Farming With Cianna

NEW BLOG!

2018-11-29T18:03:00.001-05:00

Hey everyone, I just wanted to make post letting you know about my new business.

As you all know, I've been working really hard at starting my business and one of the things I did to start promoting was start a blog. Along with that I made an Instagram and Facebook page to showcase my photography.

ciannafaithphotography.blogspot.com/ is my blogspot
Facebook- Cianna Faith Photography
Instagram- @_ciannafaithphotography
Email- ciannasavage21@gmail.com

Photography has been a huge part of my life for some time now and I have made the decision to go legit. I am now a full time photographer, and I would love to show my appreciation for my followers with a special promotion.

Any of my blog farmers that schedule a session with me can mention this blog and get $25 off the session cost!

Again, Thank you for your support!

Puppy Update:

2018-11-29T17:54:00.000-05:00

As you all probably know by now,
we have like five million dogs.

Just kidding(: Only four, but same thing.

Brodie, Cooper, and Moo are still as rotten as could be. They all are best friends, and get in all kinds of trouble together, but we added another one to the mix. Her name is Sadie... I know...3 boys and 1 girl...
She is cute as can be and has the sweetest personality, like most other year old puppies. She loves having Brodie as a brother, since they are about the same size. Though she loves having the other boys to play with, they are a lot bigger than her so she plays with them in small doses.

Brodie turned 3 in March. Of course we threw him a birthday party. All the dogs got their very own specialty meal. Brodie, of which, got filet mignon.

Cooper turned 2 in June. He has been doing better in the house ever since we bought him his very own Thundershirt. For those of you who haven't experienced it, Cooper is very very skiddish inside for some unknown reason. He has a hard time being in small spaces and hates loud noises. Since he got his shirt, he's been less skiddish. I'm sure it's helped his health a lot not having to be scared 24/7.

Moo is almost 2 years old and he is still the sweetest baby around. I will never be able to understand why people hate on Pits, because our Pit is the best dog we have. He listens so good, he has great manors, and he is just a sweetheart. Everyone loves him!

As you can probably tell from the photos, Dan loves all his pups(: They drive us absolutely crazy, but at the end of the day, we wouldn't have it any other way.

Speaking of the end of the day, night time is so much fun. We love not being able to sleep comfortably...or even have room to sleep... NOT
Moo and Cooper are decent sized dogs, yet they feel the need to sleep right in the middle.... horizontally. Yeah, I'm using squished against the wall, and Dan's lucky if he can stay on the edge of the bed.
Dog beds and blankets are no good in their eyes. They have to be in the middle of everything in order to sleep comfortably, so that's what they do.

We love having to put up with these silly dogs! We won't even start talking about all the bad things they've done in the past few months. We would be here all day!

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NEW NEWS:
Cianna Faith Photography has made an Instagram account, as well as a Facebook account
Feel free to view my latest photos and give my pages a follow!
Along with that, if anyone needs a photographer, I'm your girl!!
Thanks for your support!

Facebook- Cianna Faith Photography
Instagram- @_ciannafaithphotography

November 4, 2017

2017-11-06T12:18:00.001-05:00

I walked in the door from being gone all day. To my surprise, the dogs hadn’t made a mess, which was very unlike them. I was literally jumping for joy while I sang the beat to the Star Wars theme song???? - I do this a lot because Moo dances with me every time, which makes me so happy.

Dan had ran to the bathroom so I figured I would straighten up the curtains and couch covers so that we could go to bed knowing the house was picked up…

That’s when I saw it. My biggest fear had became a reality.

I started throwing a tantrum until Dan finally came out of the bathroom to see what was wrong. I just pointed to the right corner of my living room where I happily HAD my Christmas tree and presents, at one time, placed so precisely. It looked like everyone’s living room after waking up and opening presents Christmas morning. Shredded paper and boxes in a huge piled under the misplaced tree.

I know it’s a little absurd that already had my Christmas tree up and decorated, and even more that I had my presents bought and wrapped, but this is my favorite time of year. Every year, I am the one who gets to take on the responsibility of gifts and I absolutely love it. I always start and finish early because once I have a great idea, I can’t sleep until it’s completed.

Halloween night, I had the urge to set up my Christmas tree, so Dan so kindly set it up and helped me decorate it. I worked for the rest of that night, plus a few more on wrapping my gifts and making them cute.

My heart actually stopped when I saw all my hard work shredded to pieces. Bows, name tags, and even worse- actual gifts, all became a fun part of Brodie, Cooper, and Moo’s day..

After getting over the fact that all my presents were ruined, I pushed some stuff in front of the mess so that I could not see it, and went to bed. What was supposed to be a good night was ruined.

