. 

The evening routine is pretty much the same. Getting a second ration of  food to all of the babies and then scratch for the hens. The ducklings are the most work as they mess up the tub that they get to swim in pretty quickly. So sometimes it gets refreshed twice a day sometimes more. They are stinky little peepers for sure! I just don't remember Lenny & Shelly eating so much. Maybe they did...it's hard to say. 

Things will change yet again when we get the Freedom Rangers from the hatchery on July 3rd. We have until about the end of July to figure out what to do with the ducklings. Add them to the flock or give all the waterfowl their own area? 

That's still a ways off, so we'll just enjoy the process until then. 

The best thing from today...

The Kia is truly the All-Haul vehicle

That's a lot of bread! The back seat was folded down too!

 A friend of mine told me about how I could get Franz products at the local outlet for super cheap, so I went and checked it out.

For $10 I can get a Cart of bread that is not sellable to the general public in the outlet. These items are sold as hog & bird food. So last week on Monday I visited the outlet in Hazel Dell and I got onto the list.  Today was pick-up day. We had a lot happening today, so I was really hoping that the bread would be available during my lunch break...SCORE!! We got lucky today - the truck came back early. 

Anyway, the back of my car is filled with hamburger buns! If this is considered a cart - I am not sure that I want to know how much is in a RACK!

What is considered a cart? Well, that would be 10 trays of bread. In this case each tray had 6 packages of hamburger buns and for the heck of it we got a bonus tray. Each package has 12 buns...you do the math!

OH. MY. GOODNESS.

That should last us a while. On top of that the clerk handed Tom a few packages of bear claws and cinnamon rolls...seriously, this is getting ridiculous!

What have I gotten myself into?! Craziness!!

So while we continue to adjust to the changes at home and try to do the regular daily stuff...I believe more than ever that Farm Life is the Best Life!!

I still can't get over this!

All In...

Yep - we are all in with this farm! My dream was and still is to make this property into a farm of some sort. Pigs and Poultry has a nice ring to it. 

Evidently, I am the one who had the idea to raise pigs and that sounds about right. I have to say that the craziness started last year when we watched one of the first Great American Farm Tour videos that featured pigs. In fact, the first farm feature was a farm in Georgia that was getting ready to do a pig harvest. It was quite graphic, but I still watched it and was completely fascinated. Because that's how I roll. It made sense to me  ~ grow your food, know your food. The pigs that were being harvest were  Glouscestershire Old Spots - a very large breed. These dudes can be anywhere from 500 - 600 lbs. Ummm...that's a bit large. 

Time to do research! 

First I looked on Craigslist to see what breeds were available for sale in the area. All I wanted was something that would be close and easy to transport. Also a breed that I would feel comfortable managing. Even just searching in Clark/Cowlitz Counties there were only a handful of ads. Most of them were either Kune Kune or the American Guinea Hog. It was easy to choose between the two - the Kune Kune are spendy! I didn't want to go into this adventure with a lot of cash out of pocket and then figure out that raising pigs was a silly idea. So I looked at the AGH - reasonably priced for piglets, easy to raise, docile, friendly etc. Okay cool, I can get on board with this compact swine.

How did I determine that breeding these dudes would be the way to go? I'm not sure, but visiting a local farm helped a lot! Plus I had read a lot about these pigs on the Livestock Conservancy website - go HERE for that article. This is a heritage breed AND on the threatened list. I'm very much interested in keeping the heritage breeds on our farm. Our Mr. Goosey Pants is the only creature NOT listed on the Livestock Conservancy, but we like him anyway. 

Fiona say "Good Morning!"

Earlier this year we made a visit to Cascade Meadows Farm go HERE. A couple of weeks ago I made contact with Jason at the Farm and got the ball rolling to get our piggies home. After communicating over a couple of days, I was able to get a price range so I could bring the appropriate amount of cash and we borrowed a pet carrier and we were on our way! This past Saturday we made our way out to the Farm and talked pigs with Farmer Jason. He gave us so much information as did his partner. I'm sure that each of us retained a certain amount, but we'll see. They had already chosen a pair for us to take home. Which is great, because they already had an idea of the personalities and their genetics from their parents. I'm hopeful that the two will be productive in the years to come. 

