Crazy Days on the Farm

Greenhouse.... DONE!!!!

2012-02-09T20:30:00.000-08:00

The other day, my greenhouse got finished. It was better than Christmas as a kid... I was jumping up and down as Dom the Handy Mum and I put the last poly on. So super exciting!

I still have to build a seeding table, and do some last minute touch ups (handle on the door, latches, gravel pathway), but the greenhouse is IN USE!

I spent all day Sunday laying cardboard down one side, putting goat manure down, then finding some soil to put on top for a planting bed. I also put a big pile of chicken manure in there to heat up, so it will keep it above freezing at night. Unfortunately, the manure I used was thick with ammonia, and WHEW, does it stink! I poured a bunch of EM on it, hopefully it will counteract the ammonia soon. I have to go down each morning, and open the door for a while to let it vent. Luckily, it has been quite warm, so the seeds I planted will not freeze.

This is how I built my greenhouse:

First, I found a used portable car shelter. This cost $100

The framing is starting to go up... we did a 'foundation' first, with 6x6' posts to anchor

The poly is starting to go up!!! This was an exciting day. Sadly, we couldn't finish it all in one day... ran out of supplies and light.

ALL DONE!!! I've waited over 24 years to have my own greenhouse. This is truly a dream come true!!

When Dom was kneeling down, Little Monkey crawled up on her back. I snugged her into Doms hood... she wanted to help, too!!

So, all in all with supplies and paying someone to help me (because I am just NOT handy!) the greenhouse cost me about $1700. If I was to buy a new, pre-fab greenhouse in the same size, it would have cost between $4000-$5000.

Expecting....!!

2012-02-05T14:15:00.000-08:00

We are expecting here on the farm. Expecting lots and lots of babies. I just put the new drake in the breeding pen with four females, so the muscovys should start laying soon. Then, I loaded up the incubator with chicken eggs of all descriptions. A few Dorking eggs (the raven's have been stealing most of them, so that's all I was able to save recently), lots of Easter Eggers, and a few ISA/EE mixes. I also am pretty certain Lily the goat is preggers. She is not huge yet, but is starting to get 'that look' about her. Baby goats!! I can't wait for baby goats! Star is probably preggers as well, but just behind Lily. I guess the littler goat is just a bit more slutty than her bigger sister.
I am also planning a breeding between two of my dogs... Reckless, who is a sportmix, and one of the coolest little dogs ever, and Kybosh, my little Border Collie. I spent the last few months getting health tests done on them, making certain neither carries anything genetic (hips, elbows, hearts, eyes, ears). We now have the all clear, both dogs passed everything with flying colours, and I am just waiting for Ky to go into season. Which can't happen soon enough. These pups should totally ROCK. I have been going through puppy yearning a lot lately, and it's time for a new baby to train up in various sports. By the time this pup comes of age to compete, Reckless will be about 7 years old, and in the veterans class. Time goes by wayyyy too quickly with our babies.
Goat, duck, chicken, and puppies. Should be a busy spring!!!

I did have a little oops. (this is my confession time). I foster quite often for a local rescue group... Paws Without Borders. About a month ago, I got this little chocolate coloured 'chiweenie'. (chihuahua x dachshand). She weighs about 2 or 3 lbs, and is the cutest thing you ever saw. I am supposed to keep her until she finds her 'furever' home, but I'm not certain I can let this little girl go. She just fits in so nicely! I am not a small/frufru dog person, but I may have to make an exception;-)

Little Monkey. Think I may have to keep her.....

Deer Fencing

2012-01-31T21:41:00.000-08:00

Before Christmas, I had deer come in and eat pretty much ALL my beautiful kale plants. They ate them to the quick. Up until that point, I had been harvesting and selling them, and they were gorgeous. Damn deer! I have several hundred plants, and they all got cleaned out in one fell swoop.

So, deer fencing has become a top priority. I can't count the amount of times last year that I had a beautiful crop of something, and they would eat it just before I was about to harvest... they seem to have uncanny timing!
Before I put up fence extenders, however, I had to clear a bunch of brambles and brush from along the fenceline. So, I ended up doing something I've never done before... I hired someone to come in and do it for me. Honestly, it would have taken me weeks on my own to get everything cleared. The two guys I hired had everything cleared and the extenders up in two days. It was worth every single penny. I wasn't able to get the whole property done (about 1/3 is now finished), but I got done the most common places for the deer to come in. Not sure if it is helping, as I have nothing left for the damn deer to eat, but it's a start! Between the extenders, I had fishing line put up, with some flagging tape on the top level (about 8' tall now) so the deer can see there is a barrier there. From the research I've done, they shouldn't be bothering to come in now.
I am working slowly putting up extenders around the rest of the property. I hope to have it all done by March, when I start planting crops outside again.
Let's hope that I actually get to harvest some of my own crops this year, and the deer don't take it all!

Chickens, chickens, chickens

2011-12-31T13:06:00.000-08:00

The following is a few 'learn from my mistakes' poultry -raising stories. I had all sorts of adventures in chicken farming this year. From ravens eating my eggs, and killing over 16 of my laying hens, to having a couple of disasters in raising meat birds. Sigh. I hate blogging about my mistakes. There just seem to be so many of them! Then again, if I don't put it down, who will learn from my bungles?!

My laying hens were crap this year, as I think I have stated before. I have about 40 hens, and for the last few (several) months, I've been getting anywhere from 0 to 3 eggs a day. Yet I am spending way too much money buying feed for the buggers. Grrrr. Arggg.
This week, things seem to be finally changing. This morning, I got 10 eggs... I seriously don't remember the last time I had ten eggs in one day! Of course, now they will start laying like crazy, and I've lost almost all of my egg customers. Hopefully I will start getting a few more of those again soon. I am ALMOST finished paying off my egg share clients... it has taken me so long to do this. I have three dozen owing right now, and then I'm done with the obligations... so I hope I don't start getting stuck with a zillion eggs all of a sudden!

Meat chickens did pretty well this year, for the most part. I am slowly getting some regular customers for those, plus I give away some (my family all got roasters for Christmas) and some away for barter. I still haven't gotten to the point where I actually make any money on them. My last batch was a bit of a disaster, though. They came in much later than I expected. I had decided to keep them for 10 weeks instead of 8 and see what kind of difference it made to the size of the birds. Yet, somehow, they never really grew and I couldn't understand why. When I took some of them into the processor, I found out. (I have a new processor, and I really like the facility, and she is super knowledgable about the birds). The bottoms of the poor birds feet were burned from ammonia. I always do a deep layer system when raising my birds, so I only have to change the coop once after each batch. This has so far always worked for me, but this time it backfired. Because it was so late in the season, and wet and cooler, the hay heated up, burning the little chickens. So, they decided they didn't want to grow anymore. I feel really bad that I didn't figure this out on my own, but I never thought to look at the bottom of their feet! So, now I am doing a shallow layer system and cleaning out their bedding each week, which is time consuming, but some of the birds have started growing again... yippee! They will be going to the processor very soon in the new year. My freezer is starting to look empty! Then, for this coming year, I will know better!

I also had a couple of turkey disasters. Of which I was a complete dumbass, and didn't learn anything the first time, so had to fail a second time before I figured it out. Dork.

Anyway, what happed was this: the little turkeys arrived, really healthy looking, eating and drinking. After a couple of weeks, they still looked really good. All of a sudden, one would die. No warning, didn't look sick, just... dead. Then, another. The next day, two would die. Then they would be ok for a few days, and I would think whatever was wrong had passed. Then, poof! Another death. This just kept going until I only had a few birds left. Three of them were kind of gimpy, and one of their legs was crooked. Two seemed to be ok. After about 16 weeks, the gimpy ones just gave up and died. So, stupidly, I had fed them this whole time. I was left with only 2 healthy birds.

In typical Kelly fashion, I decided it was a fluke that they all died (after all, I was doing everything the same as last year, and I had been super-successful then....) so I got a second batch to try again. The same thing happened. I tried doing some research online, but didn't find anything then. I also contacted the breeders, and they had never heard of whatever was happening to my birds. I asked some other farmers, and no one knew what I was talking about.

Grrrr! Arrgggg!!!

Anyway, since then I did some major research... I don't want to fail again next year! There are two possibilities. One, a calcium/vitamin D deficiency. Which means the feed I have been getting was changed slightly from last year to this one, and now doesn't have enough vitamins and minerals in it, OR, it is a genetic thing, and I'll have to change suppliers. In the spring, I am going to try one batch from my regular supplier, and put a supplement into their water, see if that works. Otherwise, I will have to change suppliers. I have lost so many turkey sales this year...I had to tell everyone I was sold out. It was such a bummer. This poultry raising thing seems to be taking me a long time to figure out. Am I the only one who learns so slow? Do other people have disasters, too? Or am I the only dumbass out there.... !!!?

New Hire

2011-12-26T16:49:00.000-08:00

Time to update on my new hire, Heather.
It was a big, big decision to finally decide to hire someone on a regular basis. I've been thinking about it for over a year, but never felt like I could afford it. Then, after I burned myself out this past year, I decided I couldn't afford NOT to. I will just find a way to make it work! She is now working for me every Saturday, and will possibly also work Wednesdays as well in the summer when I go to the farmers' market. After I had hired her, and before she had even worked a day for me, I felt a huge weight come off my shoulders. I instantly started to get more energy, and start to get some things done around the farm.

Then, her second day working for me was the day I went to the mainland for a flyball tournament. Now, usually when I go to a function, I sit there all day and check my phone for scary messages... did anything go wrong at the farm? Are the dogs ok? Did anyone escape, or choke? Worryworryworry! That Saturday, I just sat back and enjoyed myself. I barely even checked my phone! I didn't worry, even once. It was a wonderful, wonderful feeling to know that I had someone intelligent and reliable and responsible watching the dogs. Heather has worked at a doggie daycare before, and is quite good at reading dog body language, plus the dogs all respond to her really well. My dogs adore her!

Since that day, I haven't really 'taken a day off' again, but I HAVE been able to work around the farm, getting projects done, knowing that Heather was looking after the dogs, they were safe and happy and getting lots of exercise. Soon, if the weather is nice, I will start going for hikes again. Get myself and my dogs back into shape, and just learn how to enjoy myself again.

Whether I take a day off, or get projects done around the farm, I am pretty certain I will be wayyy more productive around the farm, so will hopefully get more crops planted, which equals more moulah!

So far this fall, the weather has been really, really mild. We've had some cold, frosty nights, but mostly it's been drier and warmer than any fall since I've been on the farm. I've gotten craploads of stuff done (even before Heather!)
I've collected leaves from anyone who would give me some, and put a big layer on most of the garden beds, I've been working on collecting cardboard and expanding the gardens (this is a SLOOWWWW process) and have built a few more garden beds. I bought a used portable car shelter, which will be soon converted into a greenhouse, almost finished building a new turkey shelter (I just need help getting the roof on), starting building a new kidding house for the goats (they might be preggers, so could have babies Feb/Mar), built two new compost boxes, planted 3 new fruit trees (orchard is ALMOST done!!), plus a zillion more things I can't remember right now. All in all, I think this has been my most productive fall to date. It feels so good getting all this stuff done! My next big project (besides the greenhouse) is working on getting some deer extensions up on the fence. I went to harvest some kale the other day, and found that the deer had munched every single, solitary leaf on the property. And there are several hundred kale plants. Bastards. I really need to get that worked on before I start planting more crops. Spring is just around the corner!!!

Stuck in the Elevator

2011-12-14T15:09:00.000-08:00

So, I've been starting to get my Saturdays off. I've hired a girl named Heather. More about her later!

Two Saturdays ago, I went over to the mainland, and went to my first flyball tournament in over a YEAR! It was super exciting. I got to race Kybosh on a team for the first time ever.

And to think, I almost didn't make it...

This isn't a farm story. But, I found it rather amusing, so I am blogging it anyway;-)

I got up super duper early (at 3:30 am, if you must know), peed and fed the dogs, and drove off to catch the 5:15 ferry. Got on the boat without a hitch, climbed out of the car. I was kind of groggy and dazed. Right outside my car door, was the elevator. Now, you must know that I NEVER, EVER take the elevator on the ferry. I always take the stairs. In my whole life, I haven't once taken the elevator. But, it was right THERE.... in front of me. Another guy had already done the hard part and pressed the button to open the door. All I had to do was walk in...

So, I took my lazy ass into the elevator. The guy that was in there said he couldn't see the buttons, so I did the difficult job of pressing level 5... main deck. Up, up we went. Then we rumbled a bit. Then whirred. Then something crackled. Then, dowwwnnnn we went. Back down to the lower car deck. Hmmmm.... Interesting! So, I pressed the button again. I heard a whirr, then nothing. So, I pressed another floor. Nothing. Then, I pressed the 'door open' button.
NOTHING!
It was at this point that a slight panic was building in my gut. I wasn't freaked out about being stuck in a tiny elevator with a strange man, I wasn't freaked out about being in a tiny space. What freaked me out the most was the fact that I might MISS FLYBALL! I madly pressed buttons. Nothing happened. I then thought of all the TV shows where people get stuck on the elevator, and they alway have to wait to get rescued.

Screw THAT!

So, I jammed my fingers into the door, and pulled with all my might. Did the man on the elevator try to help? NOPE! He had literally just stood there looking like a dumbass the entire time.

I pulled, and made a bit of a crack in the door. Then, I lost hold and the door closed. I tried the open door button again. Nothing. I have been called stubborn more than once in my lifetime. This is one of those times when being stubborn was going to pay off for me! I jammed my fingers in the door crack again, and pried with a new determination. The door opened.... we were FREE!!! I have never been so happy to see stairs in my life.

Lesson learned: never, ever take the elevator on the ferries again. Stairs are good for you, and definitely the safer way to travel!

I then went on to have one of the best flyball days ever. So worth all the panic!

22 Sleeps...

2011-11-29T17:18:00.001-08:00

Only 22 more sleeps until the winter solstice! Then the days will start to get longer again. Not a moment too soon... this dark crap is getting to me. There are just not enough daylight hours to get everything done I want to!!

Life and Death of Peckerhead

2011-11-28T20:01:00.000-08:00

I think I told you I got several heritage chicks in this year from my friend, Amanda. I got a couple of Light Sussex, and some Blue Orpingtons. They all grew up over the summer. The sussex were so friendly! One of them, every time I would walk into their enclosure would hop up on my shoulder for a ride. The first time he did it, it scared the living crap out of me. I squealed, of course!
After that, I got used to it. Mostly.
Everytime I would move in a way the bird didn't like, he'd peck me in the back of the head. OUCH! Little bugger!
So, of course I named him PeckerHead;-) You routinely peck me in the head, you don't deserve a pretty name!

As they all grew up, I realized that both Sussex, and and most of the Orps were roos. Of course! Wouldn't you know it!

So, I ate them.

I'm Back....!

2011-11-16T14:23:00.000-08:00

Ok! Ok! I've been getting trouble from all over for not blogging lately. To that, I say SORRY! Personally, I can't believe so many people read this silly thing;-)

I have a LOT to catch up on, and will do so gradually over the next little while.
First, to let you know why I haven't blogged for a while!

My CSA shares finished in mid-October. I did 18 shares this year all told. Last year I did 5, and really didn't think 18 was all that much. For some reason, the workload from 5-18 shares didn't just triple... it seemed to rise exponentially. I felt like I was picking veggies for 50 shares. From about mid-August on, when the shares got bigger, it was taking me almost 2 days to pick, clean, package and bag everyones veggies. At the same time, the dog boarding biz was super busy, so all I did was work from dawn to dusk. I got tired, and cranky and just plum burned out. I would just finish one week, then I would have to start picking again for the next. Plus teaching dog training classes. I just didn't have the energy for anything extra, it seemed. It is mid November now, and I feel like I am just recovering now. Honestly, I don't really think that the shares alone were too much, it was the combination of everything, every day, all the time. If I was JUST doing farming for a living, I think I would have handled it just fine. But, the dog boarding is what pays the bills, so I must plug on for another year or two until I get the farm up to snuff. Next year, I am only going to do 10 shares or fewer. I think the other problem I had was delivering 10 of the shares to Nanaimo each week. That took a lot out of me, too. I would just go to one location, and everyone would pick their bag up from there, but I had to rearrange my doggy day care schedule, and then drive for 2 hours. So, the other decision I have made is to ONLY do local shares. Even if I only sell 2 of them, but they are local, it won't take so much out of me. Instead, I may try to go to a local farmers' market on Wednesday of next year. It will help to raise awareness and build some clientele for the farm.

Oh! But good news! I have decided to bite the bullet, and hire someone regularly for Saturdays from now on. Sooooo, starting next Sat, I will be having the day off!! I am so excited... it's been about 3 years since I've had a regular day off. I don't even know what to do with myself! I needed to do it whether I can afford it or not, just to keep what sanity I have left;-) It will all work out, right??!!!

Size Matters??!!

2011-09-10T15:55:00.000-07:00

So, I just have to mention this. I find it really quite extraordinary. Goat balls are HUGE. I actually had to call the breeder to see if what was hanging underneath poor Trouble was normal or not! Seriously, goats must have the biggest ball to body ratio of any farm animal I've seen yet. I keep thinking he has an udder back there. Must be hard to move, with all that flopping about.

Just sayin'

I mean, seriously... LOOK at those things!

Crazy Weather

2011-09-09T14:09:00.000-07:00

Oops... I can't believe it's been over a month since my last post. Sorry, folks! August has been super, super busy. I know I sat down several times to write, but immediately got distracted with something, and never got anything typed.

The weather is crazy this year. Personally, I've liked it. We had a few odd days of rain, which helped immensely, but the nights never actually got warm. The days were perfect... not too hot, not too cold. Funny thing, though - as soon as Sept hit, we are suddenly having a heat wave! Nights are balmy and warm, days are hot enough that I have to turn the AC on for the dogs in the afternoon. Heat doesn't really bother me, but when the dogs are starting to pant indoors, I will turn it on for them!! This was when I expected it to 'cool down'. Mother Nature, keeping me on my toes!!

The farmgate stand is doing.... ok. It was never going to be my 'get rich quick' scheme, so I knew going in the sales wouldn't be phenomenal or anything. My goal is to sell $10 a day for each of the 4 days a week I am open. Two weekends ago, I made it! It was awesome. A few people came and emptied out the fridge. Then, last weekend, no one stopped by. I didn't even see anyone looking! Sigh. I know it will take time to work up to a point where it actually pays for itself. So, last weekend I went to the Crofton Farmers' Market. It was the first time I've gone to any market. The market itself is the suckiest one EVER, but it's local, and my goal was to try to raise awareness for my little stand. I made a whopping $54. Whoohoo. But, I got to tell quite a few people about the stand, so hopefully it will start to catch on. Then, this week, I went to the Chemainus Farmers' Market to check it out. It is much, much bigger, and it runs on a Wednesday, so easier for me to get to. I put in my application for next year, and my plan is to go there every week. Gotta plant lots of veggies!!!

I had a very pleasant surprise when I went out into the field today to feed the chickens and goats. I kept hearing a lot of cheep-cheeping from over the little stream. When I peeked over to investigate, there was one of my easter egger hens (a light sussex mix) with a big brood of chicks! There are at least 10 that I could see. So, if these babies can be raised without getting eaten by the frickin' ravens, I will have the start of a self-perpetuating flock of chickens! Which means I won't have to buy any more chicks again!!! Super exciting. It also explains a lot, though. My hens haven't been laying well at all lately. My egg collection has been very, very inconsistant. BUT, if some of the hens are brooding nests, it would go a long way to explaining where all my eggs have been going!

Both my MamaDucks are brooding nests right now. They are such good girls! They both laid their eggs in the shelter I built for them... the one that the ravens so far haven't figured out how to get into. MamaDuck1 has only 3 eggs under her, but MamaDuck2 has at least 10 eggs. So, I should hopefully get one more batch of ducklings before winter sets in. I will have a great start to the breeding season next year, and will be able to sell lots of the drakes for meat. I actually have a waiting list for them! I really enjoy my Muscovys. There are easy and friendly, and quiet and they forage quite a bit on their own, so don't cost me a bundle in feed. My first batch of 5 muscovys have been loose in the field now for about a month, and doing awesome. The females (there are 2) are pretty much fully grown, and the males look super healthy and will be come dinner sometime before Christmas for me. The second batch of 10 are in an ex pen out in the field, and are growing like crazy. They are just starting to get their adult feathers, and as soon as they do, I will let them out to forage as well.

I have recently become foster mom to 3 Indian Runner ducks. They fell off someone's truck last week, and the SPCA didn't have any way to deal with them, so they are staying here for a while, until either someone claims them, or I find them a new home. Worst case scenario, I keep them, and sell their eggs. Although, I have no idea if I have males or females, or some of each. Apparently they are prolific egg layers.

Good Things and Mileposts

2011-08-06T10:48:00.000-07:00

So, I feel like I've spent too much time whining lately. This is my "I'm grateful" post. My head is screwed back on straight, the future looks bright, and there are some really good things happening at the farm these days.

First of all, even though I'm watering like a demon right now, we've had some rain this summer (one day in June, and one day in July) but it was enough to make a HUGE difference in the well. It is still FULL!!!! It's really a joy to go peek in it, and there is water almost to the top, even though I've just been watering for two hours straight. Most people are complaining about our weather this summer.... I think it's been just perfect. Not too hot,and enough rain to keep the well full.

Second, and this is really cool... I keep all my grocery reciepts, and have since I moved to the farm. I like to know how my grocery bill is coming down, and by how much. In June, my bill was just over $22. Yep, you heard it right! $22!! Most of that was chocolate;-) July, it was closer to about $50, as I had to get some staples like olive oil and balsalmic vinegar. All I can say is WOW. What a great feeling! I am so much closer to becoming self sustaining.
My little ducks are doing well. The first 5 that were born are huge, and they will be big enough soon to let them out of the ex pen and into the field to forage without worry of ravens eating them. Of the second batch of 11, one of them was weak and died, but I still have 10 really healthy little ducklings in my bathroom.

I've been through 3 different incubators, had failure after failure with breeding chicks, and pretty much gave up. I put a bunch of eggs in my latest incubator a while ago. You are supposed to turn the eggs three times a day. I did it ONCE the whole time. I kept forgetting to unplug the incubator, assuming that this batch was doomed to be a failure, too. Much to my surprise, I had four little chicks born a couple of nights ago! I was astounded. Three of them are Dorking crosses, and one is a pure dorking. So, now I am stoked to try it again! I may try one more batch this fall, and even try to remember to turn them regularly, then I'll do more in the spring. I have also given some eggs to my friend Amanda to hatch out for me, thinking I was going to fail again... so hopefully I will have some more Dorkings come along. It would be nice to breed my own Dorkings instead of having to buy more chicks each year. Plus, I'm hoping to have enough that I can sell the babies, and make a bit of extra money to help pay for the feed.

Next, I am grateful for all the people who have come into my life to offer so much help and support. This week, my friends Dirk and Nicole deserve a mention. They are the farmers in nearby Lantzville, who the town wants to shut down... just because they are growing veggies instead of having an annoyingly perfect lawn. There are a lot of people out there that hate veggies! Anyway, Dirk and Nicole have helped me immensely. They are always there to answer the zillion questions I have, inspire me to work a bit better and harder, and sell me lots of seed garlic at a skookum deal to help me get my numbers up, so maybe I can make a profit next year. They also gave me a bunch of seed potatoes to plant now, so I will have a second fall crop.

That's the all the good stuff I have time for today... more coming!

More Babies!!

