Chickens

"The Chickens"

  The chickens have a shelter that's built on wheels, what has been referred to as the 'egg moblie'.  The egg mobile is home to chickens.  They stay inside it during the night.  Then during the day they can run out and eat bug and grass and enjoy the chickeness of a chicken,  Whenever they get the grass eaten down, the egg mobile is hitched the horses given a free ride to some fresh grass and bugs.  They are also feed  left over vegetables and they always have access to corn and oats in their egg mobile. Andy has found that the manure they leave behind when they move them to a new spot does an amazing job of building up the soil. 

 

I got to see how Andy moves the chicken coup around in the field on our last visit to Cedarmore.  It is really a smart way of fertilizing the fields.  And the chickens don't seem to mind.  What I thought was so funny was that once the fencing was up and Andy opened the door, the chickens, in a nice calm orderly fashion, came out of the chicken coup and immediately started pecking.

. 

I am looking forward to trying the egg share this year.  I love brown eggs!  The yellows are so much more yellow than the eggs that you buy in the grocery store.

For more information and pricing for the CSA click here.

cedarmorefarm@tdisp.com

Goats

                                                       "The Goats"

Since visiting the farm,one thing I can say about a goat, he likes it better on the wrong side of the fence than on the right side.  In other words he likes it much better in the  garden than in the pasture, where they belong.  Is there any animals that is more ornery than a goat?  The goats on the farm get into trouble sometimes, but they like them anyway.  They can be fun to watch and they help clean up the pasture.  They will eat weeds and other plant species that the cows usually won't eat, so it's a good idea to run the two together.  They compliment each other.

Look how much Dilly has grown.

There must have been at least four more babies born since my last visit.  They are just so cute.  And I would have to add that they are the best form of farm entertainment ever!  I also figured out that these goats will be sold.  So the other goats will not be named.  I am hoping Dilly will go to a good home with little people to play with instead of ...well, you know.

Eating Machines

During the summer the cows live out in the pastures.  To me it would seem, they have a very easy life.  They are out roaming the pastures and converting grass into meat.  The cows are rotated from one pasture to the other.  This way they eat the grass down, then they move them to a new paddock and let the grass grow back.  By the time they have grazed all the paddocks, the first one is ready to be grazed again, and they keep making their cycles this way.  During the winter when the grass isn't growing, they have to bring the cows into the barn and feed them hay.  They bed their bedding area down with wood chips and/or straw.  As the cows keep putting down manure they put down another layer of bedding.  But before they put down another layer of bedding, they sprinkle it with some corn.  This corn will be rooted up and eaten by the pigs. 

I learned that Andy and Lizzie have several different kinds of  cows.  When I visited the farm and Andy was giving me a tour we were in the barn.  All the animals were there.  I asked about he names of the animals.  Andy went through the barn naming each of the animals and telling me a little about each of them.  I asked about the names for the cows.  He gave me a really funny look..."we don't name the cows".  It took me a minute to figure out that you don't form a bond on first name basis with something that you plan to eat later on.                                            

The Aminals on Our Farm

Although Cedarmore Farm is primarily a vegetable farm, you need to understand the important role that their animals play here on the farm. 

   The Horses

On Cedarmore Farm they consider the horses their most important animals.  They have four horses on their farm.  Debbie and Donna are their two Belgian draft horses.  They are the ones that do the heavy work like plowing the fields, pulling heavy loads, and so forth.  Ronnie is a more light weight Standard Bred horse. He is their means of transportation. They use him when they go to the neighbors or go to town or where ever they decide to go.  I am not sure how many miles per bushel of oats he gets in, but I know it is pretty good.  Earnie is their orneriest horse.  He is the riding horse. They use him to herd the cows or if they need a quick trip to the neighbors.  Sometimes he likes to pester the other horses when they are out on pasture together, but for the most part they get along fine.  All of their horses do a job for them so they try to treat them well.  They need to be fed and watered and they also need to be able to rest up during those times when there's a lot of work to do.  Like Andy says...the horses are the most important animals, but when he thinks about it all of their animals are important because all of the have jobs around the farm.

Getting Ready

Last week when I visited Andy and Lizzie to learn about sap gathering I got a tour of some of the farm. The greenhouse was our first stop.

This is the gerninator.  As you can see, good choice of building materials from Lowe's.  If I understand Andy's instructions...Lizzie plants the seeds and then the tray of seeds are placed on a shelf over a pan of water.  The lid is shut and then a lit lantern is placed thru the hole in the side.  The heat from the lantern warms the water making steam to moisten the soil to germinate the seeds.

I am guessing when I tell you that these are cabbage plants.  I will have better luck on my next visit to Cedarmore Farm because my Dad sent me his old pocket tape recorder.  So now I will have all my facts straight.

Once the seedlings come up Lizzie starts to thin them out and the thinned out plants are planted in other trays.  Nothing goes to waste.  I do know that the tall thin plants are just one of the varieties of tomatoes that are being grown.

This is the stove that keeps the greenhouse warm.  Andy told me that because of the weather we have been having he has not had to use the stove much this winter.  As long as the sun is out, even on the cloudy, dreary day that I was there, it still keeps it warm enough for the plants.  80 degrees is optimum.

Andy feeds the fire from the outside.  He chuckled and says that he needs to build a larger greenhouse closer to the house.  Please realize that during the winter he has to come out side maybe several time a day and night to keep the fires going.  He'd like a shorter walk.

When you first drive into the farm property you see rows and rows of plants coming up thru black plastic.  This is this seasons garlic crop.  There must have been twenty rows coming up.

Spring crops that are planned are beans, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, chard, cucumbers, lettuce, onions, radishes, strawberries, summer squash, tomatoes and zucchini.

If you need more information there are two way to go about getting it...email or leave a comment and we will get back to you.

 cedarmorefarm@tdisp.com 

I am already looking forward to my next trip to Cedarmore Farm.  This is such a great learning experience for all of us non-farmers.  And not to forget all the new friends I am meeting along the way.  Andy and Lizzie might make a farmer and a baker out of me yet.

Come join the CSA or check out one in your neighborhood.  It is a good thing.