New Norm Farm

A Family Farm Making Local Food Production the Norm – Again!

Kyle

A Bearded Farm Journal – Day 10

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Thursday January 18, We are having another cold snap or should I say “Oh, snap!” Well, in any sense it means frozen waterers, carrying out buckets of water, and switching out the rabbit waterers multiple times a day. On a good note, it did snow and the kiddos are extremely excited.

It was extremely cold yesterday especially out in the field moving the cows. We finished up our last temporary paddock in the north west field and had to move the cows to the north east field which is a little bit of a trek. Good thing they have 4WD built in because it was slick. Since we have been moving the cows daily, we have built a level of trust with them and they know when we come out it is to give them good things like fresh pasture. With that said, it came time to actually move them. We had a lane created from the field to field and all that was left was to get them to use the lane. To the neighbors it probably looked strange but I opened the lane and began to call the cows by mooing and calling their names. They started coming and they followed me all the way to the new paddock. It made me think about a scripture, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” – John 10:27-28 King James Version. When we trust Jesus Christ as our Lord and saviour, we hear his voice and He knows us, and we follow Him. He wants to lead us through the bad and rough times to the green pasture. It was very comforting. If you would like to know more about Jesus, click this link The Gospel and don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions.

On another exciting note, Poppy ate out of my hand for the first time this week. It was one of the moments that just made you excited and filled with joy. I know I had been feeling a little overwhelmed and I had been fighting with Poppy to lead him out to pasture in the mornings and it  seemed no matter what treat I brought him, he did not want any part of me. Just the other day I took out an apple and thought he will turn his nose up at me again but no he took it and I got it on video!! It was a great moment and a great encouragement. I might be making to much of the situation but it was one of those moments as a farmer that warms your heart.

On the garden front it is time to start planning out what seeds we need and where we want to plant. Also time to think about cleaning up the garden beds. The bad thing is that it is to cold and the ground is wet and then frozen so I can’t do the things I need to.

To end on a happy note, I took the kiddos down to see their cousin Addi, Uncle Eric(my brother), and Aunt Lauren. They had a great time. Aunt Lauren has been making her on kombucha which in the most basic terms is fermented tea packed full of probiotics. It is an acquired taste which I hope to acquire and get my family to acquire for the health benefits. She was nice enough to split off her soby which is what makes it ferment and give me directions to make some of my very own kombucha. I will link to a post with the recipe Here.

Well, till next time. Get in the Dirt & Get Growing!!!

Kyle – a bearded farmer

A Bearded Farm Journal – Day 8

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Sunday January 7, I will start today by saying Happy New Year!!! I know a little late but if you are like us, the holiday season is a constant go, go, go time. It went by like a blur. They kids had a blast and it was good catching up with family that you don’t see throughout the year. We are excited  to get back to a normal routine and to slow down and take a breath. Well slow down with the family get togethers anyway. It is time to start prepping for the spring growing season.

Alright, let’s catch up on the farm activities. Here we go:  

  • Just before Christmas we had a bull calf born. We named him Nicholas.
  • The chickens are still working hard on preparing the garden spot.
  • Ice has been our enemy these past couple weeks.
  • Carrying buckets of water every morning and and having to break ice off the waterers throughout the day.
  • Swapping the Rabbit waters out at night and the water nipples throughout the day.
  • And dumping out all the water buckets out at night so they are not big ice cubes in the morning.
  • The good news is the bad cold snap is on its way out.
  • Our daily cattle ration is going well. We are continuing to roll a bale of hay out each day on the new spot.
  • Daisy’s bull calf Poppy decided to get out and go on some day field trips to see the other cows for a few days in a row. We seem to have him under control now but he definitely gave me a cardio workout.
  • Today our sow decided to take a field trip in the morning. Penelope had pushed a her hay on the electric line which allowed her to get out and visit the other animals.

Well, till next time. Get in the Dirt & Get Growing!!!

Kyle – a bearded farmer

 

 

 

 

A Bearded Farm Journal – Day 6

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Saturday November 11th started off nice cool and crisp morning. Daisy was happy to see me as I came to get her for the morning milking. The thought crossed my mind of how people go to the store for milk, I am blessed to get to go to the freshest market everyday. After the milking was done, it was time to get the normal chores out of the way. Let the chickens out/feed them, feed Penelope, check the cows and rabbits.

