Wed, 25 September 2013
Deciding that a hoop house was the next big step that our farm needed to take to continue down our path of sustainable growth was not any easing decision to come to. Right now our farm only has three permanent pieces of infrastructure: our house, the equipment/winter shed, and our perimeter fencing. The size of hoop house we are planning to build would make it the biggest structure on the farm and of course it will be a serious capital investment. It is important to us that this building fits into our values when it comes to the farm and raising livestock ... and being sustainable to our family financially, physically, and emotionally. That meant a lot of discussion, question, planning, scrapping of plans, and so much more. On today's episode I wanted to spend some time sharing some of our thoughts on the plans and how we came to the conclusion that we needed this building. If you have an input on the topic be sure to leave a comment below or send us an e-mail. As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five start rating and review (by clicking the link or the image on the right). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with The Beginning Farmer and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ...
TBF Show 030 :: Play in a New Window | Right Click to Download
(if you are interested in the music in this episode check out my brother's record label, Historic Records)
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Mon, 23 September 2013
A Hoop House, a Meat CSA, the Soap Club, and More...
After much research, we have decided that in order to produce more hogs and build sustainability on our farm, we need to build a hoop house. This hoop house would allow us to increase the number of hogs we raise out, decrease the number of hogs we bring in, and provide a comfortable place full of deep bedding and natural lighting for this greater volume of pigs to wander in and out of during the winter while they wait for spring, summer, and fall where they will reside in the larger pastures and woods. To check out our new website detailing our project, visit www.CrookedGapFarmHoopHouse.com.
If you are interested in more information about the Meat CSA Subscription check out this link.
You can learn more about the Soap of the Month Club here. TBF Show 029 :: Play in a New Window | Right Click to Download
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Wed, 18 September 2013
One of the coolest things that happens on our farm each year (and seven other area farms) is the Annual Farm Crawl. This is basically a big open house that covers eight area farms and allows the community to come out and learn more about what we are doing ... how we are doing it ... and why we are doing it! We were really blessed by the fact that our farm just happened to be along the route of the Farm Crawl so after a few years we were able to join in the fun. But, the greatest part of the event is that it allows us to not only tell our story, but also show our story to our friends, customers, and people who hadn't even heard of our farm until that day. In today's episode I spend some time talking about what the Farm Crawl is and what makes it so great!
If you have an input on the topic be sure to leave a comment below or send us an e-mail. As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five start rating and review (by clicking the link or the image on the right). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with The Beginning Farmer and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ...
TBF Show 028 :: Play in a New Window | Right Click to Download
(if you are interested in the music in this episode check out my brother's record label, Historic Records)
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Wed, 11 September 2013
When it comes to raising meat and egg laying chickens on our farm I believe we have been fairly lucky. Other than a few predator problems (which we have mostly solved with our "Chicken Guardian Dog") we have not had to deal with any chicken ailments that I have read about other farmers having to deal with. I hope that some of that is because of the breeds we raise and they management style we have, but I also know that it helps that our farm is fairly isolated from other poultry and that we have just been blessed so far. On this weeks episode though I take some time to answer an e-mail question from Matthew about "Deep Pectoral Myopathy" and what our favorite meat chicken breed is.
If you have an input on the topic be sure to leave a comment below or send us an e-mail. As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five start rating and review (by clicking the link or the image on the right). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with The Beginning Farmer and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ...
TBF Show 027 :: Play in a New Window | Right Click to Download
(if you are interested in the music in this episode check out my brother's record label, Historic Records)
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Wed, 4 September 2013
On this weeks episode of "The Beginning Farmer Show" I take some time to answer an e-mail that came in from Chase about perimeter fencing. Your perimeter fence is probably going to be one of the most important pieces of infrastructure on your farm because of all the ways that affects you relationally and emotionally ... I mean if you always have livestock getting out it is going to be very stressful and your spouse/neighbors may not be very pleased with you! On my farm I have seven strands of hi-tensile fence that alternates between hot and grounded wires starting from the top of the fence. Overall I have been very pleased with the fence and almost all of the problems I have had came about because of user error as opposed to fence error. If you are interested seeing some pictures and reading about our perimeter fence check out these posts (which are a blast from the past).
If you have an input on the topic be sure to leave a comment below or send us an e-mail. As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five start rating and review (by clicking the link or the image on the right). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with The Beginning Farmer and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ...
TBF Show 026 :: Play in a New Window | Right Click to Download
(if you are interested in the music in this episode check out my brother's record label, Historic Records)
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