Tag Archives: chickens

Planting The Garden! The Sunday Farm Update

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A Celebrity tomato plant stands ready to grow after being planted this past week.

A Celebrity tomato plant stands ready to grow after being planted this past week.

It is always one of our favorite weeks of the year…the planting of our garden!

Winter had a final stand last Sunday and Monday night with one last frost at the farm.  By Wednesday however, the temperatures quickly rose into the 70 and 80′s – and the threat of cold weather became a distant memory.  It was finally time to get the full garden planted!

It doesn’t take long for us to get the plants in with the raised row system, and with a few hours of work each evening on Thursday and Friday – the 2013 Garden Plan came to life.  All in all, over 140 plants went into the ground – including 40 tomato and peppers plants each, along with rows of cabbage and head lettuce transplants.  We also seeded in multiple rows of green beans, potatoes and onions to go with the early spring crops of radishes, sugar snap peas, lettuce, arugala and carrots already in the ground.  (You can see the entire garden plan at the bottom of the post)

All of the raised rows are planted - we will be heading out today to straw the walking rows.

All of the raised rows are planted – we will be heading out today to straw the walking rows.

We create all of the holes in each row with a post hole digger.  It allows us to quickly have a planting hole that is both deep and wide enough to easily plant in. Next – we add in a shovel full of compost to the hole – and mix back in the existing soil to plant the transplant.

Finally,  we add a thin layer of compost as a top dressing and mulch around each transplant, water them in – and move on to the next plant.

The strawberry plants are off to a good start

The strawberry plants are in and will even give us a small harvest this year.

One of our other goals this year was to get our strawberry and blueberry patches planted.

Over the last few weeks we had turned over and prepared the soil for the patch where the old chicken coop once stood. The soil is rich in nutrients from the chickens over the the last few years, and should provide years of good blueberry and strawberry harvests.

We chose a June bearing variety (Sparkle) for our strawberries. Ever-bearing varieties can provide berries throughout the season, but the June bearing will provide larger and more abundant harvests – which are perfect for canning and preserving.  For the blueberries, we chose three different varieties of bushes – allowing for better pollination and higher yields.

Bringing back pollen to the hive...if you look closely you can see the yellow pollen on the incoming bee

Bringing back pollen to the hive…if you look closely you can see the yellow pollen on the incoming bee

The bees have plenty of fresh blooms to choose from - here the wegelia at the front entrance

The bees have plenty of fresh blooms to choose from – here the wegelia at the front entrance

The chicks are now almost 13 weeks old, and have taken to sunning themselves outside of the coop.

The chicks are now almost 13 weeks old, and have taken to sunning themselves outside of the coop.

The honey bees and our new hive are off to a great start.  The queen has successfully found her way out of her cage, and the bees have begun to diligently bring in pollen at an amazing pace.  It is truly amazing to sit and watch them fly in, one after another, with their bodies and legs covered in the colorful yellow and purple pollen of the surrounding blooms.  It’s a great feeling to know that they are close by to help pollinate our crops – and even better to know that if all continues to go well, we can hope to have our first harvest of our own “local honey” this fall.

The new chicks are likewise off to a great start.  They seem to love their new coop – and have more than doubled in size since moving out  to the farm from the brooder from the house.  They will turn 13 weeks old this Monday – which means we are only 5 to 7 weeks away from them starting to lay.  Our new chicks are all Golden Comets, and most will begin to lay somewhere between weeks 18 and 20. We have been able to let them free range over the entire farm for the last few weeks – but with the garden, strawberry, and blueberry patch areas planted now – we will lay out some large fenced-in grazing areas to keep them from damaging any of the crops.

Here’s to a great start to the growing season!

Happy Gardening – Jim and Mary!

If you would like to receive our Gardening / DIY and Farm Updates each week – be sure to sign up to follow the blog via email in the right had column, “like” us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter.

The 2013 Garden Plan.

The 2013 Garden Plan.

The New Chicken Coop Is Completed – Building Security For Our Chickens

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The new coop - a much larger and hopefully more secure home for our girls

The new coop – a much larger and hopefully more secure home for our girls

The new chicks are getting big! They are ready for their new home.

The new chicks are getting big! They are ready for their new home.

1/2" x 1/2" heavy gauge wire mesh covers each of the three windows. It is stapled and then backed with an additional nailed board.

