So it's been awhile... Seasonal Changes Below!

Sorry about the slack in posting! Lots of changes have been going on...

We got chickens! And not just 2, or a few, or even a dozen... no we have 49 chickens. Yes. I said 49. Four varieties and not a one of them is laying eggs yet. However we're hoping that changes over the next couple weeks. Oh, and we have four ducks. No reason really, just four very annoying, terrified of people, big ol goofball ducks. They are pretty... and they are HUGE. No seriously, wait until you see the pictures. They started out as teeny tiny little cutie pie ducklings and they are now ginormous. And again... terrified of people.

So here are a few pictures of our latest adventures...

Here's a Rhode Island Red the day we got her.. she's about 6 weeks old here.

These are our four adorable ducklings at just 6 days old...

This is one of our Buff Orpington Chickens at just 2 weeks old.

The Rhode Island Reds, Barred Rock Chickens together (6 weeks old)

Cute little Buff Orpington's at 2 weeks old

Now, lets fast forward to today... here are some photos I took of these same fellas yesterday, lots of growth as you can tell!

This is one of the Rhode Island hens (about 5 months old now)

Here is my favorite Barred Rock Rooster... this guy greets us every morning with his extremely loud Cockadoodledoo! He also crows every time a dog barks, bird flies, duck quacks... yeah, he's noisy.

Remember these little guys above? They are now 4 months old and they think they're ducks. No seriously... they follow the ducks around and hide from us just like the ducks. Goofy chickens....

Ahhhh... my big, beautiful, annoying ducks. I'm ready for some duck meat but Jay wants to wait and see if any of them are female and lay eggs... again, I'm ready for duck meat. ;)

My little farm hand. Madeline loves helping & playing with the chickens!

Lunch time!

Yes, I had to use the zoom on my camera because these guys run like they're about to be Christmas Dinner every time they see us coming... beautiful... but dumb as a brick.

My handy helper!!!

As you can see there's lots of new additions to the farm... and it's only continuing to grow! What else have we been doing? Well let me show you!

This 100% organic garden includes no fertilization & from seed plants... it's taking a bit longer than our fertilized gardens of the past, but I'm excited about offering 100% organic veggies to my family soon!

Jay grows sunflowers & amaranth for the chickens so they will be 100% organic as well!

Nora is surprisingly gentle with the chickens, she'll chase them but so far she hasn't had any chicken dinners yet. She loves farm life though, she is perfectly content to spend all of her day outside lounging in the sun and running free.

Jay's newest adventure with the girls is raising tadpoles into tree frogs! The girls go out each morning and feed the tadpoles lettuce and look to see if there are any new frogs... its such an exciting moment when they discover another changed frog!!!

Here's one of the tree frogs just one day after he changed! Lots of fun for my girlies and as always, life is an adventure with daddy!!!

Lastly, here are a few pictures of the farm in full bloom - it's so beautiful and peaceful out here! We can't wait to start building our house, but in the mean time we're all enjoying the beauty of the land.

My favorite tree on the property... a young, beautiful weeping willow

I love the mimosa tree's around the house, such beautiful unique blooms!

This is a view from our driveway of the mimosas, willow & chicken coop... I love seeing this every time I come home!!!

That's all for now! But I'll be sure to post more often! Hopefully my next post will include eggs & veggies ripe for the picking! :)

Mini Barn Playhouse

We talked about what to do for Madeline's 3rd birthday this year... Jay really wanted to make her some kind of playhouse. Sounds good to me! I imagined an old refrigerator box, or something similar... perfect for kids, simple and easy! However I forgot my husbands imagination.... no, no refrigerator boxes would be used in the making of this playhouse. He was dreaming big. This is what he came up with:

 Framing it up... looks good already!

 Taking a break with Nora, Lizzy & Maddy... sitting in the wheelbarrow... lol

 The front window!

 The girls love it already!!!

 Almost finished product! I love the half barn door entry!

Well now. That's a playhouse. It still has a way to go... we'll be painting it barn red some time this week, and will eventually get black shingles on the roof and white barn trim... But for now... I say well done Jay. Well done! :)

Fun in the Back Yard

Our backyard is 3 1/2 acres of uncleared land... it is really incredibly gorgeous. About 100 feet behind our house the land has a slow decline which will lead you to the swamp/pond on the very back of the property. Walking back here feels like a rain forest. When summertime is here you can literally feel the pulse of life back there. Everything is green, healthy and just so pretty. There are 4 wheeler trails back there so it makes for easy walking.

Anyway. Here are a couple pictures of my girls playing around in the "back yard" the first one shows the kids right before the slope... the second photo is our dog Sonora (shortened to Nora) dancing with Lizzy. She came from a yard where she was chained up all the time so she is in heaven out here getting to chase birds, squirrels and my girls! :)

Chicken Coup in Stages

We've still got a way to go, but this big chicken coup is slowly getting finished! Jamie works on it whenever he's not working. The chicken wire is buried 12 inches under ground to prevent dogs from digging in. It will have some additional supports here soon... (obviously before we get the chickens) but we're on the downhill slide from here! If you notice the flashing around the bottom of the posts, this is to prevent the chickens from pecking at the treated lumber. This is to help keep them as organic as possible as treated lumber has arsenic in it. Jay is really striving to keep these chickens as truly organic as possible! More details on the chicken coup to come as we finish it up! :)

Crazy or Called?

I'm excited to update as we take on this new adventure in farm life... Some think we're crazy for dragging our kids out in the country, trying to do a debt free build on a new home while we live in a teensy tiny mobile home... and all the while take on more animals than we can count in our efforts to eat more organic. We prefer to see it as a calling. We want our kids to grow up eating less processed foods... and frankly we are not of the budget to buy all organic. So, we're going to grow our own! I'm excited and also a little worried. We've been out on this farm since October and it's hard for this city girl to be 20+ minutes from the city, family, gas stations or grocery stores. But better planning and these amazingly endless blue skies make it all worth it in the end.

Feel free to ask questions... this blog is going to explore all aspects of our new farm life. From our Container Home that we're planning to start building in the near future... to our chicken coup that is actually larger than some NY apartments. Come along for the journey and keep up as these crazy kids follow our calling! :)