Chickens

We've been having chicken problems lately.  We keep having chickens "disappear."  Yes, we could finish the coop and put them in there, but I really like free range chickens and we have sooooo much other things to do right now before winter.  Hubby did catch a young possum eating one of the chickens the other night.  Needless to say, we won't be having problems from him anymore.  But, we still came up one missing chicken last night.  It could be a raccoon, another possum, or even the hawks that we have flying around here.  I still haven't put it past dogs.  We are keeping watch closely.
We will find out it is and catch it.

 Well, we had gotten all the way down to only 3 hens and 2 roosters. (Why are the hens always the ones that are killed?) This past weekend, after only having 3 eggs for our breakfast, I started looking on Facebook livestock sites.  Chickens were going for $10-$15 a piece!  Even for VERY young ones.  I noticed on one post where this person commented wanting to trade his chickens for something.  I messaged him and asked if he would like to sell his chickens.  He did, but I would have to take them all.  24 chickens for a VERY cheep price. Yes sir!  

The chickens were a mixture of ages.  I don't think any were over the age of 2 yrs though.  Some haven't even started to lay yet. He also had 6 roosters with them. That helped me out because I was at the point were I was having to buy chicken broth.  NO MORE!  Wooo  Hooo!!  I see some good chicken and dumplins in my future.  Some of the roosters are young so I'll be able to have a good sized roasted chicken for Thanksgiving.  We aren't big fans of turkey around here.  We do like our chicken though.  

The hens haven't started laying yet, well, at least where I can find the eggs.  I figured between them molting, changing locations, and the shorter days, we wouldn't be getting a lot right now.  They will come into it soon, I hope.  I refuse to buy store eggs.  EEEEEWWWWW.   Plus our neighbors will be a lot happier when they can get our good farm eggs too.

Early next spring, I'm hoping to put some eggs in the incubator and see what we get.  Hens or roosters will help us out.  I tired of spending money on chickens that we can raise ourselves. I'm also tired of spending money on store bought meat.  I'm just waiting for it to all be recalled.  Everything else is.....

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, chicken farmer.

A Fail And A Win

I took this photo with my phone. Not in focus....

I tried my hand at making apple cider vinegar.  Truthfully it would have worked but for one small detail that I didn't do.  You see, to make apple cider vinegar, you take some apples,(duh) or apple peels and cores, put them in a non-reactive container.  I used my new fancy, dancy fermenting crock.  You cover the peelings and cores with water, stir it around once a day for three days, and then let the concoction sit for about three months.  Waa Laa, apple cider vinegar.  Just strain and put into containers.  

Sounds easy right?  Well, I left out one small detail.  When you put the apples and water into the container, you have to cover it well with a tea towel.  Then put a rubber band around it so that fruit flies wouldn't get in.  Yep, forgot the rubber band part.  I went and checked on my apple cider vinegar about two months into the process and YEEEEEEWWWW.  A swarm of fruit flies flew into my face.  Also, inside the container was a gazillion baby fruit fly maggots.  Double ewwwwwwww!

Well, I went and dumped the mess over the hill because it wasn't going to do me any good. When I came back into the house, you could hardly breath because of all the fruit flies flying around.  It would have made a great horror film.  Death By Flies.  Anyway, now I had to come up with a way to get rid of all those stupid flies, and I think I did a really good job.

I took a mason jar and put a couple inches of apple cider vinegar in it.  I knew those flies loved that stuff.  Then I made a funnel that fit down into the jar and came just above the vinegar.  The dumb little flies could get in, but they couldn't get out.  I bet I had hundreds of those little suckers in that jar in less than and half an hour.  No more breathing flies!   

I may have failed at making the vinegar, but I sure did make a nice fly trap.  I guess you win some and ya lose some.

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl,  fly catcher. 

Back In Business

The last month I've been having problems with my computer.  It was very slow and kept kicking me off the Internet.  At this point I was ready to get the ole hammer and chisel out and start chiseling.  It would have been faster than what my computer was going.

