We started some stuff from seed end of January and in February. Figured it was a risk, but we have back-up seed if things don’t work out. And we’re doing the ground work and praying that God would bring us the increase!
This week, we had some surprises revealed in the garden! And in this week’s video I have a small tutorial on collecting seeds from Marigold flowers!
Hope you enjoy (enjoyed) the video, I tried to keep it fairly short and easy to watch. I’ve also been learning more about filming the videos and editing it all together so we can make an altogether more pleasant video to watch. Hopefully the practice is paying off and you can agree the videos are getting to be better done.
This morning I got to play around with the new cream separator my hubby got for me, but we’ll do a video on that another time!
What did you like about this week’s video? Did you have any questions? What’s coming up in your garden area?
Yep, you read it right the first time, it’s a Mineral Buffet!
After many years of trying to get a good mix for our animals and then BoSe (Selenium/vitamin E supplement) becoming prescription only, we finally decided to give the buffet system a try.
We had a couple years we only did the mineral mixes and copper bonuses every 2 months, the 2nd year we lost 5 out of 7 baby goats born on our farm. The deaths were all boys. 1 girl went on to be a perfectly lovely doe, she’s had babies, has a lovely temperament, and she milks great. The other doeling however never could get pregnant for her owners, we even brought her back to the farm as a 2 year old and she lived full time with the bucks for 2 years and never settled. The bucks loved having her around because she always came into heat, she’d get bred, but she would never settle (get pregnant).
We were able to get some BoSe again and began dosing the herd 2x yearly, babies were much healthier, stronger, but we continued to have lots of issues with kidding. The year before we started the buffet system, I had to assist with EVERY does birth, and with EVERY kid being born. We had a set of triplets that were so tangled up, and even after getting them untangled 2 came butt first and all 3 needed my help pulling them out, and each doe that gave birth that year was that way.
It was exhausting, I was tired, people mention farmer burn out: it’s very real.
We got our mineral buffet set up October of 2022. So been using it just over 2 years now.
At first, a big perk, was just not having to copper bolus or give injections of BoSe. Definitely saves a lot of time, planning, and effort just there.
Kidding season came, and it was a breeze! We had maybe 1 doe that needed a little help due to a big kid, but nothing major at all. Several does gave birth 100% unassisted. Much less stressful than the previous year. Kids were strong, vigorous, hardy.
At this point we had a doe returned to us because at a year old she was showing carpal hyperextension (bending in at the knee). It was pretty severe too. She was born the year before we started the mineral buffet so figured why not take the opportunity to experiment with it a bit.
Summer went on, and we found we didn’t need to worry so much about parasites, the animals just seemed much more resistant to the parasites since starting the buffet.
breeding season arrived and the does were coming into heat, the bucks got stinky as always, and the breeding began. No extra shots, no wormings needed, everyone looked great!
Winter was uneventful. Then kidding season came again, we had so many great births, so many new lives born! A doe that only gave us single bucklings 3 years in a row finally gave us triplets, and 2 of them were DOES! We had 1 doe that needed help with a large buckling, but that was it really.
The doe that came back to us with back bending knees? She did great! She gave us a large baby boy to grow out for freezer camp, and she gave us milk for a while too. She came back to us at 1 year old in July 2023, May of 2024 her legs were SO bad I was sure we were gonna need to call the butcher soon, then all of a sudden August 2024 her legs were straight! I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadnt seen it with my own eyes, really, but I had photos to show for it! She’s still not the biggest milk producer, or the heftiest girl, but she makes nice kids for the freezer and is easy to work with, so she does earn her keep for now. Here’s some before and after photos of her legs!
1st two photos were right before she came back to us, the last 2 were after a year ok the buffet! Her legs are even straighter now, 6 months later.
And now we’ve added sheep to the farm. Everyone will tell you sheep can’t have copper and you need to keep goat minerals away from sheep so they don’t die.
But, since the buffet system has all the minerals separated out, you don’t have to change anything for sheep! Our goats and sheep enjoy the buffet simultaneously, because they only eat what they know they need.
And yes, we have seen the sheep eat some copper, but again, they only eat what they need. We’ve had 1 ewe since May 2024, and added some lambs this year, and they all love the buffet!
We have a lot more peace of mind with the buffet, knowing they’re able to get exactly what’s needed. Their needs change for various reasons too. Late pregnancy and early lactation the go heavy on the iodine and boron, mid-winter more molybdenom and A/D/E, summer is mainly selenium, and then they have the co-factor minerals they eat to help them utilize the big ones better. It depends on time of year, lactation or pregnancy stage, and quality of forage. If you have really excellent forage available they’ll require less from the buffet.
We’ve been getting our minerals the last 2 years from Little Avalon Farm, here’s a referral link (we do get a small store credit if you make a purchase from this link, and YOU get a discount too!):
Have you ever tried the buffet system? How did it work for you? Or if you havent tried it yet, have you heard of it? Feel free to leave us any questions or comments! We’d love the discussion!