2011-07-29T17:36:00.000-07:00

Just went outside for a minute, found a raven on my duck enclosure, chased him away. Looked inside, and what do I see? At least two baby muscovys just born! They must be recent, as they were still damp. Whoohoo! I am so excited! I was actually almost ready to give up on MamaDuck2, as she's been brooding for a very, very long time. I thought the babies were due over a week ago. What do I know??!!

The last batch of Muscovys are doing awesome, too. I've had them in an ex-pen in the field for over a month now, and they are growing like crazy, and getting adult feathers. Another couple of weeks, and I'll probably let them forage in the field. When they get too big for the friggin' ravens!!

Business With a Plan....

2011-07-22T09:12:00.000-07:00

I've now been through the process with my biz coach. He is forcing me to think outside the box a bit. I've come up with a really good business/farm plan for the next year. BUT, we all know from my blog posts that farming rarely, if ever, goes to plan! So, I am using it as more of a guideline. Some goals to reach, some timing I need to practice.
My success next year depends on two things. One, I need to expand the gardens like crazy. I will need to double what I have now. To do that, I need 2 more loads of soil, and lots and lots of cardboard. I think I may finally have a line on the cardboard, and I am going to start booking solid with the dog boarding, so I can make enough money to get the soil. If I can get it this fall, and work on building the gardens all winter, I will be a head of the game, instead of just catching up like this year.
The second thing I really, really need is my greenhouse. I am planning for a 20 x 100' structure, with a seed starting bench down one side, and a large crop growing bed down the other. I will be able to start my tomatoes, etc early next year, so I will be ahead. I also won't have to drive to Nanaimo every week. I will save a lot just in gas! With the crop growing beds, I can grow things like mesculin and spinach all winter long. Sales 12 months a year! It would give me such a leg up!
The challenge arises when I try to figure out how to get my greenhouse built. I will need to make between a 5 and $6000 investment. Soooo, how the hek do I do that? That's where the 'outside the box' thinking comes in. It was suggested that I get some investors. The plan is this: get some really awesome people to prepay and prebuy their veggie CSA shares NOW for next year. In return, because I have all this amazing greenhouse space, I will be able to have a bigger selection, bigger bags, and start earlier in the year. I would need 15 investors to do this. It was also suggested that I put this money into a separate account, so if I only get like, 2 investors and can't go ahead with the greenhouse, I can give them their money back. The only problem with this plan is the fact that I am wayyyyyyyyyyy too shy to ask for people to give me money in advance, so I am just doing this blog post to put it out into the universe, and see what comes back to me. !!

In the meantime, I am going to go ahead like my greenhouse is already being built. I am going to get an electrician in to bring up power, so I can plug in soil heating cables, and then I'm going to get a foundation down as soon as I can. Then the universe will know I am serious about it, and just give me my greenhouse:-)

I have been starting fall crop seeds like crazy the last couple of weeks. I should have (so far) about 1000 kale plants, 400 cabbages, 400 purple sprouting broccoli, and various mesculin and lettuces coming up. I still ask myself, though... is this enough? I think I need to plant more. And more. I seriously don't think I can plant enough right now.

OH!!! I am ready to open my farmgate stand! Dom the HandyMum came over the other night, and helped me move/hang my gates, AND then she found me a free fridge! I got it delivered yesterday, cleaned it all up, and then just plugged it in this morning. I will stock it this evening, and then I should be all ready to open tomorrow morning. How exciting is that? I will be getting some signs up in the next week, and when that is done, I will really start advertising it around town.

Fellow Blogger

2011-07-17T15:15:00.000-07:00

A fellow blogger wrote the following post. She puts things a bit more... eloquently than I do, so I asked if I could copy and paste, to help spread the word. She said yes!! Plus, she takes pretty pictures:-) This is a link to her blog...

http://www.traceyjacksononline.com/2011/07/food-the-way-its-supposed-to-be/

FOOD THE WAY IT’S SUPPOSED TO BE

After the war the big super markets were the thing, they stood for all things American. They were new big, new, shiny, clean and full of everything, much of which has proven not to be good for us. What we didn’t know was that our milk, meat and chicken were filled with hormones and antibiotics. Preservative laden packaged foods that OK – some tasted pretty good, it’s hard to beat Rice a Roni or Sara Lee cakes, but the additives like salt, sugar and fat have proven to be deadly. We also did not know that much about the the farming in this country. We didn’t know it was owned and regulated by big business. It was not the mom and pop farming of yesteryear. But in fairness those were times of bigger is better and doctors smoked cigarettes in front of you.

But we have since learned that getting our food from the land without the middleman of the packager, and the big companies is a much better way to go. The growth of small farms and farmers who farm without harmful chemicals and take their food to small Farmers Markets the old fashioned way has been a great gift to America and those who have access to them.

The new film Farmageddon shows us how these people and their livelihoods are being threatened and if the monoliths of the food industry have their way they will not exist.

I think there should more small farmers and that they should be given tax incentives to make their food more affordable and available to a wider swath of the population. I think instead of trying to snuff them out we need to help them, and in turn help ourselves.

Many of us are lucky and have Farmers’s Markets all around us. The food looks and tastes better and it’s amazing how creative and inventive people are getting with their products.

Saturday Lucy and I took a trip to the local Farmers Market, when we left she said – “We have to do this every week.”

So you have to peel them and wash them, takes a little more time but worth the effort.

What's better for you - these or the instant ones in a box? Plus look at those colors.

Everything just looks and tastes better.

I'm not a chard lover, but it's a super food and this is so pretty I'm willing to give it another shot.

Lucy is not what you would call a vegetable lover, but she was eating cucumbers raw with the special salt we found.

Donna McCue of Fat Ass Fudge has a great product and a sense of humor

They always have pretty flowers.

There is a new film out called Farmegeddon. It is getting great reviews and was edited by Cob Carlson who edited Lucky Ducks for us. Cob has been involved with the natural food movement for decades.

http://vimeo.com/16513455

Farmageddon – Movie Trailer from Kristin Canty on Vimeo.

Kristin Canty is the Director/Producer of Farmageddon; The Unseen War on American Family Farms. She is a first-time film maker, small farm advocate, fresh milk drinker and a mom. One of her children was ridden with multiple allergies and asthma as a pre-schooler, and when medications couldn’t help him, she found that raw milk helped him recover. Since then, she has tried to buy most of her family’s food directly from local, organic farms. When Kristin learned that farmers and co-ops all over the country were increasingly getting raided by the government, she set out to make a film about it. She hopes that when people see it, it can change the tide of public pressure so that our government stops harassing and adding costly burdens to our small, organic farmers.

Promises, promises...

2011-07-11T10:48:00.000-07:00

The weatherman is teasing me again with the promise of rain....
Wed
70%

Thu
70%

Fri
70%
Issued : 5:00 AM PDT Monday 11 July 2011

A few showers beginning late this evening. Low 14. Tuesday Showers. High 17. Wednesday Cloudy with 70 percent chance of showers. Low 13. High 19. Thursday Cloudy with 70 percent chance of showers. Low 13. High 18. Friday Cloudy with 70 percent chance of showers. Low 13. High 19. Saturday Cloudy with 60 percent chance of showers. Low 12. High 20. Sunday Cloudy with 30 percent chance of showers. Low 12. High 22.

What do you think? Are we going to get a gorgeous summer rain???!!!!!

The Barter System

2011-07-10T13:16:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I got one step closer to opening my farmgate stand. I have been using the barter system a lot lately, to get things I may not otherwise be able to afford. This particular man built me a lockbox and welded it onto my farmstand in exchange for doggie daycare. It looks awesome! Then, I've been giving fresh veggies to the local 'Handywoman' all spring, so I now have a nice, big credit with her... as soon as she comes back from Disneyland, she is going to install my gates for me. I also have traded chickens for hay for the goats, so I won't have to buy any feed for them all winter. It has really helped to cut down on a few expenses. I had a HUGE, unexpected bill last month, and I still haven't recovered from it financially, so it's nice that I can still keep working on projects around here. Now, all I need is a decent used fridge... would be nice if I could find a nice barter for that, too;-) If not, it will be a bit before I can buy one. The second I do, I will be able to open the farmstand. I can't wait for that.... I've actually had people who have heard the rumour that I will be opening one, and they have been emailing me asking when is it going to happen??!!! Things are starting to look wonderful in the garden. Tomatoes and zucchini's are forming nicely, so I should have lots of extra stuff to sell soon.

I've been feeling quite down of late, after losing so many crops to slugs and deer. I thought I had planned perfectly for my shares... I planted double what I thought I would need, but because I had so much damage, some crops I lost 80% of, or even more. As a result, my shares have been smaller than I had hoped. The selection hasn't been bad (better than last year!), but I've only been able to give people smaller portions than I had hoped. This bothers me a LOT, as I would really like people to sign up for a second year! Anyway, I contacted my old business coach that I had when I was in the BusinessWorks program. He really helped me then. I asked him if I could hire him back on for an hour or two consultation, so I could start thinking things through a bit more clearly. I have been so busy feeling sorry for myself, I haven't been doing much 'right' thinking. Anyway, this guy is so awesome... he said when I am 'wildly successful' we will work something out as payment. I guess he could sense I was skint or something. We have been going through the process... basically building a better business plan (which I had actually done a lot of the groundwork without even knowing it) and planning for slugs, deer, weather, and for getting my timing down on my crops and chickens. It has really helped me to get my spirits back up. I was kind of feeling like a failure for a while there. I am not 'there' yet, but I am developing a pretty good plan for my future. And, the epiphany I had yesterday was that my future starts NOW.... not next year, or the next. So, I am getting busy again, planting my fall crops. I am planting over 10x what I did last fall. If I have space, I will do even more. I need to get my quantities up, up, and up.
I also ordered more meat chickens. I pretty much sold out of the batch I just had, and want to work on my timing, so I will always have a batch coming up. I'm pretty sure if I plan right, I can have a new batch every 3-4 weeks. I know I can do 4 weeks with the spaces I have, but I would really, really like it if I could do every 3 weeks. The next month or two will tell me that. When I get this batch in, I am going to order another batch straight away. Feels really good, having a plan. I think I just need more practice at this farming thing... I am determined to succeed.

Weatherman, You Suck

2011-07-03T15:26:00.000-07:00

It's been over a week, and we STILL haven't gotten the promised rain. I gave up on waiting, and have gone back to watering for a portion every nite. Bleh. It's so boring! I just keep thinking of all the other, better things I could be doing. Then again, I guess keeping the plants alive is a good thing;-)

Muscovy ducklings are doing well. They are growing like crazy. As soon as they are too big to fit through the bars on one of my ex-pens, I am going to put them into the field during the day. I can cover the pen with some plywood, so the ravens don't get them, and it will be so much better and healthier for the little guys. MamaDuck #2 is busy brooding her nest. Last I counted, there was at least 8 eggs in there, so hopefully I will have some more babies in a couple of weeks. I estimate they should be born sometime near the middle of July.

The goats are mostly doing well. Everyone should have a couple of goats! They are way too much fun. I love it when I call them, and they come running with their floppy ears bouncing away. It really is the cutest thing. Larry (the wether) is not doing as well as the others. The other three are fat and robust. Larry is not. I've dewormed him, as we think (hope) that is the problem. He is really skinny, and not very active. The others play and romp, while Larry just lays there chewing his cud. He is eating and drinking well, which is a good sign. They were all dewormed about 10 days ago. I will do it again in about another 10 days. Hopefully little Larry will perk up. Soon. I am worried about the little dude.

My meat chickens are doing well. They didn't grow as fast as they usually do. Turns out, I was ordering the wrong feed for them. Nothing bad, just not as much protien as they need. I changed the food about 5 days ago, and I can already see a difference in their size. I am taking half in this Tuesday, and half in next Tues. All are spoken for... Yay!! I am going to order another batch right away, and do a third the middle of August. Next year, I think I can work it so I do a batch about every 3-4 weeks, so I keep having that new crop coming up. I am being very serious about how to make more money from my farm now, and need to practice getting my timing down. I crunched a bunch of numbers, and I discovered I make no money whatsoever on my eggs. No wonder they sell so fast! The ravens have now gotten 16 of my laying hens this year. ALL of them are the hybrid layers. My Dorkings and other heritage mixes seem to have the intelligence they need to run when a bird comes a calling. So, as these hens go, I will not replace them. If I can't find a way to make money from the eggs, I will gradually reduce my layers to the point where I just get enough eggs for me, sell a doz or so a week to pay for the feed, and concentrate more on the meat birds. Look at me, being all businesswomany!!

I've been super busy the last couple of days getting all my fencing in for my new farmgate stand. It's mostly done now... I just need to hire someone to come and help me rehang the gates in their new places, then find a good used fridge, then I can open for real! It should be timed right, actually... for when my bumper crop of tomatoes are ready. The cherry tomatoes and my early girls should be starting in the next couple of weeks. Nothing better than a fresh tomato from the garden! Hopefully, I won't eat them ALL, and I will be able to save some for my CSA shares;-)

Rain, Rain, Glorious Rain

2011-06-27T09:44:00.000-07:00

We actually had an amazing rainfall a few days ago. Really, really helped to relieve my stress level. It even penetrated the ground about 2". We are supposed to get more rain today and tomorrow, and even though almost everyone else is complaining about it, I am ecstatic! If we get one more good rain, I won't have to water for at least a week or more. My tomatoes and pumpkins at the back will be soooo happy. Because I haven't had to water for a few days, I got so much work done. I planted about 400 pepper plants, and almost all my tomatoes. Out of 1200 tomatoes, I only have another 80 to plant, and those should get done today. Yay!!!!! I love it when I get stuff done!

Something important to note: this is the first June in three years that we have a decent rainfall. The last two summers, we've had a drought for over 3 months... June, July, Aug. This will be such a nice change! I am trying to get as much planted as I can before the rain starts. I am just blogging while I wait for a dog to arrive;-)

New Arrivals

2011-06-27T08:03:00.000-07:00

About 2 weeks ago now, one of my Muscovy ducks had six little fuzzy babies. They were so adorable! MamaDuck was doing a terrific job of caring for them, off they would waddle around the field, foraging and exploring.
Each morning after they were born, I would hear a bunch of ravens over by the field at about 5 am. I am getting really, really PISSED at these ravens lately! The first morning I heard them, I was so afraid they would eat my babies, that I went running outside in my ginch and a t-shirt, screaming and waving my arms at the darned birds. Thank goodness I don't have any close neighbours... I can't even imagine how insane I must of looked! They flew away, but came back the next day. And the next. After the babies were about 5 or 6 days old, one disappeared. I just KNOW it was a raven! So, I ended up scooping all the babies into a bucket and put them into the brooder in my bathroom. MamaDuck was so sad! I felt so bad for her. If I had the room, I would've put her with them, too.

The babies seem to be healthy. They are eating well, and growing. They are still fuzzy and adorable. I do wish they could've grown up on the pasture, though... I just keep thinking it would have been sooooo much healthier for them. I am going to build another enclosure for them in the field soon, so they can go outside, and be safe from the ravens. Like I need another project!

The good news is that I have completed quite a few of my projects for this year, so my list is actually getting a bit smaller for once. My next project is to finish my farmgate stand. I had originally wanted it done by June 1st, but that didn't happen... I just didn't have the funds to get it done. I have been slowly collecting materials, though, and now have everything I need to get working on the gates and fencing. All I need after that is a fridge, and I am done! Hopefully by the time the tomatoes and cuc's are ready, I will have it open.

OUT with the hose!

2011-06-18T10:00:00.000-07:00

Well, watering season has officially begun. We haven't had any significant rain for almost a month now. We really could use a good downpour! My two water holding tanks (they each hold 250 gallons) were full several weeks ago. Now, one is completely empty, and the other is half way empty. Already. I really expected them to last at least until July. I use the water mostly for watering livestock and dogs. Amazing how fast it goes! Really puts into perspective how much water we go through on a daily basis.

I dragged all my hoses out last week, and took them down to my new garden by the storage shed, wayyyyy down at the end of the driveway. Hooked everything up, crawled under the house and turned the water to the field on. My plants were desperately needing some moisture. When I made my way back down to the hose, almost no water was coming out. CRAP! I think there is a leak or something down the pipe somewhere. It is buried in the ground, so almost impossible to figure out where it might be. Just in case I did something wrong, I crawled back under the house, to see if maybe I had turned the wrong tap or something. I had done it right.
I proceeded to have a minor meltdown about then. I burst into tears. I have been working literally 16 hours a day, planting and making gardens, and trying to get everything done. Having no water for the 150 tomato plants, the 50 sunflowers, and the 30 Snackjack pumpkins I have planted in the back bed just all of a sudden seemed like too much to bear. I screamed at the universe for a bit, then said some very bad swear words, then crawled back from under the house, and got busy again. There is not a lot of time to sit around feeling sorry for yourself on a farm. No matter how hard things seem at the time, you just have to pick yourself up and deal with it.

So, now my ritual is this: everytime I have to go open or close the gate, I fill up my watering cans and lug them down the driveway, and water a few plants each time. I really need to find a better plan, as this won't do when it gets really hot. I've covered everything with hay to help hold in the moisture, but pumpkins and tomatoes and sunflowers are all really water hungry plants. It will be easier next year, as the hay and mulch I put on this year will start to compost, and hold in the moisture better. It only sucks the big one this year, as the bed is brand new, and there isn't enough organic material in it yet.

Sigh.

A Perfect Day!

2011-05-28T20:22:00.000-07:00

Today was the best day. Even though I had to take a trip up to Nanaimo, mow part of the lawn, and go pick up hay, I still got craploads done. I only have 2 boarding dogs at the moment, and both are regulars, with whom I've done 'garden training' with, so they can come out and play with my dogs while I am working in the gardens. They have been trained to not go zooming through and over everything. I managed to plant over 200 tomatoes (only 1000 to go...), some cuc's and some zucchini's. I did a bunch of weeding and slug picking as well. Even though it was supposed to rain today, it ended up being sunny and gorgeous out. I feel energized. I just kept doing 'one more thing' all day. For the first day this year, I had the energy I had last year. Not sure if it was because the weather was nice, and it is finally warming up, or what, but it felt GOOD!!
It also gave me a good taste of what life might be like if I made enough money from the farm that I didn't have to do dog boarding anymore. Even though I worked super hard, the day was calm and relaxing. I was able to take a few breaks and do some training with my dogs, and have a play session with them. Sometimes, I just get too busy with everyone else's dogs to do even that. I had the little goats out eating grass, and my dogs out with them for about an hour in the middle of the day. My dogs completely ignored them. They were so good! It was funny, though... Maggie was sniffing around them, looking for goat candy, and she came up next to Trouble. Trouble thought this was too close for comfort, and butted her in the side. Did she ever jump! She gave him a bit more room after that! This is the kind of thing I envision for my future here on the farm. Having my dogs out with me while the goats eat the grass and weeds, and the ducks eat slugs in the garden, and I can just do what I have to do without having to worry about waiting for people to drop off their dogs, or pick them up, or having the dogs zoom through the garden and smoosh everything. It's such a nice, peaceful, calm picture. I am now reenergized to work even harder to make this picture happen sooner rather than later.

Next week, I get my CSA payments. I have planned what to do with each penny I get. I have an appointment to get a hitch on my car, so I can use my utility trailer, get another load of soil, go pick up more cardboard, get a side of pasture raised pork for the freezer, take the dogs for a long-awaited vet visit, and finish my farmgate stand. To name but a few things listed! Nice to get a bunch of this stuff done. Next year is going to be so much easier! I will be so far ahead by then, and not so many projects to have to do. Can't wait!

Falling Behind....

2011-05-26T13:34:00.000-07:00

Argh!! I'm falling behind in everything lately. My blogging, my advertising, my planting, definitely my housework;-) Dog boarding has been insanely busy again, just slowing down now. When I have lots of dogs, they take up so much of my time and attention, I just can't seem to get anything else done around here. I am barely keeping up with the daily chores - feeding and watering the chickens, goats, turkeys, mowing the lawn, etc. I am just so tired. I don't seem to have the same energy I did last year. There have been moments when even I think I've taken on too much. (I get lectured about that all the time by my friends). Then, I think.... if I didn't do any dog boarding, and was just able to spend 8 or 10 hours a day in the gardens, would I be able to make enough money to pay the mortgage and the bills? I'd like to think I could, but I'm not willing to just forget about the dogs to take the plunge... yet. I have set a few more lofty goals for this coming year, and if I can accomplish them, I think I will be able to just live off what I make from the farm. My first goal is to finish getting the gardens built. I still have about 3/4 of an acre of land that I need to cover in cardboard, then make my lasagna beds. The second goal is to make enough money from my veggies (outside of my CSA shares) that I can get a nice big greenhouse installed. I want one that is about 20' by 100'. Then, I will be able to grow mesculin and spinach and whatnot all winter long. I think then I can grow enough to pay the mortgage. And maybe even take a day off now and then. I think I am just burning out at the moment.

I got my meat chickens and turkeys in at the beginning of May. I have had terrible luck with my turkeys this year. You always expect to lose a few, but out of 20 'regular' turkeys, I only have about 12 left, and out of 12 heritage turkeys, I only have 5. The heritage I am super sad about, as I was planning on keeping some to breed for next year, so I don't have to keep buying them. They are not cheap! The 5 I have remaining are looking good now, though. Hopefully whatever got them has passed. The chickens look good so far, though. I've already had orders for a few, and I haven't even advertised that I have them yet. I do have to raise my price a bit, though, as the cost of feed has gone up. Substantially. Sigh.

My little goats are doing fantastic. I LOVE my little goats! They are super friendly now, and love to visit anyone who comes over. I take them out on the leashes as much as I can to eat grass and weeds, but it's never enough with the dogs around. My dogs accidently met them when they were tied out. I forgot they were up by the fruit trees, and let my kids out... they barked for a bit, then settled into it, and all got along great. Kybosh was the biggest pain, as all she wanted to do was herd them. Poor Ky... I have to find a way to afford herding lessons for her! She needs an outlet. OH!! I have also got an order for my first two baby goats for next year already!! I am going to breed them in December, so the kids will be born next May. Two of them will be going as pets to a friend of mine. Yay!! I honestly don't think I'm ready to sell any for meat yet. They are just too cute for that!

Ravens are still giving me trouble. I also had an eagle kill my Cochin rooster, so the dream of breeding them is done. I am going to stick to chicken breeds that have the instinct to run away when a bird of prey comes. No more stupid birds! My muscovy ducks have been trying to brood nests, but the ravens keep stealing their eggs, too. Yesterday, I built a shelter for them out of pallets. I THINK it is raven-proof. I got my white female in there, with my second-pick drake. My first pick drake was too slow, and didn't get in this time! No sex for you, buddy. You snooze, you loose. So, my hope is that she will start laying again and get broody, and hopefully have some muscovy babies. My other female is brooding a nest out in the field. I just found it this morning, and there are at least 6 eggs in there that haven't been stolen yet, so I am just leaving her... maybe she'll be lucky, and the ravens won't find this nest.

The gardens are looking good, what there is. It has still been too chilly at night to plant any warm weather stuff yet. I planted a few tomatoes, and a few lemon cuc's, but that's about it. I check the weather about 50 times a day, to see if it has changed and is going to get warmer. This morning, it did change! At the moment, it looks like tonight may be our last chilly night, then tomorrow night will be up to 9 c. So, tomorrow, I start planting. This climate change thing sucks. Our summers may be hotter, but they are getting shorter and shorter. I've never had to wait this long to plant tomatoes before. The good news is that everything I grew in the greenhouse looks fantastic, so hopefully I can get it planted super soon!
Other than that, my mesculin, arugula, kale, etc is looking amazing. I have started selling the odd bag of it. I am still planting more, though. You can never have too much mesculin! I am hoping to have my farmgate stand ready to go in the next 2 or 3 weeks, so I will be able to sell more of it then.

