My Favorite Place

The hundred acres wood is a big place full of steep hills, old overgrown logging roads, and deep hollows. There are places on the property I have not even seen.  And sadly, we'd stopped exploring.

We had gotten stuck in a rut. We worked, worked, worked the farm, but the land we use for the farm is only a fraction of the property. We rarely ventured beyond that space, and when we did it was on the same old paths that we've followed for years.

This spring, what began as a desire to find ramps, has turned into a Sunday afternoon habit of walks in the woods in places we rarely go. We haven't found ramps (or morels for that matter,) but we have found some beautiful things.

One spot, in particular has caught my fancy. It is on a north facing slope. It is a rain run off that is tucked deeply in the curve of the hill. It is cool, damp, rocky, and full of some of my favorite woodland flora. The hillside is covered with fern, and the first time we walked this way we spotted trillium.

Yesterday, we went to check if the trillium were blooming. They were. They are gorgeous.

I explored a little deeper down the run off, and found another lovely plant. I'd never seen this one in the wild before. It is jack-in-the-pulpit. 

Lydia and I also discovered the area is full of spicebush. I've gathered these berries before, and they are a wonderful spice. We will be gathering late this summer. 

I love this spot. It is fairly easily accessible, and I do believe it is the prettiest spot on the property. Here are a few more pictures from our walk.

Turkey Talk

A little over a month ago, we brought home our first turkeys. We've talked about raising turkeys pretty much from the beginning of this farm, but shied away because we had the notion that they were difficult to raise. So far, they have been easy and enjoyable. I love to listen to them.

About a week ago our tom began talking to some wild turkeys across the hollow.  He'd "gobble, gobble," and a few minutes later you could hear "gobble, gobble," on the opposite hill.

A few days ago, as we were driving out the lane we noticed the gobbling had gotten a little louder, a little closer, and in fact it was. Four wild toms had come up to the fence line to see what was going on. They were walking the fence line, and checking it out.

A few minutes later,  I looked and the wild toms had come a little closer, and our tom was not happy about it. He was at the fence letting them have it, "GOBBLE, GOBBLE." They were not intimidated and stood right in his face, "GOBBLE, GOBBLE" through the fence.

By the time I ran in for the camera, the wild turkeys had decided it wasn't worth their time, and went strolling back down the hill. I haven't seen, or heard them since.

In other turkey news....

The hens are sitting. The last of the three hens decided she'd rather help her friend on her nest than to make her own.

I thought about trying to discourage her, but I think we'll just let nature take its course. Hoping for some poults soon, and our own Thanksgiving turkey!

Welcome to the Farm

We are so excited to welcome some new little, but important, creatures to the farm! Since we've moved here we've kicked around the idea of setting up some hives on the farm. We know nothing about keeping bees, and the time never seemed quite right to dive into this area of agriculture. It still doesn't, but....

We know a local bee keeper, Gabe Blatt, who was maxed out in his current space. Space, we have. So, long story short, he and Tim talked, Gabe and his wife came out for a visit, and a few weeks later there are bees in the 100 Acre Wood!

Let the pollination begin!

Spring! Spring! Spring!

Do you know what this is? 

Spring is really here! As with every spring, we wait impatiently. We lament the lingering winter weather. We look for glimpse of sun and warmer temperatures, and keep our spring fever at bay by starting plants inside.

Then suddenly, the spring weather has arrived and the to do lists we've been dreaming about are a reality. The days start early, and end late. I struggle between getting the long list of outside chores accomplished while still getting this family fed, having clean plates to eat off of, and clean clothes to wear the next day. Days end with dinner around 8, a lot left on the list, and a family too tired to care. It is exhilarating  It is exhausting. It is spring, and I love it!

Most of our spring garden is in. I'd hoped to put some more in today, but the rain made that impossible. The rain however did bring a nice spurt of green to the trees and the seeds already in the garden! Summer plants are hardening off in preparation for the garden in a few weeks.

More seeds have been started in my garden tub. There are a few more seeds, plants, and fruit trees (yes!) to be purchased.

We have one turkey hen who should be close to hatching her clutch. Another turkey hen has just begun to sit on her nest. We have sows with visible baby bump bellies, and today a litter of rabbits was born. That is the picture at the top. The little pink lumps are newborn rabbits. I don't like to disturb them much. I only moved the fur away from the top to get a look in. Looks like a small litter. I could see four, but this is a first time doe. Rabbits are notorious for losing their first litters, and I'm just thrilled to see them in the box in a nest of fur like they should be.

