The end of Summer- Friday on the Farm

by Meghan // September 12, 2018 // Comments off

August marks the end of summer. It is time to prepare the farm for fall! This means a lot of work, all to prepare for next spring’s planting.

We will spend the next several weeks:

Pulling out the summer’s garden plants, composting them
Possibly planting a fall crop, or cover crop to replace nutrients (has yet to be decided)
Cleaning up the corral area where the goats and cows currently live
Deep cleaning the barn, feed room, and feeding containers
Cutting firewood for winter
And putting in some new berry patch beds (we are adding grapes to the orchard!)

As far as the animals go, I need to:

copper bolus my 4 Nubian goats
prepare the older 2 does for breeding in the next 4 weeks by upping nutrition and herbs
slowly increase the Dexter steers’ alfalfa intake
Treat chickens with DE as preventative, up their nutrition to prepare for egg production slow down in the fall (which has already begun)

I will pull up the summer flowers in pots, and replace with mums and pansies ? we need to cut back some of the flower bed shrubs, and re-weed part of the beds. The weeds go back to the goats. They love it!

Elderberries {wordless Wednesday}

by Meghan // August 22, 2018 // Comments off

It is almost fall, and August here is telling us it doesn’t want to wait. Here is hoping the cool weather is here to stay!

We have been enjoying so much outside time, which has included picking and eating elderberries from our bushes planted this spring.

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My Favorite Things: August

by Meghan // August 14, 2018 // Comments off

This month I want to try to begin a series of posts about my favorite “things,” that help me in my family life, and thus homeschool life (because homeschool is our lifestyle, right?).

The Read Aloud Revival Premium Membership– I have heard Sarah discuss it on her podcast for ages. I’ve been a loyal listener for a few years, and never really thought the Membership applied to me. Our whole family life revolves around books, after all. Boy was I wrong! After a very hard summer (emotionally physically, mentally) for our family, I needed to simplify, set new goals for our homeschool, and get started FRESH. And I needed to do this without the drudgery of “too many things” on our to do’s. Just because it is good, beautiful, and wonderful doesn’t mean we have to cram it in right now. We have SO many days, so many weeks, so many month, and years to add in the many wonderful homeschool resources. They don’t all have to fit RIGHT NOW. (remind me of this in 3 months haha)
The Read Aloud Revival Book Bag– Nope, I am not being paid to tell you how much I love RAR. I just really do. And her book bag is no exception; beautiful, perfect for library trips, easy to load, strong, wide straps, lined with a zippered pocket … I could go on but I won’t. These make great gifts (I think each child will get one for Christmas because I love mine) and you get a discounted rate when you are a RAR Premium Members!
Thriftbooks– I love books. I love cheap books. I love cheap books that come in the mail.
Little Jewel Books– I wasn’t so sure what to expect with these, but I ordered 2 I thought we would like for our family. These are beautiful little books … really they aren’t so little. I have found them to be perfect for my almost 4 year old 3rd born who needs a little “help” remembering right from wrong. The covers are enticing, and the pages are really lovely. I can’t wait to order many more!

ducks swimming in the flooded chicken run

Rain- We have been in a pretty serious drought in our neck of the county since the winter. This month, however, mother nature has decided to bless us with something like 20 days of rain. I am *so thankful* for the rain! The pond my finally fill up this year, the grass and trees feel better, and the ducks are sure enjoying it!
Playing games- In our efforts to take a step back in everything, we have found our afternoons and evening usually empty, meaning we have time to play games as a family, crochet, and water color. Mostly, I play UNO with my son and oldest girl while the other do crafts, art, etc. It has been so pleasant!
Reading Aloud-We have finally found our groove for reading aloud again, and *it is perfect.* Even the 2 year old is getting better about being quiet so we can listen. Whew whooo!
More Free Time- did I mention we all have more free time now? Everyone is picking up books more often, playing outside more often, loving on the goats, playing pretend, climbing new trees MORE. It makes my heart happy, and I can already see a big difference in the kids’ emotionally without the stress of everything we had on our plates before.