These pigs...SO CUTE!

Fiona was somewhere in this bunch

The kids were loaded up and we completed the transaction and we were off; for an hour drive back home - in a stinky smelly car. One or both immediately pee'd and/or poo'd. We had windows down for much of the drive back home! After about 30 minutes the smell wasn't as bad, but it was still pretty stinky! If we did this all over again I think I would have like to have a pick up that was in good shape to do this activity. At least we had a pet carrier that we borrowed from some friends. 

Once we arrived home, we got them out of the car and set them down on the driveway. While they are small as far as size goes, they are solid which equals hefty! Soon after they were released into a smallish pen to get them acclimated to their new home. Their new home is of a nice lush open space of grass and some clover, chickens and a few ducklings. Oh, we can't forget the dynamic duo...

Lenny & Shelly checking out the latest addition to "their" farm.

We are three days into this pig owning adventure and so far so good. On Sunday afternoon after they had spent a full day in their little shelter we extended their area into  part of the backyard. Rex slipped out underneath the fence that was not energized. Lesson learned...alway energize the fence! Then once he was back in within a couple of minutes he touched his little wet nose on the fence - ZAP! Not just once, but twice. He spent a lot of time near the shelter...poor little dude. He's got to learn to respect the fence. Miss Fiona also has touched the fence, but she is a little more brave and shook that off quickly. In fact, I don't think that she touched it again. It might take some time, but they will get there.

Adding this sweet pair of Guinea Hogs just completes the farm. It also adds to our daily routine, but it will be worth it when they get to breeding age and we have piglets one day in the future. 

Farm Life is the Best Life! 

Flip Of A Switch

And just like that we are super busy with stuff on our pig & poultry farm!

Last weekend the ducklings arrived and OH MY GOODNESS...could they be any cuter?!

These little girls have been spending time in the hoop house during the day

To make the Magpie girls day not so boring we started to put them into the hoop house in the afternoon. That way they get some fresh air and actual sunlight! Up until today they have been confined to a big Rubbermaid type tub with pine shavings, food and water. They have been cruising through the water in their 1 quart waterer. They got a new one today! It might last more than 90 minutes of  duckling playtime. Now that they are getting too big to hang out in the tub, the door is open, but blocked and they get to run around until we return. Pretty soon they will be big enough to run around on the lawn. We'll see. I'm not sure that we would be able to do that and NOT let the original water fowl come out to forage. We would certainly hear about it...LENNY.

They have had a few people coming to look at visit them, so they are getting used to people other than Tom and I checking them out. As they are still pretty little they don't get handled by strangers much. That will change soon enough. Although as they get older they will get a little faster, but they may not wander too far away. I guess we'll find out in the next few days.

This weekend we are going to head over to Cascade Meadows Farm to get pigs for our farm! Having pigs will make what we have going on a real farm - for sure! I spent the earlier part of the week in communication with farmer Jason - who gave us the tour back in January and introduced us to their American Guinea Hogs. The prices start at $150 and up to $190 for juvenile pigs. If we wanted to get a pair that were ready to breed that would set us back about $240. Wowie!

I'm thinking younger...we are total beginners and we need to ease ourselves into this particular adventure. I'm excited though...this is going to be GREAT!

Farmer Jason and his AGH 

One day though, we'll have this down and we'll be raising these guys for some tasty pork. Mmmmm...bacon!

The only thing that I really needed to acquire is some sort of pet carrier to transport them home. I spent a couple of days looking on craigslist for something and everything that I found was either in Portland or on the east side. With everything that we have going on, traveling more than 5 miles for a carrier was not going to happen. Fortunately, I was talking to a friend of ours last Sunday and she said that she had a carrier that would work and that we could borrow it....SCORE!

