Encouragement

Everyone need words of encouragement. If you are a follower of my blog you will know that this farming adventure has had its share of ups & downs. Besides our love and belief in farming we've had lots of encouragement & support.

I am encouraged every time children visit the animals at the barn. The look of wonder & excitement they have. Then when we tell them that they can actually go in and pet the animals, that's a whole other level of excitement. Or the child that is afraid of the animals at first & I go in the pens with them and eventually they overcome their fears & love petting the animals. Many people tell me the petting barn is a wonderful opportunity for kids.

Here's some of my favorite comments:

"It's nice & clean in here"

"Your animals are so happy & healthy"

" I love what you do"

One little girl called it "The Fun Farm"

Many parents jokingly ask for a cot for their child because they don't want to leave.

My favorite was on opening day this little child asked K3 "how old do you have to be to work here?"

I also love children learning new vocabulary- picture a 3 yr old saying alpaca & chinchilla.

Our meat & poultry shares have also been a big hit.   I have been told we have THE BEST: bacon, pork chops, hamburg & chicken. My friend told me her husband said it was the best chicken he eaten & she said he's eaten a TON of chicken in his life :)

As for support I have the absolute BEST family & friends! 

Many have purchased CSA shares, buy eggs every week, or spread the word to others.

Leo & Arlene (best landlords ever) have been so supportive, starting with believing in our crazy farming idea!

My BF Lisa, sent me a letter of encouragement early on that I treasure.

I have to mention Sharon, my coworker for 7 years. She listened to all my farming ideas for years & trust me there were many. She told me I would eventually find my niche and I did!

I love you guys & THANK-YOU!

Long overdue update

Well, around here is back to school time. All the K's are suddenly very busy. K1 started @ Castleton (commutes from home), still works, and spends all her "free" time with her horse. K2 is back to Stafford in the cosmetology program, she also works & all her "free" time belongs to K boy. K3 is doing the mooselamoo program at OV. Which is a more hands on/outdoor type of learning, and she likes it much better than "regular" school. She is also the field hockey goalie. All three girls played last year, so it seems strange to only have one on the field.

Life at the petting barn is good. We have some birthday parties & field trips planned for this month. I did cut back my days to Friday - Sunday. It's really nice to be able to catch up at home.

We processed all our turkeys two weeks ago. It's a relief to have them gone. We were feeding/taking care of 5 different groups of birds 19 turkeys, 40 layers, 75 meat chicks, the chickens at the petting barn, and the pullets. The pullets are the chicks we got the first week the petting barn opened. The are getting really big, and we brought them home, so they could go outside. Can you find them in the tall grass?

Here are the meat chickens. We move them everyday. They are growing really fast. I have to say that I don't like these chickens, but boy the meat is sure good. Everyone thinks so...we sold out of our chicken shares. Next year we aim to do more. This year we processed almost 200 birds. In VT you can do up to a thousand on farm per year. We definitely have room for growth. 

We brought the two female piglets home, so they could be outside for a while. We brought a big pig to the petting barn. He was full of mud, so Mark decided to brush him. The pig loved it! He laid down like a dog wanting his tummy rubbed.

Marks favorite animals on the farm, His cows! Black Beauties calf which we call Black Jack (was going to be Ebony, but this fits better) is huge. He is going fast! We sent our Hereford steer to be processed. I got the call he was done & went to pick up the meat. Which I than unloaded by myself. Mark with his impeccable timing showed up as I was putting the last box in the freezer. Fall is the time of year to prepare for winter. We still have winter CSA meat shares available.

We made a upgrade to the farm store- very fitting....

Trying to find balance

At risk of being stereotypical, I am going to say that women struggle with trying to find balance. At least all the women in my life. We have our jobs, our house, and most importantly our families. I know that I want to be the best mom I can to my girls & wife to Mark, I always want my house clean enough for unexpected guest (which never happens- not the guest- we have people  teenagers in an out all the time- it's the clean house that never happens!). My job, which happens to be farming, again all the farmers I know struggle with balance & time.

So here I am a women farmer = never enough time. Well, every day the animals need to be fed & cleaned, actually twice a day. Everyday I have dishes & laundry. On a good day, I make something semi decent for dinner. On a good day I have a conversation with each of the K's (they are teenagers & have their own lives, and an opposite scheduled than mine - sleep in & stay up late.). If I am having a good week I might vacuum once or twice. A really good week means I actually did something for me, like not being so tired at the end of the day when I shower, that I actually shave my legs!

Since we began the petting barn & raising animals for meat I have given up things that I really do miss. The biggest thing is my garden. The only thing we planted was pumpkins & popcorn. Fortunately, I traded a meat CSA share for a veggie CSA share. I am happy to have fresh veggies, but miss running out to the garden to pick dinner. Next spring won't be as crazy (at least that's what I say now!), so I should be able to plant a garden.

