A White Christmas!

It finally snowed today, December 23. All of a sudden it seems much more festive. The kids were so excited to get out and build a snow fort. But the chickens were not impressed, they didn't want to leave the dry comfort of their coop. So Samantha took it upon herself to carry them all to the barn!

CATCH-UP

Ok, I haven't posted since we have moved to the farm so I am going to try to remember everything!
We were very busy at first, mostly with fencing. We had to get something set up for the horses, and then we had to make that area bigger, and then bigger again.... We now have the whole pasture fenced with electric and the pony field done in pine rails.

The first new animals we added were the chickens. We bought a flock of laying hens and Rhode Island Red rooster (Archie!). The girls have been laying well for us and I love watching them wander the farm

Next came Ginger the Jersey cow. She is awesome! She is four years old and was a puppy in her previous life! She is sooo friendly and easy to handle. It took me about two weeks to get good at hand milking her. Even though she "only" gave two gallons of milk a day, it was plenty for us. I have just recently let her dry up for the winter, mostly because I don't feel like milking in the cold! Also, she is bred for next year (March?) so it will be better for her to stop as well.

And then we bought pigs! Out of the blue we went and picked up four Landrace piglets and put them in a stall in the barn. We had every intention of building them I large outdoor pen, but it just never happened. But they seemed happy enough in the barn, and once we set up the electric fence in the paddock, we put the pigs outdoors every day.
I have to say, the pigs were kind of fun to have around, other than cleaning out their stall -super nasty! But since they hit six months old and about 150lbs each, they have gone to the butcher shop. I was afraid I would have a hard time with it, but even when we dropped them off, they seemed ok about it all, so I felt better. We should be picking up our meat next week.

And we had more chickens. We raised a flock of broilers, Cornish-Rocks. We bought 100 and ended up with 84 at butchering time. We had some trouble at first with our brooder set-up at first. They were too crowded and we lost some to smothering. Once we moved them to a stall in the barn, they seemed better. We have since had them processed and they are in our freezer and a portion have been sold to friends and family.

Oh yes, the Highland cows! Again, kind of a whim, we bought an 11 yr old cow, her 5 mo bull calf at her side and bred back for the spring (Crystal and T-Bone). Also, a yearling heifer named Fiona. They are not as friendly as Ginger, but they are so cute! Ginger was happy to have some non-equine friends! We had a few issues with Fiona and the fences (she didn't believe in them!) but after adding more wire and a stronger electric charge, we have not had a single escape!

Well, we are now waiting for winter. Even though it is December, we are in the midst of a rainstorm. I think we are ready, but only time will tell. We are building a new stall in the barn so that the horses and Ginger each have their own, and I hope to get some straw bales for Diva's baby in February. I can't wait!

WE ARE HERE!

Well, it has been a long haul, but we have made it to our dream farm.  We are moved in, but I think it will be quite a while before we are unpacked.  We have been very busy, but not too busy to check the classifieds and find ourselves some chickens!  Our new flock consists of 11 one month old production red layers, two Barnevelders, an Austrolorp and an Rhode Island Red rooster.  He is only 5 months old, so he is pretty tame so far.  The older four are now called Archie, Veronica, Betty and Midge.  Midge seems a bit crotchety.

The chickens have been a big hit with the kids, everyone loves going into the stalls and picking them up or feeding them.  The young pullets are still a little bit cute!
We are so lucky to have our great big barn, the stalls have been very handy for our bunny and the chickens.  We just had to reinforce with a bit of chicken wire and we were good to go.  Jamie is working on the fencing outside in anticipation of the horses coming here next week, I can't wait to have my girls home with us!  I haven't had my horses at my own place for 10 years now and I am really looking forward to it.

Yesterday I took the kids up the road to a farm that has U-pick strawberries and even though it was super hot, we got about 5 gallons of berries.  I will be making lots of jam, as soon as I figure out how to cook without a stove!  We ponied up the cash for a new fridge, but so far haven't found a stove.  And it is still so hot out that its hard to think about cooking.  Maybe I should just freeze them all and can some jam another day.
I will have plenty of fruit to store though, we have four apple trees, one cherry tree, two quince bushes, many raspberry canes , two highbush blueberry bushes and a monstrous rhubarb plant.  And I still have to get some veggies in!
Everyday I continue to be amazed that we live here.  I look around our property and the views of the ocean and our countryside and I know that we live in paradise!    

Sold!

After months of stressing and many days of panic-cleaning the house, it has sold!  And just in time too, we are leaving for Nova Scotia in 3 weeks.  Yay!  I am still amazed that it is all working out for us, the house sold, my husband got his posting to Nova Scotia, and I am finally released from the military.  After 21 years I am ready for the next chapter of my life entiled "farming"!

Here is a photo of our house, taken when I was wondering why someone wouldn't want to live in this lovely home.  Stuart Little graces the photo and unbeknownst to him, he will be heading back to his home province.  We got Stewie when we lived in NS 10 years ago. 