1/2″ x 1/2″ heavy gauge wire mesh covers each of the three windows. It is stapled and then backed with an additional nailed board.

The coop was framed in 2 x4's - on top of a concrete block foundation secured with concrete and bolts

The coop was framed in 2 x4′s – on top of a concrete block foundation secured with concrete and bolts

The entire coop is covered in 1/2 strand board to keep out unwanted intruders

The entire coop is covered in 1/2 strand board to keep out unwanted intruders

A secured and covered run will be attached to the back - with 1/2" wire mesh used to secure the flooring and sides

A secured and covered run will be attached to the back – with 1/2″ wire mesh used to secure the flooring and sides

Finally!  The new coop is  complete. With just a few small finishing touches to make this week – it will be ready to house our chickens for years to come.  It’s just in time too – as our 18 little new chicks are more than ready to move out of the temporary pen in the garage!

We designed the new coop to mimic a traditional mid-western farm coop – and to match the barn.  We also kept with our re-use and re-purpose theme, utilizing recycled materials throughout.

Just like our barn – the lower sides are made from reclaimed barn metal roofing. The board and batten top siding are made from picket fence boards.  We were also able to re-use a lot of old fencing and wiring – and even the coop’s roof is reclaimed metal left over from a project.

We built the coop’s door to match the design of the barn – making it from simple 2 x 6 framing boards attached to a 1/2″ plywood back.  We curved the top 2 x 6 to mimic the big doors – and then filled in with picket boards to create the finished look.

The coop measures 12′ x 10′ – and 8′ high in front, sloping to 6′ 6″ at the rear. The added space will give lots of room for the girls – and even more for us when collecting eggs and cleaning it out!

If you follow along, you know that in the last 6 weeks, we’ve had some intruders into our old coop that unfortunately killed some of our older chickens.

It was a tough pill to swallow – especially since we’ve never had any problems in the two and a half years we’ve had them. We’re now almost positive the culprit was a mink.  So in addition to proofing the new coop for raccoons, coyotes and opossum – we used tightly spaced, heavy gauge wire mesh throughout to keep out mink and weasels.

Security For The New Coop:

A secure coop starts with a secure base – for ours we used a footer made from 18″ concrete blocks placed on a 6″ packed limestone base.  We then filled the blocks with concrete and embedded 1/2″ x 9″ bolts to attach and bolt through the 2 x 8″ foundation boards.

We built additional security into the floor – laying down a double layer of chicken wire along with a layer of wire mesh on top of the packed limestone floor.  We then secured it up and over the inside edge of the foundation and top sill board with heavy-duty staples.  We then added 3″ inches of packed limestone and 4″ of packed topsoil on top to create the finished floor.

Now – even if a raccoon, opossum or mink tries to tunnel under the 8″ concrete block and 6″ packed limestone base – they would still have to dig through the 3 layers of tight wire mesh and 4″ of packed earth to get into in the coop.

The shell of the coop is made from 2 x 4 studs – covered completely in 1/2″ strand board along with a breathable moisture barrier.

We made the door from some 2 x 6's, fence picket boards, and a 1/2" sheet of plywood

We made the door from 2 x 6′s, fence picket boards, and a 1/2″ sheet of plywood

We installed tight, heavy gauge 1/2 x 1/2 inch wire mesh in the windows on each side of the coop to provide for good air flow – and then added a final 3rd large mesh covered window over the top door for additional ventilation.  All three windows can then be covered with plexiglass frames for the winter.  The door is attached with 3 heavy-duty strap hinges and double slide bolts to prevent anything and everything from being able to pry it open.

We still have some work to complete this week. The entire run – including the floor – will be encased in 1/2″ x 1/2″ heavy gauge wire mesh to prevent intruders – and will give the girls access to the outdoors 24/7.  We’re also adding gutters and a rain collection system to the coop, and later this summer will attach two solar panels on the back to provide lights and a water warmer for winter.  Beyond that and applying a few coats of matching barn stain to the coop – the chicken coop project can be crossed off the list!

Hope everyone has a great Sunday! – Jim and Mary

If you would like to receive our Gardening / DIY and Farm Updates each week – be sure to sign up to follow the blog via email in the right had column, “like” us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter.

