Farmgirl Dream

I received an E-mail and then a phone call from a fellow Farmgirl that wanted to start a Farmgirl Chapter in this area. I was SO thrilled!! I had attempted to begin a chapter but soon found out most of my friends like to hear about my Farmgirl escapades but DO NOT have any interest to get involved!! They just enjoy the view from afar!! I love my friends for supporting me, occasionally laughing (at me) with me, and listening to me ramble on and on about Farm stuff!! But I really dreamed of meeting ladies that have the same Farm interests as me. A fellow woman that knows what it's like to have a Farm dream! Who has chickens or wants chickens or LOVES to talk about chickens, grows a garden, contemplates getting a milk cow....You get the picture!! WELL...SO YOU CAN IMAGINE MY EXCITEMENT TO FIND SUCH A GROUP OF WOMEN HERE!!!! BLUE RIBBON FARMGIRL CHAPTER-WALL,TEXAS!! To top it all off and really get me into a fuss (picture me jumping up and down holding this card squealing with delight!) I got this wonderful hand-made invite to the first planning meeting!!

The envelope was stamped with a chicken wire stamp and a red rooster. The front of the card had a beautiful picture of a rooster crowing and welcoming the morning sun. Inside the card was a little envelope that had a card stamped saying "It's a Farmgirl Thing!" tied with red gingham ribbon. Then on the opposite page was the particulars of the meeting. So many hand-made details in this card it SO BLESSED me!! I CAN NOT WAIT UNTIL THE MEETING!!! We are planning to do at least 1 project a month. To get more info or join the chapter check out the website. http://www.groups.yahoo.com/group/blueribbonfarmgirls

ON TO MORE FARM BUSINESS......
I have collected a little more than 2 dozen eggs so far!! I gather 3-4 a day! I can STOP buying store eggs now! That is such an awesome feeling! I use the brown eggs more...I just like brown eggs! SO that's why there are more white in the carton! I will keep most of the brown eggs for us and sell the white ones. The size of the egg is getting bigger each time they lay another. They are about the size of a medium egg you'd get at the store. I can't even describe to you the feeling you get when you go out to check for eggs and there are eggs in the nests! It's just a great feeling! I look forward to that time of day when it's egg gathering time!




While reading Mary Jane's Farm Magazine I noticed an article on Milk Cows. In the article she mentioned the title and author of a book that she described as the book to get on anything you need to know about being a milk cow owner! Well, I had to check this out! I found the book at the library and I've just begun to dive in! ALREADY I'm getting sideways looks from my friends and family!! "What? Are you serious? A milk cow?" YES people I'm VERY serious! Now in no way am I about to haul off and pick me up Bessie tomorrow! BUT I'm in the research stage of my contemplating the idea! NOW this worries my husband, because the last idea I had --to get me some chickens--went from idea, to research, to reality! But, one thing my poor husband knows for certain I do thoroughly research my ideas. I read tons of books on the subject, talk to people that have them, drill my grandparents for stories and knowledge.... The research is almost as fun as the reality of the idea! I learn so much. AND I know my limits and what is feasible for our family. I try not to jump in feet first without knowing exactly what I'm jumping into! SO friends and family...YES I'm serious about this idea! BUT Bessie will have to wait until I read a ton more and see if it fits our family and our farm! It took many years before my chicken idea then research became a reality. With that said, I have to be honest with you IT IS part of my farm dream. Having a milk cow is as deep of a desire as having chickens! It's just something I would really like to do! Having fresh eggs and fresh milk is a HUGE part of the dream!

The Family Cow by Dirk Van Loon. So far it's chalked full of important info and I'm only on chapter 3!! The book behind it is titled Keeping A Family Cow -Revised Edition- byJoann Sills Grohman. I've not dived into that one yet! It's next on the list!

FARMGIRL IS A CONDITION OF THE HEART

Eggs--Peaches--And A Rainstorm

I've gathered 2 more eggs this week. 1 on Monday and 1 today! It's is such an awesome feeling to go out and look in the nest and find a treasure! So fun!! I check the coop for eggs a couple of times a day. I read that when the hens first start laying they will lay 1 egg about every 3 days at first before they begin to get regular and lay an egg a day to every 2 days. So that leaves me to believe I have 2 hens that have begun to lay. Today's egg could possibly be egg #2 of the hen that layed the first egg. I'm pretty sure it's the Wyndottes that are laying them. So if you are thinking of getting chickens that shows you how good the Wyndottes are!

