We have learned a few important lessons these past few weeks. One is that Christmas time is really busy for everyone, so very little gets done on the farm. The other is that the project of installing gutters on the chicken houses is long overdue. We recently picked up a trio of sapphire gem hens… Continue reading Gutters
Month: December 2024
Christmas Surprise in the Shop
For $50 and a few hours of work, a perfectly ordinary plywood wall in the shop can be transformed from this… Into a gateway into adventure! https://videopress.com/v/ywXAtUXB?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&preloadContent=metadata&useAverageColor=true
Why we haven’t been posting
Too many cookies. Making Christmas cookies is a multi-week whole family effort that generally takes up most of advent every year. Christmas cookies are important. The goal is to have enough Christmas cookies to last until Lent, with plenty to give away in the meantime, so with Lent coming a bit late in 2025, we… Continue reading Why we haven’t been posting
Water
Quick project just to make watering the sheep and cows easier. And by easier, I mean automatic, nine months out of the year.
Geese and Ducks off the Garden
This post is out of date, by almost a week. Geese have grazed the wheat down to about 3 inches on average. Supposedly this is a good thing, and is supposed to encourage new root and tiller production and a thicker stand, as well as provide nitrogen for initial spring growth. We shall see. However,… Continue reading Geese and Ducks off the Garden
Potato Experiment
Fun fact about our potatoes this year. The best yield we got were from volunteers, plants that sprouted from potatoes left in the ground from last year. Not sure why. Possibly Yukons are just more prolific than Butterballs; perhaps the fact that they were in the ground over the winter, cool but not frozen, damp… Continue reading Potato Experiment
The Christmas Cookies Begin!
Christmas Cookies! Few things evoke the nostalgia of the Advent season like the baking of Christmas Cookies. There is something magical about spending a quiet afternoon indoors, while the weather outside fulfills its seasonally appropriate frightfulness, listening to the Julie Andrews, Bing Crosby and the Vienna Boys Choir in their original vinyl glory on the… Continue reading The Christmas Cookies Begin!
Little Chef
Cooking for this crowd isn't easy, especially on days when life is hectic, which is practically every day. We place a premium on meals that are quick, hit all the major food groups, and dirty the smallest number of dishes. E.g. Chicken over rice. One Lb leftover chicken, shredded and lightly fried in bacon lard… Continue reading Little Chef
Three Hearts Poster
We recently came across this beautiful print of a pen-and-ink drawing of the three hearts, sold by a family owned company in Steubenville, OH. Thinking it would make a beautiful fixture in our workshop, we ordered it, and I successfully turned a 10 minute project into a several day project, framing and mounting it. First… Continue reading Three Hearts Poster
First week of Advent
A day late, but… Happy first week of Advent!