Week #16 - Moving forward..

Spring time is always a bit of a juggle... we always seem to be moving things around! 

As the weather changes and our seed flats grow, we are constantly shifting them around to maximize sun and heat. Moving flats between the house and the greenhouse and transplanting plants into larger pots is keeping us busy these days. 

This week we will also be moving the ladies out of the winter coop and into their summer housing in the pasture. Our laying hens will be moved out to our 'chicken tractors' which are portable shelters that allow them access to be on fresh pasture everyday but not be vulnerable to predators. For the last few weeks, they've been spilling out of the winter coop and wandering around the farm... which makes finding their eggs a bit of a daily challenge. 

Moving onions to the greenhouse

If you are looking for a bit of exercise... you are welcome to pop by Tuesday night around dusk to help move 150 wily chickens to the back field!  

Week #15 - Anticipating arrivals...

The greatness of a nation and its progress is
judged by the way its animals are
treated ~Mahatma Gandhi

On the farm, we find that we are frequently anticipating an arrival... during spring time it is a constant state! We look forward to every hatch, kidding, calving and farrow with a mixture of excitement and apprehension and greet each successful newborn animal with warm relief. 

We take our responsibility for caring for our animals on the farm seriously and care about each life created on the farm. Witnessing the entire process, has provided our children (and us) incredible lessons about natural selection, nurturing and the necessities of life. 

This month we are pampering Patty, the pig who is expecting any day now a litter of piglets. Tucked into the corner of the barn, she grows bigger and slower every day as the big day comes closer.  

Our chicks continue to hatch on a daily basis. The miracle that is a hatching chick... evolving from a wet, ugly, being lurching from one place to another into an active, fluffy chirping nugget scurrying around is truly amazing to see. 

This week's topic deserves some pics of past babies born on the farm! Check back regularly for updates on our arrivals coming soon! 

Week #14 - A good time to prepare...

This weekend was cold ... and windy and snowy. Not impressed given its the second weekend in April! I had hoped to be outside preparing the farm for the coming spring! Instead I retreated indoors and made the best of the chilly weather! 

Eating well throughout the year, takes work and planning. Eating well during our busy months (summer) takes additional preparation! While I frequently have several meals in the freezer ready to go, at this time of year I am more intentional about such preparations and I begin to fill our freezer with healthy pre-made meals that we will be able to cook easily after a full day of planting, weeding, or harvesting. 

My goal is have plenty of options to entice all members of the family to eat well no matter what the circumstances. With three teenagers, that means having plenty of heat and go options. In addition, the summer if full of potlucks, BBQs and other social events in which we need to bring something. With no time to prepare anything fancy, I like to have a few appetizer and/or desserts pre-made and frozen ready to pull out and impress. Cheese balls, pesto & cream cheese tortes, and crab dip all freeze well and are easy to thaw and go. 

Today I made a number of Lasagnas and Shepherd Pie, both small and large to accommodate company or extra mouths as well as to be sure that those evenings when there are only a few of us, that we don't resort to unhealthy alternatives. Meat in marinade stored in a ziploc bag and frozen flat, stores efficiently in the freezer. Burritos are great heat and go options that my teens enjoy! 

What kind of meals do you like to have ready and waiting!? 

Week #13 - We're growing again...

 If feels good to growing again! 

We've been seeding trays of plants for several weeks now and things are starting to come up! 

The familiar routines of checking the plants, watering, weeding, transplanting are starting up again. 

This year I'm feeling a bit more organized with a weekly seeding/transplanting/planting plan all laid out. 

Here's hoping that we can stick to it! You know what they say about the best laid plans! 

Every year we try something new.... this year we are going to give artichokes and peanuts a try! Artichokes need a long growing season so we've already seeded them and I saw them poking up this morning! 

Peanuts grow just like potatoes and are seeded directly into well drained soil. We are thinking about sticking them next to the asparagus and see what happens! 




Has anyone else tried peanuts? I'm excited to see how they do!

We've expanded our growing area this year again and are also planting more apple and pear trees. 

I'm so tempted to try apricots as my middle son devours them but not sure how they do here. We'll see what's in the truck after the trip to the nursery....

Week #12 - How to do well with chicks!

Hail Caesar!

If you've come here for dating advice, I apologize if my title misleads... While lately we've had some success with chicks, they have only been of the feathered variety! 

This past summer we ended up with an errant rooster mixed in with our layer chicks ordered from a local hatchery. As he grew, it became clear that indeed one of these things was not like the other and we separated him from the main flock. In the warmer months, Caesar, as he came to be known, ranged in the back field with six or seven of his favorite gals and over winter we gave him a corner of the coop known as Caesar's Palace. 

We mark each egg with its due date
 eg. Feb. 11th

In mid January we began collecting the Palace eggs and tucking them into our incubator. Consistent heat of 99-100F and humidity between 50-55% is needed to successful hatch chicks. They like an increase to 65% humidity within the last 3 days before hatching. We maintain humidity by adding water to the bottom of the incubator every day. While many incubators have automatic egg turners, we do ours 'old school' and turn them by hand 3-4 times a day. As this releases humidity and heat, you need to be quick and I often spray the incubator with a water mister at the same time. 

Our chicks began hatching in February (21 days later) and we've had a steady stream of chicks ever since. We are hoping that our hatching efforts will be enough to avoid purchasing hatchery chicks in April and ready to lay chickens in June.... a savings of over $700 not to mention the gas and time out to Russell, Manitoba during the busy planting season. 

We keep our chicks in a large aquarium with a heat lamp until they are a couple of weeks old and then move them to a large area with less heat until they are about 6-8 weeks and fully feathered enough to join the rest of the flock outside. 

Happy Easter! Welcome Spring! Wishing you success with chicks!

Week #11 - Around a table...

Many good things happen around a table! A table is a place where we share... food, conversation, decisions and time, a table is often the place we gather and celebrate as well as mourn.

We got into farming because we cared what we were putting on the table for our family and wanted to know where our food came from, how it was raised and processed and how it traveled to our home. Over time our passion for putting good food on our table expanded to other tables...and well the rest as they say, was history. 

This weekend, I sat around the table with others who are just as passionate about putting good, local foods on your table. 

I was proud to participate in the first official board meeting of the newly formed Direct Farm Marketing Association of Manitoba, a group that hopes to create a mechanism for the voice of small scale farmers in Manitoba to be heard. Time, energy and shared goals will lead us forward and I'm excited to see how things progress. Something tells me that there will be many shared tables in our future. 

Week #10 - My Happy Place!

Yesterday I spent several hours in my happy place.... hands in the dirt, sunshine streaming down! 

While its a bit wet and chilly to be out in the fields, we are starting our seeding in earnest and that means preparing trays and getting our hands dirty in the greenhouse. 

It means that our living room with its beautiful south facing window, fills with seed trays. It means time spent counting days to germination... days to maturity, soil temperature, etc. It means creating seeding plans and figuring out crop rotations. 

I read somewhere the other day that dirt can indeed make you happier! While I know that from experience, I now have science on my side. Dirt does make you healthier and happier!