Its chick season!

I love this time of year.  Chicks in the feed store means spring is almost here.  Even though theres still a fair amount of snow on the ground while I write this, I have visions of flowers, fluffy chicks, warm weather, and green grass dancing through my head.  This is the time of year that I hear the hum of my incubator running near my desk when I am working on the computer.  It doesn’t matter that I have been raising chickens and chicks for years, seeing the first egg pip and a chick break out is always exciting.  That’s one of the reasons I started the incubation program.  Every kid (or kid at heart) should get to experience thrill of a chick hatching and a new life starting; even if you don’t have the room or time to raise chickens.   If you are considering starting your own flock of chickens, there are something you should consider. 

 Location is key:  Checking with your town ordinances is an important step.  If might be tempting to look at your big yard and say why not, the town will never know.  This is never a good idea, especially if you have kids who will grow attached to the chickens.  You might have even asked all your neighbors to make sure they are ok with it and promise free eggs.  Just because they tell you that they are fine, doesn’t mean they actually are ok.  I have heard so many stories of neighbors making anonymous complaints because they didn’t want to be honest and say they don’t like the idea.  And your neighbors will know.  Chickens can be loud.  We all know that roosters crow, but hens sing an egg song that can be just as loud.  After they lay an egg the sing it.  I like to think if it as they are proud of themselves and just must celebrate.  Also, unless you have a completely closed off run that includes a roof, your chickens will get around.  They can fly 10 ft in the air so your 6 ft privacy fence will be nothing.  I see constant Facebook posts of broken-hearted people who have to rehome their chickens because the town told them they had to. 

Chicks or Hens:  Yes, chicks can be adorable, but they are also messy.  If you don’t have an outdoor space to start chicks I would recommend starting with grown hens. If you keep them in the house for more than a week or two you will start to notice all the dust.  The bigger they get, the dustier they get.  And if you see it settling on your surfaces, its also in their air and you are breathing it in.  Chicks need it warm, starting at 90 degrees their first week of life.  Heat plates and lamps have their own limitations.  Heat plates need an ambient temperature of at least 50 degrees outside in order to keep the chicks at their toasty 90 degrees.  This would be good for a basement, insulated garage or barn.  Heat lamps are dangerous.  They have been known to break and start fires.  I personally try to avoid using them at all and if I do, they are never in the house.   I’m not saying I haven’t gone against all this advice in my past.  My first few years the chicks were in my house, then my garage.  Now only outside in the barn.  If you have a chicken coop with electric, you can always lock it up and let the chicks stay in their with a heat plate as long as it is late spring or summer. 

Housing:  How do you want your chickens to live.  There are pros and cons to each set up.  Do you want a stationary coop with a fixed run.  This is great for predator protection, but it requires a lot more cleaning and your chickens don’t get to roam around the grass and forage.  Do you want a stationary coop but you want to let your chickens free range during the day?  This is great for the chickens health and mental state.  It does require some cleaning maintenance as well.  However if you free range chickens, you should know you will loose some to predators.  Even if you are outside with them while they are free ranging.  It happens in the blink of an eye.  I use a mobile coop with a hardware cloth bottom.  It requires very little cleaning because the manure just falls through and lands on the grass underneath.  It does require the work to move the coop around, so the manure doesn’t build up under and burn the grass. 

 Have more questions?  We can help.  Keep an eye on our Facebook page because we will be hosting an adult chicken tendering class.  It will go over all the basics of taking care of chickens and help you get started on your journey.  If you have kids with questions, we will be hosting a kid’s chicken class in April.  It’s on our website now.  It has sold out in past years so go sign up before it is sold out. 

Leap of Faith

After taking a break to have our newest member of the Haxton Homestead family we are up and running again.  Even though we are not starting from scratch, getting everything up and running back to where it was before my maternity leave is overwhelming and it has me thinking of day one on this homestead.  I remember getting the keys and pulling up the driveway with such mixed emotions.  I was so excited and nervous at the same time.  Looking out at all the empty space with all the possibilities it held was, just like now, overwhelming. 

We still had a lot going on during the leave we took.  We were still taking care of chickens, ducks, horses, cows, goats, sheep and rabbits.  We scaled down what we could and didn’t take on any more public events.  Now we are at the spot again in our lives, looking out on the property and saying, whats next?   I want to share advice for anyone looking to start homesteading and thinking to themselves, what next or how to I begin.  My advice is always just do it.  Of course, do your research and plan, but most likely you will never feel ready.  That first step is always a leap of faith.  When I brought home my first chicks years ago, I had a feeling of “what did I just get myself into”.  And years later I still get that same feeling every time I bring on a new animal or project to the farm.  Our newest addition is going to be bees.  It has been something I have wanted for years and have put off year after year.  I am grateful to my brother who gave me the push by gifting me bees for Christmas.  They are being shipped this spring.  Even though I prepared, researched, bought the equipment, and found a mentor to ask my questions, I still have the feeling of “what did I get myself into”.  

