Another Year Begins

Happy New Year! Last year was a very busy year for us.  It was a year of getting ourselves established, building shelters for our animals, improving our pasture, making our woods pig-friendly, installing new livestock fencing, building garden beds, and so much more. I like to reflect on successes and failures in the winter months, when farming slows down with the snow and cold.

Young White Rock chickens on pasture.

2014 was our first year raising White Rock meat chickens; all of our birds have been heritage breeds in the past. While we were able to stock our freezer and provide chicken to our customers, raising White Rocks provided a real challenge. They are a product of the factory farming system, a bird bred to grow very fast but with little else going for them. The chicks die so easily, and we had several birds whose legs broke under their own weight as they gained so rapidly. White Rocks also don’t forage very well, making them a less-than-ideal choice for free-ranging. At the end of the season, we decided not to raise White Rocks again, and to stick with heritage breeds for the future. Looking forward to the coming spring, we have begun collecting eggs from our Orpington chickens to incubate and hatch. They won’t be as excessively meaty as a White Rock, but their foraging skills are superb and the resulting flavour can’t be beat.

Our mama piggie, Betsy, on the right and a few of our Tamworths on the left.

Last year was also our first year raising pigs. We brought home six piglets in the early spring, and while our runt didn’t make it, the other five thrived on rotational grazing through our pasture and woods. Raising pigs was one of my favourite farm experiences, and they have become my preferred livestock. They’re fun, they’re cute, they keep us on our toes, and the taste of our homegrown pork is amazing. We’ve kept a breeding pair (a Large Black mama and a Tamworth papa), and will be raising pigs on pasture and woods again this year.

We reduced our flock of sheep in 2014, and will be increasing our numbers again in the spring. Our goal is to raise stock that grow very well on pasture only, without grain.

Raised beds, early in the season.

Our gardens did very well, though we did not get as many raised beds built as we had hoped, and I was unable to give the veggies as much attention as I have in previous years. We’ve got lots of great plans for the gardens in 2015, and I’m chomping at the bit to get started! Since it’s too early to start seeds, I’m satisfying my gardening itch by poring over seed catalogues and making a master plan for the raised beds. This spring is going to be glorious!

Corbin, our newest addition.

Nearing the end of the 2014 season, we welcomed our fifth child to the world, a baby boy named Corbin. This was, by far, our greatest accomplishment and joy for the year. He will be three months old soon, and is absolutely amazing.

We are so grateful to all of the local folks who supported us in 2014, who came by the farm, who purchased our chicken & pork, and who encouraged us to continue providing sustainable food to the community. It is an honour to be able to serve you all and contribute to our local food economy, and we can’t wait for the year ahead!

Tis the Season!

The 2014 farming season sort of rushed in at me after a long, cold, snowy winter. Spring took its time arriving, so I felt a little unprepared for the sudden flurry of outdoor work.

Aunt Britty is pig-crazy!

Our piggies very successfully prepared our entire planting area for us, and we now have peas and onions in the ground. Going in this week are kale, chard, and scallions. I’m very exciting about this growing season – our soil is “black muck” (our land used to be marshland that was drained years ago for farming, and as a result we have this amazing soft, black soil) and the plants just go crazy in it.

Onion shoots less than a week after planting

We’re using raised beds to keep weeds to a minimum, and the onions we put in are already growing like mad.

Sweet little ewe lamb with her mama, Violet.

Our lambs are doing well. We have fewer than we hoped for this year, but they are strong and healthy and gaining really well. The sheep and lambs have been doing rotational grazing over areas that are mostly covered in scrubby weeds. After they eat down the weeds, we move them to a fresh spot and go over the eaten-down area with pasture seed.

My biggest farm kid loves spreading pasture seed!

Within another month, all that scrubby weed land will be thick, lush pasture, without having to spray weeds or till or otherwise disturb Nature’s balance.

Chickens in their new chicken yard

There’s been lots of building happening, too. A new chicken coop with a large fenced yard has been constructed, and our laying hens are very happily free ranging around their safe space (the chicken area is larger than the average backyard!). Our livestock guard dog hangs out nearby to keep predators at bay, which means we haven’t lost any birds this season – hooray!