Once back to the house it was time to plan out the big cattle move latter in the afternoon. I wanted the dew to get off the grass before heading out in the field (actually for the sun to warm it up a bit to be honest). We had a family visit the farm. The family was in the area and wanted to stop by to see the farm since they found us online. They are planning on getting their own chickens(dual purpose meat/egg). It was a very nice and refreshing visit.

We had the beef cows in the back paddock and we used up the last day and it was time to move them to the front SW paddock. We had to layout a new lane to the pond for the cows to be able to get a drink of fresh water. We put the fence so the cows can get their head to the water but are not able to go for a swim that way the water stays fresh. We decide to cut the paddock in half then to cut that in half. We then have a checkerboard so to say of cattle moves. This has made it easier for us to keep up a daily rotation. One side of the temporary paddocks or set but we have one side we move at will. This makes it where we can set up for multiple paddocks ahead of time but keep just enough flexibility that if we see they need more or less grass we can accommodate easily.

I thought I might list  the tools that we use for our rotation.

Well, till next time. Get in the Dirt & Get Growing!!!

 

Kyle – a bearded farmer

A Bearded Farm Journal – Day 5

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It’s Thursday November 2nd and it has been an eventful week. We have been  busy trying to get ready for fall. The garden was harvested for the last time. It was a great time as we all pitched in to help but also a little sad knowing that harvest time has come to an end.

The eventful week I mentioned started about 3 a.m. Monday morning when we woke up to an awful smell. I’m not talking “babies got a poopie” here. I’m talking about face-plant in the pillow and try to breathe without gagging. You guessed it. – a skunk had managed to get under the house and turn our nice, warm home into its home. And boy was he was reeking! Even better, since there was no way to get him out until dark without making matters worse, we just had to put up with the smell all day. It was a wonderful time.

Finally, when the sun started going down and we had come to a stopping point on harvest and garden clean up, we herded the kids inside and as soon as we walked in the door that pungent smell hit us again. It was a great reminder that my day was not over. So, I let Kassy and kids get washed up while I went back out to seal up any holes that a skunk could get in or out of – except one. I wanted his only way out to lead right into a trap.

And, since skunks are nocturnal, I knew it was only a matter of time until he would make his way out to start scavenging for the night. So, just outside the hole, I set up a live trap baited with candy. I covered it with a tarp so I could approach it and not get sprayed once the unwitting skunk followed the goodie trail into the waiting cage. Then, with it all set up, I proceeded inside to join the family for dinner. Did I mention the less-than-deliciously thick odor permeating the entire house? It was motivating. So motivating I went back outside to add a little extra bait just to make sure that a greedy skunk would find his way into the trap.

It was then as I walked out the door I caught the slight movement and realized that God had blessed our efforts. The skunk was caught!  Praise God! With the tarp covering the cage I was able to pick up the cage and move the skunk without him seeing me which would likely cause him to spray. Slowly and carefully I relocated him to his final destination and we began airing out the house. Fortunately the weather is warming up for a bit.

Tuesday evening we let the kids dress up and took them to a local church’s Fall Harvest Celebration. We took the time to make sure the kids new it was Reformation Day and what happened in 1517. You can follow the link to get the full information but it is a very important date in history and we should all know about it. The kids had a great time as they got candy and hotdogs which are typically not on our approved food choices. Plus, they had games and a hay ride.

Today we continued cleaning up the garden area. We got all the t-posts/trellises and tomato cages put up into the barn to store over winter. After getting that out of the way, we got the tractor out to spread some wood chips and also to try and get rid of a couple stumps. We have been slowly working on them the past few years as it was all that’s left from an old overgrown fence line. The stumps are small but connected with old fence which makes them difficult. Today Maryam and I were successful. The stumps are gone and now we can truly begin the backyard play/entertainment area for the family we have been talking about.

Well, till next time. Get in the Dirt & Get Growing!!!

 

Kyle – a bearded farmer

A Bearded Farm Journal – Day 4

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Today is Saturday October 28th and I have a confession this week. I have not been the super farmer that I want to be. The past couple days I have not milked and just let Poppy have it all. Poppy has been happy. In the theme of confession, I was suppose to write this post on Thursday but as we can see that has not happened. On positive note the last time I milked, I got a full ½ gallon and was able to bring it in to drink instead of Penelope getting it and it tasted good. Penelope was a little disappointed. I believe that I could have got more milk but I ran out of time. Time, my arch nemesis.

