Just another Day on the Farm

A week overview in photos..

Posted on June 26, 2016 by Just another day on the farm

The past week has been crazy busy, hubby went to alberta to give his momma a helping hand and I was holding the fort.. got to see my dad which was very nice.

he had time to visit some of my family as well 🙂

hubby came home to a new to us second hand extra large leather chair, I got it at the second hand shop for twenty, awesome find, hauled it home in the horse trailer

Got a call from a daughter of a friend who needed to rehome her budgies, so Tweetie and Tweddle came home to the farm, they are settling in very well, they have a regular cage until I get a custom one built for them

Twiddle is the more friendly one

the black broad beans are doing well, as are the purple sugar snap peas but they are a new heritage pea to me and they are tender an yummy but, they taste like a green bean.. very odd

lots of drying going on daily..

strawberries are coming ripe now an picking daily.. great for any help in controlling the pests and slugs an such.. love how pretty this frog is..

first cut of hay done and its not good news at all, the hay is ok quality but the volume is very poor indeed,. a third or less then normal.. the drought locally is effecting all crops and its showing! my pasture look like the mid-aug unstead of end of june.. we have only had two good rains and maybe six teasing rains in the last two months.. crazy!

Something had to give, the well will not hold in this drought if everything is on it, so we added in a 2000 gallon water bin and its filled and will be used for livestock an garden needs, while the well will do household and we pray for rain

my elderflowers are a third the size of normal but at least they are there, the huge blackberry patch has just aborted all their fruit.. we will see what happens..

The geese have settled in fine and with that I need to run.. as you can see, the farm is hopping right now! how is your world going? gardens? critters?

Posted in Life moves on daily | 6 Comments

New Farm Critters

Posted on June 14, 2016 by Just another day on the farm

Boy, have we been busy, and this post is a quick one, meet the new farm critters..

the imported from usa salmon faverolles chicks are doing great

my new billy kid is lovely, meet Jack a fab tri-color mixed buck he has both dairy and boar in him.. he will make very pretty babies with juno

my new breeding trio of Sebastopol The Sebastopol is a medium-sized goose with long, white curly feathers. The feathers of the neck are smooth and sometimes greyish-brown. ^] Feathers on the breast may be curly (frizzle) or smooth. The gander weighs 12-14 lbs while the goose weighs 10-12 lbs

I have both a smooth and a frizzle female, all are proven breeders, sitters, hatchers and baby raisers

And Blue the kitten joined my pride of baby purrpots of 2016

life is keeping us hopping! but still time to stop an smell the flowers now an again

Posted in Life moves on daily | 3 Comments

Reader Question- Rabbits

Posted on June 10, 2016 by Just another day on the farm

Wanted meat rabbits for some time now so your info was valued.
Starting as a “newbie” could you suggest any good books with step be step info. Like how big the hutches are to be, food requirements, common medical problems/etc or do you have the time to help?

How many rabbits to you butcher each year for your own freezers or does it depend on the number of culls?
What breed of meat rabbits do you raise?

Wanting to be ready for the fall purchase of the guys….pretty excited!
Thanks!

A fat wee handful at eight days old, calm and steady but eyes not quite open!

hi,

So the first answer is this is the book!

https://www.amazon.ca/Storeys-Guide-Raising-Rabbits-4th/dp/1603424563

Do not get the kindle, you want the paperback book so that you can haul it out to where ever you need it, when you need it etc.

Its going to cover all the basics and then some.. its going to answer all your basic questions and its going to cover hutch building and breeding and how to make nest box’s and so much more..

Now, having said that, I am going to admit that we like our 4 by 4 box’s, 3 by 3 is the outside area with a wire bottom and three wire sides and a 1 by 1 back area, the back area has its own top and the front its own..

These box’s DID not hold as well as the more tradional longer built box but for a growout box with a litter of kits I love having that 16 square feet for the doe and her litter..

as a grow out box, they work and they are awesome for chicks, quail and so much more..

We are going to be building new rabbit hutches this year to replace our oldest ones that are 11 years at this time and we will show what we are making and why I am doing so after working with a number of different models.

