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.
We have a special Muscovy drake here on the farm. His name is Ellie (short for Elliott), and he hatched a few years ago with a visual impairment. Other than the fact that he doesn’t see normally, he’s just like any other drake…and he needed a girlfriend. Badly. Meet his new companion: Fionnoula.
It’s a hot and sunny morning here, and the chicory is very happy, beaming in the dappled light. Hope your Friday is a good one!
Continue reading “Around The Farm: Flowers, Fowl, And Turtle Visitors”
Today, we brought home two male Pilgrim goslings (ganders). They’re younger than our two other groups, but just a few weeks apart from the incubator girls. With the addition of these boys, we should now have a good goose-to-gander ratio.
Continue reading “Farm Denizens: Two Pilgrim Ganders Arrive”
It seems like just yesterday
That you were here –
Because it was.
And, yet, today
There is a hole in the universe
Where you used to be.
I know I won’t see you
Or hear your soft voice now
And my world is darker.
But I won’t be mired in sadness
Because you live on –
I am reminded daily.
Today, it was the vibrant blue
Of the chicory plant
You loved so much.
The flowers had opened
To the sun, and closed
When you departed.
They greeted me today
And I heard your voice, a whisper,
Or was it leaves stirring?
I rewind to better times
When you were in dappled sunshine,
Surrounded by sisters.
Goodbye, chicory flower,
Goodbye for now –
But I’ll see you again.
A thunderstorm hit late this evening, bringing lightning, driving rain, and vicious wind. We sheltered inside and delayed the evening feeding, in the hopes that we could catch a break. Little did we know that we would lose two of our gaggle.
When you have poultry or waterfowl grow-outs (but especially waterfowl, since they make such a mess with water), a tractor is invaluable. It keeps them safe from predators but allows the growing birds to scratch, bathe, find bugs, eat greens, and enjoy fresh air and sunshine – creating a “controlled” free range (more precisely, pastured) environment. Buying a well-made hoop tractor can be expensive, so we make our own.