Hello friends!
I can't believe it has been over a month since I have posted anything here! Time is flying so much faster than I can run trying to keep up! It has been a really busy month on the farm...
In late February John and I attended a conference in Bowling Green focusing on Alfalfa...the queen forage! We have tried to grow this grass twice with no success but I am not giving up. However, I am going to work on getting my soil amended to the proper PH level before I make another attempt. Simply put, alfalfa has a very high protein level and is so good for all animals. Also, since it is a legume, it actually adds nitrogen to the soil naturally so the additional of chemical fertilizers is not needed as much. We will get there!
Also in late February I participated in a two day workshop that was here in Corbin to start the planning process for the Whitley County Farmers' Market to become a year round market! Planning for this is continuing and it will be a slow process but needless to say it is an awesome goal for our community!
As March happened, the pace has quickened and I turned my focus to chickens!!!! First of all, my existing chicken coop is in bad need of repair, albeit not big enough to house the number of laying hens that I would like to have. I decided to purchase a prefab barn structure to add to the chicken community and increase the size of their outdoor fenced run. Since I did not want to relocate the chicken kingdom, all modifications are being done around the old structures so the girls can remain secure during renovations! Progress is happening! The new coop is in place and hopefully after today, the expanded outdoor run will be secure. The girls will remain roosting and laying in the old coop for now until I can get the new indoor furniture (i.e. roosts and laying boxes) built. In the meantime, I have the first new babies of the season on order!
Now here is the big chicken news.....
I HAVE MADE THE DECISION TO ADD MEAT CHICKENS TO MY OFFERINGS!!!!!! 200 Heritage White chicks are due to ship to me on April 15th!!!! These chicks will be raised on pasture completely separate from my layers. I will tell you more about this process later!!!!!
John is working on getting some fescue seed planted in two of our fields that will hopefully provide some good winter forage for the cows next December and January! We are down to 2 bales of hay so the grass needs to really come on! Looking like we really planned things right this year LOL!
Til later and I promise I will add some pictures so you can actually see some of the things I am telling you about!
Happy Spring!
Anne
Thursday, March 20, 2014
Saturday, February 15, 2014
Happy Valentine's Day
Hello from Moonlight Farm!
I went outside this morning and the sun was shining brightly and the birds were really chirping loudly and I was filled with happiness knowing that spring must be just around the corner! For the first time in a long time I actually started to feel like it is really time to start getting that springtime work started rather than just getting the minimum winter chores done. This is good!
I am getting ready to start pulling soil samples from all of my fields to get the soil tested so I can know what nutrients need to be added before the spring planting starts. It is a real process to get all the samples gathered, appropriately dried which will take forever, labeled and bagged so I can take them to the extension office. Whitley County farmers are so lucky to be able to get soil and hay samples done at no charge! You might get tired of hearing me say this but first and foremost I must think of myself as a grass farmer and take the best care I can of the soil first so that I can grow the best forages I can. The end result will be happier and healthier livestock which will produce better beef and pork and eggs, and healthier and stronger horses!
Speaking of horses, I am just 2 months away from the babies starting! That will be a busy and stressful time as I have never had this many mares pregnant at one time before. We are looking for baby cows everyday now, too!
The girls topped there 2014 record again today with 16 eggs! That makes me smile :-) There is so much to be said for the simple pleasures in life
I went outside this morning and the sun was shining brightly and the birds were really chirping loudly and I was filled with happiness knowing that spring must be just around the corner! For the first time in a long time I actually started to feel like it is really time to start getting that springtime work started rather than just getting the minimum winter chores done. This is good!
I am getting ready to start pulling soil samples from all of my fields to get the soil tested so I can know what nutrients need to be added before the spring planting starts. It is a real process to get all the samples gathered, appropriately dried which will take forever, labeled and bagged so I can take them to the extension office. Whitley County farmers are so lucky to be able to get soil and hay samples done at no charge! You might get tired of hearing me say this but first and foremost I must think of myself as a grass farmer and take the best care I can of the soil first so that I can grow the best forages I can. The end result will be happier and healthier livestock which will produce better beef and pork and eggs, and healthier and stronger horses!
