Spring on the Farm Photo Gallery.....

Here's a photo gallery of our Farm this spring.....

These are our Turkey Chicks we hatched using one of our broody layer hens.  They are Beltsville and Bourbon Red....

These are the Turkey Chicks present day.  They are in their new home in the new barn.  Yesterday we put chicken wire on the outdoor access hatch to give them fresh air and sunshine.  We were hoping to get the run built yesterday but decided to put some plants in my garden before the plants died and/or it started to rain again!

Here is the Pig Shelter.  They love it.....

And here's the boys.  They are growing nicely.  They have a pasture 65' x 75' to roam and dig......

Here's their water barrel.  It's placed within the trees in hopes that helps to keep the water cooler.  For a treat I sometimes over fill it to put a puddle under it where they can wallow and cool off......

Here's our Solar Fencer.  We selected this type so we can move the pig pasture anywhere on our property and not have the concern of running extension cords or batteries....

 And finally the garden is getting ready for planting.  As I believe I mentioned I considered not planing a garden this year.  The weather has been so miserable.  But when the sun stayed out for more than a day the fever hit me.  I also found 4 tomato plants/pkg for 75 cents on Friday.  I couldn't resist that deal so that sealed my gardening fate for sure.  I will talk more about the variety of tomatoes I planted in another post......

And there they are, planted and sheltered from wind until they get stronger, 16 tomato plants.  Every year I say I'm not planting any more than one pkg of tomato plants and every year I get drawn into the different varieties and can't resist trying something new.....

I hope you enjoyed this little look at what we're up to these days on our busy little farm.

Thanks for visiting!

Busy with a capital B....

We have been so very busy on our little farm.  The Pig Shelter is complete and they are loving it.  Their water Barrel is complete and, well, they like it but would prefer the puddles they are used to.  Which then explains why my garden is not planted yet.  The rain that caused the puddles the pigs love so much has also delayed the planting of my garden.  At one point I was wondering if we should be building an Ark instead of a pig shelter.  Basically we have been faced with deciding which part of the household/farm to work on when the sun is shining, trying hard to divide it up so priority gets taken care of as well as a bit of something else which needs to get done...

On the rainy days....Amongst the projects I have been working on is a monthly menu plan.  Our freezer is full of beef, pork and chicken but I haven't been planning far enough ahead to utilize it.  I used to prepare a weekly menu, a long, long time ago.  That was before two home based businesses and a busy little boy!  Our lives get so very busy here, often on a moments notice.  I have not been able to rely on preparing a weekly menu plan for a long time.  Not that I don't think about it or try!  Recently, I have been given new hope.  My friend and neighbour writes a fantastic and informative blog and has given me renewed hope in organizing our family meals.  I am currently compiling a list of meals we enjoy and ones we will tolerate.  I have a husband who can be a picky eater, though he won't admit it, thus the "tolerate" section of my "favourite meals".  He doesn't like most vegetables and definitely doesn't like cut up tomato, peppers, onion etc in his meals.  I have explained that the days of cooking meat only meals are coming to an end.  If I prepare a casserole with chopped up tomato, pepper, onion etc. in it he will just have to waste his time picking them out.  I need flavour, colour and I need vegetables!  I have given in to his picky ways for way too long, I'm done.  Sorry, getting off track and a bit emotional ha,ha!  The hardest days for me are work days.  My hope and intention is to plan easy meals or leftovers for those days to avoid the temptation of stopping at fast food joints.  When Hubby is home I will have something planned that's within his cooking ability ie: spaghetti or a homemade frozen lasagna.

Don't get me wrong, we don't eat out for every meal.  As I said, the worst days are my work days.  We obviously eat at home because our two freezers that were filled to the brim with meat just last Fall are now only half full.  I do love to cook, time and planning stand in my way.  Getting organized is more than half the battle.  I am happy I am taking the time now to figure out a new system, one that fits our super busy lifestyle.

Here is my friend's blog post I spoke about:  http://thelittleacrethatcould.blogspot.ca/2013/06/how-i-learned-to-not-waste-food.html

Well, that's all for now folks.  I have spent the day in the garden planting, time to shower off the dirt and nurse the fly bites.  Stay tuned for a "photo album" depicting all the changes the farm has taken over the past couple of months.  Including the additional and growing animals.  :)

Thanks for visiting!

A never ending cycle.....

Wow, it has been a long time since I even attempted to write!  Here's the post I started way back on May 27th!  I thought I would post it for you to bring you up to present day.  


We are still working hard to finish our newest building on the farm, our pig shelter.  Right now they are enjoying a make-do shelter we created for them, not near as fancy as the little barn we are working on.  The pigs are growing.  No, we have not named them, I have a problem naming something I intend to eat.....

Just this evening I discovered one of our baby layer chicks got its leg caught under the wall that separates the two brooders.  We have no idea how it could have gotten its leg under there as it was quite a chore for us to get it out.  Since its leg is quite bloody we are nursing it back to health in the comforts of the house.  Its own box, heat bulb, water and food.  Right now it is resting.  I'm sure it was quite traumatic to be stuck like that.  It drank a bit of water but hasn't eaten anything yet.

We have 5 turkey chicks.  We're trying to raise turkeys again this year, hoping we learned from our mistakes in the past....