The Things I Want to Remember

I want this blog to be about our family and our accomplishments.  My hope is that others can learn from our mistakes and successes, but even if no one reads this, I want to be able to look back and have a record/history of what our family has done. 
We are a family of 5, although most days it is just the kids and I that run the farm and household.  Hubby works for the Army and is often busy from sun up to sun down with those duties.  We get the most accomplished when he is home on the weekends and can lend his muscle to the jobs I cannot get done without him. 

We have been working on fencing our front two + or - acres, to afford our sheep and chickens with forages throughout the winter.  We had fenced before, but never with an eye on never having to do it again.  Making it last the next 50 years or so would be great.  We are stretching woven wire over t-posts with a new (not to us- we bought it at a garage sale) ratchet - pulley - come-along thingy.  I don't know what it's technical name is but it is wonderful.  We have been hooking it to the hitch of the truck, but it can also be hooked to posts. 
When we all five work on this it goes super fast.  We can fence about an acre a weekend- Is that fast?  I don't know, but it seems so for me.  An acre is 209 ft squared- I guess that is not bad.  Anyway- back to our jobs.  It is my job to decide where the fence is going to go, lay out the string for straight lines (which is a joke on hilly land), and give direction where to dig posts in.  Oldest son (18yo now) drives the t-posts and digs the corner posts in.  Hubby cements the posts in, carries and unrolls fencing.  I get the fun part of ratcheting the fencing tight- and straightening it - and ratcheting some more.  It is kind of exciting to see it all come together.  Meanwhile while I am tightening youngest son and daughter are working on getting fence ties in place.  Really a team work job ! 

So far all we have fenced is maybe 2 acres..... maybe!  We have a lot more to do!!  Ugh!

Attempting Again

So- It has been a long, long time since I posted.  I am going to attempt this again, even though I really question my grammar and writing skills.  I am going to try and not let those things get in my way.
Here we are at the end of 2012 and I have been a farmer for almost 3 years now.  I love it..... my heart craves it.... it is who I am.  Not sure how I would describe myself anymore without the word farmer in it.

 

We have moved to Kentucky now, after spending a few months in limbo between two homes. Husband had to leave Georgia and report to his new duty station in Kentucky at the beginning of July. The kids and I spent our summer in Minnesota at the family cabin and lake.

 

 

 

 

We are now at our home in Kentucky, and we have been busy working on pulling out carpets, replacing subfloors, painting and moving all our stuff into place.  Hard work, but we are hoping that this is our forever home now.  We have 50 acres here and it is almost completely land locked which we love.  Our animals will be behind the house, and nobody will hear or know that they are there.

  Our gardens and orchards will be in the front closer to the water supply.  It is such a difference for me to live on our farm- to be able to look out the window (albeit, dirty) and see our animals grazing.  To leave my window open at night to be able to hear the dogs barking and keeping predators at bay.

I will post more on specifics in the future- maybe not everyday, but more frequently than once every two years. 

Sorry I Have Been Away

I have been trying to decide what to do. I now have a website that I can blog on, and I have been trying to figure out whether to move the whole blog over to the website, or just start anew from here.
I think it is too confusing to have 2 blogs- Don't you?
So come on over to gingersnaphollowfarms.com to follow our farming journey.
I will start blogging their tomorrow! Tonight I am off to sleep!

My Antibiotic Soapbox

I just watched this CBS News report and thought you might be interested in seeing what big factory farms are doing...... and the risks involved in eating food that comes from these big corporations. You can see the video here:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/02/09/eveningnews/main6191530.shtml?tag=stack


One of my New Years Resolutions was to eat local meat- Meat that I knew the person growing and taking care of the animals. I want to know that what I am putting in my body is from antibiotic, steroid, and hormone free animals. We the consumer have been led to believe that the ONLY way to farm is to add to what nature provides. Big business has come in and convinced the farmers to add fertilizers, pesticides, and pharmaceuticals to our food system.
What did farmers do before the invention of these chemicals? They farmed in a way that was in harmony with nature. They planted in rotational beds. Perhaps one year in bed 1they grew corn but year 2 in bed 1 they would rotate and grow beans. This kept the pesky bugs confused as they had a hard time following where you moved their favorite vegetable. They rotational grazed their animals so that they had fresh grass to eat everyday. This cut down their need to feed them anything else but grass and hay. These animals were meant to eat grass- God didn't say Grass and Antibiotics, No he just gave them grass.
Our problem really lays in the fact that in order to make any money farming in this manner you have to produce large quantities of product. We as consumers want cheap food. Unfortunately cheap comes with a cost! The farmer cannot absorb the costs of losing half his crop to bugs and is forced to use a pesticide to keep them at bay. In order to make any money in raising hogs he needs to raise hundreds at a time in close quarters. Eventually one gets sick, and before you know it they all are sick and need medications. Because in most cases these animals are not out on fresh grasses all day, every day, but instead locked in small paddocks with way too many bodies to a stall. Not exposed to the freshest air and food. Why on earth would we think they would be healthy animals? Would we allow our children to be treated this way? Definitely not! Animals need the same things we do. Food, shelter, and to be treated with respect and love.
It is a shame that most conventional farmers are so far in debt trying to make a living and failing because they cannot compete with the big corporations that are now running a huge percentage of our countries farms today, that they are getting out of the business.
There is a better way! I am convinced of that! Eat locally- Eat food that you know where it comes from. Get to know your farmer and what he stands for. Visit the farm and see how he treats his animals. We must make time in our lives to do these things. It is for the welfare of our bodies and our children's bodies and the future of our planet.
Let me know what you think.

