I miss our Farm Store. I want to share with you today how we set it up–what we included, what we learned, and what made it successful. Start with a Cozy Space This might be difficult to come-by on a farm. We used a room that was part of our home that had an … Read more
We sold our farm in February, and moved to an apartment for 2 months. In April, we moved into our home, in a neighborhood, on a 1/4 acre lot. Last weekend someone asked us what the biggest difference was between living on a farm and living in a neighborhood. Can I just share a few … Read more
photo credit: Rosewoman If you don’t know my story already, let me share it with you in brief: We bought a farm, worked it hard, tried to do the full-time-farming thing. We poured so much into our farm–time, energy, money, debt. We had good products, great customers, and yet, we didn’t make it. The farm … Read more
One of our Barred Rock pullets. I called our first Barred Rock hen “Jackie O” because I thought she was dressed in such a nice outfit. 🙂 I wrote yesterday about our decision to sell the farm. You were all so supportive and caring! I couldn’t sleep last night, thinking of how we might be … Read more
How do I start? This is such a big change in our life…. This is our fourth summer raising chickens, hogs, turkeys, ducks, and geese. We raise our meat with a no-soy, no-corn, non-GMO feed (we used to use a completely organic feed, but it’s no longer available). We produce an amazing product. The people … Read more
We just sent out our first e-mail, offering to raise chickens with soy and corn and even GMO’s, only because we are not finding many customers who are willing to pay the price point for our chicken. It feels like we’re going against our own standards–buying a conventional type of feed, with soy and corn, and whatever … Read more
When we first purchased our farm, we bought “about 1 year old” chickens off of Craigslist. They were adorable, and it was a fun experience, but we have learned a lot since then. If you’re thinking about buying chickens, you might want to consider the advantages and disadvantages of buying day old chicks and the … Read more
This is a question that is up for debate! There are different theories on the subject. The short answer? No. Chicken eggs have an invisible membrane around them called a “bloom,” and as long as the bloom is intact, bacteria (good or bad) will not get into the egg. If you wash your eggs, you … Read more
photo credit Let’s say you’re convinced. You want chickens. You think they’re super cute, fun, and you’re up for this new project. And maybe you’re married to someone who does not feel the same as you when it comes to the idea of getting chickens. How do you convince this person that getting chickens would … Read more
If you’re thinking about getting chickens, you might be wondering how many eggs they will give you every day. This is a good question, and the truth is, it varies! I think that there are a lot of misconceptions about laying hens. People think that if they get 3 hens, they’ll have 3 eggs per … Read more