Busy Season!

Things are pretty crazy busy!
I know its been a while since I have posted, but I will still just make this a quick update because I have lots to do on the farm today!

Lets see, since my last post we have been up to a lot.

Our kittens went off to their new homes. I was able to resist keeping them which was hard because they were so sweet!

We lost all the chicks we were raising for ourselves to a coyote. That was a pretty sad day for everyone. Farming sure has its ups and downs.

Matt has been haying like crazy. We finished our property and he is halfway through some fields we leased. It has been a lot of work. He would leave early in the morning and come home well after dark. Its been going pretty well. I think there are 60 acres left to go, so next stretch of good weather we should be able to finish for the year.

The pigs are out on in the pig jungle now. I absolutely love being able to see them from the kitchen window.

They just love it out there too!

 



 

They make pretty quick work of the grass!

Chores have changes around here. There is no more pulling them along in wagons or carrying in backpacks. They have got their bikes and its me struggling to keep up!



I send them out to pick some food for supper in the evenings. Sometimes they forget to come back. Little farm boy carried my garlic around like this the whole time he picked berries.

But the berries are pretty exquisite this time of year. I can hardly blame them!

This is little farm girls pride and joy! Sometimes she waters it for breakfast and lunch. 

And the garden is coming along really well. I have spent so much time out there that I joke about becoming part of the earth. The grasshoppers and flies all sit on me while I work and I stopped brushing them off a while ago. Still I was pretty surprised the other day when a bird landed on my arm!

I think their must be some mice or something in the green manures. The cats and dog spend lots of time hunting in there.

I didn't even see the spiderweb in this picture until I put it on the computer.

The wheelbarrow truck is parked by the garden with our new harvesting station in the back. When we get some spare time (haha!) we will put it up.



And, our certification is finally finalized AND I finally finished a snazzy farm logo for us!
Both were a bit of a work in progress and I am glad to have it finished. This picture is taken from our new produce labels!

It took me quite a while to put a logo together. It seems like it would be fun and easy but I really wavered over how to define our farm in an image. Our products have been changing slowly over time as we learn what works for us and the micro climate of our farm, so I didn't want to chose a particular product we are growing or raising.

This logo is actually quite dear to my heart and I will try to quickly explain why.
When Matt and I met we were working on a farm, or more of an acreage. I worked in the barn and I just loved to watch the barn swallows nesting and raising babies together. My favourite was when they would sit on the edge of their nest together, so close that their ruffled feathers would intertwine. They would just chatter and chatter in a way that seemed so content and companionable. As a teenager that was my dream for the future. God has blessed me so much more than I ever could have imagined then!

Summer Days

Its officially summer on the farm, and things are wonderful!



Yesterday little farm girl found some deliciously ripe strawberries all warmed in the sunshine, and when she put the first one in her mouth she said "I think God made these to show how much he loves me!"
I feel like that about the farm lots of days.



Here is our garden. Its feels like it is coming along painfully slowly. Mainly just because we were way ahead of this last year.



We have discovered an absolute love for flame weeding. I weeded carrots for hours and hours yesterday and last night we did a quick comparison between the row I was weeding that didn't get flame weeded, and the following rows which did get flame weeded. What a crazy difference! Matt suggested we rip everything out and start again with flame weeding. We won't actually do it, but the difference in the amount of weeding to be done brought that thought to mind!



Beside the garden we have tilled and planted green manures to improve next years garden expansion. That hay is coming in nicely along side it. Those thick spots are where we pastured our layers last fall. Weather permitting we will cut hay over the weekend.



Here are the Oats and Peas coming up. They will add organic matter and nitrogen to the soil. All together I think its an acre and a half we have planned for next year.



Peas coming up!



Here are some greenhouse pictures. I am a bit frustrated with how slow everything is going in there too. I lost everything to frost in the spring and had to start again.



I was even starting to doubt if I would get anything but this morning I noticed flowers on some tomato plants and a few peppers.



This pepper plant on the left was one of the few frost survivors. Its has some flowers on it now. The one on the right was from the second planting.

And some of the sights around the farm.



The chicks running around. I love watching them catch flies. They flatten down those awkward little bodies and dart around the lawn, and suddenly there is a fly in their beaks! That starts a game of keep away, which is another whole show in itself!
 


And on the opposite end of the productivity scale is the pigs. I caught this little girl (called Black Ear) trying to combine rooting and napping. After some very drowsy shovels with her nose she sunk down into a little heap.



And the horses. I am climbing up on them every chance I get and it sure feels good. Whenever I get a minute they are game to play with me.



Matt's Grandparents came to visit and Grandpa, who is an amazing horseman and has bred and shown draft horses all over the country, gave me a quick harness lesson with Charlie. I have a harness that is not quite complete and he was able to go over it with me and show me exactly what was missing.  

And our good-as-gold farm dog. We are in the market for another good farm dog. If only I could just double her!



And this is how we spend our evenings. Weeding away. The work can be a bit tedious but the view and the company is amazing!

Not a bad way to spend an evening...

Irresistible

Some things on the farm are absolutely irresistible this time of year. 

The chores are taking me a ridiculously long time just because I can't resist lingering. 

These beautiful cool evenings make it very hard to go in and finish the day.

Also, the pigs and all their pigginess.

They are so fun to watch, and scratch and play with.

And make mud for.

 Definitely irresistible! Unless I am wearing my clean clothes, which thankfully is rare.

They garden is well underway. Here is a pegboard we used for planting our seeds. This is the 3' grid we use for beets and parsnips and such.

Our first row of carrots in the ground. 

 

Rutabagas up! The pegboard leaves them planted so neatly. What I find irresistible about the garden is weeding. Once I start, I just can't stop!

Matt and the little farmers setting up drip tape.

This is how men weed the garden...

We had on oops on the farm. A very, very cute, irresistible oops!

I try so hard to leave Momma alone with her babies. But every time I go in the barn, I just have to have a quick peek to see how they are doing. And then I just have to pet one and before you know it I have held them all.

So irresistible...

I am pretty sure I can resist not keeping them all, so if you know anyone who won't be able to resist them, send them my way!