About Our Blog

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Our blog is to inform and entertain you as we pursue our goal of starting a farm. Here we plan on recording thoughts, projects, farm additions and other note-worthy happenings. You may even see us on a magazine or two. If you would like to comment on our blog or just say "Hi" feel free to do so on our CBOX to the left.  Just enter your name and a message, then click the 'GO' button.  We enjoy your emails too, so don't be afraid to email us a note. Yahoo users: feel free to contact us...our profile is mn_nice_couple.  Just because we don't appear online, doesn't mean we're not.  When you send us an IM, please identify yourselves... and let us know why you're contacting us. Put yourself on the map! CLICK HERE to show us where you are in the world.

Rybec Highlanders on the cover.

The Blog 

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Carol & Madison have new  BUNNIES FOR SALE

3 litters - Purebred Mini-lops, 75% Mini-lops & Crossbreds
--- All VERY CUTE ---
Call Carol at 320-220-3225
Some of these baby bunnies have been sold - but we still have some cuties left

June 15, 2008
- Father's Day

Carol and I butchered 10 of her broiler chickens. We decided we would only do the roosters at this time, due to the fact the poults are smaller. The birds we processed, were between 7.25 - 8 pounds (live weight), after 8.5 weeks of feeding. we plucked 6 of them, skinning the remaining 4. We're planning to do more processing on wed.

The folks from Hudson, WI, stopped by to pick-up the mini-lops they had purchased on Friday. They had a few last minute questions and, of course, we had a few last minute pieces of advice. Like most people that buy rabbits from us, we let them know that should they ever have questions about their new rabbits, they are more than welcome to give us a call.

Austin and I did some more cleaning around the place. We moved the old Chevy truck that was sitting near the garage, since I haven't been able to get the thing started. We also moved the 'stylish' greenish-gold sofa that we had moved out of the girls' room. It had been sitting outside the trailer for the last few days. We're not trailer trash... we just live like we are... lol.

June 14, 2008
- As you sow, so shall you reap

We planted more garden today. Carol was so impressed with the way her vining plants (pumpkins, water melons, squash, etc.) grew last year, that she wanted to try it again. We worked up 2 areas at the end of the vineyard for her new plantings. The one garden plot hold potatoes only. I think we got approx 300 seed spuds (50 lbs) in the ground, hoping we will get at least 4X that when harvesting. The other out-plot was for carol's companion crop plantings. It is mostly sweet corn planted there with some beans and peas planted with the corn and her larger vining plants seeded next it. Companion planting is an interesting way of doing things. It'll be fun to see how it all progresses.

June 13, 2008
- Wisconsin folks love rabbits

As a family, we decided to clear the tree from the garden. If there was damage that could be repaired, we wanted to give Carol a chance to salvage what she could before it became to late to do so. It took less than an hour to clear the garden. Tomato cages were squashed, but all in all the damage was minimal. Carol thinks all the plants except one can be saved. I think it was some kind of an heirloom tomato... she was a little bummed.

After Austin left for work, Carol and I made short work of the limbs of the second tree. With nothing more than a stomp connected to the root ball, I thought our tractor could yank it out of the chicken yard with ease. I was wrong. That sucker was still well anchored. When trying to pull what was left of the tree, I busted the chain.... twice. so... with the loader, I propped the downed tree up against a seemingly healthy tree. Hopefully, it will stay in place until a better idea pops into my head.

Later in the day, the folks from Hudson, WI visited the farm. They ended up putting a deposit on three of the rabbits Carol had. I believe they are coming back after finding a cage/hutch and some other bunny supplies. Hopefully they'll come back to pickup their bunnies.

June 12, 2008
- Weather, grapes and chickens

WOW!  The weather out here this year is a tad bit different than last.  With the rain gauge in full use, we have been averaging approx. 2 inches/week.  The forecasters are saying we are in for a cool, wet summer.  I'm OK with that.  It's a far cry better than last year's 2/10 inches of rain in a 6 week period... backed with +90°F days.

With the cooler weather, I still see little change in our grape vines.  Carol's King of the North table grape vines are doing great.  All of them are peeking over the 36" grow tubes.  The wine grapes are another story though.  I see [maybe] 1 or 2 new leaves each day.  With over 1200 plants in the ground, that ain't saying much.

I got an email from my cousin Sandi.  She mentioned that a vintner near her is seeing the same thing we're seeing... the vines are REALLY slow to wake up this year.  What's the saying.... 'misery loves company'?  There is some consolation in knowing that others are having the same luck with their vines that we have.

Now some real homesteader news.  We ate our first broiler that Carol received as 1 day old chicks, cared for & raised... then butchered.  The deal we have with the birds is this:  we feed them, then they feed us.  With that said... the chicken dressed-out at 6 lbs (⅓ the size of a turkey).  Unlike the mushy super market birds, this chicken was tender and juicy, without the soggy texture.  To cut the meat for eating, we didn't need a knife.  We cut it with a fork... It was that good.  We will be proud to present these birds to the friends and family who ordered custom raised, anti-biotic free and hormone free, free range chickens.

