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.
Finding the unexpected is one of life’s small pleasures. “Ordinary” beauty is all around us, even in some of the most unglamorous places. When you see it, take time to appreciate it – even if it’s the kind of ephemera that exists for mere moments.
Continue reading “Haiku: Fugacious Feathers”
Our laying flock must see us as egg thieves: each day – multiple times a day if it’s especially cold out – we collect their freshly-laid eggs. If a hen is sitting, we reach under her fluffy feathers and feel around for eggs – a treasure hunt, of sorts. Most of the girls in nest boxes enter a trance-like state, which I like to call “the zone”, and they don’t even seem to realize that an egg thief is there to take their eggs – they don’t move, protest, or do anything but remain blissfully docile. Most.
Continue reading “Haiku: Watching And Waiting”
Even though today is an unseasonably warm one, we’ve had several cold snaps lately that have caused temperatures to plummet below freezing. The plants have reacted accordingly: many simply dying on the vine, others becoming dormant. The colorful flowers of summer have all but disappeared…almost.
Continue reading “Haiku: Peeking Petals”
What constitutes a “perfect” Fall day? For me, it’s cool temperatures that bring crispness to the air and a touch of frost to the grass; clear, deep blue skies; a kaleidoscope of fiery leaf colors ranging from gold to salmon to crimson; and the welcome softness of the season’s light. It’s this quality of the light, in particular, that always causes me to take a moment to fully recognize that summer has departed for another year.
Continue reading “Haiku: Fall’s Finery”
You may recognize the plant in the photo as poison ivy, bane of many a gardener and outdoors enthusiast. Touching it can cause allergic reactions like painful contact dermatitis. I know not to tangle with this formidable vine, so I look but don’t touch.
Continue reading “Haiku: Revealing Red”
The spiders here run the gamut from large to small. This particular orb weaver is tiny…so tiny that, to the naked eye, she looks like a speck. I’d noticed this line of objects atop the rooster tractor and when I looked very closely, saw that the diminutive arachnid was perched in the middle of the line. Do you see her?
