Spring project planning

Some major planning is being done for the garm. I'm very excited to share them with you.

• Turning our broken hot tub into a pond for the ducks.
• Livestock fencing 
• Poultry rUn with herbs
• Raised beds added to garden
• Renovating our old apple trees.

I've been reading and writing in my Farm Journal how to do these projects. I will be sure to take pics once we get going on them.  We plan on putting some fencing around the poND area for the ducks to protect them from the wild life.

My seed order is finalized. Next month we will order them. I'm buying from 2 Maine companies this year. 

More snow heading our way. Only a couple more months of cruddy cold then it should start warming up!!

Tomorrow I an making hone made bread and chili. I'm thinking of taking a couple of hours and doing 2 weeks worth of meal planning. I am hoping to make more efficient grocery shopping decisions. Possibly buying some staples in bulk and finding appropriate containers to store them in.

I've almost completed one month of homestead skill of the month.  We learned about preparedness and planning for the month of January. February will be cooking from scratch. It's been a great coarse!

I have a friend that is going to start teaching me about essential oils. I'm waiting for her letter to come this week.

Lots of planning going on here but still loving seeing this dream slowly come together.

Excited to Announce!!!!

I am very excited to announce my Cousin Dani and I will be starting A Ladies Homestead Gathering here in the state of Maine. This is part of a National nonproft organization in which each month we will learn a homestead tip and have support for one another and our homesteads.
This will be open to any lady who is interested in homesteading in an urban or rural setting. For any woman who is beginning to research homesteading.
Some of the topics anticipating to go over are bee keeping, raising beef critters, goats, chickens, cooking from scratch, candle making, soap making, etc.
Please let me know of your interest date so we can keep you informed of our first meeting date!!!

Newest Furniture Piece

I am in love with old hutches. I was given another one today which bring my hutch total up to 5. This one was made by my friend's grandfather pre 1968. She also gave me her mom's beautiful China set of dishes which serves 12. So I put those in the hutch.

Seems I have another hutch I reorganized 2 of my other hutches that hold my antique dishes and China and my other one holds half of my cookbook collection. (Yes I'm being totally serious about half of my cookbook collection).

It feels good to have that cleaned and organized. My grandparents China is safely tucked away as well.

Maine Agricultural Trade Show

Here are the photos of some of the pamphlets we got from the trade show today along with a pic of my Autographed Cookbook. What a neat experience this was to attend. I'm now a member of the draft horse and pony association so I can learn about them and get great updates of their activities for the year.
I definitely need to do more research and figure out what we want to do for farming.

Stormy Weather coming

We have some wintery weather going on. A dusting to 2 inches. (My mind is focusing on spring instead.) I got a few more seed catalogs in the mail.  So while everyone is gone tomorow I will finish deciding my 2017 garden. I found a small greenhouse at Big Lots in Farmington I have my eye on.  I would like to add a small one to the homestead. Does anyone have much experience with small greenhouses?
My goal to finish this evening is to pick 2 or 3 homemaking/homesteading groups I want to be active in and get rid of the rest. I signed of for a homesteading skills group today. I had no idea one of the women in charge is Carla Emery's daughter. Its so amazing who you can meet online nowadays. I get to learn a new skill a month for the next year.
I'm hoping this summer to get together with my cousin and have her show me how to make my own candles.   She is a great homesteader. My husband actually met someone at basketball who knew her before she got married because she sold them a special canned squash item.  (Dani what is this famous recipe of yours??)
My son is back in VT and I miss him already.  I plan on attending the Mother Earth News Fair in VT this summer. I can attend that and Visit my son and his girlfriend at the same time. Plus I love seeing all of the farms in VT. We are going to go tou Cabot Creamery, Vermont Teddy Bear Factory and I want to bring hubbs to Ben&Jerry's.  I'm determined to drive up Mt Washington this summer too!!
Hope everyone is having a nice evening.

Quick update

This week I will be finalizing my seed order and hopefully have them ordered by the end of the month. I need to get a few things picked up in the bathroom so I can start whatever needs to be started from seed.
I need to figure out what we want to order for meat chickens to raise and what to add to our flock of laying hens. I would like to add a variety of colored eggs.
I also need to finish up researching different small breeds of sheep then, figure out where we can buy some.  The sheep I really want I can't seem to find in Maine.
Friday, I need to buy some more bird seed for the feeders. I just realized today we are completely out.  I want to add a corn feeder for the squirrels.
We found a second hand kitchenaid mixer through one of the Facebook sell groups. It didn't come with a bowl to it but my Pampered chef Stainless steel bowl fits perfectly in it.

I'm hoping for my birthday this summer to get a pasta attachment for it so we can start making our own pasta!! Amazon has pretty cheap parts for it.
The temps here have dipped below zero again. I don't mind temps in the 20s but windchill in the negative numbers are too cold!! We plan on having more oil delivered Friday so we do not worry about getting low.
Tomorrow my oldest son heads back to VT to his girlfriend's family before college starts. Time goes by too quickly when he is home. He was able to get his tattoo while he was home (his Christmas Present).

Time to make some biscuits to go with the left over beef stew.

Morning

Not much has been going on here at the farm. 

I'm keeping my eye on 2 duckies and their frostbitten feet. I don't think they will lose their feet but I will be so glad when we are on the down slope of winter. I added more shavings to the coop for them.

Popcorn is doing well with the goats. He is a little protective of them. 

I'm thinking this year I want to add some meat chickens to our farm. There is a place not far from here that will process them.I just need to see if someone locally sells them or if I need to order them from McMurray. 

I need to clip my goat hooves this weekend now that someone showed me how to do it. 😉

Tomorrow I get to pick up my oldest son for a few days. I can't wait to see him.  It's been a couple of weeks since we've seen him.

Time for me to go feed my animals and get housework going.

Have a great day!

Happy New Year

Happy New Year Everyone.
I'm not one for making resolutions but I do have a list of animals I want to add to the farm this year and projects that need to be completed.
The biggest project we need to get done is fencing for the goats so they don't have to be walked all the time.
2nd biggest project Is adding some more insulation in the barn.
We will be adding some raised beds for the garden as this year I am determined to grow enough to can enough veggies to last through part of the winter!
Today was a great day. The youngest son and I found a few branches to make arms for their snowman that is actually taller than me!
I posted pics on my Facebook page Wyld Dream Farm if interested in seeing it. I'm hoping by the end of this week to figure out exactly what I want to plant in our garden and put the order in by the end of the month!! I'm so ready to start growing seeds and pushing forward to spring.