Blog

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What a view

This morning started with sub freezing temperatures, and although the day warmed a little, the weather turned cold, rainy, and miserable by evening. It was the kind of day that makes you grateful for a warm house and a good fire.

Even with the cold, Mother Nature found a way to show off. At sunrise the entire valley lit up with an incredible orange glow. The color stretched across the hills and settled into the low spots, creating a view that lasted only a few minutes but was worth every second. You had to be up early to see it, but it was a beautiful sight to take in.

The weather may be rough, but the scenery never disappoints.

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Firewood season begins

Over the past few weeks, I built two wood racks behind the woodshop. Each one holds roughly a full cord of firewood and has a covered roof so the wood can stay dry and season properly. Between the racks and the location, it should make storing and accessing firewood much easier as the cold months settle in.

We purchased a load of wood from a local vendor and also received a generous amount from a neighbor who has been pruning trees on his property. Little by little, the racks are filling up.

We love having a fire going on cold winter days. It creates a warmth that feels different from simply running the heat. Preparing the wood now makes those moments possible later, and it feels good to have a solid start on what we will need for the season.

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Looks like we’ve got a cat, I suppose.

This little guy, or gal, has been showing up around the property for about a week now. It looks very young and far too skinny, the kind of animal that makes you stop what you are doing and wonder how long it has been fending for itself.

We decided to put out some food, milk, and water to help it fill out a bit. With any luck, it will stick around, get healthier, and offer some natural rodent control in return. A fair trade if it chooses to make this place home.

Time will tell, but for now it seems we may have a farm cat in the making.

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The garden keeps giving

As the long summer days settle in, the garden has been more productive than ever. We are getting a steady crop of bell peppers, squash, zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes, banana peppers, and jalapeno peppers. Every time we walk past the beds, something new seems ready to pick.

Darrell checks the garden daily and has been putting in long hours gathering the harvest. The baskets fill up faster than we expect, and there is always another round coming behind it.

Mom and Nichel have been busy in the kitchen canning most of what comes in. This time of year we eat a lot of fresh vegetables, but even with that, the surplus adds up quickly. Whatever we do not eat or can gets cut up and frozen so we can enjoy it later in the year.

The garden just keeps producing, and we are grateful for the steady flow of fresh food. It is hard work, but it is the kind of work that pays you back in the best possible way.

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We needed eggs, so we bought chickens

We brought a small group of egg laying chickens with us when we moved to Tennessee, but it quickly became clear that we needed more to keep up with the needs of a six person household.

Today, Nichel and the girls stopped by Tractor Supply and came home with eight new chickens to add to the flock. They are a mix of breeds, and just like our meat birds, they are brooding directly on pasture inside a protected chicken tractor. It is a simple setup, but it works well and gives the birds a healthy start.

In about six months, these new hens should begin laying. It will be nice to have a steady supply of eggs again and to see the flock continue to grow in a way that fits our family’s needs.

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The workshop is finally coming together

After many months of slow, steady progress, the workshop is finally starting to take shape. The wiring is complete, the interior walls are covered in plywood, and I finished the wood with two coats of polyurethane. The hope is that dust will not stick as easily and that I will be able to blow the walls clean with a leaf blower whenever needed.

I brought my workbenches up from Florida. The space here is smaller, so I cut them down to fit the new layout. After a thorough sanding and refinishing, they look great and feel right at home in the new shop.

Lighting is installed, the audio system and TV are mounted, and the hardwood storage is now on the walls. There is still plenty left to do, but the progress feels real. It is incredibly rewarding to walk into the space and see it finally coming together after so much time and effort.

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It’s processing day

Today we slaughtered the meat birds, and all thirty made it to graduation day. That is a fantastic outcome. Normal mortality is around five percent, so finishing the season without losing a single bird is a real win.

The birds finished out incredibly well this year. Since this batch was only for our family, we did not bother weighing them, but several looked like they would have tipped the scales at nine pounds or more.

We chose to do cut ups on every bird this time. In the past we have done a mix of whole birds and cut ups, but we consistently use the cut up birds about twice as often as the whole ones. It makes meal planning easier and helps us get the most use out of each harvest.

We are incredibly thankful for another successful season that will feed our family for months to come. The work starts with tiny chicks on pasture and ends with a freezer full of food. It is a cycle we do not take lightly and one we are grateful to complete each year.

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One week left

We do not follow a strict timeline for processing our meat birds. Each group grows a little differently, and we try to honor that. If they need an extra week or two to fill out properly, we give it to them. The animal’s sacrifice matters, and we want to make sure we are doing right by them by getting the best possible yield from each bird.

This group has done exceptionally well. They have grown fast, stayed healthy, and handled pasture life with no issues. At this point, they look strong and fully developed, and they will be ready to process next weekend.

It is always a mix of responsibility and gratitude when we reach this stage. The birds have had a good life on pasture, and now we prepare for the final step of the cycle.

The meat birds are doing excellent this year. They’ve grown exceptionally well and will be ready to process next weekend.

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Halfway there

All thirty of the meat birds are doing well and getting noticeably bigger by the day. So far, we have not lost a single one, which always feels like a small victory in itself.

We are now roughly halfway to what we call graduation day for the birds. The routine is steady at this point. Daily moves to fresh grass, full feeders, plenty of water, and check-ins throughout the day. The early fragile stage is behind them, but there is still plenty of growing left to do.

It’s rewarding to see how quickly they change in just a few short weeks. What started as a box of tiny, chirping chicks is now a group of stout birds that are fully settled into pasture life.

We still have work ahead, but crossing the halfway mark feels good. Progress is visible, the system continues to work, and the birds are thriving.