Happy me was up and ready to start the day bright and early Sunday morning. I had tons of stuff to get done- cleaning, grocery shopping, laundry, homework, etc. Sleep had calmed my raging anger from the night before. After going to Kroger and not having to battle with any long lines or people, I was rather pleasant for the rest of the day. I knew Dan was going shopping with one of his friends and I wasn’t going to be angry cleaning all day because of the fact that everyone wasn’t doing anything but me. My first accomplishment after putting away groceries was fixing the tree and what was left of the gifts. I figured that they wouldn’t want to bother the tree if it was up on the island, and I shoved some manageable gifts under to where they couldn’t get to them. The gifts that were costly, like a Victoria’s Secret canvas bag (that just so happened to be white, now with muddy paw prints) and clothing from various stores were hidden in my closet. I wanted to make sure that I never had to deal with that kind of mess again.

As I let the dogs from the kitchen into the living room, they seemed surprised that there was nothing left to temper with. The second I said “no more being bad” in a stern voice, all their ears went down. As their sad puppy eyes stared at me, I knew I wouldn’t be mad for long.

I decided the best thing for me to do was to go buy a ridiculous amount of toys so that they would constantly be occupied. We had a blast until Dan got home, and then continued playing along with Dan.

Let’s just say my dogs slept very well last night.

The Shy Girl

2017-11-03T12:17:00.001-04:00

College is great. My experience here at WVU has been pretty exciting compared to high school. There are so many people, which is terrifying, but most of the people are super kind. I can’t even begin to explain the nervous feeling I had coming to college. The first day I had to come to campus for orientation without my mom, I couldn’t make myself ride the PRT by myself. I ended up walking back to my car crying, to call my mom. She gave me one of her great pep talks, which gave me the guts to begin my very first lone college experience. I drove in circles downtown to find a parking space that wasn’t going to take every penny I had. Finally, once I found one, I took my good ol’ time adding in my head the amount of change I would need for 2 and a half hours, then started my journey to the Life Science Building. That is where most of the Psychology department exists.

It wasn’t all that bad, other than the fact that I arrived as the orientation was starting. This caused me to sit in the back. I regretted my choice of seating the moment I sat down. I had the pleasure of sitting by another freshman who just so happened to talk a lot.. A LOT. Before I was even adjusted in my seat, she was in my face. She basically didn’t shut her mouth the whole time.

While trying to pay attention to the college presentation, I had her on my right side, talking my ear off. I knew the presentation was important, considering the fact that they were giving us our four year plan, but this girl’s makeup was more interesting. I would look over as she whispered something about people from her high school ignoring her, and notice the bits of purple, pink, blue, and yellow all jumbled on her eyelids. She wore bright red lipstick to compliment the rainbow of colors on her face, along with hot pink blush. I so badly wanting to reach over and blend her contour lines with my finger, but I knew that would be more than rude.

It was obvious that I wasn’t interested in talking, and she insisted on finding out what was wrong with me.

“Why aren’t you talking? Are you just nervous?” she asked repeatedly.

“Yeah, I’m just nervous about starting school.” I replied so that she would stop asking.

After the presentation, we got to get up and explore the campus. First was a tour lead by an upperclassmen in the Psychology department. My new “friend” stayed right by my side for the whole tour. She made sure I knew exactly what each building was and what classes of mine may be in them. She was a pure genious when it came to knowing about her college.

The day ended with free lunch, which cheered me up. I was starving and ready to meet up with my friends. We stood in line for food as she told me what our choices were. Hot dogs or veggie wraps.. GREAT

I could hardly contain my excitement. Both of my favorite foods! NOT!

She grabbed three hot dogs, which made me sick because she didn’t use the utensils sat out to grab them. I decided veggie wraps were the way to go. I grabbed a wrap and a bottle of water as I checked my phone to see where my friends were. I needed an out...BAD.

“Where do you want to sit?” the girl who’s name I never knew asked.

Without an answer, she grabbed my arm and pulled me to a bench off to the side. Somehow, she was left with one hot dog. Where had the other ones gone? There was no way she already ate them. I guess I will never know.

I struggled to eat the wrap with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, and ranch on it because it was so messy. She literally stared at me every time I would go to take a bite.

“I’m done. Let’s go see what all those tents are!” she yelled as she threw away her plate.

I had taken about three bites of my wrap and hadn’t opened my water. I stood up and threw away my plate with an attitude.

“Were you not done? You could have finished?” she exclaimed, noticing I was irritated.

It was a little too late. I made it over to the tents, grabbed a free planner and poncho, and decided I had had enough. My friends obviously weren’t coming and I had no intentions of spending the rest of my day with her.

“I have to go pick up my friends at the Health Sciences Building. It was nice meeting you!” I said with a fake smile on my face.

She begged me not to go, but I “had to”.

That was a fantastic way to start off my year. Considering the fact that we were both first year Psychology majors, i prayed every night until the first day of school that I would not have class with her. Luckily, I haven’t seen her since.

I haven’t had too many more experiences as fun as that one, but I have made some new friends. Of course, I am still best friends with my group of friends from high school, and even reunited with my middle school best friend. I expected them to be my only friends throughout college, but to my surprise, I made a new friend the first week of classes.

