Finally.. a break in the weather!

It has been so hot here the past few months that forward momentum was at a standstill on our place! But finally the much awaited cooler temps are here and we are in motion once again! Being that we are not in anyways wealthy; we are always looking for ways to repurpose, recycle, and generally make something new out of something old... here are our latest projects: An sun shade for our chicken tractor from an old trampoline

An mini corral will be from an above ground swimming pool frame

How about this awesome brooder for baby chicks? found these shelves on Craigslist and hubby put doors on it, while I did the rest of the screening in..

Then I made an milking stand for my goats out of another of the same shelf

It feels so good to be getting some things done! Forward momentum is a great thing!

Food Health

Let's get serious about food for just a moment. It is a battle to feed your family clean (non GMO, organic, etc.) food and not be totally broke! This year was our fourth spring on the farmstead and I feel as though I was 50/50 on successes and losses. I grew great squash, cucumbers, and tomatoes in our raised beds made from shipping crates. I used a bit of hugelkulture and was given some alpaca poop compost to boost my soil mix.

I was able to can plenty of jellys, jams, and pie fillings..but from fruit I purchased from a local produce market.

We have plenty of fresh eggs from our laying hens and delicious honey from our bees. Unfortunately I didn't do as well with beans, peas, or lettuces. Really praying to get our aquaponics system set up by next year. Our summer is so hot that some things just burn up, so thinking of some sort of a shade canopy as well. Soil is very costly and I cant seem to compost enough to make what I need, but little by little we will get there! A huge plus was our meat birds! We got Cornish Cross chicks in mid February. Husband built a Taj Mahal of a chicken tractor..we fed them twice daily and moved them to fresh pasture and bugs every few days.

When we butchered them out at 12 weeks they dressed out at 5-6 pounds a piece! filled the freezer with 25! Thats Sunday dinner for half a year, plus soup stock.

It isn't an easy or quick journey to cleaner eating, but we are learning! And it's worth it.

Mounds..

Mounds- Not the candy bar my husband likes! Hills of sand and dirt left behind by nocturnal demons, marked by ankle turning entrances and tunnels that criss cross our property making planting anything in the ground fair game for their munching ways. "Who are these spawn?" you ask.. I am so glad you are interested! We have not one, but two underhanded, underground dwellers.

First we have Pocket Gophers- ugly, rat like with long yellow incisors, they are vegetarians with a taste for everything. Second we have Moles- uglier, rattier, with creepy little hands and blind faces, these omnivores leave behind destruction in any flowerbed I plant. Yet we have a secret weapon! Her name is Ashley. Ashley came to us as a tiny seven week old kitten. She is now the queen of all the farmstead. A huntress extraordinaire! We have personally witnessed her approach a gopher mound on silent cat feet, put her outstretched paws down into the tunnel and wait. Wait for an hour if need be until that magic moment and "Wham", she has a claw in and dragging them from their lair with a triumphant "Meow" of pride, she is victorious. Now that sounds wonderful until she wishes to share the bounty with her human family. Going down the hall last month, I caught the whiff of decay. Finding a dead rat lovingly placed under my youngest son's bed. (At least it was on the floor!) My oldest has woken to the sound of crunching bones as she prepared a feast to share on his desk. She truly doesn't get why we praise her for her varminting skills, yet don't want a taste and throw it away with much "EWWW" and "GROSS" exclamations.

Never the less..Go get 'em Ashley!

Dirt Roads and Mailboxes

We live down a dirt road... I try to warn people that have never been to our house what to expect; it never works. Our homestead is in South Texas in an area known as the Post Oak Savannah. The soil isn't soil...it's sand. Some call it 'sugar sand' because that is exactly what it's like, white sugar. Imagine driving on the beach in the dunes, yeah...folks get stuck. Stuck up to the axle. Happened to us the day we moved in and Hubby was ready to take the U-Haul truck back. He sank in our front field while backing up, a mere $300 mistake! I try to warn folks.. When it rains heavily we can get rained in, unable to traverse our road until it dries out. Kinda nice if you don't feel like company- but not so great if you can't get somewhere for an appointment or work.

At the beginning of the turn off to our dirt road is a group of mailboxes. Our mailboxes are kinda boring in comparison to some..

I love seeing how creative folks are with their boxes. I feel I need to 'step up my game'! These are around the corner from us..

Fancy mailbox or not... Nothing beats dirt road living!

Five Lawnmowers... One Works!

When folks learn you live in the country... They "gift" you with all manner of things. Some good, some not so good. In the "good" category we have been gifted with rain barrels, laying chickens, fence wire, and other useful items. In the "not so good"...Well let me just talk lawnmowers. We currently have 3 riding lawn mowers and two push mowers. At any one time it appears as though only one is ever operational. Mumbling and stubbing my toes on large immovable mowers in my barn or carport isn't my idea of fun! Reality check! I see the films of folks using a scythe and I pull myself together and become very thankful for the working mower we do have! Anyways, husband says he is gonna get around to fixing those other mowers one of these days!

Stickers!

Stickers... Grass burrs, stickers, goat heads..Call them what you will, we have them all. Varieties large, medium, and small; clinging to our socks and pants. The worst are the very tiny balls that seem to burrow into your clothing leaving behind a thorn or two.. Thorns you will discover later on in the weave of your underwear as you are cruising down the highway at 70 mph. Telling yourself "what is stabbing me in the booty?" Squirming and praying it will go the other way as it only burrows closer into your skin. We have learned-- Mow. Mow often. Wear boots. Tuck in your jeans. Keep a dog comb outside the back door to scrape them off... And pray when you put on your undies!

Keets!

Finally! We have been wanting a flock of Guineas for two years! Ever since we went to the Mother Earth News Fair and Tommy went to a seminar and learned about the many benefits of this marvelous bird. Our main purpose is flea and tick control. We were able to do a swap for Seramas for Keets. Keets are the name for Guinea chicks..and here they are! we put a Serama hen with them for mommy comfort and they are doing great! a quick homemade brooder out of a baby pool!

Winner, winner....Chicken dinner!

Sorry this took so long to get up..surgery went great! My legs are now "bionic"! without further ado...a man powered plucker...and it works great!

Where have we been?

Time has flown! We have had our share of challenges here on our little farm in the past year. I know each season in life has its challenges.... but boy am I ready for a break! Good news first..We are doing well with our Seramas and Sizzles.Spring has been productive and lots of broody mamas!

Our two dairy goat girls Primrose and Snowflake will be ready to be bred this fall, which means babies and milk in the spring! Ducks are well and we added some Snowy Mallards to the farm.

We also have a big turkey left from last years turkeys, and a couple new poults. My wonderful beekeeper of a hubby is currently leasing hives at an olive orchard as well as at a local ranch. Every laptop and tablet I blogged with died within days of eachother! I just got a chromebook for Mothers Day! Can't wait to catch everyone up again! Now for the tougher stuff.. I will be getting a full hip replacement on the left side in a couple weeks. Not really looking forward to surgery.. but it will be worth it. I had my right one done almost six years ago. Holding onto our place is a challenge..but we are believing that God is for us! Tomorrow I am butchering chickens and will post and show you the awesome plucker my guy made for us. I leave you with a Texas sunrise from Seven Pines..