Field Behind the Plow

"Watch the field behind the plow turn to straight, dark rows

Feel the trickle in your clothes, blow the dust cake from your nose

Hear the tractor's steady roar, Oh you can't stop now

There's a quarter section more or less to go" Stan Rogers, Field Behind the Plow

Today the weather was very good and I was finally able to start plowing. A couple of years ago I picked up a great plow at an auction. It was exactly what I needed, but I didn't go to the auction looking for a plow. What I went for was a haybine. I was the only bidder on our plow and got a great deal as a result. Part of the reason why I got a great deal is that plowing is going out of fashion in agriculture. Major cash croppers have all moved into what is known as no till farming, and may run a set of discs over corn stubble, but that's it. If they do plow, its usually with a very big 5 or 6 furrow plow. Ours is a 3 furrow plow- its in between a competition sized or a full scale production sized plow. Plowing competitions are quite a serious business, but I'll never enter one. All I care about is that what starts as turf ends up as dirt. 

Our plow is a 3 furrow Overum auto-reset plow. It was made in Sweden. The Scandinavians design their plows differently than North American companies and I feel their design is superior. What is most notable is that they have longer mould boards (the part that turns the turf over so that the grass is buried and the roots are exposed to the air). Longer mould boards means that  as you plow it is more like you are folding the dirt over instead of breaking it up. The other major advantage is that the  Scandinaian plows are auto reset, which in our case means it has pneumatic cylinders so that when the plow hits a rock, instead of getting caught and pulling back on the tractor (which can be dangerous) the pneumatic cylinder compresses allowing the plow to skip over the rock and then slam back into the furrow, all in the blink of an eye. This is very important at Hill Giant farm because we have lots of rocks. In fact, they're our only guaranteed crop. 

Today I was plowing 7 acres at our neighbors place. Most of his land is mature reforested pine or low lying wetland. But the 7 acres he has is comparatively flat to our place and remarkably free of stones (a rarity in northern Grey County). Lots of farm land around our place is rented and worked by 2 big cash crop operations or by a multi-generation dairy operation. No one is interested in working up only 7 acres. So, in exchange for letting him hunt on our land, I get 7 more acres to work up. The reason we still plow is because we are going to work this field up in 2012 and won't need to work it up again for 10 years. I cut hay off this field this year and it was patchy and weedy. If I plow the field now and let the frost and winter kill the existing roots in the spring I can disc-harrow, spread manure, and sow grain and hay.  The grain will grow and provide cover for the grasses and legumes which make up the hay.  When it is time to harvest the grain there will be some hay in the straw which the sheep will pick out and eat.  Two years from now the hay that was planted the year before will be well established and be cut dried and baled up.  

On our farm we add grazing animals to the rotation.  The sheep graze a field for years and fertilize it, then I plow it up and sow it with grain and hay, cut hay for years, then its back to sheep grazing.  

Here is a video.  Remember, I am still new at this.

We're Still Here

Well, it has unintentionally been a while since the last post from Hill Giant Farm. But don't worry we're still here! September was a really hectic month-back to school, additional chores wrapping up the summer, computer problems.....lots of things to distract us from blogging :) So, here's a bit of an update on what's happening at our place:

Lamb/Sheep Update: So far this year we have secured 12 lamb orders and they are due to go to the butcher on October 30 for butchering on October 31. Guess they'll be getting a trick more than a treat! This years lambs seem to be putting on more weight than last years, so that's good news for us and for our customers. We also decided to leave the mature rams in with the ewes all summer this year so we will have earlier lambing in 2013, likely late January to mid-February. This is a new experience for us but we're excited about it.

Chicken Update: The "little birds" (this years chicks) have been pretty stressful in September. You can shoot raccoons, you can  fill in holes to keep out weasels and skunks, but it sure is hard to prevent aerial predation. We lost a few chickens to the goss hawk that built her nest in the nearby county forest. Frustrating, and as a result we made the philosophical decision that for the overall health of the little birds we would stop letting them out on pasture to eat freely what they like and would start feeding them inside again. They're doing much better inside and are showing less signs of stress.

Frank: Our duck Frank seems to be doing pretty well. There has been much discussion among the Grey County relatives as to the sex of Frank. The matriarch of the Grey County family believes that Frank is a drake (male) based on the way its tail feathers display themselves (turned up instead of flat), while the oldest uncle in the family believes Frank is a duck (female) based on the same trait. Only time will tell as Frank will either lay eggs or not.

Kittens: Our mother cat and her remaining 3 kittens moved outside in September. Since then, the tom cat kitten has moved on and so has the mother cat. However, two of the kittens-Flopsy and Mopsy- have moved into the barn. We've noticed a great benefit from having the cats around this year; no rodents when we mucked out the sheep pen. That's a first!

As for us people at Hill Giant Farm, well, we just keep on plugging away. We enjoyed a 5 day vacation to the States with our Lambton County family. A fabulous couple farm sat for us and it was great to get away together. Well, that's all for now. Check back on Monday for a yummy recipe.

Wildcard Wednesday: Transition Network

On Monday we set out on what we thought would be a quick trip to pick up a 10 stall nesting box for our chickens. Little did we know that we were picking it up at a full fledged rare breed poultry breeding farm (there were birds and poop everywhere. M's Dad would have hated it!) We found the box on Kijiji, and as seems to often be the case, once we were there we found we had a lot of common interests with the farmer selling the boxes to us.
Over time, the conversation which began with lots of advice on how to raise poultry and recommendations about breeds etc., turned to discussion of bigger issues such as the inability to locally sustain small farms, difficulties around processing livestock on small numbers, the globalisation and industrialisation of farming,and where the future might take us as North Americans. In this discussion (frequently interrupted by turkeys trying to climb into our truck! They were really persistent!) we were introduced to the Transition Network, and in particular, Transition Meaford. We're still reading about them and learning what they're all about, so it's too soon to say what our involvement with them might or might not be.  It looks like they are trying to plan ahead for a time when our current lifestyle- heavily reliant on oil to get us where we need to go, and to get most of what we eat and drink to our tables, becomes unfeesible or unsustainable. The Transition Network seems to be trying to come up with solutions to these sorts of problems and to implement policies and structures that will ease that transition. That makes sense to us.
On the Transition Meaford business card we were given, they asked some great questions. Below are two that we'd love to hear your opinion on. Each person who responds will have their name entered into a contest for a great Hill Giant prize.