Don’t let fear stop you.  Don’t listen to other people who tell you that you’re crazy for wanting this or if they try and talk you out of it by telling you it will be too much work.  If you want to homestead, just do it.  There will always be reasons not to start or to wait till next year.  Life is short and can change in an instant.  If you want to do it, take the jump and don’t look back.  That jump will look different for everyone.  For some it will be starting a small container garden in your apartment window.  For others it might be buying a bigger piece of property.  Ask yourself what you would do if fear wasn’t a part of your decision.  Before you know it those baby chicks you brought home in a box from the feed store will become just part of your everyday routine.  Or your small garden will be doing well, and you will be pouring over seed catalogs all winter planning whats next. 

If you are local and are looking for help, we love helping new homesteaders.  I’m not claiming to have all the answers because no one person can.  We are here as a resource for our community.  Come take a class with us or schedule a tour so you can have all your questions answered 1 on 1.  And even if I can’t answer all of them, I can help you find the answers.  If you want to support us on our mission to be an educational homestead, you can come to one of our events.  Our next one is the Brunch with the Easter Bunny.  Maybe we’ll see you there!

Slow Cooker Roast Chicken

All the signs of an early spring are arriving to the homestead.  Our chick shipment will be arriving next week, baby bunnies have arrived, and the horses are doing their spring shedding.  The long hibernation days of winter are gone and with that comes lots of work.  My favorite tool to have around when the days get busy is my slow cooker.  Personally, I know that I have more patience and energy to deal with dinner in the morning than after a day working outside.  One of my favorite meals, and an easy one, is a slow roasted chicken.  And if you add veggies to the slow cooker, it’s a one pot meal.  Below is my tried-and-true recipe for our family.

Ingredients

1 large potato per person cut into cubes

1 bag of baby carrots

2 white onions cut into cubes

1 whole defrosted chicken

1 cup of room temperature butter (Honestly more doesn’t hurt)

Salt

Pepper

Oregano

Parsley

Basil

Thyme

paprika

1.       Add the cut potatoes, carrots, and onions to the bottom of the slow cooker.

2.      Salt and Pepper vegetables to taste.

3.      Ina small bowl, mix the softened butter with the salt, pepper, oregano, parsley, basil. paprika and thyme.  Amount of each seasoning will very on your individual taste.  Season with your heart.

4.      Cut small holes in the skin of the chicken buy both breast and thighs and rub the herb butter mixture under the skin of the chicken.  Any butter left over can be rubbed directly on the outside skin of the chicken. 

5.      Place the chicken breast side up on top of the veggies in the slow cooker.

6.      Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Once the chicken reached an internal temperature of 165 degrees it is ready to eat but I usually leave it on low all day.  At that point the meat just falls apart and is very juicy. 

If you want to use all the parts of the chicken including the bones its easy to make overnight chicken stock.  After dinner you can return the chicken carcass to the slow cooker (no need to clean it before hand from the original cooking because all those juices and drippings will add to the flavor).  Fill the slow cooker with water and if wanted add salt.  I never add salt because I prefer to season my stock as needed when cooking with it in the future.  Turn on low over night.  In the morning your house will smell amazing, and you will have home made chicken stock ready to be put in your freezer for later meals.

 For an extra flavor boost to your stock, you can add vegetable scraps.  I keep a gallon size Ziplock in my freezer and whenever I am cooking my vegetable scraps go into that freezer bag.  If I want a deeper flavor stock, I take some of those frozen veggie scraps and add it to the stock water before turning it on.

Winter Break

Winter is still here but we are beginning to plan the new season crops and activities.  Since our Breakfast with Santa event, we have been trying to take it easy as much as possible.  The animals have been cared for, but we have been able to focus our energy on the house and spending time with our family.  The winter months are a time for us to recharge and focus on preparing for the busy season ahead. 

We pulled the pig fat out of the freezer and rendered it down to lard.  We use the lard in any of our cooking that would call for butter.  Lard gets a bad name for being unhealthy, but it actually has much less saturated fats and cholesterol then butter.  It also has a higher smoking point so its better for sautéing food in. 

Since the goats will be kidding in the next couple of months, we will also be emptying our freezer of whatever goat milk is left and making our soaps and shampoos for the year as well. After that we will be making our detergents and cleaning supplies.  Its nice to have a store of that for the summer. 

Since we are making a lot of soups during the cold weather, we have had a lot of chicken beef and pork bones left over.  All of that has been going to making bone broth and chicken stock.  Canning this now so my shelves are full keeps that work off my plate for the harvest season. 

With this stuff out of the way we can focus the spring and summer on farming and fun activities. This week I started schedule some of our homeschool classes, kids farm classes and an Easter Bunny event!  There are some exciting new updates to Haxton Homestead, and I can’t wait to share it all with you as it unfolds.  

Thanksgiving

Another Thanksgiving has come and gone, and I like to use this time of year to reflect on what I have learned throughout the year.  I am very grateful for all the people that come into my life and the lessons I can learn from them.  Life, and farming, is a never-ending classroom filled with lessons if you are ready to engage.  The connections I make through this farm are invaluable and the relationships forged are cherished.

This month I was able to meet again with the people of Hard Cider Farms.  This was the second year they helped us processes our turkeys for thanksgiving.  While I could do it myself, the larger equipment they bring with them helps the process go so much smoother.  My small equipment meant for chickens just wouldn’t work nearly as well.  Matt, Janelle and their children are amazing family and are a pleasure to work alongside.  I enjoy working with them and talking “shop”.  Is great to exchange ideas and farming practices.    Hard work always goes faster with good conversation.

