Farm life

Since last posting, we had added ducks, guinea hens, an adorable set of bantams but we have lost many of our feather flock due to coyotes, foxes, hawks and not sure what else! We do currently have 12 chickens and many have them (Blk Astralops) have been gifted by my sister- Ms. Amanda! A neighbor could not keep one of his Americuna roosters so we got one that we all Bruce! The Django and Hilde were added to the mix but Django was taken by a hawk recently and Hilde appears to either fell to her death from a rafter or froze during a bad cold snap a few weeks ago. We felt horrible! Mr. Buttons did recently get added to our mix! He is an adorable chihuahua!

I snagged a job again earlier this year and I was unable to do as much as I did last year. Terry is "Mr. Mom" and has been working on Aquaponics, Wind turbine and some really neat home projects.

I have dabbled in educating myself with different canning recipes, "Cowboy Jam"(via the amazing Jen Cox), watermelon rind pickles, Green pepper/Jalapeno jam, Apple pie jam to name a few! OH! Our apples came in like crazy! We had Mulberries and Raspberries too! We invited many of our neighbors, friends and the public to pick apples and there is are a bunch!

Terry is going to finish a small green house shortly before winter really hits us and he has been a guru at repopulating our chicks! Honey next year! We left the honey for the bees to winter over and I got to tell you that I am super excited for next season.

Next season will have a bigger garden, with more herbs, corn, variety of beans and more!

I also started schooling myself Reflexology and Energy work. Do I hear any volunteers for a foot rub? Learning and training to become a Reflexology practitioner will help out greatly in our household. I had a great seminar that taught the basics and it was just enough to make me dangerous! I continue to learn about herbs, making my own lotions, salves and healing  concoctions. Also crystals for healing, I have always loved rocks and crystals!

Terry was awesome enough to take me to Michigan to go to Gypsy Soul Retreat a few weeks back. It was a weekend trip and a blast! Hoping to go in Spring but it's a we will see thing. All in all life is good. There are some dark times (Those are saved for www.hopewhentherewasnone.blogspot.com).

More to come! Stop by and visit coffee is always on! Also our little vintage/thrift sale will be back next year with new stuff and great buys. But if you need a gift on the fly feel free to call me and I'm happy to open up for you! Drop us an email at mtbbnfarm@hotmail.com

God bless!

Ghosts of the past

Things go bump in the night.
We have had a paranormal group come through. They still have to look through evidence but myself and my daughter we able to tag along during the investigation.

Now I can't go into full details until they are able to look at the information collected. . .

Someone had their hair played with, hand touched, leg grabbed, red and white orbs and flashes were seen in the dark.  We had a blast!

A lovely woman that was a medium believes we have a number of residents that had enjoyed a stay here! They are looking forward to a overnighter when the weather gets warmer.

Are you in the NW Indiana area? If you are interested in exploring a really neat 100 year old+ home? Drop me a email at mtbbnfarm@hotmail.com.

THE CHICKS ARE COMING!

Sorry for the fuzzy picture...
Oh my gosh! I was so tickled to see 8 little guys swimming around in they're shells out of 9 that I put in the incubator is AWESOME! I was amazed and of course I'm a big sap, so I was teary eyed! I'm such a nerd.

I even texted my family to let them know they will be Aunts and Grandparents to a few feathered chicks. HAHA! Thank goodness my family tolerates my silliness!

So, praying everything turns out alright with these little ones that we will have a new flock of little one's running about soon! Now, of course I have an itch to try another breed if all turns well with these little ones.

Of course the girls are doing a wonderful job with laying eggs. So far, production is at 4 eggs a day. I never realized how often I do not eat eggs! They are piling up rather fast in the fridge! I hear a baking day coming up in the next day or so.

My canning adventure was fun and a neat learning experience. I almost hate to pop the jars open because how pretty they look! We have spaghetti sauce, salsa, pumpkin (Which my darling Sister Amanda did for me), Acorn squash, stewed tomatoes, and a few other things. I am glad our garden is small this year for the practice. BRING ON SPRING! I'm already itching for next summer!

Our harvest went well considering the garden size and I was pretty pleased with it!

From June 2012 to September 2012

Acorn Squash- 12

Watermelon-10

Pickles- 2 lbs

Cantaloupe- 2- I was disappointed at that number

Roma Tomatoes- 1lb

Beefsteak Tomatoes- 2 lbs

Cherry Tomatoes- 1 lb

Corn- 10 ears

Popcorn-

Hybrid corn-

Broccoli- 1 lb

Cauliflower- 2 ½ lbs

Turnips- 8

Radish- 6

Zucchini- 12

Strawberries- ½ lb

Kale- 1 lb Rabbits/Chickens

Carrots- 6 mini

Green peppers- 2 lbs

Leaf Lettuce- 1 lb

Pumpkins- 14

Cabbage- 3 heads Cabbage worms- Chickens loved them!