Our oldest daughter has always LOVED helping me with videos, and I have allowed her to make her own videos for our enjoyment a few times. SO, while we were out doing a walk about in the garden, it seemed a great opportunity to let HER do some talking! Result was this lovely little tour, introducing some of the farm animals and discussing some things she’s been learning about.
We hope you enjoyed this video, and please give us a “like” and subscribe on YouTube to show her some support!
Got some questions you’d like our farm kids to answer? Please leave them in the comments on this post or on YouTube! Our kids would love to answer some questions about their much loved animals!
Yeah, one of those weeks where my energy and creative juices are just shot. Having some issues really weighing on my heart lately. So for this week’s video Vicky and I did a simple walk through the garden as we got some fresh air.
Seeing the back patch of the garden… there’s nothing growing there. We had a real fight with thistles last year and ultimately gave up. So Johnny (my hubby) used his excavator and removed all the weeds and top soil from that section. Then he got a bag of fresh cut woodchips and dumped it over that patch.
as we walked through and I talked about what was going on there, I thought about how if you don’t plant something good, something bad or evil will grow in that space.
In Matthew 12:43-45, Yeshua/Jesus tells a story of a house. A demon lived in it and was forced out. The demon wandered around but found no where to stay so returned to the house. He found the house clean and lovely, but totally vacant. He then went and found 7 more demons and invited them to come and live with him in the nice clean house.
Our hearts are that house. Is there a demon making a home in it? Has he returned with his buddies after having been evicted? Or is that house full of something good and holy and pure?
I’ve been realizing lately that I have a lot of hurt and anger in my heart from how I was treated in recent years by people I trusted. I still don’t understand why those people treated me the way they did, why others have responded to me the way they have, why some have chosen to just write me off or even turn around and accuse ME of being a bully when I was sincerely trying to help them or make space for them.
I learned some things though.
You can’t be everything to everyone. You are not responsible for being treated badly by others, unless you really did do something stupid. Some people are just so insecure and can’t allow themselves to realize they’ve hurt you, and so they justify their actions and hurt you more.
Its not your fault.
But, I know with all the hurt, all the anger… I can’t let those experiences, those people, define who I am, what I am, or continue to have a hold on me by me holding onto the anger. The anger just robs me of my peace and my joy and my ability to really enjoy the life we’re working hard to build.
I’m far from perfect, but this is part of the refining process. Atleast I can honestly say I’m not perfect and really know it for myself, some can’t even. Do that.
But, there is someone who says “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” He said, “put your burdens on me.” He is the friend that sticks closer than a brother, and having had siblings walk out of my life that is a comfort.
Part of my healing journey right now, is taking ym thoughts captive, and giving them to the one whose “Strength is made perfect in weakness.” He takes my burdens and makes them light, he causes the blind to see, makes the mute to speak, the crippled to walk, and the dead to rise again. And he will lift the heads of his anointed people, and cause them to run and not grow weary, walk and not faint.
my strength comes from the Lord Yahweh Almighty, Abba Father. Not from mortal man. And he has made us to bring Him glory to cause people to recognize him for who HE is.
We’ve been working hard in the garden while the weather was nice.
Even though people refer to this warm snap as a “false spring,” we have lots of flowers and birds returning from their winter vacations, even the Robin’s are back!
So, we decided to get the garden prepped and get some seeds going for root Veggies and cold weather crops and we’ll just wait and see what happens!
I don’t generally recommend people plant in February unless it’s potatoes, garlic, ginger, root Veggies like that. But this is an experiment, so we’re starting from seed some root veggies and lettuces and chard. Like I said, we’ll see what happens!
Hows your garden planning? Are you trying anything new for plants or techniques? Do you aim for more organic renewable methods or mainstream commercial style gardening? There’s no right or wrong here, just share a bit with us about your gardening style!
Well, it’s another year gone by, and a new year to been start the garden again!
Join me for a walk through the garden and I’ll tell you about some of the special things we’ve learned, and some fun surprises I found growing the last few days!
The gardens currently a mess, but with a few days of sunshine we’ll be able to get some order going and finalize our garden plans for this year.
I’m hoping for a long growing season again, goal is to keep it simple and only grow what we’ll actually eating use regularly. I’d also like to get more herbs growing in big pots, very easy to use and make medicinal tinctures from many herbs.
Whatre your garden goals for this year? Trying anything new or keeping things simple?
As you would know if you followed us on Instagram, we’ve had the mama ducks with their babies in the garden for about 8 weeks now.
for the most part, it’s been really great. However, there has been a catch that we now have to deal with.
You can watch the full Duckdate here:
Overall, I’d say this has been a great experience. Learned a lot. Still love the idea of ducks in the garden.
But, until we can heighten the current beds, they really should only be in the main garden with supervision.
You’ll want your garden beds atleast 3 feet deep if you want to reap the full benefits of ducks in the garden space. They DO keep slugs and bad bugs down. They DO eat weeds. But, they WILL eat your lettuce, beet greens, beans, broccoli, basil, and more given a chance.
