Diaper Swappers

raisingcropsandbabies · 07-22-2012, 10:27 AM

Home from church, fed the kiddos lunch and laid them down for naps, DH out finishing baling, and I'm sitting here with my feet up/cup of coffee in hand/hiding behind computer so I don't see the mountain of laundry I need to fold right infront of me.

What are you ladies upto this week on the farm?

After naptime, we are loading back in the van to look at an Angus bull for sale. We are just going along for the ride while DH knows what to look for! haha.

Later this week we'll be off to another town to look at some jersey heifer calves that are for sale. Heifers can be hard to come by and so we better jump at this. Earlier this summer a jersey cow that was ready to calf got sold out from under us! haha. Our jersey is so old and cantakerous... raising one from the bottle will hopefully help that (esp. if I'll be milking her in two years). So crossing my fingers it works out.

I've given up trying to can green beans this year... ours did poorly and all the Amish up the road aren't selling any because theirs did poorly too. Major bummer as my kids love green beans.
This week I'll be busy canning peaches though and that'll give me plenty extra on my to-do list. I can mostly early in the morning, when the kids are rested and happy playing and at night, when the kids go to bed.

DH will be moving hay after finishing up baling and then combining more oats for the rest of the week. I'm trying to be patient about how high are grass/weeds are in the yard-yard (we fence an area in because our cows love my garden and the grass is always greener and so on)... he likes to mow, but the boys are starting to complain about itchy knees. So maybe I can sweet talk him into mowing one of these days! We fence in our little lambie and she is a good yard-girl for that area.

Well, as much as my boys love their "mountain" to play on, it must disappear before I go crazy. So glad I have Seven Brides for Seven Brothers to entertain me while I fold.

2socksmom · 07-22-2012, 01:06 PM

I'd like to join. We have small farm with goats, chickens and horses. We have 2 children DS is 26 months and DD is 12 weeks. My hubby is in charge of the veggie garden and I care for the animals. We Renton acquired 2 new goats, a sannen in milk and a snubian doeling. My milking routine takes a bout 1/2 hour. A raccoon got all of our flock over the fourth of July so we are starting over with 11 chicks. This is the 1 st time we have hens that haven't been raised by their mothers. My hubby is working on a hoop tractor on wheels. Our farm is for sale but found a beautiful place very close to our work places. It is on 2 acres and there is plenty of room for everyone but the horse, who will be boarded. There is a beautiful 105 year old restored farmhouse. I am very excited about it! I go back to work on the 27th. I work 2 days a week. Our previous nanny of 2 years quit nd I am a little hesitant about a new one, but I have to remind myself that we were nervous leaving DS with the previous nanny at 1st also.

raisingcropsandbabies · 07-23-2012, 05:07 AM

Tell me more about the house!!! Does it have a summer kitchen? haha. I love old houses.

Our house is about that old, but it's a poor man's house and was really patched together by my dh's great-grandpa.

We've had to do lots of work to it, but I'm kind sentimental because it's the house my DH grew up in.

We ended up getting the bull we looked at. Anyone have masculine bull name suggestions???

aiyana4969 · 07-23-2012, 06:45 AM

raisingcropsandbabies: how about Thor? Sorry just the first name that popped into my head

been very busy around here the past few days. Weeding, planting a second crop, grumblinng about the tomatoes I planted being mis labeled at the feed store I bought them from (supposed to be early girls, but they're not, they're sweet 100's. Not that I don't mind cherry tomatoes, but we use A LOT of tomatoes, on sanwiches, wanted to make salsas...) the tomatoes plants are going crazy and grew bigger than they are supposed to and ended up interlacing as a result. I have them in a raised bed in what will be my greenhouse as soon as I get plastic for it. Everyone else's tomatoes are doing poorly this year and I figured mine would as well since that area does not get sun until about 9-10 am and gets shady again around 5. But I guess with the heat the shade has doen them good.

