"Ducklings!" by, Emily :)

Busy, busy, busy! Those three words can very well describe life lately! And, of course, what did we need but another thing to keep us busy! Around a week ago, we were eating a meal when the phone rang. Dad answered it, and was engaged in a conversation for a few minutes with someone. He kept making comments about ducks, and I remembering wondering what in the world it was all about, but somehow (maybe because I was busy?) I forgot to ask the "who was that and what did they want" questions when Dad hung up. :) That afternoon I heard Jackson barking, and looked out to see our neighbors here. I hurried out and found the Ben and Jonny and our neighbor crowding around a small cooler, and I heard little peeps. Looking inside the cooler, I saw seven of the cutest baby duckings! Mr. Brad, our neighbor, told us that they were driving down the road when they saw a mother duck dead on the road and her 7 babies flocking around her. So they caught them and brought them to us! They're so cute....and they're mallards....so the males will have those beautiful green heads. :) I've taken over taking care of them, so I have a full-time job of duck-sitting....duck-standing....and duck-running! :) They are all doing great, although one did die (how it died we don't know), so there are six now, and those six are fine, and are complete little pigs. :) This morning me and Mom moved them down to the pond, and boy did they like that! It was hilarious watching them swim around and splash and do all these funny duck antics! :)

Who has time for posting?

Little by little we are getting the seeds and plants into the garden. In a day or two we should be all done. :) I recently asked Mike if life could stop for just a day or two. :) While it is very busy right now, there isn't anything else I would rather be doing. It does get crazy at times, but knowing that it is only a season helps. The days of lounging on the porch, sipping sun tea, and reading a book will return! :)

Along with planting the garden, I have been transplanting perennials. With Brandon's help, I moved some things around, and spruced up the flower gardens a bit. I still have a few annuals to plant, but I am almost done. Now let the watering begin! :)

The picture above is one I took a week or so ago. It was one of our sixty or so flowering crab trees in full bloom. (Mike likes trees, and has planted lots of them!) Unfortunately, the strong winds last week destroyed all the blooms, but they were nice while they lasted. :)

Hopefully we will get better about posting after we finish planting. It's hard to find time! What I really need to do is get Emily posting for us. She loves to do it, and always has a lot to say! :)

Memorial Day

Today we want to say thank you to all those who have sacrificed in many ways to serve this country and fight for our freedom. We are so grateful for your willingness to leave your families, and lay down your life for the people of this country. Thank you is not enough! It has been such a blessing to have been born and raised in this country. We have enjoyed lives blessed with health, prosperity, and freedom. Most countries do not know these things.

Today we will go to a Memorial Day service with our friend Myrtle. Then we will finish planting the garden. This evening we will have a picnic with some other families, and play some games. Enjoy your day, and don't forget to show gratefulness to the veterans, and their families, who have served our country.

Happy Broilers

Here is a picture of the broilers (taken a week or so ago-they are much bigger now) enjoying life in their pen in the orchard. The pen is moved daily, so they always have fresh grass and bugs to munch on. These chickens will be butchered on Friday, June 5th. As you can see from the picture, they appear to be missing some feathers. Actually, they have not lost feathers, they just cannot develop feathers fast enough to keep up with their growing body. It kinda reminds me of children. They grow so fast, yet the coordination they need to keep themselves from running into things or tripping over their own feet, isn't always there when they need it. :)
If you still want to order chickens, we have more available in our second batch. They are about two weeks old, and will be butchered on Friday, July 3rd. There are also many other dates to pick from starting in August. If you have not had pasture raised chicken before, it is delicious. They are big, juicy, and very flavorful! Our order form can be downloaded from our blog - just click on the 2009 Order Form link under "Farm Links".

Fridays on the Farm!

Well, it's finally time to start the farmer's market. As most of you know, we will be open every Friday from now through October - selling fresh produce, pre-ordered meats, eggs, baked goods, herbs, and more.

Come on out, take a tour of our farm, visit with the animals, and get some delicious organically grown food! Currently we have asparagus, rhubarb, herbs, baked goods, milk, and eggs. The availability of our products will change weekly, and we will try to keep you updated.


