I have been trying to set up this blog for awhile. It's all new for me. I am also trying to import all of my old blog files at homesteadblogger.com/maplegrovefarm. My skills are somewhat limited, but my lack of high speed is also limiting me.
It has been such a busy summer on the farm. We are in the midst of harvesting before the perpetual rains start in. DH built a new a new cellar and woodshed this summer and we have been busy filling both.
Our food needs have been met beyond our wildest dreams and on the food self-sufficiency we we are probably at about 75%. We are still buying grains and rice as well as things like yeast, baking poweder, baking soda, etc. We raised more of our own animal feed this year than ever before. From hay, to wheat, to kale, to sunflower seeds, and to feed corn, we are feeding our animals food we grew on the farm. I doubt we have grown enough to last the winter but hopefully we are about 30% of their food needs.
Every year we take on more projects and do a little more. This year we grew enough to do a Farmer's Market and a CSA customer. We raised more animal food. We harvested and dried enough herbs for the coming year. All of this is in addition to the projects we continue such as growing all of our own plants from seeds for the garden, raising our own meat, milking a cow, preserving all of our own fruits and vegetables, and saving seeds for the next year.
In addition to our wonderful Jersey milk cow, this year we added turkeys, geese, and ducks. While they are headed for the freezer soon, we learned a lot about what we need to do to raise them successfully in the future - a separate housing unit! We also would like to do a chicken tractor for the meat birds next year.
We still have much to do on our little farm, but life is satisfying outside of the mainstream, tucked in our little valley, living a more self-sufficient life. . .