1.How can we educate children for a world different from ours?
2. How will we feed ourselves in the future?

These are important questions to ask no matter what your politics, religion or worldview. The only thing we know is inevitable, is change. Socieites and cultures are constantly changing, so why not spend some time considering how it might change.
 We look forward to your responses!

Frugal Friday: Fish in a Barrel

Recently a friend of ours who lives in town was commenting on an increase in their water rates. While water is still a fairly affordable utility, they were discussing whether or not they really wanted to spend water on watering their flower beds and garden etc. There's a really affordable solution to that; a rain barrel.
Making a rain barrel is really quite simple. Lots of re-stores, restaurants or stores have barrels that they are willing to get rid of cheap. Or, if you aren't sure where you could get one for free or cheap, there are several nice models available at Home Hardware, Rona or Home Hardware. Stick one of these under your downspout and voila! instant free, soft water for your garden. We've had one for several years now and it's great...as long as there's rain.

It is important to allow time for the fish to adjust their body
temperature before releasing them into the barrel. 

While setting up the rain barrel is easy there is one major thing that needs to be considered. Open, warm water (like what collects in a rain barrel) is a prime breeding ground for mosquito larvae. This isn't really what anyone wants in their yard. The solution to this problem is simple too: feeder goldfish. We have 12 in ours and their doing a great job gobbling up the mosquitoes and their eggs. We spent a total of $3.84 on our fish. When you get the fish, don't forget that you have to give them time to adjust to the temperature of the water before fully releasing them. Simply place the bag in which you bought the fish in the rain barrel and leave it there for 30 minutes. This will provide lots of time for the internal temperature of the fish to gradually adjust. After 30 minutes the fish can be released into the barrel.

Some of the fish getting used to their new home. 

Being frugal doesn't have to be complicated. Sometimes its a simple as a barrel under a downspout. What ideas or tips have you come up with for saving money? Share them in the comments. We'd love to hear from you!

Wildcard Wednesday: Logo

We are really lucky at Hill Giant Farm to have so many friends, talented in so many things. Recently, a friend of ours who operates her own Graphic Design company created a logo for Hill Giant Farm. We're really happy with it and thought we'd share it here.

Frugal Friday: Canning Season

Yummmmm!!!!

For those of you who've known us for a while, you will recall that even before Hill Giant Farm existed, we've been avid fans of canning, or as our friend Matt Brouwer insists on calling it- jarring. It's a great, fairly straightforward, inexpensive way to "put away" the excesses of your harvest (if you have one), or to make enjoyable and delicious, not to mention CHEAP, additions to your winter menu. Last year we made pickles for $0.81 a jar.....isn't that ridiculous!

Today we received our first "canning commission" to make salsa for a friend who is going to purchase the veggies needed, but doesn't have the time or desire to make it themselves. Great deal for us (because this farm might actually generate some money) and a great deal for them, as they will enjoy yummy salsa made from local ingredients for less than they can buy it at the grocery store.

For ourselves, the canning plans and dreams for this year go something like this; pesto with the basil we've been growing, bruschetta in a jar (it is beyond delicious!), peaches/pears (depending on which we can find), beets, dilled beans and possibly some pickles. Mmmmmm, we're drooling just thinking about it.

If any of you would like to enjoy yummy canned treats made from local ingredients, drop us a line at hillgiantfarm@gmail.com, we could still take a few more comissions. Or, if you want to try canning yourself, and just need some help getting started, M would be glad to answer any questions you might have or offer tips through the same email address. Don't be shy, drop us a line. Thanks for reading!

Wildcard Wednesday: Garden Update

Howdy faithful reader(s), this blog post comes to you via Hill Giant Farm's new iPad. Horray for technology!!

Its been a while since we've written about our garden because, to be honest, a post about vegetables growing would be pretty dull. But today, at long last, we managed to harvest something's from our garden. Like most things on our farm, the garden really suffered as a result of the month along drought in July. We lost all our tomatoes (except for 5 drought resistant Mexican tomatillos), our peppers and eggplant, and our pease have been seriously stunted by the lack of rain. Throw in some anibbling bunnies, and today's harvest was a pleasant surprise. After 2 hours of weeding we see pleased to harvest from the garden today; 1 pound of green beans (and there are PLEANTY more), a huge bunch of Swiss chard, some beautiful lettuce (take that bunnies!!) and a few peas. We're looking forward to our beets in about 2 weeks. Before long it will be time to can/jar/freeze up the rest of our bounty. What a great time of year!

In other farm news, the chickens took the month of July off from egg laying, probably because it was so hot and dry. So we actually had to buy eggs, and tell our customers to do the same (cringe). But, yesterday we found some eggs- we've had 21 since yesterday. It's been a good day overall at Hill Giant Farm. How about at your house?

Mmmm Monday: Lamb Soup

Over the last few weeks we've been asked if we could post more lamb related recipes on this blog. It seems that some of you might be interested in purchasing and eating lamb, if you only knew how to prepare it. We want to encourage you in your lamb eating! So, here is a recipe for some yummy soup. There are two parts; how to make the stock that will form the base of your soup, and the recipe for the soup itself.

