So of course I have been horrible about blogging. I always feel weird sharing what I am thinking and feeling. I never know exactly how much to share. Life has so many ups and downs and starting a farm is just plain tough. Yet we have so many blessings that we are thankful for.
My husband and I have been praying and asking God to put a hedge of protection around our farm and to guide us when making decisions about the farm. We really want more than anything to make our farm a blessing for our family and those around us. It is tough when we don’t know where to start most of the time. We have learned so much from trial and error.
So here we are getting ready for a new year. This year has so many new things that are coming. We are looking forward to bringing a baby girl into out family in April. We were told that I would never be able to carry another baby and yet here God is blessing us in 7 short weeks. I thank God every day for her. I cannot wait to meet her.
We also moved away from some of what we were doing before. We are now raising only Champaign D’Argent Rabbits. We joined the ARBA and are now registered rabbit breeders. This was a big move for us. These rabbits are absolutely beautiful and we hope to share pictures of them soon.
Another big change for us was that we are now raising Finn sheep. They are also registered and we are waiting for the paperwork for the registry to come in. This is such a blessing in so many ways. We have been reading up on how they are a good tri-purpose sheep. Their fiber is beautiful. I am learning to spin it into my own yarn (which is a slow work in progress). They are a meat breed of sheep which is huge for us to be able to offer lamb soon. Lastly, they are great mothers and produce a lot of milk. I have been taking cheese making classes so having the milk will be great for me to learn with.
We also sold off all of our boer goats which was a tough decision to make. We decided that they were not growing to the extent that we had wanted them to. We decided to go with registered Nubian goats instead. This is a big leap for us as they are a dairy breed. They still grow large but now we can also milk them. It gives another chance for me to expand my learning.
With all of these changes we are also looking and researching organic no till gardening. It is very different from how we have ever grown our plants. While we don’t spray with things other than organicide, as we raise honey bees, this is completely new. It will take a lot of effort to get things to where we want but it allows us to dream. It gives us hope for what our farm can be. We do not have any future goals of being able to claim organic though due to costs and soil testing and such that goes into all of that. So i put up the disclaimer that we are not certified organic and probably never will be.
I guess with all of this being said, I share all of this so that people can have an idea of where we want to go with our farm. We are hoping to be able to offer CSA shares, produce/recipe boxes of the week, and so many other things. We are hoping soon to have our cottage license as well so we can sell homemade jams. jellies, breads. etc. If there is anything that others would like to see, please share. Help us to be bale to build out farm into something that is great for everyone. Help us dream and hope.