Now On To 2015!

I haven't posted a blog in over 3 months but that should give you some indication of just how busy things have been for us. We moved into a solid fall/winter farming season with winter greens and other goodies for market. We made over 100 gallons of molasses and those have been selling like hotcakes!

We processed our first set of pasture raised chickens and the response has been wonderful from our buyers. We participated in our very first Cat Square Christmas Parade and had an absolute blast!

 

In November, we transported the goat girlies, Cocoa and Tillie, to FLG Farms in Taylorsville where they stayed with their boyfriend for two weeks. We are crossing our fingers for Spring babies. Over the holidays, we discovered a wonderful use for Christmas trees after folks were finished with them....goats LOVE them! It's a wonderful and nutritious treat. What a great way to recycle and give it back to nature.

Right now, things on the farm are moving pretty slow. It gives us time to rest and recoup. But we are gearing up for the next growing season. Rick has been working to ready the greenhouse for planting spring seeds. A wood stove has been installed to keep it nice and toasty to help them grow on these cold winter days. Our pigs are ready to be processed. Our butcher appointment is set for mid-February so we are excited to be able to add pasture raised pork for our customers.

We continue to be blessed beyond measure at the support that we have received from the community as we have pushed our family farm to the next level. It's not all been perfect. There have been successes and failures, highs and lows. We continue to learn new things on a daily basis. All in all, 2014 was good to us. Looking forward to 2015!

Til next time,
Audra
Head Chicken Mama at Ellis Farms

Busy and Blessed

It's almost August and things are still hopping on the homestead. We have had a wonderful first month at the Lincoln County Farmer's Market. Everyone has been extremely welcoming to us and we've been very successful each Saturday that we've been there. Even though we are in the midst of the summer season, we have already begun planting produce for the fall. I've had lots of fun looking at different varieties of things that we can try to grow.

We've brought 7 new chickens to the farm (3 Australorps, 2 Rhode Island Reds, a French Black Copper Maran, and a Black Jersey Giant). We are looking forward to the additional eggs that they will provide for us. Our four pigs are growing and getting fatter each day. They are enjoying our fresh produce also! They are so funny to watch and so very smart! If they hear us coming, there is a good chance we have something for them to eat and boy do they come running as fast as they can. We are hoping to be able to sell our pork at the farmers market this Fall. We are also doing some research into the possibility of adding free range meat chickens to our farm and then selling those at the market as well.

Our produce has done so well and we've taken care of sharing that with the community, but we've saved some for us too. We've put up bell peppers, corn, and tomatoes for this coming winter so we can have fresh, healthy veggies on those cold winter days.

Before I leave you for today, I want to assure you that it's not all work and no play at our place. We were able to take a few days and head for the mountains of North Carolina and cool off for a pit. We had beautiful weather and the kids enjoyed catching crawdads in the creek.....which were quickly used for fishing purposes. :)

We hope everyone is enjoying their summer and being safe. Hopefully your own gardens have provided you with lots of goodies for your own families enjoyment.

Until next time,
Audra

Learning From The Pros......Piedmont Farm Tour 2014

This past weekend we decided to send the kids to the grandparents and head towards the eastern part of the state and take part in the largest farm tour in the United States. It's sponsored by the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association. I've learned quickly that these folks have a wealth of knowledge and really want to help up and coming beginner farmers. We spent two days visiting a total of 6 farms (there were a total of 36 farms to pick from).

On Saturday, we took part in a special bus tour that was only for beginner farmers. We were able to take notes, ask questions, and really get up and personal with the owners and workers at each location. Our first stop was to Perry-winkle Farm. They have sustainably grown vegetables, and cut flowers. They have a crop rotation system to insure a healthy environment. They had two chicken tractors with two different types of meat birds. We also got to see their Hebel Block passive-solar greenhouse. They also have an onsite brick bread oven. The smells coming from that thing were mouth watering!


Next stop was to Granite Springs Farm whose future plan is an interesting concept. They grow vegetables and have pastured laying hens. But the very cool thing was their 95 foot long hoop house where they grow vegetables and oyster mushrooms that are grown on straw in bags and suspended in the air. It looked very complicated to me! They also practice vermicompost using earthworms. This is a 140 acre farm and their eventual plan is to create an intentional agrarian community where all of the homes will be together on the property and everyone farms and works together.