We will be setting up the 2nd duck house behind the garden as planned. And we will be finishing the greenhouse/hoop house. My hubby will then be making a series of portable garden beds that are extra tall for inside the greenhouse so the ducks can still mingle in and out of the greenhouse at will without being “tempted beyond what they can bear” with having too easy of access to things.
We’re also working on rehoming the extra drakes we have so we can start moving our baby drakes to the barn. We have several little boys that are fully feathered and need moved out to reduce crowding and allow them to form a Batchelor flock to grow out on pasture until they’re ready for slaughter.
This is part of being a farmer, we try new things, learn from them, and adapt. If we really want something to work, we’ll find a way. Or, if it’s just not working, we reevaluate our plans and adapt to what would work WITH the nature of the animals involved in mind. Don’t try to force nature to conform to your standards. We find much more peace when we work with nature and use the experience to learn more of the balance God has placed in nature.
Sometimes, friends go through really hard times. Sometimes, those hard times seem to last a VERY long time. And sometimes, those hard times seem to just be one on top of another for a while.
But, God promises to be with us, and NEVER forsake us, during the hard times. Especially if we are obeying him and holding firmly to him and his covenant.
I did these photos as a gift for our friends that just couldn’t seem to get a break for a while. But now things seem to be calming down for them, allowing them to catch their breath, and find their rest again.
Blessings my friends! Your babies are SO beautiful!
I ran my own photography business before I got married. I continued to do photography the first couple years of marriage. But after baby #2 was born I felt like it was just too much when I needed to focus on my babies.
Well, fast forward 8 years… and it would seem that YAH (God) has chosen to reopen my old photography business. No, for real, it’s been all him.
I got a new camera this year purely intending it for my own enjoyment.
I shared a few photos of plants and my kids and a few friends on Facebook just to share a little of the fun I was having with my new toy.
I quit selling jewelry online over a year ago, so I haven’t had much for “extra spending money,” and hubbies work has been slow again this year. So I was starting to think if maybe there was something I could do to add to our finances from home. But didn’t think too much about it as we’ve been very busy on the farm, and I’ve had the Lord telling me to “Bloom where planted” in this season of life. So just been focusing on being content with where we’re at and building our farm dream as we can where we are, because this is where we’ve been planted, so this is where we’re gonna bloom at this time.
Well, a bit later I was asked for a price quote to photograph a friend’s wedding. And I was contacted by a distant cousin about having some couples photos done for an anniversary.
Now, I’ve got 1 photo session done, 2 more getting on the schedule, 1 wedding for sure this year, and may have another wedding for next year! I still haven’t actually done any advertising and am just now publicly sharing some photos from my first paying gig!
I always considered my old photography biz to be part business and part ministry. And this new biz is looking to be exactly that way already. I can minister to people, encourage people, and give them an art to bless them and their home.
And without further ado…
Heres some photos for this beautiful couple celebrating 3 years together!
We just love being submerged in nature. We don’t care much for the cities, too crowded, too much traffic and crazy drivers, too much noise… doesn’t typically smell very good either.
We love that we live close enough to the cities that we can do our shopping and get things we really need as needed, but far enough out we have some privacy and enough space to create a sanctuary for ourselves.
Our girls catch butterflies and moths. We can visit the local wildlife refuge any time. Recently we’ve been watching the barn swallows at the refuge, and have gotten to see their babies peeking out of the nests.
Our most recent trip we got to watch some frogs avoid capture by the swallows. We saw a teeny-tiny frog not much bigger than the eraser on a pencil peeking out from behind a blade of grass. Then all of a sudden that itty-bitty frog gets knocked off his perch by a swallow, and he dangle for a moment by 1 leg, and he stays perfectly still in this position until he’s certain it’s safe to move to a new spot.
We get to watch the mama ducks raise their young, and same with the goats.
It’s fun to watch these animals go about their day. They don’t know what the future holds, can’t say that they really think about it too much. They just live for that moment. Sometimes it’s a fleeting moment, a close call, they could lose their in that moment. But once the moments passed, the adrenal has settled, they move on. They could literally lose their life at any given moment, but instead of hiding, they still go out to find food, find a mate, raise babies, clean themselves, do a little sunbathing… they take pleasure in simple things, they don’t let the scary stuff hold them back from living and thriving where they are.
I feel like YAH (the LORD) has been telling me more to observe these small animals and how they live. They don’t fret and worry from day to day, they just go about their life and live it.
HE knows we need food and clothes, He knows what the future holds (good and evil), we know nothing really. So we put our trust in him, every day, we live for this moment, and enjoy wherever we are at today.
it’s so easy to get caught up in everything that goes wrong during a day. But if that’s ALL we focus on, how will that grant us peace and help us do better? Absolutely learn from what went wrong, but don’t keep living in that one bad moment. The moment is past, move on. We shod be dwelling on the good that happens each day, focusing on the progress we’ve made or special moments we had.
observe the animals, their life may have flashed before their eyes in a close encounter that could’ve ended their life, but then… they move on, almost as if it never happened. Something happens, be alert, deal with the situation, then drop it and move on. There’s no need to keep revisiting a moment that only causes stress and trauma.
