Since my last post, I have started back to work and have been much more tired. There has not been much happening around the farm, and I have been sleeping once I arrive home from my job. Our garden did not fare well with the raccoons this year! All of our sweet corn and Indian corn and most of our cantaloupes were stolen by the masked little guys. I did not enjoy the heat and gave up picking the cucumbers and green beans. We had too many for me to keep up with! Thankfully, my mother-in-law was a huge help in getting all of the pumpkins, mini pumpkins, and gourds picked. The garden fences have been put away and the fall items have been put on display on our backporch. It was amazing to see how many gourds and mini pumpkins we were able to grow from just one seed packet each. Next year I am excited to build a much bigger and better fence and just plant the fall decor items. Okay, so it maybe just be KC working doing the building and the planting since the new little one will not be very old! We are down to 4 cows and three are to be sold as soon as we can get them loaded. New guys and gals will be making there way to the farm in the weeks ahead. I will have to do some thinking for names!
On the baby front, we have found out we are having a boy in February. Everything is going very well. I feel him moving around a lot, and KC got to feel him kick for the first time yesterday. We are also finally getting a tractor. This is something I am sure this little boy will enjoy in the years to come while living on the farm. Now if I could just convince KC that baby needs some goats, pigs, a donkey, and a llama....
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Friday, August 5, 2011
Farm Happenings
It's been a while since I posted last. Since that time I have kept myself busy working on the comp exam needed to finish my master's degree and working in the garden. I recently learned that I passed the exam, so I am officially finished with the degree!
We have also learned that there will be a new addition to Liberty Belle Acres. Currently I am 11 weeks pregnant with our first child. My first doctor's appointment was early this week, and everything is going great! So I have also been busy trying to get the baby's room finished. Lots of steaming is taking place to get the 4-5 layers of wallpaper removed from the walls.
Not much excitement has occured on the farm with the cows. They are happily enjoying the sunshine that the summer has brought. Later this month, some cows will be making their exit from our farm, with new ones making an entrance. Our garden has been producing quite well this year. One day we picked 39 cucumbers. We are also enjoying lots of green beans! The onions, cantelope, and potatoes should be ready anytime now. The deer have been helping themselves to my sweet corn, but hopefully they stay away from the popcorn and ornamental corn. The pumpkins and gourds are doing very well. One of the many reasons I'm looking forward to fall this year!
We have also learned that there will be a new addition to Liberty Belle Acres. Currently I am 11 weeks pregnant with our first child. My first doctor's appointment was early this week, and everything is going great! So I have also been busy trying to get the baby's room finished. Lots of steaming is taking place to get the 4-5 layers of wallpaper removed from the walls.
Not much excitement has occured on the farm with the cows. They are happily enjoying the sunshine that the summer has brought. Later this month, some cows will be making their exit from our farm, with new ones making an entrance. Our garden has been producing quite well this year. One day we picked 39 cucumbers. We are also enjoying lots of green beans! The onions, cantelope, and potatoes should be ready anytime now. The deer have been helping themselves to my sweet corn, but hopefully they stay away from the popcorn and ornamental corn. The pumpkins and gourds are doing very well. One of the many reasons I'm looking forward to fall this year!
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Planting a Garden
Last weekend we finally were able to load Whitey and take her to be sold. Since she was the only white cow left in the herd, it is kind of strange to look up in the field and not see her there. Every afternoon when I get home from work, I do a quick check on the cows and give them whatever is needed. This time of year they are pretty low maintenance. I usually need to give them mineral every few days and feed them a couple times a week.
Since the cows seem to be less time consuming right now, we have been focusing on getting our garden started. Last year we had a very small garden with only 4 types of veggies/fruits. It went so well, we decided to expand this year. We have been working on getting 3 spots ready to be tilled/planted. Some seeds have been started indoors and will be planted this weekend. This year I will plant cucumbers, head lettuce, candy onions, green beans, cantaloupe, mini and regular pumpkins, gourds, popcorn, sweet corn, and ornamental corn. A nice variety for only my second year having a garden. I am going to learn to can some of the veggies and hope to sell some of the produce if we have extra. Not only is this a busy time for planting, I am also starting the last 6 hrs of my Master's Degree that will be finished by June 29 and finishing the school year with my preschoolers. I will need to be creative to find time for all of these projects...wish me luck!
Since the cows seem to be less time consuming right now, we have been focusing on getting our garden started. Last year we had a very small garden with only 4 types of veggies/fruits. It went so well, we decided to expand this year. We have been working on getting 3 spots ready to be tilled/planted. Some seeds have been started indoors and will be planted this weekend. This year I will plant cucumbers, head lettuce, candy onions, green beans, cantaloupe, mini and regular pumpkins, gourds, popcorn, sweet corn, and ornamental corn. A nice variety for only my second year having a garden. I am going to learn to can some of the veggies and hope to sell some of the produce if we have extra. Not only is this a busy time for planting, I am also starting the last 6 hrs of my Master's Degree that will be finished by June 29 and finishing the school year with my preschoolers. I will need to be creative to find time for all of these projects...wish me luck!
