More Slop-Ugh!!!

Well, we have slop again! My poor chickens love the slop as much as I do which is not so much. All of the snow in their run is melting and when that sun comes out and thaws the top slop, well you can imagine what a mess it is for the day. Oh well, this to shall pass and their coop is nice and dry with lots of straw to scratch in.
We have markers in the ground where the greenhouse is going! I can now stand there and dream!! The blueprints have been made more detailed and the time is getting closer for building to begin.

We got to visit with some friends at church Sunday that moved from Ohio to New York just about the time we were getting to know them. We were glad to visit with you Joe and Gail, please come again!!

We were able to get our sausage in the store to sell at Local Roots.We are using the on-line order system as well. It has gone well so far and I am doing a demo of our sausage this Saturday for folks to taste. If you are a local reader...be sure to come on down and have a taste!! We start at 9:00am.

Today I need to work on my orders for our butcher chickens this summer. Need to figure out the days to get the peeps and since we raise heritage breeds, it takes a bit longer for them to finish to a butchering size so we only do a couple of batches. Those crazy broilers that everyone thinks are so great only take 6-9 weeks to grow huge and our heritage birds take about 16 weeks. You can understand the temptation to grow the broilers but the heritage breeds taste way better in my opinion and seem to have way less health issues.

Well, I'm off to feed my girls (hens) and to slog thru all that lovely slop. I am hoping for a freeze or a good rain to settle things a bit.

If you ate a meal today-thank a farmer!

You all know Mike Rowe of Dirty Jobs and even if you don't, here is a page of his very well written concerns about the HSUS and what they are about; http://www.mikeroweworks.com/2010/02/what-is-in-americas-future/comment-page-2/#comment-1378
In November 2009 the voters here in Ohio passed something called the Livestock Care Board. While I myself was on both sides of this issue I will say, this board needs to be allowed to be put in working order before some non-agriculture group tries to come in and tell Ohio farmers how to farm. The HSUS (Humane Society of the United States) will use their typical schemes to play on peoples emotions and completely ignore the truth. They will go to people who do not even know a farmer and they will attempt to destroy farming as we know it.
Most farmers I know treat their animals very well. We may not all agree with exactly how things are done but we all appreciate our choices of meat, dairy and poultry and the HSUS wants to take away those choices.
I would appeal to those out there to meet a farmer, ask questions, look around and don't allow a group who hides behind saving animals make your decisions for you. The records show that the HSUS raked in $86 million in 2008 and spent a whopping $450,000 on actual animal care. The rest went for things like salaries, lobbying and paying a lock-box company to handle all of the donations that well-meaning but unaware people sent them. Don't believe me about this, it is a matter of public tax record-look it up for yourself.
Always keep in mind-agriculture has been a part of this country since day one. Agriculture is what puts food on your table in one form or another. I choose to eat meat and I am not forcing that choice on anyone. If you choose to not eat meat-that choice should not be forced on anyone either.
If you ate a meal today-then thank a farmer!
If you like your foreign oil then you'll love your foreign meat eh??!! Think about it and look at history and heavy regulation-what has been the trend? Let me help a bit......a move to foreign shores.
Don't let that happen to our agricultural community. Please, get to know some farmers today.

GMO concerns

In our market garden we do not knowingly plant any genetically modified seeds (GMO's).
My reasons are personal however I think people should have all the facts about something and then decide for themselves what they want. I buy a lot of seeds from Fedco Seeds and they have this excellent page about the myths of GMO's and I want to share it with you: http://www.fedcoseeds.com/seeds/debunking.htm.

Here also is a good article from a human health view that tells you more on this subject and outlines the shenanigans that go on in our government, namely the FDA and then there is Monsanto, who has patents on many GMO seeds and the technology. http://www.wellnessresources.com/freedom/articles/health_scandal_of_the_decade_monsantos_gmo_perversion_of_food/ .

Check these out for your self and be aware that many processed foods containing corn and/or soybean components are from GMO grains. A very large percentage of the grains grown by conventional farming methods are from GMO seed technology.

Be wise about what you choose to eat and put into your body.

More Snow!!

Well, between yesterday and again today...we have a lot of snow! Not to mention the snow from a couple of days ago. It has gotten pretty windy today and so I'm sure we will have big drifts soon.

I took these pictures yesterday before we got today's snow and while it was calm..

Here is Big Boy and you can see how much frost we had that morning on the fence. That is frost---not snow!!

 

Here is the view to the east from behind our barn in the mid-morning. How beautiful God makes His creation for us to know that He is God.

 

Last but not least, a view through the horse lots looking at the banty's winter apartment. It looks like Cosmo is visiting them or perhaps thinking of a chicken dinner??!!

The bantys are in the old rabbit hutch with a heat mat and that white spot sitting on the corner is Cosmo...a very silly kitty!! You can just see some color in the one door of the hutch...that would be the rooster.
Here is another shot of Cosmo...

Lots of Snow

When there is a lot of snow-like today-we use a BIG snow blower that is mounted on the back of one of our tractors to remove snow. It still amazes me to watch that big thing work and so I thought I would see if I could amaze you with some pictures of the process.

 

  

  

  

The picture before this one was an attempt to show how big the drift by my car was. You get a better idea here as the snow blower goes by it! These were 4-5 foot drifts!! We haven't had snow like that yet this winter! We also keep the road in front of our house cleared for the mail lady so Gene carefully clears it off too. He spent most of the day today moving snow here and down at the main farm as well as for several neighbors.

Beautiful Day

When I went outside this morning to do chores, it was so beautiful that I had to take some pictures!
Here is what the garden looks like for now...

And you can also see the compost/manure pile and one of our chicken tractors. We raise our butcher birds in these during the summer. They get moved every day to fresh grass and are protected from hawks and the road.

(George had to follow along...)
This was our sweet corn patch last year but we had to install a septic system and this is where the leach field went, these are 150' long and we had to scrape our topsoil over it so we have some massive soil rebuilding to do before we can use this area again. We will level it in the spring and seed it and I'm hoping to run the chicken tractors on it next year! Can't ever plow it or drive stuff on it again...sigh

Gene tells me that the greenhouse will be up in the next two weeks or so....very exciting! I will keep you posted and now that I have learned how to put pictures on my blog, I shall have more of them too I'm sure!
Stay tuned...........

Chickens!

We also keep a small flock of chickens for eggs and entertainment. During the summer we raise a couple of batches of butcher birds for our freezer too. I wanted to share some pictures of our "girls" and Big Boy too.
Chickens eat lots of things and so I keep their diet varied. It is harder in the winter but we make do, this time they have gotten some acorn squash that we grew and stored. I throw oats, corn, spelt and sunflower seeds to them every morning also. They also love peanuts and raisins and many other things.


These are Barred Plymouth Rock chickens and they lay brown eggs.


My rooster is Big Boy and there is a pic of him showing off his voice. There are also a couple of pictures of the girls in the nest boxes and one of them is showing me her egg!! Yummy!