So, More Mud…the Daily Farm Adventures {102}

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We’ve been on a real streak of testing and trials lately. Our vehicles, our appliances, our furnace, our smoke detectors (I’m still traumatized by that one!)–even attacking wildlife! {smile} And one by one we’ve just put it back together and kept keeping-on. Mr. Fix-It has a temperament that really shines during crisis. He thrives on hands-on problem solving. He’s like the eye of a hurricane when these “big” things start happen and I start to lose my mind. I’m running around like a hamster in a wheel trying to make “an … Continue Reading…

There was this Girl Farmer…the Daily Farm Adventures {101}

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I was walking down the alley with the dogs yesterday evening and ran into this girl… She was tall, and slim, and wearing a well-worn pair of muck boots like she knew something about the business of mud. Her barn coat was a little rough around the edges and shrugged comfortably across her shoulders as she warmed her hands in her pockets. Her scarf was set just so, casual and deliberate, just so to warm and breath, and there was a rosiness to her cheeks that suggested she knew the winter evening … Continue Reading…

Hauling Water, and Cold Farm Kids…the Daily Farm Adventures {100}

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We had an interesting situation this last two weeks. Last Sunday we suddenly got snow while we were in church and everything’s been pretty much frozen or just barely above freezing since. This makes doing winter chores a little (sometimes a lot!) less fun. It’s the same work, but it’s colder. {smile} Your hands are stiff or your gloves are in the way…gate latches are frozen and have to be thawed or busted open…and you’re wearing 27 layers of bulky clothes every time you try to move! The really difficult … Continue Reading…

Working Sheep, Stuck Trucks, and Snow…the Daily Farm Adventures {99}

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It’s been a rough couple weeks since Christmas break ended. Speedracer has been battling dual ear infections, which means he can’t sleep, which means we can’t sleep…and we’ve just had a string of maintenance issues around here. Friday morning I started my Lee-Jackson-King 4-day weekend by waiting on the side of the road with Mr. Fix-It (who doesn’t get a 4-day weekend–or even have today off!). There was a prescribed burn at the tree farm on Thursday so Mr. Fix-It was back over there picking up the roadside caution signs … Continue Reading…

Digging Dogs, Biting Mice…the Daily Farm Adventures {98}

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I see the early side of 5:30am a lot during the week. It’s not my favorite time of day. And I firmly believe that if you have to get up while it’s still dark outside that coffee is mandatory. No one else around here–2- or 4-footed–feels the same. So when the Ladybug burst into the house from chores in tears the other day at 6:30 in the morning, my first thought was “Dear Lord, there’s not enough coffee in the world for this job,  but could I please get just. … Continue Reading…

School Pictures from Home…And a Quick Weekend Update…the Daily Farm Adventures {97}

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I’ll be the first to admit that I’m no photographer. I have a wonderful camera (thanks to my wonderful Mr. Fix-It!) and I’m learning a lot just from experience–but it’s on my to-do list to actually sit through some classes (even online) and tutorials. I want to do better. And here’s one reason why…As the Momma, I have the opportunity to catch the best moments! The moments full of their quirks, their laughs, their attitudes, the essences of them. And every picture I get that I love, I know could be … Continue Reading…

New Babies, New Jammies, New Year…the Daily Farm Adventures {96}

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As you may have seen on Facebook, we started off our Christmas holiday with a new calf on Christmas Eve morning! The Cowboy found him out there with his Momma while doing the morning chores. Molly is such a good momma that she’s never needed any help–and always has boys! Good for the freezer, but I wish she’d throw a heifer because we’d definitely keep her. Her calves also always start out such a lovely fawn brown, but eventually turn gray like our bull Chester. We spent the rest of … Continue Reading…

In the Cold, In the Wet…the Daily Farm Adventures {94}

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This past weekend we pulled the sides down on the chicken house for the winter. It was cold. And wet. And we all worked anyway. That doesn’t mean we didn’t have some fun along the way. Because honestly, these boys are never serious for very long! We added some screws to the towing skids to strengthen them up. Those skids are also what we attach the side walls to when they are rolled down. Everyone got to help out working tools and running errands. Then we unrolled the plastic sides … Continue Reading…

Cattle Dog in the Hay…the Daily Farm Adventures {93}

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Ok, Coal the Cattle Dog gets into everything. Why? Because he’ll jump over or climb up anything. Point in case… Mr. Fix-It loves to point out that this is totally and completely my own fault, since I taught him to jump up and over and walk on anything–on command–as a puppy. And now that he’s a great big 1 year old, he pretty much doesn’t hesitate to take on climbing anything. I taught him to jump up on stumps and well covers, over tree branches, and to walk along logs, … Continue Reading…

Always Building Something…the Daily Farm Adventures {92}

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I didn’t write for a good part of the late summer, but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t stuff going on around here. (I love how these pictures remind me of the green-grass days!) One of the things that happens on a farm or homestead is that you collect, well, junk. But it’s useful junk, that’s why you keep it. Because someday, one day, you’re going to need it. (I’ve talked about farm junk before.) One thing you always keep is old running gear, or axles. Or any kind of trailer … Continue Reading…

