Summer is flying by !

As we gear up for school, we have been thinking about what a great summer we have had on the farm. We have picked blackberries...and Ryan even learned how to can blackberry jelly and jam ! We now collect approx. 15 fresh eggs per day from the laying hens. We have Black Australorps that lay brown eggs, and Araucana/Americana's that lay colored eggs. Earlier in the summer we learned how to process our own meat chickens. We have been milking our Jersey cow...getting approx. 2 gallons of fresh milk per day. We have made butter, and attempted to make mozzarella cheese. Our first try at making the cheese didn't turn out, so after we start milking Lucy again we'll try again. Lucy (the cow) is now resting and not being milked until after she has her calf in September.

We have learned something new everyday...some good, some bad. We have had to learn some things the hard way. We learned not to put a strange baby pig in with an adult sow. Claire did not want Maggie Mae (the baby pig ) in with her and hurt her very badly. We moved Maggie Mae in with Fainting goats to recouperate. She is doing good now, and she's starting to think that she's a goat !

We have also had land cleared for a new house that we will start building soon. Every day continues to be an adventure here !