Thursday 6 September 2012

Now We Are Rounding the Bend....

Summer has been a very busy season for us. So busy that the blog has fell behind somewhat.
Here's a look at what happened in the past 3 busy months....
These are Bantam Cochins. Very cute birds with feathery feet!  
Here's a look at the cute fluffy feet! 
Other new chicks on the farm....
Buckeyes....when they were this small they got picked on by the mice.
Now they are huge birds, the mice get picked on by them. 
These are Moto Java....not for breakfast use Java. Their favourite game of the day?
Fly out of the coops and make the dogs go for a wild chicken chase!
It often takes both dogs to work together to round them up again. 
Here are the Silkies. They are white and fluffy on the outside but black to the bones on the inside! 
Baby chick brooder getting the final check up before the temperature drops for the night. After 2 weeks it was a completely different scenery in here. All the chickens grew up to the size of a cantaloupe melon...it got too crowded the brooder had to go.... 
Ta Da! Nice perfect egg.
Hey! Where did my egg go? 
(Don't worry Miss Hen, your perfect egg went to the market and is well "used"!)
7 pm on the dot the pest patrol heads home to check if their coop has been cleaned or not and search for someone to tuck them in for the night. 

Wednesday 23 May 2012

Spring is Officially Here!

Spring is finally back. Even the cherry blossoms are in bloom! 
All those pretty flowers....
hopefully we'll get some share of the cherries this year. 
Hmm...what's growing in the field? 
Oregano! Yep, they've officially taken over a good section of my flower bed. I've dug some of them up and repotted about 12 smaller oregano hoping to control the size of this green monster but it was a failed attempt. The original plant grew bigger and stronger after the "resizing". 
Rhodos are in full bloom as well. 
Though they don't produce anything for the market...
they are certainly pretty to look at. 
The peonies are coming into bloom as well. In another week or so, we will have a lot of Festiva Maxima in  bloom and ready for the market.
Not only plants have been busy growing....so have the chickens! 
Soon they will need another new home. 
Otherwise, they'll need to sleep on top of one another.   
Got some interesting purple and red potatoes for the field this year. 
So far the plant looks really good. 
 Spinach...the pain in the rear end in our field. They are SUPPOSED to be really good for cooler weather area but for some reason, all other lettuces grew really nicely in our field just not spinach. Of the 300+ seeds I sowed in April, only 10 sprouted and grew to this size. Go figure.....
We've also got Pac Choi growing nice and strong. These should be table ready in another week or so. They probably can't make it to the market since slugs have been punching holes all over the leaves. 
 Other interesting colours for your salad mix....Darkness is a new plant we are trying for this year. It's got nice curly deep red leaves. It's a little slow in growing but hopefully it will be very cold tolerant and suitable for use as winter crop.  
 Brunia is also a new addition to our field. 
It's got really nice red tinted green leaves but 
the germination rate is really low. 
Hope to see some of you at our stall at the Haney Farmer's Market this year. 
If you do visit our blog, please do leave a comment. 

Thursday 2 February 2012

Mozart in the New Year

Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow! Did I mention....let it snow?
Snow is good for head plunges and body roll. Too bad the 1' deep snow did not stay around for long otherwise Mozart would have made many doggy angels in the snow!
Holiday season is over. All that feasting...really need to keep an eye on the weight. 
Even Mozart is doing regular check-in on the scale.
During holiday season its hard to find good fibre source....so Mozart decided to take after the noble beavers...wood floor board does provide some good source of fibre doesn't it?




Monday 23 January 2012

Got the Ducks, Got the Dog, Of Course There's Got to Be Chickens!

A little late on the reporting... These cute little puffballs were acquired on Dec 1. The Duckies moved out and in moved the chickens! All 54 of them! Geez, those duckies sure took up a lot of room. First night, no chickens wanted to go upstairs. They have to be manually moved upstairs. About 2 weeks later, no chickens want to be on the first floor....they get pooped on if they are on the first floor!
 Stand and sleep. Very efficient use of space. 
 Peck, peck, peck. Everything is worth a peck or two. 
 Within 1 month time, the chickens also outgrew the brooder the duckies had passed onto them. Better get cracking on the next level up! The chickens are becoming stinkies in the house. 
Today the chickens officially moved out into their new coop. Some like it cold and stayed away from the heater...most just hogged around the heater....roast chicken anyone?
Looky here! There's room for everyone to spread their wings! Still, these chickens prefer to squeeze together to keep themselves nice and cozy. 
The up and downs of chicken vs. ducks.... Chickens make DRY poop (unless they have diarrhea) and they don't play with water. Ducks make WET poop and splash around a LOT but they don't need heating system outdoors. 

Friday 6 January 2012

The SHEEP dog

We thought we got a sheepdog...but he was more of a SHEEP than a dog.... Favourite thing to do outdoors? Eat grass. Favourite thing to do indoors? Eat paper! And of course the training pad...
Favourite entertainment outside is run run run! Then roll in the frost! Here's the Sheltie dash! Look at the form! Such beauty!
 Yet, the sleeping pose is....not very aesthetic.
 Well, the chicken are too small right now to be herded. The ducks....a bit too big for Mozart now. So what should the doggy do? Mozart has designated himself to be the kitchen guardian! 
 Yep, guard the kitchen...all food leaving the food prep area need to be inspected and taxed!
 It's all in a days work!