Went berry picking up on the paper company lands with my mom yesterday. We found bushes heavily laden with blackberries like mine are around here. Good year for blackberries. Will still be a few weeks before they ripen though. We were after raspberries. Saw a lot of new growth but not much in the way of berries. We went really far in and found one patch that we each got a quart out of and could have gotten at least another quart a peice, but by that time we were starving (and hadn't brought a lunch since we were not expecting to have to travel so far in to find them). We decided we'd hit Nicatous Lodge and get some food. I had only ever been out that way on snowmobiles in my teens and the roads are labrynths that are ever changing out there. Mom thought she knew the way. 2 hours and many many mmiles later we gave up and headed back to paved road where there is a little gas station that also sells burgers and hot dogs. I haven't eaten meat in I dont' know how long but at that point I didn't care and had a chicken burger.
Mom didn't want to go back even though it was a realitivly cool day so we went home.

DH had another frustrating day at the old house. He forgot the knife and other tools he needed to put in the flooring and toilet (no toilet gets interesting with 4 young children who are all PL'd and hate to squat in the bushes). He found bees in one of the walls

I mean I wanted to keep bees and all but not that way. DH is going to set a bug-bomb off to kill them which makes me a little upset on a few levels, but seems I have no say in the matter.

The heat is back today and tomorrow so no canning. Plus I have to get some cheese cloth. Mom gave me all the blueberries she raked last year to make jam for my family and my stepdad. Problem is she never cleaned them properly before freezing them, she only winnowed them. So there are lots of unripened berries, stems, twigs, a few leaves. I decided to pick out all the twigs and stuff but to mill the rest and make syrup out of it instead. Need cheesecloth for that and I'd rather have bottles rather than jars. They have them at the health food store in town (they have a brewery section) that have the rubber top that clamps down. Can I use those in a canner?

I did make 5 jars of jam with the last of the blueberries I had from last year. It's just about time to start raking again. I want to go ask the lady that let mom and I rake some on her land last year but I'm

to. Last year my mom was working as the town clerk (she had been for 7 or 8 years) and this elderly lady is the other clerks great grandma. My mom was telling her how much my kids went nuts over the berries they had found in the woods on a walk. The lady (Grammy Evelyn, EVERYONE has to call her that no matter how you know her) told mom to go up to her property and rake some before she sent the rakers up there. I've never met the lady. I left a couple jars of jam at the place she cooks at as a thank you (many months after the fact because I didn't know where she lived or worked). So I feel weird showing up to where she works sayinng "hey, you don't know me, but you let my mom and I rake on your land last year. Can I go back?"

Mom wont ask for me, I tried

she says she only needs a few a year if that and doesn't need to go back and that I should ask, and that Grammy Evelyn wouldn't say no. I'm such a chicken!

millermom1110 · 07-23-2012, 06:57 AM

This weekend I canned 8 jars of strawberry jam. I got a bunch of tomatoes that need canning too. I need to get to the store for more lids today, though. I think I'll do diced tomatoes and some salsa. Maybe some tomato sauce as well.

I reaquired our giant angora buck (rabbit...not goat). He stayed with MIL for about 9 months while I couldn't care for him. Now that we're settled back in the new house, I got him back. He's horribly matted. I spent about 3 hours trying to groom him last night and it will probably take me 2 more days to get him to a good place.

I'm still trying to convince DH to let me get a few hens this coming spring. He's afraid that I'll be overwhelmed since DS is due in October. I just want 3-4 hens for eggs...we don't have enough room for more than that. Any advice for how I might be able to nudge him along? LOL I suppose I could just pester him about it for the next 6 months. He'll probably cave after that...hehehehe

aiyana4969 · 07-23-2012, 07:20 AM

MillerMom: Chickens are very little care honestly. I clean out thier coop when it gets smelly or looks like it needs it (sometimes it has been a couple weeks or a couple months depending on how much time they spend outside in thier run or ranging. I only let them range in the early eve while we're on the porch with the BB Gun at hand anymore because feral cats have killed a couple.) Other than that I make sure thier water is full and clean in the mornings and give them a little feed in the eve as I shut them up. Sometimes my daughters do this work for me. The 4 YO can do it, the 7 and 8YO's are more than capable, they all ask to do it too. Iusually take care of them though just because I like to. I have 7 hens and a roo.

