Showing posts with label 30 day challenge. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 30 day challenge. Show all posts

Monday, November 10, 2014

Starting the Flock

This week we added some animals to the farm. Last year we were given 2 lambs, a wether and a ewe.  We decided to have the ewe lamb bred so we took her to an Amish neighbor, where she's been for the last couple of months. The neighbor also agreed to sell us another ewe lamb so now we are up to 3 sheep...almost a flock! 



The ewes are getting acquainted and re-acquainted with the surroundings for a few days. The wether gets to hang out with our steer on the pasture of clover and barley. We rotate the pen every couple of days, as you can see, they munch it right down in those days. 


We hope to turn them all out together later this week and we can't wait for some lambs this spring!

Don't forget to visit the other 30 day challenge bloggers!

The Ag Blogging challenge arranged by Holly Spangler is going strong. Make sure to read herAgriculturalists Who Influence blog series!

30 Days Bloggers



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Sunday, November 9, 2014

Raspberries

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The first year we lived here we bought a lamb for our daughter to show for 4-H, there's a big story for another time about that lamb, but one thing we gained from having him was 10 heritage raspberry plants. We planted them and I promptly killed 3 of them by burning them with organic fertilizer.  The ones that survived are doing really well, we have harvested berries all summer. 

This week we rototilled beside them, in the direction we want them to spread.  Then we spread manure on the spot we tilled. In a few weeks we will cut them all back and put straw and manure over the plants. This variety likes to be completely cut back each year. I love that we don't have to worry about only pruning the canes that produced this year.  Raspberries are a wonderful, productive, and delicious berry. They are also fairly easy to grow and tend.  Look into growing your own raspberries, you won't regret it!

~ Tami
(bonus points for those of you who can find the creeper in one of the above pictures 😏)



Don't forget to visit the other 30 day challenge bloggers!

The Ag Blogging challenge arranged by Holly Spangler is going strong. Make sure to read her Agriculturalists Who Influence blog series!

30 Days Bloggers



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Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Day 4 of 30 Days of Preparation: Purging a suburban home

My husband and I are in a huge purge cycle at our current home. We raised 3 kids in a 2700 square foot house and have the stuff to prove it. 2 living room areas, 4 bedrooms, an office, a rec area in the basement, a large storage room, a full size kitchen plus a mini kitchen area,a 2.5 car garage--all of it occupied with stuff we thought we needed.

As we prepare to sell our house and downsize significantly I find myself acting like a 'stuff' dictator--walking through the house and deciding what gets to stay and what has to go.  We are not packrats, in fact I have a pretty heavy hand when it comes to getting rid of stuff already. But it's amazing how much there still is to go through.  We won't be moving for 6-7 months, but we do hope to really get through most of the downsizing in the next few months.

We plan on moving with a pickup, a small trailer (6'x10' or so), and a small car. That will really limit what we can take with us. My husband has several big garage items that will have to go, I have a wood buffet that belonged to my mom I can't leave behind, an old rodeo trunk that I refurbished when I was 16, and there is one double size bed set that I want to take. That's it for big items. And that will probably take up most of the room in the trailer. Luckily, we will have a place to store the large items when we get to Michigan.  Our other bed sets will be sold. Our living room furniture is old and we want to get rid of it anyway so all of those pieces can will be sold or thrown away. I guess that's the one good thing about all of the old stuff we have, it will feel good to get rid of it.

and just because I feel the need to add a picture--here's an embarrassing shot of the storage room. Ugh
~Tanya

Don't forget to visit the other 30 day challenge bloggers!

The Ag Blogging challenge arranged by Holly Spangler is going strong. Make sure to read her Agriculturalists Who Influence blog series!

30 Days Bloggers

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Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Tucking In - Part 2

As we wrap up the growing season here at the hop yard, it's important to remember the soil. Winter is a good time to spread compost, leaves or manure onto your worked ground. This week we cleaned the pens and spread two loads of manure on our fields. We don't own a manure spreader so we improvised.


Since we only have a few animals, this method actually works fairly well.  We load the manure on the trailer and then we drive slowly through the field throwing pitchfork loads onto the ground. Thankfully, the manure in our pens was fairly aged, making the job easier and less stinky.


We've also been cutting firewood for winter prep. We use the tractor to skid the logs to a landing area.  Then we sort the logs into sawmill logs and firewood logs. The sawmill logs are loaded on the trailer and taken to the Amish sawmill. The firewood logs are cut and split and stacked into a shed for use during the winter.  We have a geothermal heating system but we like to supplement with wood. It's a good way to get some use out of the ash trees that have been dying due to the Ash Borer.  Ash is a good hardwood that burns great and splits without too much trouble.

I can't say that we are looking forward to winter, but having some of these tasks done makes it a little less scary!

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Monday, November 3, 2014

Day 5: preparation book

I love books. A lot. My idea of a fun night is to curl up with a good book and read for hours. I've been this way my whole life, and one of the books I remember reading when I was probably is Back to Basics: How to Learn and Enjoy Traditional American Skills by Readers Digest press. My mom had the yellow cover version that I think was published in 1981. When I saw a copy at my local library sale I snapped it up. Even though Tami and I grew up in a household that used many of this skills, I still find the variety of topics hard to resist. 
If you want to learn the basics from setting up a homestead, to butchering, to growing food, wind and solar power, baking, weaving, etc  then you need to take a look at this book.










You can get your own copy for less than $20 on eBay, and I think it is well worth the money.

~Tanya




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