"So this is a working farm."

My dad said as he looked over the work-in-progress vegetable patch.  What did I say?  "Well, yeah".

Gosh, I sure am clever sometimes.

The reason he said it was because yesterday I did something that I've been wanting to do forever, but it's taken me years to get to where I thought I was ready.

I registered our farm's name and became a small business. 

I still don't feel like I'm completely ready.  There is so much for me to learn.  But I'm taking the steps I need to and asking lots of questions.  I don't know as much as I'd like, but I will.  What I do know is that farming is something I truly, down-in-my-soul believe in.  Not factory farming.  This kind of farming.  Where I can work with a small patch of land and really make a difference.  Where the animals will be raised humanely and treated wonderfully.  Where I can not only feed my family, but others with the good, clean, fresh food I raise with my own two hands.  We've been selling eggs for months.  I'm ready to go further. 

You want to know something?  I'm not brave.  I'm worried that, because I am new to this, I'll end up with 40 dozen eggs and 1 tomato to sell.  But I guess that the 40 dozen eggs will be something, so it is what it is.  I will start very small.  I will stay small.  But I will make a difference, I know it.  I will feed people the food they should be eating--good, fresh food--and I know they will see the difference.  This is something I believe in.  I really hope that I can do it.

Welcome to my farm, everyone.  We are open for business.

They May Look Like Weeds To You...

But to others, they look like dinner.

Thought you'd enjoy the dinner call.  It evolved over time, and now they know it well.  Just note, when I say "Chick, chick", that's not who comes first.  :)

But they do eventually arrive. 

It's June 1st!! Let's Have An Update!

May was a busy, busy month.  It just flew by.  I know I didn't get to post as often, but that's because I was so busy.  In a nutshell, here's what happened, and what's happening now.

The garden

To me, this is the heart of the farm, the real production center.  It was a ridiculous amount of work; and it's still not done.  2310 square feet in all, it has required back-breaking labor from the day I pulled out the rototiller. 

As of now, it is almost entirely planted. The only things lacking are the sunflowers, some of the herbs, and the lavender that's being held hostage by the grower in Canada.  I also need to replant some of the corn, because, before the fence went up, the geese went in. 

That lovely multi-coloredness you see in the center there is me reusing my feed bags as a pathway.  Doesn't look pretty, but it's effective.  Those bags are plastic and will never break down.  I'm also using old pool covers as path liners.  Those are the green blocks.  I'm not too far along with the path liners, but I'm getting there. 

So far, I've amended my garden plan at least 5 times, and I still have more to change.  This is really a test year.  As I haven't gardened such a large area before, I am unsure of how to gauge space.  Some things I feel are too close together; some too far apart.  I'm going to have to take careful notes of yields.  If I don't like them this year, I'll have to adjust for next.

The weeds are rapidly taking over, so I've begun to mulch as well.  I'm using straw and dead leaves and shredding them with the shredder I borrowed from my parents.

Works like a charm. 

The Bees

I never bring my camera out with me when I check on them, so this is about as good as it's going to get, I fear.  The bees are doing very well.  The last time I checked them was May 19th, so when I went out this morning, I wanted to see if the brood was increasing, which happily it is.  They have also made a good amount of headway in honey stores, and they must be eating something, because the feeder jug has stayed pretty full.  I found the queen, which made me pretty happy, because though I could tell she was there, I was glad to see her.  She's made lots of babies.  Good girl!

The Animals

I know I've written about them the most, so I don't have much to tell.  The geese are losing their yearly fluffy underfeathers, so it looks like it's snowing outside.

As for the "raiding party", it's grown to include the new ducks and Ophelia, when she can keep up with them.  Here they are coffee klatching.

As for the chicks, they've gotten bigger...

...and messier.  And the roos are starting to look like roos.

Even the Silkies, who were the UGLIEST birds on the planet not too long ago, have become less ugly.

Note that I didn't say they were cute.

And all of them have taken to leaving the brooder and the garage whenever they feel like it and running (conservatively) around the yard, which I encourage. 

So all in all, we're chugging along at a good pace.  I am looking forward to a little calm this month (ha ha ha!!).  Hope you all are having a nice June the first!!

First-Ever Livestock Tailgate Sale

We've really arrived in our corner of the Hudson Valley.  Not only are we expecting a brand new Tractor Supply (oh yeah!!), but we just had our first ever livestock tailgate sale in the local Agway's parking lot. 
Did I go?

