The Big White Farmhouse

+ The ducklings went outside!  Gosh, I loved these guys and their adorable perma-grin!  We reconfigured one of the pig’s “winter house” into an A-frame hut for them and it’s working great so far.  In other duck news, I’ve been learning a lot about how to supplement regular chicken feed to fit their needs (they need niacin!) as well as guessing whether our straight run duckies are hens or drakes.

+ We want to fill our pathways around the garden and food forest with wood chips, but the steep price tag put this goal pretty low on the needs list.  We got a tip from a friend about a website called Chip Drop, where you sign up and if an arborist is in the area, they can drop off a truck full at any time, completely free.  No deliveries yet, but we’re praying!

+ I did more work on the food forest, but fizzled out as days of thunderstorms and hot temperatures appeared.  I was hoping to be a little further ahead, but keep reminding myself that reaching this incredibly lofty goal is a marathon, not a sprint.

+ I sowed all the things!  I planted beans, zucchini and squash, cucumbers, corn, and sunflowers.  I also transplanted a ton of tomatoes and peppers.

+ We opened chicken preorders to a small group of friends and acquaintances and had a modest response.  Any little bit that helps with our feed costs is a huge blessing.  Speaking of feed costs, we put in another big feed order.  We were kicking ourselves for procrastinating because the bags went up 25 cents a bag since our order last month!

+ I ordered a new cover crop mix for summer consisting of peas, oats and a dwarf Siberian kale.  My spring cover crops have grown in beautifully and it’s so fun to see the pigs explore and eat when we move them to new paddocks each week.

+ Fred and Ethel have been together in the same paddock for about a month now and we think we may have a pregnant pig.  It’s so hard to tell for sure and obviously I have no idea what I’m doing, so we’ll see.

+ A funny pig story: Fiona is lovingly known as our “puppy pig” because she’s smaller than the rest, but infinitely friendlier.  If she sees us across the property, she’ll call for us until we come over and scratch her ears or belly.  Anyway, one evening, we were hanging out in the living room when one of the kids looked out the window and exclaimed, “There’s a pig loose!”  We all groaned as we put on our boots because you can’t make a pig move, you have to convince her that she wants to move.  We ran outside and were shocked to see that it was Fiona, who had escaped from her paddock clear on the other side of the property!  In a miracle of miracles, once we sweet talked her, she followed us – like a puppy! – alll the way back home.  And that’s why she’s our favorite pig.

+ To wrap up this full month, we processed our first batch of broilers on Memorial Day weekend.  I think we had 143 birds in all and split them up between two work days.  We hired some friends to help us and that made the process go quickly and smoothly.  No rest for the weary though…more baby chicks will be arriving today, June 1!