Lamb Stock
* soup bones or other left over bones from a lamb carcass
* water to cover bones
* 1 medium sized onion
* 2-4 large carrots
* the bottom 5 inches of a whole bunch of celery (not the individual stocks)
* peppercorns and salt (to taste)
* coriander and rosemary (to taste)

1. Thaw out your soup bones or other bones and place in a large stock pot or other large pot. Completely cover the bones with water.
2. Begin boiling on high.
3. As you begin to boil, add the onion (do not peel, or cut), the carrots (again, no need to peel or cut) and the celery. The purpose of these vegetables is to infuse flavour and nutrients into the stock.
4. Add in your peppercorns, salt, coriander, and rosemary.
5. Once you have achieved a rolling boil for about 10-15 minutes, reduce heat to med/low and let simmer until stock reaches desired thickness and taste.
6. Once your desired thickness and taste is achieved, strain the stock into another large pot. Discard vegetable remnants (they make great chicken feed or compost!). Pick up the bones, one at a time, and pick them clean- adding meat to your stock and discarding fat, cartiledge and bone.
You now have the base for a delicious lamb soup! It can be stored in a jar in the fridge for later, frozen, or used immediately.

Deal for Local Readers! Many of you are no doubt thinking that you don't have time to make lamb stock. That's probably true! It does take a while. For those of you who live local to Hill Giant Farm, we have an offer you don't want to miss. We have 2 1L jars, and 2 500ml jars of lamb stock left over from this evenings supper. We have canned it up and are willing to sell it for $4/1L of $2/500ml to the first people to email us at hillgiantfarm@gmail.com. Please let us know how many jars you would like, and what size. Thanks!


Lamb Soup
* lamb stock
* 2-3 carrots peeled, cut
* celery, chopped
* onion, chopped
* yellow pepper, chopped
* small yellow zucchini, chopped
* 2 potatos, peeled, chopped
* green beans, chopped
* rehydrated lentils
* 4-5 cloves of garlic
* coriander, rosemary and sweet basil to taste
* salt and pepper to taste

1. Bring the lamb stock to a gentle boil.
2. Add in the vegetables, garlic and spices.
3. Let boil for 15 minutes or so.
4. Reduce heat and let simmer until desired consistency is achieved.
I usually stop a number of times throughout and test the broth, often topping up the spices. You should do so as well. Lamb soup is a unique, delicious, and extremely nutritious addition to any meal.

Thinking about eating more lamb? Hill Giant Farm is taking orders for our 2012 Spring lambs. Pasture raised lamb. Here's how it works (available to those in Southern Ontario, only)
You email us at hillgiantfarm@gmail.com to let us know you are interested.

How much does it cost? Customers of Hill Giant Farm purchase the whole lamb and are charged $6.90/lb for hanging weight. 

What does hanging weight mean? This means that you pay for what the carcass weighs whole, after it is butchered, but before it is broken down into individual chops, roasts etc. In other words, individual pieces are not weighed and charged. This way you pay a flat rate for all the prime (rack) and secondary (shoulder) cuts. It is the most economical way to purchase meat. On average, the hanging weight of a carcass is in the range of 50lbs. 


Is there anything else I need to know? Yes. Our lambs are butchered at a government inspected facility only10 km from our farm. There is a $45 butchering charge. For that fee, the butcher will custom cut, wrap and label the meat to your specifications, with a guarantee that it has been done safely and humanely according to government requirements. 



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Six Reasons Hill Giant Farm Needs Rain

We hate to be too "farmerish" by dedicating a whole post to why we need rain, but the simple fact is, we do. Badly. Here is a list of ten reasons why Hill Giant Farm could use some rain. Some of these might be obvious to you, but others we're hoping will shed some light onto how a farm (and things on a farm) work. 

1. Our garden is in really bad shape because of the drought. The tomatoes and pepper plants have died, the peas, beans, beets, lettuce etc. are growing much slower and the potato beetles are thriving because of the dry conditions. We'd water the garden except for reason 2. 

2. When your water comes from a well, or a spring (as in our case) you begin to think and care a lot about the aquifer that feeds it. There is a limited amount of water in the underground aquifer. As it rains, the water taken out of the aquifer is replaced. When it doesn't rain....well, you begin to run short on water. We're ok so far, but the other day we noticed that our water pressure is dropping. So, we've implemented water saving measures; all animals get watered daily (obviously, as this is essential), we try and eat foods that require limited water to prepare, we either do a load of laundry or have a shower/hair wash each day, and we only flush when absolutely necessary. Needless to say, in this kind of situation, watering a 100x50 food garden is out of the question. 

3. Pasture doesn't replenish itself when it doesn't rain. As the sheep graze down one area of the pasture we move them to another, or they move themselves. Under normal circumstances, this allows the mowed down area to grow back and replenish itself. At the moment, all we have where the sheep have already eaten is weeds and dead grass. Not very encouraging. This will mean we'll have to cut more hay. See reason 4.

4. Without a substantial amount of rain, we will not be able to do a second cut of hay. Typically farmers in Ontario try and cut hay in June/July and late August/early Sept. in order to have enough for the winter. This depends on how well the hay field replenishes itself after the first cutting. At the moment we have enough hay cut for this winter, provided we can pasture the sheep until mid Oct., which depends on reason 3. 

5. Grain requires rain in order to properly form. At the moment we have a beautiful field of oats and barley growing nicely in one of our back fields. However, they are at a standstill. The stalks have grown and the heads have formed, now we just need the seeds to form and solidify within the heads. This, no surprise, requires rain. Our grain crop is very important to us as it will form the second leg of a 2 leg feeding program for the sheep this winter. 

6. Dry ground negatively affects the electrification of our fence. We use electric fence on field perimeters to keep the sheep where we want them. We aren't 100% sure how this works, but as the ground around the ground wire on the electric fence gets drier, the fence loses power and is much less effective. This evening M watered the ground wire for 5 minutes in order to increase the fences effectiveness. That's right, she watered the fence :)

There are no doubt many people who would welcome some rain. What are your reasons for wanting rain? Tell us in the comments section. We'd love to hear from you.