The Power of Positive Reinforcement

2011-04-25T13:20:00.000-07:00

I have the greatest news ever! Over the last two and a half years, every time a chicken has escaped, Reckless has killed it. Sometimes before I even know there is a chicken out there. It was always a quick death, however. He is a very skilled predator! He has probably killed about 10 or 15 chickens during that time.

I have been working with him using positive reinforcement techniques. The more I use these techniques, the more I see the value in them. Anytime we were out in the yard and a chicken got loose, I would call Reckless to me, and give him a yummy treat reward (of which I pretty much always have in my pocket!). It gradually got easier and easier to do. This actually gives the dog a CHOICE of whether to go kill the chicken, or come to mommy. A couple of weeks ago, I had not one, not two, but THREE chickens escape all at the same time. Reckless saw them before I did. He stood there, and shook like a leaf. He wanted to go get that chicken so bad! He turned to look at me for direction, and I told him he was such a good boy, and gave him a jackpot reward (about 5 treats in a row). That was it! He then and there decided that killing chickens wasn't so worth it after all, and I can now let him in the field with all the ducks and other fowl, and he just sniffs around. I am so proud of my boy! For those of you who know Reckless, you will probably get what an accomplishment this is. He is a high-drive dog made up of whippet, border collie, and 3 separate terriers. All high prey-drive breeds.

Which brings me to the farming part of the story.

Over the last few weeks, I have had ravens coming in and stealing my eggs in the field. Then, my neighbour called me and told me he saw a raven come down and kill a chicken! I expected that of a hawk or osprey, but not a raven! Then, that week, ravens (or something) killed about 7 of my chickens, and ate ALL my eggs. This kind of thing can be really devastating. It makes you wonder why you ever wanted to be a farmer in the first place. It is so hard and harsh sometimes!
So, both Reckless and Kybosh observed me screaming and yelling and chasing a raven each time I saw one. They very, very quickly learned what I was upset about, and now all I have to do is say 'RAVEN', and off they go, zooming towards the bird of prey, and chasing it off! It is really cool and fun to watch, actually. And the best part, now that Reckless is no longer a chicken killer, I can open the gate to the field, they will go chase off the offending bird, not harm any of my livestock, and come zooming back to me. I now have four fully-fledged farm dogs, who are helping me make my living now. Gives me goosebumps, it is so wonderous!!

There was an osprey in my field also the other day. It was friggin' HUGE. It was down, harrassing my muscovy ducks. Another minute or two, and I'm sure he would have had one dead. So, I called my two awesome doggies, yelled 'RAVEN', and off they went chasing that osprey off. Then, I freaked out a bit, as Reckless is about the size of a duck, and that osprey could really drag him off, too, if it wanted. Luckily, nothing bad happened, but the bird sat in a tree, and watched me for hours, seeing if we would leave the scene so he could get one of my fowl. Bad bird! My only real defense is to be outside every minute possible, so I can send the dogs after the birds. Harder if I have to go out anywhere. Those birds are sneaky. So, I've been keeping my field chickens in their coop in the morning, as this is when they lay most of their eggs, and letting them out to forage in the afternoon and evening. Turns out they have been laying way more eggs than I have been giving them credit for. They were just laying them all over the field, and the ravens were picking them off. So with this new routine, I have been getting between two and a half and 3 doz eggs each day. Which is what I should have been getting all along! Maybe they will actually pay for themselves now.

Naughty Little Goats

2011-04-17T16:12:00.000-07:00

Oh, dear. What did I get myself into this time??!!
The little goats are very, very proficient at escaping. First, the naughty pony let them out. I was able to herd them back in without too much trouble. That was their first day.
The second day, they escaped two times. The first time, I couldn't figure out how... then I discovered they could fit in behind their shelter... there is about 6" between the shelter and the fence. The little buggers were squeezing out there. So, I quickly piled a bunch of branches in there, thinking that would stop 'em.

Nope! They got out again. So, the next time I found an old pallet and shoved that in the gap. That stopped them!
Then, the next day, they pushed their door back open... I kind of have it blocked off, so they could run in their little play area. I guess they think their play area isn't good enough, so they just pushed the block open and ran willy-nilly around the field, bleating and kicking up their heels.

Two days later...

Ok, I think I have those babies licked now! It's been two whole days since they have escaped. Yay! They are becoming friendlier and friendlier. I make everyone who comes over visit the goats. Doesn't matter if they WANT to see the goats... it's kind of a rite of visiting the farm;-)
The girls, Lily and Star are by far the friendlest. They learned very quickly that I often have a bit of grain with me, and they come running when they see me. Trouble is getting there, too. I am slowly beginning to pet them when they are eating out of my hand, so they get used to touch. Larry is STILL the only one who hasn't eaten out of my hand.

Two days even later....

Had a GREAT goat day today! They haven't escaped in quite a while, and even Larry has eaten out of my hand today. I couldn't get down to flyball practice today due to a road closure, so I decided it was time to start leash training the goats.
I put a leash on both Lily and Star, and got a little dish of grain, and led them out and into the yard. The boys just followed leashless. As soon as they were out, I just dropped the leashes and let them go to it. They were so happy! They ate lots of grass, and a few leaves and brambles. I only kept them out for about 20 minutes, but I was very surprised at how much they could chow down during that time! I thought it would take me a while to get them back in, but all I had to do was grab the dish of grain and call 'Here, little goats', and they just followed me back into their house. I gave them a grain treat, so they would enjoy coming back in. It honestly took me less than a minute to get them back inside. Whoohoo!
They are so funny... they are being good and quiet out in their pen, and the second they see me anywhere in the yard, they start bleating and calling out. We are starving! Pay attention to us! I am actually starting to enjoy the little guys. I know I have a big learning curve ahead of me, but I think it's mostly going to be a fun learning curve!

Gardens

2011-04-09T21:22:00.000-07:00

We finally had three... count 'em... THREE days in a row without rain. What a treat! It is supposed to start raining again tonight, so I made certain the last few days counted. I got as much gardening in as I could. I carted load after load of compost and soil, and finished my big bed down by my storage unit. I lost count after about 20 or so loads. I was so exhausted yesterday morning when I got up, I could barely move. Not used to working so hard! I finished the bed completely today, including planting it with mesculin and kale. Then I put slug bait around EVERYTHING. Later when it warms up, I am going to also plant lots of sunflowers and pumpkins back there, too. Nice and hot, and out of the wind. Should be perfect!

New garden by storage/farmgate trailer

Hard to see, but there are the little mesculins and lancinato kale that I started in the greenhouse planted here

Since that wasn't quite enough, I carted more compost and soil and started working on my other beds, too. I had to make these nice days count! Mainly the ones that I'll be planting my hot weather stuff in... tomatoes, peppers, squash, melons, cuc's, etc. I need to get on it, as I just planted all these crops in the greenhouse earlier this week. I will be doing more next week, too. I need to make sure I have enough space for everything!
Today was easier, though. Even though I was tired and sore, it wasn't near as bad as it was yesterday, so I am hopeful that I am getting back into gardening shape.

New Arrivals!

2011-04-09T19:19:00.000-07:00

The long awaited day finally arrived. Jody delivered my little Boer goats today! I had started off by wanting two little female goats to help me eat all the grass and weeds around here. I ended up by getting four... oops! How the hek did that happen? I couldn't resist the little buck, Trouble. Then, Burley died, so I needed to get a wether to keep Trouble company when I had to separate him from the girls when they are having their babies next year.

I am going to have little goat babies next year!!!!!!! The thought of this makes me so excited! These little goats are my first non-avian livestock. I feel like a real farm now! The little kids already had their first adventure. I had put them in their little house I made for them so they will learn that it is their 'home' and it is a safe place. Not long after, Kybosh, who was sitting on the front porch (surveying her world) started barking her fool head off. Ky doesn't bark very much, so I usually pay attention when she does. What do I see, but all four of the little goats crunched up by the gate in the field! The pony had gotten the door open somehow, (to steal the hay, the little piggie!) and the goats bolted. Thankfully, they were relatively easy to gently herd back into the house, safe and sound. I put a big 2x4 jammed up against the door. Not certain if it will keep the naughty pony out, but it was the only thing I could think of. I also strung some electrical fencing across. This will keep the horse out, but I don't think the naughty pony has any respect for it. Plus, it's not charged, so that probably won't help much!
Tomorrow, I will lead the little kids into the mini field I have ready for them, so they can get some fresh air and play a little.

Boer goats - first herd arrives April 9, 2011

Larry - the little wether

Lily

Star

Trouble - little breeding buck. Doesn't he just LOOK like Trouble??!!

It was funny when I was visiting them, though. The two flightiest ones at Jody's were Trouble and Star. Yet here, those were the two that came right up to me and ate grain out of my hand. Lily tried, but she was too nervous, and Larry, the wether - who was by far the friendliest one at Jody's - wouldn't come anywhere near me! I will spend more time with them tomorrow, and see if we can make better friends. I want to get these ones super friendly, so I can handle them easily.

My Old Enemy....

2011-04-06T13:08:00.000-07:00

For those of you who followed me on my adventures last year, you may remember my nemesis the Slug. The Slug is back, in force. I planted 96 gorgeous little lettuces last week. I have 4 left. They got devoured within a day or so of being planted. BASTARDS. Oops, sorry! What language! If you heard what I was saying in my head, you would probably drop dead from shock;-)

I started hand picking the little buggers again, with the plan of feeding them to my Muscovy ducks. The naughty Muscovys rejected them! Muscovys are supposed to love slugs! I was very disappointed in that. So, I filled a bucket with water and a bit of dish soap, and started drowning them again. Makes for good compost, if nothing else. I also went and bought Safer's slug bait. Lots of it. About $120 worth so far. I hate doing it, even if it supposed to be dog and eco-friendly, but I have to, or I will lose every crop I plant. I have sold 12 CSA shares (YAY!!) and I need to make certain I have lots of yummy crops for them.

I am off to the greenhouse today to plant more lettuces and mesculin, plus start on my warm weather crops - squash, zucchini, cuc's, melons, etc. It is hailing right now, but I have been promised that spring will be here any time now....

One Project Done... only a Zillion more to go!

2011-03-30T21:02:00.000-07:00

I am happy to report I have completely finished the new chicken coop! I spent over an hour the other night, moving all my laying hens into the field. I did a count as I moved them. I have 47 hens! I didn't realize there was so many.... and this doesn't count my Dorkings! It took me four trips with a dog crate and the wheelbarrow in the dark to get them all moved, but they are all safe and sound and getting adjusted to their new digs. The first day was hard, as they all kept running wayyyy up to the fence, flying over, and getting chased by dogs. I kept going into the field to give them more food inside the coop, as it was ME they were following out. The chickens see me as a source of food, and follow me everywhere. I used to think it was cute, now it's just annoying.
Yesterday was better. No one got attacked, and the chickens mostly hung out in the field.
The only other difficulty I've had is with the horse and the pony. They keep shoving the coop door open (even though I put a huge rock in front of the door) and putting their heads in to eat the hay and the chicken feed. They are such little piggies! I haven't quite figured out how to keep them out of there yet. They are moving to their own property soon, so will only be here for another week or two, anyway. Although, in that time, I may go broke with them eating all my chicken feed.

New Field Chicken Coop. Looks ramshackle, but it's really very sturdy.

Here are my easter eggers, finally out of my bathroom and in their new digs! They are doing really well outside, and seem to be thriving.

A Sad, sad day

2011-03-15T13:20:00.000-07:00

Today is a sad day. My goat, Burley (who came with the property, and has been here since I took possession) died last night. The last few months, I could tell he was winding down. I think all the rain and wet we've had this year may have speeded up the process. It was just too much for the old feller. I just spent the last hour attempting to bury him. This is very, very difficult right now due to the fact that it has been raining nonstop for weeks (at least it seems that way) and the field is just thick, sloshy mud. Every shovelful of mud stuck to the shovel, the hole was filling with water as I was digging, it was wet and slippery, and just plain hard to do. I didn't bury him as deep as I wanted, and I'm just hoping the critters in the wild don't make me pay for that.
THEN, to top it all off... as I was dragging poor Burley to his resting spot, I spied Dumbass. Dumbass used all his lives up, and something got him last night, too. Poor Dumbass. I just knew he wasn't long for this world. So, he went into the hole with Burley.
Sometimes farming can suck. Someone told me once that 'if you have livestock, you have deadstock'. I am beginning to see that this is a very true statement.
Now I'm getting more goats.... I am feeling a bit trepidatious about this right now. I feel like I am a bit cursed with goats right now. Hopefully, it will be different when I can raise them from little babies.

RIP Burley

Building in Progress...

2011-03-13T18:57:00.000-07:00

After all that planting yesterday, I still had some energy left, so I started working on my new chicken coop again. I was procrastinating this part a bit, as I really wasn't certain how I was going to do it. I had already placed the lower level of pallets, and secured them. This time, I had to put up the upper layer, so the building will stand about 8' high. The pallets were heavy, and unweildy. By the time I had manhandled the first two pallets up on their ends, and screwed them into place, I was sweaty and shaking like a leaf. Part of the shakiness was from exhaustion, the other part was from some adrenalin from trying to get the pallets up on end, line them up, balance them, and secure them all by myself. I was terrified the entire time that a pallet was going to land on my head, then that would be the end of Kelly! I would be lying in the field unconcious, and no one would know I was there. EEEK!

By the end of the evening, I had raised 4 pallets, and secured them. Pretty impressive, if I do say so myself. I have 3 more to go (if it ever stops raining again!). Then the roof. Oh, I have no frickin' idea how I will get that roof on! For one, my ladder is too short. For two, I am terrified of ladders. I can happily go up 2 or 3 steps, then I freak out. It's not a fear of heights, it's a fear of ladders. They are rickety at the best of times, but with no one to hold it tight while you try to lift a big pallet or plywood over your head....
Well, you get the idea.
I need help! I hate asking all the time for help. I feel like I've asked enough favours lately, but I'm pretty sure it's the only way to finish this thing. Sigh. I will have to cajole someone into coming over for a building party soon!
I need to get it done.. the chicks in my bathroom are outgrowing their brooder, and I have no place to put them until I move the other chickens into the field.

The Start of Spring

2011-03-12T16:48:00.000-08:00

What a great day it was today!
I got up early, exercised all the doggies, and ran up to my greenhouse to plant. I planted all my peppers (6 different varieties) and a few tomatoes, plus some new varieties of kale that I didn't have last year, and a few other assorted things. I watered everything with EM, and was happy to see what I fertilized last week with my compost tea looked FANTASTIC! I was actually going to bring a flat of lettuce home with me to harden off, and plant. But I forgot. Gee, that almost never happens;-)
Oh, well... I'll grab it next trip.
The weather was so warm when I got home, that I decided it was time to start planting in the garden beds, too. I planted 2 beds each of carrots, peas and beets, and half a bed of radish. The peas I tried an experiment with - I just broadcast them over the bed, then covered them with a loose layer of hay. That's it! It was so easy! I am REALLY starting to get into this no-till method. I've only been doing it for less than a year, but already you can see a difference in the soil, and the size of the earthworms. I've never seen such big, juicy earthworms ever! They are humungous!! Oh, and the weeds.. I mostly have buttercup in my gardens - looked smaller and weaker than they did last year. I am hoping I am making it harder for them to make a living, and they will slowly die out.
It is a bit harder to sow little seeds like carrots and beets. You have to pull the resting hay off a little row, then sow your seeds. I am wondering something, though.... the last 2 years, I lost my early crops due to a late, extra cold spring. This year, I am hoping that even if it does get cold, all the composting hay and organic material will help to keep things a bit warmer... would be nice! I checked the weather report before I planted.. it is supposed to be showery, but warm all week, which should give the little seeds time to germinate before we get a frost again.
It felt so good to get out in the gardens again and do something constructive.

Waiting for Spring!

2011-03-06T21:13:00.000-08:00

I am impatiently waiting for spring to arrive. However, I am certainly not bored while the wait goes on! I have so many projects on the go right now. I am working on my field chicken coop, and have done as much as I can while I wait for someone to help me get more much needed pallets. The good news is that what I have put up so far... is still standing!! ;-) It's a miracle, I tell you. I am not known for my building skills. I had to change my plan for the coop at the last minute. I put some of it together, then realized it was going to be wayyyy too small for all my chickens and ducks, so I expanded it before it got to late to do so. So, now I need almost double the pallets than what I needed before.

I also got a load of gravel to help temporarily repair my awful driveway. I am busily moving wheelbarrow by wheelbarrow full into all the humungous potholes. I had a guy out to give me a quote on fixing it permanently. I have to get proper ditches built, then resurface it. It will only cost me about $2000.
Guess I need to sell ALOT more veggies this summer. OUCH!

I am also busy making more garden beds. This is a slow and ongoing process, as I need to get a cardboard base down to kill the weeds first, before I add compost and soil on top. My friend John picked up a big bunch of cardboard for me yesterday, and is going to get a bunch more for me in about 2 weeks. Then, good news.... another friend of mine found me a utility trailer for my car! It is the back of a truck, and has a canopy for it. It will cost me $100, plus whatever it is for a hitch. I am THRILLED! This will save me from having to annoy all my friends for the next few years everytime I need something! I can use it to take my turkeys and chickens to the processor, to pick up hay for my gardens and chicken coops, for bringing home my little baby goats, and for picking up cardboard. To name a few uses! This will be a very well-used trailer!

I have been up a couple of times to the greenhouse. Planting, planting, and replanting. The mice and the birds are doing a number up there. I put out traps, and so did Elliot. He caught one mouse so far. Hopefully we will get more of the little buggers! All my pretty green shoots got snipped off at the quick. I've had to replant my spinach three times so far, and a few other things. A bit frustrating.
I fertilized my healthy green shoots with my homemade manure/compost tea today. Will hopefully make everything big and strong.

I bought two new fruit trees today. A Red Haven Peach tree, and a Fuji apple. I only need four more trees, and my orchard will be complete! I need 2 more apples, 1 pear, and 1 plum. The pear and the plum will be easy, but the two apples I want I am having a hard time finding. I figure you only plant these trees once, so I might as well get the kinds I want!

Dog boarding has been insanely busy of late. Last year, this was my 'slow' time. Not this year! I am going crazy. The dogs keep me so busy, I sometimes find it hard to find time to do all my farming duties. Sigh. Oh, well. At least it is paying the bills!
I joke that the dogs are getting in the way of my farming. I guess it's just growing pains, and it will settle out in the next few years.

I named my other two Dorking roosters last week. We all know Bully, the boy who is shooting blanks. Then, I had the 2 roos that I raised this past year for breeding. Well, one of them beat the bloody crap out of the other. The winner's name is Bloody Monday. The loser is Dumbass. I swear that bird has a death wish. He keeps coming out into where the dogs are. I can't believe I've been able to save him so many times! Then, if he's not trying to get eaten by a dog, he flies back in with Bloody Monday, who beats the crap out of him again.
That's why his name is Dumbass.

Of Winter and Spring

2011-02-26T17:51:00.000-08:00

This weather is seriously starting to tick me off. It is STILL bitterly cold and snowy and everything is a frozen wasteland. I could've sold several bags of kale this week, but couldn't because you can't pick it in the freeze. It just turns to mush. I could be making the big bucks on my garden! Actually, any little bit helps... it will get me faster to my goals.
I finally made it up to the greenhouse today... for a whole hour. That's all I had time for. Of course, everything was frozen up there, so I couldn't water my seeds or put my EM on anything. I am going to try again in a few days, if this weather would ever break! I totally expect these chilly temps in January, but it's almost March! March is spring!
I did get a few seeds planted. 3 flats of Walla Walla onions, 3 flats kale (both red and green) some green onion, stinging nettle (yes, I am growing nettles ON PURPOSE!!) kohlrabi, cilantro, and some more lettuce. I also had to replant all my spinach, as it seems some naughty little birdies ate what I had planted 2 weeks ago.
My cabbage and some of the lettuce I planted last time is HUGE! If the weather was nicer, I would start hardening them off, and planting them out! I am going to wait until this cold breaks a bit, then move them into a cooler greenhouse, then it won't be long until I can put them in the garden. Everything I am planting is getting a dose of mycroizzial fungi and EM, right from the beginning. I can't wait to see what kind of difference it makes in the overall health of my plants.

I also got my little chicks in today. There are 34 of them. They are all different colours. I can't wait to see what they all turn out like when they are older! I have them in my bathroom right now. This should help to push me to get my new field coop done soon, so I can move these suckers outside as soon as I can. Not looking forward to the smell! The good news is that I will have more layers by July.

My incubator is all heated up and ready for some eggs. Again, I just have to wait for a break in the weather so I can grab some eggs and start incubating!!

Snow Day

2011-02-23T12:11:00.000-08:00

I had big plans for today. I had actually wiped my calendar clean, and rescheduled all my daycare dogs, so I could go up island today. I wanted to visit my little goats, and mostly I wanted to go start a bunch more seeds in the greenhouse. I don't deal well when a wrench gets put into my plans. It takes me a long time to assimalate and adjust.
It was cloudy this morning, and cold like it's been all week. I had all the dogs out running around first thing, and suddenly there was a flash of light. I thought maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me... I couldn't really figure out where it came from. Almost a minute later, there was a huge boom of thunder. Then it started to snow. Just a few flakes at first, then more and heavier. Sigh. I won't drive when it's snowy out - I just don't want to take the chance that it will get worse, and I won't be able to get home again.
Anyway, in the last couple of hours, we've had about 2" worth. Not as bad as Victoria... they woke up to about a foot of snow this morning. Ugh.
I know it's still February, but I want spring! I am hoping this is winters' last blast. I thought I had planned this day so perfectly, so I wasn't going to be all rush-rush. Now I have to figure out another day to plant seeds. I was also dying to get up and see the stuff I planted last time, see how it is doing.

So, I am getting an unexpected snow day. I am mostly just lazing about, reading a book, doing some laundry. I plugged in my new-for-me incubator, in preparedness of putting some Dorking eggs in there soon.

Some cool things happened yesterday, though. I had a client of mine talk a friend into bringing me some scrap lumber. It is all pieces of plywood. Nice pieces, too! They will be perfect for helping me build my chicken coop and goat shelter. PLUS, my friend Amanda and her hubby helped me to get a truckload of pallets. I am going to use those for my shelters, too. FREE;-) Just my price. I will have to get a few nails and 2x4's to finish the job, but my expenses just went wayyyyy down with these materials. As soon as the white stuff melts, I will get started on the chicken coop. Can't wait! All of a sudden, I will have more work outside than I know what to do with. Hope the weather improves soon, so I can get started!

Controversy....

2011-02-20T09:35:00.000-08:00

Well, it looks like I opened a can of worms on my last post. I always post my blog to my facebook page, as some of my friends read the blog, but are not official 'followers'. The following arguement ensued. It actually went on a LOT longer than this, but I will spare you the cat fight! I realize there are always going to be different opinions on any new legislation that happens, but here are my reasons I don't want to have to tag and do paperwork on each and every animal I have:

1. I HATE being micromanaged. I won't even get my dogs tagged with city tags. They have tattoos, and a tag on their collars with my phone number on it. Why the hek does the government think they need to track my dog? It's annoying, and so BIG BROTHERISH, I can't stand it. This is my own personal beef, and has no bearing on any real issue!