It's Thursday and the week has been a crazy one! My days at work seem to be going quickly - which is great. However, my time at home to do the things that need to be done is short and as usual I try to pack in more than I probably should. I am happy that the days are getting longer not only into the evening, but the morning has becoming lighter everyday!

This evening will be a little rushed - I've got an appointment with the hair magician and that will take a little bit of time, but that's okay. Sometimes I just need some me time :)

OH...here's a little tidbit from one year ago...

When the Duck and the Goose were babies

Farm Life is the Best Life!

OH, Hey there...

Okay, so weeks and weeks haven't gone by, but it has been over a week since my last post.

Been a little busy with work and with home stuff, taking care of feathered creatures...getting seeds into soil blocks etc...SoWHAT has been happening?

Mottle Javas

Well, the little chickies are growing so fast! One morning this week, when I went out to do the chicken chores and went to open the tractor door up - I thought I was looking at full size chickens! They really have changed so much in 10 weeks! From the spazzy little fluff balls when we brought them home to this:

There is one in particular who has become my favorite...

A couple of them encountered the big girls one day last week after the neighbor boy was over and checking them out. And by checking them out, I mean he was walking (chasing) them toward the main flock and a couple got through the fence. Boy, oh boy...those girls didn't quite know what to do, neither did the hooligans. As it turns out, they are able to squeeze through the netting. It's a good thing the fence wasn't energized, that would have been a very surprising sensation for them. Anyway, maybe the transition won't go too bad afterall. They have be observing one another through the poultry netting, so it's not like they are unawares.

The girl Magpie ducklings were supposed to be delivered last Friday to the feed store, however a couple of days before then I received a call from the feed store and when I called them back, they had some bad new. The hatchery had called to notify them that their hatch was not successful and that there wouldn't be any ducklings coming. What?! How did the entire hatch fail? They tried to offer a different breed, but I still wanted the Magpies so I asked if they could check if there would be another hatch. The people at that feed store are so nice...they called and found out that the next hatch was scheduled for May 4. 

Fingers Crossed!!

April 27 UPDATE - the feed store just called and they received the ducklings today! I got the call this afternoon and we'll be heading over there tomorrow morning to pick up the newest addition to the farm. Wahooooo!!! For some reason I took a little time to get the brooder set up a couple of days ago. We have a waterer and a pan for food...that should get them started off right. 

Our Mr. Shelly duck is getting to be a bit much these past few days. Hoping that his little harem will accept him...and that he won't "love" them to death! It will still be a few months before they will be able to co-exist. This should be interesting. Once the girls arrive, maybe Mr. Lenny will get some peace.

The Duck and The Goose

This week the dudes turned 1 year old!

Helping in the garden! 

It's amazing to think that we have had these two goofballs for nearly a year. We brought them home when they were only three days old...

Gardens & Seeds

Since vacation time I have been getting seeds into soil blocks. Sometimes this time of year is frustrating for me. We'll have weeks of mediocre and coolish weather which keeps the hoop house on the cooler side of warm. Then because the weather can be wacky here we get ONE warm day which means the hoop house is HOT and my seedlings - complete with plastic domes get FRIED! I've had to get more soil blocks made and sow more seeds. So far so good. I've been keeping track of the weather this week and the seedlings are looking good. This weekend I will transplant some into plastic planters.

The garden boxes have been cleaned out and I have seeds in all of them. So far I've got radishes, spinach and arugula coming up. Beets in another box and a couple of green beans have germinated. I do like to start stuff from seed and my hope is that I will not have to buy any plants at the store to put into the garden. As easy as that would be I really don't want to spend money on stuff that I can grow. How am I ever going to figure out what I can grow and what I can't?

Once the free range garden is ready to plant I'll be getting more beans planted, this year will be the year that we process veggies for the winter and things that will store well through the season. However, before we can get anything planted out there we need to broadfork it and then add some sand and compost to fortify the soil. The chickens did a pretty good job with keeping things all cleaned up, but it will need more work. My hope is that this garden will be MUCH better than last year. 

