I recently read somewhere that there is a correlation between the number of sunrises and sunsets you watch and how much happiness you feel in life. If that’s the case, we’ve kickstarted our mission to boost happiness a bajillion times over. We’ve chosen to live in the single most beautiful sunrise and sunset location on Earth. This morning, while snuggling …
Framing and Ordering Windows
For every moment we have with the renovation feeling pretty and put together, there is a moment where it feels like we’ve returned to square one. This would be one of the latter. Last week, we ventured to Midland Exteriors in Manhattan to look at a line of Marvin windows in-person and pick all of the finished we’d like to …
The Flock Grows Again
Our sweet garage chicks are all grown and finally integrating into the flock. It’s been a crazy year for us with the fox, losing so many of our flock and raising two separate groups of chicks. We’re excited that everyone is getting together and finding a new pecking order so easily. These guys are looking huge, honestly. Once again, I’m …
A Whole Lot of Rain
We’ve seen a ton of rain lately which is a huge win for the soil and land around here. It’s a bit of a different story for the silvopasture. We knew we had a small spring running through the pasture. It runs into a smaller unnamed creek in the woodline, then dumps into Mud Creek on the county line west …
A Fox on the Prowl
For a couple of weeks now, we’ve been watching our chicken flock slowly dwindle. One evening – just minutes after enjoying some time on the deck and in the yard – Aaron spotted a “bobcat” running from the orchard to the wood line behind the pond. He quickly noticed that it had a chicken in its mouth and jetted to …
Chick Days 2021
We’re at it, again! With all of the local farm stores touting their annual Chick Days – we’re collecting a whole new flock for Crossley Farms. Our original flock from last Spring is down to one stunning Rhode Island Red hen. The others (plus some of the newer birds) have been terrorized by a fox for weeks now. With our eggers …
Our “New” Cattle Wagon
Jumping headfirst into farm ownership can cost and arm and a leg – especially if you choose to outfit your whole operation with brand new equipment. We’ve been all about frugal farming since we started this whole experiment over a year ago. We use an 80s-era tractor that came free with the property. We use all of its near-ancient implements to …
Surprising Sprouts and Beautiful Blooms
The time of year is here once again! Lois’s stunning Irises are taking over the landscaping around the backyard and we couldn’t be happier to welcome them. The thick greenery in the flower beds more than reminds me that I should have divided these babies last Summer. But that’s not going to keep me from enjoying the abundance of blooms …
More New Goat Babes
Despite begging Farmer Crossley to “for the love, stop buying goats” – we have some new goats. It’s completely ridiculous that these things keep showing up. It’s even more ridiculous that they’re always cute enough to keep. Aaron ensures me that we “reserved these months ago.” So, technically, they’re grandfathered in to the “stop buying goats” agreement. I don’t know if …
Itty Bitty Kitty Committee
You guys. We have kittens. WE HAVE KITTENS! Around December, I was pinging all of the Facebook groups looking for nearby kittens that could be great barn cats. When we lost Bragg to a fight with another animal – I couldn’t bear Benning being out in the barn alone through the chilly weather. Our animal sitter, Reagan, felt the same. …