Picture Perfect

There is so much going on at the farm this time of year. The grain field we planted is coming along nicely, the chickens are enjoying their free range lifestyle, birds are laying eggs and waiting for them to hatch, and the garden is beginning to produce. What a wonderful time early summer is! Here's some photos of life on our farm over the last few days. Enjoy!

A close up shot of some of the barley that we
planted.  In about 6 weeks it should be ready
to be harvested.

This nest of Bobolink eggs was discovered in one of our
hay fields.  Because of our discovery we will leave this field until
last in hopesthat the eggs will have had time to hatch and the
birds will have fledged.

Last year we planted buckwheat to outpace the
weeds in this years grain field. While we didn't
plant any this year, we have had several
volunteers emerge. They're lovely at this stage.
Once the white flowers turn black they are
ready to be combined.  

This lovely young lettuce is nearly big enough
to eat. It's amazing that the bunnies haven't
found it yet. Last year, only one head of
lettuce survived the bunny invasion. 

An exhausted Allis chills out on the couch. It's a lot of work
barking at every bird and moth that flies across our 100 acres!

While weeding the other evening, M discovered
that the peas are finally just about ready to eat.
The lack of rain means everything is growing
much slower than usual. 

You may not be able to tell because he has no tail feathers,
but this is one of our 2 roosters. He had a run in with Allis.
He escaped with his life, but she sure got a lot of his feathers.

Ever wonder what your oatmeal looks like before
 it's harvested? This is a nice example of oats on the
stalk. Once the stock dries it be harvested 
and fed to the sheep this winter. 

Wildcard Wednesday: Hay Jude....

Our hay elevator, purchased on Kijiji for $150 is a real energy saver.

75 of last years bales mark the beginnings of the pile. 

Late June and early July are an exciting, if not busy, time on the farm. It's haying season! There is, in M's opinion, nothing more beautiful than a freshly cut field of hay laying in the sun to dry. There's also nothing quite as frustrating as the inevitable breakdowns and delays that seem to accompany haying season. This year's hurtles to getting that beautiful fresh hay into the barn dry and before it rots included; a broken hay wagon courtesy of the strong winds we got this Spring and a broken clutch on the baler. However, thankfully we have great neighbours who are always ready to lend a hand. Our next door neighbour's lent us a wagon and when it became clear that the baler wasn't going to work for this particular cut of hay, they baled it for us.     As a result of their kindness and the help of our friend P McM we have 225 bales in the barn so far. A good start on the year's requirements. With 3 fields left to cut, here's hoping the baler is easily fixed. Here are a few photos of the process of putting the hay into the barn. In the first photo you will see the elevator- the machine we use to move the hay from the wagon into the barn. It acts like a big conveyor belt and is a back saver! The other two photos are a before and after of the barn/hay ratio.

What have you been up to lately at your place? Comment. We'd love to know.

2 hours later, 225 bales fill the corner of the threshing floor. 

Wildcard Wednesday: Wildflowers, Nature's Bouquet

Here at Hill Giant Farm we take a pretty laissez faire approach to lawn cutting- as in we don't really have a lawn, but rather one large hay field in front of our house. In about a week or so we will cut it, bale it and the sheep will add it to their winter menu. To some with more of an "in town" sensibility, I'm sure our approach to the front hay field is frustrating. But to us, it just makes sense. Can you imagine cutting 7 acres of lawn?! What a waste of yummy food for the sheep.

What may be missed at first glance is the beautiful array of gorgeous flowers that nature has deposited in this field. We have a flower shop right outside our front door. There are daisies, buttercups, poppies, hyacinth, sweet peas, red clover (beautiful and edible!), snow drops, queen anne's lace, not to mention countless ferns, alfalfa and other lovely greenery. Yes, it is a delightful surprise to go out each day and notice another beautiful flower or fern adorning the front of our house. There are so many of these beautiful, unplanted flowers that the house is often complimented by a lovely, delicate bouquet on the dining room table. Here's a picture of a recent bouquet put together by R, M and our friend SG. What flowers or surprises has nature blessed your lawn with? Tell us, we'd love to hear about it.

Inch by Inch, Row by Row

It's gardening season! Last evening M put the majority of our garden in. As she did so, she kept thinking of this song;  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3FkaN0HQgs. While we haven't figured out how to get our flowers and veggies to sing yet, we do find the garden to be a very rewarding pursuit. In a matter of weeks our grocery bill will significantly decrease as fresh veggies begin to make up the bulk of our diet. There's also various pickles, salsas, and freezer treats to look forward to as well.

 Below is a list of our garden contents so far and some of the ways we look forward to eating it.

Potatoes: we love these mashed, baked, fried, scalloped-if you can think of a way to cook potatoes, chances are we've tried and loved it! 

Green beans: delectible cooked el dante and served with butter melted over them. Their also pretty tasty dilled and canned. We also love to freeze them and pull them out mid winter to dress up a tired pot of soup, or as a treat all on their own. 

Peas: we'd love to freeze these for a fresh treat in the winter, but truthfully, very few of them make it past the door. M eats nearly all of them on sight in the garden!

Beets: we love to pickle the root and the greens are fantastic in salad.

Onions: if it were up to M, they'd be added to everything. We mainly use them in soups and salads.

Swiss Chard: this delicious, often overlooked green is choke full of vitamin D and is great in salads, wilted with butter and garlic, frozen for use in lasagnes and soups. If you've never tried it, you really should. It's delicious, but make sure you buy it while it's small.