I also wanted to take the time to thank YOU!  With out you all supporting our business by coming to our classes and events, buying our meats, and following us on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, we could not keep Haxton Homestead open and share our love of farming.  I appreciate that my job is doing what I love and sharing it with people who want to learn.  I love watching the kids who come to our classes interact with the animals and make a connection to their food source.  I enjoy teaching adults how to raise and provide meat for their families.  It makes all the hard work worth it and that is priceless.

Exciting Times

I love the fall, and not just for pumpkin spice lattes (yuck) and sweater weather.  Fall is the transition time where I can sit back and enjoy the fruit of our labor.  Even though fall is still a busy time of year, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.  While the days are still warm enough that it may feel like summer hasn’t left; the chill in the air in the mornings and evenings reminds me that slower winter is imminent.  Some of the leaves are starting to change in the trees and I smile every time I see it.  The kids are back at school so its also quiet during the day.  Of course, as things are starting to settle down, I must throw a curve ball into the mix and get a new critter. 

We welcomed a new horse onto our farm this week.  Ziggy is a 14ish year-old pony who will keep our current horse Oakie company.  I realize I basically bought my horse his own pet which sounds a little ridiculous, but it was the right thing to do.  Horses are herd animals and do better with the company of other horses. Oakie did not settle well after we sold our mare Rue earlier this year.  I was hoping that the cows in the field would be enough company for him, but he was not having it.  I could tell he was not his normal chipper self, and he was bored.  I understand because if I was only living with people who spoke a different language and I could not communicate, I would get bored too.  I have been looking for the perfect equine to add to our family for the past few months.  I went to see a bunch of horses that just didn’t fit what I was looking for.  I was close to purchasing another full-sized horse just the week before I found Ziggy and he was sold out from under me.  I was frustrated when it happened because I had my heart set on this other horse, but I guess everything does happen for a reason as Ziggy does seem like his checks off every box.  Plus, hes adorable and so little. 

As of writing this blog Ziggy has not officially come home yet.  We picked him up from his old farm 2 hours away and brought him to a neighbor’s property where he will spend some time in quarantine.  If all goes well, he will be able to meet his new brother in a few more days.  I have been going to visit him every day to spend some time with him.  He now calls out to me when he hears my voice coming down the driveway.  He will need some training still, but I think he will be a great little pony for my boys to work with. 

Winter is Coming

When most people think of summer, images of laying by the pool, drinking cocktails, beach days and nice weather come to mind.  When I think of summer, I think of chaos.  Summer on the farm is chaotic at best.  But the chaos means things are going right.  Summer chaos is good chaos.  It means my garden is producing a lot, needs upkeep and the harvest needs canning and freezing for the year.  The chaos means my classes are going well and kids are enjoying our camp.  It means lots of driving to set up incubation programs in schools and homes.  It means baby chicks and bunnies! As much as I enjoy the chaos, it is exhausting.  There are days where I wake up in the morning still tired from the night before.  Days where my muscles just don’t want to keep moving.  To get through these days, I must keep telling myself winter is coming.

Winter is cold and dark, but it is nature’s way of telling us it is time to rest.  It is too cold outside for our classes, so we get a break from planning lessons and crafts.  The garden is in hibernation and all the animals are moved out from the grassy fields to right near the house.  This makes feeding and watering easier.  I get to finally open those jars of vegetables that I canned over the summer and enjoy the harvest.  I get to spend more quality time playing with my kids.   The cold does come with its own set of challenges, however.  Snow, frozen water lines, a billion layers of clothing to keep warm while doing chores makes simple things harder, but there is still less to do.  I get time to knit, make my soaps, cleaners and detergents for the year, read a book and maybe have time to keep my house clean. 

I’ve always found it amazing how mother nature works.  I am awestruck that our mama rabbits just know how to make a nest and care for her babies.  The fact that our food scraps can be composted and used to feed the soil for future vegetables to grow is an amazing way that nature takes care of itself.  But its also taking care of us.  The cycles of the seasons are mother nature’s way of keeping us sane.  Just when we have had enough of the heat and busy schedule of the summer, the weather cools and leaves start to change.  We get a break from the daily grind and our workload shifts. Things feel new and refreshed.  And after the cold month when we just can’t stand another cold day, the weather turns again and start to warm up.  It keeps us from getting burnt out and ready to throw in the towel. 

Getting Started

A question I get asked a lot while giving tours is “Did you go up farming?”  Most people are surprised when my answer is no.  Even more so when I say I grew up in New York City.  We did have a little backyard that some summers my dad would grow some vegetables. That garden and the local petting zoo was the closest I got to farming as a kid.  I also didn’t want to grow up be a farmer when I was a kid.  My big dream was to be on Broadway.  Every day after school you would find me at the dance studio.  I even started college as a dance major.  That is until my bad knees made me change course.  It’s funny the way life will throw curve balls at you. 

