Friday, March 29, 2013
Pigger Diet
Big day for the piggers, yesterday was the final day of their second 50lb bag of grower pellets, alot of which has gone wasted on the ground. They have pasture and fodder to eat and they are thriving so far. We are changing them to fodder feed 12-15 lbs per day, pasture and supplementing with 5lbs of grower each day. Need to keep a close watch for change in energy levels and weight loss. And the first round of kids arrived last night, so it will be up early, pancakes and eggs, boots and jackets and early morning chores. Whoopee!!! Fresh legs in the game.
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Springtime is for FAMILY
Peaceful Valley Farm Supply in Grass Valley has become an important resource of information, seed, trees and gardening plants. They are beyond helpful and supportive, friendly and efficient - the good just keeps coming and we're so excited because the small orchard planted as bareroot last winter has begun to fruit. We actually have little mini apricots on our earliest, the beginnings of raspberries are starting to form and all others are budding or have flowered - WHOOPEE!!
This weekend - all the kids are coming home with their kids to gather round the firepit, Chelsea and Inde we really wish you could be here and will miss you being with us. We have a list of projects they can choose to do and have fun with, the little ones love to help on the farm. Topping my list is the greenhouse, it lost a roof panel during the winter storm and needs replacing and the inside needs to be cleaned and prepared for new seedlings. Always have pine cones to gather, bottom of the new trees need white paint, need a better sun shade for the piggers and plenty of little limbs and branches from the pine tree that fell on the building - we still have some limbs on the roof that need to be pulled down.
This weekend - all the kids are coming home with their kids to gather round the firepit, Chelsea and Inde we really wish you could be here and will miss you being with us. We have a list of projects they can choose to do and have fun with, the little ones love to help on the farm. Topping my list is the greenhouse, it lost a roof panel during the winter storm and needs replacing and the inside needs to be cleaned and prepared for new seedlings. Always have pine cones to gather, bottom of the new trees need white paint, need a better sun shade for the piggers and plenty of little limbs and branches from the pine tree that fell on the building - we still have some limbs on the roof that need to be pulled down.
Salad Bar Farm - Routine?
Sitting here over my morning cup a jo - planning the day, the chores, the want tos and remembering what was left undone yesterday. Realizing that just like any job, after so long when you stand up to leave not all is completed, always some for tomorrow and the daily chores don't stop.
So Cliff is in to AtoZ buying a part for the ag pump system, necessary before covering up the trench. I am delaying going outside, it's so cold albeit sunny. We'll say good morning to the piggers, look to see if the ducks ate the cracked corn we left for them and then off to do the fodder. I'm excited to see if the pair of wild ducks can be encouraged to call our pond their home. Wouldn't that be great.
Need to take cuttings off the Photinea for planting in the fall. Hope I can do it right, probably need about 100 to plant on the fence line. We should be up there plowing the garden and planting seeds in the greenhouse, but that will have to wait until next week. And searching for beef cows.
So Cliff is in to AtoZ buying a part for the ag pump system, necessary before covering up the trench. I am delaying going outside, it's so cold albeit sunny. We'll say good morning to the piggers, look to see if the ducks ate the cracked corn we left for them and then off to do the fodder. I'm excited to see if the pair of wild ducks can be encouraged to call our pond their home. Wouldn't that be great.
Need to take cuttings off the Photinea for planting in the fall. Hope I can do it right, probably need about 100 to plant on the fence line. We should be up there plowing the garden and planting seeds in the greenhouse, but that will have to wait until next week. And searching for beef cows.
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Beautiful Spring Day
Here at Salad Bar Farm, we start early. Sunday morning up at 530am, armed with coffee, enjoy the beautiful sunrise. As the day turned warm, I took pleasure in the sweet peas growing in the front garden. If only the portable house for chickens were built.
Friends came by and we enjoyed a light picnic before showing off the fodder system. He was raised on a big farm in Idaho and said his mother would get samples of seed and sprout them first to determine which sample would have the best germination and that's the one they would plant. He asked me to grow some sprouts for salads and sandwiches, I hadn't thought of that but should give it a try.
The piggers are on their second 50 lb bag of feed and even though they've only been here a week, their weight gain is obvious. This feed is grower instead of the starter. They are more playful now and when I approach the pen, they run up to meet me. Very funny watching them trot, their little legs are so short and when in action the whole body moves and quickly too. They do everything as a group, always competing for the same space. I took photos and will post those and the ones we took last week. It may be a visual of the growth.
Friends came by and we enjoyed a light picnic before showing off the fodder system. He was raised on a big farm in Idaho and said his mother would get samples of seed and sprout them first to determine which sample would have the best germination and that's the one they would plant. He asked me to grow some sprouts for salads and sandwiches, I hadn't thought of that but should give it a try.
The piggers are on their second 50 lb bag of feed and even though they've only been here a week, their weight gain is obvious. This feed is grower instead of the starter. They are more playful now and when I approach the pen, they run up to meet me. Very funny watching them trot, their little legs are so short and when in action the whole body moves and quickly too. They do everything as a group, always competing for the same space. I took photos and will post those and the ones we took last week. It may be a visual of the growth.
Since May of 2012, Cliff and I have been working outside on our DoubleB Ranch in Nevada County, established in 1975. When we first bought the property in 1974 we thought it would be a retirement dream but luck prevailed, a transfer and in 1975 we moved up to a beautiful 10acre slice of heaven. With one infant, a little money from our homesale in So Cal., a dog and a fully restored 1963 Corvette, we survived without power, running water or electricity for an entire year - And my kids ask why we never got into camping?
