A little garden in which to walk, and immensity in which to dream
February 13, 2008|Comments (none)
Last night, I created a little sketch of our future business for you to see. When we were in Washington, Josh and I visited Jim’s U-Fish and fell madly in love with the idea of starting something similar — only with an organic twist. Instead of just a petting zoo… why not let our guests learn how to milk a goat, churn butter, taste homemade cheese, collect eggs, and enjoy some organic fruits and vegetables?
We can’t wait to dig our pond and stock it with fish for people to catch. I am excited to have ducks and mark my words: the very moment that we have water in that pond there will be ducks! As we did our taxes this year, we realized how close we are to making our dream a reality. Even before moving here, we were working from our little home computer gathering information about zoning, pond stocking, and insurance. We made many trips to the various U-fish farms in the Tacoma/Orting/Spanaway area before leaving for Georgia (I am at the U-Fish in Orting, WA in the picture above).
Our planning and hours of labor are finally coming to fruition. Of course, we fully intend to see all of you who rated “expert” on that little test here at Razor Family Farm someday!
“To find the universal elements enough; to find the air and the water exhilarating; to be refreshed by a morning walk or an evening saunter… to be thrilled by the stars at night; to be elated over a bird’s nest or a wildflower in spring – these are some of the rewards of the simple life.” ~John Burroughs
Best Laid Plans
February 12, 2008|Comments (none)
Above are the Bantams enjoying the great weather of late. Our little hen laid an egg in the front yard yesterday! Here it is (with a marker for you to see that it is so tiny):
We’ve been catching up on the site lately… trying to get to all the pages that have the little “sorry this page is under construction” at the bottom. This is quite a task! Today I’ll photograph my homemade boiling water canner and I will make some jam with the berries in the freezer.
We have so many plans and ideas for this year. Josh will upgrade the saltwater tank, fence the front yard, and dig out the pond in the back. I’ve been promised a new stove to replace the one that has all but completely failed. All of these things require money (that dreadful but necessary evil). So, the boat had to be posted to Craigslist. This is very sad. When I look at that boat, I think about how thrilled Josh was when we purchased it. We had this summer planned: hard work paid for in full by even a few hours on the lake in our very own boat. In truth, the boat is a fair trade for another step toward making our farming dreams a reality. Here’s one of my favorite pictures of my wonderful husband:
Thank you for helping to name our two new Ameraucanas! We went with the majority (pictures soon).
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It’s a Girl! (At Last)
February 9, 2008|Comments (none)
We are just now back from the Lea County Flea Market where we found the man who sold us the hens-that-weren’t and told him the whole story. Turns out that he thought they were hens, too. He said he’d gladly let us exchange them for hens. I hope he remembers who sold him those roosters so he can give them a piece of his mind! Anyway, Josh and I were faced with a decision: either get more Rhode Island Reds or try another breed. Nothing against Rhode Island Reds… but we decided to get Ameraucanas instead. Ameraucanas sell for $15 each instead of $10 each (like the Rhode Island Reds) so we traded the Gabor Sisters for two new gals. lay green and blue eggs which are said to be low in cholesterol. In keeping with my sixties television star inspired naming, I’ve decided to name our new girls after the lead roles in the Patty Duke Show: Patty Lane and Cathy Lane (for those of you who have never seen the show, Patty Duke played both characters). Here they are:
So now I am putting it to you, my wonderful blogging friends: which hen shall be Cathy Lane and which shall be Patty Lane? To better illustrate the different characters, I’ve included the introduction to the Patty Duke Show:
