October Update

October is going well, after a week of cold/ flu sickness everyone is up and back to normal. We have been cutting and splitting more firewood, we are actively using the wood stove nearly 24/7. Below is a view of cows in pasture during fall color.
The hogs are doing very well, growing well. Below is a photo me building their new hog house which is on skids so it can be pulled by a tractor to rotation graze.

Here is a photo of the new house in the pig pen (1/2 of our garden) where the pigs are harvesting the garden leftovers. And turning the soil. Below Jay watching his pigs (they're names are "Bacon"- that what he calls them).

Here is one of the calves which are being weaned in the barn and is currently for sale.

Farm Goals 2009 Update

This is a 2009 Farm Goals Update. In January we made a farm goals list, link is at bottom of page for review purposes, if needed. Below is the list with marks beside.
KEY:
U- Undone- May no get done...
I-In Progress
X- Done

I 1. Have fun, enjoy family and seasons more- In progress, we have had quality family time. We purchased a pop-up camper, and hope to spend more time together and enjoy this fall season!

I 2. Firewood Shed & Firewood & Firewood Wagon- Shed done, Roughly 1/2 winters firewood in, Wagon in progress but delayed.

I 3. Cow Shed on Barn- New roof for old section first, then maybe new cow shed?

U 4. Expand Cow Herd- Maybe not this year. We had 2 heifer calves born and hope to buy a couple of beef steers to raise and sell.

X 5. Fence- Mostly complete. See past posts.

I 6. Pig House & Pens- Pen done- though will be expanding very soon. Pig house in progress. Pig herd= 10 to feed out this fall. That's a lot of mouths to feed.

U 7. Chickens- Completed, then dissolved. Due to Raccoons and other farm projects chickens are on hold.

X 8. Flooring for sun room- Hardwood complete.

U 9. Garage Door- Probably not getting done, unless I find a good deal on a door.

X 10. Garden & Canning- Complete, I think. Garden fared well. Lots of canned goods: green beans, tomato juice and beets. Frozen corn, tomato juice, bell peppers. Potatoes in storage.

X 11. Water lines- waterer- Complete. Water line in. Frost-Free Spigot-- works great.

I 12. 220 electric to garage- Electric line in, not connected on either end yet.

Unlisted are the daily chores that go along with raising a family and expanding a farm. Two big events not planned on were the purchase of a Haybine and Tractor. There will be a year end review in a few more months. For now that hay season is mostly over- Firewood is the name of my game!

http://concordmeadowsfarm.blogspot.com/2009/01/goals-for-2009.html

July

Summer is coming right along. First cut hay is done. Fence is in progress. Next to do: firewood and barn roof. We have canned some, and will be canning alot more as more tomatos ripen.

Jay playing on his toy "trac-sher" wearing my old work hat. He has so much fun on that tractor, it has seen and will see many more miles.

Here my wife worked on brush hogging the pasture which has been grazed early on in season, but before weeds go to seed and spread, we mow, to stop the seed spread and help pasture growth. What a great job she did!

Fence is an ongoing project. This will keep our bull Travis from wandering to the neighboring farm when their cows are in heat. The light weight electric that shocks @ 4,500 volts did nothing to stop him 4 times this week, thankfully they're understanding and very helpful. We have finally finished the east side of the perimeter fence; it has been built in stages. It consisits of 4 strand barb wire and cow panels for gates. Big thanks to Kyle for his help!!!

This is our newest family investment: a pop-up camper. We are so excited to use it, we have planned to camp the first weekend of August.

Summer Update

Times are busy as always! Since we are both working off them farm jobs and around the farm, days are long. Good news: all puppies have new homes; the garden is filling with fresh veggies (above picture) and we are late yet again splitting firewood but we have some done. There has been massive amounts of hay baled, stored and sold this season- possibly one for the record books. Everyone is doing well. Jay is growing by the day, its unbelievable; he got a pet Ki-Cat (kitten) for the garage/ barn/ outdoors... Mouse catcher... would be great for the feed storage area. Both calves are doing well putting on weight. adapting the pasture life.

Photo Update

Morgan and Jakes litter of puppies- going on 3 weeks old- some mobile creatures now.
Travis of Hollifield resting in the shade- what a bull he is!! Were gonna fix those horns though!

Sally and Abby calf (Left, left)......... Big Momma and Chloe (right cow and center calf)

Hay mowed at Wolfe Farm- Andrew mowed on saturday, hot sun + wind = dry hayHay raked by your truly on Sunday afternoon, baling by Andrew Sunday night

We have more ahy down, Matt mowed hay Sunday while we were busy.... Happy Fathers Day to Dads everywhere!

Another Calf

Yesterday Big Momma gave birth to a red heifer "Chloey" (Above). She had no difficulty and let me carry it to the barn. We are now at 5 head of cattle: 1 Bull- Travis, 2 Cows- Sally, Big Momma, 2 Calves- Abby, Chloe.

Above is Sally and her calf Abby, in the pature this morning.
This is an older picture of our bull Travis of Hollifield.

My brother got new tires on his Jeep and had to try them out. After a long day of fence building ( Thanks guys) he got to try them out on trails. Fun, fun.

Yesterday Andrew, Cayla and I baled hay and hauled it to the barn. The new sqaure baler worked great.