I've been checking the peach tree in hopes of getting peaches this year. I noticed that they're ripe but very small. I'm guessing that last freeze is maybe the reason. OR maybe this tree just makes small peaches not sure. I've never been able to harvest any because the bugs or birds have always gotten to them first. Usually it's fruit flies and wasps that seem to eat them ---BUT this year a scary BIG GREEN BUG is eating them!!! I'm pretty sure they're Japanese Beetles. Much like a June Bug only bigger and greenish. They fly and dive bomb you---they scare the life out of me!! I began gathering as many ripe peaches as I could so these ugly bugs wouldn't get them. I had to climb up the ladder to get to the top of the tree to get the ripe peaches up top. I was trying to carefully pluck the peaches from the tree and not disturb the crazy bugs. BUT as I reached around this peach swarmed with the ugly guys they got perturbed and began bomb diving my head. I half fell -half jumped off the ladder screaming like a scared school girl!! I landed on my feet but ended up on my rear end!! The fall was too far!! I'm so sore today in the backside and oh my legs! I gathered a good number of peaches but they are so small there's not much I'll be able to do with them---Guess we can just eat them as snacks!! They really are sweet and delicious! Wish they were bigger!!

After just about killing myself on the ladder--later in the afternoon a crazy rainstorm came up. I say crazy because the wind was so strong the rain was coming down sideways from the North. I noticed my chickens in their normal spot by the back of the house under the trees. I'm guessing they got caught there and couldn't make it to the coop in the storm--I say this because I've seen them run to the coop when it begins to rain. WHY they didn't do it this time in this CRAZY storm--well, I just don't know!! I decided after a few minutes of pouring rain I'd better go stir them up and get them to run on to the coop. BUT as I shooed them, they all scattered running in every direction getting more soaked. I ended up chasing each chicken down 1 by1 and carrying them to the coop. This took about 20 min. SO you can imagine just how soaked I was! TO THE BONE!! The funny part was I had on my muck boots and the wetter I got the more it ran into my boots! Several times I had to stop and empty a gallon of water out of my boots! It was a crazy, funny, and yet almost typical FARM DAY! We were blessed with 2 inches of rain in a span of about 2 hours! CRAZY!! Then after all that drama the sun came out and I had to go back and let the chickens BACK out!! I added some apple cider vinegar to their drinking water to ward off them getting a cold. Chickens are very susceptible to respiratory problems. UGH!! But so far today they seem to be as happy as ever and I got that egg so I assume they aren't too traumatized by it all. ME --well I might be a little!! hahaha! The kids had a good several laughs at my expense yesterday! It will be a day to remember! --"Hey Mom, remember the day you fell off the ladder? Hahaha!"

The 1st egg!!...and much more!

I know I haven't written in a few months...Summer happened! The kids being out of school takes up all my time. We've had a great summer! We've swam and swam, traveled to family reunions, gone to the river, attempted to camp in the backyard, 1 trip to the emergency room, stayed up late, slept in, laughed, watched movies, and just fully enjoyed our time together! Back to school day is fast approaching and it will be so bittersweet! I love the time with my kids but I like my quiet time too!

The chickens are all grown up! That is RockaDoodle such a handsome guy! His feathers are so grand! He has gotten quite cocky over the summer months puffin' himself up and chasing all the girls around the yard.

I started letting the chickens out in the backyard every morning and closing them up in the coop at night. They really like to free range eating bugs, grass and the scratch I spread out. They spend time under the trees and in the flower bed next to the back of the house during the hot parts of the day. Which here lately is most of the day! The girls on the ground are dust bathing! They love a good dust bath!

I'd been checking the nests everyday for the last few weeks looking for the first egg. They're almost 20 weeks old so I knew eggs should be coming soon. The morning of my 32nd birthday I woke up and went out to the coop to check for eggs AND there was a perfect little brown egg in the nest! A wonderful birthday gift! I couldn't have asked for a better gift! I was so excited I jumped around all day full of joy! I know God orchestrated this wonderful thing for me and I was so thrilled beyond words! I brought it in and Sherman cooked it for me for breakfast.

It was a small egg but it had a perfect yolk! It was just so pretty! The kids were excited to crack it and watch Daddy cook the first farm fresh egg that OUR chickens provided! So cool!



My wonderful husband fried me up a tasty egg for breakfast combined with a tortilla, fried potatoes, and chili con carne! Yummo!! :P

Now that someone layed an egg I need to change their feed from chick feed to layer feed. I've already been offering them crushed oyster shell along with the grit. That should give them calcium and make the shells on the eggs strong. I can't wait till I'm gathering a few dozen a week!

A sad thing happened this summer, we had to put our dog Blue down. You remember her from the last post "chicken dog". She had been sick for a long time. It was such a hard thing to do. I still miss her and sometimes I absentmindedly see her laying in her favorite spots or hear her coming down the hall. We added a new puppy to the mix a few weeks before Blue was put down. Sherman named her Pepper. She is Great Pyrenees and Lab ( we think!) She has been quite a handful! She has kept us VERY busy this summer!

Pepper is all puppy all the time! We took her to the river with us and she LOVED the water! She swam and chased the kids, it was so much fun. If you haven't seen the movie "Marley and Me" you must watch it! Not only is it a great movie it will give you insight into what we've been living with! Pepper is Marley...in fact after watching the movie I really debated on changing her name! She is really a mess!! But I think we'll keep her...for now anyway! haha!



It's 2 weeks till the kids go back to school so I'm confident I'll be able to post regularly again! Thanks for reading! Farm life is fun and there is always something going on each and every day! I look forward to sharing the stories and experiences with you!!