Raccoons, Hens and Bees (No Bunnies) – The Easter Sunday Farm Update

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First and foremost, thank you to everyone for all of the kind and encouraging words sent after last Sunday’s post.  It was nice to hear from so many of you, and also to have some of your ideas and thoughts on tackling the problem of the raccoons in the coop and mice in the equipment!

Spring at the farm always seems to be the time of year that everywhere you turn, a project is either starting, in process, just completed, or just created.  With the weather finally warming to the 40′s and 50′s – this week had it’s share of projects in all of those phases:

Update On The Hens and Raccoons:

The cat was not happy with his capture!

The cat was not happy with his capture!  He happily ran off off after his release and went back to his life of leasure.

We spent the last week making an extra nightly trip to the coop to shut off the entrance from the enclosed run to the coop.  We have finally figured out that it must be baby raccoons wedging themselves into the coop through the 1.5 x 4″ wire mesh fencing we have in the coop run.  For two years, we never had a single problem with a predator entering our coop until now. Most likely, the baby raccoons are just small enough to squeeze through.   For now, shutting off the entrance has kept them safe.  This week – we will install smaller mesh to the outside of the run to keep them out.

On a somewhat humorous note – we have set two live traps each night to hopefully catch the raccoons.  To this point – they have worked incredibly well in catching and holding only a couple of neighborhood cats! Apparently, cats love the taste of marshmallows and peanut butter bread too!  Needless to say – the look on the cats face as we let them out is one of pure disgust.  I haven’t been able to figure out if the disgust is at us for setting the live traps, or at themselves for being caught in such a basic walk-in trap :) .

The Honey Bee Project:

The beehive is all assembled and ready for our first hive!

The beehive is all assembled and ready for our first hive!

Our quest to have our first bee hive is getting close!  The bees are scheduled to arrive the 19th of April, and we spent the last two weeks building the beehive from the kit we purchased last month.  It’s actually quite the process to assemble all of the boxes, frames and beeswax foundation sheets.  All I can say is that Mary and I have a new respect for the craftsmanship and details that go into making and building a hive – and I am really glad we have a nail gun!

None the less, by weeks’ end, our entire beehive was assembled and ready to go!  We are going to apply a couple of coats of stain to the outside of the hive body to match the barn and we are ready for the bees….and of course, the honey!

Baby Chicks Head Into Week Four:

The chicks are starting to get their feathers

The chicks are starting to get their feathers

We are almost to the halfway point with raising our baby chicks in the brooder.  At 8 weeks, they will have completely feathered out and be ready to move into their permanent digs at the farm.  Weeks 3 and 4 are always filled with new achievements for the chicks.  All of them have begun to roost on the starter poles we put in the coop.  It’s hilarious to watch them jump up and learn the art of balancing.  It usually only takes a couple of falls before they get the hang of it.  They could easily be mistaken for little pigs – they have nearly quadrupled their daily intake of food and water, and so far – all 18 are getting along well.  Usually at around week 6 or so, they will start to establish more of a pecking order and have a few dominant hens put the other “ladies” in their place.

New Coop Progress:

Jazzy looked confused when we asked her if she wanted to live at the new coop to protect the hens :) She would probably be more scared of the raccoons than the chickens...

Jazzy looked confused when we jokingly asked her if she wanted to live at the new coop to protect the hens. She would probably be more scared of the raccoons than the chickens :)

With only a little over 4 weeks to go – that means the new coop has to be finished soon! This past week – we worked on finishing up the foundation, so hopefully, with the forecast for sun and 50′s this week – we can get the coop walls installed.  I am really glad we pre-built the walls back in January – it will save a lot of time in finishing the project.  With the recent coop break-ins we have had with the raccoons – we are adding some extra security to the new coop.  A double layer of smaller 1 x 1 wire mesh will be used to fence in the coop run, and we will install it down into the soil a full foot and embed with concrete.  Hopefully, that will keep them safe and happy.  We should have some good pictures next week – hopefully of the coop mostly finished!

Wishing everyone a Happy and Safe Easter, and here is to Spring finally arriving!

- Jim and Mary

Dealing With A Little Sadness At The Farm…The Sunday Farm Update

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It was a tough week at the farm as we lost Big Mamma.