2. We need to encourage more small farmers, not make it harder for them/us. I live on a very large island. Only 4% of our food is actually grown here. 50 years ago, it was closer to 90%. If there was some disaster (earthquake, tsunami, etc) which are very real worries here, as we are right on the 'ring of fire' earthquake zone, there is only enough food in the grocery stores to feed everyone for 2-3 days. That's it. Then what? People starve. Small farmers and people who have their own gardens will save the day. We can always hope there will never be a disaster such as this, but look at Haiti and Chile recently. People are starving and dying. Doesn't it make you think a bit?

3. I honestly don't think tracking and tagging animals on small farms would change anything. They track beef cows, and there are still outbreaks of listeria and salmonella. ALL FROM FACTORY FARMS, not from small farmers! The lady below who is arguing FOR tagging farm animals doesn't farm. She doesn't garden much. She gets a friend of hers to raise her chickens and turkeys. Does she think she is exempt from all the paperwork that will ensue? She doesn't have to work full time or run her own business to survive. Some of us small farmers do. Personally, I don't have anyone supporting me. I do everything on the farm here myself. I love it, and wouldn't change it for the world, but it is HARD WORK, long hours, and I don't need more put on my plate.

I'll shut up and stop ranting now. Promise! Fun goat and chicken adventures to follow....;-)

Person #1 holy shit that is scary stuff. If I had to document each and every animal on this place - where does it end? You want me to tag my aquarium fish too???? Jeez la weez! Feels like the gov't is always trying to crush the little guy :(

Person #2 okay so I took a look at your blog and I have to agree with some of it... especially the tagging of your animals. I realize that it is another expense, but honestly how much is a little tag? and in all reality it is no different than your... dogs getting tags. If one cannot afford it then maybe they should consider not having all the extra animals. Everything comes at a cost, and you have to do it the right way.

and as long as you are able to do it yourself... then it shouldn't be to too bad once you get yourself established and set up.

And with all the things that have happened in regards to salmonella and beef recalls... I think the consumer has the right to know where it came from. And if tagging it is the only way...so be it.

As for going after the big guys that are raising their animals in different ways than yourself... it will never go away. Eggs will always come from crammed in chickens and beef will always come from cows on conveyor belts. It is crappy... but that is what life has been like for years... it will never stop. That doesn't mean it is okay... but it is what people know.

And the last thing... people can't always afford to eat the healthy way... so when we we talk about financial burdens, it is not just the farmer, but what about low income families? Everyone deserves to eat the way that they can afford.

Just my two cents...

Person # 1 again:
I disagree.
The issue is not only the cost of the tag, it is the time it takes to take animals, not to mention the paperwork involved. Keeping a record of an animal is easy - we do it here. We don't tag them because, unlike large scale faci...lities, I know my animals just by looking at them. This would likely require a transfer of ownership each time the animal is sold. Again, paperwork. I can afford to feed my chickens. I feed them nutritious food every day. I talk to them, feed them veggie scraps, lovingly collect their eggs, and praise them for their good work in laying me that egg. Who are you to say I should have less animals because I don't think extra paperwork is necessary to keep my animals healthy and the food they produce nutritious? Even if I DID register/mark/tag/record my animals, It likely wouldn't put an end to any health problems suffered by the general public.

As Kelly says, the recalls are from LARGE scale productions, not small scale farmers. Have you noticed - lysteria outbreak from MAPLE LEAF FARMS, salmonella from LILYDALE. We are Not seeing in the news headlines: "small scale farmer has salmonella outbreak", or "farm-raised eggs kill thousands".

If people can take the time to go to to farmers markets, they will likely find the produce cheaper then at walmart. It hasn't been grown in China. I shop for produce regularly at Red Barn market or Russel farms, or at Crazy Dog Farm. I am happy with the produce, and happy with the price, and I am operating on a minimum-wage part time job as I put myself through 4 years of school.

Yes, there will always be chickens crammed into cages and beef grown in their own shit, that doesn't mean I need to raise that animals under those conditions, nor should I be treated as they are.

And, FYI cattle are already branded and ear tagged before they can be butchered at an abattoir or sold at an auction. Therefore, they are already recorded and the government CAN track where they came from. So far, it hasn't helped. We still have outbreaks of this and that and the other thing.

All in all, I will continue to raise my own food just the way I see fit so long as my animals are happy and healthy and live a productive life. They don't need to be monitored by the government for that to happen.

Oh, and I dont have tags for my dog, either.

Me: One of the joys of buying food from a small, local farmer is that you can go to the farm, see HOW and WHERE your food is raised. Make certain you are satisfied with the conditions the animals are raised in. You can ask questions of the farmer. You can't do that with factory farms. You have no clue where or how that animal is raised.

An Eye-Opening Meeting

2011-02-17T15:30:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, I went to my first Cowichan Agricultural Society meeting. (CAS for short). What an eye opener that was! There are things that are going on behind the scenes in our wonderful country that people need to know about, and we need to get informed about. Yet, most people (myself included) are not even aware we need to be aware!
The two things that really stand out to me are these:
1. The government, in all their wisdom, wants to start metering the water we take out of our own wells. I get that we all need to conserve, and watch how much water we are using. The last two summers have taught me that much! BUT, as a farmer, we make so little money as it is, now we have to not only PAY to have the wells dug and maintained, but then have to continue to pay for what we need to make a living? There is also some other issue to do with selling water rights on your land to another user. I have forgotten the details of that, but it didn't sound so friendly, either. My take is this: we need water to survive. If you are in the city, and the city has paid to get water to your home, then paying for what you use is acceptable. Water is a necessity of life. We need it. The government does NOT own the groundwater. The people as a whole own the groundwater, and we should have a say in how it is used.

2. The government also wants to track each and every animal we have on our farms. I can understand a bit, as there have been problems with egg recalls (salmonella) and beef recently. These recalls have originated with those so called 'farmers' who have feed lots, and caged birds. I've never heard of a person getting sick or dying from a home-grown, healthily raised animal from a small farm. Tracking each and every chicken and duck would put even more financial pressure on the small farmer, more paperwork, more time, when really what the government needs to do is crack down on the business' that raise their animals in an unhealthy way. Caged chickens that barely have enough room to turn around in, and cows crammed into a feed lot, being fed unhealthy corn and living in their own feces. It seems to me that the government needs to separate feed lot operations from the small farmer, and have different rules and regulations for both. It just doesn't make sense to lump us all in together.

So, I ended up joining the CAS, and will be attending every meeting I can get to throughout the year. I feel a growing need to get informed, and maybe even be a voice for doing what is right, and taking action for raising and growing our food in as a natural and healthy way as possible.

I sort of feel like my life may be turning in directions I have never even considered, and being informed of these issues can only help me in my new farming way of life.

Seed Planting Season

2011-02-13T09:39:00.000-08:00

I started the seed planting season yesterday! I went up to the greenhouse, and planted mega seeds. I told Elliot I would probably do about 20 flats (each flat holds 96 seedlings). I ended up doing over 40. I just couldn't stop! My cousin lent me her manual on SPIN farming (Small Plot INtensive), and now I am all over-enthused. My theory is this: I can't make the sales, if I don't have the product! I am just going to grow as much as I can cram into my gardens, and keep cramming stuff in until I make the sales I need to.

This time, I planted leeks, a few onions, mesculin, several different lettuces, spinach, lavender, tarragon, italian parsley, cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower. I will go up about every 2 weeks to plant more. And more. And more. :-)

I also planted my fava beans outside this week.

Does this mean it's spring??!!

What's New in Poultry!

2011-02-11T09:45:00.000-08:00

I am trying very hard to teach myself a valuable lesson. The lesson is this: If you have a good plan, STICK TO IT. Don't be a dumbass, panic, and move away from the plan!
I had my awesome chicken/poultry plan this year. I had arranged to get all my chicks and poults in at the same time, so I would only have to brood once. Smart, eh? It would be, if I stuck to it!
Lately my eggs have been selling like hotcakes. I've had to tell people no. I hate telling people no!! So, I panicked and got Amanda to put 20 eggs into the incubator for me. THEN, I realized... DUH, they won't all be hens! So I upped it to 40. At least they are dual purpose...
So, in about 2 weeks, I will have 40 chicks coming. It is too cold out, so I will have to start brooding them inside. Ugh, smelly! Then, I realized I still need to build my new coop out in the pasture, so I can move my other laying hens out there, and let the one coop regrow and recover before I put new chickens into it. I've got my work cut out for me!

About a week and a half ago I moved a bunch of my Dorking hens into the coop with my 2 new roosters, so they can start fertilizing eggs. I plan on putting a bunch of them into my new-for-me incubator and hatching a bunch. I will hopefully sell a few, and keep some for myself.
A couple of days ago, the roosters started trying to kill each other. I actually thought one had died yesterday, but he was just playing dead until the other left him alone. So, I put the poor loser into the duck pen, so he could recover. I went to a heritage turkey meeting yesterday, and they said that 3 males was the magic number. 2 would kill each other, but if you had a third, it would be enough of a distraction, that the fights wouldn't get so out of hand. When I have enough males, I will try it. I would really love to get some fertile eggs happening!

My muscovy ducks are starting to lay already! I've had over a dozen eggs now. I will have enough to start selling the odd dozen soon, then I will start harvesting them and put them into the incubator. I am hoping to get a lot of use out of this incubator! I can't wait to use it!!

Too much to do, so little time to do it...

2011-02-06T16:04:00.000-08:00

I have been having a huge struggle lately, just trying to fit everything into the day that I need to do. For the last three weeks or so, I have been operating on overdrive. Go go gogogogogo... Every moment of every day seems to be filled up with appointments, or work, or gardening, or work, or errands or work. I haven't had time to even sit down and watch the tube much. This is supposed to be my 'relaxing' time of year, so I can recharge my batteries for the spring season. I am not recharging very well right now. I am downright exhausted.

I was able to get a load of soil last week. This is my fourth load of soil I've brought in to the farm. I will need one, maybe 2 more truckloads, then I'm DONE. I will just keep building it up with compost and manure. So, in addition to all the meetings and appointments and other things I've been doing, in my 'spare' time, I've been making more raised row beds. Hay, manure, soil, more hay on top. That's my recipe!

This week, things should calm down a bit. The dog boarding is on slow motion right now, so that should free up some time to get some good gardening done. I hope. Just looked at tomorrow's schedule... it's full, too. Sigh. I need some downtime soooon, or it will be too late!

Still the Magic Rat...

2011-02-03T16:45:00.000-08:00

I came home last night from an agricultural meeting to find my RatZapper had finally caught something! I was so excited! The little red light was blinking away, and I thought I had finally won the battle...
I checked the trap. The bait was gone, and nothing was in the trap. GRRRRRRRR!!!! I couldn't believe it! Nothing traps this blankety-blank rat!
So, I thought maybe the batteries I put it in were bad or something. I put in brand new, fresh batteries, and some new bait (I am using chicken feed now) and reset the trap.
Today, I have caught 2 mice. It's not the rat, but I do feel like it's a step forward! Two less mice to chew up the inside of my house. Yay! Not a complete victory, but definitely satisfying nonetheless!

First visit with my new babies!

2011-01-29T20:33:00.000-08:00

I got to go visit my new baby goats a few days ago. They are about 2 1/2 weeks old now. Soooooo adorable! If you remember, my plan was to get 2 little girls, then next year breed them once and sell the babies, so that they will pay for themselves.

Things change so quickly on a farm.

I went to see Jody, the breeder of my Boer goats. She had already picked out two lovely little girls for me.

This is Lily and Star. Stargazer lilies are my favourite flower, so that's where they got their names. Are they not the cutest??!!

Anyway, back to the story... as Jody was showing me the girls, I spied the most beautiful little goat just in behind them. I kept looking at him, but telling myself... No, I want GIRLS. He was quite the stunner, though.
As Jody and I were talking, and playing with the babies, she pointed the little boy out that had caught my eye. She said he was WAY to gorgeous to neuter, so he was still intact. She was going to get just the right home for him, and if she couldn't find it, she would just keep him herself, he was so perfect. Then, she offered him to me! Really, I felt so honoured! Before she had finished, I said YES, of course. There was just something about that little guy... he just felt like he was mine, from the moment I saw him. So, my 2 little goats have turned into 3 little goats, and now a possible goat business. Jody is mentoring me and helping me in figuring out how to make money from goats. I was just planning on getting them to eat some grass and weeds... My, how things change!! Who knows... maybe this will be my ticket to helping me to make my living from the farm. Things do happen for a reason!

I haven't named him yet, but this is The Boy....

This is the little guy... he has a bit of an eye infection, so we gave him some medicine to fix it up. That's why his eyes are purple!

The boy and his brother... mine is the one with the dark head

The little guy being a brat....

Magic Rat

2011-01-28T10:04:00.000-08:00

Well, my battle with the Rat continues. I am losing.... bigtime. I have three different types of traps out - 3 snaptraps, a live trap that a client loaned me, and a RatZapper. I have tried all different baits - peanut butter, raw dog food, canned catfood, my sandwich, and cheese. Miz Rat takes it all... and not a trap snapped anywhere! Seriously, this is one talented rat! Everytime I check my traps, I am amazed. I almost want to let her live, she's so smart.
Except for that chewing in my walls.... GRRRR. She hasn't woken me up much lately... until last night. I had to get up and bang on the wall, and open the cupboard and put some fresh bait in the RatZapper, in the hopes that this would either scare her away, or get her GONE. It succeded in scaring her.... for now.

I'm not really certain where to go from here. All I have done so far, is ensure the Rat is eating well, and getting nice and fat and healthy. Here is a picture of the lid of my flour container that she chewed. The container has now gone to tupperware heaven.

There was a rat party going on in this container...!

:-)

Troubles with Vermin

2011-01-11T17:17:00.000-08:00

Last week, as dawn was approaching, and I was letting the dogs out for a pee, I saw a rabbit. It is the first rabbit in my yard that I've seen since I moved in over 2 years ago. The dogs pretty much have kept them at bay, but I guess they are starting to come back at night. Now, I am excited to report (NOT!) that this year, I get to do battle with deer, slugs, AND rabbits. Oh, yippee.

Then, last nite, things took a turn for the worse. What could be worse than deer, rabbits, and slugs, you ask?
RATS. I discovered in my cupboard the other day that a rat had chewed through my tupperware containers, and had been having a party in my flour and sugar. With my new way of eating traditionally, I don't use these products much anymore, otherwise I would have noticed sooner.
The rats have come up from under the house. There is a little hole beside my hot water tank that they can come up through. Last nite, I temporarily blocked the hole with a piece of lumber and a stack of newspapers. I know they can chew through anything, but I thought it might hold them off for one nite.

I was kept awake ALL night by a rat chewing in my wall. I kept going and banging on the wall, hoping to scare it, but it only stopped for a minute or two, then resumed munching and tearing away. The dogs completely ignored it. Maybe they new it was in a place they wouldn't be able to catch it? Who knows.
Anyway, 5 am, and the chewing stops. All becomes quiet and peaceful, and I finally fell asleep.

Only to be wakened and hour or so later by squeaking in the wall. I'm pretty certain that damn rat had a bunch of babies in my wall, and what I heard her doing last nite was building her nest. Crap! So now, not only do I have a rat chewing my walls, and who knows what else, soon I will have a zillion rats chewing my walls!
I can't use poison, for if a dead rat is eaten by a dog, it will either get sick or die, too. I would normally use a humane trap, but I could only find them for mice, not for rats. So, I had to buy a snap trap today. Never used them. I had to get a lesson from some guy in the store, as even the lady at the counter couldn't tell me what to do!
Contrary to popular belief, rat traps aren't that easy to set without getting your fingers snapped off. Took me quite a while to figure it out and bait it with peanut butter. I unblocked the hole in the wall, and put the trap inside.
Now, I wait. I am so excited to think I might actually catch the momma rat. Then, I can look forward to a nest of baby rats rotting in my walls. Frickin' fantastic. I hope you hear the sarcasm dripping from this post...

It's a Brave New Year

2011-01-01T16:11:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure why, but I am super stoked about this year. It's going to be an awesome year, I can just feel it!! I started the new year out right... I got my new fancy car yesterday. Drove home with it just fine. Cost me a zillion or so dollars to fill it up. Ugh. Hope it lasts more than a moment or two! I will be really, really watching how much I use it, and how often.
I spent the morning putting up ads for my CSA shares. The next month or so I will be doing a big push to make sure I get lots sold. I have also warned my friend, Elliot, to get his greenhouses ready, as I am going to start seeding in Feb, and won't stop until Aug. I need to grow a lot of veggies this year. I have also filled out a form to join 'Cowichan Green Community' where they list all the local growers of fruit, veggies, etc, so people who are interested in buying local will find it easier. So far, it looks like I will be the only farm listed in Crofton. On my form, I put that I will be doing farmgate sales, starting June 1. This puts a lot of pressure on myself, to get a new fence and gate done, so customers can shop in my 'farmgate' store, but not get attacked by the boarding dogs. I questioned whether I should put this in, but I figure it will help to keep me from procrastinating. If it's out there for the world to see, I'd better get it done!! I am trying to do everything possible to make certain this is a stellar year for the gardens, so I can reach my lofty goals a bit sooner. It's gonna be a busy, busy year!

Blogging 'cause I'm bored....

2010-12-24T09:41:00.000-08:00

Actually, I think it's more because I am looking for reasons to NOT go outside right now. We are in a heavy rain and wind warning for today. Everything is already lakes and puddles from the last couple of days, but we are supposed to get another 20-30 mm of rain in the next 8 hours or so. Ugh. I will definitely be doing indoor jobs today. Like cleaning the mud off the floor from all the mucky little paws that go in and out each day. I am super-busy this season. Luckily, most of the dogs I have in are awesome, and get along with others quite well. Only 3 sleeps, and a bunch go home. I have to admit, I am pretty tuckered from all the activity! But, I think I have pulled in enough money to buy the car, and that was my goal. I've been turning away dogs for ages now. I actually had a few people call yesterday, wanting to bring their dogs in RIGHT THEN. I hate turning away business, but I had to! I apologized, then politely suggested they book by October next year. I don't know of any kennels or in-home services that aren't completely booked up. Nothing like leaving things to the last minute!!

Ok, I just had a daycare dog show up that I didn't know was coming... guess I need to start working again.

But first, I need to do a little update on chickens.

I first put a light in the Dorking coop over two months ago. Finally, for the last 2 weeks, I am starting to get eggs again. AND my other chickens are laying even better now. I am getting a minimum of 2 doz eggs a day now. Plus, I had my first blue egg the other day! That was exciting, and long-awaited. The blue ones are from the 5 birds I got from Amanda this fall. I had actually given up hope that I would ever get any blue ones. So, YAY for me!! It will be fun to give everyone some unique coloured eggs this spring with my shares.

Also, I officially sold my first share that comes with a deposit cheque. I have lots of people on the list, and will be sending out the contract in January, but it's kind of cool to get that first REAL one for this summer. I can barely contain my excitement for this spring! It's not going to be easy, I will have a crapload of work to do, but it will be sooooo worth every moment!

Off to work now.... have a great Holiday Season, everyone.... from all the crazy dogs and people at the Crazy Dog Farm!

Winter Solstice

2010-12-22T15:19:00.000-08:00

Well, we have gotten through the longest night of the year. I am really more stoked than I should be, looking forward to more daylight again. Is it really that exciting?? I guess it must be!
One thing I have never, ever understood. They say that this is the first day of winter. Huh? I don't get it. For me, this is the MIDDLE of winter. We have the possibility of snow in Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb. Therefore, the middle of winter is NOW. We have 2 months left, then we start thinking it feels like spring.

The seasons, according to Kelly (forget societal conventions!!)

Nov-Feb = Winter
Mar-May = spring
June- Aug = Summer
Sept, Oct = Fall

Of course, this can vary a bit according to the weather, and may change over time as climate change affects our world more and more.

I love living against the grain;-)

Cars and other things...

2010-12-18T07:36:00.000-08:00

First of all..... only 3 sleeps until the winter solstice!!!! These days are getting way too short. I hate having to exercise dogs in the dark!

The last few weeks since my car died could have been really, really hard. Instead, they were relatively easy. Thanks to some wonderful people who just stepped up and volunteered to help out. First, I had a client loan me her 'work' truck. Which was a 2006, REALLY nice truck. I had forgotten how useful a truck could be! I got lumber with it, and bigger loads of cardboard, and really made use of it while I could. Then, a good friend of mine who was going away for the holidays, loaned me her car. The truck went home a few days ago, but I had the car, so there really hasn't been any long time where I was without transportation. I also found a cheap car to buy. I will be picking it up just after Christmas. It's definitely not my dream car, but the guy who owns it has babied it... it has newer brakes, and newer tires, so at least I should feel safe in it. The only downside, is that it's an ex cop car, so is a gas guzzler. I've never had a gas guzzler, and I'm not looking forward to it. It only has to get me through the next 5 months or so, then I can sell it and get a little SUV. Gotta get a car for the dogs! I would get a truck, but it is not heated or air conditioned for the dogs, and that just won't do.
I just got word yesterday that I have been approved to get $300 from the government for my old crappy car. It is just getting scrapped. It is an incentive they are offering to get older, less 'green' cars off the road.

It is after 7:30 am (just waiting for another dog to come in) and I am FINALLY seeing a glimmer of light outside. The sun just takes forever to come up...

The lumber I purchased is being used to make the rest of the little beds for fruit trees. I have decided my goal this year is to get the rest of my orchard in. The sooner in, the sooner I can start getting my own fruit. If the beds are all made and ready, I can just go buy one little tree at a time, so it will be easier on the budget. I am getting so close to being done!

Dead Fowl Day

2010-12-18T07:20:00.000-08:00

One of my white turkeys inexplicably died today. It was looking a little peaked yesterday, and was stone dead this morning. I started with 10 of them... now I am down to 3. This last one bothers me the most, as I have been feeding it for months! I know it happens, but when you only have 3 turkeys left, it's just kind of sad. These ones are booked into the processor at the end of Jan. My Blue Slate Heritage turkeys are looking really good, and they go in the beginning of Jan. Tastyyyy.....!

A chicken escaped again today. They are getting out a lot lately. Don't know why. I have been able to rescue all of them before a dog killed them... except for today. This one died. Reckless and the whippet, Blitzen double teamed it, and got it before I had a chance to do much of anything. Stupid birds. Why don't they just stay where they are supposed to??!!

Fruit Orchard continues....

2010-12-12T11:14:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I went and got 2 new fruit trees. Quite a while ago, when I had a bit of extra money, I bought myself a gift certificate at my favourite garden center, just so I could get some trees this winter. I ended up getting the Bing Cherry I was after, but they didn't have my Fuji apple, so I settled for a Golden Delicious for now. I am getting closer and closer to having my entire orchard planted.... I originally wanted 4 each of apples, cherries, pears, and 3 plums, plus 6 or so hazelnuts. I have expanded that plan a bit... I am going to end up with about 6 apples, and also a peach tree. I want to have lots of fruit in a few years, as my plan is to expand my CSA shares to include a 'Fruit and Veggie' share, or just a Veggie share, to give people an option. The fruit one will be more expensive, of course, but I think will be popular. I always have people asking if I have fruit and berries. Plus, I am hoping I will always have extra for the chickens, and maybe for pigs if I do those one day, too.

We have been getting the torrential rains again the last while that we had last fall. My driveway is flooded again, and everything is just soggy, muddy, and gross.

