Nothing makes me happier than being outdoors. I crave it when I am stuck inside for any length of time. I love the fresh air and the beauty of nature more than I can adequately express. I love the changing of the seasons and the unique artistry of each one. It’s something I’m thankful for every morning I wake up. I love the sunshine, the rain, and even the beauty of snow … [Read more...]
Summer Farm News!
Losing our Lab mix Luke left a huge hole in our lives. The house was too quiet. We pulled up all the throw rugs, moved the pet stairs away from our bed, cleared out and put away dog dishes, and gave the floors a good cleaning. I finally went through all the old dog toys and threw away the rattiest ones and washed the ones still in good shape. It was nice to have the house a bit … [Read more...]
Silence on the Farm
For the first time since it’s inception, Barking Dog Organic Farm is without a barking dog. We lost our precious Luke this week, after a short illness. He was just 8 years old. Luke took his job as Chief Barking Dog quite seriously, but he took his job of loving us even more seriously. He had his quirks, fears and phobias, but he was the most loving dog with us ever. … [Read more...]
Welcome to the Farm! Chicks 2022
We've been anticipating this day for weeks now, and finally the chicks arrived, right on schedule! We're excited to be trying some new breeds this year: New Hampshire Red, Light Brahma, Speckled Sussex, Barred Rock, Isa Brown, and Olive Egger. Then we also chose some of our favorites that we've had before, or still have: White Leghorn, Golden Comet, Buff Orpington, and Black … [Read more...]
A Time to Plan
Now that the busy holidays are behind us (it was a very successful Christmas shopping season at my shop!), and my hubby is officially “semi”-retired (he’s still working at his job two days/week), it’s time to sit back and look at what’s ahead for the farm! The Flocks The winter so far has been a bit crazy. All our chickens stopped laying eggs completely, which has never … [Read more...]
Autumn – and the Flocks – All Settle In
The Flocks of Guinea Hens The new guineas born this year are completely integrated with the older birds, so finally things will get easier for a while! It’s been interesting to watch the dynamics to see how guineas and chickens would group together. Mostly it seems those that were hatched and started out together stick together. The four hens from early spring, which came from … [Read more...]
It’s All in the Call – Identifying the Sex of Young Chickens & Guinea Fowl
In this post: It’s All in the Call - Cockerel or Pullet? - The Same Goes for Guinea Fowl What’s Farm Dog Luke Been Up To Lately? Around the Farm News & Photos There is so much discussion in various groups on Facebook and on other websites about how you can identify the sex of your farm birds. It’s been a learning process for us, but after a few years of … [Read more...]
Farm Fresh Yellow Beans – Air Fried!
It’s been a challenging year with our vegetable garden. All our summer rain has the weeds growing completely out of control, and as often happens, I simply gave up trying to keep up with them. There just weren’t enough dry hours to get out into the garden, and it felt like a losing battle when I did get out there. Therefore, I did what I could and hoped for the best. Now we'll … [Read more...]
Farm Surprises – Late Bloomer, More Newbies, & Rain, Rain, Rain
It’s been such a strange summer so far! The weather has been all over the place. You may remember we had to send some of our over-eager roosters to another farm; in the end we sent all three including Toni who I had wanted to keep. He was a beauty, but unfortunately, he was kind of the leader of the pack, and they were all just too much for our hens. Since we had decided on … [Read more...]
Peas Please! – First Harvests
Spring vegetables are the best! There is nothing like those first vegetables of the season, and farm dog Luke agrees! Longtime readers have seen how much Luke loves green beans, but I’d say fresh sugar snap peas are a close second if not equal. I love to munch on them myself and put them in salads as well. Next up I’ll be trying to roast some in the oven, … [Read more...]
Farm Drama
Boys Will Be Boys Remember this photo from a few weeks back? Well, not only did Tony (on the far right) turn out to be a rooster, but Brittany became Brett, and Daisy Mae became Davy Crockett. Don’t ask me where I come up with these crazy names, they just pop into my head randomly! These young roosters are becoming quite obnoxious, harassing all the poor … [Read more...]
A Farm Girl’s Finds – One Year Later
We opened in the middle of a pandemic, and we're still going! Over a year ago, three years after losing my job of over 20 years, I was still struggling with “what to do with my life”. Pushing 60 years old, too young to retire, and losing yet another part-time job with no new job prospects, I was at a crossroads. I needed to fight through my depression and frustration and come … [Read more...]
Farm Updates in Photos
Spring is crazy busy as always, so I haven't had a lot of time to take photos or sit down and write stories. It's been raining a lot too, so that doesn't help with the photo taking. We finally got a sunny day so I could get out after work last week and snap some shots of the birds and farm dog Luke! I'm happy to say that the new chickens are integrating with the older … [Read more...]
Our Top 6 Ways to Control Fleas & Ticks on Our Dog
We choose to use only natural preventatives on our Lab mix Luke. I’ve written about this in the past, but I like to keep updated on what we are doing every year. We haven’t changed much since our last post; and while we still see some ticks that happens even with many chemical products too. Considering the controversy around some of them recently, I feel comfortable sticking to … [Read more...]
Spring has Sprung
It feels so good to finally be back out walking on our woods trails consistently! Luke has exchanged his winter coat for getting sprayed with insect repellent. The ticks are out there, though we've only seen one so far. I'm sure there will be more, though things are dry so that could reduce their populations. That would be the only good part of heading into another … [Read more...]
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