Since the crawlspace is gone, it seems silly to blog about the new farm on here but I will reference the article. Enjoy.
Enter The Barn Yard: now we have a cow: A milking cow is essential on a hobby farm. The whole milk obtained from said cow can feed not only humans, but the chickens and turkeys too...
continue here
Dec 21, 2012
Dec 19, 2012
for those new people that bought the crawlspace
I thought I would share what the house looked like when I bought the thing in fall 2009.
The front of the house looked like this:
The kitchen looked like this:
The master bedroom had an awesome closet, like this:
Stadium seating was the first thing you saw upon entering the house:
These used to be your lights:
The trees in the back went like this:
The house came with a gazebo and bbq too and you need to winterize them probably first before they break.
Stadium seating got an upgrade:
The Crawlspace, for the love of God, looked like this:
The front of the house looked like this:
The kitchen looked like this:
The master bedroom had an awesome closet, like this:
Stadium seating was the first thing you saw upon entering the house:
These used to be your lights:
The trees in the back went like this:
The house came with a gazebo and bbq too and you need to winterize them probably first before they break.
Stadium seating got an upgrade:
The Crawlspace, for the love of God, looked like this:
And then there was the day when Boba Fett hung out with us on May the 4th.
The crawlspace is a magical kingdom of awesome, like Narnia, just less gay.
P.S.
Look behind your fridge.
Nov 23, 2012
too cold to farm so might as well internet
Soooo, what's new?
The last time I wrote in this I was fascinated with a tractor that cut and bailed our wild field a week before the wedding.
So much is new that I actually don't feel weird saying that we're driving our van to Cornwall to pick up 4 pygmy goats tomorrow so that our new boarder collie Australian cattle dog pup can gain some confidence with livestock, start his jedi training in the ancient art of herding and finally transition from crated house dog to farm equipment.
I am going to be quick and start off by thanking everyone for all the help and support through a solid chunk of 2012. The experience of flipping a house while pregnant, while working, while planning a wedding was unforgettable to say the least. Life since all that craziness has been just as unforgettable. We have just come off our first season of farming and have processed a deep freezer worth of meat for the rest of the year. I have been eating so many eggs it kinda seems all we get for groceries is coffee, sugar, bacon and bread but we bake our own bread now. We have grown Elizabeth from 'only little' to 'oh so small' status. She sleeps through the night, through loud music, eats well and makes us laugh every day. We have slowly started to gather materials for stage 1 of renovations and have been keeping to a tight budget surprisingly well. This explains why I own a van. A grand caravan. So that when we need to pick up a tub in Kingston or some miniature goats in Cornwall, we can.
I am going to put words to paper every day and post weekly or something. Just random topics that are on my mind, a photo I can fix into a funny picture or something.
Aug 27, 2012
hay bales are hamburgers
When I was a kid I used to think that hay bales were great big hamburgers sitting in farmers fields.
When I thought up this stuff I was like 4 years old, it's one of my very first memories. Remember that at this age, going to McDonalds was sorta a big deal to us kids. Maybe their delicious hamburgers influenced my thought process in some very strange ways.
While on the "McDonalds as a kid" topic, I recall always having to ask for a cheeseburger with no cheese. I vividly remember this for some reason. Whey wasn't I ever corrected or told to order a hamburger if I did't want the cheese. Why wouldn't I want cheese? I LOVE cheese.
HOW WAS THIS EVEN EVER MADE TO BE
McDonalds did't mess me up in any other strange ways. Whenever I see something like this, obviously, I say "now that's a lot of chicken mcnuggets."
We got a lot of stuff done this weekend and the yard had to be addressed. There are two weeks left before the wedding and I needed a solid weekend to get things back into tip top shape. I cut a lot of grass, burned a lot of maggoty garbage, cleaned the barn interior and farmer Norm showed up to harvest the hay. He managed to pull 49 five foot bales from the yard.
Ya, Shaya decided it was good idea to kill a few rabbits the other day and Annie decided it was a good idea to eat some duck head Friday so between the two eggheads, we managed to acquire quite the maggoty fly infestation. Ya. Awesome.
#994 - maggots
They are awesome because I got to make this fire and burning stuff is awesome until the you pour water on it and then you get a eau de smoldering garbage vapor until the next morning and you realize you left the upstairs windows open.