Turkey poults, meat chicks, and our “farmyard special” layers

We’ve also been busy with chicks! We’ve hatched out two batches of eggs in our incubator (the first batch was Blue/Splash Orpingtons, the second was “farmyard special” – aka, mutts) and also had an order of day-old meat chicks and turkeys arrive this week. Our chick pen is alive with the sound of cheeping!

So many babies!

There is still so much work to be done. The “to-do” list grows by the day, rather than shrinking. However, things are coming together beautifully, and I’m sure by the end of the season we will have much to be proud of.

Spring is in the Air

Happy Spring! The snow is finally melting, the birds are singing, the sun is shining, and suddenly I feel overwhelmed with all that Spring brings on a farm. It is a busy time of year! We have a lot on the go around here: lambs are due soon, eggs are going in the incubator, piglets will be arriving shortly, and we may even have our first litter of CBCA registered Border Collies before too long! There are seeds being started, garden beds being built, crop planning underway.

Winter was hard on this farm. The horse fence has suffered some serious damage, as has the sheep fence, and there are a lot of repairs to be done. We will be building a new barn and chicken coop this Spring as well, and installing lots of new fencing for improved rotational grazing.

Is your head spinning yet? Mine is! There’s a lot of work ahead for this family! Stay tuned for photos of all of our projects. I can’t wait to share it all with you!

Farewell to a Friend

Mia Bella came into my life at a very tender time. My marriage had recently fallen apart and I was on an epic inner journey. She was my first horse, the horse I had been quietly longing for since childhood, the horse I had dreamed of during my riding lessons as a teenager. When I first looked into her eyes, I immediately felt connected and I knew she was the horse for me.

Mia Bella was no spring chicken. I was told she was 24 years old, but after looking up her tattoo number in the Standardbred database, I discovered that she was actually 29. I knew my time with her would not be as long as I wanted it to be, but I was ok with taking on a senior horse – this senior horse – because of that connection.  She was a little on the skinny side, but we enjoyed some light riding and I worked & worked to get her weight up.

I loved Mia Bella’s life story – she started as a racehorse, and after a successful career became a broodmare. When that phase of her life was over, she was a backyard horse for some teenage girls. Eventually, she made her way to us.

After her arrival, I spent every morning with Mia Bella while my children were still sleeping, talking to her and brushing her as the sun climbed higher into the sky. I told her my hopes for the future, my worries about the kids, my deepest sorrows and my greatest joys. Every morning, Mia Bella heard the contents of my soul, and would watch me with the most serene expression. She ate her breakfast, and I talked. She stood to have her hooves picked, and I talked. She swished her tail as I ran the brush over her thin body, and I talked.

I wish I could say that my efforts to bring Mia Bella’s weight up were successful. The sad truth is, she got skinnier and skinnier. Our quiet rides came to an end when she got too boney to comfortably wear a saddle. Summer faded into Autumn and while our pony plumped up, Mia Bella dwindled.

Over the course of this past week, I watched Mia Bella weaken. When she laid down, she struggled to get back up again. She was  deteriorating before my eyes, and I knew her time had come.

Today, with the help of some very generous, giving, kind, and loving friends, Mia Bella made her way into the Spirit world. My heart is heavy with grief at the loss of my dear friend, but I know she could not suffer through another day.  She was not with us for very long, but it was long enough to steal our hearts and become a cherished friend. It was an honour to be with her in her final months of life, to brush her down one last time, and to lay her to rest. Mia Bella will forever be the horse of my heart, the one who taught me so many important lessons and opened me to new truths with her calm and graceful silence during those early morning hours.

Rest peacefully, old friend. I’ll see you on the other side.

Conversations with a Farm Kid

Earlier my older daughter, age 5, was tending to the horses and chickens with me. It’s not often she and I have alone time without her brothers or baby sister interrupting constantly, and when we do get a few moments of peace together the conversation is usually pretty great.

While watching the chicks:

R – “I can tell which chicks are roosters.”
Mama- “Oh? Which ones?”
R- “Well… that one (pointing). And that one. And… that one there. Three of them are roosters.”
Mama- “You are absolutely right! Those three are roosters. The rest are pullets. How did you know?”
R- “Mama! You should know how to tell a rooster by now! Those three are bigger than the pullets. They have larger combs. Their legs are thicker. Why don’t you know this stuff?”

