• About

Along the Dirt Road

Along the Dirt Road

Tag Archives: farming

Adding Chickens to Your Farm

14 Thursday Apr 2016

Posted by Kelli in Country Life, Culinary Style, everyday stuff

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

backyardchickens, eggs, farmhouse, farmhouse kitchen, farmhouse style, farming

Disclaimer:  These are not my eggs…er…um…our chicken’s eggs rather. 😉 A friend gifted them to us.  They are French Copper Maran eggs, and I may just need a hen or two like this.

 

When we moved, years ago, we started out with just shy of five acres.  In the Ozarks…five acres is a farm…so we had a few feet to go. Since then when have added more acreage and have a farm of about sixteen and a half acres.  Just enough for us.  We have a few head of cattle, a few goats, a donkey, a miniature horse, chickens, and dogs and cats. Our farm has grown over the last few years.  This may actually be a sort of warning to you. We started with chickens.

 

Chickens are addicting.  We started by ordering those little balls of fluff from the feed store.  Do you have Chick Days in your neck of the woods?  Well…we do.  We raised them in the garage…caring for them and wiping their little hineys if needed.  (It’s so much easier to have a momma lay the eggs, hatch them, and take care of her own kids.) Even though we would order all pullets, except one, we would usually wind up with a few roosters in the mix.  The excitement came when it was time to turn them out into their brand new chicken yard. They were so cute running around out there.
 

We now have a wide assortment and even some little Polish gals with the wild “hair.”  My brother gave us those and they are so sweet.  Such good tempered hens.  We get lots of enjoyment out of our chickens.  They are fun to watch in the summer evenings, before they go to bed. When you have your own chickens, as long as they aren’t molting and are laying steady, you always have something to eat.  I remember my delight in skipping the egg cooler at the grocery store.  I felt very self-sufficient.  lol!

 

I think that it’s wonderful how farming is catching back on in this generation.  We live in a very rural community, so it has always been a way of life around here.  All of our grandparents farmed at some point.  You actually don’t go very far here without running into a farmer of some sort.  Even folks that don’t have any stock, or live in town, a lot of them raise a garden.  That is some of the toughest farming that there is.  Some folks even raise a tomato plant or two in a five gallon bucket.  I love that.  I love to see the light in their eyes when they talk about how well their “crop” has done. We raise a pretty good sized garden here and I preserve lots of things.  It’s one of my favorite things about country life.

 

 

Did you know that you don’t have to live out in the sticks to raise a few chickens?  Of course you did!  I believe, in our town, that you can have hens but not roosters and there is a limit on how many.  So even if you don’t want a lot of acreage to farm and take care of, you can still have a few hens to lay eggs for your family.

 

 

Our chickens are big scrap eaters.  That makes me feel great!  I hate wasting things, so even the vegetable scraps or leftovers…the chickens go nuts over.  They love old fruit and things like that too.  We even feed them our old pumpkins after Thanksgiving.  It is rumored in the organic community that this helps with worming the chickens.

 

I hope that if you are thinking of adding chickens to your farm that this has encouraged you.  We enjoy ours so much and are very thankful for them actually.  It’s funny how all of these critters just seem to be a part of your family after awhile. This farm life…it’s so much deeper than some realize.  It speaks to your heart in ways that you never imagined.  God is good to do things like that for us.

Love from the Farmhouse,

Sigturquoise

Grace Upon Grace

05 Tuesday May 2015

Posted by Kelli in Country Life, heart and soul

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

farming, grace

Do you ever have days where everything falls apart?  Or at least it feels as though it does?  Social media would like for you to believe that each day is a dream.  Pinterest looks so perfect.  Your Instagram friends and your Facebook peeps all have it going on.  Everyone has a clean house.  Bologna.  It’s not true.  We all have days where stuff goes wrong and falls apart.  We all have to clean up messes…stuff or relationships.  I am careful who I connect with.  It has to be real for me…or I just can’t do it.  Life is too wonderful to waste time on things that are not real.  Life is hard…and we don’t always get it right…but we get grace upon grace in our covenant with Jesus.  My heart just filled with warmth after that last sentence…and a very needed smile turned up the corners of my mouth.

Yesterday was tough out here on the dirt road.  Farming, no matter what kind you do, is not easy.  It looks very idyllic and it can be at times…but it’s not really just a hobby.  Sometimes things are heartbreaking, and sometimes things are hallelujah.  There isn’t a whole lot of room for middle ground.  Today is a new day…full of grace.  I am glad for that.  I am also thankful that the Lord gave me a bit of His wisdom, yesterday, when the people at the store…sent me on my way without a bag of my groceries.  I wanted to let that lady know, when I called back,  exactly how I felt about the grocery guy that was goofing off while bagging my stuff. Then Grace steps up.

Grace reminds us how we were young once.

Grace wonders if maybe we left the stuff in the cart?

Grace smiles and nods when we act civilized and careful.

Grace stands beside us when we are helping our husbands with hard tasks.

Grace is up there beside him on the tractor…as he drives by and gives us a smile.

Grace nudges us and we smile back.

Grace stands there between the both of us…while we talk over the day.