The Roof Incident…Life with Coal the Cattle Dog

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Mr. Fix-It had to work on the roof this weekend. (Yes, he really can fix anything if he puts his mind to it!) To get to the peak of our roof, you have to go out of one of the bedroom dormer windows, onto the porch roof, and put a ladder against the top slope and climb up. The top peak is scary steep. He asked me to come out and hold the bottom of the ladder for him. I asked him to provide a rock climbing harness. He refused. (Rather ungraciously … Continue Reading…

Summer is Winding Down…

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I know everyone is in back-to-school mode. We don’t go back until the day after Labor Day, so we’re fighting that a little bit. We did get all our school supply shopping done (except for earbuds, I didn’t find earbuds on sale anywhere) and I’m starting to stock up on lunch supplies and snacks for the first few weeks. But otherwise, we are not going into full-school-prep yet. To underline that, our kiddos have been packing up and heading out on “adventures” every day with the dogs. No explanation of … Continue Reading…

Wet Grass, Wet Dogs…the Daily Farm Adventures {92}

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There is just no way to express how WET the grass is at our place in the morning. The dew is so heavy it drips off our metal outbuildings. If you don’t wear muck boots you’re wet to the knees just going out to the chicken house and back. Dark trails run through the grass where you walk and sometimes when the dogs really take off running, water sprays up to either side as they race through. Since Coal is a lot shorter, he gets a lot wetter. {smile} Penny … Continue Reading…

Dogs, Bugs, and Muddy Ponds…the Daily Farm Adventures {91}

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How do farm kids and farm dogs spend the hot, dirty Virginia summers? Playing outside getting hotter and dirtier! {smile} When I finally got tired of this… And this… And this… We headed out for a walk. I needed a break by then anyway. Cleaning floors in our house is almost more futile than doing laundry or dishes. I don’t even get a one day reprieve. {sigh} So I took a break to get some fresh air with the dogs. Along the way we made sure to get pictures of this… And … Continue Reading…

When the Weather is Gorgeous…the Daily Farm Adventures {90}

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After a steamy week in the 100s, the summer has cooled off again and this past weekend was gorgeous! Beautiful! Sunny, high 80s, Virginia hot but not humid! At least not that we noticed, we have a higher tolerance than some folks. {smile} So naturally we got a lot of outside work done. We weeded and mulched all the flower beds. (And noticed a few spots that need a little more TLC.) We scrubbed and filled water buckets for everyone. (And enjoyed a few minutes just admiring the cows.) We … Continue Reading…

Summer Lambing Surprise…the Daily Farm Adventures {89}

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I don’t see very well. I’m just gonna put that out there because I wear contact and most folks don’t realize. When I don’t have them in, I can’t even see all the way across our bedroom without my bottle-cap glasses. (Seriously, my lenses are so thick they’ve been known to fall out of the frames if the frame is too thin.) My eyes must have been made for reading books, cause that’s about how far I can see well without glasses. {smile} So a few weeks ago I’m letting … Continue Reading…

Chicken Hoop House Maintenance…the Daily Farm Adventures {88}

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For the 4th of July we went camping (and got rained out) and then spend the whole day Sunday on some farm upkeep (and catch up!). The WHOLE day. Meaning, I walked the dogs at 5:30 am, then went straight in to cook breakfast, we got dressed, and headed out. It was sopping wet, but we managed to get a lot done, before the clouds rolled in at 5:30 pm. (If you’re thinking about homesteading, might I recommend Muck Boots. There’s pretty much no other way to survive, trust me!) … Continue Reading…

Have Dog, Will Travel…Gear for the Dog Adventurer

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When I was in college, my Kenzie-dog traveled everywhere with me. Everywhere. And if you’ve read here very long, you know that we take Penny with us when we go hiking and camping. Then there’s Coal, who’s already covered a lot of miles since completing his puppy shots, (please be careful where you take your pup before his/her shots are up-to-date!) with many more to go! If you’re one of our regular readers, you also know that (except for books!) we tend to pare it down to the essentials when it comes to … Continue Reading…

In the Green Grass…the Daily Farm Adventures {87}

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This will be a busy week here at The Lowe Farm. We have Vacation Bible School at church and the kiddos will be in class while Mr. Fix-It and I will be teaching another class. So this weekend we prepped a week of meals, did a lot of laundry, and did a lot of camo painting to get ready. Have you been following us on Facebook or Instagram to see all the #vbsprep pictures? What we didn’t get done, was any mowing! It’s acceptable right now, but by the end of the … Continue Reading…

Well, It’s Been Raining…the Daily Farm Adventures {86}

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That’s about all I can say. It was terribly dry and God has now sent us FOUR DAYS of rain. I’ve given up on the keeping the floors clean! But I found a few pictures to share with you from just before the clouds rolled in… Liberty the “barn cat” that lives on our front porch, shamelessly begging for some kitchen scraps… Henny Penny, our rascally free-ranger, also shamelessly begging for a treat on the front porch… And Molly, with her calf Bubba (he’s got a noticeable under-bite and as … Continue Reading…