Fruit Trees

At the beginning of my vacation in March we purchased three apple trees to start a mini orchard/food forest. 

I didn't do a very good job with researching varieties, but we are all about experimenting.

After we chopped off more than half of these apple trees, I was a little worried - what if they don't survive?! So for several weeks all we had  were sticks in the ground with all three of them sporting two or three branches. After awhile I noticed that the leaves were coming on and then the blossom buds were forming. This week we have actual blossoms! All three of the trees have leaves, but only two have blossoms. There is hope afterall and also relief that they aren't going to die - this year anyway.

American Guinea Hogs

Now that the weather has improved and has been mostly dry we are going to get an area ready for the pigs! We'll be adding a breeding pair next weekend and I am so excited! So far I have been able to keep all sorts of other outside creatures alive...this makes me confident that we'll be able to deal with a couple of pigs as well. 

I feel like I'm an "all-in" type of person. We can educate ourselves to the end of time, but I'm definitely a hands-on learner. So, with all that we have already learned from books, the interwebs and from the Mother Earth News fair our adventure into raising pigs will be fun! We'll spend the next few days getting supplies, making a shelter and looking for an appropriately sized pet carrier that will fit in my car. Yep - we are taking the Kia to pick up these pigs! There WILL be an update when that happens!

So, my work week is nearly done and I'm looking forward to doing more stuff in the hoop house this week, more prep work in the big garden and running errands tomorrow. We have a short list of things that need to be done and a long list of items that we need to pick up at the feed store and ducklings to bring home...

Farm life is the BEST life...

Throw Back Thursday...

to when we really started this farm up. I feel like the moment the farm came alive was when we added the chickies. Which meant my dream was coming to fruition. In April 2017,  we visited Pioneer Feed and went away with 10 Jersey Giant chicks and some supplies to get them set up. Go HERE to see that post. A few weeks later we added a few more pullets from a chicken farmer located nearby to supplement our flock that at the time ended up being 5 pullets and 5 roos.

Now, nearly a year since we started this adventure we have added an addition six 3 day old pullets. We settled on Mottled Javas that JUST arrived at the farm supply store the morning that we brought them home. Tom wanted a breed that wasn't black. These won't be totally black...so we are slowly transitioning to other colored chickens.

February 16 - The newest members of our flock

Most of them were good size, the only runty one would be the one all the way to the right. I was concerned that she would not make it, the other just seemed a little more lively. As it turns out, all of them made it and have been thriving since we brought them home.

February 18

The little girls were settled in a couple of  days later. Their markings looked like little scarves.

February 25

I had forgotten how quickly they change from the little fuzz-balls even after just a few days.

March 4

The only time that they got to kind of experience fresh air was on March 4. These little girls are quite active and it was hard to grab them so we could get them outside for some Vitamin D.

Then the photo sessions became less frequent after this last photo...I don't know why.

March 24

Toward the end of my vacation week. I guess we were pretty busy doing stuff, just did enough to keep these little girls watered and fed.

March 31

The most recent  photo is from this past Saturday. It was a nice sunny day and there was no reason why the girls could at least be in the sunshine. So we dragged the brooder over to the opened garage door and let them enjoy not only fresh air, but some actual sunshine! They didn't realize that they could sit at the opposite end to keep from overheating. After a few minutes they were actually panting. Silly girls!

The plan is to have them out in the yard on grass by the weekend. Since it is pouring down rain right now I am not sure how much we'll work on the chicken tractor after I get home. It is nearly finished really. Just one more piece of chicken wire on the top and then the back end...install the carriage bolts for the wheels and add a hook to keep the door closed. So close!

These little chickies have grown so much so fast that it is crazy! Once they go out we will get the brooder ready for the girl Magpie ducklings to arrive. They should be at the feed store on April 20th! So excited!!! Then - we'll have the meat chickens coming sometime toward the middle of June.

If I don't order them, we won't have them...I bet get on that!