The breed of rabbit we breed at this time is called “Hypharm in France”

http://www.hypharm.fr/index.php?id=9&lang=2

We did not get them from France, we got our breeder lines from a local rabbit breeder about 40 min away..

http://www.lapinrabbitry.com/aboutus.html

These rabbits are outstanding.. I have breed a number of meat rabbits over the years, but these rabbit while not a “breed” that can be shown or a “breed” in the sense of being a cross bred of this or that..

They have the size, the temperament, amazing mothers, tons of milk, great pelts and outstanding food to growth rates.. I have no idea how easy or how hard it would be to get your hands on this breed..

But if you can, I would recommend doing so.. it will save you so much work, they have done it all for you and you can just enjoy all the plus’s, and because they are breed for Europe they take it fact that most of us smaller breeders, want to keep our does around for a few extra years.. so they stay healthy and productive for years.

How many rabbits, between 30 to 60 a year.. but they can be culled and or butchered at different ages and sizes, I had a much beloved dog that had food allergies and so I raised more rabbits for her, but I tended to freezer camp them around 6 weeks because that was the perfect size for a whole prey for the dog..

when I am raising them for our use, I like to grow them out to 12 to 16 weeks for young fryers, then they are used like young tender chickens, (which if you have ever raised free range chickens, you need the rabbit to get a tender meat, because few range is not tender LOL) but I also raise some up till about six months for pelt first, and big old roaster second..

So I really mix it up.. but I use different sizes for different uses.. One fryer rabbit is about the same as fryer chicken, 3 to 4 pounds once its dressed out give or take. but rabbits have a bit more bones.

As for the freezer, its rarely used, I either use a fresh butchered rabbit or I can them, canned rabbit is outstanding, I do fresh bone in raw pack pressure canned and its wonderful..

I do freeze the ones for the dogs for safety reason, they are frozen for a certain amount of time before being feed.

Hope that helps a bit and when you get your rabbits, feel free to ask questions as they come up 🙂

Posted in rabbits | Tagged blog, breeding rabbits, homesteaderr, meat rabbits, Rabbits, rabbits on the homestead, Raising meat rabbits, readers questions | 1 Comment

Trap Crops

Posted on June 9, 2016 by Just another day on the farm

So what is a Trap crop ideally : a crop planted to attract insect pests from another crop, especially one in which the pests fail to survive or reproduce.

while I could write it all out, the truth is this post says everything I would, so for full details on why I use trap cropping, I recommend checking this link and reading the different ways to use this in your gardens

https://www.growveg.com/guides/trap-cropping-to-control-pests/https://www.growveg.com/guides/trap-cropping-to-control-pests/

but I went out and took photos of a mini trap crop set up I have going on in my big old hay bale gardens.. you see that healthy looking melon plant in the middle, its got its first five true leaves and its got two side runners just starting to push out, and for being in zone 5 first week of june, that melon plant is rocking it..

As you can see the melon plants leaves look really good but you can see that the turnip leaves, not so much.. hmm so this area was seeded out with a few things as a trap crop, raddish, turnip, clover and alfalfa got some self-sown pigweed as each will work at different stages in the game, I will cut of or pull as needed

now, if I had planted only the melon plant, it would not be near as pretty as it is on the close up..

This plant was eaten up, I watched the bird come and eat all the bugs, perfect.. I set the trap crops early, I harvested baby greens for room for the melon, and the areas around the plant will continue to protect, trap crop and bring bees as the season goes on

hope that between my example and the link that it helps explain the idea and goals but please feel free to ask more questions if I did not answer all yours. I love when my readers ask questions!

Posted in Life moves on daily | Tagged trap crops, using trap crops in the garden | 3 Comments

Rabbits -Foster moms

Posted on June 8, 2016 by Just another day on the farm

Do you breed rabbits, are you thinking about breeding rabbits? I love my rabbits, I got them the very first spring we arrived on the farm, my local sale, I arrived home with chickens, ducks and rabbits..

I brought them home before I things really well set up, but I had pens and I had food and water and we made due as it got put together, because I did not know if there was regular sales for small livestock or if it was just spring and fall.

