Here are a few of the farm highlights (more so I can remember, but thought perhaps others may be interested)
Spring 2005: Purchase farm; discovered it was already named Clearfield Farm. Hopefully, the "clear" becomes an adjective instead of a verb within the next ten years
Summer 2005-Spring 2006: Sand and stain pine flooring; paint every room in the house except for guestroom.
Fall 2005: Fence the future vegetable garden (find the old gate and put it up); rototill the plot and plant the garlic. Also plant a bunch of perennials to overwinter there as no garden space in yard yet
Spring 2006: Demolish most of big barn; restore the hay barn portion of it; Amish raise a small pole barn for the horse. Herein after known as the "small barn" and the "big barn"; plant vegetable garden
May 2006: My darling soon to be husband, my father and my little brother put up the fence for Pasture A in the middle of a hail storm
June 10th, 2006: Official move-in date (our wedding day)
Mid June, 2006: Oliver comes home along with a white rooster who is his companion very briefly.
Late June, 2006: Massive flooding in the area; little damage to our new old farm
Summer 2006: Perennial garden established; Marge and Gertrude, two bard rock hens come to live with us
Fall 2006: Marsala (hen) and her mate, Gustave (rooster), come to live with us.
Spring 2007: First batch of chicks; also get first three piglets
Summer 2007: Fence in Pasture B for Oliver
Fall 2007: Send pigs off to "camp"
Spring 2008: New batch of hens; Septic system, shower and water system all need repair within three weeks of each other. Cold weather and a broken shower means the chicks live in the shower for a couple weeks; build the poultry coop in the big barn
Summer 2008: Raise 4 pigs and a flock of Narragansett turkeys
Fall 2008: Adopt the three sheep, Rachel, Tess and Uma, from our dear friends, Jim and Anne. Rent-a-ram, Clyde, comes to visit from Thanksgiving to New Years.
March 2009: Fox attacks chickens. Gustave and 4 hens survive; Gustave dies a few days later (broken heart or internal injuries?). We move "remnant" into the big barn.
Spring 2009: Tess gives birth to two lambs; Rachel has one lamb, Uma has one lamb
Spring 2009 (HOT, dry April, starts to rain in June and never stops): New set of chicks
Spring 2009: Use Premier sheep fencing to set up sheep pastures
Summer 2009: Darling husband gets a picnic table for his birthday; Cold and rainy; very bad tomato blight--end up pulling most of the tomato plants
Summer 2009: Parents watch the farm for a week and we come back to many little odd jobs completed!
September 2009: Pick up Daisy, an 18 month old yellow lab from a friend of a friend. She acclimates relatively easily to the farm
Fall 2009: Raise broilers; many are desanguinated by weasel.
Fall 2009: Keep one of Tess' lambs, Velveeta, and one of Rachel's (Velma); other's sent to "camp"
Winter 2010: Breed Tess, Rachel and Uma to George.
Winter 2010: Breed Tess, Rachel and Uma to George.
Winter 2010: Guest room is painted
Spring 2010: Uma and her lambs die; Tess gives birth to twins; Rachel never got knocked up; place raised beds in the garden; plant corn in new plot
March 2010: Furnace dies; use the wood stove as heat source for rest of the heating season
Spring 2010 (hot dry April, more seasonable May) : Pick up 6 Berkshire/Duroc piglets from Farmer Todd; Fence in Pasture C, which sheep use initially--also a great sledding hill in the winter; also raise a flock of Bourbon Red and Royal Palm turkeys
Spring 2010: Luke and Leia, the barn cats arrive
Late Killing Frost June 1st!