aiyana4969 · 07-23-2012, 07:24 AM

oh, raisingcropsandbabies: DH and I walked our property properly yesterday. It's not densly wooded except right near the house. The reason for this is it's all boulders and ledge

not good for gardens or strawberry farms. But there's some hope though. Along the woods are lots of blueberry plants. Blueberries usually grow in rocky areas, the reason being they are a very shallow root plant and need very little soil. If there is full sun, they grow like weeds around here. So I'm going to clear and burn then let the blueberries take over. So it'll still be a 'berry patch' just different variety. Plus I like blueberries better than strawberries. Raspberries are my fav, but blueberries come in second.

mama2cntrykids · 07-23-2012, 08:12 AM

I don't know if I can join or not. Do I qualify lol? We have 14 hens, including one broody mama who is currently sitting on 12 eggs (which may or may not be fertilized lol). I've never had a hen hatch out chicks before, so it's fun!

I'd like to add either some Boer goats OR pygmy and nigerian dwarf goats. If we get the Boers, it would be to sell the kids to the auction barn. If we got pygmy or nigerians, it would be to breed so we can sell them to others as pets. If anyone has experience in doing either, please let me know.

Not much going on here. My garden is a bust this summer. I mean, we'll be lucky to get some corn out of it. Nothing else is even coming up. I don't know what happened. I've done well with gardens in the past, this one is just a flop. It is a newly tilled up plot though, so many that has something to do with it? I don't know. At our previous house, we had a plot tilled and that garden did fine. The soil out here does seem sandier than where we used to live.

I have a boy going off to camp at noon today. He'll be gone until Saturday and I will miss his huge help around the house. He's the one who takes care of the hens and cats (he's 11.5 yrs old). I guess I'll be out there this week. Which is fine, I love animals!

DCAMama · 07-23-2012, 01:10 PM

You guys are all making me wish we had a place outside of town. We can't even have chickens is our backwards town. I just have a 14 x 20 garden, but I love reading what you all are doing and dreaming about finding a place with a few acres.

millermom1110 · 07-23-2012, 01:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aiyana4969

MillerMom: Chickens are very little care honestly. I clean out thier coop when it gets smelly or looks like it needs it (sometimes it has been a couple weeks or a couple months depending on how much time they spend outside in thier run or ranging. I only let them range in the early eve while we're on the porch with the BB Gun at hand anymore because feral cats have killed a couple.) Other than that I make sure thier water is full and clean in the mornings and give them a little feed in the eve as I shut them up. Sometimes my daughters do this work for me. The 4 YO can do it, the 7 and 8YO's are more than capable, they all ask to do it too. Iusually take care of them though just because I like to. I have 7 hens and a roo.

That's what I keep trying to tell him!!! He's just convinced that I'll be too overwhelmed with the new baby that it wouldn't be a good idea. Maybe if I tell him that the 4 & 5 year old boys can help...