My first does where eight to nine months and came breed, they were outstanding mothers but the stress meant that my first litters were small but we all quickly got in the grove of things,

I have had meat rabbits every since, I tend to keep two or three main breeding does with one buck on average, I have been known to raise up a few extra does for spring-summer litters and then bring my numbers back down for winter..

What I want to talk about today is Fostering..

I do not read or hear about it in books but when you talk to rabbit or cat for that matter breeders, its highly recommended that you breed two does or queens at the same time, because if one has a smaller litter and one has a bigger litter, they will be very willing to share the babies..

This has been proven to me time and time again.. when it comes to the farm cat momma’s, even after being altered, they will still bring in milk, and climb in the kitten box to groom, and nurse the kittens..

Rabbit does will not share a nest, I had a few years where I tried the colony style and while I had lots of kits, I found that they did not share nest box’s well, at all..

but they will share kits, as long as they are within reasonable ages of the mothers babies, you can mix and match the numbers and have no issues doing so per the moms..

you however might have a much bigger issue figuring who the kits belong to if they are all the same in color and pattern.. some use finger nail polish, some use bingo color dots, or livestock markers.. some use a dot of food coloring, whatever you choose to use, it should not harm the kit or the mother if she is grooming them.

I got a message from a friend that her doe had passed on and she was wondering if there was any chance that I might have a doe that had kits that were close to the right age.. I had one within a week of them in age and so I took five of the biggest and strongest kits from the litter an added them to my nest box..

My momma rabbit did just what I expected, she nursed them more, she cleaned them up and accepted them..

When it comes to farm life, a good momma is worth her weight in gold! and bad mothers should be culled and into the freezer or crock pot they go!

Her litter of whites are big chunks compared to the new kits but they are all full round bellies and they snuggle right up.. so the new adopted kits are four black and one brown..

they are in fact the same breed of rabbits, just in different colors.. I hope that the wee one will catch up over the next few weeks or so..

Posted in Life moves on daily | Tagged evening out rabbit litters, foster mothers rabbits, fostering rabbit kits | 6 Comments

Taylor Made homestead list

Posted on June 6, 2016 by Just another day on the farm

http://taylormadehomestead.com/homestead-sites-state/

A few weeks ago a reader suggested that since cooking directions can change based on altitude and gardening plans can differ based on planting zones, someone should compile a list of homesteading / Simple Living blogs separated by the areas they reside in. BRILLIANT, and challenge accepted! Such a list is helpful for not only the reader of my blog but also for all blog readers, so below you’ll find a list of awesome blogs separated by U.S. location and there’s even a spot to list some great blogs from our Canadian friends below! I’ll place this list on a separate tab on my blog so it’ll always be easily accessible and I’m asking all blogs included in this list to share this list on their own blogs as well

Check them out..

Posted in Life moves on daily | 2 Comments

Camping Trip, Mine Hike an more

Posted on June 5, 2016 by Just another day on the farm

This was a early father’s day gift to my hubby, it took a good deal of planning and the awesome help of a farm sitter to pull it off!

We headed out after morning chores for a 24 hours off the farm get away, we had a farm sitter for evening and morning chores and checks and so forth, and we are back today in time for us to do evening chores..

While to most folks a 24 hours off does not seem like much when you farm, that time can seem like a long time 🙂

So we headed to Murphy’s Point Park.. where I had booked us into a walk in, no power, no water tent site..

It came with a table, and fire pit and we set up camp. it was something we have done many times, this tent was bought back in 1999 in Yellowknife NWT and we have camped many times in it over the years, in NWT, Nunavut, Quebec and Ontario.

It took next to no time to set up the camp and we were off to the mine hike.. The reason this site had been picked was that is has one of Ontario’s largest mica mines, a short drive in the park took us to the start of the trail.

We got the map book for a dollar and we were off, its a easy hike for the most part and even the off-road parts are what I would call basic with a few up and downs.. our main friends were dragon flies, but o my the wild blackberries where in bloom everywhere..

