Peripatetic philomaths…focusing on what's really important, eating ethically and cleanly, fermenting, foraging/wildcrafting, practicing herbalism, and being responsible stewards of our land. Sharing our photos, musings, and learnings. Still seeking our tribe.
You may be wondering why I haven’t posted anything this week, and I want to end any speculation that I might be on vacation. As if. I was running the farm solo this week while Mr. fMf was at spring break an offsite conference, and let’s just say that my mettle has definitely been tested.
Ah, the dirty little (not so) secret that farmers and homesteaders often sidestep when discussing the nuts and bolts of raising animals: poop. Poop is important, and I think that anyone who raises animals, whether as livestock or as pets, should be looking at it.
Continue reading “Farm Fowl: Let’s Talk About Poop *Graphic*”
As winter begins to loosen its grip on the land, the thaw has begun. The ground, previously as hard as concrete, unyielding and uncooperative, has softened. This marks a transitional period, during which Nature’s beauty must be quickly captured before it disappears.
Continue reading “Haiku: Preserved Pools”
Today is one of those wet, dreary days that invites thoughts – albeit briefly – of simply getting back into bed and pulling the covers over your head. Of course, when you farm (or if you have kids, pets, or other obligations, as most of us do), that’s merely a briefly-entertained fantasy that you quickly pop like a soap bubble. Mud or no, chores must be done, animals must be fed, and other tasks must be addressed. And while finding beauty on a day like this may seem difficult, it’s really not: it’s there, just waiting to be found.
Continue reading “Around The Farm: Gaily Green ‘Gainst Gray”
Like podcasts? Check out the podcast I did recently on pasturing waterfowl with Mother Earth News and Friends editor Jessica Mitchell. It was a lot of fun to do and I hope you enjoy it!
When the weather app says it’s 15 degrees out but feels like 1, you know it’s cold out there…ok, not Minnesota cold, but cold for this area. And it’s a white Christmas – a dusting of snow overnight was followed by snow showers today. Given the precipitous drop in temperatures, it’s a good thing we wrapped all the tractors yesterday.
Continue reading “Farm Life: A Very Chilly Christmas”
So maybe they’re not technically fossils yet, but the descendants of the dinosaurs clearly left their prints in what, the preceding evening, had been soft mud. Aged a few thousand years, they might become an exciting find for some future paleontologist.
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”
Yesterday, we picked up 4 six week old Pilgrim goslings. These babies were hatched under and raised by their goose mother. It was likely their first time in a car, and the first time they had been separated from Mom. A very big adventure!
Continue reading “New Farm Denizens: A Quad Of Pilgrim Goslings”