Summer 2010 (Beautiful summer): More tomato and potato blight
Summer 2010: Back of house is repainted due to lots of sun exposure
Summer 2010: Have wood burning furnace with oil backup installed
Fall 2010: Keep Tess' two lambs, send pigs off to camp
Fall 2010: Rent-a-ram George hangs out from Halloween to Thanksgiving with Tess, Velma and Velveeta
Winter 2011: Water heater and oven die within 2 weeks of each other; both are replaced conventionally; Chewbacca comes to live in the barn
Spring 2011 (cool, rainy then HOT, HOT) : Chicks and turkey poults arrive in March--weather is freezing. Build chicken tractor for the broilers; turkey poults fail to thrive--end up with 8 by summer
Spring 2011: Tess gives birth to twins; Velveeta and Velma each have one surviving lamb
Spring 2011: Pick up 4 Berkshire/Duroc piglets from Farmer Todd
Summer 2011: Purchase BCS walk-behind tractor and brush hog; brain-worm attacks two of our ewes, but with treatment, both survive
Fall 2011: Rachel, all lambs and pigs are sent to camp. Rachel goes to the food-bank. We get rid of the nasty kitchen carpet and milk-paint the plywood--a long term, temporary solution.
November 2011: We slaughter all turkeys on-farm two days before Thanksgiving
January 2012: Cheviot ram comes to stay through Valentine's Day
Winter 2011-2012: Mildest winter in forever. Lake never froze over. Very little snow.
Late Spring 2012: 9 lambs born to our five ewes; all survive. With my career change, decide not to raise piglets this summer
Summer 2012: Fly Creek Farmers' Market begins; hot and dry July-spring house almost dries up; 4 guinea hen keets call the farm home. Chewbacca dies
Fall 2012: Lambs go off to market. Decide not to breed ewes for the 2013 season; guinea hens are served at Thanksgiving.
December 2012: Belle, the mutt, dies.
Winter 2012-2013: Unlike last winter, this winter is long, cold and snowy. Temperatures finally make it above 40 degrees in April.
Spring 2013: With a special rototiller attachment, the BCS tractors overhauls the garden space; kitchen gets an update...sort of
Summer 2013: Guinea hens and piglets arrive; rainy June and early July with some flash flooding near our farm
January 2014: bitter cold beginning; Varro, an icelandic ram comes to join the ewes for a few weeks
Spring 2014: 12 lambs born to 6 ewes but lose 3 over the course of the summer. Also get some Austrolorp hens.
Summer 2014: raise and butcher broilers. Enough chicken in the freezer to last all year. Awesome garden season...particularly with our root vegetables
Summer 2014: Farmhouse gets insulated and lots of trim repair work done.
December 2014: Send most lambs off to camp.
Winter 2014-2015: Cold and snowy again. It never really warmed up until April.
April 2015: Five piglets arrive.
Summer 2011: Purchase BCS walk-behind tractor and brush hog; brain-worm attacks two of our ewes, but with treatment, both survive
Fall 2011: Rachel, all lambs and pigs are sent to camp. Rachel goes to the food-bank. We get rid of the nasty kitchen carpet and milk-paint the plywood--a long term, temporary solution.
November 2011: We slaughter all turkeys on-farm two days before Thanksgiving
January 2012: Cheviot ram comes to stay through Valentine's Day
Winter 2011-2012: Mildest winter in forever. Lake never froze over. Very little snow.
Late Spring 2012: 9 lambs born to our five ewes; all survive. With my career change, decide not to raise piglets this summer
Summer 2012: Fly Creek Farmers' Market begins; hot and dry July-spring house almost dries up; 4 guinea hen keets call the farm home. Chewbacca dies
Fall 2012: Lambs go off to market. Decide not to breed ewes for the 2013 season; guinea hens are served at Thanksgiving.
December 2012: Belle, the mutt, dies.
Winter 2012-2013: Unlike last winter, this winter is long, cold and snowy. Temperatures finally make it above 40 degrees in April.
Spring 2013: With a special rototiller attachment, the BCS tractors overhauls the garden space; kitchen gets an update...sort of
Summer 2013: Guinea hens and piglets arrive; rainy June and early July with some flash flooding near our farm
January 2014: bitter cold beginning; Varro, an icelandic ram comes to join the ewes for a few weeks
Spring 2014: 12 lambs born to 6 ewes but lose 3 over the course of the summer. Also get some Austrolorp hens.
Summer 2014: raise and butcher broilers. Enough chicken in the freezer to last all year. Awesome garden season...particularly with our root vegetables
Summer 2014: Farmhouse gets insulated and lots of trim repair work done.
December 2014: Send most lambs off to camp.
Winter 2014-2015: Cold and snowy again. It never really warmed up until April.
April 2015: Five piglets arrive.