As we rounded the curve, I caught a glimpse of a team and wagon, and I was so very excited.. I was like YES! someone does rides out here..LOL

Nope. but cool none the less

There was a table here if anyone needed a rest.. but we took our photos and moved on!

We cut into the bush and our next site was this amazing side spur to the mine itself, it was so GREEN! I know that the colors are different depending on which setting the camera was in.. sorry about that..

Here is the full view. It was amazingly cool standing in front of the mine, like having air conditioning..

This of course was what it was all about, Mica!

Great Site to spot a number of minerals in the rocks!

Over the hill we went and into the next valley, were the start of the mine is!

I of course got a awesome rock by the door with Mica, (but don’t worry I put it right back after the photo was taken, even fluffed the leaves etc

and then we moved to the top where there is a fenced off open pit with a steam engine that was very modern back in the day 🙂

And then on we went to the bunk house and the pit-basket lifts and in the back where a number of junk piles of rock.

after that we headed back doing the rest of the loop and then back to the campsites and on to the lake.. beautiful

The water was so clear , you could see the fish swimming with you and there was some good size ones, nice foot and half long and six to eight inches thick but it was the turtles that I loved.. I counted myself swimming at one time with 8 of their little heads all out and around me.. loved it!

As you can see the weather was perfect, it was warm at 28 but not really to hot, and it was sunny with some cloud cover, the water was so perfectly reflective..

but at some point, one needed to get out of the water (but not until at least an hour plus swimming was done) and back for a late supper..

While it was a no burn ban on in the area, the park allowed smaller burns for heating, cooking and evening time. two logs max.. works for us

In no way were we glamping.. this was tent, one backpack etc, buy the fire wood, and being a few cans to be heated up with spoons to eat them with.. o and two chairs.. which I did not need but I didn’t know we have the picnic table..

Our plans for sunday got changed when it became a rain day and so we could not get our canoe rental, and so we came home early, and worked on the farm..

Weather rules all! be it farm, be it camping.. lol

Hope you enjoyed coming along with us.. back to plants, gardens and recipes later in the week..

Posted in Life moves on daily | Tagged camping, Farm Sitters, hiking, hiking into old mine sites, Murphy's point park, Nature photos, parks, Silver Queen Mine, Swimming in lakes | 8 Comments

Carrot Ginger Rhubarb Flower Soup

Posted on June 3, 2016 by Just another day on the farm

If you have never eaten rhubarb flowers or to prepare them properly, check out this basic post 🙂

So the day, I served a side dish at a meal of rhubarb flower and we got talking about that they have built in lemon and that I thought they would be great in a version of sweet and sour soup.. my friend said or carrot ginger..

Carrot Ginger rhubarb Flower Soup

one small onion- peeled and chopped
one clove garlic- peeled and chopped
one small piece fresh ginger- peeled and chopped or replace with dried
4 cups of veggie or chicken stock
half cup of rhubarb flowers
3 cups of peeled, diced carrots
1 large peeled an diced potato
salt, pepper, dill seed

ok, in a heavy bottom steel pot, add a touch of oil, and then add the onion, garlic an ginger, cook till onion is clear, then add broth, and all veggies, cook at a simmer approx. 20 to 30 min till the veggies are tender and cooked though, cool briefly and hit it with the stick blender or carefully transfer to blender and blend together till smooth. Serves 4

if you want a richer version add 1 tsp of heavy cream per bowl or small pat of butter placed in the center bowl, the cream or butter added fat which gives the soup a much richer taste.. its good both ways

Posted in Life moves on daily, Recipes from the Root Cellar | Tagged Carrot Ginger rhubarb flowers Soup, eating rhubarb flowers, preparing rhubarb flowers for eating | 3 Comments

Lilac Jelly and Drying

Posted on June 1, 2016 by Just another day on the farm

I have three colors of lilac on the farm, I find the deepest color makes the most outstanding color jelly. The normal lilac while be softer in color and the white one is almost cream in color.

I have a number of posts over the years making lilac jelly, its just amazing! Friends love getting it as gift, hubby calls it drool-worthy and I love to use it to make a light winter tea

But this year I wanted to expand my dried flowers for different uses.. so I did up a total of 18 trays, or dried three quart jars worth.