I arrived in Woodburn hall on Wednesday only to find that the class number I wrote down did not exist. I remembered seeing the classroom when my mom showed me around, but I was still unsure. I went to where I thought the class was and asked some girl if it was the correct class. She said it was and I followed her into the classroom, sitting right beside her. We started talking right away, but only about how our days were going. I didn’t know if it was okay to already be asking her about her life, so I just let it be.

The next week, in my World Religions class, I followed a girl into the lecture hall and sat a couple seats over from her.

“Hey, aren’t you in my math class?” I heard coming from my right

I looked over and awkwardly yelled “hey! Yeah!”

From then on, we have been best friends. She is from Pennsylvania, and luckily she and a couple of her friends chose WVU over CalU. Because I was friends with her, I was automatically accepted into her little posse.

I’m so glad I decided to go out of my comfort zone and ask a random girl if I was in the right place. That was the start of many great friendships!

Since I changed majors, I anticipate meeting more people, and starting more great friendships. I am so grateful that basically everyone at WVU has a kind heart- at least when first meeting people. I never thought that I would be one to step out of my comfort zone, but college really was a new beginning for me. I am so lucky to have the chance to proceed in college thanks to multiple scholarships, the support of my wonderful family, and you guys! Don't forget to navigate the advertised websites located around my blog page. It only takes about 30 seconds, and it is going toward a good cause, so click away!!

If I could change anything about college, I would put escalators in place of all the stairs and cancel classes on raining and cold days. You really don’t realize how out of shape you are until you are forced to walk the LSB steps. I had the privilege of hearing about the short cut through Brooks Hall before starting college, but the elevators aren’t always reliable. I have to walk about half a mile to and from my car everyday, and that includes a hill that runs literally vertical. This makes the rain and coldness about 10 times worse. I really have no clue what I am going to do once it starts snowing! Other than that, I wouldn’t change a thing. The people are great, there’s plenty of free stuff , and free wifi!! Many people like to brag about the PRT, but I’m going to be completely honest. The PRT is not a reliable source of transportation between campuses, and they break down at least 5 times daily. My best advice to you, take all your classes on one campus so you don’t have to worry about being late.

For everyone questioning what college to attend, I highly recommend West Virginia University, home of the Mountaineers! They have a large variety of majors, and is the #1 school for multiple majors. WVU is a great choice, no matter what you plan on majoring in! Apply today!

I'm back with a brand new rap!

2017-11-03T03:09:00.001-04:00

~Not blogging for awhile has made me realize how much I miss writing.
I had around ten drafts saved on farming, but I decided to delete them. Since we do not have the zoo of animals that we used to have, I have intentions of changing the blog to fit to my lifestyle now.~

Hey all! Surprise! I'm back and have many surprises to let you in on!

For starters, as most of you probably already know, we ended up finding great homes for all of our animals. We had posted a few posts on our Facebook page, as well as on numerous Facebook pages wanting good homes. Our search was successful and our babies all went to farms in Preston County. I hope they are still living happy lives with their new families...

Next, COLLEGE! I have moved to be closer to college campus. While I don't have the same level of exciting events as I did when we had all the animals, I still have a great deal of entertaining stories. I now live in the middle of a very unique trailer park filled with multiple wild children and cats. I am living with my boyfriend, his two friends, our THREE dogs, TWO hamsters (which keep fluctuating in number), and my TWO fish. Life is great(:

After high school graduation, I couldn't have been more nervous about my future. I had plans to go to college and get my Ph. D. in Psychology, along with minors in photography and business, get my certification in Animal Assisted Therapy, and then open my very own equestrian ranch for handicapped children. I had this dream since my junior year of high school and I thought nothing could be more perfect. I would be working with the two things I love most- animals and kids, and be making pretty decent money along the way.

Sadly, as I evaluated my plans and thought back to the things my family had told me, I came to a quick realization. Psychology is a worthless degree in a world that everyone has it in. This horse ranch would not do good around here, and I have absolutely no intentions on moving away from my home community. Also, where was I going to get the money to start my own business? Where was I going to work before I opened that business?

All these things that I had never thought through before were literally hitting me like a bat. I decided I need to change my major going into the second semester of my freshman year in college. I have never had any true interests in any of the normal majors, but one thing from my childhood came to mind. Teaching! My sister and I always played school as kids, and of course since I was older, I got to be the teacher. I had a teacher my junior and senior years of high school that really put down teaching and would yell at anyone who told her they wanted to be a teacher saying: "do you like poverty? do you want to be poor?" Although she really made teaching sound like it's not worth it, she also explained that you have to really want to do it. As long as you love your job, the money doesn't compare. This particular teacher was always my favorite, not only english teacher, but teacher in general.

I have decided I want to be a high school english teacher, not only because of her, but also for my love of reading and writing- two things that I have always had a passion for. I want to teach high school over elementary simply because I figured I can have more civil conversations with humans above age 10 and the fact that the english I am interested in is the more complex stuff. Spelling tests never really were my thing..