Gourds- 50+

Herbs various- 2 lbs

Potatoes (Yukon Gold/Red/Idaho)- 1 lb

Onions Variety- 2 lbs

Garlic- 6 heads small

Peas- ½ lb

Green Beans- ½ lb

The game plan is to expand and plant more and space out the plantings better. We were blessed to have some free veggie plants at the end of June but they didn't fit so well in the garden and it was like Melons Gone Wild in the garden! Not to mention the pumpkins had a mind of their own. 

It was fun! On occasion a very happy chicken would fly into the garden and nibble on something yummy but for the most part a lot of insects and moths made homes in much of the cabbage and some other veggies. I'm pretty pleased! 

 

I sold enough of my pumpkins and watermelons to make my seed money for them back! YEA! Really anxious for next year! Did I say that already?

I laugh in the face of danger!

I was brave! I wanted to live on the wild side and throw caution to the wind!

What did I do? 

Tattoo? 

Rockin pink hair I have always wanted?

Radical new clothes?

Nah! I bought and used a Pressure Cooker! TEEHEE!  I admit I was so nervous! I had images of Looney Tunes cartoons of the thing blowing up on me running in my head the whole time. I read several books on canning, something else I'm new to, and felt confident and brave enough to actually fill the darned thing. I don't have a Frankenstein monster of a cooker, like these. That is too intimidating for me just starting out. It's much smaller no bells or whistles. 

I cut, scooped, peeled, blanched and seeded what I needed to. I was pooped when I was done. I made sure Mini Man and the dog were at a safe distance before I turned on the stove. Then I waited patiently for the darn thing to start dancing to start timing it. Unsure whether to start my timer before the top started wiggling. Of course I grew paranoid if I heard or saw the top moving or not. I saw steam and figured it was time. (I didn't see that in any of the books GRRFACE!) I managed to stay alive, no burns, no fire dept called. All my bottles remained in tact and looked so lovely I might add! The girls gave me a big compliment at how pretty everything looked like in the jars. After everything was done I had to admit it was neat but a lot of work for so little jars. 

 We still have a great bounty that has been coming from this little garden! I am still in awe! I have had several gardens in the past but this one is different. This whole experience here on the farm with my family is different. I won't go into details but over 4 years ago I would have never dreamed of such happiness and good times!

 This is today's haul! I know I'll have more tomorrow! I actually can't wait! Like a kid in a candy store everyday is a wonder and very peaceful time in the garden.

I'm going to tackle Pumpkin next! And yes I will walk on the wild side and use my canner again!

Chicken count is remaining at 9! YIPPEE! Hope to keep the Fox family at bay with Coyote Urine. Yes, as gross as it sounds but if it works then Horray!

Eat, Drink and be Married was a success! 

 May you never steal, lie, or cheat, but if you must steal, then steal away my sorrows, and if you must lie, lie with me all the nights of my life, and if you must cheat, then please cheat death because I couldn't live a day without you. 

Cheers~ Leap Year

 My sister made these adorable birdseed hearts for favors! She also created Microwave popcorn bags and below so cute chick cake pops that Kalven found yummy!

A special thanks to the wonderful lady and her crew that came out a day 

early to help start the celebration! 

GIGGLE! Love ya Chelle!

 Thanks to Ms. Ve for all her help setting up tables with Brian!

 Jessica and Jennifer played beautifully for us! 

And Mike and Justin worked the doors keeping out the Riff Raff. Just kidding. They were very good ushers!

We felt very blessed to have so many shared our day with us! 

Thank you very much to Brian, Cathy, My Mom and Dad, Sister Ashley, Lee and everyone who brought yummy food, good company and wonderful memories!

Renovation pictures!

Things are hopping out here! It's amazing at how quickly the paint on the outside is going on! In a little over a month our dutiful and awesome landlord has scrapped and painted the south side of the building, he is working his way to the front at alarming speed. He has been doing this in the crazy heat that we have had over the past month, which puts me to shame.















Trunk room

Inside has been coming along... 














 Hallway and landing (ceiling still needs to be scraped and painted)






 



Happenings around here are trying to get a handle of the Fox problem that has plagued our free ranging chickens. We are down to a handful of the feathered guys! Our rooster has discovered his lungs and random "Cock-a-doodle" is heard at various times throughout the day. I get a charge out of watching these ladies and gentleman.







Amazing amount of cuteness! These were May! They grew by leaps and bounds!

These little guys are our Layers

These were the Meat birds

 Remaining egg layers and rooster




"Big Sexy", made it to the butcher block, though I haven't the heart to cook her up yet. My partner in crime has been too busy for dinner in and I'm thinking of maybe sharing her with our guests at the "Eat, drink and be married" gathering here next month.

Garden just at the beginning of June!

 Here it is yesterday, things are growing so quickly and we have been blessed with a nice bounty ripe for the picking!

In the area? Drop in to see the changes or just for a cup o' joe and dessert!

We can be reached at (219)345-2429