Still alive

So, I have come to realize that I am not really a blogger.  Maybe that will change when we actually have a farm and I have more to post about.  I do not want to give up on this blog, but I'm not going to promise anything more than periodic updates for the time being.

Here are some things we are excited about right now:

Small Farm conference!  Brian got to attend the small farm conference in Columbia, Missiouri.  He had a fantastic time there.  The seasoned farmers he met were great.  He got a lot of good advice and some much needed encouragement.  He also met and heard from some of his favorite authors: Joel Salatin, Greg Judy and Kelly Klober!

Food, Inc.  We watched this movie a while ago for date night.  We especially liked the part with Brian's farming hero- Joel Salatin.  Definitely worth watching.  I think it is also empowering to consumers.  When you buy things, you are casting a vote.  If you don't like how things are made/what they contain...Don't buy it!

Nourishing Traditions  This cookbook is AWESOME!  I have run out of renewals for it at the library, so we are just going to buy it.  We've tried a number of meals and have enjoyed all of them; the book is a wealth of information.  


A visit to the land We went out to the land to look around and measure the road frontage.  We had a very enjoyable visit.  Right now Brian is thinking he wants to start out with some Spanish goats followed by pigs to work on creating pasture.  The land is very wooded, and some parts are pretty thick with underbrush. 

Measuring Road Frontage

Hiking around on the land

Cute picture of Henry

The All Local Market We have been going to the All Local Market in Columbia to buy grass- fed beef, chicken, and pork.  We love going there and supporting the local farmers, and Brian enjoys talking with the farmers if he can get a chance.  There have been a lot of people every time we have gone.  There is a big demand for healthy local food.

Slaughtering our chicken We came home from vacation at the end of September to find out that our chicken was a boy.  We were really excited about having eggs, but instead we had chicken salad.  Brian was really the star of the show.  I just helped hold things and pluck feathers.  The chicken was tasty, and we feel the slaughtering process would get better with experience.  I have to say that I can understand how the Native Americans felt when they would thank the animals for the food they would provide.  It is such a completely different experience eating an animal you felt connected to.  I was very grateful to it, and the thought of just wasting any part of it seemed ungrateful. 


One thing we are not particularly excited about:

Our house  is still on the market.  The market isn't all that great so we are trying to be patient, but we are really excited about getting started with everything.

So that's what we have been up to.  Until next time.........

Land, ho!

We haven't posted in a while because we have been very busy getting our house ready to put on the market.  We are ready to move out to the land and get started with everything.  So, if our posts are a little spotty, you'll know why.  Also, things will be a little more exciting once we are out on the land.  We will have updates on animals other than chickens.  Here is the land:

  It is 25 acres out in Batesburg.   

Once we are living our here we will probably try to get some heritage breeds of pigs.  I think I will probably do a post about that later.  The pigs will really help clear out the land so we can create some pasture.  We also need to get goats ASAP so we can start learning about them and save on our milk bill!

There is a lot of background information about the land.  I'm not sure if I have the energy to delve into that right now, but here are some highlights:

• We were not looking for anymore than 10 acres when we started our search for land
• Having a farm was definitely not something we considered when we made the purchase three years ago
• We changed our mind about the land a little over a year back and put it up for sale
• It didn't sell
• We are really glad it didn't because now we really want to be out there farming!