The Adventure Begins!

Welcome Spring!!



It is totally feeling and acting like spring, and I can't hold off any longer!
The birds are singing in the trees, everything is dripping and I have even seen some green grass!
Here are some of the fun and exciting things going on around the farm:



Riding! Little farm girl was given this amazing child sized saddle over the winter. She is just thrilled with it and for the first time can do a real posting trot! She wants to ride everyday, but its still a bit too icy.



And here is me in my natural habitat: Boots and spurs, covered in horse hair and jeans ripped from too many winter hours playing horse in the living room. But very happy.



And here is a fun experiment we did last week. I was wanting to build a hot bed, which is a planting bed built over a some active compost. The compost heats the soil so you can grow when its normally too cold to plant. We came to the conclusion that we don't really have time for extra projects, but then a friend gave me this neat idea. We dug a little pit in our compost pile and put this pot in it and planted it with spinach seeds.



Here is our view while we were planting. Definitely not springlike.



Here is the temperature of the compost, 90F.



Then we put a square of plastic over the top. I have been checking it and it is quite warm underneath. I hope I don't roast all the seeds! I will have to keep checking and see what happens, if it works I would love to do more of that next year. The compost pile has pretty much been bare at the top all winter so I know it stays warm.



SEEDS! Little farm girl and I started a chunk of our greenhouse plants today. It was really fun to do together and I was so thrilled to see that we really make a great team. I am pretty happy I spent so much time letting her help when she was little, even though it often made everything much harder.
She punched all the holes and covered the seeds up while I labeled, recorded and dropped seeds in. The job went so quickly and was so enjoyable to do together! Now we just have to be patient, and keep little farm boys curious hands away!

I am hoping he will have the self control not to get into the seeds, but I am not going to count on it! He is such a curious little man. I bought this little greenhouse mainly with the purpose of being able to zip everything in and away from little fingers.



An another reason to be patient. Eggs incubating! These are for a friends flock, but its pretty exciting still! They go into lockdown on sunday, and then only three more days until we should have some chicks making an appearance!



And here was the craft of the day. Nope, not Easter related...
Since I moved the chickens out of the greenhouse and into the barn, one of the flocks has started eating their eggs. Very frustrating! Some days I would find 5 eggs pecked clean in the nesting boxes.

I checked their calcium and diet, everything seemed alright.
I first tried filling those empty eggs with mustard and placing them back in. It seemed to work in that that chickens that I saw going after them seemed like the didn't enjoy it, but by the next time I went to collect eggs, the mustard eggs would be totally gone. I was a bit worried I was just teaching them that egg shells = treats so I stopped that.

Then I watched and removed the birds I saw pecking at the eggs. I took four out and still I would find an egg or two broken and empty. I finally put those hens back in.
Since then I have been sprinkling fresh hay around with every egg collection to keep them busy and scratching elsewhere and that seems to reduced the amount of eggs that get broken.

This is my next step and if this doesn't yield results I think I will make nesting box curtains so the eggs are out of sight and hopefully out of mind.



Today we sanded the plastic Easter eggs and painted them with a non toxic paint. It was actually pretty fun trying to match the egg colours exactly and adding speckles and texture. I am hoping this will help the problem and hopefully be a bit of prevention for future birds who peck around at the eggs.



Hopefully next post I will have some really cute chick pictures for you!

More Winter

Winter is a still upon us.
I haven't posted much recently, mainly because there is not too much excitement during this time of year but also because I get pretty tired of taking snow pictures!

But anyway, here is a snowy update from the farm.



This winter has actually been really nice. We have had long stretches of warm weather and the snow is still just a fraction of the amount from previous years. Its only February and we are already getting some really spring like weather.



The pigs just love the sunshine and warm weather. They spend lots of time out rooting in the snow, which leaves them with the cleanest faces I have ever seen on a pig!

This black fellow above is the boar we borrowed. Dodge has to be one of the nicest tempered pigs I have ever met, and that is something we really value here!

Popcorn giving him some love

Here is an example of our snow level. Last year I could walk over that fence without even having to adjust my stride!



The carrots are as tasty as ever. I stored them in sand this year and they are still juicy and crisp into February. I  have lots left so we will see how far they take us!

And there are some really awesome things about winter that I am loving.



