This time of year always means planning for me. There is always plenty to do around here so it’s a matter of prioritizing.
Some things I would like to accomplish:
* Fence around the wood shed for the Dark Cornish Chickens.
* Move the turkey carport to the back yard area and put in blueberries where it used [...]
Archive for December, 2007
Happy New Year!
Posted in Journal, The Homestead on December 31, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
Red Bourbon Heritage Turkeys
Posted in Poultry, The Homestead, Uncategorized on December 30, 2007 | 2 Comments »
One of the greatest pleasures is to be able to sit down to Thanksgiving dinner with a turkey that you raised yourself. Somehow the celebration becomes just that much more special.
Turkeys are fairly easy to raise. I’ve tried two kinds – the Broad Breasted kind – both white and bronze and while they do grow [...]
My Homestead Tractor
Posted in Infrastructure, The Homestead, Tools on December 27, 2007 | 1 Comment »
I started out thinking I could get by without a tractor around here but the more projects that got going and the older I got I finally gave in this year and got a tractor. I wanted to get the right tractor instead of the cheapest deal and after research I decided on my Mahindra [...]
The Farm Dog
Posted in Critters, Dogs, The Homestead on December 23, 2007 | 4 Comments »
When I moved to Deberosa, I brought with me two “city” dogs. One was a Springer Lab mix who passed away last January at 13 and a half years old. The other is Martha, a very huge Basset Hound. Neither are very useful on the farm but they were my companions for a long time. [...]
Gardening with Guineas
Posted in Gardening, Poultry on December 21, 2007 | 1 Comment »
I have a flock of 7 guineas that roam my homestead. Sweet silly looking birds with the sounds of squeeky door hinges or distinct “Buckwheeeet”. Only the females make the “Buckwheeet” noise and that is about the only way you can tell them apart.
My house is built almost in the center of a 420 by 420 square. [...]
Wood fired hot tub update
Posted in Uncategorized on December 16, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
Well, the tub is installed and the first fire is started! In a few hours hopefully we will be enjoying a nice soak in the hot tub!
We built a simple 8 by8 deck – first I put down weed cloth that Ihappened to have, then we put 4 by4 runners on that and put in [...]
Dexter Cattle
Posted in Cattle, Journal, The Homestead on December 16, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
I started out at Deberosa with poultry. It was a natural progression because buried in the brambles behind the barn was a perfect hen house, with a bank of 15 galvanized steel nest boxes.
But this post is about cattle! After several years of clearing gardens and enjoying meat and eggs from the poultry, we began [...]
Straw Bale Gardens
Posted in Gardening, Journal on December 14, 2007 | 9 Comments »
This idea has become a bit expensive out here in recent years, but I have built several straw bale gardens over the years. They are a great way to grow greens and herbs and once they compost they make a great start on a regular garden area.
Straw bale gardens can be a single bale or [...]
Growing your own food
Posted in Journal, The Homestead on December 13, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
We are nearing the point where much of the food we eat comes from the farm. For the past two Thanksgiving dinners almost all of the food, including the turkey came from the farm or within 100 miles of the farm. Did you know that the average item in a grocery store travels over a [...]
The wood fired hot tub stove has arrived!
Posted in Journal, tagged hot tub on December 13, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
We’ve decided that for Christmas we would go together and get something we would both enjoy for the homestead. This year it was a toss up between a gate opener and a hot tub and the hot tub won! We chose a wood fired hot tub for a several reasons. First because we need to expand [...]