While taking burrs from the pony’s tail:

R- “When I grow up I’m going to have my own farm.”
Mama- “That’s great! What will you have on your farm?”
R- “My pony, of course. I’m going to keep her forever, til I die.”
Mama- “Mmhmm, what else?”
R-“Chickens and turkeys. Ducks too. Lots and lots of sheep and a wee little piggy.”
Mama- “What will you do when the piggy isn’t wee and cute anymore, but big and grumpy? Will you eat it?”
R- “MAMA! NEVER! I will give it away to another farmer to eat.”

Five-year-olds are such interesting creatures!

Sacred Mornings

Being a homeschooling mama, my days are filled from start to finish with my children. They are incredible and I love sharing these amazing moments of life with them, but I sure do appreciate easing into my day quietly and peacefully, before they burst out of bed full of chaos and mischief.

This morning I woke up as the sun was beginning to peak over the horizon. Heavy mist hung in the air, silver and sparkling in the early light. The birds were singing their songs of glory and everything else was quiet. For me, simply standing in silence at times like this is the greatest meditation and most profound prayer, a reminder of my smallness and my connection to everything on this wild Earth. It is an act of communion with our Mother, an opportunity to put ego in check and be open to all that life has to offer.

After my morning silence, I usually proceed to get the farm chores done before my children wake up. My farm chores are another form of meditation and also an opportunity for me to express my gratitude to the creatures I share my life with. I like to take my time, go slowly and notice every little detail. On this particular morning, my third child woke earlier than usual and asked if he could come outside with me. My first inclination was to sigh with a pang of disappointment at having my morning solitude broken, but the look on my child’s face obliterated all of that. He had a sleepy glow about him, a hopeful half-smile as he said in a croaky, half-asleep voice, “Mama, me come outside with you?” He looked so small and innocent and sweet as honey. How could I be annoyed at sharing my morning routine with this tender soul?

He accompanied me out and sat on a chair while I tended to the dogs. “Good morning, Juno!” my son exclaimed. “Mama, me love her. Me love Juno SO MUCH! And, me love Merlin. Me love Coby. Me love Oddler. Me love Diamond Thor. Me love them all a lot a lot a lot.” Yes, sweet child, I love them too.

The dogs were pretty thrilled to have one of their boys out with them. They smothered him in kisses, which elicited giggles and squeals. My son helped me feed them, feeling very grown up and responsible, and then I carried him piggy-back out to care for the horses.

The rest of the morning routine was filled with laughter and happy moments. My son witnessed a chicken laying an egg for the first time and was thrilled. He watched the horses drink from their water buckets, which fascinated him. Everything that has become predictable and routine for me in the early morning hours was brand new and exciting to my child, and seeing how delighted he was sparked all sorts of new appreciation for life inside of me.

When my child asked if he could come along this morning, I could have told him to wait for me in the house in attempts to preserve my sacred morning ritual, to keep it for myself. My first split-second reaction was to do just that. If I had, I would have robbed myself of an incredible gift, and my son would have missed those moments of joy. Instead, his innocent, enthusiastic presence made my special morning time even better, and I am grateful for the gifts my son gave to me this morning.

Settling In

We’ve lived at Faerie Willow Farm for three weeks now, give or take. It was a crazy move – four kids, livestock, chickens, and dogs – but things are starting to slow down now and we are so happy to be here.

This place is incredible. The wild plants that cover the property blow my mind. It is a haven for migrating birds and we have owls in our forest. At night I can hear the coyotes singing and the screech owls screeching. Frog song fills the air. The stars in the night sky go on forever. It is our own little slice of Heaven, right here on Earth. We are all filled with joy, and grateful to call this farm “home”.

Here are a few snapshots from our early days at Faerie Willow Farm –

The chickens love their new coop!

 

Bonnie really appreciates the abundance of fresh, lush grass.

 

The dogs have been spoiled rotten – this is the life!

 

Quack!

 

The kids have been outside every day, helping to dig post holes for the fence and getting very dirty.

 

There is a substantial wild strawberry patch with plenty of flowers being pollinated daily!