I got my favourite seed catalogue in yesterday, and starting planning my order already!! I love thinking about spring! The catalogue is from West Coast Seeds. ( www.westcoastseeds.com ). They have non-GMO, non-treated, and quite often certified organic seeds. They are also on the West Coast, so they have varieties of veggies that will do well here. I am going to try a few new things, and grow wayyyy more of the same as what I did last year, so stay tuned! I am salivating just thinking about all the yummy things in the garden!

The Horse is Back!!

2010-12-09T16:27:00.000-08:00

Yay! Katrina brought the horse, the ponies, and my little goat back the other day. I have soooo missed having them around! You should see them, though... they are all FAT. It looks like I have two goats in one goat body. I've never seen Burley so chubby! He looks good and healthy, though.

It has been doing the torrential rain thing again... just like last year. My driveway is floating away again. I looked in my well, and the water is only about 6" from the electrical box. If it hits that, I'm assuming everything will short out, and I won't have any water.... lets hope the rain subsides for a bit. I wish Mother Nature would spread the rain out through the year a bit, so we would get some drops in the summer when we really need it!

Only 12 more sleeps and then the days will start getting longer.... I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!!!

On the Farm Front...

2010-12-06T18:03:00.000-08:00

One thing about being car-less, is that I am actually staying at home more and getting some work done here and there. Admittedly, I have been lazy on the farming front lately, not getting much done. When I get really busy on the dog boarding side, I can't seem to get much done around the farm. I am making plans on how to start making a living from my farm faster, so I can cut down on the dog boarding sooner than later. I know that sounds terrible, as dog boarding is my livelihood, but 16 hours a day, 7 days a week gets a bit much sometimes. I worry that I will burn out.

So, I got to work the other day and almost finished my new turkey/brooder coop. The shelter part has been done for months, and is where I am keeping my heritage turkeys and my new Dorking chickens for now. They really, really need to get outside to forage, though. I finished the fencing part (except for one small stretch where I ran out of stucco wire) and cut the lumber for the door. I just need to be able to get one more roll of stucco wire, and I can finish the run completely. This coop I am designating next spring to a 'brooder coop'. I am actually planning ahead for once, instead of just getting in chickens or ducks or turkeys willy-nilly, whenever the mood hits me. I have contacted my suppliers of chicks and poults for next spring, and have arranged to get everything in the first week in May. This will get my turkeys ready BEFORE Christmas next year, and I'll only have to brood once, instead of all the time. I am quite proud of all this forethought;-) It's not like me! I have had several people asking for turkeys and chickens for next year, and I want to actually make a bit of money on it, so I am trying to treat it more like a business, than something I do just for fun. I have even had an order for some ducks in the fall! I am also planning on keeping 3 heritage turkeys for breeding next year, so I don't have to buy poults each spring. I've got that planned, too, so stay tuned!

I am also making plans to increase what I am doing in the gardens. Originally for this year, I was going to do 20 CSA shares. I am upping that number to 30. With my current car-less situation, I need to change things up, and get ahead for once, instead of barely keeping up. I am working on one online seed order. I am ordering enough seeds so I can fill at least 40 shares, so I will have enough produce left to do some farmgate sales. I am going to find a good used fridge, and build a double-gate system, so I can set up farmgate in the old storage truck at the front of the property. It is equipped with electricity and lights, so won't be too difficult to do. I think building the double gate system will be the most challenging part of this venture.

I am determined to make a success of this farm, even if it kills me.

Oh! my meat chickens went in to get processed just before my car kicked the bucket. Couldn't have been better timing... my freezer is full for the winter now! I have enough chickens to get me through the next few months, plus I have been busily harvesting veggies for winter consumption. All my planning paid off in the gardens this summer! I have tonnes of kale, mesculin, lettuce, leeks, carrots, and am still getting broccoli off my plants. Dinners have been quite delicious lately, and almost 100% grown at home.

Life Without a Car....

2010-12-04T10:29:00.001-08:00

One word can sum it up.... it SUCKS.

Death of the Crappy Car

2010-12-01T08:26:00.000-08:00

Well, my crappy car gave it up yesterday. I knew it was coming, but it is still scary for it to actually happen. I really, really wish it could've waited until May, when I get my CSA share money, and could buy a better one. Now, I have to scramble and figure things out. I will most likely be carless for a while. Which means I don't get to any Christmas parties, no more agility or flyball, and I have to figure out how to get into town once in a while to go to the bank, etc. The only downside to living in the boonies... you really, REALLY need good transportation.

I am, however, extremely grateful that my car kicked the bucket close to home, and didn't leave me stranded on a dark, rainy highway somewhere. I actually managed to drag it home, so it's in the driveway, awaiting it's fate.

So, now I am stuck at home for a while. Just think of the gas I will save, and the work I will (hopefully!) get done around here!

I was expecting to be a basket case when this happened, but I am handling it pretty well so far. I may have a freak out in a few days when I start to run low on dog food or groceries, or need to get to the bank.

Sigh.

Update on Compassion Farm

2010-12-01T08:15:00.000-08:00

There is good news on the Compassion farm front. The city of Lantzville has succumbed to the pressures of society (this is a GOOD thing!) and given Dirk and Nicole an extension of 180 days for their farming. In the new year, they will be holding meetings, etc, and looking into having the bylaws changed or amended! We're not there yet, but things are looking promising. People from all over the province and country are waiting in anticipation to see how everything folds out. Other districts are already looking into getting laws changed now, BEFORE there is an issue that comes up. I will keep you posted on future developments!

The Plight of Compassion Farm

2010-11-23T14:56:00.000-08:00

Remember Dirk and Nicole up in Lantzville, who have spent hours of time with me on their farm, teaching me about farming, and making money in a sustainable way?
The city of Lantzville has given them a Cease-Farming order.
I guess some grumpy neighbour with nothing better to do decided to complain about a pile of compost in their front yard. (I've been there... there is no odour or anything untoward coming from their compost piles). Anyway, during the investigation into this, the bylaw officer decided that Dirk and Nicole shouldn't be farming on their 2 1/2 acre property. It wasn't zoned for that. They have been farming on this property for over 5 years now. Before they purchased the property, the previous owner had stripped the entire area, and sold off the topsoil and gravel, leaving a lifeless, barren land. This, to me, is just so sad. No one complained about that! There were no earthworms, no bees, no butterflies. Dirk and Nicole changed the entire property, one wheelbarrow full at a time. Now it is a healthy, happy land with lots of critters and bugs. You know how excited I get about having lots of earthworms and bugs around! (with the exception of slugs...)

Anyway, Dirk and Nicole have decided they need to get the by law changed that doesn't allow for urban farming. Many areas have already got on board with this (including Victoria, BC) and have changed by laws to allow for urban and sustainable farming. No matter what the zoning you live in. Lantzville is behind the times.
We are all helping in any way we can. Both my cousin, Lorelie, and myself, have written letters to the mayor and the powers that be in Lantzville, asking for change. There are many, many other people who are using their voices, as well. The more people who ask for change, the faster change will come.

If there were to be some sort of disaster on the Island (earthquake, etc) and we were cut off from the mainland, there is only 2 days of food supply for everyone. We import 95% of what we eat! That is just sad. We cannot live without food. This is such an important issue, that affects everyone, everywhere. Everyone should be encouraged to grow food... anywhere they can.

This is what Dirk and Nicole would like everyone to do:

We have recently been instructed by the RDN, at the request of the District of Lantzville, to cease "all agricultural activity" on our 2.5 acre far due to us being "residentially zoned". This followed a letter in September telling us to "remove the piles of soil from the property" (which we worked out with the Bylaw Enforcement Officer and agreed to and moved the one pile in question within 48hrs).

Our goal is to have the bylaw updated to reflect the current awareness and future needs of our communities. Yes, we could apply for rezoning, however this would only help "us" not the many people who are urban farming or SPIN farming.
We are writing to you because this issue impacts all of us on Vancouver Island. Many of you are aware that only 5% of our food supply is grown on Vancouver Island, thus 95% is imported. It may shock you to know that there is only 2 days fresh food supply on Vancouver Island. That means, that any disruption in ferry service, trucking or problems at the US border (75% of BC's food comes from California) would have a dramatic and immediate effect on our food supply.

To us, "urban farming" is much more than a growing "trend" throughout North America. It is the way of the future; and the future is now.
Each year:

- land prices increase, preventing new farmers - especially younger ones - from acquiring land.

- remaining farmable land (even including the Agricultural Land Reserve) is forever swallowed up by development, further reducing our ability to sustain ourselves and increasing our already extreme dependence on imported food.

In light of this, we strongly believe it is our responsibility as individuals and as a community to stop and reverse this trend of complete UNsustainability and at least work towards a model of self-reliance.

Our intention:

That together, we see this as an opportunity to "change the system". Please understand that we do not want the focus to be "us". When you read the attached letter we received from the RDN, keep in mind what they are saying means: ALL "urban farming" and SPIN farming is illegal! (Small Plot InteNsive - where young farmers use people's city backyards to grow food for sale). This includes: honey, vegetables, meat, eggs, plants, flowers, fruit, nuts - you name it! Of course, this affects Urban and SPIN farmers at the Bowen Road Farmers' Market as well as other farmers' markets in Canada where municipal bylaws have not been updated to reflect support for sustainable, local food production.

We are asking:

That you contact the individuals whose information we have provided below beginning with Lantzville Council members (and anyone else you feel compelled to). We suggest that you approach this issue in the more general terms of local food and sustainability rather than what "the authorities" are doing - focussing it on our specific case merely limits the potential for us to work towards meaningful change in broader terms.

Please share whatever is important to you about this issue (links are posted below). In your letter, make sure you ask questions, especially if you want a response. If your children would like to write, that would be great.

It is likely that Lantzville council and the RDN will respond by telling you that we can apply for rezoning (which may or may not pass). This certainly does not help the SPIN farmers in downtown Nanaimo! Again, our goal is to have the existing bylaw changed for the benefit of our entire community

(much like what Victoria and other cities have done - http://postcarboncities.net/node/3686 )

This is the letter I have written. I am not very good at doing this sort of thing, but I feel very proud that I am taking the time to step up for this important issue. I've never written a letter like this before! I am asking anyone who feels this is important to contact me, and write your own letter. I have all the contact addresses for you. My email is crazydogfarm@gmail.com. I will send you all the information you need to help!
Letter I emailed, and will also be sending via snail mail to the powers that be in Lantzville

I was astounded to learn of the shut down of Compassion Farm in Lantzville.

Since buying my own farm in Crofton two years ago, Dirk and Nicole have been instrumental in helping me learn how to farm sustainably, and teaching me about how important it is to have fresh, local food available. If Vancouver Island were to have some sort of disaster and we were cut off from the mainland, we would only be able to feed ourselves for 2-3 days. That's it. Set aside the fact that local, fresh food is way healthier and nutrient dense, and just makes more sense!

I realize we have set aside ALR land for such enterprises, but it is expensive, and super hard to find. It took me over 2 years to find a small piece of flat, suitable ALR land that I could barely afford. If we only allow farming on ALR, we will be making a serious mistake. There just isn't enough of it to support the growing population. Added to that is the fact that we lose ALR land to other projects and construction each and every year. One day, there will be no more ALR. Then what?

I implore you to start working on changing this outdated bylaw. We need to step up, and become leaders in both urban and sustainable farming. Victoria has already taken great steps forward, and we need to follow suit.

We need farmers such as Dirk and Nicole, not only for the food they produce, but for the education and value they give freely to the fellow farmer and backyard gardener alike.

Wind Chill

2010-11-22T10:16:00.000-08:00

I just read this on the weather report....

Clearing this evening. Windy. Low minus 9. Wind chill minus 18.

To a cold hater like myself, this is the most awful thing ever. I want to go hibernate! However, I am grateful for my cozy, warm little home on days like today. I am grateful for lots of furry little friends to snuggle up with, grateful for a fully stocked fridge, so I don't have to drive into town, and grateful for my business being really busy right now, so I don't have to worry about paying the bills.

Ok, so life isn't so bad... it's just the cold I could do without! What I wouldn't do for some seed catalogues right now to peruse, and plan for the spring!

First Snow

2010-11-21T09:39:00.000-08:00

Well, yesterday we had our first snow of the year. Already, we've had more snow this year than ALL of last year. I miss last year. It was the bestest, mildest winter ever. Wish they could all be like that. It is bitterly cold out, and supposed to get colder. Over the next few nights, it will go down to -9 c. Of course, that's what they said 2 winters ago, and it actually got to -18 c. Stupid weatherman, doesn't know what he is talking about most of the time. I don't like the cold! I want spring! I want the sun! I want warmth! And beware, as I will be whining about the cold for the next 3 or 4 months, until we start seeing the sun again on a regular basis.

I am counting down the days until the winter solstice. That is my favourite day of the year, 'cause then it starts getting lighter later. That's my day to celebrate. Then I get funny... it will be 2 days into the increasing daylight, and I will start to say " I notice a difference already!" My energy level will start to come up a bit. Right now, I am sleeping a lot. Especially compared to the summer. I miss the days when I was getting up at 5:30 or 6 am, and enjoying it! Now, I am hard pressed to crawl out of bed by 7 or 7:30. If the dogs didn't need to go out and I didn't have to work, I would most likely sleep in until 8.

I am supposed to go to flyball practice today. It was cancelled last week, and it feels like forever since I've been. But, of course, it started snowing again about an hour ago. It's starting to accumulate. I am way too chicken-shit to drive over the Malahat in the snow. Especially since I have bald tires and no brakes. I keep telling the Universe I need my new car NOW, but it is taking it's own sweet time in manifesting me a new car. It had better hurry up! My dogs are getting chubby, and we all need some flyball practice!

I'm going to go watch the snow fall and sulk for a while now.

Muscovy Ducks

2010-11-17T15:14:00.000-08:00

Remember a few weeks ago when I was going to ask more questions about getting some Muscovy ducks? I've been doing research on them, and in the process, I found a lady who was just giving away 7 of her ducks! Normally, people sell them for about $14 or $15. That's what I was going to have to pay in the spring for some.
So, two days ago, I ran out in the pouring rain and mud, and got myself a little flock of ducks! They are about 4 months old. They reach sexual maturity at about 7 months, so they will be of breeding age come spring. What a score!!!

Muscovy ducks

There are 2 definite females, and 2 definite males, and 3 of which I am unsure. You can eat their meat and eggs, and sell their chicks, so I think my investment will pay itself off. They are also extremely useful around a farm. People who have them around horses, etc, report a reduction of up to 80% in the fly population. They also eat slugs (my nemesis!!) and other bugs.

Makeshift 'quicky' shelter for my new ducks!

I made a quicky shelter for them out of pallets, hay, and an old tarp. I am going to make a bigger, better shelter for both the ducks and my layer hens, and put them out in the pasture, so the chicken coops can recover and grow grass and weeds again. Right now, they are just stinky mud, and it is getting quite disgusting. Pasture raising is also the healthiest way to raise your poultry! I am just hunting for a used car canopy (cheap!) to use for them. Also, because the Muscovy's have REALLY sharp claws, they will be excellent to put for protection for the chickens. I was worried about 'coons and such, but I think these ducks should solve that problem.

I have never had duck before. I guess these ducks are super-lean, and look more like beef, but aren't gamey or anything. I will try some next fall, and let you know!

What else can I tell you about these ducks? Oh! They are quiet... no quacking! And they are roosting ducks, not swimming ducks. They can swim, but don't need or usually want to much. All in all, very interesting, and should be alot of fun!

Electric Chickens

2010-11-17T09:12:00.000-08:00

My poor chickens.
Last week, I was wanting to put a light into my Dorking coop, as they have completely stopped laying, and I need more eggs. I was rearranging my extension cords, so I could make it all work. I plugged in the cord in my coop with the layers in it, and went to rearrange the light. Suddenly, there was a great SQUAWK behind me. One of the chickens was laying by the fence, it looked like her foot was caught or something. I ran and picked her up. His foot wasn't caught, she was just acting funny...
I shrugged and went on with my rearranging.
A minute later, the chickens all freaked, and flew from one side of the pen to another. Then, they freaked again. Then, another big SQUAWK! and one of the chickens looked like she got sucked into the fence. She just lay there, looking at me. I picked her up, put her down, and she walked away like nothing had happened. The birds kept freaking. I couldn't figure it out!
Finally, I noticed the plug I had just thrown carelessly over the fence was actually touching the fence with the prong parts...
It all came clear.
I was wearing my gardening gloves, which just happened to be coated with rubber for waterproofing. This is why I didn't get zapped! The poor chickens got it anytime a feather even went near the fence.
I don't think I should be allowed to work near electricity anymore;-) What a dumbass.

Poor chickens!
They all came out fine, no one was permanently damaged, and lets face it.... it was really funny to watch!!

Another Scrape...

2010-11-11T11:08:00.000-08:00

Well, I got myself into another funny scrape this morning.
I am caring for a coonhound. She is a lovely girl, but very independent, and does not yet have a recall built in. She just does what she wants for the most part.
Somehow, she got under or over the back fence this morning, and into my neighbours yard. I still can't figure out how she did it. She is NOT a small dog, and I really can't figure out how she materialized over there! I tried calling, but she gave me the 'screw you' look, and trotted further away. I silently freaked inside... sometimes hounds will get on a scent, and just GO, and no looking back. They can cover a lot of territory, and could be really hard to find or catch.
I had to walk away from her direction, along the fenceline, until I found a portion I could manipulate and squeeze under. It has been raining on and off for days, and the ground is wet and mushy and cold. Not pleasant!
After I got to the other side, I saw that the naughty hound had gone under yet ANOTHER fence, into the mobile home park behind me. Great! Joy! Happiness! NOT!
So, off I go crawling under another fence. This one was a bit higher off the ground, and not so squeezy. Miss Hound saw me coming, and booted it the other way. She new I was going to get her! I scooped some treats out of my pocket (thankfully I always have a pocketful of treats for such emergencies) and she hadn't been fed yet, so I guess she was hungry. She looked at me, then made the decision to come get a treat. WHEW! What a relief! There was the great chance she could've gone the other way, and I would've ended up chasing her forever and ever.
I snapped a leash on her, and crawled under the first fence, and enticed her with a treat to follow. Then she pulled me over to the fence to visit the rest of her friends who were so patiently waiting for me. I then led her back to the fence bordering my yard. I looped the leash around my wrist... I was NOT going to risk losing her again at this point! and started to crawl back under. Going back was WAY harder than the other way. Of course, what should happen as I'm half way through the fence, all contorted and trying to squeeze myself as small as possible?
The phone rings!
Of course, being a business owner, I don't want to take the risk that it may be a new or existing client, and they may not leave a message for me, they may just call someone else...
So, I reach into my pocket - not an easy task, as I am in a position I can't even describe at this point, and get out the phone. I notice it is one of my favourite clients, so I press the button and answer.
Then I started laughing so hard, my client couldn't even talk to me! Thankfully she is one of those wonderful people with a sense of humour, so I told her the predicament I was in (meanwhile Miss Coonhound is pulling as hard as she can to get away, which makes my situation just that more difficult!). We both had a good laugh at me, made our appointment, and hung up. Then I had to wiggle and squiggle and worm the rest of the way under the fence.
Then I had to lure Miss Hound under. Not as easy as it sounds, as she is a big girl!

We are all safe and sound on the right side of the fence now. I have changed into clean, dry clothes. It is now raining out, so I am glad I wasn't crawling under fences later than I was. I fed everyone, and put them in their beds for a little bit so I can recover. Luckily, it is a holiday day today, so I can relax a bit. I will tell you that Miss Hound has completely lost her freedom privileges, and will be on a leash for the rest of her stay here. I am not taking the chance she escapes and decides to run the other way!

Making More Plans and another Farm Visit

2010-10-30T18:48:00.000-07:00

Through doing dog agility, I have met a fellow farmer. She and her family have a 50+ acre farm not too far from here. They have beef cattle, Boer goats, Muscovy ducks, and sheep. Plus lots of dogs. What's a farm without lots of dogs??!! Anyway, Jody invited me out for a visit and a tour of her farm. I am continually researching what different ways I can make money from my farm, so one day I won't have to do the dog boarding anymore, and I figured this was a great chance to get some ideas.

Jody was amazingly helpful, and gave me lots of good information, and my little brain has been going a mile a minute since I got back.
Partly because I fell in love with her little goats. The Boer goat is traditionally a meat goat, but Jody says only about 10% of the goats she sells are for meat. The rest all get sold as pets. They were super friendly, and very cute. I actually cried a bit when I saw two little kids (about 3 months old). I've never seen anything so amazingly adorable. They have little floppy ears, and the friendliest expressions on their faces. I guess they are a friendly and docile breed.
I think I want a couple! I've been going over plans in my head about how to make it work with the boarding dogs. I think my own dogs would adapt to them very well. If I had 2 little goats, they would go a long way in helping me to clear all the brush and grass I have growing around, and keeping all the brambles in check. That's my main reason for wanting them. They need no extra feed, so upkeep and costs would be quite low. I am thinking of getting a breeding pair, then they would have a couple of babies every 8-10 months or so... these I could sell for about $150-$175 each. I think its' a win-win situation. I get free land-clearing, and the goats get an all-they-can-eat smorgasbord.
Jody's babies are born in January. She has invited me out to see the little ones just after they are born. I can't wait! They are weaned and ready to go in April. So, I have lots of time to figure out some dog-proof fencing. I am going to leash train the little goats, and make sure they grow up super friendly, so they will be easy to handle and move about the property.

They also raise Muscovy ducks. Jody sells live ducks, and meat ducks, and eggs. Next time I go out, I'm going to ask many more questions about those, too. Who knows... maybe another way to make some income on my little farm!

First Frost

2010-10-16T15:11:00.000-07:00

Well, all of a sudden the nights are COLD, and we had a really sharp frost last night. It went from being 8-10 degrees C at night to less than zero the next night. Yuck. I am decidedly NOT a winter person. I am already starting to count the days until we start getting more light again. I am not liking this 'get dark by 7 and not light until after 7 thing. And it gets worse before it gets better.

We have had some really, really gorgeous days this month... I have finally been getting off my butt and doing stuff in the gardens again. I cleared a bunch of beds (mostly by just smooshing everything down) and put a layer of hay on them for the winter. This should start composting, and by spring I will have some water-retaining, earth-worm loving, beautiful soil. I am not doing fall rye again this year. What a pain in the butt that was this spring. Trying to dig it in, then it just pops back up and keeps growing while you are trying to plant, and then a bunch of it went to seed, and I'll never get rid of it now... hay just seems so much easier! Hopefully I'm right about that.

My Cochin chickens are not having a good time of it. The male, especially. No matter where I put him, he gets picked on, plus I worry he doesn't get enough food. So, the other day, I had a 'brilliant' idea. There is an old rabbit hutch on the property (it came with a rabbit when I first moved in, but Maggie killed it within about 2 minutes of being on the property). Anyway, it's just been sitting there, getting all overgrown with grass and weeds, so I decided to put the Cochins in it. They are not happy there, either. They refuse to go out the little door to the 'outside' area of the hutch, and are just staying crammed in the little indoor area. I even put their food and water outside, and they will reach out with their necks to eat and drink, but won't go right out. Then, earlier today, I found Maggie had opened the hutch door, and had her head in the coop. That's it, I thought.... those Cochins are DEAD. I got her out, and checked... miraculously, they were still alive! And seemingly unharmed.
Then, a while ago, I found her in the hutch again.
BAD MAGGIE!
I got her out again. Checked. My Cochins were still alive! Maggie was sticking her head in the coop to eat poo. Not eat chickens. Wow! I was floored. Not that eating poo is a good thing, but it's a darned site better than mascaraing my chickens! She had ample time to kill them, and chose not to.
Am I a proud doggie mama, or what??!!

