Greening up!

FFF Photo a  Day - Day 120 

In my walk about the farm today, I couldn't help but notice how things are greening up... (despite how dry everything is). 

I found spinach in the front bed beside the house that I planted a couple of weeks ago as snow was falling! 

Underneath the straw, I found both rhubarb and asparagus starting to emerge. Both of these were moved last fall to a new location so glad to see they survived the winter with very little snow cover to protect them. 

I've fallen and can't get up?

FFF Photo a Day - Day 119 

Yesterday I rounded the corner of the house and was greeted by this sight! Avery was sound asleep in this bizarre position. 

I'm not sure if she tumbled down the front steps and just decided to stay put and have a nap or if she simply found this to be the most comfortable posture to snooze in... Crazy dog! 

These pigs are shy!

FFF Photo a Day - Day 118

I've been trying to get some pictures of the piglets for days but every time I got remotely close to them they would take off! 

This is the best I could do today and that was only cause we bribed them with some whey. 

They are Berkshire pigs that live in a large treed area. They are new to our farm so hopefully they will warm up to us (and the camera) in the near future! 

Dose of cuteness

FFF Photo a Day - Day 117 

Everyone need a dose of cute to start their week!?  

Our greenhouse experiment (housing the chicks and seedlings together) is working well but it has been hard to regulate the temperature with the outside temps vacillating 15-20 degrees every 24 hours! 

Everyone loves babies!

FFF Photo a Day - Day 116

Had a super day, which began with visitors to the farm to check out the babies. Chicks, piglets and goat baby were all a hit as usual.

Shared a meal with good friends and then worked hard, getting much accomplished! 

.... it begins

FFF Photo a Day - Day 115

#Plant15 began today with the laying of the the plastic mulch. This is black plastic that we plant into. Drip tape runs underneath to water the plants. 

This method reduces the amount of weeding, tilling and watering that we need to do and allows us to plant sooner. 

It is typically a day that is cold and windy so today was a wonderful change. Farmer Phil and I got through it and we are still married! (laying plastic together definitely tests your relationship!)  

Signs of Spring!

FFF Photo a Day - Day 114

There are certain activities that are sure signs of spring. On the farm one of them is chick day! Chick day is the day in which we get our first batch of chicks from the hatchery each spring.

Today was chick day! All arrived healthy and frisky as you can see and seem to like their new digs in the greenhouse. 

Happy Chick Day everyone!

Got milk?

FFF Photo a Day - Day 113 

Having dairy goats (or dairy cows for that matter...) means a regular routine of milking, typically morning and night. 

We either milk by hand or use a hand powered milking tool called a Henry Milker. As you can see this creates a closed system that helps eliminate dust, dirt and hair from getting in your milk! 

The Henry Milker fits onto any wide mouth mason jar which is handy!  

New addition!

FFF Photo a Day - Day 112

Our greenhouse addition on the barn is almost done! Our plan is to house both chicks and seedlings in the same space. Both need consistently warm temperatures for a period of time. The chicks will be on the ground while the seedlings will be on shelving above. 

Our chicks come on Friday so it won't be long before we get to try it out! 

Goat Milk Caramels

FFF Photo a Day - Day 111

Now that we have a steady supply of goat's milk, we've been enjoying fresh yogurt and creamy milk everyday. I'm looking forward to making some soap and cheese this weekend as well. 

Always on the hunt for something new, I tried making goats milk caramels the other night. While they are tasty, I'm hoping to make them again and see if I can make a softer version, much like the traditional cadbury version.

Peek-a-boo!

FFF Photo- Day  - Day 110

Sancho is a month old La Mancha buckling (male baby goat). 

He is big for his age and loves to play peek-a-boo with the camera. 

Egg-ucation

FFF Photo a Day - Day 109

Did you know that a hen has all the eggs that she is going to lay in her lifetime already inside her when she hatches! 

Each egg starts out as a tiny follicle in the hen which takes about 24 hours to form into a complete egg as it travels through her body. 

How amazing is that! 

Tricks of Light

FFF Photo a Day - Day 108 

We all know that light can make or break a picture. It is why I often head out either early morning or late evening when the sun casts some interesting shadows! 

Tonight on my walkabout I snapped a quick photo of Avery our farm dog and thought the result was a bit otherworldly! 

Through the accident of overexposure and light, she looks like she's surrounded by white light instead of just lying on the road!      

Romance & Bacon?

FFF Photo a Day - Day 107

Our regular followers know that Friday night is frequently date night on the farm. Indeed we had that on the schedule when the need to go pick up some piglets interfered. So ... I'm here with Farmer Phil driving west. I've always said that everything's better with bacon...

Helping hands

FFF Photo a Day - Day 106

At this time of year, we can use all the help we can get! So we are thankful to this hen who is diligently clearing the straw from around our strawberry plants!   .... now if we could just get her to learn to transplant tomatoes! 

Night shift

FFF Photo a Day - Day 105

The days never seem long enough when you are rushing to get a project done! 

We are re-jigging our greenhouse that is attached to our barn and it seems like you always need just another hour, another hand or another piece of wood....

Growing family...

