June Update

Happy Birthday Concord Mom. June update is short. Life is busy, and were slowing down the farm. Looking forward to camping this week. Then hope to start making hay the following week. Barn progress is slow, due to weather and work. Below is a red Dexter heifer, growing well. Try to update later with more pics.

April Update

Above was this mornings calf. Spring actually here. Green grass and all. Barn building is in progress and hay season will be upon us soon.

Feeding Winter Hay

2010 Farm Goals

1. Have fun, enjoy family and seasons. Spend as much time possible with Jay and Cayla. We bought a camper last year and intend to use it more this year. Maybe get down to one job?

2. Firewood. Without this we would have no heat. A major priority; spread out makes it easy. The shed was completed last year, which makes storing it easy. Now just for cutting and splitting, we went 1/3's on a log splitter with both neighbors. This works great.

3. Build Barn. The current plan is for a 30 ft x 48 ft x 12 ft high. Starting when weather breaks.

4. Finish Spare Bedroom. This was actually at one point a bedroom, turned bathroom in the '70s. Its is completely gutted with some wiring issues that need attention. Then dry wall and put down new sub floor, padding and carpet.

5. Garden and Canning. We want to be more efficient with the garden. Grow a few more things. We have decided against sweet corn. This is because it takes up so much room, we will continue to buy as in previous years; plus this helps support another local farm. Last year we got a pressure canner. This expediates the process and allows for more products to be canned.

6. Kitchen Floor- Fix and Finish. Some repairs are needed to be done on kitchen floor. It is sinking in one section. (Our house is very, very old!) We also want to pull up ugly kitchen carpet and refinish the original hardwood floor.

7. Garage Door. We need a new one, it has been in disrepair since we bought the house. Opening only by hand, and difficult at that.

8. Expand Cow herd. We want some registered Dexters in the mix. Also want to buy some small frame Angus cows to breed to our Dexter bull.

9. Fence. More fence row clearing to finish up. And fence to build.

10. 220 Volt Electricity in Garage. Wiring is in place, jus needs connected. When we had the backhoe last year for pasture water lines we also put in the underground electric wire to the garage. We currently have 110 volt overhead line out to garage.

Compare to 2009 Goals:
http://concordmeadowsfarm.blogspot.com/2009/09/farm-goals-2009-update.html

2010 Homesteading Today Calender Update

First of all Concord Boy turned the big #2 last week, wow he's growing fast! On another note- The Homesteading Today (HT) 2010 Calenders are in print. As you may know the photos in the calender are voted on by HT members. See this link for more info on HT: http://concordmeadowsfarm.blogspot.com/2009/10/2010-homesteading-today-calender.html . Photos of our farm were chosen for two months: July and December. The calenders are for sale here (Paypal accepted) : http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/showthread.php?t=330759 .

Above is a random summer pictures (keeps me thinking green, as its getting cold).

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

August Photo Review

In July we took a great trip to Lake Erie to see Jay's Great Grandparents. What a great trip!

Family photo.

The camp set up, our camper.

Cayla Cooking on the fire
Family Campfire photo
Fresh Beets anybody? What a worker

Chris and the backhoe. Who said video games teach you nothing? He said, "I like this, its like a big video game." And hes pretty good at it too! Thanks to Chris for his hard work on the farm this week.

Work in progress, digging hole for water line. No more hooking the hose up inside the basement to water animals!!!!!!!!

Thanks to Andrew for his plumbing expertise and time spent. We now have a water spigot in the field.

Jay loved the rides at the Athens County Fair.

Ok, were tired now. LOL. Jay and I catching quality zzzzzz's.

PS: Feeder pigs in progress, they will be ready in February! More on them later. Thanks again, to Chris for all his help this week, we got lots of work done.

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