With a new year around the corner, and a beautiful full moon shining in the sky, I started to look back on our first year (first 3/4 year technically) and write about our experiences. But I am so far behind on writing about our activities, I figured I would let photos tell the story.
So much has happened, so many lessons have been learned. It’s been a tremendous experience. We have ourselves a working farm!
We hope you enjoy this little glimpse into our journey so far.
Autumn
Greenhouse, quail house and chicken coop in the background. The pigs mowed down and tilled the entire pasture (160 x 160ft, or 25,000 SQ FT)
This was what the pasture looked like before the pigs got started
Sweet little Berkshire weaners (June 15)
Fully grown, 200lb (Nov 15)
Young Coturnix Quail
Slaughtering our pigs was sad and hard, and so it should be.
Pigs who have pasture and space will keep their sleeping quarters immaculate. Ours slept cuddled up to one another
A little ear scratch was welcomed but I learned to be very mindful of the pigs, they tested boundaries on occasion
The garden had eight varieties of tomatoes. The green striped “Zebra” tomato is my all time favorite
This was a great year for squash. We had hundreds of pounds of zucchini
A garden expansion is being planned out for spring
Sweet heirloom carrots
The pantry almost filled. About 25 recipes in all
Rosehips for Jam (a lot of work!)
Harvest was bountiful, the kitchen was a canning factory for weeks
Plenty of vertical growing
We foraged and brought home thousands of apples
This is the chicken coop built by Ryan and my Dad
Baby Welsummer Rooster – June 05
Welsummer Rooster, King of the Flock – Dec 15
Fresh eggs, still waiting on the blue eggs from the Ameraucana’s
12 HP/7.5kw, 1000rpm Lister-type Diesel generator.
12 x 4v Solar batteries (48v system.) Made in Canada.
Outback power inverter. NOT made in Australia.
7.5 kw of Solar Panels