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.
After a light rainfall, the girls were enthusiastically dustbathing, and it was such fun to watch. They dug into the dirt – still fairly dry from the drought – and covered themselves, kicking up their feet and flapping their wings. If I had to describe it in one word, it would be happy – dustbathing chickens are happy chickens!
More chicken happiness:
If only we could all be so easily amused. 🙂
This morning, I was greeted by the lacy work of an industrious (and tiny) orbweaver spider on a hoop tractor; for scale, the opening in the wire where the web was draped is 2″ by 4″. I marveled at the meticulousness and determination of the spider, an everyday artist. May you behold Nature’s wonder today, too.
A storm blew through last night, and it left fallen branches and leaves in its wake. When I was refreshing the pigs’ water (the “pond” above is their water bowl), I was struck by the image created by the multicolored leaves that had been swept into the water: it so clearly was, to me, a harbinger of Autumn.
I’ve been trying for some time now to photograph the Monarchs that flit about the pastures. They always seem to foil my hasty photographic attempts by flying off as soon as I almost have the shot lined up on my phone – and they won’t let me get very close, adding challenge to an already difficult endeavor. Today, though, this one let me get close enough for this photo. Maybe it was under the spell of the red clover nectar it was sampling…but regardless of the reason, I seized the opportunity, gladly. It’s butterfly season here: all sizes, shapes, and colors mingle in the pastures. And each one is welcome.
I was walking by the patio at the back of our house and a stray stone (and something else) caught my eye. When I looked more closely, it became clear that a frog was looking back at me. It was the essence of stillness, as motionless as that rock. The frog didn’t move as I took photos, and was still in the same spot when I left.