Micro Greens!

We have begun a new venture. In addition to the birds,
Osh & I have begun a Micro Greens business!
Things are looking super promising. 

There were some initial startup costs but either way, the items were something we could use in the Spring for starting seedlings.

The plants are growing extremely well! Micro Greens only require about 15 days of powerful light until they are ready to be harvested. Did you know that micro greens actually contain more vitamins than if you were to let the plant fully cycle? Pretty cool, right?!

Some trays should be ready by Wednesday, November 18, if anyone would like to place an order. Live trays are $20. There will be a future credit to use on your next purchase, if you bring the tray and soil back. :) Freshly cut trays are $15 or you can purchase by the oz! $3 per oz. 

Stay up-to-date with everything that's going on at the Micro Farm on our Facebook page!
https://www.facebook.com/Johnsonmicrofarm/

All the things!

Hey interwebs! Sorry it's been so long since we last chatted... I was super busy planning a huge event at work + Emma was recovering from her surgery.

Unfortunately, Winter will be here in a blink of an eye. Osh and I have been taking the dogs for walks as much as possible, while the weather holds out. I actually bought us some toasty workout pants so that we can walk the dogs well in to November. (hopefully!) Emma and Otis love adventures!

Speaking of Winter, it's almost time to start preparing the barn for the cooler temperatures.
Typically, we house all of the birds together over the winter, so that they can keep each other warm. This year will be no different, except with the addition of Narragansett Turkeys. The idea of having a heat light in the barn has been tossed around but I'm still unsure about that. There's so much that can go wrong with a heat lamp -- such as a fire which would ruin the barn and probably kill our entire flock. Still weighing out the benefits/downsides... Check back in a few weeks to see what we decide to do!!

This year, we decided to keep about 20 drakes to raise for meat. I have done a lot of reading regarding muscovy duck meat, and it apparently was supposed to taste like beef.... And beef it tasted  like. There's not a whole lot of fat, so cooking it perfectly is key. If you ate this piece of meat, blindfolded, you would probably think it was a really nice cut of beef. We've had muscovy ducks for over 2 years now, I'm not sure why we haven't tried it before. Next year, we will probably raise more drakes for meat, especially, considering how delicious it is!

PS -- If anyone wants to get on the list forr barred rock chicks in the Spring, please let me know around January. Heritage barred rock chicks are $7 each, unsexed. The lines that we have are Woeppel, Guy Roy, & Good Shepherd.

Hatchery vs. Heritage

My apologies for not blogging the past week. I've been fairly busy lately and Emma (the new puppy) is extremely exhausting. Her new favorite thing to do is, hop up on to the counter and eat the cats food or chew on spatulas. I think she might be part goat but waiting on her DNA test for confirmation...

 Harvests have been fairly light but we're getting something every evening ranging from berries, squash, potatoes, kale, broccoli, green beans, & tons of herbage. I haven't had to buy produce in weeks, which is nice, I just wish we had a little more to sell. There's always next year, lets cross our fingers for a warmer summer.

Chickeny-things:

This year we added a line of glittery barred rocks that I am super pumped about. They are from Jeremy Woeppel's line of Plymouth Barred Rocks, his line goes back about 100 years. The main difference between a heritage chicken and one from a hatchery, is that they have been bred to be the closest to 'breed standard' as possible. For instance, most hatchery birds are strictly bred for their egg laying capabilities and  the majority of their original traits are lost along the way due to crossing with another breed, etc. Heritage Barred Rocks are prized for the dual purpose capabilities. IE: amazing meat production, winter hardy, and great layers of large brown eggs.

Cool fact about barred rocks: The Barred Rock is the first and oldest member of the Plymouth Barred Rock breed. There are Partridge Rocks, White Rocks, Barred Rocks, Silver, Penciled, Columbian,, Blue, Black & Buff Rocks all under the same umbrella. Through World War II the Barred Rock was the most common chicken that farmers had in their flocks due to their versatile nature.

Really excited to breed these barred rocks next year! They will most likely run $7 a chick, sold as a straight run. If anyone is interested in being added to the list, please contact us in February 2016 to be added to the wait list. 

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Photo below is of Hatchery Stock {Image rights belong to Murray McMurray Hatchery.}

Visually, you definitely see a difference in barring & weight. I'll try to do some side-by-sides with the hatchery barred rocks that we have in our flock for another reference.

