Tis the Season

Tis the season...breeding season! Which to me = headaches! Let's see, first we have to find the perfect suitor, which given the multiple species we have,  that in itself is a challenge. Then we have to figure the timing of when they are going to calve, lamb, kid, or farrow. Now we have to catch them in heat....and so the fun begins.

I'll start with the cows. We have Bailey, Flicka, and Black Beauty to breed. Two months ago we finally noticed Bailey in heat. We called all our farmer friends & with a little help from Google, we found an artificial breeder. She was bred- one down two to go, or so we thought. A month later she is back in heat, we breed Bailey again. We gave the other two a shot to induce heat. It worked for Flika and we had her bred. We waited 10 days and gave Black Beauty another shot- still nothing....ugh! This morning I went to quickly do morning chores, so I could head to Rutland for a much needed haircut & color (need to get rid of those grays!), by K2 @Stafford. But..nope change of plans, Flicka is in heat, again. So I cancel my appointment & wait for the breeder. Fingers are crossed that she takes this time.

The sheep are easier, we have our own ram. We traded him for some hay last month. I don't love him, but he should be fine, and hopefully give us bigger lambs which = more lamb chops. I think we are going to put him in this weekend which means lambs the last of March & early April. Hopefully, we have lots of sweet lambs running around when the petting barn reopens for the season.

S'more & Nala, the Nigerian Dwarf goats. I have found them a perfect match. A driveway breeding service (I kid you not!). First they only breed registered does, so I had to send in all my paperwork & am waiting for that to come back. Then I have to notice them in heat (unlike cows...I have no idea what I'm looking for). When they are in heat I will drive them 1 1/2 hours away for their "date". I am betting the odds of them being in heat at the same time is zero, meaning two trips. I am told I can entice them into heat with a buck rag. They take a rag & rub it on the smelly buck,and then I put it in with my does. They should come in heat within a few days. Once my registration papers are back, I will try this....wish me luck!

Then there is the pigs. We bought two piglets this spring, Freckles & Charlotte, with the intention of breeding them. Well, they aren't big enough for spring piglets, we will have to wait and breed them this spring for fall piglets. So we kept one of the pigs that was going to go for meat last week. She didn't have a name because we weren't planning on keeping her. I call her mama pig (I'm hopeful that she will be!). Now, mama pig needs a daddy pig. We thought we had one lined up for January. We were going to bring him here for a month or two until she was bred. Then we find out he is a Big Daddy. Too big! Mama pig needs a small daddy. So anyone one know of a small daddy looking for love in January? Didn't think so...I'll keep you posted on the pig love match.

And...this is my life right now,  animal match making.

Thursday Thoughts

The week has been good. Monday we took the piggies to be processed. Mark was worried how we were going to get five pigs into the trailer. Last week he started feeding them in there. The only problem was not all the pigs were going in at the same time. On Saturday,  I husked all the popcorn, only took 2 hours! Mark fed the husks to the pigs & they all went in the trailer, so he kept some as back up. He also put hay in the trailer. Sunday morning they were all sleeping in the trailer instead of their hut, but as soon as they saw Mark they came running out for food. Here was the plan, he tied the door with baler twine, so he could sneak down early in the morning & cut it with his knife then quickly shut them in. Monday morning in the dark Mark snuck down there, and looked around he assumed they were all in but it was dark & hard to see. You guessed it- only half were in the trailer. He brought out the back up - they all jumped in the trailer for the corn husk. We got um!  We had kept one of the smaller females intending to breed her, so after we delivered the pigs to be processed, we went to the petting barn & loaded the 2 younger female pigs that we kept there. We put all the "girls" together. The first few days were a little rough, the big pig didn't let the smaller ones eat or sleep in the hut, but now they are getting along. This morning all the girls were snug in the hut together, sleeping.

