Today

Brood Box: Before & After

The chicks brood box. 

Looks nice doesn't it?

 But it hasn't always looked so nice.

A few weeks ago it looked like this.

Dad found the box in the barn/basement and Jason wanted to keep it for his truck, but then the urge for chicks struck. Dad needed something to do while he boiled sap so a brood box project seemed like a good idea. Dad spent some time with the box in his shop and now the box looks cozy. More than enough room for the 19 little fluffly bodies coming to live in it in a couple of months.Best of all, Dad had most of the pieces here, the lumber is all reclaimed from other projects or broken objects.

The box features a hinged top is hinged for easy access, four handles to make it easy to lug around, and a little door if we decide to take it outside and let the chicks roam supervised when they get big enough. 

Can't wait!

In the Woods

There are signs of spring wherever we look. The ice is broken on the "bog", water is flowing free under the bridge, the piles of snow are melting, and we can walk out to the taps. 

It's actually unfortunate that we can walk to the taps, we prefer to take the snow machine out into the woods. Right now all our taps run into buckets on each individual tree. As we look toward the future we'd like to get lines that will run from tree to tree and into a central location for collection. 

The sap is slowly dripping it's sweetness from the trees. Today Dad spent some time working outside and boiling down more sap. He brought in several large yogurt containers inside to finish boiling at a later date. We haven't had a "good run" yet of sap, but expect one soon.

Plans are being finalized as to the amount of fencing to put up this year. It looks like the chickens and ducks are going to get about 100 foot square yard to run free in, which include the duck pond, some shade trees, a little hill, and a lot of grass to scratch in.

Preparing

We are all busy fixing, planning, shifting, sugaring, collecting, mapping, counting, celebrating, dreaming, reading, learning, and discussing.

There is an air of energy, preparation, and expectation in the house.

• Preparing to have one less person in the house as Ben has started the process of moving out. 
• Preparing a map of the back yard as we plan out things like: fences, coops, and gardens. 
• Preparing for the future as Dad considers almost doubling our taps to 100, if he and Jason could make a few more roads this summer. 
• Preparing for canning by sending Jason to work with an order for jars and lids.
• Preparing the living room to open it up for daycare as we have decreased their space when we increased the family size.
• Preparing to switch gears from winter to spring.
• Preparing ourselves for a "baby" who keeps getting older and will in a year be officially "full grown".
• Preparing a lists: seeds that we have, seeds we need to purchase, and plants to buy when it's time.

Escape Artist

Little Sister is away in New Hampshire with a cousin riding trails on snowmobiles. My parents are away also in New Hampshire visiting friends leaving myself and my brother, Ben, in charge of things until they get back (my husband is working). Everything was going smooth until last night. The wind whipped and roared and either my sisters "dog" took the opportunity to mess with the electric ribbon or the wind did it for him, either way he was not in his yard this morning. He was out in the daycare area, the lawn, checking things out and looking for something to eat. At one point when my brother went to go encourage him back in his own yard he had his muzzle in a bag of grain inside his hay barn. 

Foolish horse.

Saturday Snaps

Chicken Dreams

There once was a man with a dream of a farm of his own right in his back yard.

A simple dream of farm fresh eggs. Eggs from chickens he kept on his farm. A farm of his own right in his back yard.

But, where would he find some coin for his dream? His dream of  fresh eggs from his farm. A farm of his own right in his back yard.

From a birthday of love, and of laughter, and counting. Counting coins at his table. His table for eggs. The eggs from the chickens. The chickens he'd keep right on his own farm. A farm of his own right in his back yard.

Happy Birthday Dad!

Sugaring has Begun

There was quite a bit of activity in the shop this morning as Dad got to work repairing and upgrading the sap sled. The Sappers: Dad, Big Ben, or Little Sister pull the sled behind them on the snowmobile as they visit all the taps out in the woods. This little sled needs to be sturdy enough to pull the large buckets of glorious sap this spring.

Dad tapped the big silver maple in the door yard this morning to see if any sap was running. A steady drip fell into our buckets all day. Not enough to boil by any means, but enough to get excited. The greatest part about sugaring is bringing it in for the finishing boil and filling the house up with that sweet maple smell. We are looking forward to the sweet smell of success.

This is only a portion of all that is left of last years batch. There is a hearty gallon or more in the cupboard, plus the few we took out to sell. There is no specific grade to our syrup, and one batch differs greatly from the next; but for home grown, boiled, and process it's all tasty.

Hatching Soon

We are starting a new endevor. As a family the "Bergs" and the "Hams" have decided to combine and form a new family "The Hambergs" with the goal to work the land and reduce our dependence on mainstream jobs. In the coming months we will add chickens, meat rabbits, and seedlings. We will be egg gathers, rabbit breeders, garden tenders, and woodworkers.

We hope to share some frontier toys with you, jams and jellies for sale (depending on what we find out from the USDA), and recipes on preserving and using your own home grown veggies.

We hope you will join us on our little family adventure.