sorry flo...

so i'm going to say that even though flo's egg was very pretty, today the professor laid her first egg and it was gorgeous!  it's unfortunate that this picture doesn't do it justice.

and padma laid her first egg too!  excited!

only 9 more to go!

til next time,

farmer mom

today...

we made another delivery to fresh pickins- 10 1/2 dozens, which is our biggest delivery yet! on top of that, while we were there dropping them off, a man got all excited about our farm fresh duck eggs and bought a carton right off the counter, before they were tagged (which in it self feels great to see a price tag on them).  plus, the cashier said flo's egg (remember the gray one) was pretty.  i thanked her and gave flo all the credit.  this was all so exciting! it's the simple things in life.
reflecting on everything now and reliving that excitement from this morning, i understand why i get so excited.  for us to get a fresher egg , we would have to move our girls to the kitchen.  which is not going to happen. but for other people who don't have ducks, you can't beat this freshness.  the eggs went from the girls nesting boxes this morning, still warm, then traveling 27 miles and is at the market within two hours. and today essentially in that man's fridge in 3 hours, i'm rounding up.  that is exciting!   for us to be able to share that with other people is really awesome!  and i wanted to share that with you.  so thank you. 

til next time,
farmer mom
 

flo did it...

this morning we found the 6th baby duck egg.  thank you flo and a very beautiful gray color i might add.

til next time,
farmer mom

more eggs...

two more baby ducks did it!  thank you gilligan and skipper!  they even laid them in the nesting box.  so that is really exciting!  i just hope that the other girls take that knowledge and do the same thing. just 12 more to go. woohoo!

til next time,
farmer mom

needed...

i need apple eaters.  the guys and i are doing a math lesson where we are counting the seeds in apples and after we will make a pictograph with it.  it would greatly be appreciated if you could count your seeds and tell us the number. thank you very much and enjoy your apple!

til next time,
farmer mom

two more eggs...

ever since clementine started laying, i have started to expect to find her egg every day or two. which is really exciting! so this morning, i went into their barn thinking that i was going to get one egg, but surprise, there was two.  and then i found three!  woohoo!  so two more girls started laying.  i'm thinking it's ginger and wonder woman.   it's exciting to raise something from fluff puff to a grown duck capable of laying eggs.  it is awesome!  looking forward to this first egg moment 14 more times.

til next time,
farmer mom

homegrown watermelon...

we have been watching this watermelon getting bigger and bigger. 


july 15 BIG



july 21 BIGGER

the farmer sons would comment on it saying that it was getting huge.  having never grown watermelon before i had no idea how to tell when it was ready.  how do you know?  live and learn right, so farmer dad picked it and cut it open.  surprise! it was a yellow watermelon.  it was very good, not as sweet as a red, but still really good.  i had no idea that there was even a thing as yellow water melon until last year when i accidentally bought one at the store.  that was an interesting moment.  i have no idea how or why it grew yellow but it did so we all enjoyed it. the farmer men really had fun with spitting the seeds out.
to me, that is so worth it.  to plant a seed, try and take care of the growing plant, hopefully get some good growth, harvest it, then enjoy it, all the while making memories with people you love the most. i'd say this was a success and we will totally do it again!

til next time,
farmer mom

a storm is coming...

til next time,

farmer mom

if you want a good book to read...

if you want a good book to read...
look no further than the writer jonna ivin.  she is an amazing person and a good friend of mine.  but on top of those things she is an incredible author.   she wrote a memoir called will love for crumbs which was definitely a page turner and a crime thriller called 8th amendment which is really good too.  both of her books were ones that i could not put down, literally. so if you are looking for a good book or two to read, check out these: to get her memoir go here http://amzn.com/B006V1KQLU and here for her crime thriller http://amzn.com/B008GFQAR8. right now she is editing loving for crumbs- an anthology, which i am looking forward to reading.  you can visit jonna at http://www.wix.com/jonnaivin/jonnaivin. 
til next time,
farmer mom

midnight's story...

midnight's story...
midnight came into our lives in  fall 2010.  it was midnight one night when i went outside and saw this cat.  she was tiny and skinny.  i called her midnight.  the full moon was out and everything was gray. it seemed like the perfect name. when i came back inside i told  farmer dad that we got a cat and her name was midnight.  he wasn't very happy about it at first, but as soon as he saw what an awesome cat she was he loved her.  he sometimes says that she is better than a dog because she follows us around, even in the summer heat which makes her pant and makes me nervous.  she will run in the rain to greet us and has even defended our front porch at night for night time creatures.  not to mention, she will stand her ground up to any dog, and has even scared one so much she made him cry. midnight works for our family too.  she catches mice for us, sometimes eating the whole thing, and will even try to figure out a snake.  i am so grateful for her.  i had wanted a cat and we received the best!

til next time,

farmer mom

io catepillar...

io caterpillar...
farmer son 2 and i were outside, pulling weeds, mulching blue berry, and simply hanging out observing nature along our way.  when we got to our american red bud, the top leaves were missing, a catepillar had been there. not good.  i quickly found it, got it on a stick and embraced the photo opportunity. this is the io caterpillar. its spines are filled with poison and they sting, so don't touch.   

til next time,

farmer mom

clementine did it...

clementine did it...

clementine did it... she laid the first egg!  i noticed it yesterday when i was cleaning out the barn.  it was sitting there all  by itself, on top of the nesting boxes.   that was a very exciting moment: our baby duck laid her first egg!  you should have heard the cheering going on, it was like a party.  o man!  things are changing on the farm. 

til next time,

farmer mom

urgh...

urgh...
so i have completely ignored the garden, besides watering it daily.  i have let the weeds take over, occasionally adding straw but nothing real deep to take care of it and nourish it the way it needs to be.  i have noticed lately how far gone i have let the garden get.  guilt soon followed.  i knew that i just had to get in there and give it some TLC to make it better. so i started pulling the weeds, then i noticed this bug war taking over cherry tomato.  urgh!  this is what i should expect though, beside the weeds taking over, we are not going to get the produce that i thought.  lesson learned. 
no more.  now i must step up my game. i want to be better at gardening, and i know that if that is  something that i want to work, then i need to put that extra time in it.  gardening is a skill that i want to learn, and after i learn it, i want to master it.  know what i mean?
so til then, is there anyone that can tell me what kind of bugs these are and more about them? thank you

til next time,

farmer mom

3" egg...