Thank you for reading! I appreciate it!
XoXo
-Kristen

Garden haul!

TONAGE in the garden tonight! 

2 QT sized bags full of green & purple beans

2 QT sized bags of tomatoes 

2 Huge bunches of Kale

4 black radishes 

2 Yellow Squash 

Multiple bunches of chocolate mint  & echinacea leaves for teas. 

1 bunch of beautiful Chard 

1 large bunch of lime Basil 

If anyone is interested in anything feel free to let me know! Everything is grown organically, GMO free, no chemicals or sprays used. 

Thanks for reading 

-Kristen <3

Farm Dreaming........

Someday, we would like to own a large piece of land. 20 acres+ 

I found this beauty today........ 

 

Kickstarter for Johnson Micro Farm? Free eggs for a year? Who's down!?!!!!

http://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/Curlew-WA-99118/pmf,pf_pt/2108775856_zpid/100095_rid/featured_sort/49.045294,-118.268853,48.712939,-118.879967_rect/10_zm/2_p/

Rooster Troubles

I hatched some heritage Blue Splash Brahma chicks from Carolina Rare chicks line back in February. 

The roosters have started to come in to 'manhood' and Josh has been butchering them a few at a time.  The rooster to hen ratio should be around 8-10 hens per rooster. Right now we have a total of 8 roosters soon to be 6 or 7. So That would be mean we would need 60 hens in order to keep the peace, which we don't have nor really want to have at this moment in time. OH, and I should mention, that these Brahma roosters are massive. Like double the size of an average sized rooster.  In total, we like to keep our numbers for chickens around 40-ish during the winter months.

So back to the Blue Splash Roosters -- this morning Josh went out to open the barn to feed the birds, and found the blue splash Brahma rooster, that we had planned on keeping had broken the neck of a barred rock hen and paralyzed our Barnevlder hen.  It's in a roosters nature to PROTECT the hens, not harm them.  It's hard to say what really happened. I thought maybe he was trying to mate with them and they refused. However, after carefully thinking about the situation, broody hen or not, he shouldn't have harmed them like that. There has to be something wrong with the rooster, so he's gotta go.  It's just not safe for him to stay in our flock any longer. I still plan on breeding them in the Spring but with a different rooster {pending that the last of the blue splash roosters is friendly}

Happier News:

We sold 2 ducks and 3 chicks this week! They went to a home where they will be part of traveling petting zoo. How cool is that?! I'm excited for their adventurous life. It always does the heart good to know they are off to do big things. :) 

 

 

Happy Sunday Y'all! 

 

Blood, Sweat, & Tomatoes -- It's harvest time!

Last night we harvested some of the larger tomatoes! 

This was the first batch of large tomatoes at the Johnson Micro Farm so far this year. While everyone is drinking hot chocolate and sitting by the fire during the winter months; Osh is busy in his plant room, planting the seeds of deliciousness for the next season. [ I typically help plant seeds in the trays but Osh handles the day-to-day care of the seedlings.

 A lot of work goes in to bringing one seedling to fruition.

1. Purchase seeds, swap seeds, or even use seeds that you saved from a previous year.

2. Figure out what you plan on using to start the seeds in. Usually, seed trays will suffice, but in some instances, larger pods are a good idea if you don't want to re-pot things multiple times.  

3. Create your  own soil amendment or purchase soil for the seeds to grow in. On our farm, we use a mix of topsoil along with compost.

4. Watch em' grow!  

 Thanks for reading! Please check back later in the week. I plan on blogging about Heritage Plymouth Barred Rocks from Jeremy Woeppels line & our most recent hatch of Barred Rocks from the Good Shepherd & Guy Roy Lines. 

Garden Update!

So were almost in September and things are finally coming in......... 

Interesting :) 

Ohhhh!!! And for anyone that's interested in turkeys next year... Here is what a caged Jeanie-O turkey runs. Please order before March! $25 cash/check, non refundable if you back out, deposits are due by 2/28/16.

Friends, Feasts, & Beasts.

Greetings & Salutations! 