Anyway, a good friend asked when was the last time I done updates?  Ummm, updates?  I may be able to write on this blog, but it doesn't make me a computer genius.  In fact, I think any three year old would know more about computers than I do. So my friend scanned my computer and found that I had over 19 updates that needed to be done.  Well, huh.  To make a long story short after my computer updated all night long, I'm back to business.  Woooo Hooooo!!!

Actually, the computer going down couldn't have happened at a better time.  We've been busy around the farm.  Hubby has been working his butt off. He's been trying to get everything done before it gets too cold to do anything.  He's been cutting firewood, working on my Shack, fixing fence, rolling the last of the hay, and just the typical cleaning up for winter.   I'm really proud of him for how hard he's working on getting our homestead ready for the winter.  We both have been working a extra hard.

Oh, and I'm going to brag on myself for a bit. hehehehe.  I got to help mount the outside light on the Sherri Shack.  ALL BY MYSELF!  I also put in an outside receptacle.  Hubby was looking over my shoulder so that I would do it right and not cause anything to burn down, but I did it!!!  I know that there are many women out there that can do all of that with their eyes shut, but this was a first for me. I kind of liked it.  It actually felt like I done something.  When you do dishes or laundry, it never gets done.  It needs done the next day.   This was different. I shouldn't have to do this kind of work again.  A very nice feeling!

The pups are not really pups anymore.  They are getting big.  In fact, they are starting to get some of their harder farm training.  We have young calves that get out almost every day.  They don't go anywhere other than our yard.  But, this gives the Aussies training in herding cattle.  I have them push the cattle back into the field.  Chassis does a really good job.  When I have her by herself, she can tell that she listens to every word that I say.  When Holley is with her, she doesn't have a chance.  Whenever Chassis barks, Holley will run up and jump in her face.  Holley is still in the puppy play mode.  She still has a little bit of growing up to do.  I'm sure she will get there. Right now though, Chassis is the harder working of the two.  Chassis can even chase and catch a Frisbee.  I just LOVE watching her do this.  She can really jump high in the air.  Holley just wants to grab the Frisbee with Chassis and bring it back with her.  I'll have to get a video of this.  It's very cute.

I have a few other things to write about, but I don't want to make this a long post.  Now, that my computer is running a lot faster, I'm hoping to post more often.  Here's to good friends that know a little bit about computers!!! yay!

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, back in business

Auuuugh!

Having technical difficulties.  Please stand by.
SFG

It's Here!

If you follow me on Facebook, you would have found out that I got this beauty last weekend.  I'm sooooooo excited!!!!  I've so many plans for this building!  Right now we're wiring it for electric and soon we'll be putting insulation and drywall up.  It's not as big as some of the other buildings we were looking at, but with a little planning, it'll be big enough for what I want to do with it.  

See all that gravel around the bottom?  Well, it'll be gone soon.  We put that there so that they could deliver it easier.  We will keep the gravel that is under the building but move the gravel that's around it.  I want to be able to plant herbs and such there for later use.  Since we're still working on our house, I didn't have a place to plant herbs permanently.  Now I do.  Plus, I'll have a place to work with them on the inside.  Herbs, paintings, and well, anything else I want to do.  I have to keep tabs on what is going to be going in there.  It's not THAT big. lol

With the slow change in the temperatures around here, I have been baking like crazy.  I keep looking up new recipes on Pintrest. ( By the way, I have to limit my time on Pintrest.  I can waste a whole afternoon there and not even know it. hehehe)  If I find some really good recipes, I'll post some on here.  So be prepared to get fatter with me. lol

Another thing that has been going on around here is music.  I've been playing my fiddle at a few festivals and parties. I really enjoy playing that thing.  If you would have told me back in the fourth grade, how much I was going to like it later on in life, I wouldn't have quit taking lessons.  But of course, you couldn't tell "Fourth Grade Me" anything. lol

Well, I got to get back to doing some chores around here. They don't do themselves.

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, Shack owner.

Long Shot

This past weekend Hubby and I took a trip on what is called the Heritage Harvest Tour.  What you do is drive along a designated route and visit old churches and farms that are part of the tour.  This year there were 10 stops.  Most of the churches had a meal and crafts for sale.  The farms had pumpkins, crafts, and baked goods for sale.  The one thing that we bought, along the tour, was a few jars of sorghum.

