I’ve been told that I must meet my neighbours. Being on a farm seems to bring out the community side of life. So Katie has met the front neighbours in her pursuit of finding our missing cat a few weeks back. Now we’ve met a neighbour up the road who sells feed and owns an equestrian school. Ken soon became a fount of information for us. He has even offered to come and cut our fields for us. He’s dropped in and looked around to see what needed to be done and educated us on plants and grading and so much more.
We learned that we have huge amounts of wild parsnip in our fields. I don’t think any of us actually had direct contact with the weed but it is very close to where we work. So when Ken comes to cut the long vegetation that is growing wild everywhere, it should take care of the problem for this year. Obviously we won’t be running around the grounds until everything is dried up. No point risking touching the sap and getting those horrible blisters!
In case you get in contact with wild parsnip, I thought I’d add this link. Domeboro is apparently a good start to relieving the discomfort.
Interesting plants in the fields 
Pretty colours
Then we met a nice family that lives just a bit further. We met online trying to find chickens to add to our breeding programs. Off we went on the weekend to pick up the chickens. We love the way they are set up and again learned so much.
On another run to pick up chickens, Katie rescued an injured turtle. It had been hit by a car, the shell was cracked and it was bleeding. She called the city and they sent someone to pick it up quickly. Hopefully the little fellow will recover.
We are now up to 31 chickens. They are mostly free ranging around the property. We have so many roosters that it’s hilarious to walk around and hear them competing for the loudest singing. Some are still new at crowing and sound like teenage boys. One will start then 2 or 3 will follow. Quite entertaining.
We’ve been busy over the weekend fixing up our hay wagon. You’ll have to wait for the final results, as it will be quite something. Still a few elements to add. We will be entering a contest for best float at the Navan Fair, a neighbouring town’s big summer event. We will be announcing our new music school at the fair. Should be fun and the float has to make a mark!
This week I am hoping to build nesting boxes for our flock. We have old dresser drawers that I want to use. It shouldn’t be too hard to build. We’ve also added a little pool to the pig pen. They like the water. It’s interesting that whenever they see us approach they start a big ruckus. It’s like they are yelling at us to bring them more food or water. Then when we give them whatever it is they need, they quiet down right away. Quite smart pigs! As a reward for being so cute, we made them a little swimming pool.
We have a family coming to visit the farm sometime soon. This is a first. Katie has been in touch with them through a facebook group and the mom would like to bring her kids to see how we are set up. Of course, we are so new at this, I’m not sure we have much to show her, but if she gets anything at all from her visit, even what not to do, it will be worth it I guess.
This week we need to find and schedule our turkey processor. Then we need to reach out to our clients and see who wants meat chickens so that we can place our order for chicks. It’s a little tricky as we don’t have an official client list yet, but everyone we talk to is interested. So we need to gather up names and start a client base. This is exciting. Feels like we are going in the right direction. It’s important that we start bringing in money and slow down the speed at which it is leaving! We knew the first year would be more about spending than earning, but a little earning will be welcome.
The gardens are doing well. It’s not a great summer for it. The season started late and now the days are very warm with little rain. But, we are eating lots of mixed salads and the herbs are doing really well. I think our potato crop will be more than expected and so I want to make sure I am prepared. Will place a sand bin in my cold storage and hopefully will be able to keep them longer that way. I hear root vegetables last longer if buried in sand.
The weeding is an ongoing thing. I am not driving myself crazy about it but it does bug me. I’d love to have one of those picture perfect gardens where everything is lovely and the eye gets nourished as much as the body. It’s a work in progress, emphasis on work, not so much on progress!
All in all still having a blast.
Unruffled Farms 