It was a tough week at the farm as we lost Big Mamma and two other of our chickens to raccoons

Sometimes…things don’t come up all roses.  Sometimes they don’t work out the way you had planned.  And sometimes, things can happen at the farm that really break your heart.  This was one of those weeks.  In fact, it was a really tough and trying week.  But, as crazy as it sounds  -  it’s the tough weeks that make you realize how important it is to work every day at your dreams.

It started off last weekend when we tried to fire up Betsy, the old farm truck. While in winter storage at the farm, it seems that field mice had decided to seek comfort and warmth inside of the glove box, under the seat, and inside of the engine compartment. To make matters worse, they decided to chew up the firewall material and wiring to make their fluffy, warm nests.  After spending the better part of a day cleaning it all up – we discovered the trucks two batteries finally were beyond charging and needed replaced.

The remnants of an ornamental pine tree after catching fire from a spark

The remnants of an ornamental pine tree after catching fire from a spark

And when I went to fire up our gas generator for a little power – the cord of course, came off in my hand with the very first pull of the year! Next up, we watched one of our little ornamental pine trees shot up in flames from a tiny spark that blew in from a nearby ornamental grass clearing fire we had set.  It was also the week we decided we had to tear apart the leaf silo project and start over – after it toppled over in a winter windstorm and became damaged beyond repair.

And then finally, the past few nights, total heartbreak. For the first time since our coop was built two years ago,  raccoons somehow found a way into what had been a  secure area – and claimed the life of three of our beloved chickens, including our absolute favorite “Big Mama”.  It was indeed a tough week at the farm.

So it got us to thinking about why we started the farm in the first place – and why we choose to garden, raise chickens, keep bees and build and work at the projects we do – even though they can bring their fair share of disappointment at times.

The old farm truck - the winter home of field mice :(

The old farm truck – the winter home of field mice :(

The farm is an escape for both of us.  It’s not our “real job”, but the one we love to do no matter what.  One of my pet peeves in the “real” business world has always been those that hold meetings for the sake of meetings, and to think so long and plan so hard that nothing ever happens (think congress?). I’m not sure who said it, but I have always loved the saying “Don’t be a think tank – be a DO tank”.  The farm has always allowed us to be doers.  If we had waited  for the “prefect time” to build the coop, create the garden, or build the barn – we may never get to experience any of them.  And yes, we have made plenty of mistakes along the way – and had our share of  set-backs and disappointments.  

The silo as it looked in the fall, before the windstorm that toppled it.

The silo as it looked in the fall, before the windstorm that toppled it.

Yes it’s true if we had never started raising chickens we wouldn’t have the heartbreak of losing any this past week.  And if we didn’t have the old farm truck – we wouldn’t have to worry about it getting destroyed by mice.  And if the leaf silo project had never been thought of – we wouldn’t have lost it to a windstorm.  But at the same time – we would never have accomplished a single thing.  The farm simply allows us to be doers – and  not just thinkers – and that makes it all worth it.

So although our hearts are a little heavy for our chickens, and although things didn’t go quite right this week – we will keep trying and keep building and growing - because the real disappointment for us would be to never try at all.  The best way to put it is that we are and always will be blessed with work we love to do.

One of my favorite quotes of all time comes from Albert Einstein, when he simply stated, “you have never failed until you stop trying”.   That’s the way we feel about our little farm and garden. it’s a never-give up proposition for us.

Our chicks are growing up and starting to get their feathers.

The chicks are growing up and starting to get their feathers – and will be enjoying the farm in a few weeks.

So this week, we will continue to care for our 18 little chicks that will head to the farm in late April, and ready our new beehive with a coat of paint to prepare for our first hive of honey bees coming in late spring.  All in an effort to keep growing and building our dream of the farm.

Happy Sunday,

Jim and Mary

The Chicks Are Here!!! Raising Our Chicks At The Farm

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Our newest additions to the farm - our day-old baby chicks!

Our newest additions to the farm – our day-old baby chicks!

It doesn't take the little girls long to find the food!

It doesn’t take the little girls long to find the food!

The new chicks are here!  Our 18 little girls arrived home with us last Wednesday evening under the watchful eye of our Labrador Retriever, Jazzy.

We started raising our first chickens two years ago – and it has been a truly rewarding experience.  When we first began, we really knew little other than what we had read in books and on line. But before we knew it, we had a coop, nine full grown hens and about four to five dozen eggs a week!

