Hello Everyone! I apologize for the lack of farm blogging that I have done in the past few months. As many of you know, we are in the process of adopting our daughter so that has taken precedence on pretty much everything: blogging included. It is spring so we have a lot of new projects going on here at Crimson Acres Farm. Our winter was very mild which made my husband happy but made me nervous about the quantity (and size) of the bugs this summer. I always enjoy a long deep freeze because it makes me feel like there are less bug issues in the warmer months. I am one of those people that bugs flock to (seriously, I am not making this up), and am not only a sucker for mosquito bites but other insects literally run into me all.of.the.time. James is always amazed at how many times I say, “A bug just flew into my face/mouth/eye” during a normal season. So yes, bugs, eww. Our farm fresh eggs are selling well and chickens seem to be what we do best here on the farm. Well, that and strawberries. James made a new chicken tractor and he has lovingly dubbed it a “chickshaw”. This is a lightweight home for the chickens to use during the warm months. We can move it around so that they don’t destroy just one part of the yard and it comes complete with security, roosts, and nest boxes. He also electrified our fencing as we had many chickens who would fly the coop everyday looking for better grazing grounds. The fence has worked so far and only a few chickens (and both dogs) have gotten shocked. We fence the chickens in the summer months for a few reasons: they can't get into the neighboring fields of corn and soybeans, they can't get into our garden, they can't mess up the bark dust in our flower beds looking for good things to eat. A local school was looking for fertilized eggs as they hatch chickens every year. I offered 3 dozen of Crimson Acres finest and only asked that we get the hatched chickens back. So, we have 22 new chicks on the farm that are our own chicks! The benefit of the chicks is that we learned which rooster is doing the fertilizing…and it’s not the one we thought. Of the 22 chicks, only 2 are not black which means that our big Americana rooster is just wasting time. We also have a chicken that has gone broody so she is living in a cat carrier. We have found that we need to separate the broody hens from the rest of the flock because the other hens will try to lay more eggs beside her while she is trying to sit on her eggs. So, hopefully we will have a few new chicks in a few weeks as her eggs hatch. The new strawberry patch is going well and our old one is still trying to produce despite the weeds. We plan on digging up the starts of the old patch and selling them at a local farmer's market. We are hoping to be at the farmer's market every week with something to sell and finally made our own business cards, labels, and a banner with our logo! I have really noticed the birds more this spring and their every effort to create warm nests for the coming babies. We have found bird nests everywhere, even in between the wreath and the door that we use everyday. We also noticed that our wreath on the front door was looking a bit slim on one side and witnessed a robin taking sticks from it for their nest one morning! Another robin has made a nest in my favorite tree on the property. This time, the bird made the nest pretty low in the crutch of the branches. She is adamantly sitting on these 4 eggs , and so far, the dogs don't really bother it. This tree is the one that sits in between the garden and the strawberry patch. James and the boys planted potatoes and onions again this year. Our potatoes last year did really well and we ate on them throughout the winter. We used what we didn't eat and made those are starts for this year. We had a lot, so we planted a lot. We also got our normal variety of onions: yellow, white, red and a few Walla Walla Sweets. James' garlic patch is also doing well in the new spot near the red duck house/greenhouse in this picture. We will plant more in the coming weeks as the temperature warms up. One of the advantages of having the chickens roaming in a fenced area is that they can't scratch through the garden and flower beds. Here is the walkway from the driveway to the pool area. I put a fresh coat of paint on the star and James worked on insulating the water spigot last winter so that we can use water longer in the colder months. He also used some bricks from the barn and outlined this area along with making a little walkway to the hose. He still needs a few more bags of rock on the right hand side but it is nice to get these little projects done. Brother's Bunnies has hit a snag and Brownie, the mama bunny, has now had two miscarried litters in the past few months. After doing some research, we think that she is done having kits so we are looking for a good home for her. She is a sweet bunny and loves to cuddle! The boys bought a new female this past weekend seen here. We think that she is the same breed as the male, a Dutch, due to her black and white banded markings. The boys named her Midnight and we are hoping that she has kits in about a month or so. And finally, our sweet farm dog Leo, only has a few more days here on the farm. He has been battling oral cancer for about 2 1/2 years now and his tumor has grown very large. It has engulfed his teeth and is now rotting with a hole in his jaw. He has definitely slowed down and naps a lot. I can tell that he doesn't feel good but he refuses to take the pain medication no matter how well I hide it (treats, gravy, etc.). So, I finally asked James to call and make an appointment to put him down in the next few weeks. Leo is my dog. It was my call. Once I saw the hole in his jaw, I knew that it was best to end his suffering no matter how hard it will be for me to not have him around. Him and I have this connection that I have never had in a dog before. Ever since I asked James to make the call, I have noticed that Leo is getting worse by the day. He gets up slower, he walks different, and he sleeps more. I think that confessing that his time was almost up has allowed him to start to let go too. I plan on doing a post just about my sweet Leo once his time his up. Please keep us in your prayers as this will be hard for the boys to lose their puppy. We will miss him a lot but are so thankful for the time that we got with him.
My wife has lovingly cultivated our farm's blog for the past 2 years using Blogger. It has been a great platform for us to get started but we have decided to integrate our blog into the website directly. As a reader you should not notice any difference in content or quality. We have linked to the original Blogger content on the side bar so that you can continue to reference it .
Thanks for your continued readership and interest. -James |
AuthorWe are two reformed city dwellers sharing farm fresh musings and anecdotes from America's heartland. ArchivesBlogger Site ArchiveCategories |