Pretty epic to see the land cut like this. All over the place walks are doable again!
Essentially we let farmer Norm work the land for two days and he got to keep about $4,000 worth of hay we estimate. Not about to get a retarded full size tractor, hay cutter, rake thing and a hay baler for this piece of land. For farms under 25 acres it is makes more sense to do it with horses.
On a final note, the Peking ducks are essentially ready to process (white ones). The Muskovy ducks are good to go too but were keeping this handsome fellow (black one). Goose is not food, as he survived the raccoon attack and got candle lit baths. That little Orpington there will be processed in the fall in a much smaller cull. The heritage chickens are only starting to fill out now. We're only keeping something like 6 hens and 1 rooster over the winter and the rest will end up being a chicken roast, the most delicious meal you can get at Medieval Times.
When I thought up this stuff I was like 4 years old, it's one of my very first memories. Remember that at this age, going to McDonalds was sorta a big deal to us kids. Maybe their delicious hamburgers influenced my thought process in some very strange ways.
While on the "McDonalds as a kid" topic, I recall always having to ask for a cheeseburger with no cheese. I vividly remember this for some reason. Whey wasn't I ever corrected or told to order a hamburger if I did't want the cheese. Why wouldn't I want cheese? I LOVE cheese.
HOW WAS THIS EVEN EVER MADE TO BE
McDonalds did't mess me up in any other strange ways. Whenever I see something like this, obviously, I say "now that's a lot of chicken mcnuggets."
We got a lot of stuff done this weekend and the yard had to be addressed. There are two weeks left before the wedding and I needed a solid weekend to get things back into tip top shape. I cut a lot of grass, burned a lot of maggoty garbage, cleaned the barn interior and farmer Norm showed up to harvest the hay. He managed to pull 49 five foot bales from the yard.
 |
| 49 bales from the yard? |
 |
| That's a lot of bales. I was thinking more like 15 or 36. |
 |
| That is like, oh no I'm falling down! |
#994 - maggots
They are awesome because I got to make this fire and burning stuff is awesome until the you pour water on it and then you get a eau de smoldering garbage vapor until the next morning and you realize you left the upstairs windows open.
Pretty epic to see the land cut like this. All over the place walks are doable again!
 |
| remember the movie Critters? nevermind... |
No, a fence can wait.
If we put up fence I'll somehow end up getting a horse.
Or several.
We are getting free hay out of this deal because there is no way we were paying for hay after the unusable field was transformed into a dog park.
 |
| secret mist is the key to a successful hay crop |
On a final note, the Peking ducks are essentially ready to process (white ones). The Muskovy ducks are good to go too but were keeping this handsome fellow (black one). Goose is not food, as he survived the raccoon attack and got candle lit baths. That little Orpington there will be processed in the fall in a much smaller cull. The heritage chickens are only starting to fill out now. We're only keeping something like 6 hens and 1 rooster over the winter and the rest will end up being a chicken roast, the most delicious meal you can get at Medieval Times.
Aug 17, 2012
Aug 2, 2012
Jul 19, 2012
The Morrisburg Leader - Drought impacting local crops(News)
The Morrisburg Leader - Drought impacting local crops(News)
Trying to kink a local news article to the drought we have all been experiencing. Get ready for $14 Corn Pops...
Trying to kink a local news article to the drought we have all been experiencing. Get ready for $14 Corn Pops...
Jul 17, 2012
welcome elizabeth mae janok
The last couple of days certainly have been an adventure!
Thursday seemed like the perfect day. Woke up with a raccoon in the trap making the total four now. On the way into work took a picture of a tree that looks like a chicken. Went for a walk down our road only to find choke cherry bushes that we can use for jam. Picked said berries. Once we dropped off said berries, retried that walk and ended up picking up a sweet FREE couch set at the neighbors. This was Thursday according to my phone; awesome.
#995 - last thursday
Even had a false alarm that night. We got back to the farm at 03:30.
Friday the 13th was not like Thursday the magnificent.
I was wired when I got home and maybe got like 2 hours of sleep. Worked from home that day; didn't drive past the chicken tree :(
Friday night re-retried that walk. Made it all the way to the corner with mama! On the way back saw that our little grey kitty Minxy got hit by a car. We think she was carrying cause earlier that day Alex said she was cleaning all the hair off her nipples.