I had a scholarship in college that required me to have volunteer hours to maintain the scholarship.  A couple weeks into my freshman year I found a volunteer opportunity that I fell in love with.  Once a week we would drive an hour upstate and work on an educational based dairy farm.  It was run by a group of nuns and the mission of the farm was to provide educational opportunities to children.  It was a working farm with a bustling farm store that made the best cheeses you would ever taste.  Of course, they used us young college kids for grunt work like hauling hay into the hay loft, fixing fences, digging up the potato harvest etc.  I worked hard for the magical moments that happened in between the manual labor. 

We got to help with milking all the cows.  I was disappointed to learn at first that they used machines to milk but at that point I had never hand milked a cow before.  Looking back now I can’t imagine how they would do it any other way with all those cows. I got to watch a goat give birth one morning.  I had never seen a birth before, and it was the most amazing thing to witness.  We also got to spend time with any baby animals on the farm during our lunch break.  When our group got back the to college dorm at night, we were exhausted.  We would get funny looks in the lobby because we smelled so bad, but we didn’t care. 

After college I stopped thinking about farming.  I got a “real” job, got married and had a couple kids.  It wasn’t until my kids were born that my husband and I started to consider a different type of life.  We wanted our kids to grow up knowing where their food came from, the hard work it took and what went into that food.  My once-a-week work on the farm in college might have been fun at the time but I really wasn’t learning much about animal husbandry or planting schedules.  I was just doing what I was told and not really asking questions.  My husband and I we went on this adventure blindly.  If I can do this anyone can.  People ask me where to start, and there as so many different ways, but my best advice is just do it.  Find a famer and ask if they need help.  Most will need help.  Offer your time helping in exchange for their knowledge.  Follow some YouTube channels; they are offering their knowledge for free!  But in the end just do it.  Buy your first set of chickens or plant your first seed.  You will never feel ready, and you will never know everything.  If you keep waiting until your ready you will never do it. 

Creating Your Village

Homesteading is hard.  I still have not figured out why they call it the simple life.  It is full of challenges and there is never a time where everything is done.  There is always a to do list much longer than the time we have in a day.  It can be hard for a lot of us to ask for and accept help.  We want to prove that we can do it all but that is not possible.  That is why you must find your village.  There is no way to do it alone. 

Your neighbors and community will be a lifeline.  Get out there and make some friends.  Bring over a dozen eggs to a neighbor or go on your local homestead Facebook group and start asking questions and getting involved.  If there isn’t a group already create one.  I created my own New Jersey Homesteaders Facebook group and now we are over 5,000 members.   

When we moved to Stockton, NJ, we knew no one.  We were starting from scratch.  The first thing I did was join local social media groups.  I put out into the internet what we were doing with our newly acquired property.  When I brought my first set of chickens, I met Jeremiah at Chasing Joy Farm.  If any of you have taken our chicken processing classes, then you have met Jeremiah.  Check out their Facebook page!  Now we share equipment and help each other out when needed. 

My neighbor is a great gardener, and I am notorious for letting my garden die.  She has offered to help me with my garden.  I have the space and she has the knowledge so we make a team.  She has been coming over and we have been working together to get the vegetable seeds in the ground, keep on top of the weeds and lay down the mulch.  This year’s garden is already better than any other year I have tried.  I cannot wait to see where this goes. 

My hay guy is also a cattle man.  I spoke to him about the troubles we are having getting our cow pregnant through AI.  He has offered to board her for a while with his bull to see if that helps.  He is also a great resource for questions I have when it comes to my cows. 

My village keeps growing with time and yours will to.  Homesteading can be isolating and stressful if you let it so it’s important to make connections with like-minded people.  They can be there for you when things just aren’t working out and you have a million questions.  Just make sure you reciprocate.  Be there for them when they need help with a project or on chicken processing day.  The more help you put out into the world the more you will get in return.

Helping Hand

We have been very busy with our classes and tours.  So far this season we have held classes on cows and chickens.  I am planning our next classes on plants.  One thing I noticed is that the parents are just as interested as the children and ask tons of questions.  I have also had many parents come up to me after class and say they want to start homestead and don’t know where to start or feel overwhelmed.  I remember that feeling and if I am honest still feel that way from time to time. That is why I love that Haxton Homestead does educational program for both kids and adults.  When I first got started the mentorship I got from people was invaluable.  I want to be that person for my customers. 

Getting started is never easy.  Making the jump from reading books and watching videos to purchasing your first animal can feel enormous.  There are so many things, known and unknown, that can go wrong.  But want to know a secret?  Even after doing this for 6 years now, I still feel like a beginner that doesn’t have all the answers.  There are times when I am asking myself how I got myself in this situation.  I like to think all farmers and homesteaders feel that way.  But when I am giving tours and explaining how we do things I realize how far I have come from my first day in Tractor Supply carrying out my first box of chicks. 

One thing I tell every person that says they want to get started is to use me.  My customers all have my number and I tell them they can use it to call me or text me questions.  Come take one of our personalized adult farm tours that goes into a lot of detail.   I can’t promise I will have all the answers but if I do, I am glad to help.  Small farms and a dying thing and if I can help some get started and be successful, I will feel like I have done good in the world.  Once you feel that your comfortable, please do the same.  Reach out and offer to hep a fellow struggling farmer.  If you have a question email me. HaxtonHomestead@gmail.com.  If I cant help you I will point you to someone who can. 