3" egg...
so our girls did it again!  someone gave us a 3 inch egg.  o my!  our girls's eggs usually fit nicely in the jumbo egg cartons that we have, but this one was way, way, way to big. we don't size our eggs,  so to the lucky person who buys this carton at fresh pickins, please be careful bringing it home, because the carton will not close and happy eating!

til next time,

farmer mom

no poo...

no poo...
so i have been no poo for over 3 1/2 years.  i saw something about it, got interested and read more.  soon after i began my shampoo detox and started with the baking soda and vinegar.  i had some lavendar essense so i added that too.   in the begining i kind of smelt like a salad, but i soon learned and had it figured out.  since those first few moments, i have never gone back!  and i have to say proudly that our sons, our growing farmer sons are officially no poo now too!  they had their first no poo today.  i'm excitied. i'm euthanstic of the way they are grwoing and learning. on top of sign language, composting, raising ducks, gardening and having an orchard, they are now no poo.  if you would like to know more about no pooing, go to  noshampoo.org . 

til next time,
farmer mom

shadow pictures...

shadow pictures...
our newest shadow pictures

til next time,
farmer mom

my signing challenge...

my signing challenge...
so since april 2010 i have started learning signs.  i started with simple signs, then added  the yellow signing exact english book (see).   when we found out that it was progressive we went out and got the asl dictionary.  i didn't read the cover until later, we had purchased the abridged version.  poopy.  not what i needed! i wanted the complete book. my one stop shop so to speak.   so i went to amazon, got a used unabridged version of the dictionary for a great price and perfect condition, in hard cover too!  it was a reference book from a library barely used.  i love my book.  so since then, i started studying. a little bit here, a little bit there, but nothing very serious.  i had no plan.

 not every word has a sign, and sometimes the see book has a sign that the asl book doesn't or vice versa.  so i am putting the two together.  i like certain aspects of see  and i know that one day we will be asl people all the time, but for right now carrying around two HUGE  books doesn't float my boat.  so in the end we will have a book that has every sign that we use.  it is what works for our family.  i want to have every possible tool for our farmer sons.  i can spell the word, i can use the see sign and i can use the asl sign.  not to mention saying the word, too.  so yes.  anyway, i know a good amount of signs, but there always seems to be a word that i don't know.  that is frustrating!  i don't want to have to finger spell everything that i don't know.  so the other day, i gave myself a challenge:to complete the asl unabridged dictionary in one year.   (i love a good challenge, who doesn't?)  so, the asl unabridged dictionary is 983 pages.  if i study 3 pages a day i can finish that book in a year.  so i am counting down.  3 pages a day and in one year i will have it.  i'm writing in  the see book signs  where needed so i can  be as thorough as possible. but i'm excited.  nothing like a good challenge to get my blood going.    for fun i started on the last page.  so the challenge is on.

 if there is a word that you want to know the sign of, let me know and i'll be happy to share with you. 

til next time,
farmer mom

the big girls...

the big girls...

the big girls have been making eggs for almost a year now.  i can remember the day when farmer dad walked into the house with two things and said "guess what i have?"  at first i thought that he found 2 rocks, silly thinking about it now but the thought of our first eggs didn't even cross my mind.  anyway, so the moment was there, time to try our first eggs.  if you know me, you'd know that i'm the pickiest vegetarian out there.  i'm not adventorous when it comes to food at all.  so here are these two eggs, the first of many,  and here are the two farmer sons looking to me for my reaction. this is the make it or break it moment, i had to put on a brave face. so, we fried up the eggs.  got out four forks and tasted our first duck eggs from the babies that we raised!  at that moment, we stopped buying eggs from the store and have had farm fresh almost daily!  it is awesome!   bring on the scrambled, fried, french toast, pancakes and muffins.  not to mention cookies.  i have to say this too, i was not a big egg person.  they were something that i used to be very dramatic about and picky about eating.  but now, i notice myself craving them and sometimes even my mouth watering for them. 

our girls live in a roughly 1 acre orchard.  they sleep in the barn at night to protect them from  country life night time predators and roam around during the day:  eating bugs, swimming, and enjoying life. in the morning, they are all excited and ready to start their day.  when i let them out,  they all run to find mushrooms growing and snatch them up as quickly as they can.  that is a prize to be eaten.  they will run after each other trying to get the best morning treats.  lately, they have been separating into smaller groups, but if one calls out, the rest come.  it's interesting to go outside and watch them.  they are calm creatures for the most part.  they are very aware of their surrounding and things going on.   at night, when it is time to put them  up, i open the gate and they instantly run up to me quacking, telling me about their days.  then they follow me to the barn and when i open the  door, they walk in and i tell them good night.  it's a nice moment.  

i'm grateful that we have our ducks.  i'm grateful that they give us eggs everyday.  i'm grateful that our two farmer sons can learn SO ,many things because of it. 

til next time,

farmer mom

bugs...

bugs...

til next time,

farmer mom