Digging Their Way to George

That is what I think they are doing. They see the cats going in and out of this whole under the barn. I kept seeing the hens trying to get in there as well. I kept scooting them away.
I finally realized this morning, I think they are trying to get to George the Rooster. They have been prancing and dancing all around the outside of the pen, and a couple have managed to fly over. The fence is 6 feet high, and that is quite a feat for a chicken. George must have some way with his hens.

Bunnies

We are happy to introduce our newest addition to our farm.
Nick and Nora Charles, the bunnies.

Nick and Nora will be our breeding pair, and we will sell the bunnies from both Cloverleaf Farmstand, and also the local farmers markets.

Happy Earth Day

Today is the 39th anniversary of Earth Day.
Earth Day was originallycreated in 1970 by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson to inspire awareness and appreciation our planet and Earth's environment.
Although Earth Day is celebrated in many countries every year, Cloverleaf Farm feels Earth Day should be practiced every day.
We are.
We made a decision years ago to buy only products that are Earth Friendy.
We recycle everything, but realized this isn't enough. Although the plastic water bottles have long been gone from our lives, there are so many other products that are marketed in plastic. We don't want to be part of the problem, we want to be part of the solution.
So, we have made a pledge to stop buying products that are packaged in plastic. This is a tough assignment, but if you look around, there are other options to many products.
For example, you can buy lemon juice in a plastic bottle, or go to a natural food store and get it in a glass bottle. It may cost more in the bottle, but we feel the future of our Earth is worth it.
Today in honor of Earth Day 2009, we will plant an Austrian Pine tree seedling donated by Western Maine Nurseries of Fryeburg, Maine. The rest of the trees will go to all the celebrations in Effingham that are happening on Saturday, April 25.
It may be just a small step in making this a better planet, but it is a step just the same.

Raining Again

Indoor work today. It is raining again, and I don't feel like being out in the damp, April air.
I baked up a storm this morning. I figure I can put most of it in the freezer for my meetings for the craft show. It is always nice to have baked good on hand.
This afternoon, I am going to finish work on my 1890's skirt. I still have to come up with a name for it. The underskirt is done, I just have to do the ruffled overskirt. I have done quite a bit of work on Thornton Square. I still have some pictures to upload and some descriptions to add. It is suppose to rain tomorrow too, so that is on my to do list for then.
Believe it or not, it is suppose to be 80 degrees over the weekend. We went from winter, right into summer. Which around here, isn't that unusual. It is just not wanted.

Begock

Chickens, chickens and more chickens. We have 54 right now, and are trying to see if we can hatch our own. They are so fun to watch run around the yard. Free ranging chickens have the best life. They have so much fun waddling all over our farm.
Whenever I go outside, they are always there to greet me with a begock. I bring them all our old bread crusts and ends. They love my homemade bread.
Today we cleaned out there coop. I sent them all outside so they wouldn't be in the way. It took longer than I thought and I could hear them begocking at me from the other side of the door. I put some new hay it, and let them back in. They scratched it all around, and made a new room out it. I guess it they were moving their "furniture" around to where they wanted it.
Chickens...always a treat to watch.

Happy Easter

While most people are taking the day off for Easter, here on the farm, there is no day off. There is always someone to feed, clean up after and eggs to gather.
If the animals are set, there are always spring clean up to attend to. It is only about a month before planting season will start. All the old gardens have to be tilled in. The new gardens have to be planned out.
I have started to make a list of seeds we will need to order. We have bought some seeds already, but have many more to buy. This year we are trying out a few new veggies. You can visit Cloverleaf Farm Stand for a peek.
Busy, busy, busy. But, that is the life of a farmer.

Easter Egg Hunt

The Easter egg hunt at the Effingham Public Library is over. As always we had a blast with the kids.
We first helped the kids make paper Easter baskets. They decorated them with stickers and markers. Then it was time to decorate the eggs. I brought green egs, white eggs, and a couple brown eggs for them to decorate. We used markers instead of the usual dipping method. We thought it would be less messy. Then I saw the girl with blue fingers. She was funny. They put grass in their baskets and added in their newly colored eggs.
It was then time for the Easter egg hunt. Colored plastic filled eggs were hidden throughout the library. Each child could find four eggs. It didn't take long for the older kids to find theirs. The younger children were helped by their parents and the older kids.
The kids final treat was apple juice and brightly frosted cupcakes. They were torn between the candy in the eggs and the cupcakes.
The kids and parents had a great time. And as always we did too.

Our Easter Weekend

It seems that all of our weekends are filled with something to do. I guess everyday is filled with something to do, so why should the weekends be any different.
This weekend we are helping out with an Easter egg hunt at the Effingham Library. I am also bringing cupcakes and apple juice. Of course the eggs too. White ones, green ones and brown ones. The kids will search through the library for candy filled ones, and then color the ones I bring. I am sure they will have a ball. I know we will.
Tomorrow is suppose to be cold and yucky weather so I am hoping to get more work done on the Thornton Square website. We started it last night, but I was so tired we didn't get much done. We got the logo and categories up but that was about it. I have to work on the photos of the replica clothing, and descriptions for all the outfits.
Sunday we will be building a new coop for our first set of chickens. For now, I think we will be building a small one, and adding to it when it is warmer out. The sun maybe shining, but the wind is still a little cool.

The Sun Is Shining

It looks like it is going to be a beautiful day. The sun is shining and it looks glorious outside. It isn't as warm as I would like it, but I will take the sun.
The last few days I have been working hard on Thornton Square line of clothes. I have been sewing replica clothes for years, and decided I would do it as a side business. I worked all winter on new designs. I am almost finished. I have one design left. While I mostly do 1800's replica clothing, I did one from a later year. I have designed a dress in her honor of my neighbor who will be 98 in 2 weeks. The dress is from 1911, the year she was born. Most of my research over the years has been for the 1800's, so I had much research to do for this project. I found a picture, and I designed one from that. I have the underdress done, I just need to do the overdress. Then on April 16, I will wear it down to her house and show her. I will also bring the picture and show her that as well. She has been a dear friend to me. She has taught me things about sewing, that I could never learn in any school or book. She herself went to school for sewing, and is passing on her skills to me.
In honor of her, my new design will be called "Muriel".

April Showers Bring May Flowers

Showers bring flowers, but it is no fun working in the rain. It is damp, and cold. Working outdoors in this is no fun. So many projects, too much rain. We are suppose to have rain until Sunday. Good for the flowers, not for the humans.
We have opened for the season. We will be open weekends until mid May. It is a summer area here, so we don't have much activity until Memorial Day. That's okay with us, it lets us get some much need projects done.
Gardens to plow, chicken coop to build. A farmers work is never done.

Continuing Saga

It has been some time since I have posted here. I have decided to come back and continue to post here as well as our new farm blog http://www.cloverleaffarmblog.com/. You can check there for an update of what we have been doing for the past year.

Yesterday, we finished up processing the last of our Cornish Rock X. By the end of the day we were exhausted. It is amazing how tiring it is to kill and process 7 chickens. Of course we do it all by hand. No machinery here. It is only the two of us as well.
Very soon, we will start work on the gardens. The snow has finally melted from the two front gardens. Another week or so and they should be dry enough for the tiller to go through.
First in order is to get a new roof on the greenhouse. The roof is made of a tarp like plastic, and with two years of weathering, it caved in on us during the winter. That is one of the first items on our spring to do list. By the end of the month, we have to have a new roof put on, the greenhouse sorted out, and our seedlings on their way to a new life.

Another season has begun.