Do you even have to ask?

It was small, but still awesome.  I was just thrilled to have had it being held here, you know?  'Bout time someone recognized that there are farmers right around here.  It was moderately busy, which is good news.  There were lots of chickens (I was good--I didn't even look), bunnies, and ducks.  Someone had peafowl, and one person had Nubians.  I'm not ready, but hell, I was SO tempted.  I got her name and number for next year.  She'll be hearing from me, for sure.

I went to find a bunny.  We still have Robert and Petunia, but this is what's been going on:

They've been shacking up.

Ok, maybe that's not the whole story.  Turns out, Robert and Petunia were canoodling for quite a while.  One would hop over the center divide in the hutch and they'd be together.  I'd separate them, and then the other one would hop over the divide and they'd be together again.  Eventually, I just gave up.  If Petunia was going to get pregnant, it would have happened long ago, so there was really no point in separating them after the fact.  However, she never got pregnant.  And then "she" started mounting Robert. 

Know where I'm going with this?

Yeah, so "Petunia" is not a Petunia, after all.  Though he hid it REALLY well, from me and the guy I bought him from, Petunia has got a penis and Petunia is not a girl.  The story of my life right now, really.  Make that strike two on my part--Emmit was strike one.  I'm still learning, let's just leave it at that. 

Anywho, "Petunia" is in no danger of becoming pregnant (obviously) and it seems the boys really like to be together, so now they live together.  Petunia has been renamed Bunnicula, and he couldn't care less.  It's worked out well for several weeks now, so what's done is done.  However, it left one side of the hutch uninhabited, which is uncool, since I like to use all the real estate available to me all the time.  Plus, rabbits are pretty cheap to feed, so I figured what the heck?  I'll go shopping.

In a cage FULL of New Zealands at the sale, a sea of big white bunnies, there she was.

A gorgeous orange baby. 



That was it for me, folks.  Look at those ears!!  Like satellite dishes.  She's beautiful.  I know she's a rabbit meant for eating, but that ain't gonna happen.  I am smitten.  The man I bought her from was positive she's a she, and I checked (that's not worth much, but hey), so she's Petunia.  Gorgeous girl that she is.

The boys would LOVE to get their fuzzy paws on her, but no way.  She's off limits.  Get over it, boys!

"Hey pretty lady!  You busy later??  We can show you around our hutch!  You like alfalfa?  We like alfalfa.  Come on up, we'll talk about it."

I went through the rest of the sale, and wound up buying a couple of ducks to add to the bevy.  Unplanned ducks.  You know how that goes.  Turns out my husband, who I would say tolerates my growing army of livestock (he's not a farmer kind of guy) actually really likes the ducks.  I had no idea.  He thinks they are funny, because they are so vocal (they are all girls, with the exception of Charles).

Handsome, but silent. 

And they are.  Jane, Phoebe, and Suzie form a "raiding party" on a daily basis and chase after the geese, which is freaking hilarious.

Bowling pins with bills.  The three amigos.

So yeah, I get it.  Being the dutiful wife that I am, and wanting to encourage his love of farming as much as possible, I bought him a couple of ducks.

They are a Khaki Campbell cross, and thankfully (and this was the selling point), they are old enough to not need brooding.  With 22 chickens in the brooder right now and a few Guinea fowl on the way in a week or so, I don't have room.  Plus, ducks are pigs to brood.  

The one on the right in this picture is Lizzie, named by my husband, since they were for him.  She's 8 or 9 weeks old, by my reckoning.  The one on the left is unnamed as of yet, as we're waiting to see if it's a he or she.  I flipped him/her, and didn't see anything, but sometimes waterfowl don't want to give it up.  Right now, I'd say girl.  But we'll see.  Or hear, rather.  I know Lizzie's a Lizzie because wow, she's got plenty to say.

Nicely, the girls we have already, though they do not like wild Mallards, welcomed the new recruits with open wings.

Oh, heeeeyyyyyy buddy!

Acclimating them to one another was a non-issue--they are one unit all together.  It's all good. 

So, we've increased our farm's numbers again, happily.  The place just gets louder all the time.  :)

And the Nest Sits Empty

We've come to the conclusion of the Ginger saga.