Mama bear was more than sad. Ran back to the house as I buried the cat in the orchard. It was so dark that partway through, I needed a flashlight so I returned to the house. On the way I noticed three raccoons on the roof of the outdoor pen just above the ducks.
I need my guns.
Since I don't have my guns right now, I got Alex and we tried to shoo them away as I beat them through the wire with a hockey stick.
Canadian eh?
Mama didn't like me beating on raccoon babies either. We decided to board up the pens from the inside securing our farm animals but taking away the outdoor part of their pens.
I promptly finished up with kitty.
Alex had been having contractions through all of this. We were exhausted mentally and physically.
Tonight is not the night I want to go to the hospital.
Those actual words were said and then Alex plopped down on the bed. After that, well, a picture says a thousand words (sometimes 46).
Saturday was much better :D.
The big day had finally come where mama gave birth to daddy's perfect 6 pound 1.4 oz baby girl on Saturday July 14th at 11:30 in the am.
That's what the people want to know right?The big day had finally come where mama gave birth to daddy's perfect 6 pound 1.4 oz baby girl on Saturday July 14th at 11:30 in the am.
Mommy and baby are 100% and we have been home since Monday afternoon. I am so proud of Alex. Eight hours of natural labor before four more assisted only to have pushed five times and then Elizabeth came into this world on a laugh.
I think I told a joke about something to do with the buffalo which are located south of the boarder.
Did you even feel that?
That was actually what the doctor said to Alex as she held our Elizabeth, mommy grinning ear to ear.
There probably isn't anything more disgusting or annoying than how first time parents oggle over their little one. The pictures. The stories. The Facebook or tweets...
Awesomely, we are those parents; she's too freggin' cute.
The baby will probably be a hot topic in Kevinland soooo I will apologize for my ridiculous baby-brain actions and those to come.
I am sorry.
Being a father is AWESOME and it totally changes things. This is why I have decided to stop swearing in my blog posts. That's right, I'll use my big boy words instead (and the occasional happy butterfly amazingness to describe those moments of utter frustration).
Alex was right, a woman becomes a mother while the baby is inside her and a man becomes a father once he holds his little one.
Actually, it hit me on the second drive home from the hospital.
Wow. I am totally girling right now.
Things ARE different. Music sounds different. I actually care about things like my health and stuff. My driving sure has changed! I catch myself using the word cute...
I used to hate that word. I found it was overused, especially when describing anything to do with babies.
Look how cute the air passes over the baby's cute hat...
le sigh; barf.
To a point now, I get it. Babies are cute and there will come a time where everyone will get this.
When in Rome, do as the Romans do; leave those crazy Spartans alone.
For more of my personal amusement in 16 years, enjoy the cuteness.
Remember when I said I was going to get a dad haircut and tuck in my shirts? Ya, that's not me. I only lasted one haircut and now I'm pretty close to back to normal. I just don't like tucking in my shirts. I can still be me and a dad. Today I even got to rock out for a bit. Well, I rocked out:
Jun 6, 2012
well that happened, time to start over
About two weeks ago we picked up a stray walking the side of the road in a storm after we almost hit it. Since it was only a minute or so down the road, we took it home and tied it up in our front yard so that if people were out looking for their dog they would see it. We also contacted the SPCA and posted a "found dog" ad on kijiji.
Well, she was in our front yard for 3 days. We put her in at night and even gave her a go in the house for a bit. On the 4th day it was the Great Glebe Garage Sale so we ventured into town. We dropped off the dog at a friend's place and finally was able to get in touch with the owner and we dropped it off later that evening.
She was a great dog in the car, well mannered, quiet. She was a husky.
Kinda looks like another husky I know who is very well mannered for a city dog.
Anyways, Tuesday was looking up all day. Had a good day at work, Alex got a lot done at the house in Nepean, we picked up 12 Muskovy ducks from a farmer. They are more quiet, can fly up to avoid predators, they have sweet red pimple faces and they apparently taste like roast beef.
On the way home we saw a wild turkey poult cross the road, so we snagged that one and two others. Turkeys for the holidays for shizzle and wild turkey genetics, hells yes!
Then we hit up the Dairy Barn for some chip wagon deliciousness and then home.
Home to chaos.
The dogs met us in the middle of the highway leading up to our house. The road cars travel 100 km/hr on. The dogs weren't wet so we can't imagine they were out for long.
