February on the Farm



Doing what they do best! (2/19/2013)



As promised, here's the pigs!  The last I checked they were well over 200 lbs. by Hog Tape.  It's not a very accurate way to measure, but it gets you an idea.  Mr. Grant said that the boy (pictured in front) will probably dress over 200 lbs.!  That's going to make for about 160 lbs. of meat (normally you get 125 lbs. per pig).  They are extremely healthy, and they seem very happy.  The love visitors and enjoy sprinting around their pen.  They've composted 14 bales of straw and 2 buckets (a bucket is about what would fit in a standard pickup truck) of sawdust. And if you look closely you can see how far their hooves set into the straw.  So as you can see it's composted down pretty good.  I can't wait to get it spread over the gardens!

Closeup!

Eating, eating, and eating!

Unfortunately, the chickens don't seem to be enjoying life as much as the pigs.  They're thriving, but if you asked them I think they would answer differently.  The damn roosters are back in the coop.  I didn't really have anything else to do with them, and I was getting sick of dealing with their freezing water dish everyday while they were out in the outdoor coop.  If any readers don't already know, Elaine wouldn't let me... get rid of them... She had a bit of a meltdown just thinking about it.  I'm bracing myself for April 1st when I take the pigs in.  We're not getting very many eggs.  I'm looking forward to having more hens this summer.  Mr. Grant is getting me 25 more, and Christian is taking 10 of them, but I have a feeling I'm taking them back in the Fall when he moves away.  Hopefully the 5 that we have boost their output when the weather warms up.  Having 20 that are fully operational will be nice.  We will be selling them at $3/doz.  Pretty cheap! 



They're really only consuming, not producing!



One egg.  And that's after 2 days!  Worthless hens...



 In other farm news, we've started our seeds!  We're pretty excited with what we've got this year.  Nothing out of the ordinary, just good eatin'!  So far we've started tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, leeks, celery, watermelon, and herbs.  This is just the first seed starting though, we will start seeds every month until June when we begin direct planting.  We're looking to be able to can, freeze, cellar, pickle, and eat!  Can't wait to see how we do!

 

Our version of recycling!  We kept containers for 6 months!

  

Elaine got fancy with the ceramic pots!



And last but not least, our efficiency renovation is still plugging along.  I have a tenant at the end of June!  So the clock is ticking.  I'm waiting for Chris to be done with school before I ask him for his help again... that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it... Actually I've just been really busy and it's been REALLY COLD!  



My trailer full of kitchen cabinetry.

Yesterday I took advantage of a sale Home Depot was having and I picked up almost all of the cabinetry for the efficiency AND the apartment!  I'm very excited.  I'm still loving that trailer.  That was the best $550 I've ever spent. So now, as soon as I get some more time (and hopefully some Winter relief) it's back to work on the efficiency.  I'm thinking the next four-day weekend I have I'm going to get working.  We recently found out that this year is the 150th anniversary of the Horse Racing Track.  If that's not incentive enough to finish our rentals, I don't know what is.  I might even try to get the barn looking decent just for some asthetic appeal.  I would like to get it painted if I can manage.  There's a lot of work to be done, and not a lot of time to do it. 

Thanks for reading.

-Jay