How do we run a small farm on under two acres of land? Tour our set up and join us as we do some of our morning chores during the spring. We currently have baby goats, bunnies, chicks, and ducklings, which add a lot of excitement. In the past few years we have done so much work to grow our homestead and make the most of our land. There is a never ending list of projects to be done and we are always improving and growing.
Note: Because we knew we were filming, we gave everyone fresh water and filled their feeders the night beforehand so the videos would take less time. These chores are normally done in the morning.
Goats
First things first, we feed the goats their bottles and pellets. While they are eating we give them fresh water, hay, and lots of snuggles. We then let the girls out into their run. It has taken the girls less than a week to clear a huge section of the run!
Maggie
Penelope
How much the goats have cleared
Rabbits
Next, we do the rabbits. We make sure that they always have hay available free choice. The only ones who don't get rationed feed are the mother's with babies. We feed the nursing does 1tbs of calf mana a day to help with milk production and give her a break from the kits twice a day. During the break is a great time to socialize the babies and take pictures.
Ducks
Once the rabbits are finished we let out the ducks. We give them fresh water, feed, and collect the eggs. Being spring we have had an issue with the boys over mating the girls.We are trying to figure out a way to separate them, but in the mean time hatched out some baby ducks that will hopefully be females to add to the flock. When we first got the ducks we highly underestimated how messy they are! They will make mud out of ANYTHING. We are surprised so much of the grass in their area has survived. Their pond currently drains into the strawberry garden, but we plan to eventually build them a large pond further back on our property and create a better set up for them.
Chickens
After the ducks we let out the chickens. Typically we let them out to "free" range, but we had 4 hawks yesterday and usually keep them in unless we are out with them for a few days after a hawk sighting. We separated our roosters and are helping the chickens grow back their feathers by feeding extra protein. We have breeding pens being built that will be used to house the roosters and will eventually let one rooster be with the flock again. We are also building more broody pens. The first time we built a run for our chickens we went as cheap as possible and it ended up getting broken into by a raccoon, which killed all but one chicken. The new run was an investment but it is worth not finding whole flock's massacred, same for the electric fencing.
Crooks- the lone survivor from our first flock of chickens.
Silkies
Last but not least are the Silkies. Things are a bit different than usual because we have two broody hens hatching out chicks!
Buffy and Pepper's first chick
Gardens
Though we do or plan to produce most of our own animal products, we also need fruits and vegetables! Home grown tastes so much better. I didn't take a video, but snapped a few pictures of our beautiful gardens. Thankfully Nana Bessette has a green thumb! Not pictured: our tiered garden on the hill and our asparagus garden. We are able to produce much of our own vegetables and have plenty of space (and ideas!) for expansion. Very soon we will be building a greenhouse.
Our new strawberry garden
30+ year old Rhubarb Plant
Cabbage on the sides of our straw bale gardens
More straw bale garden. We have two rows. The garden behind it is where much of our vegetables grow.
Flowers, garlic, and all of our leafy greens (kale, spinach, lettuce) love the shade garden.
Our new potato gardens are sprouting!
Thanks for checking out our little homestead! Feel free to say any questions/comments you have. We have worked really hard to make the best of the land we already lived on and have a long way to go, but are so proud of all that we have accomplished so far.
At Blue Hollow Homestead, we love all things blue. Naturally when we learned of an easy to make all natural blue dye last year, we were all over it! We figured out a method that resulted in vibrantly blue eggs every time. How to Make Vibrant Blue Eggs 1. Boil 1 qt of water, a whole shredded red cabbage, 2tbs of vinegar, and one 1tbs of salt. 2. Once it reaches a boil, cover and let it simmer for 30 minutes. 3. Strain and keep the liquid for dying. 4. Place hard boiled or blown eggs in the dye. We found that if you use colored eggs you will get a large variety of shades of blue. 3. *IMPORTANT* Let it sit in the dye overnight. If you just dunk it in, you will get a pale color. If it stays overnight it will turn an absolutely beautiful, vibrant blue that lasts a long time. Blue, Brown, Green, Tan, and Speckled Eggs from our Chickens White Duck Eggs
**WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT. BLOOD AND ANIMAL BUTCHERING.** If you follow our farm, you know that we have been raising 50+ meat birds with the end goal of providing humanely raised, all natural meat. Last year we made a post documenting the process of processing turkey and this year we decided to show how our chickens go from pasture to plate and teach you a little bit about how we do things. First we will briefly explain how we raise them and then I will show and explain how we process them (complete with detailed pictures and a video!) and end with a cost analysis. This is a great read if: you want to process a bird, you are new to meat birds, you are experienced with meat birds, you want to be aware of where your food comes from, you eat meat, or if you just want to see how chickens go from farm to table in something that ISN'T a factory farm setting. Note: this is just how we do things. There are many methods, and after much trial and error we find this is
**WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT. BLOOD AND ANIMAL BUTCHERING.** If you have been following our farm long you know that we had been keeping 5 turkey with the end goal of processing them into meat to feed our family. These turkey had been a fun addition to our homestead- they all had funny personalities and we enjoyed having them around. We had two toms and three hens. They had a pretty fantastic life with a lot of attention (and treats). Alas, the time came where they got a little TOO big and Thanksgiving was just around the corner. Today we met with a relative, Jesse, who had two Turkey to slaughter. We transported the turkey to his house. When we first got there we started boiling a huge tub of water. The first "tub" was much too small and the first (small) turkey didn't fit in it at all. We had to switch out for a larger tub which took very long to heat up. We had to wait for the temperature to be over 140 degrees Fahrenheit! First, we did
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