FFF Photo a Day - Day 104 

Today our farm family grew a little bit more with the arrival of two new goats - mother and son. 

Everyone was pretty excited to see them which was likely a little overwhelming. 

By milking time, everyone seemed to be getting along and all (cattle & goats) accepted some apple treats and some scratching behind the ears.

Nature's paint brush

FFF Photo a Day - Day 103

Last night on the way out to the barn to do the milking, I captured this image. 

It was like nature had taken a golden paint brush and painted the tops of all the trees!

Simply gorgeous! 

What's not to love about Chocolate!

Choco wasn't too sure about what is outside!

FFF Photo a Day - Day 102

Today was moving day for Chocolate. Choco is a beautiful chocolate brown goat who became the newest member of the farm. 

Up until now, home has been Aagaard Farms and we are so thankful that they have trusted us to take good care of one of their special gals!

Isn't she beautiful!

The Family Farm

FFF Photo a Day - 101

Today we took part in a screening in of a great film exploring a wide range of issues experienced by small scale farmers. 'The Family Farm' is well worth the time. You can check out the trailer here: https://vimeo.com/107501264

After the screening, Farmer Phil took part in a panel and a discussion on the realities of being a small farmer in Manitoba. Another good event put together by Kalynn Spain and Small Farms Manitoba! 

The aliens have landed!

FFF Photo a Day - Day 100

The other night I snapped this photo from inside the house. The result is a bit unnerving! Looks a bit like aliens are landing! 

Potato salad anyone?!

FFF Photo a Day - Day 99

Our seed potatoes arrived today (Thanks Bruce!). 

We plant our potatoes into rows of black plastic mulch. This serves to heat up the soil, keep weeds down, and moisture from evaporating. 

With the stretch of warm weather that is expected this weekend, we are hoping that we will be able to lay our mulch soon! 

Cramming for 4H Achievement

FFF Photo a Day - Day 98

Tonight our house was filled with 4-H members who were rushing to get ready for Achievement Night in a week and a half. 

Achievement is the time of the year that each 4-H member shows off what they have learned and achieved over the year. 

While many people may associate 4-H with learning about livestock and agriculture, members in a multipurpose club can also learn about a huge range of topic area. 

This year we have projects ranging from welding, sewing, money management, and knitting as well as member developed projects such as making and marketing beauty products and figuring out how to make a solar water heater from recycled parts. 

Community Supported Agriculture

FFF Photo a Day - Day 97

Some of you may be aware that along with livestock, we grow and market vegetables and fruits through a concept called Community Supported Agriculture or CSA. 

This simply means that customers who are interested in fresh, local foods direct from farms, purchase a share (either full or half) in our farm (or others that offer a CSA) and then enjoy the bounty of our labour for 12 weeks. 

Each customer gets a box of whatever is growing on the farm each week. We meet our customers in one of a couple of drop off points in the city or at the farm to exchange an empty box for a full one. 

We like sharing our produce in this way as we gain an ongoing relationship with our customer, they get to know how their food is grown and there is little wastage as we know how many families we are feeding before we seed. The customers get fresh, no spray produce that in most cases was picked a few hours before. 

Beautiful skies

FFF Photo a Day - Day 96

Tonight's sunset was another beauty. 

Snow is almost gone too! Full of gratitude for the nature that surrounds us! 

A Walkabout

FFF Photo a Day - Day 95

My daughter and I went for a meander today. Not a long one as the wind was cold on the ears as we rounded the corner! She on her bike and I on foot accompanied of course by Avery (our dog) as always. 

Happy Easter to those that celebrate and for those that don't, I trust you made good use of the long weekend! 

Planning ahead

FFF Photo a Day - Day 94

Soon days will be spent out in the field seeding, transplanting and weeding. The last thing you feel like at the end of the day is cooking. 

I'm spending as much time as possible planning ahead and getting meals and healthy snacks pre-made ready for those long days. 

Today was spent making sourdough naan, arancini (rice balls), meatballs, beef jerky, homemade pizza dough, hashbrowns and waffles. Feels good to know that we will have something that is healthy and unprocessed to grab.

What is your favorite item to make and have ready to grab?  

Transplant day

FFF Photo a Day - Day 93 

Today's chore is transplanting seedlings. These tomatoes are going to be huge if we don't get them in the ground soon! 

They will move out to our high tunnel (unheated greenhouse) shortly. I'm drooling just thinking about garden fresh tomatoes again! 

Not impressed!

You can barely see the grain bins in the distance! 

FFF Photo a Day - Day 92

I'm not impressed. Yesterday was 16C and sunny. Today it's -6C and blowing snow. 

The only positive is I managed to plant some spinach before the snow came... 

No fooling, its April!

FFF Photo a Day - Day 91

It's April 1st and I've seen a wonderful variety of April Fool's jokes today. 

One that I unwittingly participated in involved a Kijiji ad for a free goat (who can resist a free goat!) so... of course, I along with many others contacted the poor soul who knew nothing about a free goat! 

Besides good fun, April has also brought the emergence of the first hardy plants. Here our chives are pushing up in our front garden. So wonderful to see the beginning of green in the garden!