Rain, rain, go away.

The weather here in Eastern Washington has been so gloomy. It has been raining.. no no pouring every day for a little over a week now. The chickens hate it, but the ducks and Sophie love the rain. It is pretty cute.  I looked out our window the other day and I saw my silly goose with her entire head under water in a  deep mud muddle that she had created. I figure she is busy searching for bugs.. or worms.. or maybe she is just funny.

During the brief sunshine we had, the water fowl decided it would be fun to play in a big mud puddle that had formed. They love it. It cracks me up.

That same day I took a picture of our one and only rooster. his name is Negus and he thinks he is the best thing since sliced bread. He likes to do little dances for his ladies and show off his enormous wing span. Too bad the ladies dont want anything to do with him.  Perhaps it is a hygiene issue. 

Don Pierre

Welcome the newest member to our family, Don Pierre. He is an African goose mixed with another breed. Kelsi insisted that Sophie was lonely and needed a buddy, so she wouldn't be the third wheel with the ducks anymore. So we bought another goose. 

This is how the introduction went...

Pierre "These are some tasty grasses"
Sophie "Umm... whose that?"

Don Pierre "Oh hi guys! Would you like to be equals"

Willis "Come over here and introduce your self"

Pierre "Hi, I am Pierre, I came from Northwest Seed and Pet"

Willis Pecks with the full force of her beak "Quiet Down you!"

Sophie "Hey! Hey!"

 Sophie "Break it up you two!"

Kelsi "Oh no! " Snatches up Pierre before there was a webbed foot brawl

Safe for another day

We will try again tomorrow. So far though, the ducks were less than impresed

Thanks for reading!

The greenhouse is finished!

So this is a bit of old news here, but we finished framing the greenhouse, framed in some vents, built a door, and covered the whole thing with soft plastic. We did this is all about two or three weeks ago, but we have been kinda slacking on the updates.

This is what it looks like on the inside. We used 1/4 in hardware cloth as a shelving topper and it is working really well. On the right you can see our gebera daisy plants for the wedding center pieces. Also on the right are some tomatoe plants that we recently transplanted into larger pots

Here are the tomatoes. They are getting so big. They look much shorter than they are because we buried the plant rather deeply when we transplanted to make long deep roots.

This is one of the gerbera daisy flowers soaking up the sun

Some melon and squash starts at different stages of growth.

Looks pretty good set amongst the green field grass.

Some starter trays enjoying the warmth of the greenhouse

Not greenhouse related but this is how Mere looks at two months old. She is so small still. She also has a mohawk. Very cute one at that.

Duck, duck, goose

This is one of the gates that goes into the meater's yard, it had this slope down to it that we weren't using and looked rather unsightly. So we had the great idea to a pond form there, we found it for free on Craigslist. It works pretty well so far and fills that void very well.

This is the angle of the land and you can see why it fits so well for us.

That's it. Thanks for reading!

Duck, Duck, Goose

Is it a possibility that the ducks are actually becoming more comfortable with something other than themselves?! 

WHOA! Sophie is so independent and the duck so dependent that together they are a perfect pair! Sophie likes to come into the house when the door is open and since the ducks follow her everywhere, they decided it would be nice to pretend to be inside too! This is the closest they have ever gotten to us.

Roaming the yard and fields together have become the norm over at our house. Thank goodness. I love seeing them free and not being too afraid to come out.

On a different note, I made two loaves of bread yesterday. One white and one wheat. I have had the toughest time with the wheat. It gets so dense.  How do they made it so fluffy and delicious at the grocery store. I don't understand! At the least the white bread was good. This photo is from right before I stuck them in the oven.

Documentary review: Killer at Large: Why Obesity is America's Greatest Threat

Tonight at work I had a bit of downtime so I figured I would try to watch a new food documentary that I had not seen. I found a great list for those of you who are interested in some movies on what and how we as a nation need to change in order to survive.

Killer at Large: Why Obesity is America's Greatest Threat is a very well put together documentary that was mostly focused on the affect that the food industry has on our children and young adults. There is a wide focus on American policy, as well as advertising directed at our children. The American government seems to be so comfortable in bed with these multinational powerhouse producers of garbage food, that they have lost sight of what is important. What is most important are our children! The successors of our legacies. The children, who parents work so hard to raise, now have a shorter life span than their parents.

Whenever I watch these documentaries I am always further convinced that Kelsi and I are doing the right thing. Not only for us now, but for our future children and those in our community who benefit from us producing our own food. This would be a great movie for anyone who has a child eating school lunches or who eats anything you didn’t prepare for them. Kelsi and I just have animals for now but someday we will have our own little ones and I sure hope things are different by then.

As always actions speak louder than words. Kelsi and I were mostly shopping at the big grocery stores around our area (Albertson’s/ Wal-Mart), but nearly 2 months ago we stopped supporting those businesses and began shopping solely at our local organic and natural living store Huckleberry's. This has been a great change for us, not only financially, but lifestyle wise. Preparing meals and snacks for work now takes some thought on my part. I cannot just grab a handful of granola bars and some canned chili and run out the door. My lunch for work the last 5 nights has had an organic apple, orange, banana, and a large organic salad in it each night. This is vastly different from a couple months ago. Our days of processed foods are quickly coming to an end.

A blog without pictures isn't very exciting, so here is a picture of my beautiful bride to be and her favorite little bird, Sophie!

Thanks for reading

The newest member of our family..

Mike has been really wanting some ducks to live on our little expanding farm. I, on the other hand, kind of wanted a goose! However, Mike won and I let him get two ducks. They are pretty boring. Im not gonna lie. They really dislike us too. The second they see us, they freak out and run the other direction! Silly ducks. I was a little bummed that we didnt hold out for some geese instead and always saw the little  geese at farm stores and wanted to take on home! Oh well..

Well, last friday, I got up with enough time to go to northwest seed and pet and get some potato bags and then make it to yoga. Northwest Seed and Pet always has an array of animals and I love to go in a look at the puppies and chicks and stuff. That is exactly what I did. I was a little disappointed that there werent any cute puppies for me to snuggle, but then I saw her. One lone little goose all alone in a cage.  I knew I had to adopt her.

The person I spoke with said that a couple who were living in a trailer had dropped her off because they realized they cant have a goose where they live. She was so sweet that I took her home right then. She didnt even sit in her box on the way home.  She sat on my lap and looked out the window!

When I got her home I ran in to show Mike. I was very excited. She followed me where ever I went and I felt bad leaving her while I showered. So, she sat in the bathroom during that time and pecked at herself in the mirror. It was so sweet.
















I didnt know what to do with her! Not only was she following me everywhere, but she would cry when I got too far too! It was precious. So, I let her hang out with me while I worked on de-rocking the raised beds. Did I mention that she likes to try and taste anything that is near?

Well, it has been a few days and she has become quite independent. She still cries for me when I am too far and she still tries to follow me everywhere and attempts to eat my hair, but she has helped the ducks venture out and she likes to play in the grass on the lawn and swim in her little pool. The ducks seem to be getting better.

I cant wait to see how she develops. She is SO sweet. Oh, and we named her Sophie. Sophie the goose.