The next adventure of the day was to round up all the ewe sheep to check for worms & trim their feet. We chased 14 ewes around the pasture. Of course Leo saw us struggling & came out to help (they are awesome like that, always helping). We got all but one, after trying for quite awhile Mark went to get the four -wheeler. Finally we got them all loaded in the trailer and brought them to the barn. I am happy to say we didn't have to worm any of them, they looked great. We did trim their feet. I usually trim the smaller one & Mark does the older ones, cause their hooves are tougher. When we trim hooves we flip them, sit them right on their rumps, leaning  the sheep up against us & hold their front feet.  I was holding crazy Myra, when she caught me off guard & we both tipped over. I never let go, & pulled her back up. Mark said it must be lugging all the water buckets made me strong! Then we loaded them all back up and took them back to the pasture, we did keep all the ewe lambs in the barn, so we are ready to put the ram out to pasture in a few weeks for breeding. The last thing on the daily list was to move the ram lambs to fresh pasture.It's a good feeling at the end of the day knowing we got all the animals taken care of and put where they needed to be.

Today, after chores I brought all the chicken waters & feeders to the barn and cleaned them. Lets just say at one time this summer we had 150 ish birds, that = lots of feeders & waters. It took me 1 1/2 hours, but happy to say that chore is done. Then I made homemade turkey soup and apple crisp for dinner. K3 came home & said it smells like fall in the kitchen.Sure felt like fall outside today!

We continue to get ready for winter, which means the fun continues..

P.S.- We decided not to get Raven the foster dog - it was a hard choice, but I decided she wasn't going to be a good fit for our family :(

News for the week

I have recovered from the craziness of last week. I actually came home from the petting barn (where I had spent hours doing the dreaded paperwork) on Sunday night & took a 30 min nap! Which I almost never do.

 Monday, I addressed the disaster- called my house. When the day was done I had vacuumed, mopped, cleaned bathrooms, and you won't believe it but I actually dusted! It's a great feeling to have a clean house!

Wednesday was our 21st Anniversary. What did we do? We lived the dream, of course! I made raspberry jelly, than we cut sugar wood together. Next we went to K3's field Hockey game (for the last 6 years we have taken the day off from our jobs and spent the day together. Every year one of the girls has a game). We finished the day by going out to dinner. On my weekly menu I had written Happy Anniversary - K1 asked if we all were going out to dinner. I told her Dad & I were - they were on their own. But actually I gave them $ to go get pizza.  It was a great day with the one I love the most!

Today, has been busy - no school. This weekend we are getting a new foster dog - Raven is a 5 yr old chocolate lab that has spent most of her life in a crate (poor baby). I will post pics & updates soon. (I know I keep promising pictures!) Sunday, we are having a baby shower in the barn (not mine) for the girls riding instructor, between everyone's lessons. Should be a good weekend!

Stop by the barn, we close for the season next weekend!

 We still have pumpkins for sale!

Winter meat shares are still available!

Our #1 goalie!

This was Pepsi in the petting barn- she looked Giant!

Black Jack is growing fast!

Super Successful Fall Fun Day!

For starters the weather was perfect - for that I am thankful.
We had around 170 people come to the fun day and they had a great time- for that I am very thankful.

• K1- worked so hard on all the posters & signs. Then spent Friday taking burdocks out of ponies.Got up at 4 am on Saturday went to work than came back to lead ponies around for two hours during pony rides! 
• K2 - who dislikes barns & animals, was there exactly when I asked her to be & helped until she had to go to work!
• K3- for organizing everyone/everything. She did lots of planning & list making ( Mark says she just like me...makes my heart swell to see her list). She got up early to come to the barn & get ready, then helped with the pony rides. My Girls are AWESOME! 
• Brandie- was a huge hit face painting, and putting feathers in hair - all day long!
• Jaime- ran the store for hours!
• Tina- made 90 hamburgers on Friday, than served food for 3 hours!
• Danny- grilled for three hours!
• Laura- helped with ponies & face painting!
• Cady- did pony rides for four hours with only a 15 minute break!
• Nancy - took pictures (which I will post when I get them) and collected $ at the pony rides.
• Jim - did all the hay rides, which were packed everytime!
• Tim- helped with the pony rides.
• Ellie- lent us her horse, Pepsi who was a perfect girl for the very long pony rides.
• Ewe & me sheep peeps- for a great display and tasty bake sale.
• Leo & Arlene for supporting us & all our crazy ideas and letting us take over their lawn & driveway for the day!

