Following Festus

Festus is definitely enjoying the warmer weather and being able to root around. We have *finally* built him a permanent outdoor enclosure, so he has a decent safe space in the yard where he can play and dig.

Getting belly rubs from Bah

He shares his pen with the chickens which is pretty entertaining. They get along quite well and keep him from getting lonely. It is funny that the chickens are terrified of the dog but are very friendly with the pig, especially because the dog and pig are currently about the same size.

Inside of their pen is the chicken coop (which stays open for shade), a small covered lean-to, a swimming pool, and plenty of food and water. Festus still sleeps in his cage in the garage, but when I let him out each morning he runs straight to his pen (hoping to sneak into the chicken feed I think).

Inside the coop

Festus turned 6 months old on April 30th, and to celebrate we had watermelon. His currents stats are

Weight: 20-25 pounds

Length: 21 inches

Height: 12 inches

Mmm watermelon treats

The ladies wanted some too

Even the turtles got moved back outdoors and enjoyed a watermelon treat

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February Festivities

This is the first weekend in a while where we haven’t really had anything going on, so the kids and I went crazy with the crafts and activities! Valentine Boxes First, we made the girls’ valentines boxes. Bah wanted a Valentine Monster, and Boo (of course) wanted a pig. I saved her pig from last year for almost the entire year but a little before Christmas she wanted to play with it and Bubs destroyed it. So we made a new one. They turned out pretty cute, and I love that as the girls are getting older they are able to help more. Valentine Gift -Denim Pouch After that, we decided to get some sewing in by making pouches as Valentines for our cousins and friends. We cut pieces of old denim and sewed them to create pouches. Then, the kids cut shapes and letters out of felt to personalize them. This project was much faster than I expected, so we even had time to make bath bombs. Valentine Gift - Bath Bombs My kiddos all love bath bombs or bath fizzies, and they were excited ...

Beet harvest 2016

Sugar beet harvest is a crazy time on our farm with early mornings and late nights. I am at school or at home with the kids for the majority of harvest, so Boots and our truckers were my official photographers. Tractor with Digger & Loaded Trailer Sugar beets are a root crop, so they grow underground. The harvesting process begins with the defoliating tractor which rips the leaves off of the root. Field of beets 1/2 defoliated and 1/2 not yet defoliated Tractor and defoliator Defoliated beet Next, the beet digger uses a two part system to pull the beets up and run them through scrub rollers. These rollers then push the beets back to the elevator chain belt and into the tank. There are also Ferris wheel style diggers that circulate the beets into the tank. Front view of Digger Back view of Digger Ferris wheel style digger When the digger is full, it unloads into a trailer pulled by a semi. We use cage trailers which tip to unload,...

A season to be thankful

Now that Pumpkins and More A-maiz-ing Farm is closed for the season, we seem to have more time on our hands. With extra time, comes reflection. Each year, we try to begin the holiday season by getting into the spirit of kindness and generosity. This year, I decided to start a thankful tree. The process was really quite simple: 1. Get a branch from the yard 2. Find a large vase 3. Strip kernels off Indian corn for filler 4. Cut roughly 100 leaves from construction paper 5. Gather something to hang the leaves (I used fishing wire, but twine or ribbon would work well too) 6. Put the branch in the vase and use the corn to hold it in place Our Thankful Tree - the beginning Now each day, we will write something we are thankful for on a leaf and add it to the tree. By the end of November, our tree will be full and so will our hearts remembering all of the blessings in our lives. What "thankful" traditions have you started with your family? UPDATE: Trying to get caug...

Family Farm Fun

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