We have a whole lot of broilers out in the converted goat shed. Our first processing will be this Saturday, and more chicks arrive on Wednesday.

Yes this is spring. Yes it is crazy busy, but yes we love it, and the payoff it will bring in a few months! How is your spring?

Goat Shed Conversion

Six year ago, (six years really!) my dad built a tree house, for the goats. Based on the pictures, the building was also for our first piglets.

Charcoal in June 2007

Charcoal and her piglets December 2012

Wow! What a difference! But I digress. This post is about the building. That building was originally designed for the goats. This is what it looked like then.

You can see an interior divider gate on the right side of the shed. That was used to divide the building when needed. It was mostly used as a nursery pen where new mommas and babies could be separate from the rest of the herd. What you can't see is the small door on that side of building and the fencing that was eventually added to create two pastures, separate, but both accessible from the building. The set up worked out very nicely for us. 

In the scaling back and finding our feet again process we've been in the last few years, there are no longer goats or sheep here on the farm. We have used the space for pigs, temporarily, but it really doesn't work well, and the floor of the building was not designed for that kind of weight, which we found out the hard way, We Won. 

The better part of the last couple years we haven't done anything with that building. There have been chickens in the pasture, but we were using temporary shelters (with mixed results.) This year we want to expand our broiler production, and knew we needed to do something different. 

The main chicken house is large enough for a lot of chickens. It has access to a very large run that can then be opened up to the woods or to the yard to be sure the chickens get full access to bugs and plants and all the things they love to forage. 

With our first batch of broilers I assumed that I could keep them in the same space, and it would all be fine. They never left the chicken house. Our long steep chicken ladder was the issue.

 

In order to up broiler production we needed to build something new, or convert what we had. We chose to convert the goat shed. 

Protecting chickens from night predators is always our biggest challenge. In order to use the goat shed for the broilers we needed to secure it. The first task was to put a door on the big open space in the front. Tim and Kellen walled of about half the space and then created a sliding door for the rest. This large door gives us easy access to the space, and can be used to allow chickens access to the pasture on that side. The existing door on the right gives them access to another pasture. 

There are no windows in this building, but the rough board style of the sides plus roof vent give plenty of ventilation. We covered the roof vents with chicken wire for predator protection. 

We lined the bottom of the walls with old feed bags. This was partially for a wind break for any remaining cold nights, and partially a predator protection. It may seem like over kill. The boards are pretty close together, and a feed bag isn't a lot of protection, but it made me feel better. Last summer, we literally had raccoon reach into chicken wire pens to pull parts of chickens through the wire, and pull young chickens legs through rabbit wire. Gruesome, I know, but reality. 

The building is now serviceable, though we do have a couple more things to do before it is complete. We'd like to run electric out to it. (Currently using a heavy duty extension cord.) We need to add some roosts. Since this building is intended for broilers, roosts will simply be 2x4s a few inches off the floor. They won't roost high, but giving them a low roost helps to keep them clean and healthy.

I'd like to cover the divider in wire so I can again separate the building. The small side could be used for brooding when the weather permits. 

If we want to be able to rotate the pastures, we will need to do some fencing work. The current fencing is not sufficient to keep chickens in one pasture only. 

We put about 140 chickens in there a few days ago. I let them out for the first time today. I love watching chicks on their first day out. They seem to be utterly fascinated by the big world out there, not to mention the tasty bugs and grass! I think this set up will work well for the broilers! 

Easter Rabbits

Despite rabbits being one of my favorite homesteading animals, we haven't had any for a little over a year. Before last winter, we decided to get rid of our current rabbits to avoid the winter care, and because we wanted to start with fresh stock the following year. Well, that never happened, and a year later we finally got on the ball to get more rabbits.

Friday, we got our Easter bunnies. Named for now, Thing 1, and Thing 2 from the temporary blue markings used to tell them apart.

They are a New Zealand/California mix. They are already bred to a Californian buck. New babies should be here in a few short weeks.

For now, they are in our hutches, but I'd like to see what we can do to get them out on grass this summer. Another project to add to the list. The farm they came from has their does in an old stall. They run together and are provided hay bales to burrow into for nesting. So, many different ways to do things. So, many things to try.

