Crazy G Farmstead

Year 4 of our annual batch of meat birds is in the books, and it's been our personal best! We had 2 DOA at the post office, but we experienced no losses after that! Which was a breath of fresh air after the rough time we had with last year's batch.

Ended the season with 28 birds, averaging 6.8lbs per bird (our largest average to date!). And put a total of 191.4 lbs of chicken in our freezer. We were blown away by that number! Feeling very grateful to know that our family will be well fed, with homegrown, humanely raised chicken. It's a lot of work for a short period of time, but the payout is SO worth it!

It's definitely spring on our little homestead 🌼 🐰 🌸 🐔 🌱

Raising your own meat source can be HARD work. It has to be something you're really committed to because the tough seasons are enough to make you want to throw in the towel and call it quits 😕 🙃

We've run into a few issues with our meat rabbits that we have never faced prior to now and have found ourselves feeling pretty defeated. But we are trying to go through this with some grace and look for what we can learn from these experiences. Feeling grateful for our friend Rebah, who has helped us through some of our bunny crises. She is truly a wealth of knowledge, and we appreciate her so much ❤️

Its been a tough season of learning for us, but if and when we run into these issues in the future, we'll be better equipped to handle them!

Also, peep Arlan's new showmanship bunny, Washington the Dutch. And don't worry, Winnie is enjoying retired pet life 😉

The garden is put to bed til spring, the wood shed is full & covered, the rabbit hutch it's winterized for rain and wind, and the ponies got their feet done! Feeling pretty accomplished and enjoying this cozy rainy weather 🌦

Long time, no post... Things have been slow on our little homestead. We've been busy with 4-H and other life obligations but also doing homestead-y things too 😅

We processed over 60 pounds of peppers this season. They were by far our most prolific crop in an otherwise disappointing gardening season. Now we're slowly tearing up the summer garden and putting it to bed til spring. We had a stillborn kit from one doe, and another that didn't take due to the lingering heat... hoping for some new babies in the next few weeks! Lots of cooking and baking going on and much more to come, because who doesn't love fall and holiday treats?

And finally, we lost Rose, one of our original flock of chickens, to old age. 7 years ago, we brought home 5 chicks and they were our first step into the homestead journey. Now we have just one of our golden girls left. Thankful for her years of service to our family ❤️

It's been a brutal summer for our yarden, and on the homestead in general. We had to cull one of our rabbits we'd hope to hold back as a breeder so that was a major bummer. And the yarden has been hanging on for dear life after weeks of extreme heat. We lost some of our harvest because of it, but now that it's cooled down even a few degrees, there's signs of new life. The weeds have become one with the garden in a few places, it's not a picture perfect space but it's given us a lot and for that I'm grateful ☀️🌡❤️💐

This season has been kind of tough on the homestead. Between illness, injury, weeds, and the blazing heat, the yarden is not thriving the way it did this time last year. We've lost some of our harvest to the heat and some to pests, but we're still getting enough and that's all we can ask for. Not every year is a bumper crop! Still lots to be grateful for!

We're also doing our best to keep our rabbits alive in this extreme heat, no easy feat. It's times like this I wish we had a temperature controlled structure for them. If I ever win the lottery, I won't tell anyone, but there'll be signs 😉

Sending everyone good vibes... hoping this brutal heat wave will pass soon and we all make it out unscathed ❤️

Picked up our 1/2 hog (my mom got the other half) from Kent's Meats yesterday! We've also been preserving and cooking a lot to enjoy the harvest we're getting!

Times are tough in so many ways for so many people, so these seemingly little things coming out of the garden and from our neighbors & fellow homesteaders are actually huge! Feeling grateful for that bit of peace of mind ❤️

✨️ Abundance in the yarden ✨️

Things have been slow but busy if that makes sense? We've got a few more weeks before we butcher our latest rabbit grow outs. I spent the last week playing catch up on the homestead after being sick for almost 3 weeks and dealing with other health issues & injuries... both human, plant, and animal 🙃 and now we're beginning to harvest as we head into the first big heat wave of the season!

But I'm feeling peaceful today and so grateful for that 🌞

Rabbitry Update 🐇🌞

Back in April, we had to cut down our pecan tree for safety reasons. It was dying a slow death, so we needed to take it down safely before it fell somewhere it shouldn't have. We're sad to see it go, but we're safer and we have some more firewood. The only hiccup we've run into so far is that the evening sun (5-7ishpm) that was once blocked by the tree now hits the rabbit hutch. So we invested in a heavy duty shade cloth and it's done the trick so far! Between the shade cloth, the misters, and ice packs-- the bunnies should stay comfortable over the summer!

In other news, our final meat mutt litter (Bug x Judy) is officially weaned and will be ready to go to other homesteads late next week or to freezer camp in mid June. I've listed their sexes and colors if anyone is interested 🙂

Between fair prep and homestead stuff, we've been busy. But life is good ❤️

Fresh, small batch of Dandelion Salves up for grabs! Homeschool Fundraising for my girl... asking for a donation of 💲12/tin or 2 for 💲20 🙂

Use as a nourishing skin salve for dry skin, eczema, psoriasis, or even acne! It can also be used as a rub for sore muscles and joints. I made an essential oil blend specifically for this batch of salve that contains camphor, mint, lavender, bergamot, and wintergreen. So not only is it awesome to use, but it smells great too!

Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional so if you have concerns, please speak to your doctor prior to using this or any salve.