As of my working status...well…

I was working at Sam’s Club this past summer, but that came to a dramatic end about 20 days in. I decided that retail just wasn’t me, not only because of rude customers, but also rude management. Not all, but most customers acted as if I was the worst part of their day. I would never be mean to a customer, as I would never be mean to any stranger, but some people made me want to rethink that. And then there was the managers. YES, START LAUGHING NOW BECAUSE THEY ARE A JOKE. I have never seen such nasty, inconsiderate people, but we won’t talk any more about this..

I am now jobless, but am hoping that blogging can give me a little extra income. As you can see, I now have ads various places on my page. Thanks to Google’s Advertising company, I can get paid per view of the ads on my page. The link have to be opened and navigated for around 30 seconds, and then money is sent to my account. Considering that fact that it’s only a few cents per click, I am not anticipating a lot of money, just a little extra. I thought you all could help me out with that and I would greatly appreciate it!

Being a broke college student has definitely been interesting, but I have loved it every step of the way. From getting my house remodeled and decorated, to choosing a new major, I have had so much support along the way. I can’t wait to start sharing my new stories with you!

Don’t forget to subscribe on the left hand side if you haven’t already!

Changes In Agriculture (Past 50 Years)

2016-08-09T16:42:00.001-04:00

Farming and Agriculture are rapidly evolving and constantly being made better. From the machinery getting bigger and faster, to the science behind farming becoming more understood, all aspects of this method that keeps all of us alive, are very fast pace.

After doing research for Farming with Cianna's first interview, I realized so many things have changed. Before looking into it, I expected the farm rates to have went up and the machinery to have improved, but I was partially wrong! There has been so much more change than that!

Farm Sizes and Numbers

As mentioned before, I thought that the number of U.S. farms had risen in the past 50 years. You would think since there are more people, there would be more farms raising our food.Well, research proved me wrong. The number of running farms in the United States has dropped over 8% in the last 5 decades. With that being said, commercial farms have gotten over two times larger to produce more foods.

Since people are growing crops more efficiently, more plants on less land, there is no need for more farms. Because those large farms can afford modern machinery, they do not employee nearly as many people as they did years ago.

Modern Machinery

In the mid 1800's, people were working on machines to make their jobs easier. By 1892, the first successful gasoline powered tractor was ran in Iowa. Being so cheap and small, the first tractor model interested many farmers, but it wasn't until 1953 that there were more tractors doing the farm work than horses and men. The first machines could do the work of 17 men and 50 horses.

Tractors and the machinery they pull are so much more efficient today than they were any number of years ago. Like my grandma mentioned in the interview, she would have to sit on the back of a truck and hold the rake down with her feet while her father was driving. Now, our machines not only till the ground, but they can dig, plant seeds, harvest plants, and so much more. Modern technology really has us spoiled!

Irrigation Improvements

All throughout history, farms have been settled along bodies of water for easy access. In the 1840's, when Mormons in Utah dammed the river in order to flood their fields to soften the soil, they discovered the real benefits of irrigation. Water produced thriving plant growth throughout the desert. Congress took this into consideration and ended up passing several law in the few after to assist farmers in making costly irrigation systems.

Now, of course, we don't have to worry about flooding our fields because we have efficient irrigation systems to water, although some farmers still do it that way. Though many people depend on the rain to water their crops, we have a back up way just in case of drought.

Use of Pesticides

In the mid 1800's, they started using pesticides to cure powdery mildew on grape plants. Tons of pesticides were created after the first one helped the plants. Paris green (contained arsenic) was introduced to control the potato beetle, which was an insect native to the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains that rapidly ate potatoes grown by pioneers. By 1893, there were 42 known insecticides made by many manufacturers. These pesticides were around all through the 1900's.

Now, we know arsenic is poisonous to us, but many of the things they used in their pesticides were considered harmful to us today. They still use chemicals for pesticides on most of the food we eat today, but you also have the choice to go organic. Many people don't want to pay the price for the chemical-free food, which is sad because that's what the government planned.

I found this awesome website that tells you what kind of pesticides are in the food you eat. It's really an eye-opener to see how many things have chemicals used on them. You really have no idea what they are doing to you. It's actually horrible that the government allows the amount of pesticides that they allow. Check it out: http://www.whatsonmyfood.org/
"What's on my food" is presented by "Pesticide Action Network" or PAN. They protest the uses of pesticides. Check it out: http://www.panna.org/

Location

Growing crops is usually thought to be outdoors, in a field, but we have changed that. Now, people grow their plants in greenhouses or in buildings with UV lights. This new way of raising crops is very efficient because you are able to grow food through all seasons, hot or cold.
As time goes on, this method is getting more and more popular.

There have obviously been more changes in agriculture than the ones I have listed. Because people will probably never stop growing vegetables, fruits, and other foods, there will always be room for improvement. Farming is a way of life that will never stop evolving. Who knows what the future will bring!