What have you enjoyed most this month?

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New Babies {Dexter steers on the farm}

by Meghan // July 25, 2018 // Comments off

We have introduced some new babies to the farm- we are so excited about Big Sam and Chief!

They are Dexter steers, about 6 months old. The black {shortie} dexter is Big Sam, the red boy is Chief. They are getting used to us, as they have been with mama in pasture. They are in with the goats right now; they have decided it is okay to take alfalfa hay from me, and really enjoy Chaffhaye.

Disclaimer: Some links on this blog are affiliate links; when you use those links you help support my family, at no additional cost to you. Thank you!

The Harvest {2018}

by Meghan // July 16, 2018 // Comments off

We made a family goal this year- spend more time at our farm this spring and summer, working as a family to not only improve some things- but to really cultivate. Every year we have a garden, and every year when it starts coming in, the rainy season begins, and things start really growing we are gone with either trips or my husband for work.

We worked very hard this year to be sure we were here so we could take care of all the things we started in the spring.

Now, my flower beds are going haywire with weeds, I really can’t keep up! But everything else is flourishing, we are harvesting regularly, and enjoying our evenings as a family working in the garden.

This weekend’s task- Freeze tomatoes!

Last weekend I canned dill pickles for the first time, (they are awful by the way … I’m not sure what I did wrong, but man are they bad!). Unless someone shares a tried and true recipe with me, we will be making bread and butter pickles from now one. haha

My children walk around eating cucumbers whole, with cherry tomatoes by the handful.

Harvest time is good.

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My Best Goat Helper

by Meghan // July 11, 2018 // Comments off

… is an almost 4 year old girl that loves deeply. She is endlessly full of snuggles, dances, hugs, smiles, and spunk.

She reminds me so much of how I played and saw life as a child- She would rather love on a cat, a dog that weighs 120 pounds, or goat than be surrounded by things that don’t interest her.

Miss cares so deeply for those that walk into her world; the strangers at the store, children at the ball park, friends and family.

While she lives life in her “la-dee-da” world, and much of her character K also saw in my Granny- she doesn’t superficially care- if this girl welcomes you into her world, if she says she loves you, SHE LOVES YOU.

It is hard to believe Miss will soon be 4; she lit up our world the day she was born with her endless smiles and happy disposition, and she hasn’t stopped yet!

God has big things in store for this little package of wonder. (Lord, I just pray I can survive her! haha)

Disclaimer: Some links on this blog are affiliate links; when you use those links you help support my family, at no additional cost to you. Thank you!

D is for Ducks {on the homestead}

by Meghan // June 26, 2018 // Comments off

We have thoroughly enjoyed our ducks here on the farm. We raised 5 ducklings this spring, and they have turned into lovely crested blue swedish adults. Judging by the behavior of our male Campbell, I am going to say we ended up with 1 female, and the rest drakes.

Joy.

But so far they’re all getting along fine, so we will see how it goes. I am not against finding some more females to add to our flock. =) Ducks are just too much fun to watch as they wobble about the yard!

This year, our Mammy duck made her nest in the chicken coop (which is her usual spot) and hatched a chicken egg! So now she is raising a 4-5 week old baby chick. What’s hilarious is the chick is surrounded by 30 chickens, but thinks Mammy and our drake (Mr. Quack) are its parents! He follows them around everywhere, but they never take him to the pond … it’s like they *know* he is a chicken and can’t swim? They keep him near the coop, call for him, and he calls for them! Mr. Quack will take the other 5 ducks down to the pond, and has in general taught them to be ducks, but he and mammy protect that chick something fierce!

I never realized drakes could be good daddy ducks?! Who knew …

Disclaimer: Some links on this blog are affiliate links; when you use those links you help support my family, at no additional cost to you. Thank you!

