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And these Little Piggies went....

wee wee wee all the way home!

They are here!! Our Large Black Hogs seemed to have handled the 13 hour trip well. Now they are happy and settled in nice here in Georgia. We are simply tickled to have our new residents here at the farm. They are 3 months old and weigh about 25-30 pounds. The Cox family at Oleo Acres in Leonard, Texas, was very hospitable during the purchase as they allowed John and Blake to stay in the guest house at their farm. Check the slide show for more pictures. This video shows them eating their first meal on our front pasture. They really do graze/eat grass. Amazing.

Tomatoes and Onions

Here's a quick peek at some of our veggies today. John ordered many varieties of tomato seeds including some heirloom this winter. We started them in the basement in late Jan. / early Feb. They seem to be doing okay, especially the "Better Boys."
John bought the onions from a small co-op down in Carrollton. We put those in the ground sometime in Feb. The onions have really enjoyed the rain we have had lately. We have some brussel sprouts and garlic planted in the hot box from last fall that are slowly coming around.

Much more work is to be done in the garden this week before planting.

Why Large Black Hogs?

~The Large Black Hog is a heritage breed perfect for today’s pasture pork production
~Heritage animal listed as "critically endangered" by The American Livestock Breeds Conservancy
~Tender, moist, marbled meat and bacon perfect for grass fed pork connoisseurs
~Among the most docile and friendly breed of hogs alive today (not aggressive toward humans and typically will not take up for themselves if attacked by other animals)
~Excellent mothering abilities
~Low feeding costs, productive in rough conditions
~Graze top of pastures without rooting and without ringing their nose
~Black skin protects them from sunburn and enables them to live outdoors on open pastures
~Perfect for small farmers and sustainable agriculture enterprises

sources: www.largeblackhogs.org, www.largeblackhogs.com

Huttin' for Hogs

Yes, Huttin' for Hogs not Hunting for Hogs! John built the hog hut today. The housing is 5' x 8' made from 2" x 6" lumber and tin roofing. I think they will be just comfy in here. Tomorrow, John and Blake head to Texas to "Bring home the bacon!" We are purchasing a non-related, breeding pair of the critically endangered Large Black Hogs from Oleo Acres Ranch in Leonard,Texas. Stay tuned for a posting about the Large Black Hog breed.

"Ready or not here I come!!!!"

John is hard at work on the front pasture fencing. The weather has been just beautiful lately so the whole gang likes to join Daddy out in the pasture while he works. You can just imagine that this makes me more than a little bit nervous because of the dangers of the road, the tractor auger, chainsaw, etc. It is difficult to keep up with all 3 little bodies as it is, right? Well, one day this weekend, I looked up and there were NO children in sight! I called, and called and called them. Just before I turned frantic they began to pop up from the grass one by one. They were hiding in the grass from each other! Whew! After a quick lesson in Hide and Go Seek, the boys are now counting and announcing "Ready or not here I come!"

John put out 5 tons of lime and lightly disced and planted the front pasture last fall with Red Clover and Max Q Fescue. This spring we are very pleased with the fruits of his labor. These are a few pics of the pasture and the GIANT clover.

Fence pictures coming soon!

Pitching and Pulling no more...

I think this town was misnamed. I believe Roopville should have been named Rockville. Since we moved here, we have always comented on the rocks that are part of the natural landscape throughout town. Also, here at our place, the rocks are everywhere. Sweet old Molly has had an obsession with big rocks since the last time we lived in Carroll county. She attacks them and barks at them for hours. Well, during our preparation for our garden WE have been ATTACKED by the rocks. For about two months now we have been pitching rocks out of the garden spot.

To complicate the problem, the roots in the garden are just as prevalent! Before the garden became "The Garden" there were several trees in the spot. John cleared out the trees, but roots were left behind. Also, we had the topsoil that was removed from the pond site placed in the garden spot. We were thrilled to have lots of fresh topsoil spread on the garden, but we got a bonus. The roots came with it! We had prepared ourselves for the backbreaking prep of pulling roots and pitching rocks this weekend. Well, yesterday, on the way to town, I saw a rock rake tractor attachment for sale at a house down the street! John went to check it out, got a great price and came home with it!! Thank you, thank you Lord! Now we can save our backs and cut our work time in half!!

So if you are wondering what we're doing here this weekend, now you know we'll be "Rockin' around the clock in Rootville!" or "Rootin' around in Rockville!" Call it whatever you want, but one thing is for sure... we will be glad we did it when it is time to harvest!

The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops. 2 Timothy 2:6

The Rooster Crows... Good Boy!

I thought I heard the rooster crowing for the first time today. So, in my house coat and slippers, I tip-toed out to the garden to try to capture him on video. He was certainly getting his practice. He must have crowed six times in 3 or 4 minutes. It is a pitiful little crow... but that just leaves room for improvement. I think he did a pretty good job.... doesn't sound like "Cock-a-doodle-do" but I don't think any rooster sounds like the Mother Goose version. The kids just love hearing him crow! Fun times!!

Full Moon

There has been a full moon all week. It was still shining bright as we would go to school each day. Yesterday, Beau said, "Look mommy, the moon has God's handprints on it!" I have never really thought about that.... it's always "The man in the moon!" So, this morning, on the way home from school, I stopped and took this picture with my phone as I turned in the driveway.