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Mud, Mud, and More Mud!
The last few days or maybe weeks we have seen our fair share of rain at Liberty Belle Acres. I'm all for rain...it keeps the grass and flowers growing, but too much of anything is not a good thing. Yesterday morning we hurried over to the mall to take back the faulty elliptical I received from KC as an anniversary present. It wasn't raining and KC wanted to get back to the farm asap as it was moving day for some of the bovine. Well it rained on us all the way back home. It was not only raining, but it was pretty chilly out too. To work with the cows, I wore my bibs and a big heavy jacket to try to keep me dry. We tried pumping water to the new holding pen across the road where the cows were being moved to. No such luck...it didn't work for some reason, so we had to scrap that plan. After checking all of the fences, we decided to just load the kids up and take them across the road. Luckily the first 5 or so cows loaded themselves into the trailer, no problem. That wasn't the case as we went to drive away. Trying to keep the nice truck nice, KC used the older, smaller truck to hook up to the trailer. As I went to drive away, I knew it was a bad idea and thought the truck was going to snap in half! With a little rearranging of trucks and trailers, we were on our way to take the first load of cattle across the road. All was going fine until the truck and trailer backed a little too close to the ditch. It seemed like we were having one problem after another. The next load went a little easier, but Number 42 needed a little coaxing to get in the trailer. After I gave her a hug and a pat, I decided to get up in the trailer and give it a try. She came right to me! I left her to eat some grain and KC closed the trailer gate. She is now across the road and not so easy to see from the house. Atleast she is still around though.
This morning KC decided to load up Whitey and Butterscotch again. After about an 1/2 hour we got Butterscotch loaded, but Whitey wasn't so easy. We tried a few more times over the course of 2 hours, but knew she wasn't going to have any part of getting in the trailer this morning. So, we made the hard decision to send Butterscotch to the sale without her buddy. As we pulled out of the driveway, Whitey looked pretty lonely watching us leave. I told Butterscotch good bye and petted her head as she was unloaded at the sale. We stayed to see Butterscotch sell. It was very hard to watch her in the sale ring, but the man who bought her also bought another of our heifers late last fall, so we think she has a good home. With tears in my eyes, we left the sale and headed home. Definitely something I have to get over if we are going to make this farm thing work.
This morning KC decided to load up Whitey and Butterscotch again. After about an 1/2 hour we got Butterscotch loaded, but Whitey wasn't so easy. We tried a few more times over the course of 2 hours, but knew she wasn't going to have any part of getting in the trailer this morning. So, we made the hard decision to send Butterscotch to the sale without her buddy. As we pulled out of the driveway, Whitey looked pretty lonely watching us leave. I told Butterscotch good bye and petted her head as she was unloaded at the sale. We stayed to see Butterscotch sell. It was very hard to watch her in the sale ring, but the man who bought her also bought another of our heifers late last fall, so we think she has a good home. With tears in my eyes, we left the sale and headed home. Definitely something I have to get over if we are going to make this farm thing work.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Saved By The Rain
Although it was raining, KC decided to still try to load my beloved Whitey and Butterscotch to take them to the sale. As he left the house to go load the girls, I watched him from the window crying. To take my mind off them leaving, I cleaned the house all morning while it rained. Butterscotch easily put herself on the trailer, but Whitey wasn't so sure about the situation. She stood back and watched while everyone got soaked. She never stepped foot on the trailer. Fortunately, KC understands that they came to our farm as a pair, so they need to leave our farm as a pair. Not wanting to separate them, he let Butterscotch back out of the trailer to spend some more time on our farm. The rain saved the day for Butterscotch and Whitey this time, but they may not be so lucky the next time!
Whitey and Butterscotch
Friday, April 15, 2011
Hard Goodbyes
The time has come for some of my favorite heifers to leave the farm. I knew the day would come sooner or later. Tomorrow is possibly that day. The husband says it might happen tomorrow, but he isn't sure because it's supposed to rain. Less than a year ago these two heifers came to our farm. The one girl is a Charolais; the other I'm not so sure, but she is yellow in color. Their names are White Lightning, a.k.a. Whitey, and Butterscotch. Whitey first got her name the day after she arrived in the field. She was quite excitable and pretty much crazy. She was great at escaping and learned to put her head under the gate to pop off the hinges quite quickly. I never thought we would get Whitey back in her pen, and I remember telling KC to sell her ASAP. Butterscotch was only slightly better. I never thought I would be sad to see them go. Each day I pull my car up the driveway, Whitey and Butterscotch lead the crew down through the field to the fence to greet me. They are still skiddish and freak out when a human or dog or cat gets too close. Once while feeding the "kids," KC reached out to pet Butterscotch. Not such a good moooove. She jumped and fell into the feed trough. Flailing to get out, we thought she would hurt herself for sure. Once she got herself under control, we were able to see no harm was done to her or the trough. These cows come to our farm for only a short time, and during that time they become part of our family. Maybe the rain will let them stay part of our family for a little longer...