I think more people might consider raising a few chickens if they knew how simple it can be – not to mention the added benefits they can provide to your garden, flowerbeds and breakfast table.

Our chicks come to us as 1 day old little balls of fur.  We keep them in a brooder we made from some old shipping crates that we set up in our basement.  The brooder gives them plenty of room, and will serve as their home for the first 8 weeks of their life. We use a heat lamp attached to the brooder to keep the temperature around 90 to 95 degrees during the baby chick’s first 5 to 7 days.  With no feathers and just a little fuzz to protect them at birth, its important to provide them the warmth their little bodies need to survive.  As they continue to grow – we reduce the temperature by about 5 degrees each week until they feather out and can provide their own body heat.  It is amazing to watch how quickly they learn to use the water and food feeders – and by the end of the first week, they are already trying to learn the art of perching.

Our older girls out and about looking for insects - they provide valuable natural pest control for our farm.

Our older girls out and about looking for insects – they provide valuable natural pest control for our farm.

At about 8 weeks, they will be ready to move to the farm and will take up residence in the “big coop” with our older chickens. It takes about 18 weeks on average for our new chicks to start laying eggs.  The first few eggs are usually on the small side – but they get the hang of it pretty quick and start laying nice sized eggs at about week 20.  We raise mainly Golden Comets and Leghorns, and they will lay an egg about 6 of the 7 days each week.

Our chickens have become the stars of the farm, and are an integral part of our goal of creating a self sustaining homestead.  In addition to the great tasting eggs they give us each day – they provide us with valuable manure that is a key ingredient to our composting process.  Chicken manure is high in nitrogen, and when mixed with carbon materials such as shredded leaves, coffee grounds, straw, grass and vegetable scraps – it helps to heat our compost pile quickly.  The end result is rich organic matter  that we work into our garden soil to provide valuable nutrients to grow our vegetables each year.

Our girls checking out the morning from atop the coop

Our girls checking out the morning from atop the coop

Our chickens also provide crucial pest control services.  Chickens can devour hundreds of bugs each day as they roam about, and do wonders in keeping the farms insect population under control. When Mary and I first cut down the high grass on the property, we would almost always come home with a tick somewhere on us.  Once the chickens arrived – finding a tick has been rare!

And of course last but not least – they are just plain fun to have around.  The farm wouldn’t be the same without them!  We will keep you updated on the progress of new chicks as we head into spring!

- Jim and Mary

If you would like to receive our Sunday Farm Update each week – be sure to sign up to follow the blog via email in the right had column, “like” us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter.

Keeping Our Chickens Happy In The Winter

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The last two weeks on the farm have been filled with a lot of snow, wind and freezing cold temperatures.  It’s about this time of year that most of our friends and family start asking us how the “girls” are faring in the frigid conditions.  Our “girls” of course are our chickens, and surprisingly enough, with a few simple adjustments, they handle winter better than us!  Now don’t get me wrong, they are not particularly fond of the snow any more than us humans.  In fact, it’s funny to watch them when we open the doors to check on them.  They will run to the door, and the minute they see the white stuff on the ground, they stop, do an about-face, and decide to stay in the warm coop!

The Coop with it's winter blanket

The Coop with it’s winter blanket

With the door open during feeding time, Amelia wants no part of heading out into the snow.

With the door open during feeding time, Amelia wants no part of heading out into the snow.

The key to keeping healthy and happy chickens through the cold winter months is really quite simple.  Keep drafts out of the coop, keep the inside of the coop dry, give them extra insulation (straw), and make sure they have fresh (not frozen) water and food to eat.  If those simple needs are met – chickens stay happy and healthy even through the coldest of winter nights.

I think a lot of our friends and family are surprised that we don’t have heaters or warming lights in our coop during the winter months – but there really is no need if you have good shelter and it’s properly prepared for winter. Here are some simple basic strategies that we practice with our girls and their coop in the winter:

Keeping Out Drafts

Happy Chickens = Eggs. Here are 3 of our "girls" enjoying the warmth of the coop and their nesting boxes

Happy Chickens = Eggs. Here are 3 of our “girls” enjoying the warmth of the coop and their nesting boxes

We cover each of the windows in late fall with a 1/4″ thick piece of clear plexiglass. This allows the light to still get into the coop, but keeps out the cold winter winds and drafts that can be so detrimental to the chicken’s health.