I have also realized that I am a terrible friend. I never call or make any plans with anyone. We used to have a social life (mostly friends & dinners at each others houses), now we never have TIME! Summer is almost over & we've only had one or two dinner parties on the deck. I've barley swam in my pool. That's another thing, the pool has turned green twice this summer, due to my lack of attention. We even finally broke down & bought Carlos (automatic pool vacuum). Even Carlos can't keep up.

On a positive side all creatures 2 legs & four, know I love them. That I do my very best to keep them healthy & happy. That I always have Mark by my side. That we continue to be Livin the Dream!

Divide & Conquer

Divide & conquer is my saying of the week. Every morning over our coffee Mark & I outline the day. Who needs to do what. It used to be we would make a list, prioritizing what needed doing the most and do most of these chores together. Now, most of the time we divide up the list & go our separate ways.

This was a really crazy week. It started with Saturday when I had to bring the puppies to Burlington to get micro chipped, so Mark watched the petting barn. I thought I would be extra efficient & lined up a meeting with a potential adopter. Well,of course everything took way longer than planned. To top it off after spending an hour with the people, than finally prying the puppy out of their arms, they told me the next day they decided an older dog would be better....UGH!

Sunday was K3's birthday. We had lined up Annie to watch the petting barn & do night chores. This was really our first day off. Although, we can never fully get away since we did do morning chores & went back that night to feed puppies. We played VT tourist & went out to breakfast, then to Stowe to ride on the alpine slide & gondola.The plan was to than go to the Texas Roadhouse than home to have delicious Red Apron Cupcakes & sing happy birthday.

While we were still in Stowe K2 got a phone call that her boyfriend had been in a car accident. We hurried home so  K2 & I  go the could to the hospital to see him. He was seriously injured, will have a long road to recovery, but thankfully/luckily will eventually be fine. Monday was back at the hospital. Finally at 10 p.m on Monday we sang happy b-day & had cupcakes minus K2 who has been at the hospital every second she isn't working or sleeping. She loves him very much!

Tuesday, I did dishes, laundry,ect...than grocery shopping. K1 went and bought a Horse named Ranger. K1 has been sorta looking for the right one to come along, and this was it. She had to pick him up before Wednesday, which was a challenge with everything going on, but she made it happen! Guess it was meant to be!

 Tuesday night we went to family dinner & K3 had lots of people sing happy birthday to her!

 Wednesday I watched K1 show a horse that she has been riding/working with since October. We were all a little nervous because in June she fell off at a show & left in an ambulance. Happy to say she had a beautiful ride every show she was in. She received a 5th place in equitation, which was awesome- there were 18 riders in that class. Unfortunately, all my pics are on my camera, so I will post some later.  Thursday, Mark watched her show, while I went to an appointment with K2. Just been a crazy week! Big Thank-You to Annie who ran the barn & did night chores both days.

On the farm front the sheep have gotten out twice,and the mini got tangled in the portable fence (but no injuries, just stuck). The meats chicks have once again been a struggle. We have not mastered how to raise that many without losing lots. Temperature is huge. They get too cold & huddle and ultimately suffocate each other,but than the day gets hot & the heat lamps are too much. We started with 90 last Friday, and we are down to 74. Really sucks to start my day feeding chicks & find 8 dead.(that happened Wednesday)

So, now it's Friday, and I am hoping for a good weekend!

Pictures say a 1000 words

I know it's been two weeks....Sorry. I am happy to say last week was really busy at the petting barn! We had a daycare, a camp, plus lots of families.

Here's a quick re-cap in Pictures:

 Griz & Twister got a bath :) K1 & I took an hour to comb through Griz mane, but it was worth it..he is beautiful!

 Black Beauty calved, the first calf born on Triple K Farm a healthy & feisty bull calf named Ebony.

 PUPPIES- I just can't get enough of their cuteness!!! But don't let that fool you, this many are a LOT of work!

 Trying to convince Mark we need a white dog to add to our brown & black ones.

 Farmer Mark doing what he loves! We started 2nd cut.

Our  field full of Pumpkins!

 K3 & I escaped the madness for a few hours & went hiking to Silver Lake.

Goats! Almost as cute as the puppies!

