This is the story of how I learned how to properly care for our pastures. Photos from when we first bought the property, fall 2012: When we first put livestock on our property in 2013, we fenced 1 acre to start (out of 3 that were in pasture) and continuously grazed with a few calves […]
I realize that I never update this thing! We’re pretty Facebook-oriented right now, so that’s where you’ll find the most recent content. I apologize for disappearing, the Lyme disease and subsequent health issues really took their toll these past 2 years. We downsized to keep everything manageable, and that was really the best decision. But […]
Each year, spring overwhelms us again. I have a feeling that it’s the same with most homesteaders. We purge the clutter from our closets and our yards and our fields; rearrange the livestock quarters and realize that, once again, we’ve failed to prep enough garden beds for the coming season. In February and March, we […]
It’s been a long time since the last post! The dark winter months are starting to let up and spring is just around the corner. We’ve come out of lambing doing well this year, despite the rocky start losing 2 out of 3 triplets from our new ewe Ginger.
The wheat harvest did not go as planned. Mostly, this means that the chickens broke into my hoop where it was drying and decimated my crop. The good news is that this fed them for 3 days. The bad news is that it took me 6 months and 100 sq ft to grow enough feed for […]
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Wheat Harvest
Growing grains is one of the most rewarding experiences. I’m not sure if it’s their ancient significance, the sheer height of the plants, or the satisfaction of bundling, drying, and threshing the harvest. It’s certainly not an experience that you can accomplish overnight. We use whatever variety of winter wheat is locally available and plant […]
I thought we were overrun with babies before, but we have more than ever! There are 100 meat chicks in the brooder, future egg-layer chicks hatching from the incubator, baby rabbits on the way, bottle piglets, and plenty of lambs. The momma sheep have been excellent at their jobs and have really helped this newbie […]
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Spring in Full Swing
There are all kinds of babies running around the farm, and there will soon be more. We’ve got chicks, piglets, lambs, and bunnies! The piglets have been doing a fine job of tilling the garden. When we first brought them in the whole thing was covered in grass. Now it looks like someone took a […]
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Making Compost
Here on the farm, we use the deep litter method with as many animals as possible. It makes for less work in the short run, but more work in the long run, especially with small buildings that are not mobile and do not allow for tractor access. Deep litter bedding means that as the animals pee […]
HeartMoss Farm 