Who Did I Get It From?

2016-08-08T21:14:00.002-04:00

I was talking with someone the other day about my animals, and the question came up: "Who did you get it from?"

To be completely honest with you, I never really had thought it before, but as we went on to talk about how they knew my family, I realized that farming has really been in the family for many generations.

So, who did I actually get my love of agriculture from?

For the first time on Farming with Cianna, we have conducted an interview to find an answer to my question.

I decided to interview my Grandma Vicki knowing that she could give me all the details about my family's history.

Interview

Opening

Cianna: I was talking to some people the other day about the farming and animals, and the question came up "Who did you get it from?"
I was very caught off guard and realized that I've never really thought about it. That night, I was thinking about who I actually did get it from, but I really had no knowledge on the previous farming generations in our family. I knew about the farm that was by your house and how many of my loved ones were invovled, but I didn't know any details.
That is why I decided my next blog should be about my family's farming background and "Who I got it from."
If you don't mind, I have a few questions to ask about our family's history.

Background:

Farming is obviously a very fast evolving way of life. With new machinery being made, to science gaining knowledge, many things are constantly changing.
In the past 50 years, farming has drastically changed it's ways.
Some examples are:

People figuring out ways to produce more on less land.
New findings on genetics allowing us to modify foods for our liking.
Improved pest management programs.
Better fertilizer.
Larger, faster machinery.
Rapid and more accurate soil testing.

Questions and Answers

Cianna: How have you seen farming change in the past 20 years?

Vicki: They have developed better seeds that are disease resistant and produce more and they've created better machinery that makes everything easier.

Cianna: How many generations before you have been involved in agriculture?

Vicki: It all started with Samuel Huntly and his wife, Cathren Wolfe-Huntly. There have been 4 generations before me.

Cianna: What type of farming has ran in our family?

Vicki: We have raised crops and animals.

Cianna: Did you help out on the farm?

Vicki: Yes, my sister and I helped our dad with the raking and animal care.

Cianna: Did you have any daily chores around the farm that were meant for only you?

Vicki: Yes, I collected the eggs and when grandma didn't have time to milk the cows (Poke and Jers) I would milk them for her.

Cianna: What was it like living on a farm?

Vicki: It was very hard work working in the acre garden, feeding, and doing barn work, but it taught us a lot.

Cianna: Were their any animals on the farm that you were attached to?

Vicki: Poke and Jers, the dairy cows, and Dirty Sally, the sow.

Cianna: Are you glad you were raised in a farming atmosphere?

Vicki: Yes! Being raised in a farming atmosphere taught us how to respect hard work, how to respect each other, the animals and life itself. You get to experience things being born and death because of whatever reason. But, you learn not to take life for granite because it's a precious thing that only God can give and it doesn't last for very long, just like on the tombstones you have a birth date and a death date and that little dash in the middle is all the life you've got.

Cianna: Does farming still interest you?

Vicki: Yes.

Cianna: If you could go back to farming in the past, would you?

Vicki: I probably would because things weer still "natural". Today, everything is so fast-pace and we want to preserve everything by adding these preservatives that we don't even know what they are. I think we need to go back to a more natural state instead of putting chemicals in everything.

Cianna: What is YOUR definition of a farm?

Vicki: A place to raise animals, food, and family where there is a lot of love.

Cianna: What are the first words that come to your head when I say "animals, farm, outdoors,etc.."?

Vicki: Beautiful and calming. That's because when I'm upset, I know I can go talk to Velvet, and she'll calm me down and let me know everything's going to be okay. She's probably the one animal that knows more about the Bible than any other animal because I go down to the barn and read Psalms with her.

Closing

Cianna: Is there anything else you would like to add?

Vicki: I don't think.

Cianna: Well thank you very much for finally answering my question: "Who did I get it from?"
It's pretty cool to know where it all started and about the traditions we have carried on for many generations.
I am very glad to follow in their footsteps!

So it all started back in the 1820's when Samuel H. Huntly cleared the fields of his property to begin raising crops and animals. The land has been in our family ever since! How great!
I am so happy I got to interview my grandma. Again, I thank her for teaching me.

I hope you've learned a lot about my family and "Where I got it from"! I've really learned a ton!

Stevia!

2016-08-04T20:22:00.003-04:00

You may have heard of Stevia before. It's a sugar substitute extracted from the leaves of a Stevia plant, and is becoming popular again. Companies like Coca-Cola use a Stevia-Sugar mix to sweeten their products. Many people prefer Stevia over other "sugar imposters" such as Splenda or Sweet'N Low. It does not mess with blood glucose, which makes it attractive to people with Diabetes or controlled diets.

Stevia has no calories, but don't let that fool you. Total intake should still be managed; eating too much could make you gain weight as easily as too much sugar. Surprisingly, 1 tsp of Stevia = 1 cup of sugar, so be careful how much you add!

Fun Fact: Packaged Stevia is not necessarily straight Stevia. Many companies mix other compounds to lower the cost.

To avoid eating unknown substances, I make my own! Keeping reading to find out how to plant, harvest, and blend your own substitute!

I bought one Bonnie Stevia plant from Lowe's at the beginning of Summer. I now have 6 different plants because they multiply themselves. The plant I had purchased was a little wilted and in desperate need of water. Bonnie's website has a great list of tips for raising each type of plant they sell. (https://bonnieplants.com/growing/growing-stevia/) I went to the website and did some research on the plant since I have never raised one before. I did what the website said to do and it only took one night for it to recover after being replanted and watered! Obviously, since it revived so fast, it is super easy to take care of! That's good news for people who have a hard time keeping plants alive, like my mom ( :

After growing all Summer, I decided it was time to harvest the leaves and finally make some sweetener!

They do taste a tad bit better in cooler weather, but it is also bitterish after the plant blooms flowers, so I am going to get as many batches as I can.

The leaves should get about 5-8 inches long (some shorter, some longer) before harvesting. The website says to cut the entire stem with the leaves on it, but I simply just detach the leaves and leave the stem. The leaves will regrow in their place.

For my first batch of powder, I collected around 10 leaves. Of course you can use more, I was just experimenting, so I didn't want to waste any.

Making your own blend is super easy!

After you have harvested your leaves, thoroughly wash them. You don't want bugs or dirt in your substitute!

Completely dry them.

The easiest way to dry out the Stevia is to lay them on a dry towel, paper towel, cloth, or screen. Place outside in a place the sun can completely remove all moisture, or in a dry spot in the house.

Once completely dried, use a blender or Ninja to completely break the leaves into tiny grains.
Use to sweeten foods and drinks. Please note that Stevia grains do not fully dissolve, but they make a great sweetener!

You can also make your own Stevia extract by adding a cup of warm water to 1/4 cup of Stevia grains. Let mixture set for 24 hours and then refrigerate. The extract can also be used to sweeten foods and beverages.

There are so many things Stevia is used for. Baking is one of them.
It does sweeten everything without using very much, but keep in mind that it doesn't carmelize.
See what all the buzz is about! Try it out for yourself!

10+ Ways to Cut Down on Waste

2016-08-03T17:52:00.000-04:00

Here at the farm, we used to go through trash bags like CRAZY!
After doing a little thinking, I came up with a list of stuff that would help to cut back on waste.
Not only are we saving money now, but we are also helping to save the Earth.
Many of the things we throw away every day can be reused around the house, or recycled.

Cut back. Period.

This can be hard for people to do, especially if they are as picky as I am.
I could suggest not buying single bottles of water, but I'm not going to because that's all I will drink.
I will suggest buying a reusable water bottle though, because they are becoming a popular thing, and getting a lot cuter!
I really believe we should all be cutting down on the processed foods all together. In that case, we would be cutting down the on packaging we throw away tremendously. We all need sweets and easy-to-make foods sometimes. In this case, we should buy in bulk to reduce the amount of packaging we pitch.
Also, use less napkins and paper products at your house!

These are just a few examples, but there are so many more great ways to cut back.
That's not all though! Put what you do have to buy to good use!

Reusing Around The House

I reuse many things around the house.
There's no need to throw away most of the stuff we tend to pitch!

1. Lunch meat containers can be reused for storing leftovers or other items (also can be recycled.)

2. Plastic water bottles can be re-purposed in many ways.

Use bottle halves to start seeds in.
Hang bottles with the ends removed in rabbit cages. Use for holding hay and treats to give them something to do.
Use for bird feeders. Poke holes big enough for their beaks, but small enough that the feed doesn't all come out. Put bird or chicken feed in and hang!
Poke holes in cap and use as waterer.
Use dry bottles to store seeds for following years.
Craft, Craft, Craft! Pintrest has a TON of crafting posts using plastic bottles!
Recycle them!

3. Used milk jugs (or any jugs) can be used as watering jugs as well. We fill them with our homemade herbal air freshener so it is ready to go when we need it.

4. Used toilet paper and paper towel rolls can be used as hanging bird feeders and hanging hay holders for the rabbits.

5. Used K-Cups also have many uses around the house! (SAVE THE COFFEE GROUNDS!)

Use them as seed starters. They already have a drain hole in the bottom, so just plant and go!
Use them as bath bomb molds.
Decorate with them! Poke Christmas lights through the bottom holes, and have instant party lighting.

http://creative.viralnova.com/coffee-pod-crafts/

Check Pintrest for additional crafts and DIY K-Cup activities!
Again, Recycle

6. Save Coffee and Tea Grounds for your compost bin, garden, and more!

Using the grounds in your garden adds nitrogen to the soil and greatly helps your plants thrive. It also eliminates snails, slugs, and ants!
Using them on root plants, such as carrots, makes them grow the most!
Cleaning with coffee helps get that deeper clean that some places need, not to mention it smells GREAT!
Make homemade scrubs and soaps with it! Once again, it smells awesome!
Ladies - coffee grounds even have a possibility of helping with cellulite. Rubbing grounds on the areas for about 10 minutes a few times per week could help make it disappear.
Some people even cook with grounds! Meat rubs are the most popular.

7. Look up DIY activities for other things you throw away. There are tons of things you can do with stuff that will save you money and create fun!

Getting Rid of Food Scraps

There are a lot of food scraps you have to pitch, but there are also many you can put to good use!

1. Replanting

Replant lettuce and celery bottoms, pineapple tops, mushroom stems, garlic heads, and onions to save you money and cut back.

2. Composting

Start a compost bin or pile if you don't already have one! You can add vegetable scraps, fruit scraps, eggshells, newpaper, wood scraps, manure, weeds, and grass cuttings. Keep turning it and you will have fresh, healthy soil in no time!

3. Feeding scraps to animals

Chickens, ducks, and rabbits LOVE getting vegie and fruit scraps!
Goats like anything really from vegies to old bread.
Feed meat scrap to your dogs.

I recommend not feeding your animals anything moldy.

Let Others Put it to Good Use

If you don't like that shirt anymore, or got a new TV, don't just throw it away. There's plenty you can do with that stuff!

1. Good Will and Thrift shops
2. Facebook Fleamarkets/Craigslist
3. Yardsale
4. Give to people in need
5. Freecycle
6. BuyNothing

There are always people out there in search of free or cheap stuff. Don't pitch it! Sell it or give it away!
Even things like baby food jars are needed by people.

I like the idea of saving the Earth. Though one person could never do it themselves, they can inspire others to help make a change. Change really does start with you!
Until tomorrow!

Saving Money By Raising Mealworms!

2016-08-02T16:14:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone! I am so excited to tell you about our new critters, that also happen to be chicken food!

MEALWORMS is the word! That's right. We are now proud Mealworm farmers.

Why bother with raising insects for our chickens you ask?

Well, Mealworms are literally the easiest to take care of, they are cheap, and are great for chickens, so why not!?

Mealworms provide plenty of protein that chickens need to lay eggs and live healthy lives.

Again, raising them is SO EASY!

Life Cycle

Mealworms actually are immature darkling beetles.

Mealworms hatch from the beetle's eggs (2 weeks after laid) , and live a full 3 months before going into a pupa stage. They then spend a whole month in the pupa stage before coming out a full grown beetle.

They then lay eggs, and the process starts again!

Simple enough!

Proper Housing

At first, we used a long, deep Tupperware container to house the worms, but then I found out they turn into beetles.

Now we use this:

Using drawers ensures that the beetles will not make an escape, and since I am storing them in my room, I DO NOT WANT THEM TO ESCAPE!!!

The first and second drawers have the worms in them, and the last drawer has beetles and eggs in it.

The female beetles will lay up to 500 eggs before she dies.

We put almond flake flour in the containers for them to live in, but people also use saw dust and dry oats.

Feeding

They eat pretty much anything. We give them decaying grass and weeds, soft vegetables, and fruits.

They do their own thing; we just give them food 1-2 times a week.

Harvesting

Harvesting the worms is also easy! Simply take out as many worms as you need and feed them to your chickens! I give mine roughly 1/2 cup per 5 hens.

Of course, this takes a while to grow as many worms as you need, so I would suggest not taking any live ones out until you have a large number of worms. The more worms you have, the more eggs you'll get.

You can also freeze dry the worms if you decide you need to cut down or just don't have the space anymore. Put the worms in a container with a lid and put them in the freezer for 20 minutes. This is considered a humane way to kill the worms..

You can store them in Ziplock Baggies in the freezer, but you may not want to see worms every time you open the freezer door. In this case, you can store them on a shelf.

Raising Mealworms is just one of the many ways we save money on the farm.

Come back to find out more ways we save money!

Second Garden Update

2016-07-28T19:00:00.001-04:00

Yay! I'm so excited to finally update you on our garden. Since last time, we have had a major dry spell and then finally a huge storm. The rain really did the garden good! Well, all but my poor tomato plants.

Sadly, two of our plants were broke in the storm. Each plant had around 15 tomatoes on them, which were still small and green (we saved a few from the broken limbs, hoping that they will ripen). The limbs we absolutely could not save, were fed to the animals (they loved it) and the ones that we could help have been retied and given support. Hopefully they will make it, but there's no tellin' what will happen.

Other than that, everything is doing GREAT!!!

Our cabbage leaves are getting huge! Hopefully in a couple weeks, they will be ready!

We have more than 25 watermelons starting on our 5 plants. This is the biggest that we have at the moment. It seemed to just appear over night! How exciting!

Our Marigolds are more beautiful than ever! All of our new seeds have sprouted and the sprouts in the containers are ready to go in the ground. I can't wait until the end of the season when they are all bigger!