But, obviously, this hutch isn't working, either. So, tonight, I am going to try moving the Cochins in with the meat birds again. If I have them as a pair, instead of the male by himself, maybe they will do better. The meat birds will only be there for another 2 or 3 weeks, so hopefully they can make it work until then.

Horses, sheep, and other livestock

2010-10-13T09:21:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, Katrina, who owns the horse and ponies that normally board here took them all away to go eat grass on a new field. Review, the horse, is such an iggy-piggy, that he has eaten my field almost bare. That boy just never stops!
She loaded up the equines, then we decided it would be good for her to take my little goat, Burley with them, too, so he wouldn't be lonely. She didn't even have to entice him into the trailer... he just hopped up and snuggled underneath Reviews neck.
My field looks so empty and bare without them. It is lonely, and the farm doesn't seem quite as 'farmish' without them.
Hope they come back soon!!

I have also been approached by some other people to keep 5 or 6 sheep in my field. They would use the sheep for herding practice. If they do this, it would be in exchange for herding and/or agility lessons. My idea! Herding lessons are super-expensive.... $40 for a half hour.... so getting a few free lessons now and then would be awesome. I can learn, and Kybosh can hone her skills.

I picked up my 2 new buff Cochin chickens on the weekend. They are very pretty... a really nice golden colour. The male isn't fitting in very well, though. Two days ago, I found him with his head buried in a hole by a fence post (just like you see ostriches do in the cartoons!!) and his butt in the air... several of my laying hens were pecking at his butt. Poor guy! He is do docile, he is just not defending himself. I picked him up and put him in with the meat birds for the rest of the day and night. Then, last night, all he wanted to do was go back in with the layers. He was lonely for his girlfriend, I guess. So, I plopped him back in with the 'girls'. I am watching carefully to see how he does. Hope he's ok, as I really don't have another place to put him right now.

I am also having challenges with the 3 little free chicks I still have in my living room. They are very healthy and robust, but they are starting to escape. One flew out yesterday, and Reckless almost ate him (or her??). Now I have to watch every moment to make sure they are not going to get into trouble! Two more weeks, and my meat chickens go in to be processed, and then I can put these little guys outside. If they survive that long!

Another Visit

2010-10-03T10:37:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, a cow from the neighbours yard came to visit.
Some of you who have been 'following' for a while may remember last year when a couple of cows came to visit. It took the owner hours to get the cow back into his own yard. The cow really, really didn't want to go! At the time, I thought...."wouldn't it be nice to have a border collie to herd this cow?!"

This year, I had my little border collie.
We've had all of one lesson in herding, but my little Kybosh has great instinct. I haven't a clue what I am doing.
The cow came over really early in the morning, and I had all the dogs out, and was on my way to feed the chickens, when the dogs all rushed the cow. Blitzen, the whippet, got there first, jumped up and bit the cow on the ass. I guess he thought he was a border collie.
He got a good swift kick in the ribs for his trouble.
The other dogs continued the chase. Maggie, Boom-boom, Kybosh, Reckless and a little terrier, Kira. Blitzen was cowering on the ground at this time, crying.
The cow was back in her own yard in moments.

Then, the stupid cow came back later that day. Cows are supposed to be smarter than chickens... aren't they???

This time, I saw the cow before the dogs did. I rushed them all inside, except for Ky. I told her to 'get it'. Not a herding command, lol, but I panicked, and said the first thing that came to mind.
Anyway, Ky had that cow trotting easily back towards the fence in no time. She looked back at me once to ask if she was doing the right thing, and I told her good girl, and keep on going, and she escorted that cow right back to her own yard. No fear in that little girl! Now I really want to keep up with the herding lessons when I can afford it. It will be so helpful here on the farm in the future!

I called the owner of the cow, who came straight away and fixed the fence. Yay! No more cows for a while, anyway.

Oh! And Blitzen is just fine. The cow obviously didn't get him too bad, and he recovered in moments.

Chicken Rescuer Extraordinaire

2010-10-03T10:23:00.000-07:00

I have spent too much of my time this week rescuing really, really stupid chickens. This is where dog boarding and farming do NOT mix!
I am caring for a big Rotti right now. He really is the nicest rotti I've ever met, but watch out chickens! About three days ago, a chicken escaped from the coop. Rocky got it. He's fast for a big guy! Somehow, I wrangled the chicken out of his mouth- while at the same time, I was trying to keep ANOTHER dog from grabbing her,( I still am unsure as to how I did that...!) and told the chicken she was stupid, and threw her back in the coop.
The chicken survived being chomped by a Rotti!
Yesterday, another chicken escaped. Rocky got this one, too! This time, I was able to grab him by the tail before he got a good hold on her, put him inside, and then grabbed the chicken and told her she was stupid, and threw her back into the coop.
Later that day, the same stupid chicken got out again.
This time Reckless and a whippet were running about. They both saw the chicken at the same time, and were both on her before I had time to blink. Somehow, I had to hold BOTH dogs back, then with a third hand grab the chicken. Sound difficult??? It was! At some point, I managed to grab both dogs, throw them back a couple of feet, then grab the chicken REALLY fast, before they could grab her again. Amazing how quickly you can move when you have to!
I took the naughty chicken inside, and clipped her wings before I put her back in the coop. Then I had a discussion with her as to how stupid it was to ever, ever leave the coop. Next time she may not make it back alive!

During all three chicken attacks, my three girls were out, too. I do have to mention just how proud of them I am. They kept a respectful distance from the chickens each time. They have become true farm dogs. When I was holding the last chicken, I let all four of my dogs sniff it, yes, even Reckless. I wanted him to get used to sniffing without grabbing, and it's easier to do when the chicken isn't squawking and flapping about. He did really well, and it was a great learning experience for all the dogs.

A New Obsession

2010-09-28T11:43:00.000-07:00

I think I am becoming obsessed with chickens. I keep wondering how many coops I will need to build before I am satisfied. I have 4 now, and will most likely need 2 more by spring. Not a good sign!

My girlfriend Amanda offered out 3 baby chicks for free. I see that FREE word, and I jump at it... doesn't seem to matter what it is. So, now I have little baby chicks in my living room, because I have no place else to put them. I don't know what will happen when they get too big for the brooder. I had better come up with a plan... SOON!! I am amazed, though, that the dogs haven't even tried to eat the chicks yet... not even my naughty boy, Reckless. I guess they are getting used to having chickens all over the place!

Then, my other girlfriend heard about a pair of Cochins up for grabs. Somehow, I found myself saying 'yes' to those, too. I don't even know why! Cochins are a bit rare, but they are more for pets rather than utility. They don't lay a lot of eggs, and are a bit scrawny eating. The only thing redeeming them are the fact that I've had someone offer to buy babies from me next year. The male had better be fertile!

I've also ordered 2 more varieties of heritage type breeds from my friend Amanda for next spring. Light Sussex, which are dual purpose, and soooo pretty. ( I stole the picture from your website, Amanda... please don't sue me;-)

I think I also ordered some either Lavender or Blue Orpingtons... can't remember which now. Both varieties are dual purpose, so at least I will be able to make use of both males and females.

Sigh. So many chickens, so little time. And space.

On another note, I harvested a bunch of sunflower seeds and roasted them yesterday. I had planted my sunflowers so late this year, I really didn't think I would be able to harvest any of them. I've never had home-grown seeds before. Are they EVER so much better than the crap you buy in a bag! What a difference! I am definitely planting WAYYYY more next year, so I will have enough for shares, and enough for myself to roast and munch on all winter long.
I accidently harvested one of my Snack Jack pumpkins, too. I picked it up to see if it was ready, and the stalk just snapped. Does that mean it is ready??? Anyway, my job tomorrow is to open it up and see if the seeds are any good, and roast them up, too. The pumpkins themselves are super-cute and little.

I am still making my own ginger beer. I made a giant batch about 2 weeks ago. It was the worst batch EVER. I ended up throwing it down the sink it was so bad. I know what I did wrong, anyway, so hopefully it won't happen again.
This week, I made apple. It should be ready in a day or two. I've really missed having it to drink the last couple of weeks, though.

The sun has come out to visit.... guess I should go think about getting some actual work done around here!

Update on Chickens and Turkeys

2010-09-22T14:17:00.000-07:00

I keep forgetting to update on my chickens and turkeys!
I got 25 Cornish giant chickens and 10 white turkeys in last month from a new hatchery that I haven't tried before. They were the littlest, wee-ist little birds I have ever seen. Some of the turkeys were DOA, so out of 10, I ended up with 4. Out of 25 chickens, I still have 20. They are about 4 weeks old now... almost half way through their lives. They seem to be doing quite well, though, and are eating me out of house and home. Yesterday, I started letting them out of their brooder, to explore outside. It has been sunny and gorgeous the last couple of days, so the little guys won't get cold. I hope!

The heritage Blue Slate turkeys I got in June are doing AMAZING. I have had them on a special 'heritage' feed almost their entire lives, and I'm pretty sure it is making a huge difference. They seem to be very close to the size my last batch was when I got them processed... only they are just half the age. I will probably get them done in Dec or Jan, depending on when I feel like eating a turkey;-)

The new Dorkings I got in from my friend are also doing well. When they are ready, I want to put each one in a coop with about 5 or 6 females, and see if I can get some fertile eggs from them. If I could start breeding my own, I would be that one big step towards self-sufficiency... I wouldn't have to buy chickens anymore! Plus, I could sell the babies for $7-$10 each, and maybe make a bit on the side.

I got a bunch of new egg birds wayyyy back in April? I think. They are JUST starting to lay. A bit. I feel like I have been feeding them for free for a very, very long time! I can never keep up with demand for eggs. I always have more orders than I can fill. 3 of my egg shares that I sold finish in about 3 or 4 weeks, so that should lift some of the egg pressure. Need more eggs! I put a light into the layers coop until about 10 pm each nite, so I hope that is going to help bring up production again.

Fall Chores

2010-09-16T16:45:00.000-07:00

Well, I have been planting my head off, and I think I can see the end in sight...

Except I forgot to leave enough empty beds for all the garlic I plan to put in.
Oops!
My plan is to at least double the garlic I planted last year. I kept a bunch of the biggest, bestest bulbs to replant this fall. I hope to have at least 600 of the Galiano garlic, plus I've ordered some Russian Red, and some Yugoslavian. Yugoslavian is my ultimate favourite garlic, and you have to order EARLY. Last year I tried to get some in early August, but the garlic growers were already sold out. This year, I ordered the day the catalogue came out, and should be getting my shipments any time now. I didn't order a lot of either variety, but I will keep saving my own seed from each year, and should be able to sell a few, and then double my inventory each year.

Anyway, I have almost finished planting all the seed starts I did... a bit later than I had hoped to get things in, but so far the weather is co operating with me. It is still really warm out, even though we are getting rain on and off. I hope this warm lasts a while longer! It's nice to enjoy it without having the constant worry about water.

I think the best thing I did this year was the mulch. I got the idea from Ruth Stout. She was an old gardener who gardened into her nineties using mulch and more mulch. People would come for miles to drive by her gardens and watch her at work.
But this is mainly because she often gardened in the nude.

NO KIDDING!!!

Anyway, I digress...
A client of mine just loaned me one of her books. The principle is simple. Plant everything in mulch. Keep adding mulch. There were several crops of mine that were doing just lousy, so I covered them with a bunch of hay, with the intention of replanting with another crop, and within a week or so, BOOM! Little green plants started to pop up all over, when I had completely given up of ever seeing anything. EVERYTHING is planted in mulch now.
I am making more garden area as well. I keep collecting cardboard. Lots and lots of cardboard. I am putting it down over the pasture, then putting a row of hay, then putting yummy horse poo on that, then some soil (mostly to keep the dogs from eating the poo!) then another layer of hay. By spring, it should be nicely composted, and perfect for planting all the crops I have planned. And I have a zillion crops planned. I am excited for spring already!! I am already eagerly anticipating the fall run of seed catalogues, so I can start deciding what to grow, and which varieties to try next year.

I really want to take a bunch of pics for the blog, but my memory card ran out of room in my camera. I need to remember to go buy a new one soon. I like to take pics each year in Sept, so I can see how things change and progress over the years. I will get more pics soon, I promise!

A Little Note about Peas

2010-09-11T16:37:00.000-07:00

My little note about fall crops of peas is.... DON"T DO IT!!
All the books I have read tell me to plant a second crop of fall peas. Last year, I planted too late, and I ended up with chicken feed and compost.
This year, I planted on time. What the books don't tell you is that fall peas go straight to the starchy stage. No sweet, succulent pods this time of year. They are baaadddd.
The moral of the story... don't believe everything you read, and don't waste your time, money, or pea seeds for a fall planting.
Just plant lots and lots in the spring, so you will have enough year round.

And that's all I have to say.

Fall is here

2010-09-10T16:15:00.000-07:00

Well, it definitely feels like fall around the farm these days. A lot has happened, and I haven't been keeping up with the blogging as well as I should have. My bad.
At first, it was soooo frickin busy on the dogboarding end, that I could barely breathe. Now, it's so slow, I am entering panic stage. I am trying hard NOT to panic, but sometimes it just sneaks up on me.

When I bought this farm, it was because it was my dream to live off the land, sustainably, and grow my own food before I was 40 and I got too old to enjoy it.
Last month, I hit the big 4-0. EEEEKKKK! What a scary thing! I only feel like I'm about 28, so now I tell everyone that 40 is the new 20, and I am still young. Which I feel young, so really I guess that's about all that matters.
The Universe was a big meanie to me on my birthday, however. I was lucky enough to get stung by a wasp the day BEFORE my birthday, then again on the day OF my birthday, then AGAIN ON THE DAY AFTER my birthday. I couldn't believe it! My arm and leg all swole up, and the only reason it didn't get worse was that I was at home when it happened, and was able to get benadryl into me within moments of getting stung. I was not impressed!
Honestly, this farm was the absolute best thing I have ever done. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the life, and how every day is an adventure, and you never know what is going to happen, or what challenges you will face. The finances are still scary at times, but if I think back to 2 years ago when I bought this place then immediately lost my job.... I've come a lonnngggg way. At least I don't cry every night, wondering how I am going to pay my mortgage. I will never starve, as all I need to do is go into my backyard, and pick some veggies. I am learning how to preserve food the traditional way, and I even cook proper meals for myself. Cooking is NOT my thing, so this is actually a big step for me! I am learning all about keeping chickens and turkeys, and researching into having pigs and maybe a milk cow one day.

Ooohhh, I want a milk cow sooo bad! I am on a cowshare, so I get raw milk each week from a lovely little Jersey, and it is so delicious. It is never enough for me, though! I make my own butter and yogurt from it, and will be trying cheese when I have more time on my hands. I keep thinking about getting my own little Jersey, but if I did that, I wouldn't ever be able to go to another dogsport function again. That little cow needs to be milked every day, twice a day. I am considering having my own cowshare, but done a bit different. If I could find 4-7 people who want fresh, whole milk each week, and we all go in on the cow together, then each one of us will milk once or twice a week. I think this is a fantastic idea, because we would all share in the expense of the cow, and I could make sure I got weekends off milking to go have some fun;-) My only major stumbling block to really going forward is that I am afraid I will get someone who doesn't take the milking seriously, and forgets... then the cow really suffers. In the meantime, I will keep planning and collecting names for interested parties.

My well went very, very dry a few weeks ago again. It was dry for over 3 hours. That was by far the longest time it went dry. It was scary. Luckily, it started raining the very next day, and the well is full again. It is astounding to me how much water I use just irrigating the gardens. When it filled up at the beginning of August, I thought I was set for the rest of the summer. I had a week off watering, which was wonderful, then it was hot and dry again, so I had to start up. The well was depleted in a matter of 3 days. It really puts the whole water thing into perspective, and I have to make it my priority to always be conscious of how much I use. Even in the winter when we have 'lots'. I FINALLY got one of my water tanks hooked up to the downspout, so when it rains again in the next day or two, it will fill up. I am going to use that for the livestock on a regular basis. I'm not going to take from the groundwater as much anymore! The best thing I did with the gardens is the hay. It saved me hundreds of gallons of water... and hours of watering. Now, I am just automatically planting everything in a hay or mulch. If I start now, by next spring it will be starting to compost, and should be even more water efficient.

On Sunday, it will be my second anniversary on my little farm. What a landmark! And, to top it off, my Aunt and Uncle are coming to visit. I haven't seen them for 15 or 20 years. They used to have a 20 acre farm in Victoria, of which I spent alot of time on when I was just a wee one. I had such wonderful times and memories of their farm! I'm certain this is why I wanted a farm of my own so bad. And I'm pretty certain I can blame my dog obsession on them, too! They had border collies - they were working dogs, and so amazing and smart. I remember they had puppies one time, and oooh, did I want one of those bigtime! My parents were wise in not letting us have a BC on a city lot - that poor dog would've been bored to death. But, my obsession grew from there, and got me to where I am today. Dog obsessed, and farming! I can't wait to see them and catch up on fun times, and have someone to talk to about my two favourite topics... dogs and farming.

Getting Down and Dirty

2010-09-05T10:05:00.001-07:00

Well, things are really easing up on the dog boarding side. Now I'm back to panicking about money again. As time goes on, the panic times should be getting shorter and shorter.

I have had more time and energy to get back into the gardens, though. Yay, for that! I really missed it when I couldn't get out there on a regular basis. I've planted beds and beds of onions, lettuce, spinach, mesculin, kale, chard, purple sprouting broccoli, and cabbages. I planted peas, too, but only one or two of the beds I planted is doing very well. The others.... not sure. They may have gotten eaten by birds or sowbugs, or rotted, or something. Regardless, the seeds went into the ground and disappeared. So, I am going to replant with some more of my spinach, chard, and lettuces. I've planted about 10 beds in the last few days, but still have a zillion starts to transplant still. I need to have better time management next year, so I can get everything in before fall really hits.

How to Make your own Ginger Beer... YUM!

2010-08-28T18:45:00.000-07:00

I am going to teach you all how to make your own ginger beer. Ginger beer is the original soda pop. It's what we used to drink before Coke and Pepsi, and all the sugary crap we all drink so much of, and that's what I was addicted to for soooo long.
Now I'm addicted to ginger beer! So far, I've made blueberry, blackberry and ginger ale. I am going to be making peach later today, and next week... maybe mango? You can try all sorts of flavours. The berry ones definitely get fizzier faster, and if you ferment them too long, they EXPLODE all over the place. It's an adventure in every bottle!

To make ginger beer you have to make the culture first. This is what provides the correct bacteria for the fermentation process, and makes your pop fizzy!

Get a quart sized mason jar, and fill it 3/4 full of filtered water. This is important, as if there is chlorine in your water, it will kill what you are trying to do.
Add:
1 tbsp of ginger cut up in smallish pieces
2 tsp sugar.

Mix well. This culture likes to be stirred, so you can stir it once, twice, or more a day if you feel like it. Cover the jar with cheesecloth, and leave on counter.

Every day for the next 6 days, add in 2 tsp of ginger, and 2 tsp of sugar. Stir, and keep on counter.

At the end of the week, you have your culture ready to make ginger beer!

NEXT:
Make your flavour syrup.
You can just make 'Ginger Ale' by boiling a 1/2 gallon of water with 2 1/2 oz of grated ginger, a splash of lemon juice, and 1 1/2 cups of sugar. Bring to a boil, and simmer for a 1/2 hour.

OR

Make a flavour syrup. You can use almost any fruit or berry, or mix 'em up! Apple raspberry? pomegranate blueberry? Peach, mango, blackberry, whatever you like.

To make syrup:
1/2 gallon filtered water
6 cups of whatever fruit or berry you like
1 1/2 cups of sugar. For the sweeter berries, use less sugar.

Bring to boil, let simmer for 10 minutes. Do a taste test, make sure you like what you have. Adjust sugar, etc at this time.

Let cool to room temperature.
Strain syrup mixture into 1 gallon glass jar. Add another 1/2 gallon of filtered water. Add 1 cup of culture. Stir. Cover with cheesecloth, and let sit for 3-7 days. Stir twice a day.

At the end of the days, put into sealable bottles. I will take a picture of one soon, so you can see what they look like. I got mine from the local recycling depot for 50 cents each. You can reuse these things for years, so they are a great investment!

Let bottles sit on counter for 1-3 days. Put the berry ones in the fridge after just a day or so, or you will get an explosion. The ginger ale can sit a bit longer. The fridge stops the fermantation process. Fermantation is NOT an exact science, so you will have to do a bit of experimenting on your own. I think things fermented faster in the summer than they will in the winter, but only time will tell!

After it is cooled, it is ready to drink. I have a bottle every day now, so they don't last long, but apparently they will last a few months in the fridge.

Note about the sugar:
It seems you use alot of sugar while making this drink, but keep in mind the bacterias eat it all up, so you are left drinking little or no sugar at all. Just healthy probiotics and good stuff for you.
I am more regular than I have been in years.

Too much information????!!!! LOL.

Crazy Time is over for now....

2010-08-28T12:41:00.000-07:00

Well, the crazy busy time is over for the moment. I had a bunch of dogs go home 2 days ago, and it's taken me this long to recover. That's just sad.
I have a bunch more dogs going home on Monday and Tuesday, and I think I even have a night with only my own dogs.... I am going to just sit back and enjoy it! That almost never happens anymore!
Then I have to get busy and make sure I am pulling in enough money for the winter. Classes to plan, and I want to expand my daycare dogs. I have more than I used to, but my goal is to get another 10 dogs coming at least once or twice a week by the end of Sept. Then that should do me for them moment!

I got back out into the garden this morning, and planted a bed of spinach. I still have wayyyy more to plant, but I hope to get on it this week, and get most of it all in. I need to be prepared for winter! I've been saving my grocery reciepts for over a year now, and my bill has gone down by about 70% this summer... that's a trend I would like to continue! I am eating lots from my garden, and am making my own drinks now (lots of ginger beer... more on this soon!). I am making sure I have something fermented in my diet each and every day. The whole fermentation thing took me a while to adjust to. You think 'fermented... EWWWW'. After you do it a bit, though, you get used to the idea, and actually look forward to the fermented foods. I just get sad when I realize how close we have come to completely losing this knowledge on how to prepare foods like this. My lunch today is cherry tomato salad with fermented beets and cheese and balsmic vinagrette salad and some sourdough bread, with ginger ale to drink. It cost me about 50 cents with everything, and I will be really full and everything is yummy and healthy!!
I have officially lost 14 lbs eating tradionally like this now. I'm not trying to lose weight, it just comes off. It's the coolest thing ever!

Grrrrrr....!!

2010-08-24T13:34:00.000-07:00

Well, I have done absolutely NOTHING in the gardens for about 2 or 3 weeks now. I've been trying, but August is my super-busy dog boarding month, and I can't seem to escape the dogs for any time at all to get things done. I have garden beds that need cleaning out and replanting, I have trays and trays of plant starts that desperately need to get planted... two weeks ago! and I have compost to make, and compost to spread on the beds, and on and on and on. For the first time in months, I find myself just wanting to sit and vegetate in front of a TV. It's the first time I've even thought about TV in a loonnnggg time. I think I am burning out. I am also busy just trying to 'have a life'. I didn't realize how busy, until my friend came to visit several weeks ago, and almost every night, I had somewhere to go, or something to do. Monday's are flyball practice, Thursdays agility, Wed nites I take shares up to Nanaimo, and Tues nites I do local shares. I think I get Friday nites free.... Whew! No wonder I am tuckered out!!

I have been eating lots of groceries out of my gardens since my last post - and enjoying every single bite! Oh, garden stuff is so much better than store bought, there really is no comparison!