"What is sorghum?" you ask.  Well, sorghum is something like molasses.  In fact, some people call is sorghum molasses.  The difference is that sorghum comes from the actual sorghum plant instead of sugar cane.  Sorghum cane looks a lot like corn as it grows.  Instead of corn on the cob, sorghum makes grains on top of the plant.

These seeds can actually be popped like popcorn.  It doesn't pop as big as popcorn, but it's pretty tasty.  Kind of has a sweet taste too. The seeds can also be made into flour.  In fact some sorghum flour is used for people who have a wheat allergy.

Anyway, we are going to use the sorghum plant to make sorghum syrup from it.  We have grown it before and had someone else make the sorghum syrup for us, but we want to be able to do it ourselves.  The hardest part in making it yourself is finding the mill. (top picture)  Most of these old mills haven't been in use for so long that people just scrap them.  It about makes me cry just thinking about it.  All of these old mills are just tossed just like they were nothing.  When in actuality, they helped many families make extra money to help them through the winter.

So, I'm going to just put it out there that we are looking for a sorghum mill and/or pan.  I know it's a long shot, but I have to try.  We would like to have it set up and running by next fall if at all possible.  That way we would know to plant the sorghum plants this spring.  So if someone out there in Blog Land would know where we could get one of these sorghum mills, or if you would happen to be one of those people who have one that their grandparents used and would like for it to be used again, please contact me.

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, long shot taker


P.s.  These pictures were taken off the Internet.

I Couldn't Keep It In.

We finally got our phone back.  It had been out since last Thursday.  It rained.  Oh the joys of living in a very rural location.  Anyway, we got the phone back, but the Internet is very sketchy.  It comes and goes.  So while I had a small amount of it today, I thought I would keep in contact with you guys.
The weather is just wonderful around here.  Now is the time when we are trying to get everything done on the farm.  I wished the weather would stay like this for longer than it does.  There never seems to be enough of it.  It's either hot or cold.  With it feeling as good as it does, Hubby has been getting a concrete pad ready for our outdoor wood furnace that we bought TWO years ago.  Hopefully we'll be able to use it this year.  I think we will.  I have good vibes about this. lol.  He's been working really hard on it.

The pups (I really need to stop calling them that.  They are almost fully grown dogs now.) are doing GREAT!!!  They are starting to really come into their "jobs" now.  Chassis has decided that I'm hers and I can't go anywhere in the house without her being able to see me.  Good thing I can tell her to go outside the bathroom.  She does.  She just lays outside the door. LOL.

Holly had adopted Hubby.  I think she's in love.  She whines every time he leaves for work.  Then does a happy dance when he comes home.  If he goes outside, she is there beside him.  Yep, a match made in Heaven.

Now for a change of subject.... Remember when I said that some changes were coming.  Things that I was excited about.  Well, here it is.  I can't keep it in any longer.  We ordered one of these!



The one we ordered isn't exactly like this one, the roof is different and it doesn't have the lights on it, but you can get the idea of how it's going to be.

I'm soooo excited!  This is going to be MY place!  Not to live in, (although I plan on spending a lot of time here) but to work in.  I'm going to be painting, writing, and studying about herbs in here.  This is going to be my place to do what I want.  Our house isn't done yet, but the things that I want to do in this building, I wouldn't be able to do in our house anyway. When I was painting my last painting, I had paint ALL over the place. This building will save the walls and furniture. lol.  Plus, come on girls admit it, who wouldn't love a place to have JUST FOR YOU. Now, I DO!!!!  Once everything is set up, I plan on having classes in here.  Classes on painting, herbs, homesteading, and so on.  This way, people won't have to come into my house, which is still under construction, and I honestly don't want a bunch of strangers going in and out of my house. I think it's a great idea!

We ordered it three weeks ago and it's suppose to be delivered in four, so hopefully we will have it set up in a week.  We will still have to run electric and do the insulation and drywall, but that shouldn't take too long.  I will have it up and running before Thanksgiving if all goes well.

Now you know the secret that I have been keeping.  Of course you all know me, I couldn't keep a secret for too long. hehehe

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, owner of a she shack.