Never, Have I Ever...

Gotten a catalog for living creatures - poultry to be more specific.

A couple of weeks ago I was pokin' around on the Meyer Hatchery website and decided to have a catalog sent. Sure I can look at the catalog online, but this way I can add this to my sad farm library. Also, it's fun to thumb through a catalog...or magazine as I like to call it. 

If I were to do a mail order I might consider Meyer Hatchery as they have a large variety of poultry to choose from. From the various brown egg layers to white and "olive eggers" and "easter eggers." There are some even mor exotic birds available as well like Egyptian Fayoumi and White Sultan

Turkey for the holidays - Yep! Ducks & Geese - Yep & Yep! Game birds, hatching eggs and all sorts of accessories and supplies to get your chicken operation set up.

A couple of my favorite listings:

Leann's "Adopt Me" Bargain - 

These are basically the runts that were "hiding" in the incubators after a hatch. The catch with this collection - they could be anything including bantams or turkeys. Could you imagine? The chick that keeps growing turning into your holiday dinner centerpiece?

Personally, if I were to order a special collection/pack it would be the Production Pack. This option is all female and all excellent layers. The breeds that might be in this one would be: Golden Buff, Barred Plymouth Rock, Rhode Island Red, New Hampshire Red, Buff Orpington, Black Australorp or White Leghorn. An order of 15 will set you back $50.42 which really isn't that bad of a deal actually. 

Here's a bonus:

The Fry Pan Bargain (meat bird section). This is a ALL-ROOSTER assortment. According to the catalog:

"This all-rooster assortment may include one or more of any large rooster in our catalog."

If you were inclined to go this route it is VERY affordable! 

• 1-5 $1.10
• 6-15 $0.99
• 16-25 $0.83
• 26-49 $0.66
• 50-99 $0.50
• 100+ $0.34

As much as I would like to order this pack...I think I will stick with a different broiler breed for my first batch of meat chickens.

Order yourself some chicks! Well, maybe get a place for them to live first...then place an order!

Imperfect

Last summer I grew carrots! Which was great because I tried the year before and didn't get anything!
Anyway, there were a few odd shaped carrots that came up...

I don't think that we had many, but the ones that we did get...they were pretty cool.

I was checking out Facebook and came across an ad on the newsfeed (why is this even a thing)? I usually don't pay attention to the ads, but this one was for a company called Imperfect Produce...ummm...what?

Well, I gotta check this out right? As you can see from my carrots above, I'm not opposed to weird looking produce. So, what is this Imperfect Produce? Well, according to the website, it's the produce that would never meet the standards for local stores to offer/display for sale. Kind of sad right? The people at Imperfect Produce take those weird looking fruits and veggies and make up boxes in 4 different sizes and different types of fruits and veggies (conventional or organic) and make it totally customizeable by the customer.

First I had to find out if this would be available in our area...it is. Alright...let's do this!! I just happened to get my order in at the right time for delivery this coming Thursday. I can cancel future orders or add to my account anytime - so convenient, maybe too convenient.

I opted for the Organic box and this is what will be in my first shipment:

The BEST part, I can totally ask for more of one item or less or add something that wasn't added, but available. Example: The list included a pound of parsnips - who eats parsnips?! I decided to add the avocados instead. I suppose I could have added all of the items, but seriously, what would I do with the parsnips? I was originally going to receive beets as well, but again, those avocados were calling out to me :)

Okay, so I realize that what will be in the box might not look great, I've looked at some videos on the YouTubes and there were some articles on google. I know what I'm getting into, so there will be NO SURPRISES. My hope is that I will be surprised in a good way. So much so that I will continue to order maybe every other week until the growing season.

Another nice thing about ordering is that the imperfection of each item is listed as well as where the produce was grown. Since we are in SW Washington our produce will be coming from a warehouse located in Clackamas. That's as local as it gets! Most of the items on my list will be from Washington/Oregon, but the citrus and the avocados are from California. That's local enough for me!

Who needs perfect fruits and veggies anyway? Well, usually I do, but if I can save money...

Check out Imperfect Produce HERE.

Seed Savers Exchange

In all the years that I have been gardening, it had never occurred to me to save the seeds. Most of the time, if I had grown flowers I would just let those seeds drop and then they might come up the following season. Vegetables? Forget it, we just pulled the plants up at the end of the season and heaped them into the compost.

A couple of years ago I grew some beans for drying and that worked out pretty well, although I didn't have enough to make a meal let alone store in the pantry. However, I saved what I harvested, let them cure out a little and stored them. I thought I would try planting them last season, but the garden really sucked last year so they didn't make it into the garden. There is always this year I guess. Here is what killsme...Tom's mother gave him some seeds that she saved from her favorite tomatoes - seeds she saved! I guess these seeds came from tomatoes that she grew 8+ years ago. She been saving seeds for these tomatoes for the past eight years?! What the WHAT?! We never KNEW that she saved seeds.

Okay, so I'm getting a sense that seed saving really isn't a big dealio...just gotta do it!

Enter Seed Savers Exchange.

A couple of weeks ago I was checking out the catalog and the website. Then on a whim I joined SSE on Thursday...now I am a paid up member! Somehow I landed on the Member Grower Club page. This is where they list a few seeds for members for FREE (just pay shipping). Today, those seeds arrived and I got a bonus pack of seeds. This must be a fluke to have received my order so quickly. I don't think it's nearly as quick from Johnny's - another favorite actually. In a couple of weeks or so I'll be placing a real order for a couple of collections to get started this season. I've narrowed the selection down to the Seed Savers Favorites and the Cut Flowers Collection. As a member I will receive a 10% discount. So that's another nice little perk for joining up. Check it out...

FREE SEEDS!

The Nasturtium is a bonus and will be a nice addition to my garden this year...and for years to come! It's time to get intentional and start saving seeds. Go HERE to check out the benefits of saving seeds...

Then join up and order some seeds to save!

Craigslist Deals

Craigslist...it's fun to check for pretty much anything for sale or trade or free.

Several times a week I look around for a variety of things that might be useful on our farm. Yesterday I hit the jackpot!

Since we are planning for the Guinea Hogs I started looking for things that we possibly could use. Most of the time I look at the free stuff in Clark County. There is a lot of furniture...which I would NEVER bring into my home no matter how new or clean it might look.

Yesterday an ad popped up mid-afternoon with no photos...the text said:

"6x 275gal IBC totes & 1 steel drum" 

WHAT?! I knew exactly what this item was after reading the title...

FREE?! Oh...I jumped on this deal almost immediately, I replied to the ad and by the time I got home, we went from going to pick up two totes this morning to going after I got home from work last night and picking up one tote. Two totes in the bed of the pick-up would have worked, but the drive back home would have been nerve-wracking. Also, 275 gallons is A LOT...and one tote will work fine for the two pigs that we'll be getting at the first of spring.

Before heading out for the day I did a quick search on the Google pants and the same tote from Uline would have been $499 - this was worth the drive to nearly the other side of town. FREE!!

Arriving home last night

This is a thing of beauty!

The tote was used to store mineral oil so we only need to clean it out before using it for our piggies. The only other thing I want to do to it is get a pig waterer nipple and install it. 

With this for a waterer we won't have thirsty pigs!