nataliecalvino

Odd Occurrences

It’s November! Most of the country kicks it off with a celebration of Halloween and Thanksgiving planning, and prepping for the Christmas season that follows right on its heels. We actually don’t celebrate Halloween in the ordinary way; what we celebrate is All Hallows Eve. That refers to the day before All Hallows Day, orContinue reading “Odd Occurrences”

New Dogs on the Block… er.. Farm…

Meet Bosco, a five month old (yes, I did say “month”! )Great Pyrenees-and-possibly-something-else mix. I had been wanting to get a farm guardian dog for security reasons for some time after we moved. It would guard the chickens in their various locations, and warn us and the cattle if predators or intruders were in theContinue reading “New Dogs on the Block… er.. Farm…”

Little Children, Little Things

“Mom! Mom! Come look! We caught a mourning dove!” C burst into the house excitedly. “A mourning dove? Really?” “Yes! Come see!” Well, it turned out it wasn’t a mourning dove, but a baby sparrow. Apparently it was trying out its wings in the driveway and the boys decided it needed help. This highlights oneContinue reading “Little Children, Little Things”

Cattle “Moooving” Day!

God told us He wanted us to move here. So we held our breath and “jumped into the deep,” trusting Him to take care of everything. Somehow, I thought that was going to be the end of it; we’d settle in, start the farm out small (ish), and life would be different, with lots ofContinue reading “Cattle “Moooving” Day!”

OVER 200 CHICKENS!

The chicken operation expands! Here’s the count as of today: 26 Cornish Cross (meat birds) living in the Salatin style chicken tractor; ready to process in a few weeks. They are filling out nicely, putting on both weight and feathers, and so have become much less awkward looking recently. 14 Red Sex Link layer hensContinue reading “OVER 200 CHICKENS!”

Goin’ Fishin’

The pond. At first, it was a source of anxiety for me. As a mom of several young children, none of whom are proficient at swimming quite yet, living with a body of water just steps away from the back door is rather nerve wracking. But now, I consider it one of the most peacefulContinue reading “Goin’ Fishin’”

Peepers!

We have hardly gotten (relatively) settled and we have started getting the barn populated. Nathan outfitted one of the stalls in the barn as a brooder. He put in a short plywood wall (removable for ease of cleaning), attached hinged frames with hardware cloth for lids, and hooked up two new electrical outlets to theContinue reading “Peepers!”

Of Churches and Chickens

So, we were thinking we’d order chicks the first week we got to the new farm. God had other plans, as you can see from the pictures! Long story short, Nathan’s mom was having a rough run of it with her birds, and had just listed them for sale on Craigslist in PA, (her currentContinue reading “Of Churches and Chickens”

How We Got Here

Unexpectedly moving – with hardly any ideas of how, when, or where – from a small house in semi-rural Southern Maryland to a 40 acre family farm in Southeastern Indiana in what seemed a blink of an eye, without even visiting the new property before signing on the line – why? Who does that? ReadContinue reading “How We Got Here”