For all these people I am so Very Thankful!

After the fun was done, we all did chores. Than we went back to our house for pizza and much needed laughs, after a long day. As we were talking my sister said someone had mentioned how awesome our family was, helping each other. This past year has been crazy for Mark & I- we've missed dinners & events,and neglected our friends. Yet no one criticizes us for that. They understand a farmer has to make hay when the sun shines - no mater what! You all rock, I love you, and we could not have done this alone. 

THANK-YOU!

Eating Locally

I got the inspiration for this blog while eating my lunch: Leftover turkey (triple k farm of course!), and impossible apple pie for dessert (apples from the Simonds homestead & my mom's recipe) and realized a few things. First, it's a good thing I physically work. I think I would be over weight given the calories I eat if I sat at a desk all day, not to mention insane. Don't get me wrong, desk jobs are  ideal for some people and I am not criticizing them, they are just not for me. Secondly, I do a fair job trying to eat locally. Obviously it helps that we raise our own meat. Looking at our CSA packages I realized we eat more than a family meat share & poultry share. That's easy to do when all I have to do is go to the farm & go "grocery shopping".

One thing that really helps me is to plan my meals, and I try to do two weeks worth. The thought behind that is we don't eat the same thing as often and hopefully I can only go grocery shopping every two weeks. Last week I cooked a large ham. First we had ham & potatoes & green beans, The next night was mac & cheese with ham, after that was grill cheese with ham & soup. Not to mention ham sandwiches for lunch. I finally had to freeze the rest in serving size portions for another day!

This week was a 16 lb Turkey. Monday was a thanksgiving like feast. Tuesday was family spaghetti dinner. Tonight we are having salsa chicken turkey casserole. Tomorrow will be turkey & biscuits. By than we will be all turkeyed out!The rest will go in the freezer.

Next year I WILL plant a garden & freeze and can much more. We were buying raw milk but I admit it was a lot of work (special trip to the farm, washing all the milk jars). I need to make an effort to get back to that. If farmer Mark gets his way we will have our own milk cow eventually.

I would love to hear ways you make an effort to eat locally. I would also love any recipes using maple syrup
(we have lots of that) or meals with eggs (again I have a close source :)

Now I need to get going, it promises to be a busy weekend.  Fun Day @ the farm !!!!

Fall Harvest

Here's my list of accomplishments this fall:

• 70 meat birds in my freezer - all poultry shares sold
• 63 quarts of spaghetti sauce
• 14 pints salsa
• 9 jars of raspberry jam

Popcorn:

Pumpkins:

This is what happens when a hydrolic hose blows as you lower the bucket- it bangs to the ground & spills your load!  We have all your fall decorations for sale (pumpkins, corn stalks, hay)

Life has been field hockey games, taking care of  two & four legged creatures, and happiness. This is the most beautiful time of year. I am just in awe driving the one mile to & from the barn, although it is already fading. I went to a game in Woodstock & was disappointed that the leaves were already dull & there were bare trees.

We are getting ready for our Fall Fun Day - as of right now my personal weather man (Mark) tells me it's going to be a sunny day! Hope to see you all here at the FARM!

This is "grocery shopping." The "heavy feeders" as I call them - the meat birds, turkeys, & pigs account for most of this. I will be happy when all are in my freezer ! Who needs a gym, when I get to unload this by myself!

Sweet Nala - I just want to cover her with a baby blanket!