Cute picture

Really just wanted to post this adorable picture of our heifer Little Girl.  We are thinking of naming her Belle since Little Girl will only last so long :).  Soon she won't be little at all.  She is adorable and I am glad she is staying with us for the long term.  She had pink eye when we got her but she is getting better each day.  I can't wait until they start putting on some weight so they don't seem so sad and skinny.

Bottle calves

My dreams really came true this week when we purchased 4 bottle calves. One is a heifer so that is amazing. They are all healthy and eating good. We are blessed that our neighbor is a retired veterinarian and he came and checked them all out.  Our Little Girl has pink eye but it's already getting better this morning.  Doc gave us some ointment to put in this morning and we gave her a shot of antibiotics.  Expect many more pictures of the babies growing up :).  There are three Holsteins and one Jersey calf. I think we have broken all the rules when it comes to meat animals.  We name all of them and love on them LOL.  Little Girl is the heifer, she is the one eating in this picture.  Next to her with a more white/bald face is Patches.  Then there is Johnny (thanks to my oldest) and Pretty Boy is the Jersey.  He is actually a friend of ours that she bought, so that what she started calling him last night.  I've wanted cows for so long I can't even remember when I didn't want them.  That and horses, but we need a barn so it will be a couple more years before horses.

46 chickens Oh My!

Yep we are up to 46 chickens on the farm. We have 2 laying hens, 2 year old roosters, 14 juvenile hen's, 1 juvenile rooster, 4 week old chicks, and 23 chicks that are about 5 weeks old. Plenty of eggs once they start laying. Lots of bantams, some silkies, Polish and many other rare or unique girls to decorate the yard. This is our newest rooster, Mr. Fluffy (so named by the 3 year old).  He is cool looking and will be great for the bantam ladies.

Farm name change?

So my friend said we should name this the Pretty Farm since all our animals are so pretty :).  At the time she was making reference to our plethora of colorful chickens, but we also have beautiful Turkeys, and colorful cows.  So perhaps that is a better name...  The Poffenbarger Pretty Farm.  Hey, it could work, it's for sure growing on me.

Feeder pigs arrived Mid July

We got feeder pigs for the farm.  We got them in the middle of July so they are about 3 months old now.  We have about three months more until we butcher them for bacon.  We love bacon and ham.  It amazes me how much personality they have.  I never knew how fun they were to watch.  Will that make it hard to butcher?  Most likely, however none of the big animals are being butchered by us.  They will all go to the local butcher and be killed/butchered there.  I know I am giving them a good life and giving my kids better food.

Zucchini Relish and Canning

In July I made zucchini relish and it has been a big hit around here. It's not the only thing we canned though. We were blessed with cucumbers and while the sweet pickles didn't turn out good the bread and butter pickles are great. My apple butter has been a huge hit among everyone who has tried it. The strawberry syrup is my favorite for waffles. And the white chocolate raspberry jam is Linda's favorite lunch snack. It's been a great first year of growing and canning. Hubby loves the salsa I've been making and canning. 12 jars gone in just 6 weeks lol. Granted all half pints but still he is the only one eating them. We have tomatoes in the freezer that I hope to can later this fall and more cucumbers to make more bread and butter pickles with.  And thankfully the time is coming for a fall garden to be planted.