Speaking of horses, I am just 2 months away from the babies starting! That will be a busy and stressful time as I have never had this many mares pregnant at one time before. We are looking for baby cows everyday now, too!
The girls topped there 2014 record again today with 16 eggs! That makes me smile :-) There is so much to be said for the simple pleasures in life
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Mud, Hay and Eggs!
February 11, 2014 was a good day on the farm. That's farm lingo for a "productive" day when nothing, animal or human, got injured or sick!
The first task of the day involved getting my big truck unstuck from the field. Now this adventure actually began a few days ago when John and I were attempting to get hay that we are selling loaded on a trailer and delivered to a neighboring farm. We were successful with the first load of 14 bales (that's 14 - 1000# bales!) which is a pretty big load on uneven pasture ground that is pretty darn slick! Apparently the ground had thawed enough by the time we got the second load ready to pull out that it wasn't gonna happen. We used the tractor to push and pull but had to finally give up and leave the truck and loaded trailer "stuck" in the field. I hate it when that happens!!! So anyway, John and I both decided that yesterday morning, if we got a very early start, the ground would be cold enough to try to get the truck unstuck and complete the task of delivering the 50 bales of hay. We did get the truck unstuck and delivered two more loads of 14 bales each and both the neighbor and us decided to call this job complete for now! Of course it was not before the FEDEX man ended up in a ditch when he rounded a curve obviously not paying attention and going way too fast to stop since the roads we were traveling on are not big enough for me to pass even a bicycle when I am driving the truck pulling the 25' trailer! All I could do was grip the steering wheel, close my eyes and pray while he swerved off the road to avoid me landing in the very muddy ditch. I did stop to make sure he was ok and make the call to the neighbor with the 4-wheel drive tractor to come pull him out of the ditch!
John still had to put hay out for our animals and I needed to get all my daily feeding/watering done so we separated for our respective chores. After this was all complete, it was way past lunch time and both John and I were starving so we headed into Williamsburg to eat at our favorite place...G & E Drive In! While in town we made egg deliveries to a couple of my WONDERFUL regular egg customers. I can't tell you how nice it is to have customers who stick with me throughout the winter after the close of the Farmers Markets and who also understand when I can't supply them as well because my chickens decided to take a break during the winter!
The last stop for the day was at Singing Hills Goat Farm where I picked up a couple of bags of High Magnesium minerals for my cows. Nancy was nice enough to pick these up for me on her feed run to save me a trip. It is very important to "beef up" (pun intended!) the magnesium levels for the cows before all the new spring grass starts growing. We keep loose minerals available to our cattle on a free choice basis at all times. It's always nice to end a workday with good conversation with a farmer friend...especially when it has been a GREAT farm day!
Oh and yesterday the girls set a new 2014 on farm record...12 eggs for the day! Go girls go!!!!
Spring is on it's way, I know it is!!!!!!
Anne
The first task of the day involved getting my big truck unstuck from the field. Now this adventure actually began a few days ago when John and I were attempting to get hay that we are selling loaded on a trailer and delivered to a neighboring farm. We were successful with the first load of 14 bales (that's 14 - 1000# bales!) which is a pretty big load on uneven pasture ground that is pretty darn slick! Apparently the ground had thawed enough by the time we got the second load ready to pull out that it wasn't gonna happen. We used the tractor to push and pull but had to finally give up and leave the truck and loaded trailer "stuck" in the field. I hate it when that happens!!! So anyway, John and I both decided that yesterday morning, if we got a very early start, the ground would be cold enough to try to get the truck unstuck and complete the task of delivering the 50 bales of hay. We did get the truck unstuck and delivered two more loads of 14 bales each and both the neighbor and us decided to call this job complete for now! Of course it was not before the FEDEX man ended up in a ditch when he rounded a curve obviously not paying attention and going way too fast to stop since the roads we were traveling on are not big enough for me to pass even a bicycle when I am driving the truck pulling the 25' trailer! All I could do was grip the steering wheel, close my eyes and pray while he swerved off the road to avoid me landing in the very muddy ditch. I did stop to make sure he was ok and make the call to the neighbor with the 4-wheel drive tractor to come pull him out of the ditch!
