Author Archive

Raising Backyard Turkeys: Chicks in a Box

Posted on April 10th, 2012 by Tonia 8 Comments

A box arrived in the mail containing two tiny baby turkeys. Their little peep-peep-peep noises are just about the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard, and they’re so fuzzy!

They were shivering with cold, so we got them under a heat lamp right away {they need to be kept at 90 degrees for several weeks} and fed and watered them. They slept huddled together under the lamp for several hours. When they woke, they were much more lively and they pecked at their food and splashed around in their water dish.

They get a little bigger every day, it’s incredible how fast they’re growing! Yesterday we let them out of the box to run around the kitchen. They’re so brave- they run right up to Charlie, who is scared of them and runs the other way. I sat real still and they climbed up into my warm hand, hunkered down and dozed off.

The chickens will arrive just like this in about a week. I can’t wait!

Raising Backyard Pigs: All Settled In

Posted on April 4th, 2012 by Tonia 1 Comment

So far so good with the little piggies. They’re almost done foraging for all of the delicious roots and rhizomes in their paddock, so we’re preparing to move them to a new area in a few days.

They loooove rooting around in the grass with their incredible noses. They also love sunshine, itching their butts on the barn door, splashing in their water dish, and are very curious and friendly with the dogs.

They burrow down into the hay at night and snuggle- sometimes one on top of the other- until we wake them up in the morning for breakfast.

Jack thinks their poo tastes awesome {eeeeew!}

Fish Run

Posted on April 3rd, 2012 by Tonia 1 Comment

The rainbow trout are running up the Sioux River near our house.

Mike went down to the bank with the camera yesterday evening and caught this video clip of a little guy alllllllmost making it {it was so sad when he got washed back down!} It would be so easy to reach down and help them out, but Mother Nature needs a way to filter out the weak.

Only the strongest fish get to the calm water above the falls where they mate. They have to swim against the current for miles, and beach themselves on rocks where they rest for a few minutes before pushing on.

It’s pretty incredible to watch!

Brewing Party

Posted on March 29th, 2012 by Tonia 3 Comments

Jen and Trevor had us over to the yurt the other day to help them brew a batch of Brown Ale. The brewing part of the day took about a half hour, but somehow we managed to hang around from 2 PM until 11 PM…

What did we do in all that time? Well, there was a ukelele jam session, resulting in the formation of a ukelele-rock-fusion group called Duke of Uke. Kind of like Ace of Bass but better.

You’ll be hearing about them- they’re gonna be huge.

And then we sat around the fire, cooking venison that our friends Alan and Alison shared with us.

And then we played a raucous game of touch-football, which ended when the pregnant woman {Alison} knocked down her own husband {who was foolishly on the opposing team}, forced a fumble, intercepted the ball and made the winning touch-down. It was hilarious and awesome. {No photos of this event for the reason that the photographer needed both hands free in order to protect herself from the insane pregnant woman…}

And then Trumpeter Swans flew over us, taking our breath away for a moment.

And we brewed some beer, too…

And that was that. I’m excited for the next party, when we’ll hopefully be drinking this gorgeous amber liquid. Cheers!