April Showers Bring May Flowers

Spring is here in full force.  I spend all winter waiting for the warmer weather.  What I seem to forget about spring during the long cold winter is the storms and the mud.  So much mud! Although the pigs are happy to have their wallows back.  We have been busy with our classes and tours, but mother nature has thrown a wrench in our plans.  During a very windy night we had extensive damage to our horse and cow pasture fencing and it forced us to cancel a couple of classes. 

While Keith was walking out to the chicken coop to close them up for the night, he saw our whole fence line had been pushed over by the horse shelter.  It seems the wind had picked up the shelter and thrown it into the fence.  It must have been a strong gust because it as it ripped all four anchors out of the ground.  Luckily our horses and cows never left the field.  Normally our horses and cows are out on pasture 24/7 unless there is extreme weather such as a blizzard.  This means our stalls are used for other things like our rabbits’ winter homes and brooding chicks. The next hour was focused on moving rabbits into temporary cages (luckily there are no chicks here at the moment) and getting the stalls and barn isle ready for the horses and cows.  The horses each got a stall and we bedded down the cows in the barn isle.  The rabbit cages were moved to a safe spot in our feed room. 

After getting our horse Oakie in the stall we realized something was wrong with him.  His breathing was off, and he was making weird noises.  He also was acting like he was in pain and couldn’t swallow.  We tried to offer him some water and there were already pellets in his stall.  When he had no interest in the food, we knew something was very wrong because that boy loves his food.   We didn’t waste time and called the vet even thought it was already almost 10:00 at night. I feel very fortunate that our vet got out of bed and came to help right away.  After the vet finished working on Oakie, clearing out his choke and giving him meds, Oakie is doing well.  Hes stuck on stall rest and soaked pellets for a few days.  As he is very food obsessed, he is not happy. 

When the sun was shining the next day and the adrenaline has passed, things seemed better.  Luckily we have great neighbors who lent us an auger attachment for our tractor and we were able to track down a lumber yard that had our fence posts in stock.  Keith and I spent the day replacing that section of fence and securing the run in.  It also made is take a good look at the rest of the fence and we found some other weak spots we didn’t notice before. 

This evening was a good reminder that farming is full of surprises, good and bad.  Also, it’s important to have an emergency fund. Between the emergency vet visit and the materials it cost to fix the fence, it was a very expensive night.  All in all, I am grateful that the fence blew down.  When it first happened, I was extremely anxious and angry that I had to deal with the situation.  However, if that had not happened, I would have already been in bed sleeping when Oakie needed help and a vet.  I also would not have seen the other weak points in the fence until it was probably too late.  I really do believe that things happen for a reason and that wind may have just saved Oakie’s life. 

March on a Farm

“March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb.”  How many of us were taught that in school?  On the farm it is the complete opposite. In the beginning of March, we are still in the darkness and rest of winter.  Winter is the time in the homestead where we relax and recharge from the busy harvest.  It is a time when the pastures have stopped growing and our days are short.  As March progresses and spring draws near, the workload on a farm starts to increase.  It is exciting to see things start over.  The grasses and flowers start to come alive again.  Babies are born or hatched.  Our seedlings start sprouting.  There is so much potential.  Forget new year’s resolutions; March is when farmers and homesteaders have resolutions for how they want their growing season to go. 

Things have started a little early at Haxton Homestead.  Our goats have already kidded, and we had six adorable baby goats running around.  They were even in the house for a while during the coldest days.  The birth of our first set of goat twins jump started our season.  We are now in go go go mode.  Every day starts with milking the goats and giving bottles to babies.  A few of the babies have made their way to their new farm homes where they are thriving. 

I have been busy planning the upcoming season.  Its going to be busy as we expand our educational programming.  I will attempt a garden again (fingers crossed its better this year) and have ordered seeds.  If you were thinking of starting a homestead this is the time to plan.  Spring will be here sooner than you think.  In our growing zone (6b) its time to start getting the cold weather crop seeds in soil and under grow lights or greenhouses.  Lettuce, kale and spinach all thrive in the cooler weather.  Its also a good time to test your soil and see if any supplements or compost is needed.   Now is also the time to look through all your equipment to see if anything needs to be repaired or replaced.  Don’t wait until you need it to realize your garden rake is broken. I love the book “Week-by-Week Vegetable Gardeners Handbook” by Ron Kujawski & Jennifer Kujawski.  It tells you exactly when everything should be planted in starters and transplanted into the ground.  It gives you tips on caring for each plant and even has over winter plans to prep you for the next season. 

The warm weather is coming and so is the hard work. I wish a plentiful growing season and a bountiful harvest to all of you.

Pigs in the Garden

At Haxton Homestead we follow pasture-based farming.  Most of the year our animals are on grassy fields eating what the land provides.  We always supplement with either hay or feed (depending on the animal) so we can make sure they are getting enough to eat.  We supplement because we are limited to the 7 acres that we own.  If we had more land or less animals, we wouldn’t have to, but we are working with what we have.  When winter rolls around we like to give the land a break and a chance to rest and restore. 

