Hey everybody!

Since I’ve been posting a lot of gardening posts lately, I thought I’d give everyone an update on what’s going on elsewhere on the farm!  I don’t know about you, but I like getting a glimpse into people’s everyday lives.

down on the farmThis is Hooey, the newest addition to the Donley family!  Remember our black lab Joey that was hit and killed a few weeks ago?  Well, we were all devastated, but Elisa was the most because Joey was her dog.  She recently got this cute little guy to train to work with our cows!  He’s 3/4 Australian Shepherd and 1/4 Border collie.  Isn’t he darling????  I tell ya, though, he is an ACTIVE puppy!  He’s either running a marathon around the house or he’s dead asleep on the floor somewhere.  He and Sparky get along great and I think Sparky likes having a playmate to wrestle and play with 🙂

down on the farmThis is my latest garden addition!!!  I’m so excited!!!  We are fencing in the whole garden, but to give it more curb appeal, Jeff put in picket fence on the east side nearest the road.  I love, love, love a white picket fence!  The rest of the fencing will just be wire and t posts, but this side will be super cute and I’m already dreaming up ways to landscape around it and add lots of flowers!

down on the farmLook how big the broilers are getting!!!  They are 3 weeks old today.  I’ve been videoing them each week and plan to do a blog post or posts about them, but I haven’t had a chance.  Just 4-5 more weeks and these guys will be in freezers all over our area 🙂

down on the farmThis is my new broiler pen!  For years, I used moveable wooden pens similar to Joel Salatin’s and seen in this video.  Jeff and I discussed it and brainstormed and after 6 years of seeing the pros and cons of those old pens, we decided to design something new.  Believe it or not, this is moveable, but with the Gator (UTV), not by hand.  It’s big enough to accommodate 250 broilers at once.  I’m super excited about this!  After the rain this weekend, the broilers are scheduled to go out on grass on Monday.  I can’t wait!!!

down on the farmHere are the latest laying chicks!  They are 1 week old.  Look at their little feathers!  They don’t grow nearly has quickly as the broilers and they keep their pen much neater and tidier.  They run around more and are just cuter overall, don’t ya think??

down on the farmRoping has been a popular activity around here lately since Lindy got a new rope for her birthday back in March.  This was on the one of the only warm days we’ve had all spring.  The girls challenged Jeff to a roping contest!  They even made up a roping relay challenge which was hilarious to watch 🙂

down on the farmI finally got my seed potatoes cut up and in the ground!  I cut them last week and planted them this week.  I have a post in the works on how I do it, because it’s completely different then the traditional way!  I planted 30 lbs.  We’re suppose to get rain this weekend (we are in a terrible drought and need it sooooo bad!!!!), so hopefully they’ll have a chance to sprout and grow.  I’m betting I’ll be watering more this gardening season than I’ve had to in several years. Btw, see my shadow on that box and my windblown, whispy hair?  Yeah, that’s me on a daily basis around here!!

down on the farmAlso on my list of projects is this patio set!  I’m in the process of painting it aqua, my most favorite color in the whole wide world!  It’ll be such a bright, cheery place to sit this spring and summer (if warm weather ever gets here and the extreme winds die down a tad….)

down on the farmMy big laying chickens have really picked up steam and I have eggs coming out my ears!!  I’m trying to reestablish my egg business, so I have been selling them all, but I’m thinking I’ll need to go to our local farmer’s market this summer to get rid of them quicker.  Aren’t they pretty??

And that concludes my update on the happenings around here!!  What’s been going on in your neck of the woods?  Has spring arrived?  Are you getting out in your garden??  Tell me what’s going on in the comments!

Melinda Donley
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