Winter is so beautiful in lots of ways! The crisp mornings with the sun coming up, frost that blankets everything into textured white, and the fresh snow that resets the whole landscape to being brand new again!



Winter can feel kind of stark and long but every now and then I find moments so rich and bright that is makes the whole winter worth it. One of my favourites is going out to feed my horses on a black night when with the sky is crowded with stars. I climb up onto my favourite horse and lie back with his rump as my pillow. With his warmth against my back, the quiet lullaby of the horses chewing hay and the crunch as they shift in the snow I can just marvel at the stars. So relaxing, and at the same time, so invigorating.

I love watching the kids learn. Little farm girl has been taking on more and more responsibility, and even little farm boy has been trying his little hand at certain tasks. The only thing that usually rushes us is the cold, so there is lots of time for little hands to practice new skills.




There is also such a gradually building excitement for spring! It started with the horses beginning to shed their winter coats. The trees around the farm suddenly being alive with chattering birds that haven't been heard around here for a long time. Today, we explored buds on the trees and teeny green shoots on the tops on the raspberry canes. Sometimes I am not sure what is better, spring time, or the great anticipation of it!

Rest

Well, this will be the opposite of my summer blog posts!



During the summer the farm is a flurry of sweat, dirt and ever changing To Do Lists. At the moment now, the farm is a flurry of....well, flurries I guess!
There is still the usual livestock care, feeding, and evenings spent in the shop, but there is now time for some more leisurely activities as well.


This has been a pretty strange winter weather wise. The photo above was taken after a winter thunderstorm, complete with a winter rainbow. I have never seen that before.

We have had some crazy warm days, even up to +10C! Last night it didn't even get to freezing and the flurries coming down now are definitely mixed with rain. It has frozen to be quite the slippery mess in areas, which has created some difficulties for us, but mostly fun!

Our pond in the back pasture has frozen over and we have been thoroughly enjoying it! Everyday this week we have been out skating, sometimes twice in the same day even. The little farmers and I are loving every second of it! Little farm girl is mastering her skates quickly and little farm boy loves to ride in the sled that I tie around my waist. Its excellent exercise and we all come in pretty tired!

The weather has made for some neat ice crystals too!







So beautiful!
Sometimes I forget to come in after doing chores, its little things like these that get me sidetracked. That, and horses, and kittens, and tracks in the snow, and stars, and itchy pigs. Maybe I am just highly distract-able, but I like to think anyone would be distracted by those...



We also have been getting ready for Christmas! We usually wait until pretty close to Christmas to pick a tree but the little farmers just couldn't wait. We found just the right one but somehow it seemed to grow as we got closer to home. What looked like a pretty reasonable tree in the field got a lot bigger once we got it inside!



Little farm boy helps decorate it after we had trimmed a few feet off the top and bottom of it.



And I will leave you with a picture of this smiling pig enjoying the warm temperatures.

I am in the thick of a book I am itching to get back to. Its called Gaining Ground and its the story of a farm start up. It does such a good job of capturing the dream and passion of farming and the ups and downs of trying to get a farm off the ground. As I read it I feel the swell of excitement as the farm grows, the bitter disappointments of failures and the sickening doubt of whether the farm will ever able to support itself. I could hardly tear myself away to write this so I am going to curl right back up with it and read until little farm boy is awake. Its a nice way to spend a break from actual farming...

Snow Pigs

There are two things that I am feeling quite thankful for today. Actually, there are many more, but two of them are on my mind at the moment, and they also pertain to this wonderful but challenging season of winter.



Firstly, we had our first cold snap.
Not an intense cold snap, but it was pretty chilly just the same. I think the coldest we saw on the farm was -29.7C, which is not unusual and was still warmer than some of our neighbours reported. I think though it was the windchill that made if feel so cold. It was cold enough though to cause skin to sting and the pigs to disappear under their hay pile. But, the best thing it did was acclimatize us (or maybe just me) to winter.
Before the cold snap I was so cold all the time, even in many layers with constant slipper wearing. I think I had forgot what actual cold felt like. That feeling when you step outside and the air refuses to enter your lungs, or you slip off a mit to open a clip on the gate and your fingers immediately freeze to the metal.  Now that I have remembered what it is truly like to be cold, the average winter temperatures are no problem! I feel like winter and I have a bit of a truce now.