We keep their attached covered run filled with thick straw as well during the winter months, and if it gets too cold we can cover the small opening to the run with some heavy plastic strips that keep out drafts.  Make sure if you do have an outside run attached - that the small opening faces away from your prevailing winds – this will also help to keep out drafts.

Deep Litter Method:

One thing we do not do during the cold winter months is clean the coop.  Instead, we practice what is called the “Deep-Litter” method.  In very late fall, we give the coop one final clean-out.  We then put in a good 6″ to 10″ layer of straw all around, and for the next few months, we will add a few inches of straw every week or two on top of the old.  The new straw provides a nice clean, dry surface for the chickens to roam about on.  More importantly – the old straw below, along with the chicken droppings that are mixed in, will start to slowly decompose, releasing heat that helps to heat the coop and keep the chickens warmer.  As the winter progresses, we keep covering the old straw with a few more inches of fresh straw to continue the process.  In the early spring, when the night temperatures begin to rise, we will clean it all out and start fresh.  This big clean-out has an added benefit – it’s a great start to a new compost pile each spring!

 Water and Food:

Happy Chickens Lay Eggs

Happy Chickens Lay Eggs

With the simple practices above – it is amazing how warm the coop actually stays.  In fact, it is usually at least 20 degrees higher than the outside temperature.  Even so, one thing we do keep an eye on is their water supply.  On extremely cold nights, it will have the tendency to freeze over by morning – we just make sure to switch out a new watering bucket in the morning, and all is well.  It’s important to also keep their feeder full of food through the winter months. Without as much access to scratch and dig outside for worms and bugs, they need a steady supply of feed.

I always remember the four words of advice an old farmer told me when we first started keeping chickens : “Happy Chickens Lay Eggs”.  He couldn’t have been more right, and if you keep them dry and draft free through the winter, they are a lot happier!

Have A Great Sunday!  - Jim and Mary

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Preparing For Winter At The Farm – And The Blog Hits 2500!

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Before we get to the farm update – we want to take a quick second to thank everyone who follows along with us each week!  Yesterday, we reached a milestone  - our 2,500th follower to the blog!   Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!!!

So with that said and Winter knocking on the door – weatherproofing became the theme of the week at the farm.

Chickens are actually pretty winter hardy – you just need to keep them dry and draft free.

We started with the Chicken Coop.  Chickens are really good at handling the cold if you follow two simple rules – keep them dry and keep drafts out of the coop. We attached a sheet of plexiglass over each of the two windows to prevent the cold winter winds from whipping through the coop.  We also added about 8 to 10″ of straw to the floor to give them extra protection against the winter cold.  I long ago gave up trying to put it where I think they need it – because within 10 minutes – they are busy at work scratching and moving the straw to where it best suits them.  Once the cold weather sets in – we practice whats called the “deep litter” method in the coop – adding straw every few weeks through the winter months to keep it clean and dry –  but not removing any to keep it warm.  It works well, and helped our chickens keep laying all through the winter months last year.

Next up was shutting down the farm’s rainwater collection system for winter.  We opened up the taps and emptied the remaining water from the barns two (2)  275 gallon rainwater collection totes.  The plastic totes would crack  from freezing if we left them filled with water –  so emptying them is a must.   We brought the tanks into the barn, and attached a 20 foot section of drain tile to the downspout to let the water run off for winter. We’ll set them up again in early March to fill up quickly with the spring rains.

The watering system kept our garden green through the summers drought

The rainwater system was an absolute miracle to have on the farm this year with all of the hot and dry summer conditions.  It easily provided over 2000 gallons of water for our garden, trees and plants.  We came close this year a couple of times  to running out during those dry spells – so we are planning to add in one more 275 gallon holding tank to see us through any more drought conditions.

As for other happenings around the farm…

The Trestle Desk Project

The Silo still sits quietly on its side in the barn – on hold while we wait for the metal panels to arrive to put on its framework.  They are supposed to finally come in this Tuesday – I can’t wait to get them on and get it up!

Finally, for about the last year we have wanted to build a trestle desk  out of lumber scraps for the space we use as our home office.  With the Silo project still on hold – we got around to it this week.  It will be Tuesday’s “How To” DIY feature.  But for now – here is a sneak peek of the desk as it dries from another coat of urethane out in the driveway.