John still had to put hay out for our animals and I needed to get all my daily feeding/watering done so we separated for our respective chores. After this was all complete, it was way past lunch time and both John and I were starving so we headed into Williamsburg to eat at our favorite place...G & E Drive In! While in town we made egg deliveries to a couple of my WONDERFUL regular egg customers. I can't tell you how nice it is to have customers who stick with me throughout the winter after the close of the Farmers Markets and who also understand when I can't supply them as well because my chickens decided to take a break during the winter!
The last stop for the day was at Singing Hills Goat Farm where I picked up a couple of bags of High Magnesium minerals for my cows. Nancy was nice enough to pick these up for me on her feed run to save me a trip. It is very important to "beef up" (pun intended!) the magnesium levels for the cows before all the new spring grass starts growing. We keep loose minerals available to our cattle on a free choice basis at all times. It's always nice to end a workday with good conversation with a farmer friend...especially when it has been a GREAT farm day!
Oh and yesterday the girls set a new 2014 on farm record...12 eggs for the day! Go girls go!!!!
Spring is on it's way, I know it is!!!!!!
Anne
Monday, February 10, 2014
It's Monday...again!
It's Monday again and there is another dusting of snow! We had our second blogging class last night and I learned some cool things like how to change the background...and the color of the text!!! I can actually even insert a picture now! Whoo hoo! I realize that this is not very interesting stuff but I am trying to incorporate blogging into my routine.
Today will be a normal winter day on the farm, with feeding and checking water everywhere. I also need to give a couple of shots to a couple of my pregnant mares. This will be their last rhinopneumonitis vaccine before they foal. I know they will be glad!!!!
I am intending to put in lots of computer time today working on my website and adding pictures to my cattle records. I have a midday farmers' market meeting and then there is yoga tonite!!!!
Let's try that picture thing....
Too cool!!!!
I hope everyone has a great day!
Anne
Today will be a normal winter day on the farm, with feeding and checking water everywhere. I also need to give a couple of shots to a couple of my pregnant mares. This will be their last rhinopneumonitis vaccine before they foal. I know they will be glad!!!!
I am intending to put in lots of computer time today working on my website and adding pictures to my cattle records. I have a midday farmers' market meeting and then there is yoga tonite!!!!
Let's try that picture thing....
I hope everyone has a great day!
Anne
Sunday, January 26, 2014
I'm a GRASS FARMER!
It's been a busy week! It started off with the Heart of America Grazing Conference. It is so fun to study and learn new ideas about...you guessed it....grass and grazing!!!! It is very important for me to never forget that first and foremost I am a grass farmer. If I manage the forage on my farm correctly my animals will be so much better. John and I both are seriously trying to do whatever we need to to graze at least 300 days next year! Of course we will feed only hay for the other days because it is important to us to be a grass fed operation. This is not an easy goal but we can do it!
I spent a lot of time the rest of the week working on Whitley County Farmers Market business. It is great to feel like we are so far ahead of planning for the 2014 season which will kick off the last week in April! I sure hope the ground dries up enough so that I can get my trailer into the field to pick up a steer and get it to the processor. I want to start off the season with beef, pork and eggs!
The weather is tough right now but it is winter!!!! So far all the critters are doing good, and the chickens are starting to lay better which gives me hope that spring is just around the corner :-). I am less than three months away from baby horses!!!! I am excited and nervous all the same. Five (maybe six) babies will be tough. I pray for all healthy babies and mamas :-)
It's supposed to snow AGAIN tonite.....
I spent a lot of time the rest of the week working on Whitley County Farmers Market business. It is great to feel like we are so far ahead of planning for the 2014 season which will kick off the last week in April! I sure hope the ground dries up enough so that I can get my trailer into the field to pick up a steer and get it to the processor. I want to start off the season with beef, pork and eggs!
The weather is tough right now but it is winter!!!! So far all the critters are doing good, and the chickens are starting to lay better which gives me hope that spring is just around the corner :-). I am less than three months away from baby horses!!!! I am excited and nervous all the same. Five (maybe six) babies will be tough. I pray for all healthy babies and mamas :-)
It's supposed to snow AGAIN tonite.....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)