These will be used in a number of creative ways, in gifts like milk baths or sprinkled on top of cold processed soaps, or in herbal tea blends, a mix of cold process lilac massage oil and I am sure I can find a few more ways to use them though this coming year 🙂

Posted in Garden harvest | Tagged drying lilac flowers, lilac jelly, use lilac | 5 Comments

Top Ten Reason’s to Grow Radish in your Garden!

Posted on May 31, 2016 by Just another day on the farm

Farmgal’s Tip of the Day.. When your hubby brings you in fresh garden Radish’s and they are so hot, I mean WOW heat hot.. to eat fresh.. what to do.. the answer is easy, cook them.. you can toss them with some good olive oil and sea salt and roast them, or you can slice them up and stir-fry them with other veggies. you can grate them into soups, stews or salads to make the heat meld with everything.

I wrote this post last year.. but its so worth sharing again..

Today we are going to talk about radish.. O yes, it seems so lowly.. but its not.. its a plant that just keeps on giving and we are in major expanding mode on it to boot.. I think it will be easier to break it down into parts..

1) One of the earliest things to be planted in the gardens, right along side the first spring peas but will be certain to get a harvest sooner.. Planted though out the whole growing season, they will do well, can be used as a marker system for slow to sprout seeds, by the time the slower are up an needing the space, the radish are out.

2) Do not forget that there are short growing radishes (what we are use to in the store but that there are many long season radish that are more like a carrot or turnip in shape and that there is even winter keeping radish.. yes you read that right.. big, long slow growing keep radishs that can be held over in the root cellar for winter use

3) Greens, o boy the greens.. yummy tender greens for salads, bigger and spicy greens for mixing in anything you want, veggies, meat with greens, soups, or stews.. Or how about a yummy radish green mayo for a burger or Radish Green Pesto for a pasta dish.. So Good!

4) The seeds, If you have never collected seeds or if you are still paying though the nose for winter Sprouting seeds, you need to give Radish a try.. they grow out a nice clear pod that is easy to find, filled with lots and lots of tiny black seeds, those seeds will give you fab sprouts or micro greens at a tiny fraction of the price at the store sprouting prices.

5) the pods, fresh baby pods can be added to stirfries, or pickled, Pickled Radish pods are delightful indeed. I must do a post on just that with a recipe or two on how to use them..

6) Trap crops.. Radish even if you are buying the seed are cheap to buy, active and easy to grow and they make excellent trap crops in the garden.. O yes, please think of your cabbage, carrots and other things that the bugs tend to love and throw some radish around them as a trap crop. Those radish that were trap cropped, where also allowed to go to flower and then seed.. acting as a triple threat and reward, only in one place did I pull the plants, burn them, they were covered in eggs and replant it right back out in radish..

7) Green cover crops, Radish is a excellent green cover crop, basic wide scatter on a cleaned bed now in april, let it grow about two or three inches high keeping the weeds down, chop and turn under and replant the bed in a warm weather crop.

8) Do not limit yourself to eating radish fresh, it is excellent roasted, its lovely in soups and stews and it cans up into a delightful crisp winter treat as a side dish..

9) Fodder, Radish greens and are excellent for pretty much any critter you want to feed them to.. be it your chickens, rabbits, pigs or sheep, even my horses get in on the action, its adorable watching them eating up that radish greens and then the look as they get to the radish itself, but they never turn it down.. even the super hot ones are eaten with gusto

10) They are FAST, I mean really, what other plant do you know that can go from seed to table in 30 days and in ideal conditions.. 28 days.. Rock on Radish.. Rock on!

Now, What do you say. I saw, run to the store and pick up five or six more packages of basic radish for green crops, for seed use or for trapping rows in your garden, but also hit the Asian area of the seeds and be brave, pick up a winter radish as well! Give it a try, they can very different flavours, some are more mild, some are so funky in color.. how about a lovely green and white radish, or a white skin with a pink middle or a lovely purple radish in color or pure white..