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November Farm Photos, A Wedding…And The Tractor Gets A Name

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The ol’ Ford is now called “Willie”

The 37 Chevy parked outside of the reception hall.

The Truck as it looked last fall in Dad’s barn

“The Family and Dad’s Old Truck”

Thank you to everyone who sent in a name for our “new” ol’ Ford Farm Tractor last week.  We received over 125 entries through Facebook and the Blog – so we had a lot to choose from!  One in particular though stood out right away. Chris Harden from Iowa suggested we name it “Willie’.  It was the name my mom always called my dad, and it couldn’t have been more perfect.  So from here forward – Willie is our tractor’s name! And Chris – 3 jars of Mary’s Hot Pepper Mustard and the Picante Salsa are on it’s way :)

Speaking of  the past – when we tore down dad’s barn last year to build our new one – inside was my dad’s 1937 Chevy paneled truck.   Well, while we have been working on the barn project – my brother has been working on restoring her to her original glory as well.  Yesterday – as we celebrated his daughter’s wedding  - he brought out the old Chevy for a photo op with our entire family.   It was great to see her out again, and incredible to get a picture of all of us together.  As our family has expanded  - it’s  a lot harder to get everyone in one place.  But yesterday, we were able to crowd around the ol’ truck with my Mom and get a great family picture. With just brothers, sisters, spouses, grand and great children – it’s amazing to see how big the family has become!  And P.S…Congrats to my niece Erin and Patrick!

So, with that said – we will get to November’s photos around the farm.  You can really tell that Winter is coming!

Shared on Frugally Sustainable, Savvy Southern Style, Little House In The Suburbs

The tables and chairs have been put away for the year – and the upper pergola looks a little bare.

Big Mama enjoys some time outside in the cooler temperatures

The blooms of the mums in front are all but gone – fading the last of fall into winter.

The Garden is all but put to bed for the winter – the long rows all covered up with their blankets of winter rye. The cover crops are a huge boost to the garden’s soil.

Here is an up close view of the rye. It grows so thick that it really helps to choke out any weed seeds that might blow through – which really helps keep the weeds down for next year.

One of the reasons we love ornamental grasses! Here are the blooms of our tall Maiden Grass. Ornamental grasses really add a lot of fall color and texture to the landscape.

The garden signs have all been brought in for winter storage.

Digger enjoys some rays of fall sun as he scopes out the coop from the nesting boxes.

The Truck sits with a full load of leaves collected from the neighborhood.  We are waiting on the silo project to get completed to get them stored. We were not able to work on it much this past week with all of the high winds – but hopefully can finish up soon.

The leaves are all gone, and the sky is definitely showing signs that winter is near

Saving the seeds. These are a few of our Sangria Peppers that we saved from this year’s plants. We will cut them open – put the seeds in a paper towel and dry them out for next years seeds.

The Barn Pergola Patio is all bare and ready for winter. As you will see in the next picture – the barn gets pretty full in the winter months with storage of tables and chairs from outside!

The barn is starting to fill up with everything from outside that needs to be stored over the winter. I think we may need to build another one. :)

As always – our monthly view from the top of the hill overlooking the farm. Amazing how much it changes from month to month

A Big Week For The Blog!

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Today marks an anniversary for our little blog –  our 100th post!  Since starting the blog about 8 months back on a cold day in February – we never imagined how far it would come in such a short time.  Our 100th post also coincides with two other milestones – our 1000th follower  to the blog and our 600th follower to Facebook.

The first few weeks of the blog we spent writing and filling in a few posts from the previous year to provide the background for our little farm’s story.  After that, we settled into our current format of posting 3x’s a week  (Sunday-Tuesday- Friday) about life at the “farm”.

Us at the farm during our first barn party

The past 8 months have been a blast for us.   I never imagined how fun this journey to carve out our little “farm” space would be – and documenting it with the blog has made it all the better.  Our blog has really helped us to stay focused and working toward our dreams – putting down in words and pictures our efforts to build the farm.  The blog is a great motivator on days when your tired and don’t feel like you’re accomplishing enough.  When those days hit – sometimes we will just reflect back and read some of the old posts and quickly see that we are slowly getting there.  It serves as a great re-energizer for us to keep at it.