During these months we move animals to winter locations.  Our rabbits get a large barn stall, so they still have room to run around but are protected from the wet and wind.  Our horses and cows are limited to a dry lot we have by the barn.  If we let them have access to the pasture their hooves would quickly turn everything to mud and kill the grass before it has a chance to grow in the spring.  The goats and pigs each get a section of the garden to live on.  I do this for two reasons. First is because the garden is right near the house, so it saves me a lot of time doing chores twice a day.  I don’t have to walk out to the back fields anymore.  Second, is because during their time in the garden they are doing a lot of work for me.

Pigs are good at two things: rooting and pooping.  Pigs are born with the instinct to root.  When they are born, they use their noses to root at their mothers’ teats to signal for milk.  Once they are older their use their incredibly strong noses to root in the ground to find bugs and plant roots to eat.  They will also root to make mud wallows to cool themselves off.  On a farm we can use this natural skill to put our pigs to work.  If you put them in the garden over the winter, you will be ready for spring planting with a garden already tilled.  And since they are pooping while they dig, they are also fertilizing your soil and mixing it in for you.       

Farming is already a lot of work so when given the chance it’s great to use the animals to help.  Spending the hour moving the pigs will save a lot of time in the long run.  It will save me from walking through the snow to feed them and dealing with frozen hoses.  It will save time in the spring since the garden is ready to plant.  I also get the added benefit of looking out my living room or kitchen windows and watching the pigs play in the dirt and woodchips.  I love when I’m washing dishes and I get a glimpse of them running after each other.  It makes me smile even when I’m stressed from cooking dinner while trying to help my kids with homework. 

Gratitude

November was a month to reflect on gratitude.  It started with Veteran’s Day.  I am extremely thankful to the men and women who served and sacrificed so that we may live in freedom and feel safe. Then there is Thanksgiving, where we are meant to come together with family and friends and, like the name suggests, give thanks.  Over this past month, I have spent a lot of time thinking about gratitude and how much I have in my life that I am grateful for.  Like many people I am grateful for things like my family, friends, my health etc.  As I stopped to think about my life, I thought about how grateful I am that I can live on a farm homesteading. 

This life, although hard, is full of so much reward.  I am so grateful that I can live like this.  On those days when I just want to stay in bed and do nothing, it gives me a reason to get out of bed and get moving.  Even on cold mornings when the sun is yet to make an appearance, the animals need to be fed and they don’t want to wait.  Most of the time, after I get outside and start feeding the animals, I am grateful that they made me get up because I get to witness a beautiful sunrise while sitting with my horses. 

For the most part, all our meat comes from our farm, but we are still trying to get to the point where we grow most of our vegetables.  This falls into the homestead failure I spoke about in the last blog.  Every spring I have grand ideas of a large garden that produces food for my family for the year.  Every year I am disappointed with my skills and time management in that area.  I spend hours planting seeds, transplanting them to the garden beds and inevitably my garden always fails. This has given me a perspective on how hard and time consuming it is to work with crops. It fills me with gratitude for the talented farmers that can spend their time and their energy growing nutritious plant-based food.  I am grateful that they put in the work so my family can have delicious fruits and vegetables.  We get creative with meals in our house sometimes to make sure that we waste as little as possible because I know many people worked hard to ensure that those plants made it onto our dinner plate.

One part of homesteading, perhaps the most emotional part for some, is the dispatching and processing of our animals.  We spend weeks, months, or sometimes years caring for these animals.  Making sure they are happy, healthy, and thriving.  Sometimes we give them names, we grow attached and they become part of our family.  It then comes time to do the deed.  Even though the day is both sad and exciting; one of the strongest emotions I feel is gratitude.  I am grateful to the animals’ ultimate sacrifice so that my family can have meat on the table throughout the year.  I am grateful that I can provide a healthy and humane food option for my community.  Some nights when my family sits down to dinner, we talk about the animal that provided the food on our plate.  We talk about some things we remember during that animal’s time on our farm.  One thing I want to pass on to my kids is the idea that if they want to eat meat, they need to know that they are taking a life.  They need to realize they have a responsibility to ensure that animal was happy while it was alive and that they should always be grateful to the animals that sustain them.

Gratitude should not be something we only think about when a holiday comes around to remind us.  We should always be grateful for what we have in our lives.  Take the time today to thank someone who has helped you.  Go out and spend a little extra attention on some of your animals today.  I will try and remember every day that I am lucky and be grateful for it. 

The Bad Days

Many people decide to start homesteading because of the beautiful bucolic images of the countryside and animals grazing on green pastures.  They see YouTube channels and Instagram pages full of the easy and beautiful parts of homesteading.  As much as I also enjoy these images and videos, I feel that it sets people up for failure on their own homestead journey.  Homesteading and farming is as full of mistakes, hardships, and trials as it is joy, beauty, and rewards.  Each day here is filled with good and bad; and unless you learn to embrace and expect the bad, you will fail.  Just today I was mowing the pasture and getting it ready for winter. It was a beautiful autumn day, and the animals were grazing around me. It could have been a scene out of a story, until my brand-new phone fell out of my pocket, and I didn’t notice until after I had already run it over with the mower deck.   Every new endeavor on the homestead is plagued with a chance for failure.  But failure isn’t always a bad thing.  If you view failure as a learning opportunity, then is it even failing? 

