Moon Bear Farm
Posted: Sat Oct 25, 2014 7:08 am
Hiya folks, it's me, Jenny-the-Bear. (grr.) Some of you know me from other forums. Hi, nice to see you again! Those who don't, I'm in south central KY. Been here on this place about 15 years, been in KY 18. This is a fairly decent little stead, but it may not be my permanent one. I'll be here at least another year or two, though.
We have 22 acres, split into two pieces, one on each side of the road.The side the house is on is about 7 acres, the rest is across the road. A total of about 7 clear, the rest wooded. A good size garden every year, mostly in tubs and raised beds. We keep chickens, and sometimes raise other poultry, have raised a few pigs, and 2 beef calves. Neither of us are spring chickens, and due to health issues, we're always looking to work smarter, not harder.
Del has been the one to build outbuildings, and do tractor work, we share poultry and livestock tending, I do almost all the garden and canning, and tend to be chief cook and bottle washer. Del is no slouch in the food department either, he's a pretty good cook too. We currently have 3 cats, 6 dogs, and 24 adult chickens, and 11 baby chicks. The rooster population is 6, 5 are on death row waiting for me to have time to butcher. I'm sure we'll have another surplus of roos from the 11 chicks.
Tough roosters make terrific crock-pot birds, and are very nice pressure canned, as well. Really good not only for dumplings, but tamales, tacos, burritos, pie, BBQ chicken sandwiches, and anything you'd use pre-cooked chicken for. The broth beats anything from a box or a can.
We recently raised our very first beef. Two Angus/Holstein crosses, one we sold at auction to cover the costs of raising them, and the other we had processed. Very pleased with how it all turned out. We'd like to do it again, and maybe get a nurse cow and raise bottle calves on her instead of on bottles.
Canned enough green beans from the garden this year, that I won't need to grow green beans again for at least 2 years. Since I have some lovely trellises, I'm looking at other vining crops that I could grow instead. Open to suggestions.
We have 22 acres, split into two pieces, one on each side of the road.The side the house is on is about 7 acres, the rest is across the road. A total of about 7 clear, the rest wooded. A good size garden every year, mostly in tubs and raised beds. We keep chickens, and sometimes raise other poultry, have raised a few pigs, and 2 beef calves. Neither of us are spring chickens, and due to health issues, we're always looking to work smarter, not harder.
Del has been the one to build outbuildings, and do tractor work, we share poultry and livestock tending, I do almost all the garden and canning, and tend to be chief cook and bottle washer. Del is no slouch in the food department either, he's a pretty good cook too. We currently have 3 cats, 6 dogs, and 24 adult chickens, and 11 baby chicks. The rooster population is 6, 5 are on death row waiting for me to have time to butcher. I'm sure we'll have another surplus of roos from the 11 chicks.
Tough roosters make terrific crock-pot birds, and are very nice pressure canned, as well. Really good not only for dumplings, but tamales, tacos, burritos, pie, BBQ chicken sandwiches, and anything you'd use pre-cooked chicken for. The broth beats anything from a box or a can.
We recently raised our very first beef. Two Angus/Holstein crosses, one we sold at auction to cover the costs of raising them, and the other we had processed. Very pleased with how it all turned out. We'd like to do it again, and maybe get a nurse cow and raise bottle calves on her instead of on bottles.
Canned enough green beans from the garden this year, that I won't need to grow green beans again for at least 2 years. Since I have some lovely trellises, I'm looking at other vining crops that I could grow instead. Open to suggestions.