Self-taught farmers confidently raising chickens, ducks, geese, and pigs. Our focus is on practices that are environmentally harmonious and respectful to our livestock. We appreciate the beauty around us, clean eating, fermenting, and responsibly utilizing the bounty of the land. If you like thinking for yourself, continuous learning, and connecting with the homesteader lifestyle, check us out.
If you’ve been waiting to hear about how the first Lavender Ameraucana hatch of the season is going, thank you for your patience. Where does the time go?? Read on to find out how this set, now two-thirds of the way to hatch, is doing!
Continue reading “Hatch Update: Lavender Ameraucana #1 (2023)”It’s technically not spring yet, but the sun is shining, the birds are singing, and the chickens are laying. The trickle of eggs from winter has grown into a steady stream and – always exciting – our second generation Lavender Ameraucana pullets have laid their first eggs!
If you’ve read yesterday’s post, you know how I feel about the recent arctic blast (bitter). In fairness, however, there was beauty present even while I cursed the cold.
Continue reading “NYE 2022: Making Snowcones From Snow (Only Metaphorically!)”
Unless you’ve been living underground, you’re probably aware of the disastrous consequences the holiday storm wreaked (yes, wreaked, not wrecked!) on many areas of the country. People have died because of the bitterly cold temperatures, though there are stories of everyday heroism worth celebrating (juxtaposed with stories of shocking callousness). While small farmers may not make the news, I’m sure that many animals – including wild animals – also lost their lives or suffered injury during the brutal cold because this was a cold that had to be experienced to be believed.
Continue reading “Farming In Winter: Deadly Cold (Long Read)”
Fall has arrived here in my “neck of the woods”. Despite the last couple of days’ pleasantly warm temperatures and sunny skies, the appearance of summer is belied by the thick carpet of leaves, pine needles, and cones that that now blankets the grass out front. Fall cannot be denied.
And yet, as I open the windows in the house to let in the breeze and I hear the birds singing, it’s easy to forget – if for but a moment – that it really shouldn’t be this warm here right now. That the stink bugs and flies should be gone, and that frost on the grass shouldn’t be a surprise.
Even our flock of molting chickens seem pleased with the upturn in temperatures, laying more eggs. Who’s going to complain about that?
Many of the wild birds, whose presence we enjoyed all summer, have migrated. Just the doves, some finches, nuthatches, titmice, a few blackbirds (cowbirds, perhaps), a few species of woodpeckers, and the ever-present blue jays still visit the feeders. The smaller woodpeckers seem to prefer the suet that we’ve added to the complement of tube feeders. It’s been several weeks since I’ve seen a hummingbird, but we still put a feeder out with fresh nectar, just in case a migrating straggler comes by.
The poplar tree, whence the heart-shaped leaf came, is nearly naked after the weeken’s winds stripped its leaves. I will miss its broad, green leaves and the unusual, spiky flowers that appear in the spring. Finding a little “gift” of this sort seems as though the tree is telling me that despite how it may appear that the transformation occurring now is negative, it’s really not; instead, it’s a reminder of the transitional nature of life, that it’s part of a natural (and necessary) cycle, and we’re moving into a time of quiet strength-gathering. And what may seem “dead” during winter’s austerity is merely dormant, just waiting for the signal to burst forth in all its fresh, vigorous brilliance.
I liked the juxtaposition of the seeds and the fallen leaf in the haiku because it seemed to represent the mixed feelings that arise (at least in me) at this time of year. It feels like the year – and Nature – is winding down, divesting of its earlier finery, and preparing for the solemnity of winter. We can mourn the departure of summer’s visitors – the jeweled hummingbirds, the ethereally gorgeous butterflies – and still celebrate the gifts of this season, as well as each of the others. May you discover the joys of this season, wherever you are.
I see some of the most striking images when simply doing the morning farm chores. The day has just dawned, and the land feels like it’s just awakening – all I have to do is keep my eyes open and beauty manifests. On this particular day, I decided to visit a volunteer sunflower for a quick sampling of the fragrance and something caught my eye.
Continue reading “Haiku: Sunflower’s Secret”