It’s been far too long since I’ve shared some photos and given an update on what’s going on here at Yellow Birch Hobby Farm.

Much has transpired and there is so much to come for us! As we speak, baby ducklings are hatching. We have a Saxony hen who has been sitting for 30+ days and is currently the proud mama of (1) purebred Saxony duckling and (3) Saxony/Cayuga cross ducklings. She has about ten more eggs that she is sitting on, but slowly her interest is turning to caring for her active babies than sitting- so who knows? 

 Saxony/Cayuga duckling 

They discovered the joy of water today as each of them took a swim in the water bowl. Such amazing instincts!

We also discovered that another of our Saxony hens had made a nest in the woods and is sitting there. She was not about to move from that nest, so we had to put fencing around her and camouflaged it with brush and piled logs all around the base. Hoping this will keep the predators away. She has a clutch of 5 eggs, so we look forward to more babies in about a month!

After we lost all of our chickens in January and acquired new chicks in February, we’d been given 23 Black Star hens from a family friend. We’d decided that once the babies started laying, we’d begin butchering the older hens, and we’re now down to 11. It’s been decided that we’ll keep 4 of them after all is said and done as we do enjoy the extra-large brown eggs. I must say, it’s been very nice having real chicken in the freezer.

I was excited to try my hand at a hugelkultur bed this year. I built 3 of them, and I look forward to sharing a start-to-finish process with you in a post very soon! When I embarked upon this experiment and was in the researching stages, I was disappointed to find very few posts that shared the actual results of these beds. I found a ton of information on the idea of a hugel bed, how to build them, the potential outcome of using them, and what they could provide in the future. But very little on what one looked like throughout a growing season, the successes (or lack thereof), etc. So look for a near future article from me 🙂

If you recall my “9 Easy Steps to a Successful Tomato Season” post, I had explained the process as I transplanted my 18″ tomato plants to my tomato bed on June 12th by digging a trench, laying the plant down, and burying them up to their top 2 branches (leaving approx. 3″ of plant above ground).

On July 7th when the plants were 22″ tall I pruned them.

 Two weeks later, they had reached 45″ in height on July 21st. Lots of blossoms, some fruit appearing, and over 50″ tall today. I will be writing a post in the near future of this process as well!

Mid-August we will be acquiring meat rabbits; a breeding pair and 10 babies or so. We also have plans for Nubian goats and Tamworth pigs for the spring. I’m starting to grow fodder in the upcoming week (finally!) and look forward to full-swing canning season and deer hunting (archery) as well as bear hunting coming up soon too. 

It’s hard to believe that summer is winding down…already. Ugh. Just trying to enjoy it for the short while that we have it.

I’d like to leave you with some favorite photos from the farm…

Thanks for stopping over!