I have a bunch of dogs going home in the next day or two, then I'm gettin' down and dirty, and catching up on my gardening! I haven't even sprayed my EM or my plant tea extract for over 2 weeks! That's just BAD. I get all panicky, thinking WHEN am I going to have time to do everything???

Then, to top it off, I have my new chickens and turkeys arriving probably tomorrow - and of course, I'm not ready for them yet! I need to go get more chicken feed, and I don't know when I'll be able to get to the feed store.

Do you have the sense I am feeling a bit overwhelmed these days??? YEP! But, at least I am paying my bills for the moment, so I had better stop complaining, and just suck it up for a while;-)

Confession time

2010-08-14T16:19:00.000-07:00

Ok, I have to admit I have a confession to make. My main goal for having a garden (besides making money) is to be self sustaining and self sufficient, so I have to buy less groceries, and I will know exactly where my food comes from.
I was perusing the garden today, and realized I hadn't even had a salad from it for several weeks now. I keep 'saving it for the shares'. Somehow, I think I need to put EVERYTHING into my CSA shares, so my members are happy, that I have nothing left for myself. This is so totally not the point! I am somewhat disappointed in myself.
Luckily, I can start changing... today!
I picked a red cabbage, and a head of lettuce, and some Sungold cherry tomatoes - ALL FOR ME! Along with a cucumber a client gave me from her own garden, I am now eating a tomato and cucumber salad with balsalmic vinegrette and feta cheese. It is sooooo goood!!! Sometimes, you just get so caught up in the business end of things, you forget why you are doing something in the first place.
I am going to make some coleslaw for tomorrow night, and I am now determined to have a salad or something from my garden each day. The crops I've been planting the last few weeks should start being ready in about 2 or 3 weeks, so I should be able to feed myself for several months now.

A note about Sungold cherry tomatoes. These are a hybrid, but I am going to be making them a regular in the garden. I am planting WAY more next year. They are, bar none, the best cherry tomato out there. They ripen earlier than the Sweet Millions, (which used to be my favourite) and are just as prolific. I eat them like candy. They just pop into your mouth so easily!

My new and lofty goal for next year is to grow enough food for 20 shares (I just did 5 this year) and for myself, too. This is to finance a newer and better car for myself. I am driving a complete piece of crap, and will be amazed if it makes it through the winter. I need better wheels! I will also reinvest some of my share money back into the gardens - so I can continue to grow more. I have a deal with a friend who has a greenhouse to grow all my starts.... WAY more than what I did this year - so I can have crops ready earlier and better than this year. I am going to work all winter on amending the soil that I have, so more of my crops work out - many did not this year. It was quite the bummer, and I am determined not to have a repeat next year!

Saved

2010-08-13T13:45:00.000-07:00

Little cabbages two weeks ago. They are now alot bigger, and closer to harvest time!

Well, the rain we had last week was fantastic! It completely watered everything, and filled my well up! I can stop worrying - for this year, at least! I feel so much better about things. It is supposed to get really hot again this week, so I'm super glad the rain came when it did. I am still being frugal with it, though, I don't want to abuse my water priviliges!
I had an entire week off watering, so that was nice, too. I had to start watering again this morning, but because the rain did such a good job, I only have to water each bed for about 20 minutes - instead of the 40 minutes I had to do before the drought.

The deer have been out munching quite a bit lately. I obviously have been too lax with the deer control. I need to get on it! They have stripped my new fruit trees more than once - when I have time this fall, I guess I had better fence them in - and some of my veggies got a good munching last nite. Damn deer. They are so quiet and sneaky, even the dogs don't hear them coming in the middle of the night.

I have tried planting kohlrabi for the first time this year. I think I might even get some little kohlrabi's! I've been researching the companion planting, so have planted the little kohl's with beets. Both seem to be doing very well. Can't wait to see what a kohlrabi tastes like. Never had one!

There was a bunch of slugs out this morning... all were having sex. Ooooh, that made me mad! How dare they procreate when there are so many of them to begin with? They died. They all died. I massacred them. I don't even feel bad about it! Slugs having sex is NOT something you need to see early in the morning. Just so you know.

Rain, rain, beautiful rain!

2010-08-07T10:33:00.000-07:00

It's finally RAINING! A good, slow, soaking rain. It's just what I ordered! The gardens will be so happy, and I won't have to water for days or a week. I was so SICK of watering! It was an endless chore, but it was more the stress of always having to watch how much I was using. My well would run dry regularly. At first, I was watering 5 beds a morning, and 5 at night. Then it was down to 4, then 3. The last week or so, I was only able to water 1 or 2 beds at a time before the well would run out. It was quite discouraging. I was falling farther and farther behind, and the plants were getting just enough to survive, but not to thrive. Hopefully, it will rain like crazy, then be sunny and nice again, so everything will grow gangbusters.

Tomatoes

About three weeks ago now, I made a trip up to Lantzville to visit Nicole and Dirk on their farm. They have a 2 acre organic produce farm, on which they make their entire living. You may remember I went up there last fall to visit, too. Nicole spent a good 2 hours with me, taking me for a tour, answering all my questions, helping me all she could. I learned so much! They start planting their potatoes in February... mine didn't go in until April/May. I'd better get on it better next year! The other major thing I learned was to keep planting. All year long. They never stop planting seeds. So, when in doubt, plant some seeds. Want to earn more money? Plant some seeds. Feeling down because of the weather? Plant some seeds! I've taken this advice to heart, and over the last 3 weeks or so, I've planted about 2 or 3 thousand seeds. Maybe more. Most of them were planted in seed flats that I borrowed from a friend. This is a bit more time consuming, but the savings on water is astronomical. Many of what I planted just 3 weeks ago is already ready to go into the garden. Some of it already has gone into the garden. I've planted 2 types of kale, purple sprouting broccoli, mega mesculin, 4 or 5 kinds of lettuce, onions, winter cabbage, and I can't remember what else. Peas! About 6 beds of peas. This year, I think I planted them early enough that I should get a crop off of them. Last year I was about 2 weeks too late. Everything I plant is getting the mycroizzial fungi, and I am doing weekly dousings of the EM and the plant tea extract. I've had some amazing successes with these products. I had bought a sad little lemon tree in the spring, hoping to get some lemons at some point. The little tree had been shipped up from the States without even being rooted out, and was so stressed - it was literally on it's last legs. I had potted it up in hopes of it perking up, but immediately after, a dog ripped it out and tossed it 'round and 'round the yard. That poor lemon tree! I thought it was a goner for sure. I repotted it, used the plant tea, the EM and my compost tea on it weekly for the last 4 weeks or so. It's looking AMAZING! The leaves have all greened up (no more sickly yellow leaves), it has lush new growth, and is flowering like mad. I've been taking the flowers off for a while, so the little tree can continue to grow and get healthier before it starts to fruit.
Other successes: tomatoes have a ZILLION blooms and tomatoes forming. Some of my squash and watermelons and zucchini are looking fantastic (some of them never took... just wasn't meant to be, I guess). I just hope everything is looking good on time to get a decent harvest out of them. If not, there is always next year, I guess!

Broccoli

I finished making my own ginger beer the other day. Blueberry flavoured. It was fantastic! Didn't last long, though! I am busy making some more, and plan to keep it going so I always have a new batch coming up.

I also ordered 25 new meat birds and 10 new turkeys from a different hatchery. They will be here late August. I plan on stocking my freezer before winter sets in, so I will never have to worry about eating through the winter. My heritage turkeys and 4 little Dorking chicks I got a while ago are doing well - they are getting big! Now that it's rained, the ground should be soft enough to finish building them an outdoor run. Guess I'll have to get on that, too. So much to do. A friend gave me some fencing and a gate from an old dog kennel, which I am going to use for the run. FREEEEE! It's my favourite word;-) My other score this summer was the new garden center that opened up near by - they were giving away seeds. Lots and lots of seeds. I was a total pig and took LOTS of them each time I went. The seed savings for me should be good next year- I got all sorts of stuff. Carrots, broccoli, squash, zucchini, watermelon, onion, and so much more. Too much to list.

Beans

Learning to 'put up' food for the winter

2010-07-28T10:10:00.000-07:00

As you know, I have been changing my diet, and researching ways to preserve food, so I will eventually be able to live entirely on what I grow here on the farm. That day is getting closer sooner than I thought! I just signed up for an online (FREE!!) course on how to preserve food. I have always wanted to learn to can, but it just seems like so much WORK! I've just discovered there is an easier way. Yesterday, I harvested all my beets. The greens went into salads, but what to do with all those beets? I wanted to can, but all that work seemed daunting. Then I remembered you can ferment all sorts of veggies. Sounds a bit gross, but the flora it creates is super-healthy for you, and helps to keep your colon clean and you digesting well. So, I filled 2 jars with sliced up beets, added sea salt and water, and in three days... voila! Preserved beets. How easy is that? I'm going to do a couple more jars, and add apple cider vinegar... that sounds delicious!
Over the last few years, I have spent a fortune on juice and drinks. I just get tired of drinking plain water all the time. This week, however, I am learning to make my own pop - Ginger Beer - the old fashioned way. No chemicals, no additives, no preservitives. My friend made some last week, and was it ever delicious! I am going to try making blueberry flavoured. Then maybe raspberry. Then, something else. I will have endless yummy, healthy drinks for just pennies a gallon. No more store bought stuff for me!

If you are interested in learning about preserving food the old, OLD fashioned way (before canners) try this link:
http://nourishedkitchen.com/preserve-the-bounty/

Panic averted... for the moment

2010-07-18T18:44:00.000-07:00

Well, it took about an hour, but water started coming out of my hose again. I didn't put my head under the covers like I threatened to do, but was it ever tempting! Instead, I started looking at Craigslist, UsedNanaimo and Kijiji. Low and behold, a guy just over in Chemainus (about 10 minutes from here) was selling some used 100 gallon water tanks! So, I ran right over and bought the 2 he had left. They aren't the full solution, but they will help! I go over tomorrow to pay him and help him load them up... he is going to deliver them for me. I am going to arrange them under the rainspout, so they will fill up (IF we ever get rain again) or if the worst was to happen, and I run out of water, at least if I have to get some trucked in, I will have somewhere for the delivery guy to put it!!

I decided not to give up on the gardening thing. Last year, I panicked, and started harvesting everything early, afraid I was going to run out of water. This year, I am just going to be very frugal with the water, and hope it lasts until the rains come again. I planted 3 beds of kale, some kohlrabi and some beets this morning - hand watered everything, so not a drop was wasted. It will take alot of my time, but I will continue to hand water until the bitter end...

I am also starting more seeds for my fall/ spring crops. I wish I had more seed trays, but I am just making do with what I have right now. I have been using my EM and my mycchroizzal fungi with everything I have planted, so we'll see how big of a difference that makes! I also went around the entire garden the other nite, and sprayed EVERYTHING with the EM. We shall see!

While I was having my panic attack yesterday, I saw the coolest thing... a snake zooming away with a huge slug in it's mouth! I ran in to grab my camera, but of course when I got out, the snake was gone. No wonder there are so many big, fat snakes around this year... easy pickings with all the slugs around here! It would've made a great picture, though.

A few days ago, I suddenly remembered I had planted a grape plant last fall. I had completely forgotten about it... bad farmer! Expecting the worst, I went to check on it. It was completely covered with weeds and grass, but I think that's what saved it - shaded it from the worst of the heat. It was alive! And looking healthy, to boot! Amazing. I watered it, and talked to it for a while, telling it it was a good little grape plant, and hopefully it will continue to flourish, and I'll get some grapes in a year or two!

Panic Attack

2010-07-17T13:40:00.000-07:00

Well, I am sitting here having a total panic attack. The rain we had last week wasn't enough to help much. Last night, my well ran low, so this morning I have been very, very careful with it. I just went out to fill a watering can, and NO WATER CAME OUT. I never seriously entertained the idea that my well would run competely dry... I thought I would just have to be very, very careful with it. Now I feel a bit frozen. I don't know what to do! Where do you get water? I know you can get it trucked in (at great expense) but I don't have a holding tank. If anyone has any bright ideas, I'd love to hear them. I am FREAKING OUT.

I spent the morning transplanting seedlings... how do I water them? It had better rain very, very soon. A good, heavy, soaking rain.

Think I'm going to go put my head under the blankies now... I need to figure this out.

Changes in my diet...

2010-07-14T16:28:00.000-07:00

So, today I wanted to share with you the changes I've made in my diet the last few months. I have been researching (quite by accident!) on going back to a very traditional diet. Basically, if my grandma wouldn't have recognized the food, it's not on the menu. That's not to say I am being anal retentive about it - I let myself have some processed crap once in a while, but I find my body not liking it much when I do.
For dinner tonite (as an example) I had a stir fry with snap peas, zucchini, garlic, potatoes, broccoli (all fresh from my own garden) and pasture raised pork, and mushrooms (from the store.) It was delicious! And oh, so good for me!

Some simple changes I've made to get the process started:

no more refined sugar. If I need sugar, I now use unrefined cane sugar
sea salt instead of table salt
sourdough bread (fermented foods are extremely good for you... and yummy, too!)preferably made with whole grain flour, not white or whole wheat flour
unpasturized honey (pasturized honey has a glycemic level that is through the roof - the heating process does that. Plus, unpasturized has certain bacterias that are very beneficial to us)
NO PROCESSED FOODS
Raw milk. This one is my personal favourite. It is illegal to buy (stupid government) so you have to find a cow share to get into). Raw milk has beneficial bacteria and microbes we all NEED to be healthy, and OMG is it ever good. You have to get your milk from grass-fed, hand milked cows. The grass fed is the healthiest way to keep your cow, and machine milked cows are the scary type... bad bacteria builds up in the machines, and that's why we now need to pasturize our grocery store milk. Think about it - 100 years ago, people drank raw milk every day, and no one died from it. It was only when we industrialized the process that people started to get sick.
Butter from grass fed cows. NO MORE MARGARINE! I now make my own butter from my milk each week. The stuff from the store is the same old story - made from corn and grain fed cows... NOT healthy for you at all.
meat - now I only get my meat from grass fed cows, pasture raised chickens and pigs. Also, I raise my own eggs from pasture raised chickens. These eggs and meat have lots of natural omega-3's, and other healthy nutrients we need. Again, it's how we raise the animals that has the most impact on how healthy the products we get from them are. Eggs only became 'bad' when they started raising them on corn and grain (not a natural diet) and keeping them in little cages or cramped in close quarters. Sad.

Slowly, I am adding a new element into my diet, making more of my own foods, growing as much as I can, and trying to buy organic when I can afford it.
Some huge differences I've noticed - the most noticable thing is that I don't get any zits anymore! I have only had one in the last 3 or 4 months. My skin is clearer than it's been since I was a kid. The zit I did get was just about 3 weeks ago. I was all rush, rush, and panicky - didn't have time to make something good, so I went to McDonald's. Within HOURS, I had a brush of pimples all over my chin. Geez! They have since cleared up, and I haven't had another since... I think that's telling me something!
I have more energy - I work 16 hour days, running 2 business', and I'm not totally dragged out all the time. I used to be, even when I wasn't working hard.
I have lost 10 lbs, and I am not even trying to. It is coming off slowly, but surely. It's great!
I still am not getting any major sugar cravings. I didn't realize I used to eat so much sugar - I thought my diet was good. Not. Now, I have a little piece of chocolate each day, and unless I get really stressed out, that seems to be enough.
My teeth seem to be getting healthier. I always have taken good care of my teeth, but have fillings all over the place. I have recently had a few fillings fall out, and can't afford to go to the dentist. BUT, the cavities I have in those places are hurting less and less, and getting less and less sensitive to temperature. Interesting!

So, I'm not telling you this to nag, or say that this is the only way to eat. Just Food For Thought;-) To me, it actually makes sense. This is how people used to eat in the olden days - before cancer was a common word, before everyone was chubby, and before tooth decay was rampant.

If you want to find out more, go to http://nourishedkitchen.com/

Rain....!

2010-07-12T18:51:00.000-07:00

Well, I have just been sitting here waiting for a dog to get picked up, looked outside my window, and it's RAINING! I almost cried for joy, I was so excited! This morning, my well ran out of water, so it really couldn't come at a better time. Don't worry, the well replenishes itself, but it does mean I am using too much water to get the gardens done.
Now, everyone, do a rain dance for me.... let's hope the rain continues long enough to actually do some GOOD!!

Heat Wave

2010-07-11T12:43:00.000-07:00

Well, it's happened. We are officially in a drought. We haven't had any rain to speak of in over 6 weeks now, and none in the forseeable forcast. All I do is water, water, water. Some in the morning, some in the evening - it's a constant cycle. I do have to say, my hay/mulch plan is working wonderfully, though. Instead of beds drying out in just a few days, they are lasting from 7-9 days without water. I figure, even though I've got double the beds I had last year, I am using about 50% of the water. My veggies are looking fabulous with this heat, though. I harvested my broccoli this morning... it is the nicest looking broccoli I have ever seen in a garden. I have to admit... I am a bit proud of it! I will definitely have to do more next year, since most of it will go into shares this week.

I have ordered my EM and my M. Fungi for my planting next week. I can't wait to try it, see how big a difference it makes. The kale I seeded several weeks ago is ready to go into the garden beds, but I'm not planting it until I get my new stuff!

I have also harvested all my garlic this week, and have it on the front porch to cure. I got some honkin' big garlic... you can never have too much garlic! Peas are almost done... they will be done either this week or next. I've already dug some under, getting ready to plant the kale in the same beds, but I've also started planting more peas in some of the beds that didn't do well. Peas will fix the nitrogen in the soil, and add some quick organic matter, so whatever I plant in there next will be fabulous.

One thing I've noticed this year, is the amount and variation of wildlife I have in my yard this year. I've seen a zillion snakes...all sorts of gorgeous colours - red, yellow, brown and green ones. Each time I see one, I get all excited... SNAKES EAT SLUGS!!! I will encourage these little snakes all I can! I actually really like snakes as a rule - not afraid of them at all. The other thing is birds... way more variety of pretty little songbirds. Bright yellow finches, and some yellow and red birds that I have no idea what they are. I am taking this all as a sign that my yard is healthy and thriving.

Since the heatwave started about a week ago, I've changed my working pattern. I have been getting up between 5 and 6 am, and going out to exercise dogs, and get as much gardening done as I can before it gets too hot. The weird thing is that I am enjoying getting so much done so early in the day. I don't even set my alarm... I just naturally wake up. When I used to work a 'real job', you couldn't drag me out of bed by 8... I would have to press snooze several times. I guess it makes a huge difference when you are doing something you love, and working for yourself. It's awesome.

Cousin comes for a visit...

2010-07-04T21:26:00.000-07:00

My favourite cousin, Lorelie came to visit yesterday. She has recently taken a course at the Gaia College up island, and came to share some of her new-found knowledge with me. I learned so much! It was awesome. She brought me some Plant Extract Tea, so we could try it on some of my veggies as a foliar spray, see if we could perk some of my squash and cucumbers up. Not a joke... we just did it yesterday, and already I see a few new green leaves coming up... they have been sickly and not very healthy this year so far, and I'm convinced that it's because I have new soil, and it doesn't have any organic matter in it yet.

To make plant extract tea:
Fill a 5 gallon pail 3/4 full of nettles, comfrey or horsetail.
Fill rest of bucket with clean water (no chlorine in it) Lucky I'm on a well!
cover with a lid, and let ferment for 10-14 days.

At the end, it really stinks, but you mix 1 cup of tea with 10 cups water, and spray it on your plants.

I am also making manure tea - just dumped a bunch of horse poo in a garbage can, filled with water, and am mixing a cup of that with a bunch of water to fill a watering can (not very scientific!) and watering my plants with it - I am trying to start to do that every 10 days or so.

She also told me about adding ocean water to compost - adds all the minerals you need for your garden. I plan on making a trip down to the ocean very, very soon to get some!

EM or Effective Micro organisms

I have heard of this before from another friend, but Lorelie really put it into perspective for me. I am ordering some as soon as I get paid. You can get it from http://www.gardenerspantry.ca/ He will ship it to wherever you live.

Mycrroizal Fungi.... (am certain I didn't spell that correctly...!)

To use when seeding or transplanting. Combines with roots of plants for a symbiotic relationship.

The amazing thing is you should never, ever use even 'organic' fertilizers in your garden (commercially made stuff that is). What she was taught was to improve and make the soil healthy, then your plants will be healthy, and be better able to fight off fungus and bugs and disease. Makes sense, and I've heard that before, but wasn't sure how to go about it. Now I have the tools. I have already started my Plant Tea Extract, and it will be ready in about 9 days, and can't wait to see how things start to grow, grow, grow!

She told me some tips on making a wormfarm, which I've tried before and failed at. This way makes more sense to me... I think I will try it again soon, so I can get that worm poo growing;-) I won't describe it now... it is getting late, and I am too tired.

It's been threatening rain for a week, but we haven't actually got more than a drop or two. We need it, BAD! Now, I just checked the weather station, and it's supposed to get super hot this coming week. I've been busy all week putting hay and mulch on almost all the beds, and hope to have that finished tomorrow. The less pressure I put on the well, the better. Even if it keeps the moisture locked in the beds for a few extra days between waterings, it will be a great help. I may work on putting an extra layer on, just in case...

Water worries?

2010-06-19T21:38:00.000-07:00

Well, same as last year.... it's gone from cool and wet, wet, wet to blazin' hot, and no rain in sight. This is exactly what happened last summer... and we didn't get ANY rain for 3 months. I am dreading that happening again. Especially with all the garden beds I've got going now! I am investing in some hay bales, and covering many of the gardens with it, to help keep the moisture in for longer. Whatever I can do!

Shares are going well. I harvested my first snap peas this last week. OMG, are they delicious! I made a stir fry with them and one of my home-grown chickens last night. Best stir fry EVER;-) Not sure why, but what you grow yourself is so much more satisfying than just buying it in the store. Seems like a bit of a cop-out these days!

It is almost 9:30 at night, and I've just come inside from working in the yard and gardens all day. Watering, planting more tomatoes and peppers. I've also just started my kale and kohlrabi seeds in 6 packs, for transplanting as soon as I get some more garden beds made. I fill them as fast as I make 'em, and I never have enough, it seems.

My meat birds ended up being a disaster. I had ordered Cornish Crosses, which are ready in 8-12 weeks, and had booked them into the processor at 10 weeks. The stupid hatchery sent me 'broilers' which are ready in 6 weeks. They really should have let me know. They started dying on me, they grow TOO fast, and their hearts give out... I tried to make an earlier appointment at the processor, and could only get them in 1 week earlier than planned. The end of the story is that out of 75 birds, I ended up with 21. I had presold 51, and am trying to figure out who gets what. It is so depressing, I am having a hard time dealing with the whole situation, so of course, I am procrastinating. True to form! Now I am trying to find a new, more reliable supplier.

Oh, and on the poultry note... I am getting more turkeys on Tuesday. DON'T ASK ME WHY! I hated the damn things! I have been promised by a friend that she will come over to help clip their wings, so I don't have to worry about them flying all over the neighbourhood this time. This is their last chance! I am not going to sell any... I am just growing them for my own freezer at this point.

Dog boarding is still bloomin' busy. This is by far the longest busy stretch I have had. I am exhausted. I am NOT going to complain... I am finally getting caught up on all my bills! I've also raised my mortgage amount by about $25 a week. Doesn't sound like much, but it will take over 2 full years off my term! Maybe I will be able to retire before I am old and doddering.

Better head to bed... up with the dawn these days!