Our last stop on Saturday was to Cozi farm where they raise Jersey dairy cows, sheep, and meat chickens. They also had some beautiful Great Pyrenees livestock guardian dogs.

On Sunday, we got to choose the three farms that we most wanted to see, so we really tried to pinpoint places that were of interest to us as far as similarities in produce and livestock.

First stop was to Chapel Hill Creamery. Here they turn soil, sunlight, and grass into delicious farmhouse cheeses. They had a beautiful herd of Jersey cows. We got to ride a wagon pulled by draft horses. We saw some pigs who eat the whey left over from making the cheese and we got to see their team of oxen that they use to plow the fields on the property. Of course, I bought some cheese. No way could I pass that up!

Our second stop was to Fickle Creek Farm. They had egg mobiles where you got to pick your own fresh eggs. They also raise sheep and lambs, steers, pastured pigs, ducks, and Freedom Ranger broiler chickens. They also have a market garden. I came away with some fresh country sausage!

Our last stop was to Minka Farm where I got to love on some meat and dairy goat babies. They also raise pigs and beef cattle. I met a new donkey friend as well.

 We came away with lots of new ideas and things we'd like to try and implement at Ellis Farms. Wish us luck!

Til next time,

Audra

Babies, Plants, and Everything In Between

It's been a crazy busy time at Ellis Farms in recent weeks (hence the reason I have not updated the blog in forever). Our new website has launched and we've had wonderful response. You can find it HERE. Plants in the greenhouse are popping everywhere and we are busy moving them to the ground. We can't wait to see what comes of the many varieties that we are adding to our lineup this year.

Last week, we also had some new additions come to the farm. Our goat babies are finally here! Mandy kidded with a gorgeous set of black and white twins (a doeling and a buckling) that we named Trixie and Domino. Trixie will be retained on the farm and Domino is available for sale after weaning the first week of June. Domino is naturally polled.

Cocoa, our registered dairy goat, also kidded with twin bucklings. We have named them Java and Butterscotch. They will also be available for sale the first week in June. Butterscotch is naturally polled and blue-eyed.

We have had the best time this past week watching these four navigate their new world. They are running, jumping, and playing all over the place!

Our next additions will be four piglets in May that we will be raising for meat for our own personal use. I'm doing lots of research and reading to plan. Pictures of the pig homestead will be posted soon.

Hopefully you all are planning and prepping your own gardens and enjoying what pleasures come from that. It's been a blessing to us for sure. We enjoy spending that time together as a family creating food that is healthy for our family.

Til next time,
The Ellis'

Hectic Holidays

I have been extremely slack in updating the blog since my last post. Between Halloween, then Thanksgiving, and now gearing up for Christmas......honestly, there just hasn't been time. I'm hoping that, after the first of the year, I will do better and have lots of good and exciting things to talk about.

As far as the farm, we recently took our two dairy goats to FLG Farms in Taylorsville to have them bred. Hopefully, we will have some sweet furry little baby Nigies in the early Spring. We are crossing our fingers! Speaking of FLG Farms, if you're into natural health and beauty products, you should definitely check out their website. Ms. Lee Ann makes the most wonderful goats milk products I have ever used. My latest addiction is her Peppermint Lip Balm. It's LUSCIOUS!!!! You can learn all about Lee Ann, her products, and her awesome farm HERE.

These cooler months and less daylight hours have done a number on our chicken girlies. They have been through a pretty rough molt and are finally getting their pretty feathers back in and they have been protesting lately and our egg production had pretty much come to a stand still. The hubby was having conversations with them about visits to KFC or a hot tub stint in the stew pot. We refuse to buy store bought eggs anymore! Ha Ha. All jokes aside....we added a light to the coop to increase their daylight exposure and.....VOILA....egg production is slowly increasing. All is right with the world. :)

I also want to share with you all our most recent family pictures that we had done for our family Christmas card. We hope you enjoy them. They were alot of fun to make. As always, thank you all for your support to our family, our blog, and our beginning farm venture. We are still learning and have a ways to go but it's been a wonderful experience. We wish you and yours a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Rick, Audra, Drew, and Addi Ellis