Cherry, Roma and Yellow Tomatoes: cherry tomatoes are great for eating and salads. As for the Roma, nothing makes better home made salsa, bruschetta in a jar, or harissa sauce than Roma tomatoes. Our mouths are watering just thinking about it. Yellow tomatoes are a tasty way to dress up a platter salad or to add unique flavour to a bacon lettuce and tomato sandwich. 

Sweet Peppers: these are great raw or sliced and frozen for easy addition to future stir fries, lasagnes, couscous casseroles and soups. 

Hot Peppers: R likes things spicy, so we dry these and he adds them throughout the year to practically everything he eats. He reminds M of his Dad!

Lettuce, Radicchio and Mesculin: there is simply nothing in the world as satisfying as a fresh salad made with brand new, perky lettuce from your own garden. So fresh and full of flavour. Don't believe us? Our local rabbit population agrees too :)

Left to plant are: carrots, radishes, cucumbers and spinach. Did all this talk about fresh food and veggies make you hungry? We hope so. We also hope it inspired you to plant some seeds of your own. Remember, whether it is a small pot of peppers on a verandah, a plot in your backyard or a full scale garden, growing your own veggies is a nutritious and delicious way to save money and improve your overall health. Now, go eat something green and leafy :)

Cat's in the Cradle

Tiger and kittens sleeping.

     We had a lovely surprise at Hill Giant Farm today. This morning, just as we were heading out to the barn our cat, Tiger, went into labour. Over the next 3 hours she delivered 5 healthy, strong kittens. There was a lot of meowing and licking-as well as a good measure of curiosity on the part of our dogs, Allis and Levi, who were certainly not allowed anywhere near mother and kitties.
     Now, if you know us well, you are likely thinking "wait a minute...R and M have a cat?!? R doesn't even like cats!" You're right, he doesn't. The cat scammed us into bringing it home on a cold, wet, awful night during the winter. Seeing its badly matted fur, its bony signs of hunger and what we assumed was dirty grease marks all over it, we decided that the compassionate thing to do was bring her home. Since arriving she has grown on us and we're already pretty fond of the kittens. Tiger, no surprise, is an orange and black cat, and her kittens consist of; 1 orange, 1 black,  and 3 tabby. See the picture below.
     If you know anyone who wants a cat in about 2 months, let us know. We've got 5 free to a good home.

5 Things You've Always Wanted to Know About Chickens

One of the aspects of the farm that we're really enjoying, but that people hardly ever ask us about, are the birds. Currently we have the big birds (our laying hens and 2 roosters) and the little birds (chicks and ducklings). Both are quite interesting-at least we think so. In honour of the "big birds" on our farm, who lately are producing 10-15 eggs/day and generating egg income, here's some interesting things you've (no doubt) always wanted to know about chickens.

We keep Rhode Island Red chickens.

1. How round or oval an egg is depends on how quickly the egg was laid. The slower the hen passes the egg through her, the rounder the egg. It is actually the pressure of the muscles contracting as the egg is passed that gives the egg its pointed top and oval shape.

2. A hot chicken will eat far less than a cool one. This is because eating produces internal heat, further elevating her temperature. The less she eats, the cooler she is. The downsize is that her egg production will suffer as she eats less. 

3. It is estimated that there are over 50 billion chickens being raised around the globe at the present time. That's a lot of chickens!

4. Chickens are omnivores. While it is true that they really enjoy a good junebug, beetle or fly, chickens will also happily dine on delectable treats like yesterday's discarded pepper seeds, carrot peels and other compostable kitchen scraps. This makes chickens easy to keep happy when it comes to dietary considerations.

5. The average chicken can live between 5-10 years (if nature is left to take its course). The oldest chicken to ever live died at 16 from heart failure, according to the Guinness Book of World Records.

We hope you've enjoyed this entry and that it will inspire you to learn more about the various species of animals we all depend on for food and nutrition. Have a great day!

Wildcard Wednesday: The Country North of Belleville

There are a lot of stones on our farm. It feels like all we've done this Spring is pick rocks, roll boulders, grunt and sweat, trying to move stones. Ugh. It's enough to make someone more ambitious than us write a poem. Lucky for us, Al Purdy (our FAVOURITE poet) at Hill Giant Farm, wrote one for us. So, for this weeks wildcard Wednesday, we hope you will enjoy The Country North of Belleville.


Bush land scrub land-
Cashel Township and Wollaston
Elzevir McClure and Dungannon
green lands of Weslemkoon Lake
where a man might have some
      opinion of what beauty
is and none deny him
                           for miles-

Yet this is the country of defeat
where Sisyphus rolls a big stone
year after year up the ancient hills
picnicking glaciers have left strewn
with centuries rubble
                          backbreaking days
                          in sun and rain
when realization seeps slow in the mind
without grandeur or self-deception in
                          noble struggle
of being a fool-

A country of quiescence and still distance
a lean land
               not like the fat south
with inches of black soil on
               earth's round belly-
And where the farms are
               it's as if a man stuck
both thumbs in the stony earth and pulled

                               it apart
                              to make room
enough between the trees
for a wife
              and maybe some cows and
             room for some
of the more easily kept illusions-
And where farms have gone back
to forest
              are only soft outlines
              shadowy differences-
Old fences drift vaguely among the trees
              a pile of moss-covered stones
gathered for some ghost purpose
has lost meaning under the meaningless sky
               - they are like cities under water
and the undulating green waves of time
are laid on them-

This is the country of our defeat
         and yet
during the fall plowing a man
might stop and stand in a brown valley of furrows
          and shade his eyes to watch for the same
          red patch mixed with gold
          that appears on the same
          spot in the hills
           year after year
          and grow old
plowing and plowing a ten-acre field until
the convolutions run parallel with his own brain-

And this is a country where the young
                   leave quickly
unwilling to know what their fathers know
or think the words their mothers do not say-