I never did get outside to see the moon in the sky during the night, but I knew how bright it was each time I rolled over in bed and looked out the window. The whole place was glowing outside. I thought to myself, "How could that one light be so bright?" The intense brightness reminded me of these words about the light of the gospel that dispells the darkness of sin.
For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made His light shine in our hearts to give us light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. 2 Corinthinians 4:6

Next time you see the full moon, thank God for giving us His light, THE way for us, in His Son, Jesus!

"Wattle" Keep the Deer Out?

Or should I say, "What will keep the deer out of our garden?" We are hoping that this 7 foot wattle fence will do the trick! Since we moved here, we have been talking about thinning out the saplings and clearing out brush from the property. Building this fence is how we are doing that. In two weekends, we have only finished about 50 feet of one side of the garden. The whole garden is about 100 feet x 70 feet. So, we are certain this will take many, many weekends to complete. While we are working towards completing this fence we have decided to put up a galvanized, welded, wire fence on the incomplete sections. This will allow us to go ahead and start our early spring planting with some protection. If nothing else, it will surely keep the dogs out. I know there is no hope for the cats, but maybe they won't eat too much!

During our many hours of working we have thought of many "wattle" phrases. Here are just a few....
~This will take a very long time to build, "wattle" we thinking?
~"Wattle" we think of next?
~"Wattle Day!"
~"Wattle" we doing this for?
~"Wattle" the kids doing?
~Whistle "wattle" you work!
And my personal favorite... (Dad this one is for you)
~ooo ee ooo ah-ah ting tang "wattle, wattle" bing bang!

Having More Fun than Chickens in a Coop

Here is a look back at our adventures in raising our first flock of chickens.

I guess I should start by saying that it was always a big joke between us that we were one day going to get some chickens. John would always tease me, the concrete/city girl, about getting them. Well, when we moved here and started looking into the craziness of the poultry farm business in our area, I began to look into organic and pastured poultry as an alternative to the 5 week hormone-induced growth period for the major commercial poultry farms. Next, we leisurely looked into different breeds of chickens and housing required. Then, before we knew it we were building the chicken coop. 98% of this thing was made out of scrap wood that the previous owner left on the property. We only bought the hinges and the metal roof was from the scrap yard. Our chickens should be quite cozy in here. Next we planned the range yard for them to graze on. The overall design is completely portable. We seeded the power line area of the property and planned to let the chickens graze there until spring.

On November 12, 2008, our Buff Orpington chicks were hatched at Ideal Poultry Farm in Cameron, Texas, and overnighted to us. We decided on this breed because they are a dual purpose bird (good for eggs and meat) and they have a very docile temperament. We ordered 10 pullets and 1 male to start our backyard flock.

The call came at 7:30 am to pick up our live shipment at the post office. So, off we go to welcome our little baby chicks. Funny how there are days when you don't see a soul out and about town running errands, but they day your baby chicks arrive you run into lots of folks. (Keep in mind we only know a handful of acquaintances anyway since we moved over the summer.) It was quite funny to talk to some ladies from church with a baby on one hip and a wobbly, peeping box on the other.

We were very pleased with our chicks. They were quite strong and seemingly very healthy. Right away, one by one, they each had there beaks dunked into the water and chick starter and they began to huddle near the heat lamp until all were warmed. After many weeks of researching and reading about chick care, I was a bit nervous about the whole idea of raising chicks, but I was just amazed at how they each just "knew what to do". The hardest part was keeping the cats and dogs out of they way while transporting them to the brooder. Due to shipping, the poultry farm sent 5 extra males for warmth. So, it is a good thing we built the brooder box big enough because now we had 16 baby chicks.

What an experience it was watching the chicks grow. The children enjoyed coming home from school and rushing to the brooder to check on the chicks. It is amazing how quickly they grow... even without hormones added to the food. One thing we will all remember is that the cats would lie on top of the brooder near the heat lamp to stay warm. They would peer down through the wire net for hours and watch the little guys pop around. Even today, the cats walk over to the chickens and just lie down on the ground and watch them peck around. I am convinced that Morris thinks those chickens are his family because they are the same color as he is. It is the whole Tigger movie thing I think.

At about 9 weeks old we butchered the 5 extra males and put them in the freezer before the meat got too tough. The pecking order was a little too much to handle and the coop was a bit too cozy since they were all getting so big. The little guys were just that.... very little under all those feathers. We only made 2 meals out of those 5 chickens. Oh well, they were tasty for sure. We plan to keep most of the others until the egg laying slows down then we will probably replace them with some of their baby chicks.

Our ladies are 16 weeks old now and have been started on layer ration. We are expecting eggs around the last week of March. Just in time for Easter!

Surprise in Our Neck of the Woods

Sunday, March 1, 2009, brought us a very welcomed surprise. Snow, snow and more snow! Of course we played and built a snowman, but the real surprise came when I gave in to the serious temptation to take a walk in the woods. I was simply stunned at the beauty of God's masterpiece... His marvelous creation! The snow covered branches, howling wind, plump red cardinals hopping about seemingly everywhere, the roaring creek rushing so swiftly, and the blankets of snow in the fields across the fence were all so amazing in their "winter white" attire. It was as if all of God's creation began to sing for joy.... all I had to do was stop, look and listen. There is no doubt that the warmth I felt in my heart was a gift from God our father. I am so thankful for that 30 minute walk and all of the surprises I encountered. Take a look around you today. What surprises are you thankful for in your neck of the woods?

Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it; let the fields be jubilant and everything in them. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy; they will sing before the Lord, for he comes, he comes to judge the earth. Psalm 96:11-13