New life on the farm

The garden is doing well so far, Jay has been a big help, LOL. So far we have 4 kinds of tomatos, potatos, bell peppers, banana peppers, bush beans cuccumber, cantelope and corn, and a rash of herbs which will be in our new raised bed. (Later Post)

Morgan and Jake just had their final litter of puppies before the fix. (Yes they're getting fixed.) She gave birth to: 8 total= 6 live, 2 still born......... 4 male, 2 female.......... 4 black, 2 white with black. Everyone is fine and dandy and eating well. Taking requests on pups.

Sally finally had her calf!!!!! Yesterday Morning!!! Easy birth she pushed for a few minutes calf emerged, and fell right out. she immediately began cleaning it, etc... The normal mom stuff I guess. Its a heifer (female) and appears to be a red/dun color. The first calving I have witnessed!

With the weather cool and rainy we decided to pin them up in the barn for a day or so. Sally is not happy about being in the barn, as you may know she has been our trouble cow.... she is plain nuts! Below she is playing guard, no human contact allowed on her watch.

The dates dont line up, I know, but these pictures were all taken yesterday June 3.

Make Hay While The Sun Shines

The old sang "Make hay while the sun shines" is hold true this week. Wow how the seasons have changed, the hot sun is out and its hay season again. Andrew (neighbor) and I have been mowing hay this week preparing to bale. Above is Matt's tractor (neighbor and Andrews brother), that we have been using to mow the hay. Below is a close up picture of raked hay rows in the above pictured field. Make sense? Anyway, we have had frost 2 days this week so far, lost a few seedlings to it, but thankfully nothing else. We're gonna shoot for firewood hauling and fence building after all the fields have had the first cut of hay mowed off of them.We did get a chance to plant our new apple trees. They are doing well. No calf or calves yet! Is the Vet right? are we crazy? Both? We'll keep you updated. I was recently looking at Mother Earth News online and read an article about Athens, and it made me think Isnt Athens County such a beautiful place to live? Link to the article: http://www.motherearthnews.com/Nature-Community/2006-08-01/Great-Places-Athens-Ohio.aspx

Happy Mothers Day

Happy Belated Mothers Day to all! sorry its late. Above are my 2 most favorite people, helping out, putting up temporary cow fence. Yes, on Mothers Day, LOL. What a great day it was for Mom: Breakfast in bed, Opening gifts from Jay, church, Home for lunch, then outside for the afternoon. We worked in the garden and moved cow fence.The cows are now a fresh piece of ground. If you know our farm its the field by the pine trees, which has never been grazed since we have had the farm. The cows are loving the cool shade of the pines. Sally, the cow that is due to calve anytime is getting closer. Her teets are beginning to swell with milk.

Grass fed beef. This type of beef is said to be superior to grain fed beef. The following is a quote from Consumer Reports: "Grass-fed steak can also have higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids, which may help reduce heart-disease risk. Grass-fed ground beef usually has more conjugated linoleic acid, which might improve the immune system and help fight cancer, atherosclerosis, and type 2 diabetes, lab and animal studies show." here is a link to the article:

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/food/news/2008/03/grass-fed-beef-3-08/overview/grass-fed-beef-ov.htm?EXTKEY=SP72FD0&CMP=KNC-CROYPIFOOD&HBX_OU=51&HBX_PK=pi.

These are pictures of our cattle grazing one of the lush green pastures on our farm.

Sunny days

Jay is absolutely loving this weather! Easter was a big hit also with the egg decorating and throwing ( hahaha- lol- Jay). He also loves to feed his Chi-Chi s (Chickens). He got a sand box for Easter and plays in it alot. Below is his Easter picture, sorry its late.

We have planted our seeds, they are growing fast and will be put into the ground soon.

The haybine project is coming right along a little at a time. I bought some parts a week ago and will replace them soon, hopefully. Yesterday I painted it, pictures below. We sold the heifer calf tat we bought in January so that we can re-roof the barn (the roof leaks- alot!). We also hauled in 2 beef steers to the butcher on Wedsnesday- All beef (1/2's & 1/4's) are sold. To purchase pigs to raise for pork this week?? I havent decided yet.

We hope that everyone is enjoying spring as much as we are!

Calving Article

Not much time to post, this will be short. As you may know one of our cows is due to calve within the next month according to the vet. Here is a link to an interesting article from the Smoky Mountian Heritage Farm : Dexter Cow Labor and Delivery (WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES OF BIRTH PROCESS). This article shows one of their Dexter cows in the birthing process. Miracles of farm life.

http://www.smokymountainfarm.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=74

Surgery Successful

As always, were busy. Jays surgery was a success! All went well, we went into Children's in Columbus at about 6am, and were out and on the way home about 10:30am. He had the eye cyst removed, an eye muscle cut to correct for the cyst, and a couple of skin repairs (ear tags removed). He is healing well, the surgery doesn't seem to have slowed him down, hes playing like normal. We are so thankful.

On another note: We thought we had a cow calving this week(one on the left). The cow began stringing mucous, this continued for 2 days before calling the vet for a house call. The vet had no explanation for the mucous, but confirmed the pregnancy, and called it 7 months along with strong pulse and fetus movement, cervix still closed, so no abortion. For info: a cows gestation is approx 283 days, roughly 9 months. This means that she was bred to our red bull, Travis, who is pictured- center.

We have also been cutting more firewood preparing for next winter. We prepared the backside of the garage for building our new lean to shed, which will be 20 ft wide and 12 ft deep.