Herschel Monteagle and Faraday
lakeland rockland and hill country
a little adjacent to where the world is
a little north of where the cities are and
sometime
we may go back there
                                  to the country of our defeat
Wollaston Elzevir and Dungannon
and Weslemkoon lake land
where the high townships of Cashel
                                   McClure and Marmora once were-
But it's been a long time since
and we must enquire the way
of strangers-

Mmmm Monday: Chickpea Masala

Over the last couple of weeks the pace of life has really picked up at the farm. You may have noticed, as our blog posts have dropped as a result of the hectic pace. But, we haven't forgotten about our blog- and we're still making and eating delicious, nutritious and easy food at Hill Giant Farm. Because R is vegetarian, M has picked up some pretty tasty vegetarian meal/side dish ideas over the years. One of our favourites is Chickpea Masala. Masala is a common vegetarian dish in Indian cuisine and can be made as spicy or as mild as desired. You'll find our recipe, and some ideas on how to make it more or less spicy, below.

Chickpea Masala

3 Tbsp olive oil
2 onions, chopped
6 cloves of garlic, pressed/minced
2 Tbsp ginger (fresh would be tasty, but dry will do just fine too)
2 tsp each coriander, cumin and garam masala (garam masala can be bought in most grocery stores and Clubhouse makes a lovely version for a reasonable price)
2 tsp chili powder (if you want it spicy, if not, skip it)
1/2 cup tomato paste (or 1 small can of pizza sauce and 3 Tbsp of flour)
2 tsp packed brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 cans (19 oz/540 ml each) of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 Tbsp lemon juice

1. In a saucepan, heat oil over medium-heat high heat cook onions and garlic stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes.
2. Add ginger, coriander, cumin, and garam masala (chilli powder too if using it). Cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. The smell is absolutely delicious and will stay in the house for the evening!
3. Stir in 1 cup of water, tomato paste, brown sugar, salt and chickpeas. Scrape up any brown bits and put them back in the pot. Reduce the heat and simmer until it has thickened slightly, about 15 minutes. Stir in lemon juice.


The total prep time is approx. 30 minutes. When you serve it, add a dollop of plain yogurt to the centre of the bowl. This will enhance the fragrant flavour and will cool the spice nicely. It's really a delicious dish. We hope you try it and love it. Let us know!

New Arrivals

Spring is such a wonderful season. There is so much new life everywhere. This week, we had 72 newcomers arrive at Hill Giant Farm. 51 of them were Rhode Island Red chicks, and 21 of them were Peking ducklings. They're awfully cute, and very noisy. Both the chicks and the ducklings are living in storage buckets in the grainery of the barn under heat lamps. This morning when we came out, there were a number of chicks that had smothered one another in the corner. Unfortunately,  some of them died. The others were put in a bin of their own with the heat lamp, and they have made a full recovery. As a last ditch attempt to help them warm up, R put them in "intensive care", which amounted to using the blow dryer in the house to warm them up and dry them off.

Below are some photos of the chicks and ducklings. We hope you enjoy them. If you live nearby, feel free to pop in and visit.

R holding one of the chicks. At this point, gender cannot easily be determined. It won't be until they get their adult feathers that it will be clear who are hens and roosters.

Our friend C doing his best to keep this squirmy little guy from  getting away.

There's nothing like standing on your food to kick start the day. 

This photo of M with both a duckling and a chick highlights the difference in size between the two birds.

 Tomorrow the ducklings will begin their supervised swimming. We'll try and add some photos of that too. Enjoy your day!

Daisy and Petunia's Amazing Road Trip

Well, it's been a pretty crazy time of lambing at Hill Giant Farm lately. So busy, we haven't had time to update. We've had a number of deaths on the farm as a result of pneumonia and the cold, damp weather. However, we've also had some real success stories too. On Sunday April 22, we had 15 lambs born between 1:00 and 11:00 p.m. It was a baby boom to say the least! Two of our favourite lambs at the moment are Daisy and Petunia our bottle babies. We feed them both 4 times a day and they are growing to be big and strong. On Thursday, Daisy and Petunia went on a fabulous road trip to M's work. Below are some photos of the journey for you to enjoy.

Daisy and Petunia ready and waiting at the door for their great adventure.

All bundled up in the car. What's with all that rain?

Petunia making friends. They were wildly popular with all of M's coworkers and with
the various people who came into her work on Thursday.

Taking a ride on the chair cart. Shortly after this photo, Petunia jumped out of
their bucket. Daisy knows a good thing when she sees it, so she stuck around
for the ride.

With the addition of Daisy, Petunia, and the various other lambs born lately, we have a total of 26 lambs at Hill Giant Farm. Our barn is noisy, but the lambs sure are cute!

A Sermon for Earth Day 2012

Today is Earth Day. To celebrate and honour Earth Day, we are happy to share M's sermon, based on the following Scriptures; Genesis 3:8-19, Isaiah 11:1-9, Romans 8:18-27

This Sunday marks the 42nd year of people celebrating Earth Day. Earth Day was founded in 1970 as a day of education and awareness about environmental issues. Since it was first introduced, Earth Day has found its way into schools, families and churches. This is as it should be, for the focus of Earth Day on care of creation is something that each one of us, and especially us as Christians, must give thought, attention and time to. So, on this 2nd Sunday after Easter, we will consider why the events of Easter are significant, not just for us but for all of creation, and why that should matter to us today.

The most significant result of Easter is redemption and renewal; the idea that because of the resurrection of Christ we can be forgiven for our sin and will eventually be completely changed and transformed into the likeness of Christ. In the ministry, death and resurrection of Christ, God displayed  his kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. As we look around us we know that things are not as God intends them to be. We believe and hope, therefore, that God will do something about this.