A wonderful thing happened right after our great luck in finding our 10 acres. My folks, who were out of the country for the following 5 years, were able to buy the section next to us. After their retirement, they built a house with a view. We had double stairs, (stye) that allowed us to take a short cut between the two homes. It has been one of the best experiences in our life, having them grow up with my kids, being a part of our family and being right next door.
In the next 30 years we were blessed with four more healthy beautiful children, we managed to plant an orchard, fence and cross fence for animals, build a house, a barn, a couple of bike and garden sheds, put in an above ground pool and had a great big back yard. The kids had a horse and a pony, a quad and golf cart; we grew pigs, had a milk cow, chickens and a 3 or 4 beef cows.
As the kids became more involved in activities, we racked up miles on the car, had less time to manage the the ranch chores and became huge supporters of the pizza parlors. Then a new business, graduations, weddings, retirement, going to sea, and the Army, had influence over our "disposable time". The pastures became weedy and overgrown, the orchard trees died, the pool was removed, the animals and kids all moved on.
And now it 2012 here and we are looking at last year's efforts, the orchard has been replanted, and we look forward to a light harvest. The raspberries are performing beautifully. All the fruit trees are beginning to blossom, some are leafing out, the grapes are starting to show signs of life, and the blueberries are looking like bushes. The pasture that was replanted last year is green and beginning to get taller. We're searching for a good price on 3 beef cows to graze on the irrigated, the dryland planted and the alla "natural".
We discovered a new wave thinking - FODDER! Remembering how expensive feed was when we had to buy, prompted us to catch and hold water in our pond during the season for irrigating. We bought a pump, lots of pipe and dug trenches. But still we think we may need supplement which is where the fodder comes in. Wanting to keep everything as natural, wholesome and homegrown as possible, this is a perfect solution.
Fodder sprouting! The feed alternative that doesn't make you a weather slave. It's grown indoors, you control the water and temperature, it produces in 7-9 days a "biscuit" that is, in our case, sized to our container, 12-15 lbs.
So we bought 3 little Hampshire weaner pigs from Hog Hollow Farms. Steven is very knowledgeable and helpful with his suggestions. The little boys were thrilled and came to visit on their first day, they are city boys but not afraid to get in the pen and pet and talk. The piglets, having been born and raised the first weeks of their life on concrete, were positively giddy about being able to root up the pasture, the enclosed area is so big, most of the area is still green after a week. Fodder - they loved it. There is so much to eat they aren't using all of it but it's always best to make gradual changes in the diet and of course after the pasture has turned to dirt from their vociferous rooting, it will become "mo bettah".
Stay tuned for more to come on the progress at Salad Bar Farms. Healthy eating and grass fed animals is the goal, fodder is the method we have chosen. Next purchase is beef cows, meantime I am looking at plans for a portable chicken house so we can move them to greener pastures or in the orchard. Along with this, the garden has been neglected, nothing is growing yet in the green house - we have to get started.
A wonderful thing happened right after our great luck in finding our 10 acres. My folks, who were out of the country for the following 5 years, were able to buy the section next to us. After their retirement, they built a house with a view. We had double stairs, (stye) that allowed us to take a short cut between the two homes. It has been one of the best experiences in our life, having them grow up with my kids, being a part of our family and being right next door.
In the next 30 years we were blessed with four more healthy beautiful children, we managed to plant an orchard, fence and cross fence for animals, build a house, a barn, a couple of bike and garden sheds, put in an above ground pool and had a great big back yard. The kids had a horse and a pony, a quad and golf cart; we grew pigs, had a milk cow, chickens and a 3 or 4 beef cows.
As the kids became more involved in activities, we racked up miles on the car, had less time to manage the the ranch chores and became huge supporters of the pizza parlors. Then a new business, graduations, weddings, retirement, going to sea, and the Army, had influence over our "disposable time". The pastures became weedy and overgrown, the orchard trees died, the pool was removed, the animals and kids all moved on.
And now it 2012 here and we are looking at last year's efforts, the orchard has been replanted, and we look forward to a light harvest. The raspberries are performing beautifully. All the fruit trees are beginning to blossom, some are leafing out, the grapes are starting to show signs of life, and the blueberries are looking like bushes. The pasture that was replanted last year is green and beginning to get taller. We're searching for a good price on 3 beef cows to graze on the irrigated, the dryland planted and the alla "natural".
We discovered a new wave thinking - FODDER! Remembering how expensive feed was when we had to buy, prompted us to catch and hold water in our pond during the season for irrigating. We bought a pump, lots of pipe and dug trenches. But still we think we may need supplement which is where the fodder comes in. Wanting to keep everything as natural, wholesome and homegrown as possible, this is a perfect solution.
Fodder sprouting! The feed alternative that doesn't make you a weather slave. It's grown indoors, you control the water and temperature, it produces in 7-9 days a "biscuit" that is, in our case, sized to our container, 12-15 lbs.
So we bought 3 little Hampshire weaner pigs from Hog Hollow Farms. Steven is very knowledgeable and helpful with his suggestions. The little boys were thrilled and came to visit on their first day, they are city boys but not afraid to get in the pen and pet and talk. The piglets, having been born and raised the first weeks of their life on concrete, were positively giddy about being able to root up the pasture, the enclosed area is so big, most of the area is still green after a week. Fodder - they loved it. There is so much to eat they aren't using all of it but it's always best to make gradual changes in the diet and of course after the pasture has turned to dirt from their vociferous rooting, it will become "mo bettah".
Stay tuned for more to come on the progress at Salad Bar Farms. Healthy eating and grass fed animals is the goal, fodder is the method we have chosen. Next purchase is beef cows, meantime I am looking at plans for a portable chicken house so we can move them to greener pastures or in the orchard. Along with this, the garden has been neglected, nothing is growing yet in the green house - we have to get started.
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