07-22-2012, 10:27 AM	#1
raisingcropsandbabies Registered Users Join Date: Feb 2012 Posts: 1,106 Ratings: 1 Feedback: 100%	Farmin'/Homesteading Weekly Chat 7/22-28 Home from church, fed the kiddos lunch and laid them down for naps, DH out finishing baling, and I'm sitting here with my feet up/cup of coffee in hand/hiding behind computer so I don't see the mountain of laundry I need to fold right infront of me. What are you ladies upto this week on the farm? After naptime, we are loading back in the van to look at an Angus bull for sale. We are just going along for the ride while DH knows what to look for! haha. Later this week we'll be off to another town to look at some jersey heifer calves that are for sale. Heifers can be hard to come by and so we better jump at this. Earlier this summer a jersey cow that was ready to calf got sold out from under us! haha. Our jersey is so old and cantakerous... raising one from the bottle will hopefully help that (esp. if I'll be milking her in two years). So crossing my fingers it works out. I've given up trying to can green beans this year... ours did poorly and all the Amish up the road aren't selling any because theirs did poorly too. Major bummer as my kids love green beans. This week I'll be busy canning peaches though and that'll give me plenty extra on my to-do list. I can mostly early in the morning, when the kids are rested and happy playing and at night, when the kids go to bed. DH will be moving hay after finishing up baling and then combining more oats for the rest of the week. I'm trying to be patient about how high are grass/weeds are in the yard-yard (we fence an area in because our cows love my garden and the grass is always greener and so on)... he likes to mow, but the boys are starting to complain about itchy knees. So maybe I can sweet talk him into mowing one of these days! We fence in our little lambie and she is a good yard-girl for that area. Well, as much as my boys love their "mountain" to play on, it must disappear before I go crazy. So glad I have Seven Brides for Seven Brothers to entertain me while I fold.

07-23-2012, 05:07 AM	#3
raisingcropsandbabies Registered Users Join Date: Feb 2012 Posts: 1,106 Ratings: 1 Feedback: 100%	Re: Farmin'/Homesteading Weekly Chat 7/22-28 Tell me more about the house!!! Does it have a summer kitchen? haha. I love old houses. Our house is about that old, but it's a poor man's house and was really patched together by my dh's great-grandpa. We've had to do lots of work to it, but I'm kind sentimental because it's the house my DH grew up in. We ended up getting the bull we looked at. Anyone have masculine bull name suggestions???

07-23-2012, 06:45 AM	#4
aiyana4969 Registered Users Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Steuben, Maine Posts: 3,712 Ratings: 139 Feedback: 100% My Mood:	Re: Farmin'/Homesteading Weekly Chat 7/22-28 raisingcropsandbabies: how about Thor? Sorry just the first name that popped into my head been very busy around here the past few days. Weeding, planting a second crop, grumblinng about the tomatoes I planted being mis labeled at the feed store I bought them from (supposed to be early girls, but they're not, they're sweet 100's. Not that I don't mind cherry tomatoes, but we use A LOT of tomatoes, on sanwiches, wanted to make salsas...) the tomatoes plants are going crazy and grew bigger than they are supposed to and ended up interlacing as a result. I have them in a raised bed in what will be my greenhouse as soon as I get plastic for it. Everyone else's tomatoes are doing poorly this year and I figured mine would as well since that area does not get sun until about 9-10 am and gets shady again around 5. But I guess with the heat the shade has doen them good. Went berry picking up on the paper company lands with my mom yesterday. We found bushes heavily laden with blackberries like mine are around here. Good year for blackberries. Will still be a few weeks before they ripen though. We were after raspberries. Saw a lot of new growth but not much in the way of berries. We went really far in and found one patch that we each got a quart out of and could have gotten at least another quart a peice, but by that time we were starving (and hadn't brought a lunch since we were not expecting to have to travel so far in to find them). We decided we'd hit Nicatous Lodge and get some food. I had only ever been out that way on snowmobiles in my teens and the roads are labrynths that are ever changing out there. Mom thought she knew the way. 2 hours and many many mmiles later we gave up and headed back to paved road where there is a little gas station that also sells burgers and hot dogs. I haven't eaten meat in I dont' know how long but at that point I didn't care and had a chicken burger. Mom didn't want to go back even though it was a realitivly cool day so we went home. DH had another frustrating day at the old house. He forgot the knife and other tools he needed to put in the flooring and toilet (no toilet gets interesting with 4 young children who are all PL'd and hate to squat in the bushes). He found bees in one of the walls I mean I wanted to keep bees and all but not that way. DH is going to set a bug-bomb off to kill them which makes me a little upset on a few levels, but seems I have no say in the matter. The heat is back today and tomorrow so no canning. Plus I have to get some cheese cloth. Mom gave me all the blueberries she raked last year to make jam for my family and my stepdad. Problem is she never cleaned them properly before freezing them, she only winnowed them. So there are lots of unripened berries, stems, twigs, a few leaves. I decided to pick out all the twigs and stuff but to mill the rest and make syrup out of it instead. Need cheesecloth for that and I'd rather have bottles rather than jars. They have them at the health food store in town (they have a brewery section) that have the rubber top that clamps down. Can I use those in a canner? I did make 5 jars of jam with the last of the blueberries I had from last year. It's just about time to start raking again. I want to go ask the lady that let mom and I rake some on her land last year but I'm to. Last year my mom was working as the town clerk (she had been for 7 or 8 years) and this elderly lady is the other clerks great grandma. My mom was telling her how much my kids went nuts over the berries they had found in the woods on a walk. The lady (Grammy Evelyn, EVERYONE has to call her that no matter how you know her) told mom to go up to her property and rake some before she sent the rakers up there. I've never met the lady. I left a couple jars of jam at the place she cooks at as a thank you (many months after the fact because I didn't know where she lived or worked). So I feel weird showing up to where she works sayinng "hey, you don't know me, but you let my mom and I rake on your land last year. Can I go back?" Mom wont ask for me, I tried she says she only needs a few a year if that and doesn't need to go back and that I should ask, and that Grammy Evelyn wouldn't say no. I'm such a chicken! __________________ ~Amanda Busy, mostly minamalist, homesteading Mama to 4 girls. Stepmom to one and step-grandma to two Navy Wife to my retired sailor I have horrendus spelling, I'm dyslexic and random keys tend not to work (or double type), changing on a daily basis on my awesome computer so please excuse typos.