In the story of creation, God in his love and grace gave to humanity all of the earth to care for and enjoy. God commanded humanity to rule over creation on his behalf, linking the fate of the world with the way in which we rule over it. The actions of humanity, will, and do affect the creation around us. The curse that God delivered in Genesis has 3 parts. The first affects the serpent who is cursed to crawl on his belly and becomes the enemy of humanity. The second affects Eve and her descendents promising that childbirth will now become an incredibly painful experience. The third part affects Adam. It is interesting how this curse begins, “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.” The curse laid down for Adam is that the earth and the land itself will now be cursed, it will no longer remain in its original and intended state. Even more, the earth is cursed because of the actions of Adam- not as a result of anything it had done. Prior to the emergence of sin, the earth easily and bountifully produced food, it was not prone to drought or thorns or death- indeed it could not have been, for death was not present in the world prior to the first sin. One of the fallouts from original sin was that humanity would now have to toil and sweat in order to feed itself. The creation as a whole was harmed by that first sin. So the world is subject to frustration and is in bondage to decay. Just as the original actions of Adam and Eve affected creation negatively (vs. the positive affect we were to have on it), so our actions since, often based in the sin of selfishness also continue to affect the earth in negative ways. In the Genesis 3 account of the entry of sin and its effects into the world we clearly see that because of the sins of humanity-men and women, and the whole creation, need to be redeemed and transformed by God. The freeing, redeeming and restoring events of Easter then; those very events that enable us as humans to gain new life and to look forward to a time when we will be fully restored, are equally important for the earth. We must broaden our view of sin and its effects in the world and ensure that we recognize how human sin- past, present and future- effects all of the created order.

Chemical Valley, Sarnia, Ontario

Romans 8:19-23 are significant verses that highlight again the suffering of humanity and  the earth because of sin.  These verses immediately follow a discussion on suffering for the sake of Christ in which Paul urges believers to invest a little, to risk a little in this life, in order to gain a lot. It is clear in 8:19-23 that what we stand to gain at the end of the sufferings we now endure because of our own or others sins,  is the redemption of the whole of God’s creation. Genesis 3 and Romans 8 together invite us to consider how we see the world groaning as a woman in labour? The earth was created and given to us for our enjoyment and sustenance, but when we abuse that creation, we are not sustaining it- we cannot simply do as we please with the earth. It’s not ours, and it’s not unbreakable. But, there is good news.

Hicks- Peaceable Kingdom

The good news Paul announces in Romans 8 is that because of Christ’s resurrection and his promised return, humanity will be made whole again. But not only that, because of the events of Easter and Christ’s promised return, the created order will also be set right by God at the end of this age. No longer will creation punish and work against human beings. No longer will species have enmity between them. Creation, itself the victim of something for which it was not responsible, will finally, with the transformation of reality, regain its original goodness. This will be the sign of God’s Kingdom finally fully on earth as it is in heaven. The prophetic words of God declared by Isaiah in chapter 11 give us a glimpse of what things will be like when God’s perfect reign is fully in place.  An end to fear and dissonance, a reign of perfect peace, of justice and righteousness. The most helpless and innocent will be at ease with those who were formerly the most violent. In an extended figure of speech, Isaiah makes a single overarching point, that in the reign of Christ the fears associated with insecurity, danger and evil will be removed, not only for humanity but for the world as well. Our hope and creations hope lies in the promise of the fulfillment of the Kingdom of God.

While this future hope is encouraging, we must also acknowledge that the work of God’s Kingdom and this work of healing, restoration and new life has already begun. Through the ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God has revealed to us his intentions to restore all things. But we also must acknowledge that not all of God’s plans for redemption were fully realized in Christ’s first coming. Nature still has not returned to its intended balance and harmony. While we confidently believe in the full restoration of all things, we also must consider what we are to do here and now, and how it is we are to act towards creation as we await its redemption.  

As Christians, our lives are filled with great purpose as we seek to live out the principles of God’s kingdom on earth NOW as we anticipate its final arrival in the FUTURE.  Too often within the Church we have undervalued, sidestepped or inadequately considered God’s intention to redeem and glorify all of creation. There are many Christians who view care for the earth and concerns for its wellbeing to be of no significance to the living out of a Christian life. Many accuse Christians who are ecologically minded of being “politically” driven, or radical. However, a careful reading of Scripture and the care for all of creation that is found from beginning to end, as well as the inclusion of the whole earth in God’s glorious plan for the future, indicate that serious Christians cannot be indifferent about how we treat the earth.

G.K. Chesterton, the well known preacher, once referred to creation as our sister, someone or something deserving of our care, respect and affection. It is a wonderful analogy, far more powerful than the popular societal analogy of the earth as our mother. It is God who has given life to both creation and to humanity as part of it. In this way we are more akin to siblings. Because we can see in Scripture that God cares about our sister creation, we cannot afford to neglect or ignore her. Because she is our sister, we ought to desire to see her redeemed and restored as much as we long to see ourselves fully redeemed and transformed. Until that final transformation is possible, we must ensure that we are good siblings, that we take care of our sister, creation; not because of a political view or ideology, but as the result of a theological belief that part of how we live out a full life, is to care for God’s creation. As Psalm 24 reminds us, “the earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.” We must therefore consider our attitude and actions towards it. 

A number of years ago, St. Andrew’s adopted a series of Core Values- principles that emphasize what is important to us as a community. One of these core values stated a desire to do things in an environmentally sustainable way. Because  we believe that God invites us to care for creation,  because we love God and he loves the earth, we do our part as best we can as a congregation; striving to reduce our garbage, recycling as much as possible, composting, generating solar electricity, refusing to use styrofoam cups or to purchase plastic water bottles, installing low-flow toilets, using environmentally friendly cleaning products as far as public health allows. These are just some of the ways we care for creation in obedience to God. However, our faith is lived in out in many places outside of the walls of this building. The challenge for each of us, as those striving to live our lives in faithfulness to God and his intentions, is to determine what it is that we will do to care for creation. We must examine what our own attitude is towards environmental concern and care and judge whether or not it is in line with God’s divine plan to fully redeem his creation, because he loves it. For some of us, there will need to be changes in attitudes towards the created world. For others, there will need to be drastic changes in how we live. For each of us there will certainly need to be confession for the various ways we have intentionally and unintentionally abused the earth. The earth is cursed because of our sin. Let us do the best we can to limit the effects of that sin by being Christians who care for creation in real and practical ways, today.

