Fodder

I have been researching a new way to feed my animals during these summer droughts and winter months when I am usually buying hay or feed, I found Fodder.

Fodder is a hydroponic grown feed that is rich in nutrients and proteins. It is a barley, oat or wheat seed germinated, grown and harvested in 7 to 8 days. It grows in tubs on a shelf and when harvested can be rolled up, cut and given to the chickens, goats and rabbits. 

The system I am designing will have a large tub of feed ready to harvest every day. 

For a this system the initial set up cost is a little high, but the finished product is worth it. Estimated cost to feed my animals is 0.17 cents a day. 

Go figure, I learn something new every day.

Around The Mini Farm

Last weekend the whole bunch of us hung around the house and got caught up on some of the things we have been lacking on due to too much playing and not enough working.
There is so many things that have to be done before the Graduation Backyard BBQ Party this Saturday. I have all the sudden found myself in a slight panic to get it all completed before then. Oh well, if it gets done it does, if not it don't.

Here is some pictures around the Mini Farm and the gardens,

The babies are no so small anymore.

Tomatoes

Cucumbers

Corn

These are the tomato plants in the Hydroponics system. They are growing so fast and I am already getting some little tomatoes off them. I wished I would have done this system a little bigger and added peppers to it as well.

Some of the herd. BO II and BO III are doing great and loving life now.

Here is the experimental potato bed I planted without soil and only in straw. Some came up and are doing well. The one thing I can see that is not working is the moisture level is too high down in the straw. I try and fluff it to get air down to the root so they do not rot but I don't think it's working to well.
Only time will tell.











I got more, but that's all I will bore you with for now. Have a great day.
MDR

She Can't Say No

The Wife: "Hey, do you remember that lady I worked with up at the store awhile back?"

Me: "Yup"

The Wife: "You remember she lives out near your dad's, way off back there?"

Me: "Yup"

The Wife: "The funny thing is, I saw on her facebook where someone had dumped a really sweet pot belly pig at her place and she can't feed it."

Me: "Oh God NO!!!!!", "Please tell me you didn't."

The Wife: "............"

Me: "You did didn't you?"

The Wife: "Yup"

Me: "................"

The wife: "Her name is Lady Bug"

...........................

I've had nothing to say.
I skipped the last two days on writing a blog post because of just that reason. I am still getting on twice a day and reading everyone's posts but I haven't had nothing to add.
Just Living you might say.

We had a goat miscarry twin little girls this week and that was upsetting.  

Every night this week when I got home I've been working with the youngest girl on getting her rabbits and equipment ready for the show this weekend.
She planned on showing seven of her prize winning rabbits but of course four of them came down with the sniffles and will not be able to go. All this for three rabbits, yea.

The good thing is that she will still be showing her pig. The teacher of course has sheared all the expected winners and left the ones that she does not think will win to do ourselves. That my friends is the public school system at it's finest.

This show is a warm up for the big one next month. She will still win belt buckles and a little prize money from this show but next month is the youth fair and rodeo and that is where cream gets separated from the milk.

It has pretty much dried out here and the temps have been in the low eighties the last couple of days. The bathhouse water is scalding hot and I love it. The youngest is using it as much as I do now.      

That's all I got.

Oh, one more thing, I wanted to give myself something special for my 40th b-day and tried to book a weekend trip to Vegas being I have never been there. Yea, that worked out real good, not!

Lazy Sunday Around The Mini Farm, Continued

 Some of the other animals at the Mini Farm got a little pissy with me during feeding time for not making the morning blog post. So I thought I would help them out and do a "continued" Lazy Sunday Post.

They all settled down when  I told them I was saving the best for last.

Y'all have a wonderful week and stay warm.

Lazy Sunday Around The Mini Farm

 Lazy Sunday, too cold to do any outside work.

Spent the weekend with all my girls, praying the oldest makes it back to school safe.

Chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, peas and gravy for supper. 

This Way And That

All I can say is, "Wow what a weekend." I was all over the place.

I crammed in so many things in such a short amount of time this weekend even I am amazed. I won't go into everything because you will just get bored, but I will hit the highlights.

Yesterday the "Junkin" did not go as planned. Fist off I did not have any money to do anything too serious even if I wanted to. I did find a old wire vegetable holder for a dollar I hung up in the bathhouse for the soaps and shampoos.

I also finished decorating around the sink area. The one thing I was looking for yesterday was antique signs that promoted bathroom products. I did not find even one. I never do find what I am looking for when I am looking for it. I am not worried, I will run across some one of these days.