Looking forward to visiting with you!

The Housman Family :)

Happy Mother's Day!

Tomorrow is Mother's Day. The boys and I (and Dad!) cannot ever say how grateful we are for Mom! She is such a godly woman, and she works so hard for all of us, and is an amazing example to me (Emily). Mom is a hard worker, and works with a joyful spirit. She is patient, loving, caring, a excellent child-trainer, a good decorator, an amazing gardener, an astounding cook, a wonderful teacher, and the most amazing mother and wife ever! What we would do without Mom, I don't know!
Mom, we're so grateful for everything you do for us...THANK YOU!

I'm absolutely positive that I have the best mother in the world! (Sorry all you children, it's true.) :)
Happy Mother's Day, Mom!!!!
We love you!
Love,
Your Family

Convenient Time for Camping

Since we were having some work done on our well, and were not going to have running water, we decided it was a great time to go camping. Camping does not come easy to a family with lots of animals, but we were willing to do whatever it took. We did what we did when we camped last year, and that is, we camp close to home. In the mornings and evenings we came back to do chores. It worked out well!

We have the camper that my family camped in when I was little. It's still in relatively good shape, and it's a joy to see my kids enjoying it the way I did. As a kid, I always thought camping was so much fun, now it's work, but I do enjoy it. :)

We had a great time despite some cold and rainy weather. The first day was beautiful. Some friends came to the campground and played a heated :) game of soccer with us, and stayed for a hot dog roast, and of course s'mores. In the morning they came back for a rainy breakfast of buttermilk pancakes and bacon. It was fun, and we made some great memories.

I love cooking over an open fire - especially with a cast iron skillet! Although, my hair still smells like smoke, even after washing it! I hope we can make time for some more camping this spring or fall. It's great family time, and helps us brush up on some good old fashioned skills. But next time it probably won't be as convenient. :)

Getting To Gardening!

Spring gardening has begun on the farm! The garden has had the annual addition of manure, and has been tilled up. Planting the early spring seeds is always an encouraging sign of warmer weather- but there are no guarantees in Minnesota! The hardy crop seeds are in the ground, and hopefully it will be warm enough for all of them to germinate. Some of the lettuce is up, and so are the radishes, garlic, some beets, and some onions. The planting will continue for a couple months, at least for lettuce, because we will want a continual harvest.

Ben is watering the perennials-asparagus and rhubarb. We have been adding to our asparagus garden every year hoping for a large harvest before we are old and grey. :) We added a red rhubarb plant to the garden this year-it makes the baked goods look nicer (as you know, we'd never think of adding red dye. :) )

Em and Jonny worked on planting the peas. In past years, peas have not been one of our best performing crops. But we will try again this year.

Brandon and Jonny worked on uncovering the strawberries. Last year we had a record strawberry harvest from the patch in this picture, and enjoyed strawberry kefir smoothies all winter long (up until a month ago). We have two strawberry patches, hopefully one does really well again this year.

Lest you think Mother is lazy, I did help in the garden! ;) I planted lots of seeds.....and took lots of pictures. :) It seems I always end up with the camera, or I hand it off to Emily, which she loves.

Well, I'm off to take more pictures! :)

Happy Birthday Mike!

Today is Mike's (and Melissa's) birthday. Words cannot say how thankful we are to have such a wonderful husband and father. His wisdom and Godliness have led our family through good times and bad. The faithfulness, perseverance, and generosity he shows have been a great example to our family, and the evidence of God's working in his life. As a wife, I am absolutely convinced that I got the best husband in the world (sorry ladies). :)
Mike is a hard worker, and is great at teaching the art of being meticulous. :) Our boys and Em really love and appreciate their Daddy now, but I know that someday, when they are grown, they will realize how tremendously fortunate they are to have had the father they do.

Happy Birthday, honey!
We love you!

P.S. Good job Mike and Janice! You taught him well!

P.S.S. I took two pictures prior to this one, and Brandon kept closing his eyes. So for this picture he made sure they were open. :)