Farm Update

Well, Nothing much has changed since the last post. The goats are eating, but not much. They refused the bottle after the one time drinking out of it, and we resorted to giving them milk in a bowl. Which is fine, but now they seem to be avoiding that. But, they aren't dead. Hallelujah! Chickens are doing well, all still alive as well. They will be old enough to free-range full time next weekend. We've let them out to explore a little, but until about 6 weeks, they haven't imprinted the coop as "home." So, next weekend, the youngest chicks will be 6 weeks and we'll let them out every morning and then shut them in in the evening. They will know when to come in, as chickens are basically blind after dark. So they start coming in at dusk. We'll probably feed them at dusk-ish to encourage them to come in. I have also been licensed by the state as an Egg Handler and Grader. I can now grade and sell my own eggs. Yay! Amazing how little you actually have to do for that license. A little scary actually... I'll be getting my food prep certification soon too. Lots of food-related ideas in the works. More to come, I'm sure... So that's the animal update.

Veggies! I still haven't planted corn, watermelon, pumpkins or winter squash because it rained ALL last week. Hopefully I can get them planted this week, as we are having GORGEOUS weather here! Sunshine, highs in the low 80's, lows in the upper 40's. Beautiful! But all the stuff I planted last week is already sprouting! yay! Soon we'll have plenty to eat around here!

R and I have been doing a little Farmer's Market in Oklahoma City the last few weeks. We really enjoy it, and the little bit of extra cash is nice too. R is learning all of the products and is just the cutest little helper there is! I don't have any of my own produce yet (I'm selling my dear friend, Susan's produce until mine comes in. She has all the cool season stuff, I don't), but soon enough I will and then it will get really fun!

And just one more way God is using our farm experience... We were talking with our small group a couple of weeks ago about living into our dreams and our goals for the future. Daddy and I mentioned that we chose to move out to the country because we didn't want to wait for "retirement" to enjoy all of the benefits of living on a farm and we didn't want our kids to miss out on such a fantastic experience of life. Well, one of the other couples in our group had the same goal and decided to take the leap as well. They found a fantastic home southeast of us and will be moving onto their own farm soon! God has really been faithful with us, leading us through this path and providing for us each step of the way. We are so blessed. A year ago, all of this was just a dream. We never would have expected that we would have 5 acres, a huge garden, 35 chickens, and 2 goats. We have been blessed with hard work to do with our hands, allowing R to start understanding where food comes from, letting her be a part of the food process, giving her freedoms that city life just doesn't offer. We are immensly blessed, and although it is hard work, I wouldn't trade any of it for the world.

This is the life!