{I'm just here for my Glamour shot... }

Not many people can say that their best friend from high school is still their best friend.... I'm one of those lucky individuals! Cassie has been there through thick & thin. She was even my co-pilot when we decided to move to San Marcos, TX! 

Saturday:

I love my Cass!!! Last night Osh made us an amazing, home cooked, farm to table meal the only item that wasn't from the farm was the ground turkey. *major component, but this year was the first year we attempted raising turkeys. It went extraordinarily well -- and the plan is to raise around 8-10 next season. Turkeys are an excellent 'bang for your buck' bird. They are fantastic rangers, good watch dogs, & the meat to feed ratio was well worth it! 

Sunday 8/30/15:

Sundays off are the best thing ever. Typically, I'm off Tuesday/Wednesdays so it's a special treat to have a day off with my husband. The day always seems to be one of those 'forever' days, in a good way of course. The day began with coffee & Sheryl, Jaclyn's cousin aka amazing dog whisperer coming by the house for a training session. Sheryl helped us cover all of the general basics and definitely helped us to hone in on some of the issues we have as far as training Emma. Sheryl suggested to make sure you have clear defined commands. 

IE: stop jumping on me was usually 'down.' BUT down was also the command Osh or I would say if Emma begged for food at the table, or if she jumped on us... Honestly, I had never put two and two together regarding the commands. I'm super excited to continue to train Emma. In time, she will be the perfect farm puppy lady.

Last week she learned how to stay! In just one day! Super intelligent dog -- just needs guidance! My goal is one new trick a week. 

The day succumbed with a 1.5 mile walk with the pups, an organic, grassfed dinner, & a cup of tea. Life is good. 

Thanks for reading y'all! 

 :)

Head B! 

We love pears. 

Like a lot... 

Amazing Walk!

Amazing walk with the pups tonight! Osh & I are trying to take Emma on more adventures so that she is less destructive.... And also it's good for the soul! 

Oh & came home to broccoli that was ready to be harvested! Life is good. 

Free Range Broad Breasted & Hertiage Narragansett Turkeys!

free-range

adjective

adjective: free-range

1. (of livestock, especially poultry) kept in natural conditions, with freedom of movement.

   • (of eggs) produced by birds reared under natural conditions.

There's just something totally awesome about raising your own meat for Thanksgiving. This year, Osh and I decided to test the waters and raise a small brood of turkeys. We decided on 2, one for Thanksgiving and one for Christmas dinner. But, when I got to Farm & Fleet, 3 seemed to be the magic number. 

Raising our own turkeys turned out to be quite the magical experience. To be honest, they are much better foragers than our chickens are. Turkeys are highly entertaining and did great with the other birds. However, there was a slight issue with the Tom stepping on baby ducklings but it wasn't for malicious reasons. He was extremely clumsy, and usually this occurred during feeding time.

The Bronze's have since gone to freezer camp -- a total of 68 pounds of meat in just 4 months! Success!

A few weeks ago, we took them to a meat processor out of Bristol WI. He charges $10 a bird, the birds were professionally processed and wrapped. The whole bringing them to get processed part wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. From the beginning, I had the mindset that they were meat but I did get slightly attached to the Tom. The turkeys were incredibly spoiled and lived an amazing, happy, free range life... I'm excited for that element.

Turkey raising went so amazingly, that we decided to add a heritage breed to our flock. The bronze are still great birds, but because of their large size, they are unable to procreate without being artificially inseminated. Which is why raising a dual purpose heritage breed for many reasons. The main one being to be able to preserve a bird that is currently listed as 'threatened' on the Livestock Conservancy List.

Next year, we hope to be able to raise a few more bronze's for thanksgivings. If anyone is interested in a bird, here is the breakdown of pricing:

$10 Poults
$10 Processing
$5 per bird (gas & driving)
+ $3.50 per lb.
Birds typically end up weighing somewhere around 12-30+ lbs.

Example:
12 pound bird would be $67.  $25 + 3(42) = $67

So basically a $25 deposit that goes towards all of the above.. Please let me know by March  or sooner if you're interested! P.S.
Big thank you to Molly for inspiring me to blog about our life. I'm having a blast so far!

Happy Tuesday!!!!!!!

Welcoming Miss Emmie to the Family

I remember the day so clearly-- I had just run inside the Jewel on 14 in Crystal Lake to grab a few miscellaneous things. I plopped my findings in to the trunk, looked up, and the Pet shop was calling my name. 