I am thankful for Grace.  I need it…so very much.

Today on Instagram I read the most delightful thing.  A lady that I follow named Haverlee posted this:  “It’s so hard to be so very human. But He’s always known our struggle.  And He’s not mad about it.”  You are not a failure, sweet ones.  The Bible says that He knows our frame and remembers that we are dust.  He knows when we are really trying. ” He’s…not even mad about it.” I needed that so much.  I am harder on myself than anyone else ever could be.  I just needed to know that the grace of the Almighty…is endless.  You know…I already knew it…I just needed to be reminded.  I am talking about the real life, day to day struggle, of being a Christian.  Grace is wound into His word from the beginning to the very last verse. “The grace  of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.”  Revelation 22:21

I hope that your day is filled with grace upon grace.  Sometimes…we just have rough days.  It’s to be expected.  Sometimes we have really great days and those are to be enjoyed.  Today…I am going to look through this cookbook and find something fun to feed my family.  Grace does that.  Grace says…”Yesterday was a bit hard…but today…we are going to help each other up and dust each other off.”  If you don’t know Jesus, sweet Dirt Roaders…a life of grace…is like no other.  I promise you that.

Love and grace to you all,

Sigturquoise

p.s. To my sweet Mr.

I love you. You do good work.  By your side, is my favorite.

Farmhouse Life

22 Wednesday Apr 2015

Posted by Kelli in Country Life, everyday stuff, Farmhouse Style

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

farmhouse life, farmhousestyle, farming

Did you get up with the chickens?  I did.  I was actually awake before the rooster this morning.  Sometimes that is the way that it goes.  He was standing in the mud with his wives…waiting to be fed.  That is Farmhouse Life.  It’s all about caring for others…people, animals, and vegetables.  Just ask Adam and Eve. 😉

SONY DSC

Farm life isn’t new to me.  I grew up very close to my grandparent’s little farm.  By the time that I came along they mostly had cows, a dog, and a barn cat.  When my dad was little they had hogs too.  He also had an old mare that he would ride.  My step-dad’s parents have always farmed too. (It seems like most people did in that generation.) They even kept an old horse for me to ride.  Ol’ Beauty.  What a gal.  She was so barn-soured that when you turned her back toward the house and let her go…we could have won the Kentucky Derby.  Goodness gracious.  I wound up in trouble over that a few times.  Beauty was kind of old and poorly shod for me to let her act so young.

SONY DSC

wpid-img_20140405_142837.jpg

It’s so fun to watch our kids on our little farm.  Their dad decided early on that he would buy the feed but they could have the money out of the eggs.  Their job is to wash them before refrigeration.  Want to know a fun fact?  In Europe…they don’t refrigerate.  That is because when a chicken lays an egg…there is a protective coating on them.  It protects the egg from bacteria unless you wash it off.  So…if you do wash them…get them into the fridge soon.  Our kids get to split the money…because each day it/s a different person’s turn to wash eggs.  You better believe that after scrubbing all that stuff off…they want their cut.  I think that it’s pretty awesome…the lesson that their dad is teaching them with the eggs.  It’s not that they are making a killing…but they are learning very valuable tools for their own lives.

wpid-img_20140430_092726.jpg

Our farm is small and young.  It is also just one aspect of our lives, but we enjoy the richness that it provides.  I understand that not everyone wants to add farming to their list of things to do…but we love the little bit of it in our neck of the woods.  I feel close to God…when I am in the middle of His creation.  I feel like a helpmate when I am canning veggies that my husband planted or helping him with the care of an animal.  I feel like I am teaching our children, when we are hot and sweaty, bent over green bean plants…split up into two teams, seeing who can finish their rows first.  It’s hard work…but it nourishes my soul.

SONY DSC

Love from the Farmhouse,

Sigturquoise

Whatcha lookin’ for?

Recent Posts

  • So This is Christmas
  • As the World Turns
  • How Are You?
  • The Life of a Maker
  • Trial Run

Archives

  • December 2020
  • September 2020
  • April 2020
  • February 2020
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012

Categories

  • Country Life
  • crochet
  • Culinary Style
  • everyday stuff
  • Farmhouse Photography
  • Farmhouse Style
  • fluffin' the nest
  • Gettin' all Crafty
  • grove collaborative
  • heart and soul
  • holidays
  • livin' a little healthy
  • RaMbLiNgs
  • sCoRiN' some JuNkItY JuNk
  • Simply…living
  • Uncategorized
  • Yum for the Tum

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

alongthedirtroad

Kelli

Kelli

Welcome to our stretch of the dirt road! It is filled with junkin' trips, culinary experiments and anything to "fluff the nest" which is our farmhouse. I love home decor that fits my family. I love a simplicity that we can live in. Maybe that is why the country life is so appealing to us. It's a place to breathe deep...and enjoy the journey. Join us! We would love to have you. (You might even see a chicken or two.)

View Full Profile →

alongthedirtroad

alongthedirtroad

Blogs I Follow

  • Waterthought

Blog at WordPress.com.

Waterthought

By Rana Renee Dimmick

Cancel
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy