It took some convincing but...

We have MEAT BIRDS!! I am very estatic we have meat birds. We went into Tractor Supply Thursday for animal food. As soon as we walked through the door we could hear peeping. It is always tempting to buy chicks when Tractor Supply has them in.
I was so happy to see they had meat birds!
We now have 6 Red Rangers and 6 Cornish Cross chickens.

Now to just convince him to get a pig and a cow.....🐷🐮

Seed order is in

I was able to order seeds for my garden yesterday!! I know it's a littlr early but at least that is done. I ordered a few more herb seeds as we are expanding our herb garden this year. The husband is going to build a few raised beds for the herbs.
I ordered a few purple veggies this year!
Also today we are going to go to tractor supply to buy a rotortillar they have in clearance. Now there will be no excuses not to get gardening done.
Im hoping in the spring to get a few fruit trees to add to our little homestead and also a couple of pigs. The only chickens we will get this year are meat birds! My layers are still doing well.
Later this am we are heading to VT to pick up my oldest son and his girlfriend for the weekend. I love having them come home and visit!!
Now to shop for a few gardening tools!
Think Spring!!

October Musings

So, I have to say I'm rather bummed I am not in VA at the Homesteaders of America conference today. It's just one more trip I will add to my travel bucket list and hope they have another.

Today we made candy apples and caramel apples. 

My oldest son and his girlfriend have been visiting for the week. Yesterday we went to a local farm in Levant called Treworgy's and went through the corn maze. This year it was Paul Bunyan.

My friend Rose from church was giving hay rides but we didnt go on one because we didnt see her.  Also at the farm you get to see goats and horses, fresh flower bouquets, pick pumpkins, pick apples and they even make homemade donuts and sell ice cream. For more information check them out at www.treworgyorchards.com

Here are some pics around the farm and of some recently baked goods.

Farm photo update

Homemade Broccoli & Cheese Soup

Tonight for supper I made my grandmother's Soup. It is pretty simple to make and very delicious!! Next time I make it though I just need to sift the flour so it mixes easier. 

I am happy to say by moving our heat lamp I have not lost any more chicks!!! It's been 2 days in a row they have been going strong so Im hoping we will not lose anymore. Out of 21 I lost 7 birds!!!

Mr. Krabs died this week too so this week I give myself an F as a homesteader!

Farm photos

Tonight my son helped me put fresh shavings in the barn. Our goats have grown so much and I love Oreo's goatee.  They are so cute!! Both of them were very interested in my phone. They like to give you some lovin when you go to feed them.

Here are my ducks and chickens at feeding time. They all have survived the winter weather. I'm so happy I did not lose more than 1 this year!!

Last but not least here are our inside fur babies.

I can't wait for the weather to finish warming up so we can fix some fencing for the goats and the chickens. 

I'm also getting excited for our first Ladies Homestead Gathering on the 25th!

This weekend I need to get caught up on my Homestead Skills of the Month Club assignments.  I have not had a lot of time in the last month to myself but hopefully this weekend I will. 

Spring Fever

The weather here has hit a warm snap. If our deck werent still covered in snow, I would take some time and just sit outside.  I have noticed some blue jays and cardinals near the apple trees out back and plan on putting up some bird feeders near them. I also want to get a bitd house like my grandparents have to put down there as well.

I have been watching different homestead youtube channels. I enjoy reading homesteading books but sometimes just watching videos is nice. One of the few I watching is my Cousin Danni's as well as Appalachia Homestead, Esther Emery, Road to the Farm and Fewell Homestead. I have subscribed to others and will let you know how I like their channels as well. I know I'm not ready to have a Channel for our farm yet. I dont know if I will but it gives me something to ponder.

We took 6 out of our 7 children to the movies today and 3 of the kids brought friends.  Needless to say we had to make 2 trips to fit everyone.  We usually go to Portland for an overnight stay but not having a vehicle that fits all of us we chose the movies instead.

We are watching the season finale of Oak Island. I love seeing the old "treasures" they find that are handmade. The craftsmanship of the 15-1600's is just remarkable.

I made whole wheat bread this past week that the kids like eating chunks if at a time. I have been putting a little more effort into making meals. I get bored making the same things over and over again. I plan on making my Mom"s Chicken Eden Isle. It is fantastic. I haven't made it in a couple of years so Id say its time and Maybe I will make some homemade rolls to go with it.

Minnie fits in so well with our family. Copper and Sylvester seen annoyed with her but She and Oakley have bonded very well. They play tag through the house and sometimes Copper chases both of them once he gets fully annoyed.  I had a friend of mine tell me Im crazy getting another animal but, I'm happy. I will be happy to make a better run this spring and fencing for the goats so they have a spot to run around.

Have a great evening and thanks for listening to my ramblings

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.

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.

Thankful for warmer temps

Today I had to bring one of my roosters inside as he got into a scuffle with the other rooster. This is the first time they have actually squabbled with one another.
I learned a tip of putting vaseline on their combs for colder weather.  It helps prevent frost bite.  Also I learned put a 20 ounce soda bottle filled with salt water in the chickens and goats water dishes helps them not freeze as bad. Homesteading groups online have been great!
This weekend I plan on getting a couple more bales of hay for the barn so the animals feel a little warmer. My poor goats were shivering a little tonight when I fed them.
Here are some photos of poor Popcorn. He's being nursed in my bathroom. (Hopefully he doesn't start crowing at daylight)

Brrr

It's amazing how much of the US is in a deep freeze right now.  It has been below zero often. I feel bad for all of my outdoor critters. I want to bring them all inside but the dogs and cat would bother them too much. (I'm a big softie)
I've been trying to find baby doll sheep breeders in Maine but have had no luck yet. The closest breeder is in Mass. But I will have a few more months to keep searching.
We will be raising pigs in the spring for meat for my family. I'm on a few homesteading pages on Facebook and have enjoyed seeing people's posts of their full freezers of farm raised meat. Hubby thinks he would have a hard time eating it, but I think I would be ok as long as someone else butchered it. Plus I know the meat I raise will be from an animal well taken care of.
Tomorrow we are putting our tree up and after school my kiddos will be decorating it. I have been lax about putting it up this year for some reason.
I plan on making some special treas for all of our critters for Christmas. I also need to make some homemade dog treats. Tomorrow I also need to clean the beta fish tank. His tank gets dirty quickly. Then after that the holiday baking will begin.
Hope you are staying warm!!

Birdwarltching

Morning doves, blue jays and cardinals outside our windows every morning.

Hardest part of Farming

Hardest part for me in farming is losing an animal. We lost another duck today.  After having my daughter show me how to get the meat off, we checked Denise (was named before we figured out she was actually a he) organs and I did not see any lesions on them. But we did notice the ribs cage was broken. I'd say cause of death was being trampled. I've never eaten duck before to my knowledge and put some of it in the freezer. I figured I might as well use what I can although with Aflac we didn't.  I just disposed of her body. At least I know now I can cull my own birds and it won't bother me as much as I thought.
Goats seem to be doing really well. I need to give Oreo a bath as he is pretty grubby. Oreo and Milkshake are slowly getting used to us.
Roo crowed for the first time this morning and of course I missed it. He hasn't crowed since. I'm sure the neighbors will really love it once he starts crowing more but oh well. He's a keeper.
I'm teaching myself to crochet. It looks more like ribbon right now. I'm hoping once it gets longer it will not be as rippled as it is now. I have a feeling I'm doing it wrong....Next time my aunt comes up I will have her tell me what I'm not doing correctly. I have so many different crocheted things I want to learn how to make. I need to take my mom's suggestion and start watching youtube
Tomorrow is ladies bible study. I should be able to go this week. I have missed the last 2 weeks and have missed it tremendously!
One of my friends from VA is coming up Saturday.  I'm very excited to see her. I really need to finish some projects I will be surprising her with before she heads back. Today I went thrift store shopping instead of working on the projects but tomorrow afternoon I will finish some of them.😌
It's late and I want to read some blogs before falling asleep.  Pictures to come soon!!  Night😪😪

Cool Maine Temps

It's getting a little cooler here in the northeast. I made Chili in the crockpot for supper and will be making homemade biscuits to go with it.
We have to keep chasing the chickens around because they love to go to the neighbors and eat sunflower seeds.
Our dog is not impressed with his muzzle he has to keep on his face but hopefully soon he will learn to leave it alone.
I pulled the rest of the plants up out of the garden today and set the corn stalks off to the side so they will dry out.
I'm finally getting myself onto a cleaning routine which seems to be working out great. Everything except laundry is usually done by 8:30 am. That's quite an accomplishment for me.
Here are some fall pics, a few pis of our animals and what we have done on our chicken coop this far.