One example that comes to mind is working with our pigs.  When I first added pigs to the homestead it was both terrifying and exciting at the same time.   It took me three different attempts at making shelters for the pigs before I found one that wasn’t destroyed in a matter of weeks.  People told me pigs were destructive, but I thought: how bad could they be?  My first attempt was a simple A-frame structure.  It worked well until we had strong winds.  I mean this wind was so strong that it took my kids large wooden swing set and flipped it upside down. This had never happened in the 7 years of owning it.  The same storm picked the a-frame shelter up, carried it over the pig fence and slammed it into the horse fencing behind it.  My next shelter was a lean to made from pallets.   This lasted even longer until one extremely cold and snowy night one of the pigs decided it was a good idea to try and climb up the side of it and it collapsed.  I didn’t want to leave them with no shelter on such a cold night, so my husband and I were out in the snow with only headlamps and the tractor headlights to illuminate our work fixing up the shelter. The shelter I have now is still made from pallets, but it is much bigger and reinforced by 2x4 and 4x4s.  This shelter has lasted us all season so far with no signs of damage.    Each time one of these shelters failed I learned something and gained experience.  That’s not to say I wasn’t upset and frustrated.  That snowy night I was seriously asking myself why I ever decided to start a farm.  But looking back I can see all the valuable knowledge I gained from the experiences.  My woodworking skills have improved.  I learned all the different ways pigs like to put pressure on the shelters (scratching, digging, climbing).  It was bonding time with my husband was we built the new ones together.  We can now look back at those times and laugh. 

I wish every homesteading influencer would post the good, the bad and the ugly.  It would give people a better understanding of what this life really is like.   Of course, there is greatness.  Like when you sit down as a family and know you provided everything on that dinner table.  When you see your kids learning valuable life skills.  When you can have a quiet moment with your favorite animal on the farm and feel that connection.  But with each of those moments come moments of tears, anger, and frustration.  That’s why homesteaders are such a tough group of people.  We fail all the time, but we learn from the failure; we move on, get better and get stronger.  Don’t let the hiccups, either small or major, stop you from living this life.  If you can make it through, you will be better for it. 

Your Relationship and Your Homestead

I’m sure everyone knows running a farm or a homestead isn’t easy.  There are no days off, there is a never-ending lists of projects and it can feel very overwhelming at times.  It can strain even the best relationship.  I am lucky that my husband is very supportive, but he doesn’t always want to be 100% in 100% of the time.  He has a “normal” job outside the farm so the time he has available to lend a hand is very limited.  When we started homesteading, we hit a few bumps and it caused some disagreements.  There are countless resources on how to grow plants, take care of animals, build shelters, etc. But in all my research I did when planning our farm, I never came across a how to article on nurturing and securing your relationship while jumping into this new adventure.  So, before you start homesteading (or keep growing your homestead) take some time and follow these tips.  Hopefully, I can help you avoid some of the fights and heartbreaks we went through. 

Communication

Talk about what you both envision your ideal farm to be.  Its easy to get wrapped up in your own vision and just assume your partner wants the same.  Talk about what animals you guys want.  Do you want to sell your products to the public or just keep in for your family’s needs?  How big do you envision your garden?  Do you want large corn fields, grow your own hay and feed for the animals, or just a few vegetable plants that you can use for dinner and preserve the extras?  It might be prudent to write out what your ideals are separately when you are alone and then share them. 

Boundaries.

Farms need strong fences not only for the animals, but you will both need to put up fences to protect yourselves.  You each need to talk about what you are absolutely not willing to do and stick to it.  On our place my husband asked that I deal with the day-to-day stuff like chores, the garden, rotational grazing.  He also wants me to deal with the planning and organizing.  He wants to be able to focus on big projects that I may need help with like building coops, digging irrigation, repairing tractors etc.  Since his time is so limited it helps us that he set those boundaries early on. Before we had that conversation it was not always sunshine and daisies.  We argued about who would do what.  Now we know where we each stand and what are our comfort levels.

Nurturing Your Relationship.

It is so easy to get caught up in what still has to get done that you can forget that your relationship needs love and care as well.  You often hear young parents struggle with keeping the spark alive in the early years but it’s the same with farming.  Or if you are like us, you have young kids and a farm and it can feel like you’re drowning at times.  Now this doesn’t have to mean taking a vacation together or even weekly date night.  It can be as simple as stopping to tell the other how much you appreciate the help, carving out time to play with your animals together or even sitting together and watching a movie after chickens are locked up.  It is so easy to end up feeling like just business partners and not partners in life.  Make it a point to feed your heart just as much as you feed your livestock. 

Top Three Homesteading Mistakes.

When speaking with people about our homestead one of the things I hear a lot is “I wish I could do that.”  If you are saying the same thing to yourself right now let me tell you a secret.  YOU CAN!  If I can do it, anyone can.  I didn’t grow up farming.  Quite the opposite in fact; I grew up in the city.  The closest I came to raising livestock was feeding the goats rye crackers at the petting zoo.  My parents were a school teacher and a police officer so managing a farm was not something that I learned from them. 