Puppies & Ponies

The newest craziness began on Friday! Shockingly, it's not very often than I second guess the decisions I make, but this weekend was one of those times. It all began Friday morning when I agreed to take a litter of EIGHT puppies. K3 (who is the one that talked us into fostering dogs) was still camping, so I was on my own.  As I am working out the details of transport & where I am going to house all these little cuties, I get word that the 2 ponies & donkey that were given to us will be arriving Saturday at 10. (again, we were convinced by K3 that we needed these ponies). We had dinner plans that Mark went to, but I stayed home to get everything ready & settle in the new pups. Of course the weather finally turned into haying weather ,so Farmer Mark mowed hay.  Big thanks to Andy & Kevin & Hunter for unloading all the hay on Monday in this very HOT weather!

The puppies are soooo very sweet. We will have then until the 24th when I have to transport them Waistfield to get spayed/neutered & than hopefully they will be adopted soon after :) If anyone is looking for a new family member, please contact me. Here's my puppy run down. I get to the barn around 7:30 with K3. We feed four puppies,than take them outside. Feed the next four puppies. Clean their pen & water them. This is a process of about 1/2 hour. Repeat at 2, than we come back around 8 for dinner. We also try to take them out potty every 2 hours during the day. Sometimes we let them loose, other times we harness them.They love any and all attention, so it's really hard to get any work done with them here. K1  has helped feed & walk them. Even K2 has even helped with a feeding & she doesn't care for dogs, but she has a favorite puppy (Bruiser).

Love this !

K3 aka dog walker

Lily & Bella looking lovely in their harnesses!

Petey!

It's tiring being a puppy! 

 The new ponies- First let's talk about Radar the donkey. He was just castrated so we have to feed him antibiotics wrapped in treats 2 times a day. He is strong- surprisingly so! Getting him across the road to and from the pasture has been a challenge. None of them are easy to catch. Our mini ponies, Abby & Nancy, run right up to us and can't wait to go in. These guys we have to bribe with treats. I believe they were spoiled! Now we have 4 ponies & a donkey so we have to alternate them in the pasture. Some go out in the morning, than come in late afternoon. We let the others out, and then come get them in when we feed the puppies dinner, because the bugs are so bad.  The fun never ends around here!

Griz  & Twister/Patches 

  Griz is a little strong headed also, K3 has been working on Whoa when leading him. Twister (K3 calls Patches - because he looks like a pony in a tv show) is shy & quiet. The hopes are to eventually give pony rides. K1 & 3 are going to work with them. The first on the list is give them a bath & detangle their dreads. Then  I'll find a guinea pig  (Madison), to ride them LOL!

I will post a better pic of twister & of course more puppy sweetness!

Days off- sort of?

Monday is my "day off" meaning the petting barn is closed, of course the first thing I have to do is take out the foster dog & feed the house pets. Then outside to feed/water the pigs & turkeys that are out to pasture. Head to the petting barn to feed everyone there. Here's the day off part, I don't have to clean everyone & sweep the aisle. Then I head to Middlebury with K2 to the doctors, we hit the bank & back home within 2 hours. Make lunch for the fam than off to Rutland with K3 to run some errands & go grocery shopping. Get home & Mark & his crew are at the petting barn. Perfect, cause we need to castrate the bull calves. K1's boyfriend works for Mark, I bet you can guess the conversation Mark gave him, while demonstrating this process (similar to Cleaning my Gun song by Rodney Atkins). Then we worm the alpacas. Next is trim 3 sheeps hooves & the goats. Now we feed everyone & head home. I make dinner, Mark does the outside chores. Tomorrow we are bringing K3 to Lake George for Quenneville camping. She is amazing & completely packed herself (stole K2's work sneakers, but that's another story!). Mark & I plan on spending the day at the lake , oh how I wish we were escaping for the week. I catch up on laundry,dishes,vacuum,pay bills....finally to bed at 11. K3 feels bad for me and washes 3 days of eggs...going to miss that girl!

Tuesday I do chores , Mark has a meeting with a client, We pack up & head out. We are only 40 minutes late but that's OK. We spend a lovely 8 hours at the lake than reluctantly go home to do chores....again. I hope they have a good week & K3 will be home on Sunday.

Wednesday, is cleanup day. I slack off on Monday & Tuesday, so I have to completely clean all the pens. UGH! My super husband helps me. I decide to call the vet to come look at 3 sheep that have been sick for awhile & just not getting better. While he's here I have him look at the piglets at the petting barn, their skin looks funny. Here's the verdict, one sheep with pink eye, 2 with respiratory infection, and bacterial skin infection on piglets. Why???  Who knows, weather doesn't help....and the dream continues.....
P.S. Mark got 40 balage bales aka white marshmallows & somehow we also bought a calf from the farmer who made the bales.

K3 went with Mark to pick him up & named him Moose .

The Tom's are so cute when they puff out their feathers.

Farmer Mark loves his cows!!!!

Nala takin' a break....it's stressful being a goat!