The main thing I am thankful for today is our wonderful weather, which I may not have appreciated if not for our delightful and perspective-giving cold snap. Today is a deliciously sunny, throw off your mittens and play -6C. It feels amazing and we are all taking advantage of it!
Here are some pictures from around the farm.



Yesterday I was extremely spoiled when Matt gave me a Mom's morning off! I hauled Charlie down to our local indoor riding arena and got to spend a bit of very refreshing horse time.
When we are home we have been pulling them into an open space in the hay barn to play. Here is little farm girl and Tex working on their side pass.



The pigs even had some play time in the snow. We have two gilts we are hoping to breed for next spring. The close one is Popcorn, and the one behind her and leaving a face print is is Lady.

I thought Lady looked particularly elegant in this picture.

The pigs were charging about in the snow and having a great time. I always enjoy their expressions when they run. Its like their faces defy gravity for a split second.



Well, I have about 2000lbs of feed to move, so the little farmers and I are going to head out to enjoy the sunshine some more! I hope you get to soak it in as well!

Finally!

Its been a while since I have posted!
In fact, I think you can watch the seasons change just over this blog post!



The farm is pretty quiet now. The veggies are all harvested and stored away for our winter enjoyment. The pigs have been raised and sold, the chickens are tucked into the greenhouse for the winter and the horses have begun to whicker for their daily hay. Snow has been lightly falling and the puddles have frozen smooth and hard. Still, we have still been humming along.

Almost everything on the winterizing list has been checked off, and yet we still find plenty to do!
We were looking forward to a quieter weekend when suddenly the laundry room started to puddle, and just like that, the weekend will be spent on an excavator re-digging the washing machine run off into the yard.

But before I go into anything else, I will share some farm pictures from a few weeks ago.



The greenhouse is pretty much done. Its pretty awesome! Matt ran power to it and installed some lights and its all closed in out of the wind. Once the sun hits in the morning, the whole things warms up!



We finished off our fall with a visit from my parents. Little farm girl had been looking forward to teaching them a riding lesson for a long time.

This was one of my favourite things of this year. Being able to ride with my daughter.
Playing in the pasture and follow the leader through the trees. I have a feeling she liked it just as much as I did!





She has come a long way as a rider over this summer!



Finishing up our garden. We rented a dump trailer and moved loads from the dirt pile in the pasture.



The area with rows is last years adventure. The area with the piles will be next years attempt!

We also picked out two farm kittens! This is Momma Huckleberry giving her babies one last nursing before they ventured out into the world.

Such a cute paw peeking out.

This is Pumpkin. He was the littlest of the litter and is purring machine.

And this is Rainbow, she does her own thing, all the time.

The kitties are super cute but Cola still holds her place as little farm girls favourite. She has been learning bird tricks and it starting to get picky about her rewards. Popcorn is the current favourite. I do think I need to find a more appropriate box for her though... (and yes, I know its actually a him...)



Here is Cola (in the wagon) going for a walk with Little Farm girl and Uncle Mikey.



These girls are doing well. As the temperature drops they are spending less time outside and more time building hay nests to disappear into. Popcorn still remembers to sit if a go in with a treat for her.



The snow has been holding off but I know any day it will come! I am actually looking forward to it because I am having a hard time riding with the ground frozen so hard and choppy.



And speaking of riding, I had the riding weekend of a lifetime last weekend!

Charlie and I attended a Jim Anderson Clinic and it was absolutely amazing! Jim Anderson is world renowned and is an extremely talented horseman. It was such a privilege to get to learn from him!

I often play with my horses and work them in fairly non traditional ways and once I get stuck on something, its hard to get past. Jim had so many insights and was able to shape up my cues and fill in the blanks I was missing in my training. I am quite excited to see where we can go from here!

We worked on so many things and I learned a ton. I have so so many things to work on and teach Charlie and I am just itching to work with him! Which is really hard just going into winter...


As awesome as this summer was, there are still some things I am really looking forward to more of this winter.



Some time spent with my back against this delightful thing, a stack of library books and some little minds thirsting to explore them.



And those cold winter nights: the chores done, little farmers tucked in and and a whole evening ahead with nothing to do but curl up somewhere warm with my favourite man and Hogan's Heroes.

Winter is not so bad after all...