CSA Again...:-)

2010-06-09T13:38:00.000-07:00

I am picking my CSA shares a bit early this week, as I am actually going away! I haven't been away anywhere, in so long, I can't even bear to think about it. Reckless and I are competing in the AAC Agility Regionals in Abbotsford. We are not really ready for regionals yet, they came up way too fast, but it will be good experience for the both of us! I've been going crazy all week, making sure the dogs are all taken care of, the schedule is set, everyone knows what dogs are coming and going, and so on and on and on... takes a lot of work! I'm sure I've forgotten a thing or two, but hopefully I've managed to cover all the major bases. I think I will be just be glad to get home next week and relax.... if there is such a thing! Dog boarding is non stop busy right now (which is wonderful, I can actually pay my bills!) and the gardens need constant tending and planting and slug-controling. We are FINALLY supposed to get some sun starting this weekend, so hopefully things will really start growing out there.

This weeks' shares:

mild mesculin
chives
peppermint
pea shoots (sounds odd, but this is my new favourite veggie... I go out daily and munch on pea shoots... they are delicious!!! Try it sometime!)

First CSA of the season!

2010-06-03T17:50:00.000-07:00

Today is the day.... I picked my very first CSA shares! I was considering postphoning it until next week, because the weather has been rain, rain, cold, and more rain, and nothing in the gardens are growing. When I went out to check it all over this morning, I found a few little treasures, and my shares didn't look quite as little as I had feared.

So, I ended up with a good amount of mesculin, radish, parsley, green garlic, and spearmint. If the weather was co-operating, I would have had some snap peas and carrots to go with that. Oh, well! In another couple of weeks, there should be some more. I am already planning for next week... a few different herbs, mesculin will be a staple for the time being, and then we'll see what happens. Hopefully the weather will smarten up.... it was only 5 C last nite... WAY too cold for June!

I am still planting like mad... and will be planting right through August. I have made a few more garden beds, and will keep working on that until everything is in!

More Adventures....

2010-05-26T15:19:00.000-07:00

Nothing is ever boring here on the farm....
Yesterday is a good example.
Most of my long weekend dogs went home, so I had a few moments of leisure time. I decided to work on Reckless' new trick. A few weeks ago, I taught him to jump over Boom-boom's back. This time, I was going to teach him to weave in and out of Boom's legs. The easy part is teaching Reckless to weave... the hard part is getting Boom to stand still. I leaned down to reposition Boom, and Reckless decided to offer me his last trick... hopping over her back. Well, we both miscalculated, and WHAMO! He jumped/slammed right into my eye. It hurt like a sonofabitch. Holy, moly. I was determined not to cry, and am happy to report I succeeded in that.... but now I have the most lovely black eye you ever saw. I am embarrassed to go out in public. I had to go to the bank today, and I made sure I went first thing, before it got too busy. The nice tellers there and I had a real good laugh at myself, though! Now, I am trying to just hide out for a few days, until the swelling and colour fades a bit.

Then, to top it off, one of my daycare dogs got accidentally bit. One of the dogs got a bit over-excited, and his tooth snagged the others' side, and then his mom had to take him to the vet. I felt so bad.... nothing I could've done to prevent it, but it still sucks. Poor Pedro, he was crying and was so pitiful.

So, that's enough injuries around here to last for years. I had some near misses the last few days, too... my foot ended up in a hole, lucky it didn't twist or sprain, and I stepped on a rake. That was just stupid. I think the universe is trying to tell me to be more careful. I think I will listen.

Busy Days again

2010-05-26T15:07:00.000-07:00

This is the first slow day I've had in weeks on the farm, and it is pouring rain out, so I've decided to take a break while I can... you never know when you may get another slow day again! Besides the dog boarding, I've been busy in the gardens, planting tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, melons, potatoes, etc. I made enough money this month to get another load of soil in, so I can really get going again. I am quite often out there at 9 pm, weeding, and killing slugs, and hoping everything will grow on time for my CSA shares. Which start next week.... my first lettuce planting got decimated by the slugs, and I am a bit worried about having enough ready for my CSA members. Thankfully I didn't sell a million shares! I'm glad I only did a few for my first year... gives me a much better idea of what I am doing. I have also sold 5 egg shares for this year... something I didn't expect! I have 29 more laying hens coming up, so maybe I will be able to sell a few more shares as time goes on. Anyway, my first few shares will be a bit skimpy. I talked to one of my members, and she said the shares she got last year from elsewhere was the same, so maybe I'll be all right. Won't be long until other things come along... my peas are starting to bloom, and the fava beans are also blooming, and I've replanted the lettuce and mesculin, and have a lovely crop of radishes coming along. Keep your fingers crossed for me! I am starting to build more garden beds, so I can plant more of everything, and also get started on a fall crop in June/July.

I had one of my favourite dog boarding clients tell me about Ruth Stout. She was a lady who gardened into her nineties, and never really worked in the garden. She just planted, and laid mulch around everything. She hadn't watered or hoed or dug the garden in 14 years. So, I am trying it out to an extent. I really like the idea of not having to water.... that would be a huge pressure relief in itself for the summer. Really, water is my biggest worry. Besides the slugs. I've got about 8 or so beds planted, and put hay and mulch around everything. Should keep everything toasty warm, and moist for the summer. I'll let you know how it goes!

RIP Frankie

2010-05-26T14:48:00.000-07:00

I'm not certain what happened after my last post, but my dog boarding business exploded. I have been so busy, working 16 hour days, that I haven't even had time to update my blog!

A few weeks ago, Frankie the goat got ill. We are pretty certain he had a twisted gut, and there is nothing you can do about it. We gave him vegetable oil and baking soda, just in case it was just some sort of obstruction, hoping to pass whatever it was through, but nothing did any good. The naughtiest goat in the world passed away.
Katrina, who owns the horse and the ponies, came over several times to help me with him, to shoot stuff down his throat, in the hopes he would magically recover. When he died, she came over to help me bury him. Thus started a comedy of errors...

First, I think Katrina had a hard time accepting Frankie was dead. When I found him in the morning, he was in rigormortis. Stiff as a board. He was still in when she came to help me dig a big hole. She leaned over him, and poked him a bit. Looking up at me, she said " I think he's dead". Then, she poked some more. "Ya, I'm pretty sure he's dead". Then she grabbed a leg, and plopped him over. He was completely and totally STIFF. " I guess he's really dead". Meanwhile, even though I was super sad, I started laughing my head off. Katrina was in some serious denial.

Next, we tried to tie the goat to the horse, and have Review move him over to the hole. Frankie was a big goat, and quite heavy. At the time, it seemed like a good, sensible thing to do.
Review had other ideas.
Once we got Frankie hooked up, and Review felt the weight of him, he went ballistic. Bucking, and snorting and generally having a spaz. Katrina got knocked into the mud - she had mud from one end to another. I just ran away... I didn't want to get caught under those hooves! Fat lot of good I was! Katrina got Review under control, and I apologized to him, and we unhooked him, then worked together to drag him to the hole. We buried him under the trees, and said a few words. Frankie was way too young to die, and I really miss having him on the farm. He was quite the character, and amused me every day.

RIP Frankie

Anniversary

2010-05-02T12:41:00.000-07:00

Wow! Yesterday was my one year anniversary of being in business! The year has passed at record speed, there have been ups, there have been downs, but all in all, it's been an awesome, amazing year. The dog boarding biz is doing well, and I have many, many regular customers coming in. The market gardens and chickens are being launched this year, and so far, so good! As long as I can keep on top of that slug situation, I should be able to get some crops coming up in a few weeks. I have learned sooooo much about dogs, gardening, and farming this last year. I know I still have a long way to go in that area, though! I've started teaching dog training classes, and am surprisingly enjoying those, too. Who would have thought I would be teaching even just a year ago?! Boggles the mind!

It amazes me to think where my life has gone and how much it has changed in the last year or two. All in a good, positive direction. I am living my dream, and am getting closer and closer to making my entire living from my little farm.

The Trials of being a Farmer....

2010-04-27T08:30:00.000-07:00

I've had a hard, hard week on the farm. For whatever reason, my meat birds, which had been doing just fine, suddenly got cold. Within an hour, I had 16 dead.... that's quite a loss. It was depressing. I still have enough to fill all my orders, but I can't afford to lose anymore at this point. Then, one of my laying hens died for no reason. That seems to happen regularly. I have no idea why. I think they just lay eggs that are too big, and it stresses them out so much, and they bleed out. It's so sad. THEN, to top it off, a Dorking flew the coop, and of course Reckless saw it immediately, and killed it. GRRRRRRR.
I am still battling slugs, and hoping everything grows fast enough to fill my first CSA orders. I replanted all the lettuce, and am planning on getting more arugula seeds so I can replant those, too, soon.
I guess I have to expect losses on occasion, but it's hard to swallow when it does happen!

ATTACK of the slugs!

2010-04-21T14:43:00.000-07:00

HELP!
Yesterday morning, I was walking the gardens, checking everything over, making sure all was ok. I was so pleased by what I saw for the most part. Little lettuces, all green and growing, little carrots and peas and cabbages, all looking fantastic. I had a brief moment of pride there.... then it ended. My gorgeous arugula, which was looking fabulous the day before had disappeared. Gone. Vanished in the night. Was it birds? Was it slugs? Was it deer? I was looking forward to my first harvest in just a few weeks. I checked the beer slug traps. In them were hundreds and hundreds of little dead slug bodies. So, I thought Great! My little traps are doing their job, and I guess I'll just replant the arugula.

Then it started to rain. Crap! Within minutes, THOUSANDS of slugs were all over the place. I was madly hand picking them, and dropping them into a deep bucket of water with dish soap in it to drown them. I was out there for over 2 hours, until it got too dark to see the little bastards. I'm pretty certain trap or no trap, slugs were what got my arugula. It was an invasion! You've seriously never seen so many slugs in one place in your life.

This morning, I went to the liquor store, and bought a bunch more beer. I made a ton more traps, and set them up. I emptied the old ones of all the dead little bodies and refilled the beer. I am on a MISSION, folks. I refuse to let the beasties eat all my profits before I even get a crop. I'm all for sharing, but this is ridiculous! I plan on going out tonite to hand pick what the traps don't get. My only long term hope is that once all the grass and weeds between the beds are killed, the slugs won't have as much to eat, and maybe they will think my garden is just to far to go for a meal. Luckily, the weatherman says it will get hot and sunny for the next week, so hopefully I will have a chance to replant and get my little lettuces and arugulas going again before the next invasion.

Here's to hoping.

Another Spring Day

2010-04-13T16:14:00.000-07:00

Even though it is an absolutely gorgeous day out there today, I am trying to do a few more 'indoor' jobs. For the last week, there has been something wrong with my left foot- the heel is all swollen and painful. I have been hobbling around the whole time, just trying to suck it up, thinking it will go away. It hasn't. It's been getting worse. I guess the only thing I can do it try to get off of it for a bit. It KILLS me to stay still, though. There is so much I need to do! I really don't need a bum foot slowing me down. Even so, I still mowed most of the lawn today, and did just a few other necessary chores. With farming, even if you are dying, things still need to get done. Chickens to feed and water, doggy beds to wash, kitchen to clean, it's endless...

I decide a week or so ago that I wasn't getting enough done around the farm, so I reluctantly cancelled my TV service. It was really, really hard to pick up the phone to call, but the funny thing is, I'm not missing it at all... I think I will just keep it during the darkest days of winter, and otherwise let it go. I am getting more done without it, although there are still not enough days in the week, or hours in the day....!

I got my first order of meat birds in last week. I feel like I have succumbed to the pressures of society with those. Grow quick, get paid quick, get them out quick. I guess you just have to do what you need to do to pay the damn mortgage. Regardless of that, I will still continue to raise my Dorkings for meat as well as eggs. Hopefully I will be able to get more people behind them as time goes on. Here is a picture of the meat birds.

There are 74 birds... I ordered 75, got 78, but 4 died. That's normal.

I have had a strange couple of months in the dog boarding side of thing. It's truly feast or famine out there. March was so slow, I was certain I was going to starve to death. The first 2 weeks of April was so busy, I couldn't breath or even go out anywhere. I just hope things even out as time goes on. Managing the budget is hard when it's so up and down like that! Can't wait for my gardens to start making some money!

Crazy Days of Spring!

2010-04-11T08:45:00.000-07:00

Well, spring is proceeding with it's usual undecidedness. Warm and sunny one day, frost the next night, and pouring rain next. You never know what the weather will bring!
Things are progressing in the garden very well for the most part. Broad beans, peas, some lettuce, arugula and carrots are popping up. A few lettuce varieties I planted haven't shown up yet... not sure what is up with that. I'm going to wait until it warms a bit, then try replanting them. I need those early crops!
I am stoked to report I finished all 50 of my garden beds on March 26. It was 11 days later than my goal, but that's ok... I got it done, and am feeling quite proud of that fact. Most beds are planted now, but I've saved a few beds to plant assorted beans into later this month when it gets warmer. I've also been working on doing yet another business plan... I am applying to the government for a grant, to see if I can get further funding so I can put the rest of the garden beds in, as well as finish my orchard and berry patch. I also want to build a few new chicken coops, so I can rotate their pasture, and the chickens will always have fresh pasture to forage in. After this winter, the chicken runs look like giant mud patties. I can't imagine that it's the healthiest thing for chickens to walk around on.
A friend of a friend gave me 30 laying hens a few weeks ago. They are just the regular laying hens, which give you huge eggs, but I still love my Dorkings the best. The new layers just drop dead every once in a while... they are definitely not as hardy as the heritage breeds.
Here is a sample of the difference in the eggs:

Even though the Dorking eggs are smaller, the birds win the contest for overall hardiness and ease of keeping. I am keeping my fingers crossed right now.... 5 of my hens are broody, and I am hoping for some little Dorking chicks soon!

Here is a pic of my new layers. There were 30 of them, but Reckless ate 2, and 4 died spotaneously.

I am also taking part in a challenge- it's called the Nourished Kitchen. It's teaching people how to eat traditionally, like we did 100 years ago and more - BEFORE we had tooth decay, and everyone got chubby. It's the direction I've wanted to go anyway, but didn't really know how to start- alot of the things we used to do to eat have been lost in the mass of processed foods we eat these days. So, I am learning how to make my own sourdough bread (and pancakes!) at the moment. It's really interesting! Things I didn't know: sourdough bread is WAY healthier for you, plus it keeps your blood sugar levels even, and is especially good for diabetics. This is the link if you are thinking of doing the same thing: http://nourishedkitchen.com/
I am looking for a cow to buy shares in, so I can get ahold of raw milk, and learn to make my own butter and yogurt products. It's so exciting to try all this stuff! The best part since I've been eating these foods is this:
I AM NOT GETTING THE TREMENDOUS SUGAR CRAVINGS I NORMALLY HAVE. I have been a junk food junky all my life, and every time I've tried to 'eat healthy' in the past (low fat, blah, blah, blah) I've had sugar cravings that have almost killed me. This week, I bought a chocolate bar and put it into my fridge. For anyone who knows me, that bar would usually have been gone the day, no, the minute I bought it. It has been 4 days, and it is still in my fridge. I've had a couple of bites, but that little bit was all I needed. I am so excited to try some new traditional recipes, and see where it takes me...

The cherry blossoms are out and I just had to take a picture of my little Aaron cherry tree all dressed up. Can't wait for those cherries this summer!

I also have 2 new arrivals at the farm. Katrina, who owns the horse that boards with me got 2 little Shetland ponies- Babe and Lenny. They are so cute, and a joy to have at the farm!

I went to a meeting a couple of weeks ago for people who raise heritage turkeys. You know how much I hated those damn turkeys....
Well, I am going to try again. There was some really awesome people there, and one of the ladies is going to come over and help me clip the turkey wings, so I don't have escapes every 10 seconds. In theory, it should be a little less stressful this time around...
We are also getting a new food made for the turkeys and chickens, which mimics closer the feed we used to give these birds. We should get faster growth out of them... it will be interesting to try it, and see what the difference is!

Last Blast of 'Winter'

2010-03-16T15:31:00.000-07:00

I feel the need to put 'winter' in quotations this year... most of the year, it was so mild and lovely, it really didn't feel like winter at all! Officially, it has been my favourite winter of my life. Wish they were all so wonderful! True to form, however, winter decided to rear it's ugly head for a week there... we had some dumps of snow (which didn't last long!) and some colder temps... I blame myself, as it only gets cold when I plant my gardens... lol!

The cold snap didn't seem to do much harm, however... I have radish and arugula coming up already. I LOVE seeing little green things coming up! I also planted my first ever asparagus plants... Jersey King and Purple asparagus. I won't get any crops this year, but should be able to start harvesting a bit from them next year. I've been working on filling and planting the rest of my garden beds... I am getting there! I now have 35 beds all ready to go, most of them planted already. I was so happy to have my goal of 50 beds in this year, but now I see it probably won't be enough for everything I want to do... I am going to slowly start building more as I go, and just keep plugging away at it.

I went up to my friends' greenhouse last week to check on my little seedlings. Everything is doing fantastic! The little cabbages will be ready to plant outdoors in just a couple of weeks... then I have to figure out how to keep the deer from gobbling them all down. grrrrr... deer.

A friend of a friend also gave me 30 more laying hens. This are just your regular run of the mill hens, but suddenly I have eggs coming out my ears... I am working on building up a good new customer base on those, too, so my fridge doesn't fill up completely with eggs!

I sent out an email to all my customers last week, to get preorders for meat chickens. I have now officially sold 46 chickens! I ordered 75, so I will have 20 for myself, and a few extras for some late orders. I am super happy with that! The little poults will arrive in a couple of weeks, and they should be ready for processing in early June. It will be nice to have a bit of extra money coming in at that time, too.

I am now off my EI self employment program, which is somewhat scary, but I am determined to do whatever it takes to make a living from my little farm, and I know everything will work out just fine!

It's Officially Spring...;-)

2010-03-02T13:10:00.000-08:00

Oops... haven't updated in a while! My dogboarding business has had the busiest 3 continuous months, and I've been up to my neck in dogs day after day. This is NOT a complaint! I've loved every moment of it. I am finding I am getting better and better and nicer and nicer dogs in here all the time. This week is a slow week, so I am using the few days I have to try to catch up on everything else in my life. Not an easy task!

Let's see.... what is new? I've been going gangbusters on the garden beds, and I now have 46 beds made, with the lumber for 3 more. I just have to go to the lumber store one more time to get the rest of what I need. Yay! I'm so stoked I got this much done, considering how busy I've been. I have a small load of compost coming in on Monday, so I will use that to start filling the empty beds. The load I'm getting won't get them all done by any stretch, but it will make a good dent in it.

Yesterday was March 1st. In Kelly Land, this is officially spring. I don't care what the calendar says, I don't care what the weather is doing. March 1st comes, and I want to be in the garden. Well, this year, I am! I started planting yesterday after checking the weather for the next week. There is no frost expected in that time, so I have been busy turning over the fall rye, and weeding and planting all the beds that are ready. I've got in 2 varieties of peas, 3 varieties of beets, arugula, several lettuces, walla walla onions, mesculin mix, and a couple of herbs- rosemary and oregano. If I think it's going to get cold, I will just cover the beds with newspaper to insulate the little seedlings. I also went to a friend's place who has several greenhouses, and planted basil, cabbages, tomatoes, and peppers, to be ready for me when it warms up. Very cool of him to let me do that... it will definitely give me a head start, and everything can be grown organically so I can keep my Certified Naturally Grown status.

I had to mow the lawn last week for the first time this year.... a huge bit earlier than last year! The mower started up just fine, and I got it all done just before it started raining again. I guess if it dries out a bit here and there, it will be my weekly chore again. So much to mow... I do almost 2 acres each time, all hand mowed... no ride 'em mower for me! I used to hate it, but now I don't mind so much. It's good exercise, and a great time to just plan what I want to do next.

There are green things coming out of trees all over the place, and the cherry blossoms are starting to come out. I think Mother Nature agrees with me that it should be spring now... !!

Spring is on it's way....

2010-02-10T16:11:00.000-08:00

Well, the weather has still been mild and wonderful. This has officially been my favourite 'winter' EVER! It's raining right now, but I got lots done today before the drops started falling. I just planted a Yellow Transparent apple and a Lapins cherry tree. My orchard will be finished before you know it! The Y. Trans. is a heritage apple, and is apparently the best for cooking and baking. The Lapins is a newer introduction, but is self pollinating, and I've had the fruit before, and it's delicious. Sweet and juicy. I've also now built 12 new garden beds... the count is now at 37 total. I'm getting there! I am going to have to break down and buy some compost to put in- it's getting too late to put in fresh manure, and I just haven't had enough years here to build up a good pile of usuable compost on my own.

I got a dumptruck load of driveway chip in this morning, and got it raked into the biggest holes in the driveway. The driveway was degrading fast after all the rain we had over the winter months. I was getting afraid I would start to lose customers due to the fact that it was so bumpy and muddy. I did, however, grossly underestimate how much driveway a dumptruck full would cover.... I thought it would do most of the driveway. Turns out I will need about 3 full loads to get it all done. It's a loooonnnnngggg driveway!! The worst is fixed, so I will let it rest for now and put my funds into my orchard and gardens.

I've also been working on fixing my coldframes, and am starting to plant a bit underneath them. Mesculin went in yesterday. If the weather holds, I should have fresh salad again starting in about a month or so!
I went to a couple of seminars over the last weekend on how to grow fresh veggies all winter long, and also on how to maximize the space you have for the greatest amount of yield. I learned ALOT, and feel much more confident about growing my CSA shares. Plus, I will have the added bonus of harvesting fresh veggies all next winter.

Catching up

2010-02-03T09:41:00.000-08:00

Well, the turkeys were YUMMY. They are super-lean, not really any fat on them to speak of, anyway. I do have to admit that I was quite disappointed in the size of them. For the length of time it took the bloody things to grow, and how annoying they were, I would've hoped for a bit more. The one tom I had, Tasty, turned out to be not a bad size. All the rest were females, and were barely the size of a chicken. I have decided to hold off on doing any more turkeys this year, and just concentrate on the chickens. I am going to to both heritage and hybrids, so people can have a choice, and the hybrids will bring in a bit faster cash. Maybe I'll try turkeys again next year...

I now have 10 new garden beds built, and will be able to do a bunch more over the next week or two. I got my first couple of deposit cheques from my CSA members, and am just chomping at the bit to get planting. It has been so MILD this year, it is tempting to just 'try' a few crops early, and see what happens. But I won't! I know as soon as I put a few seeds in the garden, there will be a cold snap. I am trying hard to be patient, but for those who know me well, will realize just how hard it is for me to do! Patience may be a virtue, but it's not one of my virtues;-)

I am starting to expand my orchard a bit. I got an Anjou pear, made a raised bed for it (which is a good thing, seeing as the water table is only about a foot under the soil line these days), planted it, then realized I put it in the wrong spot, so had to build another bed, and replant it where it was supposed to go. I am also hoping to get another apple and plum in this year as well. Then I will be 3/4 finished the orchard, and will hopefully be able to finish it by the end of the year. Yay! Fresh fruit! Love it!

I had my busiest weekend EVER in the dog boarding side of things. It was insane. Luckily, almost all the dogs I had in I've had before, and they were all really well behaved, and everyone got along. I now know the limits of my little house... I had 14 dogs in on Friday nite, PLUS my own four. I truly could not have squeezed another dog in here if I had tried! I am now back down to a normal level- 6 dogs- and if I could hold steady at that, I would be really making a living, instead of just eeking out a living. It's very encouraging!!