We really are more committed than ever to a more simple approach to life and the farm, conserving the resources we consume, and being responsible for the food we eat.

We have tried to incorporate simplicity and responsibility into every facet of “The Farm” as we slowly work on our dream.  Our goals to be responsible for the majority of our own food – and to re-use existing materials and products as often as we can have helped us build the farm at a fraction of the cost.  At the same time – we want to show that it can be done in a way that can be pleasing to the eye – and without all of the stereotypes that come with “recycling and re=purposing”.

We have been able to get in some apple and cherry trees for our little orchard. The hard part is waiting the few years to finally eat something from them!

There are a lot of exciting challenges ahead for the farm.  More work and plantings to grow the garden, orchard and vineyard areas.   The building of a greenhouse from recycled windows.  The installation of a Sensory Garden.  And hopefully, at some point down the road, the process of designing and building our house to go on the property.

Simplifying the Old World Garden Blog:

Much like we do at the farm, we also thought this was a great time to simplify the blog.  It didn’t take long to realize all of our posts fit into the three categories that we love most.  The Farm, Food and our DIY building projects.

Moving forward – we are going to stay with the 3 post-a-week format – and simplify it into a day for each category.  In the coming weeks we will also organize all of our old posts into those 3 categories, with links on our side bar to make them easier to find.

TUESDAY:   DIY DAY.   Each Tuesday’s post will feature something to do with one of our DIY projects – from building, landscaping or  re-purposing something we found.

FRIDAY :   FOOD DAY.   Each Friday’s post will focus on recipes, canning, and food from the garden.

SUNDAY:   FARM DAY   Sunday’s posts will be all about the farm – with updates on the garden, the chickens, plantings and everything in-between.

The Farm is starting to take shape…but there is still so much to do!

Our blog, farm and our lives are really are about having fun and staying simple.   Thank you to everyone who has followed along, and thank you as well for all of the great comments – we love reading them all.  We hope this blog helps spread the word that living a more simple life really is enjoyable.  We hope you continue to like Old World Garden Farms and stay with us on our journey as we grow!

-Jim and Mary

Shared on Six Sisters and Homestead Barn Hop

Chicken Talk – Raising Our Hens

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Our Chickens are by far the most popular attraction at the farm

All in all – I would have to say that the most talked about of any venture we have going on at the farm are the chickens.  ”The Coop” as we call it – is usually the first place visitors to the farm go to see.  Our coop has been home now for over the last year to our little flock (we started with nine).  With a few minutes of care each day – they have provided us with a little over 4 dozen eggs each week – and maybe even more importantly – an incredible supply of organic matter for our compost bins.

Our hens are not free loaders – they actually pay for themselves.  In a short time – we have developed a steady supply of farm fresh egg buyers who purchase our excess eggs, which is more than enough to pay for their feed and straw.

For those of you considering of raising your own eggs – here are some quick answers to the most frequent questions we get:

    • Kids love the chickens

      Amelia trying to fly in the early morning sun

      The Girls enjoying some pecking time

      Hens are not loud.  We have only Hens  and for the most part they are as quiet as can be.  Now – they do usually give a little dance and a short squak to proudly tell us they laid an egg – but beyond that – they are pretty quiet and very tame.

    • You do not have to have a Rooster to have eggs – and although beautiful and protective of the flock – Roosters can be loud – something to consider if you live in the city :)
  • On average – our chickens lay an egg five to six days each week. We raise Golden Comets (brown eggs) and  Leghorns (white eggs), which are both very good egg producers.
  • Chickens need the basics – water, food, shelter and a little space to roam and scratch -and they will lay beautiful eggs
  • And yes – farm fresh eggs are different. They are larger, thicker and so much better to eat than store eggs!
  • We spend on average 5 minutes a day to fill up the feeder – re-supply the water, and collect the day’s eggs.  And once every month – we will take and extra 10 minutes to clean out the straw in the coop and add to the compost bins – that’s it!

As simple as it has been – we are actually going to revamp and remodel the coop over the winter months and expand the flock to about 18 for next year. We have plenty of room, and with the growing customer base for the eggs – we figure we might as well have more.   Besides – we still have a little left over barn wood – and we might as well as add a little matching shade pergola to the chicken coop for all they have done for us :)

-Jim and Mary

 

Yes – Fresh Eggs Taste Amazing!

Raising Chickens