Things Are Coming Right Along

My dear husband finished putting up the shed last night. It is a cute 7x7 plastic model that we got on clearance from Home Depot. Now I need to build the brooder boxes and get them in there. Chicks will be arriving around the 17th of this month. I am so excited I can hardly stand it!

I am pasting a picture of what I think the boxes will look like- although this picture DOES NOT belong to me, I just wanted you to see what I am thinking about.

We will be making a shelving unit first and then making the boxes a separate piece so we can remove them and clean them out. I anticipate our boxes being 6.5ft x 4ft which will give us a little over 25 square feet. Supposedly you can fit 100 chicks in 25 square feet of space. Sounds small to me, but I am taking the experts opinions on this. So we will be building 2 units to begin with and then adding a third unit later on when we are ready to start turkeys. Gone are the days of the pool in the kitchen with little chicks in it.

I will miss having them so close by, but not the stink that they created. I am also moving to pine shavings, as I have read that these will decompose quicker and help with the smell issues.

I am having some issues finding farm insurance and it is starting to stress me out a bit. Part of my contract with Farmer D is that I have insurance on the property but also product liability too. I would have gotten both on my own, but now it is a necessity. Most companies say I do not have enough stuff for them to cover for what I want protection on. Let me clarify..... I do not want to insure a chicken house, a farm house, a tractor or any other big ticket item. I just want them to cover liability on 2 little acres and product liability. Big insurance companies want to cover the big things- but I don't have anything big. See my problem? I still have some companies looking into it for me- and I do have one bid, but it is high $$$.

I am off to plan my brooder boxes now- Hopefully I will have pictures of my boxes to you soon.

We Have Land!!

We have officially signed the lease on our 2.08 acres. Yes, you read that right- I guess I wouldn't know 5 acres if it smacked me in the nose. Farmer D assures me that it is 2 acres and not 5. Oh well, 2 is plenty to start with.

My next hurdle is to find farm insurance. This is a must in order to fulfill my lease agreement with Farmer D and also to be allowed to sell at Farmers Markets. Most insurance companies that I have spoken with have said I do not have enough land/equipment to insure for what liability I am asking them to assume. So wish me luck- I will keep looking.

I have officially ordered the chicks, all 200 of them. I have ordered:

100 Cornish Cross Broilers,
80 Rosambro Broilers (no picture available yet) and 20 Red Broilers.
I am experimenting a little to find out which Breed I prefer.

Ray and I are now working on brooder plans. The brooder is the warm home the chicks will stay in for the first 3 weeks of their lives. We want to make it as cozy and comfortable as possible.

We continue to plan for our gardens as well. We measured out and dreamed a little about our garden today after we signed our lease. It will be a lot of work, but beautiful and productive.

I Am Back and Inspired!

I am back from Chattanooga, and I am ready to tackle the world! Well at least my small little part of the world.
I took several classes on pastured poultry, a few on gardening, and even more on marketing. I met so many nice people who were willing to listen to me and give me advice. I have come home with plenty of grandiose ideas- most of which Ray has put the kibosh on. He is much more realistic than I am. Me..... I want it all! Chickens, Ducks, Cows, Sheep, Turkeys, and a huge (acres upon acres) garden. Well, what I am getting are chickens, a few turkeys and a small garden. Ray said so! That is it! He is right, I should just start slow, and move up if we can handle that.
I came home late Saturday night, but was up early and ready to order seeds on Sunday. I have ordered so many wonderful seeds- I can't wait to get them in the ground!
Here is what I will be growing (or attempting) this year:
*Spring Potatoes- will arrive first week in March
Purple Viking
Dakota Rose
Irish Potatoes
Beans- I love Beans and hope to can enough to make us through the following year
Blue Lake
Kentucky Wonder
Beets- One of our household favorites
Ace
Flat of Egypt
Carrots- several varieties to make a colorful bouquet of carrots at the farmers markets
Napoli Carrots
Necter
Purple Haze
Rainbow- whites, yellows, and oranges
Corn- Hoping to plant several types
Kandy Korn
Silver Queen
Eggplant
Millionaire a deep purple eggplant
Fairy Tale a striped version
Lettuce & Spinach I ordered lots of different types- I do not want to have to eat anymore store bought lettuce.
Okra- bought just for my husband- I do not like Okra (it is not in my western genes)
Peas- will be going in soon
Canoe
Peppers- I have never grown these before- will be fun to try these out
Ace
Pumpkins- I want to make my own pumpkin pies this year
Baby Pam
Charisma-Eric wants to grow these so we will have our own jack-o-lanterns this year.
Squash-
Zucchini- Eight Ball & Cash Flow
Waltham Butternut
Sweet Meat Hubbard
Tomatoes- Trying different types this year, but really want to can enough to make it through the year
Salsa- ordered 3 plants
Mortgage Lifter Heirloom
Marianna
Watermelon-
Moon & Stars- A pretty melon with yellow star spots and one big yellow moon spot. Jonah is going to grow this for ME!
Carolina Cross- Supposed to get to 200lbs
Big & Tasty Seedless
Wow- I think I left some off too. Now you get the idea of what we are going to plant, and how crazy my husband thinks I am.