When my husband and I decided to homestead we made a lot of mistakes.  Some of them were expensive and others just frustrating.   I want to tell you about our three biggest mistakes and how we fixed them so you can avoid doing the same things that we did. 

1.      Location Location Location.

I am a big believer that the spirit of homesteading can be done from anywhere.  Even a few herb plants on a windowsill is a start of that’s all the room that you have.  However, if you are deciding to make the leap into the full homesteading experience, be patient and do your research.  My husband and I were so excited to leave the city and start a homestead that we quickly jumped at a 2 acre piece of property about 45 minutes outside the city.  At first it seemed perfect.  We started a garden and got a few chickens.  Soon we realized that we were already outgrowing the property. We found out the township we were living in would not allow us to have goats, pigs or any other livestock.  It was a very narrow property and the area we thought would be perfect for a garden flooded every time it rained.  We realized that we would have to move again if we wanted to be able to accomplish all our goals.  The first piece of advice I would give someone looking to locations is to do your research.  If you like an area, call the local municipality yourself and see what is allowed or what is restricted.  Don’t rely on your realtor to know.  Also don’t assume because the previous owners had chickens or goat that it is allowed.  They might have just gotten away with it. 

While we were searching for our next home I was starting to get discouraged.  Everytime we went to look at a home or property there were major issues.   I however learned my lesson the first time and I didn’t settle.  I knew I wanted something with at least 7 acres, a barn already built.  My next piece of advice for you is not to settle.  Make a list of your must haves in a future plot of land. Also make a list of things that would be nice to have but is negotiable.  These lists will be different for everyone.  Take your time and wait it out.  Eventually you will find your dream place.

2.      Don’t grow too fast.

The first year here for us was a whirlwind of activity.  I got chickens, ducks, turkeys, goats, horses, pigs, tilled a large garden, started digging out a pong and had plans for updating the barn and house.  I got overwhelmed quickly.  Its easy to get caught up in the excitement and want everything to happen right away.  Start with one or two things.  Maybe chickens and a small garden. My first year my large garden that I spent so much money on failed miserably.  I was so busy with trying to learn about all these new animals and keeping them alive that the weeds just took over.  I think I managed to get some spinanch, two watermelons and a handful of spaghetti squash.   That might sound like a lot to some but I planted hundreds of seeds of all different type of plants.  If you start with one or two things you will be able to learn and become experts on those things.  Once you master them, then you can add something else.  Someone had given me this advise when I started and I really wished I had listened. 

3.      Remember to take time to enjoy the life you are building for yourself and your family.

It is so easy to get wrapped up in the stress and work of running a farm or homestead.  There is always work to be done so its hard to stop, sit back and smell the roses.  This is advise that I still struggle with today.  Its hard for me to relax when I know that the horses need groomed or that the fence line needs repaired.  I have to tell myself to stop and let it all sink in sometimes.  If I am feeding the goats I have to give myself permission to stop and pet them and enjoy their company instead of quickly moving on to the next item on my to do list.  Also enjoy the rainy days inside.  I mean animals will always have to be fed rain or shine but once everyone is fed and cared for sit inside and read a book or take a long bath.  Don’t work so hard that you forget to enjoy the life you are living.

A Week of Firsts

6/2/21

This is a week of firsts here at Haxton Homestead.  This is our inaugural newsletter and blog post.  I am excited for the opportunity to share our daily lives, happenings on the farm and upcoming events.    When we purchased the property in 2019, I never imagined we would grow so fast.  Being raised in New York City, I never said I wanted to be a farmer when I grew up.  It was not until college when I started volunteering on a farm in Upstate New York did I realize this was something I might want to pursue.  And even then, it was more of something I thought of as “another lifetime” kind of dream.  Those four years working at Sprout Creek Farm are now treasured memories that lay close to my heart.  Now that I made it happen for myself, I want to help other future farmers and homesteaders to realize their dreams.  And that leads us to our second “first” for the week.

On Sunday was our first ever chicken processing class.  We had a group of 11 people new to growing chickens for meat come to the farm.  Alongside Jeremiah from Chasing Joy Farm, we taught them all about the dirty work of butchering and processing chickens, gave them the hands-on experience and (hopefully) confidence to do it on their own.  The cold and rain could not stop the fun.  Each of the participants got to go home with one of the pasture-raised chickens that we processed that day.  It has been great seeing Facebook posts from the class and pictures of the meals people have made from those chickens.  I must admit that I was very anxious leading up to the class.  Although I have been processing and selling my own chickens for years, that was my first time teaching it.  As soon as everyone arrived, and the class started my anxiety melted away. It was a great group of people and we all had fun.

The summer is just getting started and it will be a busy one.  We have sold out 3 chicken processing classes and had to open a fourth.  We are planning a “Farm Fun Day” for kids on the farm in July and we also got our first pair of breeding hogs and looking forward to our first set of piglets born on the farm.  And lastly, just to give you your daily dose of cuteness, here is a picture of our first goose hatched on the farm.  Still trying to come up for a name for this cutie!