And, a few more pictures, just because.

Happy Easter to you!

Blogging at The Wild Ramp

Did I mention that I'm contributing to The Wild Ramp blog? There are several talented writers over there who share on a variety of topics from local farms, recipes using seasonal ingredients, and local food issues. Today, my post over there is about our first experience with wild leeks, otherwise known as ramps. Hop on over, and check it out!

"Spring" Update

This winter has drug along. We've been sick more than usual. It feels like we've had more cold weather than usual, and I do believe March has seen the more snow than any other month this winter. This was March 13th.

We had thunder snow that day. The snow (thankfully) didn't stick around for long.

The first day of spring came and went, and yesterday we woke to a winter wonderland scene that would have been much more appropriate for the week of Christmas instead of this week of Easter.

I know. I know. It is spring. It is still chilly in spring. Snow does happen. blah. blah. blah.

We did get the potatoes in, and a few things in the raised beds. Plants are started indoors. I may or may not have started my cucumbers far too early.

I'm really not asking for much. I don't want summer temperatures. In fact, at this point, I'd be thrilled with sunshine regardless of the temperatures. C'mon spring! We're cheering you on!

Spring Fever

Spring is always an exciting time. It is a time of anticipation, a time for new things. I've caught the bug.

I've started plants. Some of them I started too early, and am going to have to transplant and find a inside place for until it really warms up. I knew better, but I couldn't help myself! I wanted to have things growing!

I've made a lot of plans for the upcoming season, and have been itching to get them started! I've spent a little too much time browsing facebook and craigslist farming ads. We don't have any spring babies coming this year, and I think I'm compensating by bringing new animals to the farm.

We have our first batch broilers going, and another batch is coming next week. We've made a deal to get some rabbits soon. We haven't had rabbits for a couple years, and I am excited to start again. The pens need a little TLC before they come, and we are thinking about some ways to tractor them also.

We purchased turkeys! We've never had turkeys before. We brought these beauties home on Saturday. I love watching them, and love the sounds that they make.  The hens are laying, and we hope that they will hatch out some eggs this spring.

And our long awaited new arrival, Stella, came home today.

She has a future as a livestock guardian ahead of her, but today all the kids wanted to do was hold her and love her. Who can blame them? She is an adorable ball of fur!

Spring garden work needs to get here soon, and keep me busy. Who know what other animals I might bring home if it doesn't?

They Really Are Aren't They?

It is Ham, Bacon, and Eggs week! The three oldest kids started this 4-H project way back in October when their hogs were taken to be processed. The helped to cut the meat. They've salted, waited, salted, and salted again, waited, trimmed, kept records, waited a little more for the smoking, and final their hams and bacon are ready!

This week keeps us hopping. There are record books to complete, check, and finalize. Invitations to buyers to be sent. There are pictures to be taken. Eggs to be selected and prepared. Meats to be chosen for judging, and finally the breakfast and sale day bright and early Thursday morning.

The kids put a lot of time into these projects. The committee members are saints for all the work they put into this program, and we are very grateful.

Tonight was the night eggs are turned in for judging, and the meats are graded and then placed. First, all the meats are separated into three groups; blue, red, and white. Since each pig has two hams and two bacon, each participant starts with two of each. Only one ham and one bacon may be entered for the final judging and sold. After the meats are separated into the three groups, participants select which of their hams and bacon they want to enter into the final judging.

The extra hams and bacon may be donated for the buyers breakfast, taken home to be sold or consumed, or for FFA students, entered into the state FFA competition. Each of our kids chose to donate one of their meats for the buyers breakfast. I'm glad to see them do it, and it only seems to be the right thing to do. But as Kellen was donating a bacon tonight, a committee member remarked to me, "They are good kids."

I was glad for the reminder. It has been a long week already, and frankly, the kids were kind of on my nerves. But they really are good kids. Ham, Bacon, and Eggs has been our favorite 4-H project, and I'm proud that these kids have been willing to give back to the program!

Seven

Happy Birthday Vivian! 

(How can this be my baby?!)

Because They're Chickens

It was spring cleaning time in the chicken house. The first batch of broilers was due to arrive the following week. That is the perfect time to not only clean and disinfect brooder pens, but the entire chicken house.

