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!

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?