On the farm front, we are still doing massive clean-up projects around the place.  A gal who came to buy some purebred mini-lops from Carol and Madison, couldn't seem to say enough about how she like the little farm.  There is still so much more to do.

Speaking of rabbits.  Carol got a call from Hudson, Wisconsin.  They are going to purchase two rabbits from us.  Sheesh!  Either Carol has quite a reputation for selling good rabbits or they don't have any in Packer land.  Whatever the case, we're glad to accommodate our neighbors to the east.  Maybe we should trade them - cheese for rabbits.  Sounds like a win-win deal to me.

June 10, 2008
- How old is too old?

Ummm... Happy Birthday to me?

Madison baked & decorated a cake for me... it said I was 45 yrs old.  WHICH I AM NOT!

My sister Regina called me to sing me 'Happy Birthday".  It was pretty good singing (for her) but an American Idol hopeful, she is not.

My mom called, reminding me that at 4:10 PM, June 10, 1964 a baby boy was born to her (yep, it was me).  Her first born..  Just minutes before the call, I received the card she sent for my birthday.  She all but blamed me for her feeling old.  It seems that every year that passed me by, she too gets a little older.  Hmmm.  Odd how that works.  My advice to my mom is simple... quit keeping track of my age... LOL.

June 05, 2008
- More Pasture

Since we moved to the farm, it seems I have been doing nothing but fencing.  I'm happy to say, as of June 03, I finished a 2+ acre area for the goats, sheep & llamas.  It is nice to see the animals grazing in the tall grass... even the pot bellied pig seems to be enjoying himself.

We have made the move to the farm quite easily.  Madison has adapted extremely well, spending most of her time in the pastures with the sheep and baby goats.  At the end of the day, she seems dirtier than the day before.

Since the trailer is so small (compared to our house in town).  Austin has opted to reside in the camper bus, thus allowing Carol to claim the third bedroom as her makeshift pantry.  It is the smallest of the the bedrooms (even smaller than her pantry at home), but is conveniently located behind the kitchen.  I was able to install some used shelves 2 days ago.  We now have a little more room in the kitchen, since what was on the counters and table, are now where they should be... in the pantry.

The last few days, I have been clearing brush, branches and stumps from around the place and It seems we have been able to more work in the last week (because we're now onsite), than we've done in the last month or so.  It's a good feeling to be able to get done what we need to get done, without being rushed by the clock to get back home, before mealtime or whatever.

Carol has been finishing up the planting of her garden.  We constructed a 17' X 8' cattle-panel hoop-house in the garden area.  This will be the first time she has tried working with a hoop-house type structure, so... we'll see how she likes it in the weeks to come.  I think she said she is going to grow 6' pole beans on one side of the hoop and some sort of peas on the other.  I also made a trellis next to the hoop-house for other climbing plants.  The trellis was made of the same type of panels as the hoop-house.  I'm curious to see which performs better.

Last year's grape vines are starting to show signs of life.  So far, we have about 15% of them sprouting new leaves.  It has been so wet and cool here, I'm hoping the weather is the only reason why we are not seeing more activity in the vineyard.  I went to the dentist today and he mentioned that his rose bushes are just starting to wake up.  Normally, they would all be leafing out by now.  I'm not sure if he's a rose expert or not, but he said the lack of warm days, is retarding the waking of his roses.  I'm would guess this holds true for most of the perennials in our area... grape vines included.

Rich

CHICKENS FOR SALE Carol has 70+  40+ 100+ (25 are sold) Cornish Cross Broiler Chickens on hand and growing well (this batch of chickens is the 2nd of what she is growing this year).  If you would like to buy some hormone free/antibiotic free chickens Aug. - Sept, make sure you contact us immediately. These chickens should dress out at approx. 4-7 lbs.  Remember, we will be selling these birds live... but if you want us to process them for you, make sure you tell us prior to picking them up. Already, we have a few folks reserving their birds.  We will call you a week before it's time to get your birds and again the day of.  Please contact us for details. We sell all our birds by the live-weight.  These bird dress-out at approx. 70%.  What does this mean?  It means, if you buy a 9 lb. chicken... about 6 lbs (this weight includes giblets) of it will be ready for frying, grilling, baking, or whatever.  If you only want to try a bird or two, we should have a few extra for sale.  Once you taste the difference, you'll order more next time.  Carol will be ordering again in July.  The July birds should be ready for pick-up at the end of Sept.  Do we eat what we raise?  You betcha!  We will be raising approx. 100 chickens for our family alone.  Why so many?  Simple... we like knowing we are eating a healthy chicken, raised with care in healthy conditions and we love the way they taste. We also have some beautiful Heritage Turkeys (Red Bourbon) growing well.  Turkeys should be ready in Nov - early Dec.

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