Finally a Tractor Picture :)

I have inserted this picture as there was a complaint from the household tractor committee that there was yet to be a picture of any tractor.  Well I have one up it and it is our Massey Ferguson with the old cultivators on the back.  In the corner is the 9n's back wheel with the finish mower on back!

Here Piggy, Piggy, Piggy :)

Well we have been busy this last little while with the gardens and the chickens, getting the kids ready for school and our new recent addition...2 little pigs! It is a totally new adventure for us as we have never had pigs before.  I grew up with cattle and chickens and rode horses but never pigs.  My grandfather had them and I have a vague recollection of them but I was really young then.  In the picture above are of the 2 pigs bedding down in the fresh hay bed and hopefully they start rooting through the cows old bedding to make it easier on me to clean it out!  Silly me in the winter I couldn't wait for Carl to get home to chop some fresh straw and I just threw the bedding in unchopped!  As we cannot get our tractor in this part of the barn to clean it, I have to do it by hand!!  Ouchy on the back!  In the second picture is of the carrier we brought them home in, which fit into the middle of the Farm King (Dodge minivan).  I had trouble posting this pic but you get the idea!  We got the pigs from a nice couple Tom and Helen White out of Tickle Island Farm in Eganville!  They free range everything which is really cool!!  We got to see what pigs can do to the ground and are natural composters  so I have some plans for them in the next month or so for when I pack up the gardens!!  :) Renfrew is having a Rural Ramble and if you are interested in seeing lots of animals in their natural environment you should check Tom and Helen out!! You can always come out and see us but we are just starting and they have been doing this for 7 years!  Our next batch of chickens are soon approaching and I will post in the next couple days about them!! You can see them in picture 3 naturally grazing in the grass.  This is what will give them that different taste from store bought chicken.  Think of all that natural food and how good it will be for you!!  Ta Ta For Now !!

Chickens

We finally have a new date set for our chickens. Sept 2nd is the new processing date. These ones will average between 2 to 6 lbs. They will be $3.00/lb. If you would like them fresh let me know ahead of time and I will keep aside for you otherwise they will be frozen! My second batch will be going on Sept 20th and will be in the 6 to 10lb range. 

Getting the Old Chicken Layer Box Ready

It is amazing how much a good cleaning with the pressure washer can make something really old look new again.  This is the old chicken layer that has been in the shed collecting dust.  This hasn't been used in about 50 years as I am 35 this year and I know it wasn't used in my life time.  As we have more layers this year we decided to finally get this ready for them.  There will be some modifications to it as I can't get this into where my layer are going to go but it is something we don't have to build from scratch.  Now only if we can keep it looking this good!! But alas it will only happen when it gets cleaned out every year. 

On another note,  I had a good friend, her mom and my goddaughter Pam come and stay for the weekend.  It started out not too bad but the rain didn't stay away this weekend!!  Always seems to happen when we get visiters!!  We still had a great time and my friend Andria helped out at the market!!  It definitely made the rainy day go fast and we had some good chats with customers and with ourselves!!   I don't have a tent cover for my stand this year so we had a slogan to attract customer!!  "Invest in the Tent" weekend.

We were suppose to get our first set of chicken proccessed this past week, however due to someone's (me) rushing day, I forgot to tack down the roof of the chicken tractor and all the chicken escaped on my husband!!  This has been postponed and I will let you know the next processing date!  We definitely learned that I should have sent my husband with the kids to swim lessons!!!

Market Day

Here is my display of veggies at the Renfrew Market.  It was really quite cool out this particular morning and we tried to keep warm till the sun came out.  There was a really good turn out and we met a lot of new people and saw some good friends as well.  My son Caden came along to experience the market scene and help me out.  We also turned it into a fun math lesson as he did most of the money handling.  He learned the lost skill of counting money backwards to hand customers their change.  Many commented how people don't do this anymore as everything has gone electronic!  I don't think he realized how much work goes into getting everything ready.  By 11:00 am I could see the drooping eyes and how slow he had got.  Good thing for afternoon nap :)

Sunflowers

We were out early one morning an thought to take some pictures of our sunflower patch....we happened to catch our two dexter heifers in the background.  These were planted to help with the winds we get out here and to help keep the garden areas warmer.  We only did two little rows, so I think next year we will have to expand on it to go around the gardens.

Wonderful Day at the Market

I did our first market day on Saturday!!  Quite an experience.  It was steady all morning and I even managed to make some sales.  Not too bad for the new kid on the block :)  I met some interesting people and got some great new ideas for next week!  You are never to old to learn that's for sure.  I had to take food home, but that's ok cause it will just fill up the freezer some more.  Our chicken enjoyed some leftover lettuce and a couple of beets.  It will make them that much more tasty.  Our first round of meat birds will be ready to go Aug 17th.  So if you would like some let me know and I will reserve one or two for you :)