Manure and Other Fun Stuff

Living on the farm has given us many skills...
some we are good at,
and some at which we excel.

We grow our own food, grow hay for our horses,
keep bees and many animals...
but the thing we just may be the best at is making great compost!

We have an endless supply of manure (horse, pig, chicken),
which we store in piles which we turn with the tractor,
until such time as the pile has cured and become rich, dark, earthy mulch.
Added to the manure are kitchen scraps (plant-based),
dried leaves, and other organic matter from all over the farm.



The manure piles are a favorite hang out for the chickens.
Ole Roy fancies himself King of the Hill.


"This stuff is something to crow about!"


The temperate weather we have been experiencing these past two weeks
has allowed us extra time for outdoor chores
such as mulching around all of our young trees....


If only I could keep the chickens from then "un-mulching" them.
No matter how I spread it, the chickens always re-arrange it!


Each February we clean out all of out bluebird houses,
in preparation for Spring nest-building and egg laying.


Each of the houses has a thick, soft nest made from twigs,
horse hair, chicken and guinea feathers.


Occasionally a mouse will have claimed the house as its winter home.
With this in mind, Hubbs cautiously opens the house,
and tentatively reaches inside,


all the while knowing that a mouse may scamper out across his hand....
making him admittedly "scream like a girl!"

Lucky for him, this year there were no mice.

Tyler and his Mommy paid us a visit this weekend.
He is our first and only grandchild, and is now 20 months old.
Here are the pictures from his visit in a slideshow.....

Comments

Anonymous said…
Lucky you to have all that lovely manure/compost. My chickens are very good at rearranging the garden too, but it is hard to be cross with them!
Kathy from Tasmania
JudiB said…
Bev thanks for sharing the pictures of Tyler and his visit. Seems like yesterday our girls were this age. It is such a bonding loving time and I loved every minute of those years as I know you and hubs will also. He is one Very cute little boy!!! Not sure who is enjoying the visit more..animals Tyler or you..lol..lol
Gotta love the good stuff..we now have clumps frozen to the ground..ugh..what a mess!!! Hoping we get a good melt soon.
Anke said…
Is it weird that I envy your manure pile? Just this morning I was thinking about where I could buy some manure locally...
Looks like Tyler had a blast with you guys. Lucky little man. :-)
This N That said…
Great job with the pictures..Love the one with Tyler on Jack's shoulders..If you have that by itself will you forward it to me?? What program did you use for your slide show??
Junebug said…
How fun this morning to see the farm and animals through Tyler's world. He is one lucky little boy to have such caring Grandparent. Treasure these times for they grow so fast!!
Unknown said…
Kids and animals....just doesn't get any better than that!!! I can see you all had a great time.

Love your new hair cut!
Vickie said…
Aw, sweet little Tyler - I am just enthralled with watching a young one - they are so excited over the least little thing!

You DO have alot of great compost! And I love those bird nests - they are really a work of art!
Teresa said…
Compost is wonderful. I really need to revamp my system. The geese truly love when I add to the pile. They love sifting through old chicken bedding for good stuff.
Meghan Grace said…
One of the most important jobs as parents and grandparents is to teach our children to love and to respect all of God's creatures. Tyler is a lucky little boy to have a wonderful family teaching him just that! I love the look on his face when he is sitting on his grandpa's shoulders! Thank you for sharing! Meghan.
Anonymous said…
Adorable little boy who seems to have no fears, you say he is your only grandson, grandchildren are the best, we have 15 , yes 15, but I usually respond with what do you expect with 6 children!!!! we do live in the country but Ct is pretty tamed!!! unfortunately they are scattered all over the world so not too many visits!!! I do envy you!!!!

Annie v.
Kim said…
Those chickens are funny about rearranging things in the yard!
Tom Stewart said…
Manure! Its like money in the bank! Only better!
I have been harvesting Worm Casts for the past two years and have just added Rabbits to the mix.
Next, Chickens!
Knowing that no matter why I get each animal, They will add manure to the compost pile!
It's a Win - Win situation.
Tom
Katmom said…
Oh Bev, thanx for the reminder,,, we needt o clean out our 'BlueBird House' and build some new ones.
Happy happy!
jerilanders said…
We are lazy compost-ers. We never have kitchen scrapes because they either go to the chickens, the ruminants, the donkeys or the dog.I get my compost by using the deep bedding method in the barn and then, when spring comes, we bobcat it out, dump it in a pile in the field and let it stew for a year. It works great and I am always black, rich compost from the year before.
Anonymous said…
So nice that he lives close enough to be able to visit his grandparents' farm! Sweet times for you and for him. :-)
Anonymous said…
He is ADORABLE!!! What a lucky little boy to have a "Grammy's Farm" to visit.
Marcy
OH goodness Bev I can just imagine how large your manure and composts piles are with all those critters on your farm especially the horses! We have a big enough one just from two horses and the chickens but yours must be HUMONGOUS! You made me laugh and smile with this post...the laugh came from visualizing your hubby 'screaming like a girl' and the smiles came from the wonderful photo's of sweet little Tyler with Grammy Grandpa and all the critters. Great slideshow! :)