We subscribe to the deep litter method for our chicken house. The concept is simple. You only clean out the chicken house once or twice a year. You start with a layer of bedding material. We use shredded paper because it is free. You let the chickens do their thing, and you add some more bedding material as needed. As long as the mixture stays dry, all is well. If you start to smell that ammonia smell, you know things are not dry, and you need to add more dry material. By the end of the winter we have a good thick layer of partially composted manure, shredded paper, and wasted feed.

Chicken manure is hot. Fresh and put directly on the garden it can burn plants. We use our deep litter clean out to fertilize the garden before tilling and planting, or in the summer, to mulch between the rows, especially for nitrogen lovers like corn, keeping the clean out a good distance from the plants. Both of these uses have worked well for us.

This clean out we hauled out the waste by the bucket to the garden nearby.  Remember, we are cleaning out  the hen house. The place the hens have access to 24/7. The place that they are all in every night. They've been with this stuff all winter long, and never found it very interesting. What is the first thing they want to do when it is hauled out and dumped on the garden? They scratch through it and act as if they have been given the biggest treat ever. That is a chicken for you.

Winner!

For months the kids have been torturing me with this song:

Besides singing this song repeatedly, they have begged me to make bacon pancakes. Today, I indulged their request. Using my favorite pancake recipe and adding some pre-cooked bacon for this all in one breakfast treat; Bacon Pancakes.

And because just bacon is not enough, we added some chocolate chips too; Chocolate Bacon Pancakes.

Yes, I have won the cool mom for the day award! Now, if they'd just stop singing the song.

Slow, but Sure

My winter "creative" project. 

This is my winter project, and braided rag rug made from old jeans. Considering that it is intended for the kitchen floor, and that spring is almost here, I better get busy! Or I could finish it off and call it a trivet!

Just for Fun

Take some climbing equipment. Add a couple of trees and a little imagination. You'll get a lot of fun!

Beginning Homesteading Class

In a few weeks, Tim and I will be teaching a beginning homesteading class at The Wild Ramp. 

Tuesday, March 19, 2013
6:00pm
Have you thought about starting a garden? Canning the harvest? Maybe you want to keep a few chickens, a dairy goat, or a pig. You might be interested in cooking from scratch, making soap, or just generally doing more for yourself. You are a homesteader. 

Wikipedia defines Homesteading; "Broadly defined, homesteading is a lifestyle of self-sufficiency."  

You might live in the city, suburbs, or out in the country, but regardless there are things you can do to become more self sufficient. Tim and Stephanie Appleton of Mil-Ton Farms share their experiences, and provide information and resources to help you get started. Specific questions are welcome beforehand to help guide the discussion!  

Class is $15 and $12 for Friends of the Market. Payable the day of the class.

I am excited about this class. I'm happy to share what we have learned, but homesteading is such a broad subject! Recently, I was talking to another homeschool mom who wants to become a little more self sufficient. She said she didn't even know what questions to start with because there was so much she didn't know.

So, where do I start?  Love to have your feedback on what you'd want to know, or what you wished you had know before you started your homestead!

A Letter From Kellen

15/2/13

Dear Friends and Family,

I’m writing to you because I’m going on a missions trip this summer to the Dominican Republic. I’m not usually a person who likes to ask for things. So, typing out this fundraising letter, whose purpose is to ask numerous people for money feels incredibly odd. Like, really odd. It would, I admit, be much easier to just send out some generic letter, using all the latest Christian buzzwords. In fact,  I was given such a letter to use. I didn’t like it. At all. It just wasn’t me. It seemed really cheesy, and not at all like something that I would want to send to someone I thought liked me well enough to give me money.

Now, more than likely, I’m not the person you think of, when you think of some guy feeding the hungry, helping the poor, and going out to some remote village in a jungle, just because he want to show the people there what God can do. That’s because I’m not. And besides, my family has a farm to run, I’ve got school to do, and various life-y things going on.

Do I have the time to go to the Dominican for a week? Of course I don’t. Do people really ever? No, not really. There are tons of reasons why I shouldn’t go, or why I can’t go, and why I’m not really the person who should be doing this at all. But despite all that, I’m going. From June 22nd, to June 29th, I’ll be in Juan Dolio, Dominican Republic. Choosing to go really wasn’t a hard decision at all.1 Corinthians 12:6-7 says why extremely well, “And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all:”   Wow. I think that’s pretty cool. “For the profit of all.”  All of us. Everyone. Makes me want to do something, how about you? And sure, praying for people is great. Prayer is amazing. It gets stuff done. But physically seeing what people are going through, that’s harder. It motivates. And I’m really excited to go, because we could all use a little prod off our, comfy first-world couches, right?

