Broiler Chicken Update

We finally got the broiler chickens moved out to pasture today.  Troy made another Joel Salatin-type moveable pen for them.  They seem to really like it.  They are running around, pecking at the ground and acting like happy chickens. 

 Here's another view of them at the waterer.  They drink an amazing amount of water a day...it seems to be about 10 gallons!  We have a 5 gallon waterer and it has to be filled twice a day. 

They are growing fast.  About 4 weeks to go...

16 Foods with Scary Suprises...May Suprise You

Check out this link (but not while eating your lunch):  16 Foods with Scary Surprises.  It gives 16 foods that we commonly buy from major companies, and the FDA requirements as far as ACCEPTABLE levels of rodent hairs, mammal excrement, larvae, fly eggs and more...Can you even believe there are "acceptable" levels... I don't know about you, but this article motivates me even more to grow/ raise my own food, or at least buy local from a farmer you trust! 

What's Happening On The Farm

We have been planting a lot this week, getting ready for the rain that's coming this weekend...and even today.  Not sure how much we have gotten so far, but it rained pretty good for a little while.  We have planted green beans, cucumbers, zucchini/summer squash, sweet potatoes, asparagus, sweet corn, herbs, tomatoes, peppers, and I'm sure I am forgetting something.  We have gotten quite a bit accomplished thanks to all of our helpers.

 Here is a pic of our newly planted sweet corn field.  We are trying two different varieties this year, a bicolor and a white sweet corn.  I can't wait until harvest time...we love us some sweet corn!  My Mom and Randy also planted popcorn in another field down the hill.  That will be fun to try.  We've never grown our own popcorn before.

 Sorry for the picture quality on these by the way...it was super sunny out when I took them.  My strawberries are blooming!  I am really happy with the quality of the plants and seeds I ordered from Johnny's Selected Seeds, by the way.  They have great products and a high standard of quality.  I can't recommend them enough.

And here is a picture of my onion chives in bloom.  They really look pretty, more so than this picture shows.  So, things are growing...a little slower than I would like, but growing none the less.  I have to remind myself that we are doing great considering all of the other things on our plate, like my husband's full-time job off the farm and children to homeschool!

Meet Nettie and Denver!

We added goats to the farm this weekend.  Nettie is a Toggenburg/Nubian mix.  Her buckling Denver is mostly Nubian.  We brought them home in a large dog kennel in the back of the truck.

They were happy to get out on pasture as soon as they arrived.  They really didn't want to come around us much yesterday, but by this morning they were becoming more friendly.  This afternoon they are letting us pet them and are coming right to us.

 Denver is a sweet buckling.  He is very friendly and tries to jump up on us like a dog would.  His little tail wags a bit too when he is excited.  So cute.  He stays pretty close to Mama, but he is not quite a month old.  We are planning on weaning him pretty soon so we can milk Nettie for ourselves.  I'm excited to try making kefir, yogurt, cheese, and maybe even goatmilk soap.

 This is our make-shift shelter for them until we can make them something better.  We added plenty of fresh straw, and the tarp works to keep the rain and sun off of them.  It's not the prettiest, but it was free.  Mary Jane's Farm magazine has plans for a pallet barn that we are thinking about making.  We are also considering a three sided type shelter.  We'll have to see. 

Welcome to Bountiful Harvest Farm Nettie and Denver!

Starts Ready to Go!

 Our starts are out on the porch awaiting planting.  We grew them under growlights in my Mom's garage, which are pictured below.  They have done great, now we are in the process of hardening them off.  Most of these are tomatoes and peppers.  I was able to get out this morning and plant all of the herbs into my raised beds.  I added rosemary, lemon thyme, oregano, mint, and sage.  I already have garlic chives, onion chives, and german thyme growing well.  I have basil and dill yet to plant, and I can't seem to find lavender plants this year...anyone know where I can find some? 

These are the growlights set up in the garage.  Our greenhouse had blown apart in a windstorm, so we had to go to plan B with the plant starts.  The lights are just regular shop lights.  They worked well.  We plan on covering the greenhouse frame with some poly-carbonate later in the season.  Hopefully that won't blow away as easily!!

A Side Project...

We have been having some rainy weather here lately, and I got a project done that I had wanted to do for a while.  I painted my metal lawn chairs aqua blue.  I am LOVING this color.  I think I 'll be painting more things this shade of aqua really soon!  I should have gotten a "before" pic, but forgot.  They were gray and white (with some rust, I might add).  This is a great improvement!

Garden Update

We had great weather this weekend to get out in the garden.  Things we got planted:  lettuces, radishes, cabbage, broccoli, carrots, spinach, peas, and a few flower seeds as well.  We had a few garden helpers too...one shown in the picture above.  He was pushing his toy mower, following as Daddy tilled in the garden.  So cute.  We also started our dwarf tree orchard... 9 trees planted so far... 2 peach, 2 apple, 2 plum, and 3 pear.  I can't wait until they produce fruit; we'll be one step closer to a self-sufficient life.