B is for Building on the Homestead

by Meghan // May 21, 2018 // Comments off

This week’s letter is B, and for us nothing would be more fitting than building. My amazing, hard working husband has spent the last 2 weeks building a (hopefully) goat proof fence for our new goat babies. He has taken the time to teach me:

how to cut, bend, and put fencing wire onto gates
how to hang gates
the ins and outs of designing the fence itself
and lots of other handy stuff

I probably can’t do many of those things very well … or on my own without reminders of what exactly to do for that matter. But we have lots more fence to do in the future, so many opportunities to get better!

We have fenced the goats’ stall in the barn, cleaned it all up; today I will get all the materials down for the floors, get their pallets in place, and clean up the barnyard a bit. We need to adjust the height of one of the existing gates, and put away all the tools that are currently in the tack room/feed room. I need to wash out the feed buckets we have, make a run to TSC and then I think we will be about ready!

Preparing for Goats on the Farm

My children came up with a few other B words that are important on a homestead or farm …

butcher
butting
butter
barns
bugs
bulls
buckling
babies

it’s as if he knows he should be expecting something …

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A is for Anglo Nubian Goats {homesteading on the farm}

by Meghan // May 13, 2018 // Comments off

I don’t know if we are a homestead or a farm … if a farm, then definitely a hobby farm. Either way, this little homesteader has put down the deposit on a few sweet babies! We will be adding ~~2, no 3, make that~~ 4 nubian goats to the farm pretty soon and I am ecstatic! My mind is whirling 1,000 miles a minute- my research proves raising goats is much different than raising bottle calves for beef. There is SO much to know and do before hand; there’s even more to keep in mind, keep an eye out for, and learn. And the only real way you can learn is to prepare the best you can, and then jump in! *gasp*

We are adding 2 twin yearlings, and of course when I went to look at them I couldn’t leave without also reserving a bitty baby … But after a few days of preparation on our farm, I thought it might be a good idea to get the bitty a buddy her size, and since she was a triplet, her brother will make the perfect playmate! (Her sister was already spoken for.) So, that makes 4 goats!

Today I ordered their collars, and some medical supplies to keep on hand. This weekend my husband and I began work on the goat corral fencing- he began prepping holes and posts for the fence while I cleaned out the barn and tack room. We have brooded chickens, raised cows, and stored lots of tools and feed in those areas; they were desperate for a cleaning!

We made GREAT progress on the fence; we need to finish a few corner posts, put in some T-posts, and string the wires. Then we have to finish their stall in the barn by getting it covered with goat fencing (I plan to stall the goats at night until we get the LGDs in there with them full time, they get used to their surroundings, and I feel less like a worry-wart). We are going to get them a warm dry place built up in their stall towards the back, because of the position of our barn and the way it drains. Lots of work needs to be done, but we are enjoying it and looking forward to our new babies. We cannot wait to spend our summer playing with baby goats.

Baby goat pictures to come!

Read other posts from this Blogging Through The Alphabet Link-up Series HERE

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Friday on the farm {Gardening & Meat Chickens}

by Meghan // April 27, 2018 // Comments off

After a looong winter, We are finally preparing to plant the garden. We are putting down a heavy plastic for weed control, and covering with hay once the plants get up a little taller. My husband is also setting up a sprinkler for the center of the garden that won’t require us to disconnect and reconnect hoses, sprinklers, etc.

This year we added a permanent fence around the garden to keep out the chickens, dogs, and cows (when they escape, which is monthly).

My husband made a steal stencil for burning holes into the plastic to help with more precise planting. It is really cool, and I am so thankful he is an engineer! He thinks of the coolest ideas.

The meat chickens were moved from the brooder out to pasture last week. The weather was iffy, and the first evening out there was pretty cold (36 degrees!) But they survived and feathered out quickly. Being in the pasture makes them sooo happy; they can spread out, eat bugs, and because we can move them they get a clean dry space every day or so. (It has been a week and they are already MUCH bigger than this picture.)