Jeff and Rita

Of Farm Animals, Compost, and the Results of it All

Composting makes all the difference in my garden. This year, we used well rotted goat/sheep/chicken/rabbit manure and bedding as well as green wastes from the kitchen for the majority of our homemade compost. Other items we tossed in from time to time included paper, coffee grounds and untreated coffee filters, wood chips, weeds pulled fromContinue reading “Of Farm Animals, Compost, and the Results of it All”

Incubation – When to Incubate Eggs and When to Leave it to the Birds

At Life-Springs-Farm & Aviary, we have fired up our incubator for a trial run. Every spring about this time, we thoroughly clean and disinfect our incubator and hatcher using a reliable disinfecting spray made for incubators. Once that is done, it’s time fire them up and make sure they come up to, and stay at,Continue reading “Incubation – When to Incubate Eggs and When to Leave it to the Birds”

Animal of the Month – The Mandarin Duck

The Mandarin is a bright and colorful wood duck from Asia, primarily China and Japan, but they are also found in Siberia and North and South Korea. They are Asia’s counterpart to our North American Wood Duck. Easy to raise in captivity, the Mandarin is a duck that is becoming more and more in demandContinue reading “Animal of the Month – The Mandarin Duck”

Going Back to the Good Ole Days

These days, I am more obsessed with farming and gardening on a larger scale than I have in the past. Mind you, I have been growing an organic garden since 1988. However, as the years have come and gone, I have found myself expanding in both my thinking and my actual gardening practices. A fewContinue reading “Going Back to the Good Ole Days”

Baby Goats and Winter

Nigerian Dwarf goats go into heat every 21-28 days. We learned early on that the boys can successfully breed at an early age. This winter has been a mild one for us in northern Michigan. When we found that we had not taken our little Nigerian Dwarf buck, a.k.a. Bucky, away from the girls earlyContinue reading “Baby Goats and Winter”

Animal of the Month – The Falcated Duck

The Falcated Duck is a beautiful duck that used to be called Falcated Teal. The male has a shiny green and copper/brown head and a brown and white body. It is about the size of a Gadwall Duck and American Widgeon. The female is mostly brown with some gray/blue feathers on the wings. Naturally, itContinue reading “Animal of the Month – The Falcated Duck”

My Mother’s Book

My mom has been gone now for nearly five years. After my dad passed in August of 2020, we five siblings got to divide up what was left behind (in belongings, not land). This was made possible since they had a trust set up rather than a traditional will. My brother was trustee and heContinue reading “My Mother’s Book”

Animal of the Month – American Dorper Sheep

The American Dorper sheep is a hair breed that originated in South Africa about 1946 (when the breed was finalized). Blackheaded Persian Ewes were bred with Dorset Horn rams and, over time, the result was a hardy meat sheep that shed hair rather than wool that needed to be shorn. The meat from the DorperContinue reading “Animal of the Month – American Dorper Sheep”

The Ins, Outs, and Whys of Menu Planning

I wish I had thought about meal planning when we first started a family. I think it would have made things easier as our family began to grow larger. By the time I had our daughter (baby number 5), I finally figured out that having a plan was the way to begin to simplify homeContinue reading “The Ins, Outs, and Whys of Menu Planning”

Animal of the Month – Ringed Teal Duck

The Ringed Teal is a fairly small duck as are most of the ducks in the Teal family. When in full color, the males have a pinkish breast that is spotted with black. The back is a chestnut color that is truly striking. The flight feathers have a bright patch that is a nice shadeContinue reading “Animal of the Month – Ringed Teal Duck”