After all the running around we ended up over a guy's house that thinks along the same lines as I do. I got to tour his facilities taking many notes and pictures. I do not want to say too much about it because I am going to do a piece solely about what he is doing but I will say this is some really cool stuff. 
We spent the remainder of Saturday night visiting friends that we have not seen in a while and enjoying good company. It was fun.

Today did not look like is was going to turn out with drizzling rain, high winds and cold temps. As a matter of fact I almost turned around and went back in the house saying just to heck with it, but was met at the door by the youngest. She said before I got busy she needed me for an hour in the rabbit area, so that is just what I did. She has some rabbits fixin to have babies and we had to move some around and hang more cages. I took the opportunity to reorganize the area and do some cleaning. I could not pass it up.

The sun finally broke out and then it was the wife's turn. I got the youngest started on the bathhouse signs and helped the wife plant all the onions.
"It is good to finally see some green out there", she said smiling at me.
We planted enough onions to do several cases of salsa this year. I also got her herb beds ready for planting in March.
After I was done with the herb beds I told her, "See what a little smile will do"

I stuck my foot in my mouth because she reminded me a promise is a promise while still smiling so I got busy on her screen door. It is not pretty but it's up.
The sliding door still shuts and now during the day she can open it and leave the screen door closed keeping the flies out.
This is the door I got from a Lowe's sidewalk sale a few months back. It was listed for I think $80.00 but I am not sure (I can't remember) and I got it for $7.00
While I worked on the door, I got the youngest started on the art work for the North side of the bath house. I ain't gunna show it till she is done, but it is really looking good so far.
I picked up the lumber for her from a friend of mine last night who was just storing it and not using it. He said he did not need it but did not want it going to waste. I told him I had the perfect project for it.

There are many more little details I could add but you would just get bored so I will save you from having to make that face and the signing sound as you hit the little X in the upper corner just to shut me up.  
         

I Might Have Messed Up On This One

One of the most sought after times of the year for me is Fall/Winter. It is where all the good cooking happens.

Last spring I built a cold smoker so I could smoke my own bacon, hams and sausage. All summer I saw it just sitting there, not being used. I have been biting at the bit for fall to get here so I can finally make my own bacon.




  
Just like all store bought foods, bacon is really not bacon. The pigs that are bred for slaughter are not fed for great tasting meat, they are bred and fed for production and profit.
The store bought bacon is pumped with water to create more poundage. That is the reason the store brand decreases in size so much when you cook it. All you are buying is water with a little meat in it. 

If you do not know, bacon comes from the belly cut of the pig, hence pork belly. There was a time when I could get this cut for almost nothing. Now at best in my area the price is $2.59 a pound. I can buy already cured and smoked cheap bacon at that cost. One meat market says it is because of the fuel prices and another says it is because all those dang cooking shows are driving the price up as a specialty cut.

I searched and called every meat market within 100 miles and the prices were all close to the same.
We are only one generation removed from doing all this ourselves. Most of our grandparents and even our parents always had a hog or two around the farm to feed up for the winter processing, curing and smoking. They new the importance of stocking up and preparing because their life depended on it. Plus the tastes from fresh homegrown meat is so much more favorable than any other you can buy. The old timers say once you had real bacon you will never buy that store bought crap again.

This is where I might have messed up. Being I could not find pork belly at a reasonable price and being I do not like store bought bacon and also being I am almost out of bacon, ham and sausage from our last pig, I bought two more pigs.
Last time I was able to go in halves on a pig with a friend and my half came to me in real nice little packages. I did not have to feed it, water it, kill it or process it. For the money it was a deal I could not pass up. Now I have two more mouths to feed and a bunch of work to do.    

Meet Red Pig and White Pig

This was a rookie mistake. I let my pride get in the way on this decision.
"$2.59 a pound, they can kiss my butt. I will just go buy my own pigs" was my attitude last night driving to the sell.
On the way home it was a little different. I realized I did not have a pen and I did not have a shelter for them, I was completely unprepared.
The first and number one rule in animal husbandry is to be prepared for your new arrivals. If I was to practice what I preach, I would not be shooting from the hip. Needless to say, this weekend will be all about pigs.       

New Mini Additions To The Mini Farm

Here are the two newest additions to the Mini Farm.

The one closest is a Jack and his name is Popeye and the other one is a jenny and her name of course is Olive Oyl.
They are Mini Donkeys, it's just fittin.

I did some trading for them. The o'l boy wanted a couple of mini goats and a couple of mini chickens so I said I really didn't think so.
He then talked to the wife without me knowing it and here you go.
He might have gotten the better deal because his feed bill just went down and mine went up. Oh well, you can't win them all.