Ginger sat, pretty much alone, for 30 days.  She fluffed her nest, she turned her eggs, she got down very rarely.  Unfortunately, it was to no avail.  For a long time, I would try to see in her eggs.  I put them on the candler not long ago, and I couldn't see a thing.  I thought this was a good sign.  But then today, the eggs really started to smell.  So I took them, little by little, and candled them in different positions until I could finally see through them.

It was not pretty.

No air sac, no sign of life.  Just putrid liquid.  They were all the same.  Since they smelled pretty bad on the outside, I could only imagine what they'd smell like on the inside.  I didn't want to take the chance.  I walked them, a few at a time, to the wooded side of the property, and broke them open.

Why?  Because I had to see what was inside, that's why.  Closure, you can call it.

Well, I can tell you, it was green and slimy, and holy cow, the smell almost made me toss my cookies.  I am glad I didn't throw them in the garbage.  And I'm very glad I walked them to a far end of the property. 

All that remains of Ginger's eggs

So, not the ending I was hoping for.  As for Ginger, she saw me take the last egg right from underneath her, and she didn't bat an eye.  She got down soon after it was removed, and joined the gaggle again.  She did go check quickly on the nest once or twice afterwards, but I think it was out of habit more than anything else.   She seemed pretty happy to be eating and moving around normally again. 

She's very young--not even a year old.  It would have been a real surprise if this had worked out.  Still, I am disappointed for her.  She tried really hard.  Maybe next year.

5 Days and Counting

Poor Ginger. 

Sitting on her nest all by herself for days and days and days now.  For maybe the first two or so weeks, she had an assistant.  Mostly Ferdi, who seemed to be the daddy in waiting.  He would stand and protect her from the evils of the Pilgrims and me, and the kids, and my husband, and a passing shadow or bug or what have you.  But he abandonded her. 

As the Pilgrims grew, he saw them less as a nuisance and more as.....kids? 

Wait for me, kids!!

He seems to have adopted them.  He goes where they go, and now he defends them from me, the kids, my husband, or a passing shadow or bug or what have you.  Either that, or he's going through some mid-life crisis sort of thing, where, instead of buying a sporty car, he just "hangs out" with the younger set to retain his youth.  Sad. 

Then, for a short, short time, Arthur took up the post.  He would stand, though in a less dedicated way, next to Ginger and defend her from no one in particular.  Actually, he was terrible at it.  He would just stand there and keep her company.  It was something, though.

But then the little Africans started going outside, and Arthur got all maternal. 

Arthur is with his "babies" 24/7.  He calls for them, they come to him.  They call for him, and on and on.  With his new babies in tow, Arthur quickly abandoned Ginger as well.

Poor Ginger.

It seems she's doomed to single-motherhood.  It does not seem to phase her, though.  She just sits and sits and sits.  She gets down every so often, and when she does, she goes right back in the gaggle and is welcomed with open wings.  But more often than not, she sits alone and gets to see this:

Wheee!!!  Swimming fun!

And can't participate. 

Poor Ginger.

Being a momma is a tough row to hoe.

(PS--I did candle her eggs yesterday, when she got down for a jaunt.  It is very hard to see through the shell on a goose egg, but I could see that two of them I could see through, meaning they never got fertilized, but four of them I could not see through at all.  I think that's a good sign.  The last time I looked at them, the four of them had a smaller area of dark, so it looks like whoever's home, grew.  I think that possibly she's got something there.  I really hope so, for her sake.  She's worked so hard.)

Here Comes the Rain Again

And I'm indoors.  Between the bouts of rain, I get some things done outside, but not everything I'd like.  So, I'm trying to make the most of it--I went back into my sewing room.

And made ANOTHER apron!

(forgive the crummy pictures)

One side

Other side

This one is Scalloped Apron from the Paisley Pincushion.  I will say this for it: great directions, absolutely a pleasure to put together.  However, the sizes are a bit extreme.  If you're not a B, you're an A, and the jump in the sizes is pretty big.  I made the A because I like a little room in my aprons, but it's really huge on me.  So I have a lot of room. The shoulders don't fall down, though, so that's a huge plus.  I can't be bothered to pull my apron up every ten seconds when I'm working.  That defeats the purpose of the apron.

There you have it.  I'm keeping busy(ish).  Now I need to spend some time looking at ways to display these babies.  I've got quite the collection going!