farm

Yes, my children are home!  This weekend we went blueberry picking, swimming, played restaurant and, of course, spent some time with the ducks and the pigs.

I know!! I can't believe I haven't told you about the ducks and the pigs!  Well, since I'm announcing the winner of the Go! Baby giveaway today, I figured I could sneak in a little introduction to "our farm" as well.

Have I told you before, that we live on 7 acres?  Oh-my-goodness, it's wonderful!  And such a complete blessing!  When we bought the property about 3 years ago, our 1960's house was completely run-down. As in, other potential buyers were planning on having it bull-dozed.  But, not us!  When we won the bid for the property, it included a little note that our plan was to restore the house and use the land for the little family farm it had once been.  I tend to think that the owners chose our offer, for sentimental reasons.  After 8 months of very, very, very hard work, my husband and I and family and friends had redone the whole shebang, right down to the studs.  Heck, I learned how to wire electric outlets!  So, when you see pictures of our floors and whatnot, like we totally did that!  Can you tell I'm proud?



Anyways, the point is that the goal has always been to have a little farm, to raise some of our own food (sans pesticides, growth hormones, etc) in a humane environment.  I think this kind of thing is not only healthy for our bodies, but a great way to raise children.  Last year was my first go at a vegetable garden, and it was scary-huge.   This year I planted one much more modestly-sized.  Here's Liam picking our peppers!



This year we got ducks.  Our Indian Runner ducks are great pets, but my husband also hopes that they will be good egg-layers (and I hope that we will like their eggs).  The kids love to hold them and watch them swim in their outdoor bathtub.  Me, I'm thrilled when they go on bug-patrol.  Here they're inspecting the cantaloupe.  Unlike chickens, which would scratch up the garden, the ducks pad around on their soft feed and without making a bit of a mess!





This spring we also got our first "food" animals.  Please forgive us, but they're named "Ham" and "Sausage" for a reason.  Actually, it's not to make light of that but to remind the kids that they are not pets.  We also don't allow the children to go into their pen.  However, I'll admit that we all love to shower them with the hose!  The piggies have learned to love the water in this heat, and afterwards they roll and dig into mud.  That combined with the fact that they will run around the pen in the cool morning hours, truly frolicking with gladness, makes me pretty sure that we're raising very happy pigs.  So, a happy life and family that will appreciate their sacrifice.  I think that's not too shabby.

Hope you don't mind my ramblings this morning!  Now let's choose a winner for that Go! Baby.  I cut off comments this morning at 673 entries!  And the winner is....469.  Good golly, Barbara of The Origin of Wonder, you are one lucky lady!  I'll be in touch. 

The rest of you should keep your ear to the ground.  There's a lot more of these giveaways set to run around blogdom quite soon. Good luck!