We will try to explain what this site is about, but we would like to send-out this notice before we lose your interest with our small-time, homesteader ramblings.
Below and in the pages to follow, we want to show by example, that one individual, one family, and one simple philosophy can make a difference. We don’t have to do the things we all have been taught. School does not teach us how to succeed, how to live or how to make a difference. We learn by example… not the example of movie stars, politicians (Yeah! We’re talking about you Al Gore) or sometimes our parents. We need to find individuals and families that put into practice what they preach.
Carol went out this morning with camera in hand. She took a few photos and this video.
We don’t typically keep our animals indoors, but during the winter, when we’re expecting little ones, we do. We want to be there to keep an eye on the babies. That… and they’re so darn cute we don’t want to miss out.
Once the weather warms abit, we’ll turn them out on pasture. There they will remain until next winter.
I just found another easy way to spend $1000… and have nothing to show for it.
Yesterday was cold and windy. That’s why when I called our local well & pump service company (Marcus Water Well Co), I told them to wait for more suitable weather.
Today was just as cold but not at all windy. Today, Marcus service guys came out with the truck to check things out. Last year they replaced a pressure-switch but felt that the pressure-switch was fine this time – they didn’t even order one for us. Based on our phone conservation on Monday, they thought the well problems we were experiencing was a little more serious. They were right.
After 2 solid years of praising our flawless operating Ritchie brand automatic waterers, I was a bit surprised [and alarmed] last night to see that one of the waterers had no water in it. It was the green Ritchie – the one in the goat & sheep yard. During chores that day, I noticed frost around the water trough portion of the waterer (I could see it from the barn)… but before I finished chores, I had forgotten about it. Then early last night, when doing chores again, I thought it strange that the goats and sheep were so noisy. I checked their hay… that looked good. OH CRAP! I remembered that I needed to look at the waterer.
Before Carol would allow any ham to be sold, she wanted to make sure it was the best… or at the very least, better than any ham you could buy within 100 miles of here. I think it’s safe to say, our ham exceeded our expectations. Plain and simple… you will not find a better tasting ham than what comes from our farm.
Farm raised, 3 pound ham
Pictured above is one of our many 3± lb hams that we have available for sale this year. Our soy-free, pastured hams are easy to prepare. Thaw, unwrap and bake. It doesn’t get any easier than that. If you’ve never made a ham before, these are the hams for you. Our ham was so good, it would have been a shame to put a glaze on it.
Yesterday, we went into town to pick up the pork we had processed. The first thing we did was ask the butcher how our hog compared to others he had seen. He replied, “It was the best looking pork he had processed.“ And that is an exact quote. He seemed to pause a little when we told him the hog was pastured-raised and fed wheat as their only grain. He then encouraged us to keep feeding our other hogs the same way.
For the folks who have been wanting details about our pork: GOOD NEWS… we have figured out our costs (processing, feed cost, the purchase of the feeder pig and added-in is a little for our time). Here is the updated Farm Products Price List.
Carol, the kids and I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas.
To our customers: Thank you for giving us an opportunity to serve you and to provide you with food you can live with… food that is good for you… and food that came from plants & animals that were treated as God intended.
To our friends: Thanks SO much for helping us. We appreciate your encouragement, support and the help you give us when we need it. You give this area its sense of community.
Curly Sue is one of our purebred American Guinea Hogs that is pregnant. She was due to farrow yesterday (Dec. 21). As you can see in the photo, her underline is developing. As of this morning, we could not express any milk, nor is her mammary area warm to the touch. This leads us to believe she may be more than a day out from giving birth. But really, who knows? She’s a first time mom and with that said, anything can happen.
What a difference a year makes. Last year at this time, those of us who call west-central Minnesota home had 3 ft of snow on the ground already. This year we have none. When we do get snow, it’s only a dusting and the above normal temps, quickly melt it.
Our area has a 90% chance of “enjoying” a brown Christmas. A white Christmas is defined [by our local TV weather guys] as having at least ½” of snow on the ground (often referred to as snow-pack). If you view our webcam from time to time, you can plainly see that we have no snow. Any white we experience is usually nothing more than the frost each morning.
As you may have noticed, I put a few lights up on the blog… and yes, I’ll be taking them down by the New Year. It may seem a little redundant to have a photo of the blog, well… on the blog. But, since this gets posted on our Facebook page, I thought it would be a nice touch.
Christmas lights on a blog are sustainable
Carol and I hope you are all having a wonderful AND safe Christmas thus far.
And yes! Blog Christmas lights are a sustainable Christmas decoration.
Our blog is to inform and entertain you as we pursue our goal of starting a small, west-central, MN family farm.
Here we plan on recording thoughts, projects, farm additions and other note-worthy happenings. We are not fancy people… we never were… humorous maybe, but not fancy.
Our blog is to inform and entertain you as we pursue our goal of starting a small, west-central, MN family farm.
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