dogs / fence / garden

This is WAR!

I am so sick of dog tracks in my freshly planted garden… of dog poop all over the garden (I thought I’d spare you a picture) when I’m trying to dig in it… and now… now I’m really, REALLY mad. This… is damage to my garlic. My precious, vigorous, first-time-for-me garlic. The same garlic that is the only thing actually growing in the garden so far. Except asparagus. Anyway… THIS… is the solution to all my doggie garden problems, or at least I hope so. The garden just happens to be next to the electric pasture fence and I just happen to have some push in posts and extra wire. I love animals, but I’ll be watching tomorrow morning as they bound out to the garden for their morning business. And I’ll be doing a victory dance as they get they get the shock of their lives. After all, this is war, and I’m hoping to win!

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asparagus / movies

Asparagus The Movie

This one really hits home for me and I hope you will feel the same. The movie focuses on the asparagus industry of Western Michigan and how it may be negatively affected by U.S. foreign policy. You can watch a trailer for it here and find out more about the movie here. The best part is that it supposed to be broadcast free on PBS on April 29th at 8 PM. I couldn’t find that listing on tvguide.com or the movie’s website but it was advertised in the latest Michigan Farm News so I’m hoping it is true. Also check out The Beginning Farmer’s latest post for a couple more good movie ideas. I’m really excited about the Food Inc. movie and it looks like it will be available through Netflix eventually. Enjoy!

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building / chickens

Building An Eggmobile: Part 1

This weekend we began building our eggmobile. The intention is to use it for our laying flock during the warmer months, in conjunction with an electric poultry net. I told Brian to pretend it was a fun project. He was not convinced! 😉 I bought the trailer from my Dad for $40. It is made from the bed of an old S-10 pickup. The deck measures approx. 5′ x 8′. First, a little planning… 5×8= 40 sq. ft.Approx 1 sq. ft. per bird = 40 bird maximum1 nest box per 4 hens = 10 nest boxes minimumI also calculated perch requirements but don’t have the figures in front of me… We wanted a single sloping roof to make construction easier. I didn’t want to lose floor space so we added a 1′ overhang to the floor on one of the long sides, thus making a nice spot for the nest boxes. First we put on a base made of 2×4’s. Brian drilled in to the metal frame and bolted the boards right to it. We salvaged the 2x4s from pieces that didn’t burn on our shed, so they didn’t cost us anything. That means I spent most of my time

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apples / fruit trees / spring

Fruit Trees!

My order from the Conservation District came in on Friday. I took advantage of the 70 degree temps (!!!) yesterday and planted them. I put them on our sideyard near the one pear tree I planted last year. Now we have 1 pear, 1 peach, 1 cherry, and 2 apple trees there. I still need to add another pear and another peach. I also got in touch with a neighbor who graciously came and showed me how to prune our older trees. We take care of the empty house across the road and there are a few apple trees in the yard. I picked a lot of apple from the trees last year and wanted to prune them back nicely. I didn’t do a lot because it is quite late for pruning but at least now I have a better idea on how to do it. My nice neighbor gave me a recipe for tree spray and recommended I use it repeatedly throughout the season. He insists that he tried organic methods with his and was not happy with the results. What are you thoughts on this? I hate the idea of spraying them but it did make for a

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questions

Suggestions?

Lately I’m all about keeping things simply and easy to manage. If you read here regularly then you already know that. Despite my normally crafty ways, I am at a loss when it comes to how to store spices. The pic above shows my growing collection. I never had much trouble keeping salt, pepper, and garlic salt. Now that I’m cooking more “real” food I’ve added all kind of things… paprika, celery salt, nutmeg, etc. Right now a lot of them are the inexpensive brand from the grocery. I like it that they come in glass jars (still with plastic tops). Ideally I will move away from store boughts and start to make a lot of my own seasonings. The rest I can buy in baggies at the farmer’s market. So, here’s the question: where do I put them? People joke about spice racks but should I get one? What do you do with yours? In the cupboard I can’t see what they are. On the shelf they still get hidden plus 3 fall off for every 1 I grab. As you can see in the pic I’ve got over a dozen different ones to store. I don’t want to

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chickens / turkeys

A Few Turkeys!

Last year at this time I brought home some chicks from the feed store so I could gain experience with egg layers. After having them all year I felt confident enough to order some heritage chicks that will arrive next month. I think that someday I would like to offer turkeys to our customers, especially around the holidays. Of course I want to raise a heritage breed but they are very expense and usually have minimum order requirements. I’ve heard turkeys are much more fragile than chickens but have never raised them myself. So…today I brought home 3 Bronze White turkey poults from the feed store. They’ll be good to practice with and maybe we’ll even have our own turkey dinner next winter! In the meantime I’m just going to enjoy how cute they are and pray that the cat does not break in and eat them since they are currently living in our basement. I’ll keep you posted on how this project goes! Any turkey advice to share?

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chickens / eggs / farming / horses / lambs / sheep / visiting

Visitors!

I just love it when people come to visit our farm. I hope people take me seriously when I invite them out because having visitors is one of my favorite things about living on the farm. Especially when the visits include children. I get a kick out of their reactions and how their eyes light right up. Today we had our good friends over with a whole group of little ones. The smaller children were a little leery of the lambs at first but I think everyone petted them eventually. Of course the mama sheep were more than happy to be bribed with all of the corn the kids fed them. Next, I brought out a hen for them to feel and passed out eggs to the older kids. That didn’t last too long because of the potential for breakage but they were pretty excited to hold them for a few minutes. Then, everyone trudged out in the cold to pet the horses. Pooh Bear and Pistol stole the show but I believe they were wondering were their treats were. I invited them all back in a month or two when we’ll have baby chicks to see. How fun! Do

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farming / funny

You Know You’re A Farm Wife When…

You know you’re a farm wife (or a country girl, or a redneck) when you look down in church and notice the gray heel on your black sock peeking out from your dress shoe. You realize that the only black socks in your dresser are John Deere thermal socks and are very grateful that your pants cover the tops of your shoes. I hope you all had a happy holiday! We had a busy but enjoyable day and got to see both our families. Plus my Mom sent us home with some angel food cake for dessert, my favorite! In fact, I’m eating some for breakfast right now. What little parts of farm life make you laugh? Do you hate getting ready to go someplace nice like I do? I have no fashion sense when it comes to dress clothes and never feel like I look right. I’m perfectly happy with my figure, it is just more comfortable in jeans and a hoodie. What’s your favorite thing to wear? Any fashion faux pas to share?

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garden / lettuce / onions / peas / planting / spring

Planting Onions!

This should by no means be taken as a tutorial since I am planting onions this year for the very first time. I wasn’t even going to post about it until I saw that little paper bag sitting next to the freshly planted row and thought what a cute picture that would make. We don’t eat many onions, just a few in casseroles and such, so I probably didn’t need to plant any. Our good friend Rob shared some of his last year and is growing plenty again this year. These ones just caught my eye in line at the feed store so I picked up a couple bags. I figure it can’t hurt to learn a new skill. The paper that came with the onion sets had decent directions: plant 2-3″ apart just deep enough to cover the tops in rows 12″ apart. Thin later to 4″ apart, then harvest in July or August when tops dry and fall over. I pretty much followed the directions except went about 4″ apart right from the start. I’ve never been one to “thin” plants out, I just can’t bring myself to pull up the little buggers just when they get going.

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