WILDLIFE

Now that everything is green and growing, we are getting some visitors to our garden and yard.  The kids found this little turtle crawling accross the lawn, he was surprisingly fast!

Then I spied this guy slithering around the back gardens, he was about 2 feet long.  I saw him again another day in the front flower garden.  I sure hope that there are more of these fellows around, we desparately need some mosquito control!

So, we still haven't sold the house.  We had one interested couple, but in the end it was quashed because we don't have a garage.  We have dropped our price again, now we are at our lowest acceptable point before we start to lose money.  Add to that the fact that we now are 42 days from closing on the farm, and we are pretty stressed about it.  Just sitting (and cleaning) and waiting and waiting....

WATERFRONT PROPERTY

We had an unsuccessful showing the other day.  They loved our house but they didn't like that there is no garage, and they didn't like the flood in the backyard.  Sigh.  Not really much we can do about it.

LIVESTOCK!

Well, we have another animal to add to our menagerie of non-productive farm animals!  Some friends of ours decided that their bunny didn't fit their family (the kids wouldn't take care of it!) and I volunteered a home.  I have a soft spot for bunnies since I had them as a kid.  So far the kids are pretty facinated with him, but I am sure he will bore them soon enough.  But he sure is cute.

READY TO PLANT

Even though we are planning on moving to Nova Scotia in July, I still wanted to plant our gardens here in Ontario.  Since we still haven't sold this house, maybe a prospective buyer will appreciate the ready planted garden.  We built these raised bed gardens last year after buying the book "Square Foot Gardening".  Last year was the first time I had real success with gardening and I highly recommend this book to anyone that is a beginner, has limited gardening space, poor quality land, or just wants less work!  For me, less work was a biggie.  I have always hated weeding and digging, and this program showed me how to avoid that.  I had the odd weed once in a while, but it was easy to just pick them out without getting down and dirty.  There was no digging involved at all, all the soil came from the garden store.  Not cheap, but it is an investment. 

Today, I got down and dirty and cleaned up the weed and grass that had taken root since we harvested last year.  I did it all by hand, no tools, just gloves.  The dirt is still so soft, it was easy to get the weeds and the roots.  I also was surprised with a few "bonus" plants, an onion, a garlic clove, a carrot and some sunflowers.  I put them back in after adding a couple bags of compost, they made it this far so they deserve a chance!

All my seedlings have been outside for about a week now, I have brought them in on the odd cold night.  I am looking forward to getting them into the ground.

I am also looking forward to planting our garden in Nova Scotia, it will be late getting in, but I don't care, we can do it!

WHY DO WE WANT TO BE FARMERS?

We have lots of reasons why we want become farmers, starting with because we can.

We can because we have spent most of our lives working in jobs that have provided pensions and benefits that give a safety net.  Our society does not encourage farming as an occupation and so farming has a well earned reputation for high debt and low income.  We will have a secure income to ensure that we can get by, and health benefits to take care of the unknown.  For us, our goals for farming include providing most of our own food and eventually adding a small income to cover farming expenses.  Don’t worry, no dreams of grandeur here!

We want to stop consuming and start producing.  For years we have been earning money so that we can buy stuff.  Now we want to make our stuff.  Recycle stuff, and reuse stuff.  Peak oil has got us thinking about how to live without all the stuff that the media says that we need.  We want to be able to take care of ourselves when times get tough, and feel good about being self sufficient.

The kids have spent many years on the move.  They have adjusted well considering, but we think that they need the stability of community in their lives, and more influence from extended family.  I have never felt like I had a “hometown” and I don’t want the kids to feel that way.  I think that feeling like you really belong somewhere is important.  I certainly appreciate that I can adapt to any new place to call home though, it makes me feel more worldly!

We want to get out of the city and the rat-race, high-speed, consumer culture. We want to work together as a family. To spend and enjoy our time together. To work for ourselves and to see the fruit (and vegetables, nuts and meat) of our labors. We will work to our own clock and manage our own lives. The more effort we put in, the more we will benefit. 

I want to know where my food comes from. I want to know that my meat was raised healthily, fed properly, killed humanely, and not pumped full of chemicals.

We want our kids to understand that food comes from plants, trees and animals, not from supermarkets wrapped in plastic. They will help to plant their own food from seed and raise their meat from birth. We think it is one of the best lessons we could possibly give them.

We want them to breathe clean air, swim in the river, play in the mud. We want them to know their neighbours and feel part of a community.

I don't think we need any more reason than that but I am sure I could come up with more.

IT'S A START

OK, I have spent enough time reading other folks' blogs, and I am finally starting my own.  After deciding that I want to become a farmer, I have found that reading blogs has been a great way to learn about my new chosen profession.  My family and I have purchased a farm in Nova Scotia and we will be moving there from Ontario in July 2011.  Red Maple Family Farm is not ours yet, but we are working on it.