An Eye-Opening Meeting

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

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!

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...

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...

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!

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

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...!

:-)