They will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit.
Things don't always go smoothly on the farm. Just when our ducks were getting used to being pasture ducks. Just when they were getting the hang of laying eggs in the duckmobile, so the crows couldn't get at them. Most of the time... Just when egg production was starting to go up again after the… Continue reading Duck Setbacks
We have been noticing a problem in the pasture with the onset of hot weather. It is the presence of flies. Deer flies, specifically, but there are many varieties of fly out there. They love poop, especially cow poop. They also like landing on warm, sweaty surfaces, and in the summer, there is no warmer… Continue reading Pasture Ducks
Earlier this year we put plant protectors around a bunch of our orchard shrubs and pasture trees. This was in order to facilitate letting the sheep and cows pulse through the orchard to mow the grass down for us, without letting them browse all the leaves off the figs, mulberries and currants (I'm looking at… Continue reading Protecting the Orchard Plants… more.
Fair week is fast approaching. Last Thursday, the 31st, we finished up our stock making process. Monday we roasted the carcasses with carrots, celery and onion. Then added water with a dash of vinegar and some salt, and set it to simmering. We kept an eye on it for a couple of days, topping it… Continue reading Duck Stock
Our egg ducklings are now three weeks old, and the weather is nice and warm. We are moving them out of the brooder! By the bucketload! They will be locked in the duck-mobile for the next couple of weeks, though. They are too small to be running around without overhead cover. They are just snack-sized… Continue reading Moving the Egg Ducks
Now that the meat ducks are out on the pasture, we have put our brooder back into business. This time, we are raising egg ducks. We bought 4 Khaki Campbells known for good egg laying abilities. Then Ellie asked if she could have a "show duck." So we got her a little Magpie hen. They… Continue reading New Egg Ducks
We are a little behind on blogging. Holy Week and the Triduum were busy, plus the kids decided to start a little Strepidemic running through the house. So what can we say, it's been an off week. Happy cows are tasty cows! The willow and witch hazel in the pasture are starting to leaf out.… Continue reading Catch Up
After our success with raising ducks last year, we have decided to raise a batch of meat ducks this year. We bought twenty Grimaud Pekins from Metzer farm. They are a fast-growing variety of pekin ducks from a French breeder (Grimaud) that are supposed to have a more efficient feed conversion ratio, and reach 8… Continue reading The Meat Ducks
Sorry about the long silence for the last two weeks. We went right from a National Guard weekend into a vacation, and both of those take some recovering from. So even though we were back at the farm on Monday, we didn't actually get any farming done other than the chores, because we had food… Continue reading We’re Back! And Fresh Ground Flour
Little Farm in the Big City 