07-23-2012, 06:57 AM	#5
millermom1110 Registered Users Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: NY Posts: 257	Re: Farmin'/Homesteading Weekly Chat 7/22-28 This weekend I canned 8 jars of strawberry jam. I got a bunch of tomatoes that need canning too. I need to get to the store for more lids today, though. I think I'll do diced tomatoes and some salsa. Maybe some tomato sauce as well. I reaquired our giant angora buck (rabbit...not goat). He stayed with MIL for about 9 months while I couldn't care for him. Now that we're settled back in the new house, I got him back. He's horribly matted. I spent about 3 hours trying to groom him last night and it will probably take me 2 more days to get him to a good place. I'm still trying to convince DH to let me get a few hens this coming spring. He's afraid that I'll be overwhelmed since DS is due in October. I just want 3-4 hens for eggs...we don't have enough room for more than that. Any advice for how I might be able to nudge him along? LOL I suppose I could just pester him about it for the next 6 months. He'll probably cave after that...hehehehe __________________ Wife to Zac and Mom to Christopher (5) Julian (4) Margaux (2) Declan (born October 2012)

07-23-2012, 07:20 AM	#6
aiyana4969 Registered Users Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Steuben, Maine Posts: 3,712 Ratings: 139 Feedback: 100% My Mood:	Re: Farmin'/Homesteading Weekly Chat 7/22-28 MillerMom: Chickens are very little care honestly. I clean out thier coop when it gets smelly or looks like it needs it (sometimes it has been a couple weeks or a couple months depending on how much time they spend outside in thier run or ranging. I only let them range in the early eve while we're on the porch with the BB Gun at hand anymore because feral cats have killed a couple.) Other than that I make sure thier water is full and clean in the mornings and give them a little feed in the eve as I shut them up. Sometimes my daughters do this work for me. The 4 YO can do it, the 7 and 8YO's are more than capable, they all ask to do it too. Iusually take care of them though just because I like to. I have 7 hens and a roo. __________________ ~Amanda Busy, mostly minamalist, homesteading Mama to 4 girls. Stepmom to one and step-grandma to two Navy Wife to my retired sailor I have horrendus spelling, I'm dyslexic and random keys tend not to work (or double type), changing on a daily basis on my awesome computer so please excuse typos.