As the Church of Jesus Christ, we look forward to the kingdom that God has promised. We wait for God’s new order that will free our world from sin, sickness and evil. We long for the time when God will again look upon his whole creation and declare, it is good. In the meantime, we work to preserve and care for that creation. We actively seek to limit the effects of our own sinfulness upon the earth. We stop exploiting and begin loving the earth as a sister. May we not be deaf to the groanings of creation. May we not be afraid to act to ease her pain. May we not lose sight of God’s future plan for all of the created world and may we live, each day, in eager anticipation of the day when all things will be made new, healed and restored. Amen.

Cheddar Beer Bread

In honour of R's birthday, we're posting one of his favourite recipes. We got this recipe from M's coworker and it's been a favourite ever since. Mmmmm, you gotta try it!

 Ingredients: 3 cups of flour
1 cup of cheddar cheese shredded
 3 Tbsp. sugar or sugar substitute
1 Tbsp baking powder
 1Tbsp salt
1 can of dark beer- Guiness or Rickards are our favourite

 In a large bowl mix the dry ingredients together. Add in the cheddar cheese. Gradually stir in beer until batter is moist, but not runny. Place in a greased bread pan. Drizzle with melted butter.
 Bake in a 375 degree oven for 35-40 minutes.

 Like we said, it's delicious. You've really gotta try it!

2012 Lambing Report- Part 4

Today was definitely the busiest day we've had lambing. A total of 7 lambs were born today, 2 sets of twins and a set of triplets. The first set of twins were rams and were born this morning. The mother took to one fine, but we had to coax her into accepting and feeding the second. Several times we came into the barn to find she'd kicked him out of the pen, but as of 9:30 tonight, she seems to have accepted him.

After doing several other chores and feeding Daisy, we returned to the barn to find 5 brand new lambs, still wet, calling like crazy for their mothers. It was a busy few moments as we didn't have any more bonding pens to put the new lambs and their mothers in. So, our "oldest" lambs (4 days and 2 days) got tagged, needled and elastics to dock their tails and were sent out into the "big pen" with their mothers and everyone else. It's neat to see how quickly they and their mother can find one another even in the big flock just by sound. Tomorrow the first chore after feeding will be to build some more pens.

There was no time to take pictures today. Tomorrow we'll try and post a pic of the lambs with their tags- very cute!! Counting the twin females, twin males and triplet males born today our grand total for lambs this week is 13; 9 rams and 4 ewes. Stay tuned for more excitement in the days to come!

2012 Lambing Report- Part 3

Daisy under the glow of the heat lamp.

Lots of work on the farm today.

 Sometimes when a ewe is having a large lamb or multiple births and space is running out in her uterus, she will have something called a prolapse. Basically, her insides start pushing out. On Tuesday R had a ewe prolapse. Along with his brother, R managed to get everything back inside (with surprisingly little difficulty- sometimes it can be quite difficult) and made a harness for her so that it wouldn't happen again. Today, she lambed, giving birth to a set of triplet ewes .Unfortunately, one triplet was a still birth. The second was strong and healthy; quickly up and drinking, calling, lots of life. The third one needed to be brought into the house and put under the heat lamp. She wasn't doing very well, was developing signs of hypothermia and couldn't drink on her own. So, M brought her into the house and set her up under some heat and began bottle feeding her. 4 feedings a day for the first week. The primary concern today, after getting her warm, was making sure that Daisy (the ewe lamb) got enough colostrum. Colostrum is the first milk produced by a ewe after she has lambed out. It is important for lambs to get some because it contains antibodies and helps them to fight infections. We tried to get Daisy to drink from her mother, but she wasn't up to it. Next, M tried to milk the mother, and was promptly kicked- so that didn't work. Luckily, you can purchase colostrum at your local feed store. Three feedings and 14 hours later, we're pleased to report that Daisy seems to be doing well. She is now standing on her own and calling or baaing at us. But, experience has taught us that anything can happen in the first 36 hours, so she's not out of the woods yet. We'll do our best and hope she continues to get stronger.

Moving the seed drill off the trailer.

In other news, R and our friend went to pick up the seed drill mentioned in our Frugal Friday post on Kijiji. Thank goodness for neighbours! We have a neighbour with an excellent tilting trailer that he let us borrow. Now that the seed drill is bought and picked up we'll be all set to plant. We have a bit of field soil preparation to do- discing and picking stones, but by the beginning of May we hope to be planting. Our intention is to plant mixed grain (oats and barley) under-seeded with Timothy-Alfalfa-Red Clover hay. When we combine the grain off the straw that's left will include some hay and will prepare the field to be a strong hayfield next year. Another step towards                  
                                                                                       being self-sustaining at Hill Giant Farm.

2012 Lambing Report: Part 2

Today's lambs looking for their first drink.

We had a very pleasant surprise when we went out to the barn this morning. We found that another ewe had successfully delivered twin rams. They were so new that they were still wet and Mom was just beginning to lick them off. Once safely in the pen they were quite quick in figuring out which end and part of Mom the food comes from. For her part, she is a very protective mother, who is quite sure that we don't really need to pick up the lambs and check them over. 

This brings our lamb total for 2012 to 4 rams. Good news for a couple more lamb customers!

 

Have any questions about lambing? Feel free to ask in the comments section and we'll answer them promptly.

Two day old lambs.