Working the Sheep…the Daily Farm Adventures {85}

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Our big accomplishment for the weekend was that we worked the whole flock through the chute, worming, trimming hooves, and checking general health. Mr. Fix-It is trying a new set up for our pens and chutes–under cover instead of out in the field. Not crazy about it–too much dust and the flies are much worse in the shade. I don’t really understand that, but it’s true. The sheep don’t seem to care one way or another and we’re able to work everyone in less than 2 hours, so they’re not … Continue Reading…

Chickens and Flowers and Fruit…the Daily Farm Adventures {84}

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The weather’s been typical Tidewater spring lately. Hot and humid, muggy and thunderstorms, cool and buggy…usually all in one day! {smile} So we opened up the sides of the chicken house for more air flow–and a few bold ladies immediately wiggled themselves through the side panels and have been free-ranging it. I don’t even have the heart to be mad at them anymore. It’s been a 10 year battle, and they’ve won. And it’s never all of them. Usually just the same handful of trouble-makers. Frenchie here (one of our … Continue Reading…

Our Kids Favorite Chores…the Daily Farm Adventures {82}

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Our kiddos do chores. Every day. Every morning and every evening, actually. And every weekend. Around here, everyone does–right down to the babysitters and the dogs. So when Speedracer came up to me last weekend and said, “can we do chores like last weekend? that was so fun!” which chores did he mean? Cleaning out the barn. But he really meant any of them What he meant was can we all go out and do the chores together?  Because that’s their favorite chores. When the kids and the parents are all … Continue Reading…

Yard Birds…the Daily Farm Adventures {81}

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We built a new chicken house (I’ll be sure to get pictures to share soon!). The hens seemed to love it. Then they all shared a dust bath–which cause a hole–which they all decided to wiggle out of. And here we are with free range chickens again. {smile} I’m sure I know who the ring-leader of the escape was. See that black hen there. Her. Definitely her. There’s two small problems with this. 1. They leave piles of chicken…um…waste everywhere. I mean everywhere! And especially underneath of wherever they decide … Continue Reading…

Farm Dogs, Turkeys, and Snakes…the Daily Farm Adventures {80}

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Friends, this blog occasionally suffers from a thing called LIFE, and I’m sorry for that. But I’m back to share some of that LIFE with you, because ya just can’t make this stuff up and I hate for you to miss it if you don’t follow us on Facebook! {smile} Because sometimes we need DIY help. And sometimes we need recipe help. And sometimes we need organizing help. And sometimes we just need a dose of CRAZY to make our own life look normal again. {grin} The munchkins had a … Continue Reading…

A Little Encouragement on the Homestead…the Daily Farm Adventures {80}

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Our series the Dollars and Cents of Starting a Small Farm has been going well, but it’s been awfully serious. Livestock farming is an expensive proposition and it can feel discouraging to list out all the ways farming gets complicated and costly. But like I said in the very first post, this series isn’t meant to discourage, it’s meant to be a tool to help prepare you for success! After coming off a hard lambing season, the post on Health and Wellness was particularly hard to write on a positive note. … Continue Reading…

Understanding Health and Wellness (with Printable!)…the Dollars and Cents of Starting a Small Farm

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I think this topic gets to the core of the “hard part” of a small farm. The opposite side of “health and wellness” is “sickness and death.” They are two sides of the same coin and they are both found on the small farm. And it can be hard! And expensive. Expensive in dollars and cents and in heartache and misery. The good news is that as a small farmer you have a lot of control over this. Not total control–that’s up to the good Lord!–but you do have a lot of … Continue Reading…

A Peek At Our Winter…the Daily Farm Adventures {79}

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Yes, I know winter is over. Believe me, I’m glad! But I didn’t share much over the winter and I thought I’d take a minute to share some pictures with you. We don’t see the farm blanketed in snow very often, so I just couldn’t stand not to share these before next year! If you look real close at that one, you’ll see Chester (our bull) with his head sticking out of the gray chicken coop. The chickens ran wild for most of the winter while we finished up their … Continue Reading…

Figuring Out Food and Water…the Dollars and Cents of Starting a Small Farm

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By far the biggest line item (other than a mortgage) that you’re going to run into with a small farm is the food bill. Poor Mr. Fix-It goes to sleep at night muttering about “more mouths to feed.” Food and water are the bottom line in your small farm enterprise. If you don’t have them, everything else needs to go! Sometimes I feel like we’ve tried everything at one time or another! {smile} Here’s some of our experiences, which might help you evaluate your own options moving forward. Here’s a few feeding basics … Continue Reading…

We’ve Been Busy, as Usual…the Daily Farm Adventures {77}

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Ok, I haven’t written in a while, but I’ve had my hands full to overflowing. (And I needed a break.) We’ve been busy with this… And this… And this… And this… And this… But I’m working my way back. I’m going back to our series on the Dollars and Cents of Starting a Small Farm, and I’ve got a fun Spring newsletter full of great spring tips, treats, and farm happening in the works. (Peep cakes, anyone?) {smile} The Pixie Chicken is all settled into the new chicken house with … Continue Reading…