As I said, I’m excited. But of course, you can’t buy a plane ticket on feelings alone. You have to have some money. Most of you don’t know, but recently my siblings and I saved up and bought a $350 Wii U for our family. The feeling of accomplishment when we finally held that controller in our hands, it was the best feeling in the world. I can’t even describe it. I’d love to be able to do the same thing with this trip, but sadly, dollars are hard to come by. And 2100 of them are even harder. So instead of selling my Wii U 7 times, I’m coming to you, and asking you to help me pay for it. Because I can’t do it by myself, it’s just too much, too fast. If you decide I’m worth giving money, I don’t care how much you give me, a ton, five bucks, whatever. You can even send me a check for one cent, I don’t care. Actually, if you did, I’d probably hug you for it. Also, if you want to hire me to do something, I’ll do anything you want. Even manual labor.

That’s all I’ve got guys. Thanks for reading this weird letter from a guy you barely know. But before you stop reading, and throw this on your desk, I want to say one or two more things. You know that cheesy letter I was talking about? And while It talked about a bunch of stuff stuff I’m not, it also talked about prayer. I do agree with that prayer, as stated before gets stuff done. So please pray for me. I appreciate it. Also, if what I’ve told you here isn’t enough, message me on Facebook, E-mail me (kapplehead@gmail.com,) or you can write me back. I’ll tell you what you want to know, best I can. Lastly, I’ve put a form in here too, that you can fill out if you want a rigid system for giving me money.

Again thanks,



Kellen Appleton

Dear Newsong Church & SCORE International:

Please put the following moneys on account for Kellen Appleton, who is traveling to the Dominican Republic on June 22-29, 2013, with Newsong Church Mission Team.

Yours truly,

(Name)________________________________(Address)_______________________________
(City)__________________________ (State)__________ (Zip code)____________
Gift Enclosed: $100_____$50_____$25_____Other________________________

Please make checks payable to: Newsong Church (please put Kellen Appleton in the memo line)
Mail to: Newsong Church, P.O Box 459, Barboursville WV 25504

They Like Food Too

There are so many reasons to grow your own food. There are health reasons. There is the satisfaction of providing for yourself. There are economical reasons, but I think at the top of my list is taste! Food you grow yourself just tastes better. Worlds apart from anything you'll get from the grocery store, or a restaurant. Apparently, the kids have caught onto this too.

Lydia (11) had a writing assignment this week. I think the assignment was talk about something you consider a blessing in your life. My girl, she picked food!

Farms and School Food
I live on a farm. Your probably thinking; eww gross. Well sorry, but you're wrong. Farm life is cool. You get to eat so much better food. I mean come on, you like bacon.... right? ( Because if you don't, you are not worthy to live in this world.) The bacon is so much better. Do you know why Jesus created farms? So you can eat. When you eat at school, do you think that's good food? WRONG!!! That food is not good at all! My family hates public school food. ( Its a good thing I don't go to public school, huh?) To me school food tastes like, crap. To me school food is not even food. So there you have it school food is gross. And nobody should have it, in their body. Farms are amazing. There you get the best food.  The food the schools and Wal-marts get are from  factory farms, that is not good at all. You need good food from our farm or other small good farms.        

Not exactly on topic for the assignment, but her paragraph cracked me up. By the way, the extent of her experience with "school food" is 4-H camp. I guess she also, isn't aware of the effort to improve school food through the Farm to School program.

For lunch that same day, we had salad with greens from our low tunnel, boiled eggs, and bacon. Kellen (14,) who has been know to post pictures of things he has cooked on Facebook, took a picture of his lunch. With the following caption, "Behold. A real man's salad. Full of delicious deliciousness. Tremble in fear as you stand in its presence. And yes. That is bacon."

 We are raising young foodies in this house. Guess it is just a by-product of the life we live.

Our First Maple Boil

Last summer we marked the trees. A few weeks ago we tapped them. Sunday, the sap was gathered, and the boil began.

And it continued:

And oops! Got distracted. Didn't get the candy thermometer in soon enough, and it was ruined; hard as a rock and slightly scorched.

~sigh~ The learning curve is no fun. Luckily, it looks like some more good days for the sap to run are coming up soon!