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Category Archives: Farm
Ready For an Orchard?
Last week, we added the next big thing to the farm. We ordered fruit trees to begin our little orchard – 4 apples, 2 peaches, and a cherry tree, all dwarfs. These are from a local orchard, as we are … Continue reading
Posted in Farm, Farm Animals, Gardening
Tagged chickens, fruit trees, orchard, planting an orchard
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Spring Colors
I’m really appreciating the spring renewal around here. This was a bumper crop year for the fluorescent yellow “Wintercress” that we last saw in such glory back in 2010. Since then, we added the maple trees, the chickens and goats, the … Continue reading
Farm Disaster Month
We’ve had more excitement than I’d like this month. The big March winds last week flipped the goat shed over onto its roof. Nobody was hurt, thankfully, but we had to do some crazy maneuvering with the jeep to pull … Continue reading
Frozen Drips
There is a sheen of ice on everything, with drips off the trees and the fence caught in suspended animation as the temperature fluctuates between 32 and 30 all day long. The electric fence stopped its warning “tick” which probably indicates … Continue reading
Spring Teaser
We are in a temporary thaw, with furious winds last night shaking the house and helping to evaporate off some of the excess moisture. The animals are taking this as a sign of spring and everyone is frisky. I opened the door … Continue reading
Chickens In The Mist
It is a slow September morning on the farm and the cool, wet fog is dampening the sights and sounds around me. I went out for my morning visit to the barn to feed and greet the animals and had to slap … Continue reading
More Deluge Surprises
I went out to inspect the animals to see how the heavy rain impacted them. The cardboard box the baby chicks called home was soaked and falling apart. They were pecking holes in it already, so I quickly constructed a … Continue reading
How To Grow Broccoli?
This year, we tried an experiment and planted a row in the vegetable garden with eggplant, broccoli, cauliflower, and brussels sprouts. I like to eat all of them, but could we make it grow? The plants are all growing well … Continue reading
“Normal”
Sometimes, I think that the most heavenly state I ever experience is when things are just NORMAL. Perhaps I am getting to be secretly obsessive/compulsive as I age, in that I crave a predictable routine. Special activities are nice but my … Continue reading
Bird Nests
We’ve been a virtual hatching factory around here this month. The finches up in the front porch columns are on their second batch of babies, after the first three hatchlings did not do well. The new ones are in full … Continue reading
The Next Big Thing
We are slowly, tentatively, approaching the big day on which our Bluestem Pond Farm adopts its first two goats. I had always thought, “Sheep!” I have a spinning wheel and am able to spin out thread for yarn in a clumsy way, … Continue reading
Appreciating Growth
When we began building this farm, we had a long-range plan and a commitment to pick away at it year to year until the entire dream became a reality. Part of this strategy included trust and patience that we could start … Continue reading
Oops – rushed Mother Nature
We have big pillars holding up the front porch of our house, painted a lovely cream color. Each spring, we’ve battled the birds who recognize them for what they are (in the avian world) – nesting shelves. The first year … Continue reading
Spring Renewal
Things are coming back to life on Bluestem Pond. It’s been a long winter and a lot has happened to pull my attention away from the blog, but I think it’s time to come back out of hibernation, as the … Continue reading
The February Melt
This is turning into a nice, mild winter in Michigan. We have had some hard cold spells, but this week the winds were powerful and the sun shone enough to dry things out pretty quickly. Honestly, the whole house shook … Continue reading
Snow Day, 2016
It doesn’t look that bad out. I was looking forward to band rehearsal and was ready to mobilize when my husband announced that band was cancelled due to snow. As it turns out, all the local schools are closed, too. … Continue reading
Imagining a White Christmas
Michigan is expected to have the warmest December, ever, and the snowy Christmas we wish for will probably be mild, gray, and misty. We had a short cold spell last week that I captured on film and we’ll just have … Continue reading
Trapped!
When I discovered a little muskrat hut in my pond, I was somewhat charmed by the idea of more wildlife adding to our menagerie. I pulled the nest out of the water and tore it apart before it got out of hand. Little … Continue reading
A Local Turkey
This year, I was the turkey …at the table, not on it. We were looking forward to a low-key, small family Thanksgiving dinner at home and I decided that we might fully participate in the farm life by purchasing a turkey … Continue reading