Daisy and Poppy are getting use to the routine of coming up to the barn stall in the evening by themselves. I have the electric fence set up so they are no longer being staked out which is good because we don’t have to worry about Poppy getting tangled up. When we get the perimeter fence fixed where they are fully contained no matter where they are on the farm I would like to stake Daisy and just let the calve explore(because the calf would go too far from momma and he would be contained to stay on farm) and that way we could more easily use daisy as a mower around the house and barn. Anyways back to the subject of routine, when I go out in the evening with a arm full of hay Daisy and Poppy see me and begin walking in from the pasture to meet me at the stall. I then hook momma up near the hay and take Poppy to the other side of the stall and hook him up. We have the stall divided in two by a cattle panel so Poppy can’t nurse at night that way we can milk in the morning.

It has been crazy and busy but we are so blessed. We have a tree company that has brought us two loads of wood chips and I got them to dump them in our orchard area so it will be easier to spread. I got them spread out so we have about a quarter of our orchard  covered. We are doing a really deep much to kill off the grass. The goal is to get about 12 inches deep. We also plan to cover a portion of the garden area as well. All in hopes to get ready for spring. The thing I have learned farming is that you are always preparing for the next season. I’m not great at it but I/we are getting better and striving to do better each season.

Well till next time. Get in the Dirt & Get Growing!!!

Kyle – a bearded farmer

A Bearded Farm Journal – Day 3

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Today is Sunday October 22nd and it was the first day that we decided to milk Daisy. The night before we re-watched the videos on how to hand milk a cow and got our make shift supplies together. A stainless steel pot since we haven’t got our milk pail yet, a wash rag to clean the udders, and a bucket to sit on. I was ready to go.  It was going well especially since this was my first time milking ever. We had put a piece of cattle panel to separate the stall in half so Daisy could see Poppy but he could not nurse. It worked out great. It was nice and easy to go get Daisy and leave Poppy still in the stall. I took Daisy around the corner to try and milk. Gave her a bucket of hay with some minerals to keep her busy while I tried to milk.

I had everything set up and seemed to be going great. Started by wiping the udders down which went smooth then squeezed a couple squirt from each teat to make sure there was no dirt clogged in there. It was time to milk. (took me a little longer than planned to get started milking. I put my pot down and began to milk. It started okay but by this time Poppy started calling out for momma and that made Daisy a little antsy. She started moving and kicked up dirt into the bucket. I had to pull her back into place, calm her down and start again. It went on back and forth for a little bit. I made sure to end the milking process on a good note with a steady milking and her standing still. I finished and told her good job and gave her a little rub and scratch after moving the milk to a safe distance. I then took her out to the pasture and brought poppy out with here as well. I could tell Poppy was definitely not use to this arrangement as he went straight to nursing like crazy(he must have been in the routine of playing during the day and nursing at night) because he normally didn’t do that.

All in all it was a good and valuable lesson learned for me and Daisy. The things we both learned was the new routine of being milked in the morning and that I needed to pick a better spot out of ear shot of Poppy. I learned that I needed to choose a place with a solid floor and wall. The floor so there would be less chance of dirt getting in the milk and the wall so I can press against Daisy into the wall and it will come her down. I didn’t get this entry wrote til after day 2 of the milking experience so I will tell you a little about the new area I chose. On day 2, I chose to use our processing area where we normally process our chickens. The reason for this is that it has a solid floor, roof, and now walls but a deep freezer that acted like a good wall. I set up a feeder on one side of the freezer so that I would bring Daisy’s head to it putting her side against the freezer. I used a rope to pull around from the front to her back end so that it would act as a squeeze and would resemble the milking station she was use too. It worked a lot better than day 1. She stood still except for one time she moved but with the rope and wall I was able to give a little squeeze and she stood still. We are both learning each other’s expectations. I have included a little video of the results of day 1 & 2 for your viewing pleasure. You will see that we have made progress. Penelope was very happy, as she got day 1 & 2’s milk.

Well till next time. Get in the Dirt & Get Growing!!!

Kyle – a bearded farmer

 

 

 

 

 

 

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