You know.. when you get that feeling that comes over you.. it's almost like a gravitational pull from your destiny.

My logical-self talking me out of looking & my craving for another puppy persuading me.. I decided to just take a look.......

Side note, Otis is a great dog but he's totally Osh's dog. The plan was to get 2 dogs all along, we we're waiting to fence the backyard.Which we had just done, score!

I love dachshunds. I had two of them growing up, and they were amazing. Super loyal, lovable, and of course super cuddly. So in to the pet store I went.

{Before anyone comments on how I'm terrible person for looking at dogs at a pet-shop, 3 out of 4 of our current pets were adopted/feral! So please no grief!}

Unfortunately, there were no dachshunds, so I checked Craigslist when I got home and stumbled upon the post with Emma in it. A young family was re-homing her to due to her being a little too rough with their dachshund. I saw those eyes in the post, and just knew that I had to go check her out. I messaged the gal that afternoon and set up a time to go meet Bella aka Emma.

After dinner, Osh and I headed to the bank for cash & out to South Elgin to pick up our girl.  She was pretty timid upon the meeting, which I have come to learn is a pretty common trait of the Weimaraner breed. However, she warmed up to us pretty quickly. Especially, when she discovered that we had a huge backyard and an Otis that loves to play. It was love at first sight. I knew she was the 'mama's puppy.'

Emma has been a total joy, with of course, all of the bonuses that come with puppyhood such as cleaning up turds at 12am.... BUT it could always be worse.

Otis & Emma get along like a dream.

Puppy soulmates.

Osh and I love her so much already and can't wait to see what the future holds for our beautiful Em. {Hopefully, less stains on our carpet. :) }

Happy Monday y'all and thanks for reading! 

Muscovies for Everyone!

Well, hello there!

Johnson Microfarm has been growing at a tremendous rate! This year we added quite a few chickens, turkeys, & ducks! Also, Osh put in lots of garden beds. I think there is close to 25 of them.... You could say he went a little garden bed crazy this season. However, next year, things should be much smoother! {We hope!} 

Muscovy Ducks:
It appears as though our muscovies have excellent fertility! This year we were overloaded with baby ducks. We began the season with 2 drakes, Chocolate Man & Alfred & 6 mama's. The only one that has a name is 'Nibbles' for obvious reasons, and the other 5, I just call 'Mama.'  The first few batches of ducks were sold to pay for feed, bedding, and various other chicken-y things. This last batch was sort of a 'surprise' from 2 of the original mama's that like to nest together. They hatched out 21 babies. So if anyone is in the market for a few, let us know!






So lets get in to why muscovies are fantastic creatures to have on your property.

Practical Reasons:

1. Great brooders & mothers to their young.
2. Delicious eggs
3. Amazing natural pest repellents. BUT if we have a really wet year, you literally need like 30+ ducks to make a noticeable difference. 
4.  They are quiet! If you live in an area that you are not allowed to have chickens, I highly suggest looking in to these ducks. They do not quack, the ladies make a 'pip' noise but not often. Muscovies could be a solution for you if you are looking to add a little yard candy without the extra noise. 
5. If you have an allergy to chicken eggs, most of the time, duck eggs will not have the same effect. 
6. They have excellent resilience to cold weather which is crucial in our climate and at the Johnson Microfarm. Our barn is not heated for various reasons, the main one being safety.  I remember going out to check on them many of times over the winter & they would be taking a snow bath. 
7. Beautiful Colors! This could be in either category, but for our reasons, I will put it in the practical category. On our farm, we raise mostly rare colors of muscovies. This year our Chocolate Drake created beautiful offspring! We were even lucky enough to get a lavender barred chocolate female. She is for sale and is currently $40. Super rare color and very hard to find. If anyone is interested, feel free to email me, or comment on the blog. We do not ship any birds. All birds must be picked up on the premise. 

Impractical Reasons:

1. They are adorable. 
2. They wag their tails when they see you. 
3. Get super excited for tomato-y treats.
4.  Companionship {This could really go in either category, just depends on what you're looking to get out of your livestock.} 

We will try to post on here weekly! Stay tuned for more farm updates. <3