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Friday, April 1, 2011

1st month on the farm in pictures!

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My internet was hooked up at the farm today, so we are finally back online!

Here is what has been happening on our first month on the farm.  So far I am loving living my dream!

We made a trip last weekend up to a Certified Organic chicken farm (provider of Organic Valley eggs) in Wisconsin to buy some laying hens.   It was an interesting trip home, with 60 chickens in the back of the minivan in boxes & crates!  The boys love helping me take care of the hens (my 8 year old will no longer eat chicken meat, he has now realized where it comes from! :-).  This variety of chicken lays a huge, Extra Large, beautiful brown egg. My husband and I built a large fenced-in area, so the chickens have access to pasture outdoors all day long.  They are very happy & content on our farm. (Side note: I am now selling these eggs, and making deliveries in town & outlying areas on Sunday afternoons. If you are local and interested in purchasing our pastured chicken eggs, email me at wishfulacres@gmail.com).






We also received 50 baby chicks a few days ago!  They are truly adorable balls of fluff.  These baby chicks will begin laying eggs in about 5 months.





The boys love going for rides on the small tractor wagon.  We have been working on mowing down our neglected pasture areas to prepare for tilling & planting.





Speaking of tilling, we got the small hoophouse area tilled, as well as several garden beds for cool weather crops, which I got planted over the course of a few days.  The salad crops for my customers, farmers market, and other sales will be ready in about a month!!  I miss eating my delicious organic, fresh, gourmet lettuce varieties so much.  The stuff in the store is just not the same at all.


We finally got the last coon trapped in the attic a couple of weeks ago, and patched the last hole where they were entering.  Don't worry, we did drive her far away & released her.  Darn coons!


There is a small branch of a local river near our property.  The boys love it when I take them there to play. 


Last, but not least, the thousands of seedlings!  This year promises the most healthy, robust plants I have ever grown.  For those locals who purchase my naturally grown vegetable plants, I will be sending a newsletter out this weekend with a list of this year's varieties (if you don't receive my email newsletter, but would like to, please email me at wishfulacres@gmail.com).  About 1/4 of these plants will be sold to others for garden plants, the rest will be planted on the farm for vegetable sales.




Just look at these beautiful tomato plants!  I can't wait to taste them, because the only tomatoes I eat are the ones we grow.  I refuse to buy the tomatoes in a grocery store - they aren't real tomatoes (those who have tasted homegrown tomatoes know exactly what I'm talking about).



 Thanks for stopping by the Wishful Acres farm blog, where I  am enjoying the hard work & loving this life!













4 comments:

  1. Awe! I love chickens and so do my boys. Your seedling look ready to start producing nicely for your family. I am glad ya'll got the coons out of your new home; they are quite destructive. Enjoy your new home! Mal

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  2. WOW! You sure have a lot going on!!

    I've got some chickens due in a couple of weeks, too, but am a little confused about starter feed. Do you know if the medication that is in starter feed will be out of the chicks systems by the time thay start laying eggs (if it is just fed for the first couple of weeks)?? My local farmer's supply only has medicated and it makes me a little nervous!

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  3. Hi Penny,

    Wow! I've been working too much at my day job so I've missed catching up on your progress! Seedlings look wonderful.

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  4. Angie, I was thinking of you last weekend as I drove through Platteville to pick up my hens! How are things going? email me - wishfulacres@gmail.com, let's catch up!

    Jenna, ask your farm supplier if they can order you non-medicated feed. I special ordered an all-natural feed for both the chicks and the laying hens.

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