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Fertilizer for the Mind
Yesterday my husband and I had the opportunity to attend another small farm conference and trade show. This time it was held in Massillon, OH. It was only about an hour and a half from our house this time. That meant no overnight stay and getting up at the crack of dawn. Well, 6:00 is early for a Saturday morning! Once again we signed up for seperate seminars. There was a large group session for everyone, then 4 sessions that were broken down into smaller groups. The one topic that I was looking forward to was about goats and sure enough it was cancelled! The others that I attended were pretty interesting though.
The large group session was using social media to market the farm. K.C. and I both were pretty amazed how the internet and social media has become the most useful marketing tool. Luckily for me the presenters talked about the usefulness of smart phones!!! Maybe I will actually get one before something even smarter comes out. The neatest thing I learned about are QR codes. They are sort of like a barcode, only these codes can be scanned using a smart phone. By scanning the code, the phone user is taken directly to a website. This can be used for advertisements, information related to a product, or many other things! This may be something that will become much more popular and useful to our farm in the future. We learned how to use social media to connect with and build relationships with our customers...such a great idea!
The second session I attended was about agritourism, which is travel that combines agricultural or rural settings with products of agricultural operations as a tourism experience. This is the direction that I would like to take our farm in. One day I would like to have a bed & breakfast or lodge with farm related activities for the customers. In this seminar, the presenter talked about his own farm and how his business has developed and grown, along with the benefits and concerns of agritourism. After listening to this seminar, I was ready to start building the lodge...but then I remembered I've never built a building before hmmmm.
The third session was cancelled for me, so I got to attend one with K.C.. We learned about operating a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) enterprise. In this business model, customers sign up for a "subscription" for foods from a farmer or group of farmers. The customer gets a share of food grown or produced on the farm for an upfront fee. This could be weekly, biweekly, or monthly. It can also be by the season or throughout the whole year. This model can look different for many farmers, but operates on the same general idea: The consumer buys a share of the food produced at the farm(s) and either picks it up on the farm, at a local business, or has it delivered to their home. It seems we might look further into this as well.
The fourth session for me was about grant money. This is not my area of expertise, but I did my best to write down all the information and give it to K.C.. Hopefully he can sort through it all!
K.C. learned about soils, wind energy, CSAs, and leasing farm land. At the end of the 4th session, my class was dismissed early. I waited in the auditorium for K.C.. He came out of the room very calmly and asked me if I had the car keys. Of course I didn't...he always drives. Well, the keys were lost and a search ensued. We looked everywhere. Luckily for K.C., we found them laying on the registration table. Let's just say, I will be taking the keys from now on : )
From two Saturday sessions, we gained a lot of information related to farming and are now working to sift through all the information and apply what we learned! We start another series of classes soon. We will be learning about rotational grazing..should be interesting!
The large group session was using social media to market the farm. K.C. and I both were pretty amazed how the internet and social media has become the most useful marketing tool. Luckily for me the presenters talked about the usefulness of smart phones!!! Maybe I will actually get one before something even smarter comes out. The neatest thing I learned about are QR codes. They are sort of like a barcode, only these codes can be scanned using a smart phone. By scanning the code, the phone user is taken directly to a website. This can be used for advertisements, information related to a product, or many other things! This may be something that will become much more popular and useful to our farm in the future. We learned how to use social media to connect with and build relationships with our customers...such a great idea!
The second session I attended was about agritourism, which is travel that combines agricultural or rural settings with products of agricultural operations as a tourism experience. This is the direction that I would like to take our farm in. One day I would like to have a bed & breakfast or lodge with farm related activities for the customers. In this seminar, the presenter talked about his own farm and how his business has developed and grown, along with the benefits and concerns of agritourism. After listening to this seminar, I was ready to start building the lodge...but then I remembered I've never built a building before hmmmm.
The third session was cancelled for me, so I got to attend one with K.C.. We learned about operating a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) enterprise. In this business model, customers sign up for a "subscription" for foods from a farmer or group of farmers. The customer gets a share of food grown or produced on the farm for an upfront fee. This could be weekly, biweekly, or monthly. It can also be by the season or throughout the whole year. This model can look different for many farmers, but operates on the same general idea: The consumer buys a share of the food produced at the farm(s) and either picks it up on the farm, at a local business, or has it delivered to their home. It seems we might look further into this as well.
The fourth session for me was about grant money. This is not my area of expertise, but I did my best to write down all the information and give it to K.C.. Hopefully he can sort through it all!
K.C. learned about soils, wind energy, CSAs, and leasing farm land. At the end of the 4th session, my class was dismissed early. I waited in the auditorium for K.C.. He came out of the room very calmly and asked me if I had the car keys. Of course I didn't...he always drives. Well, the keys were lost and a search ensued. We looked everywhere. Luckily for K.C., we found them laying on the registration table. Let's just say, I will be taking the keys from now on : )
From two Saturday sessions, we gained a lot of information related to farming and are now working to sift through all the information and apply what we learned! We start another series of classes soon. We will be learning about rotational grazing..should be interesting!
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