Sitting on our porch is this husky. Ok.
We take the dogs into the barn and start to look around and figure out just how the dogs got out. That's when I notice chickens all over the yard dead. Not eaten, just dead.
The husky had blood on her face.
There were three areas of death and in all three areas, all birds were just snapped at once and killed except for one, the last one, which was eaten more.
The ducks were all in a row. Every 3 meters or so, a perfectly good almost adult duck, no tears in it at all until the last one. They were running to the pond.
She broke into a pen by pushing her way in thus releasing our dogs.
Well, we had the owner come over to help clean up the mess. Twelve of our Chantecler chicks dead, the dog went inside their pen and snapped at them once and moved on. 7 mixed chickens that were almost full grown were gone. Then we remembered the ducks. Well, all four Rouen ducks gone along with our Chinese goose. That was almost all of the animals we raised from babies.
Seriously. Like holy fuck.
Alex is just looking more pregnant than usual and this was now officially a bad day.
Obviously we find one not-quite-dead chick, great. My first I--need-to-end-it kill.
All in all, the owners of the dog understand to call us if she gets out again and they agreed to pay us $200. We are no longer free ranging our livestock if we are not physically home, even in broad daylight because you never know when a stray, or a comfortable dog comes along. I need a sharper knife, seriously.
The ducks were big too. They were footballs with legs. I had to burn 20 animals; not-awesome.
Here were the duckies before we even owned the house in Spencerville. What a waste.
Here were the duckies three days ago.
Here is my fire.
Well, she was in our front yard for 3 days. We put her in at night and even gave her a go in the house for a bit. On the 4th day it was the Great Glebe Garage Sale so we ventured into town. We dropped off the dog at a friend's place and finally was able to get in touch with the owner and we dropped it off later that evening.
She was a great dog in the car, well mannered, quiet. She was a husky.
Kinda looks like another husky I know who is very well mannered for a city dog.
 |
| file photo |
On the way home we saw a wild turkey poult cross the road, so we snagged that one and two others. Turkeys for the holidays for shizzle and wild turkey genetics, hells yes!
Then we hit up the Dairy Barn for some chip wagon deliciousness and then home.
Home to chaos.
The dogs met us in the middle of the highway leading up to our house. The road cars travel 100 km/hr on. The dogs weren't wet so we can't imagine they were out for long.
Sitting on our porch is this husky. Ok.
We take the dogs into the barn and start to look around and figure out just how the dogs got out. That's when I notice chickens all over the yard dead. Not eaten, just dead.
The husky had blood on her face.
There were three areas of death and in all three areas, all birds were just snapped at once and killed except for one, the last one, which was eaten more.
The ducks were all in a row. Every 3 meters or so, a perfectly good almost adult duck, no tears in it at all until the last one. They were running to the pond.
She broke into a pen by pushing her way in thus releasing our dogs.
Well, we had the owner come over to help clean up the mess. Twelve of our Chantecler chicks dead, the dog went inside their pen and snapped at them once and moved on. 7 mixed chickens that were almost full grown were gone. Then we remembered the ducks. Well, all four Rouen ducks gone along with our Chinese goose. That was almost all of the animals we raised from babies.
Seriously. Like holy fuck.
Alex is just looking more pregnant than usual and this was now officially a bad day.
Obviously we find one not-quite-dead chick, great. My first I--need-to-end-it kill.
All in all, the owners of the dog understand to call us if she gets out again and they agreed to pay us $200. We are no longer free ranging our livestock if we are not physically home, even in broad daylight because you never know when a stray, or a comfortable dog comes along. I need a sharper knife, seriously.
The ducks were big too. They were footballs with legs. I had to burn 20 animals; not-awesome.
Here were the duckies before we even owned the house in Spencerville. What a waste.
Here were the duckies three days ago.
Here is my fire.
We had one of the geese get injured so he was inside, the last survivor (and the biggest). Here is Alex cleaning his wound, re-bandaging and even giving him a bath.
At least it was in the sink. Not like we put our farm animals in the tub with candle light...
Not the best day.
More research now. There's an auction next Saturday and we need to restock. Don'y feel like raising more babies again cause we already have 50 meat chickens showing up tomorrow. There simply won't be enough brooder space.
Today was a good day, great progress at the house. We're both exhausted. Bedtime.
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