Our snap peas are doing wonderful! Ever since we gave them the trellises to grow up, they have been doing great!

Lastly, our moldy pumpkin seeds have turned into this mess!

(We had poured a packet of wet, moldy pumpkin seeds in the corner of the garden, thinking they wouldn't grow.... They are doing the best out of our whole garden!!)

Update me on your garden! Comment below(:

Making an Emergency Car Kit

2016-07-27T07:11:00.001-04:00

Hey y'all! As soon as I got my first car, my mom had me put a small container of supplies in the trunk that would help me in any situation!
I'm going to help you create your very own emergency car kit, to ensure you that you will be okay under any circumstances!

My mom and I sat down and created a list of items that I could possibly need if I were anywhere away from home. We were thinking about every possible situation, so we may have gone a little bit overboard, but safety first, I guess.
Here's pictures and descriptions of everything I have included in my own emergency car kit!

Band-Aids of all sizes, Gauze sponges, Antiseptic wash, Antibiotic Ointment, Cleansing wipes, Hair ties, Bobby pins, and Safety Pins.

Instant hot and cold packs.

Headache medicine for emergencies.

More Antibacterial wipes for messes.

Plenty of trash bags (if you're like me). I like my car clean(:

A flash light in case you break down, or just need it at any time.

Of course snacks, bottled water, a plastic cup, and mini spoons and forks..Never know when you're going to get stuck in traffic, brake down, or just be plain out hungry!

Of course you always need your hair brush, lotion, perfume, and hand sanitizer!

Along with deodorant and an extra toothbrush (toothpaste and floss, too!)

Oh yeah! Once again, PLENTY OF TRASH BAGS

A change purse with change.. You never know when you'll have to cross a toll booth or pay to park.

Of course, more smell goods! I always have a supply of air fresheners!

An umbrella for the rain.

An ice scraper for the snow and ice (so cute!)

A cute neck pillow for your passengers on long rides, or even you if you are sitting in your car for a long while. (Mine massages!)

WD-40 (I just love the tiny can!)

Extra Oil, Antifreeze, Windshield Wiper Fluid, Brake Fluid, and Starting Fluid in case you run out unexpectedly or brake down.

All of my supplies fit nicely in one small, convenient container.

It all fits nicely inside my dirty trunk next to my emergency fishing pole(:

Of course there are other items you should keep in your car that I did not list, such as:

Blanket (Mine matches my puppy neck pillow)
Sweatshirt
Socks (I keep regular and fuzzy socks just in case I break down in the Winter, or simply just need socks)
Change of clothes
Gloves, scarf, and hat (Winter)
Extra shoes
Other medications that may be important to you
Emergency money
Jumper cables
Tools to change tires, fix whatever, etc...
Phone Charger
Pen and Paper
Multi-tool or a knife
Paper Map (just in case)

All of these items can easily fit in your car. Using a small container has helped me to fit supplies in my car, along with the console, glove box, and a bag that goes under your seats.
It is always better to be prepared because you never know what is going to happen. Safety first!

Citronella, Citronella, and More Citronella!

2016-07-26T13:44:00.001-04:00

After being asked "what is that plant?" by many people, I've realized that a great number of people don't know what Citronella is.

Have you ever bought the outdoor citronella candles that repel mosquitoes? Many will be surprised to hear that those are made out of Citronella plants (Hints: the name)!

I bought my Citronella plants back in June, and they are probably one of my most favorite plants. They are super easy to take care of, they smell wonderful, and they keep all bugs off my porch! Can't get any better than that!
All I did was plant them in bigger pots and set them on each side of the porch. Mosquitoes HATE the smell, so they don't come around!
But it gets so much better than that..
There are tons of uses for Citronella, and it comes back every year!
Keep reading to find out all the amazing uses for this plant, as well as how to preserve it over the Winter months.

Harvesting Citronella

Harvesting the leaves off the plant is not a hard job at all. Simply just pull the leaves off the stocks and they will regrow themselves. They respond well to pruning, so you don't have to worry about hurting the plant.

Preserving Harvested Leaves

Boiling Method- Bug Spray
Boil the leaves until scent is strong enough. Strain mixture. Use liquid as a bug spray to repel insects.

Slow Cooker Method- Citronella Oil
Blend Citronella leaves into a paste. Add Olive Oil and blend into a slow cooker and simmer for 5-8 hours. Strain and store in a easy-to-pour bottle or container.

Uses for Citronella Oil

You are going to be amazed at what Citronella can do around the house and for your body, beyond repelling pests!

Insect Repellent
As I mentioned before, Citronella is one of the most effective mosquito repellents you can find, but there is more! It can also prevent body lice, head lice, and flies.
Just apply every 30-60 minutes when outdoors.

Pet Control
This miracle plant can:

Calm barking dogs

Just wave a leaf by their nose so that they can pick up the smell. (It actually works for Brodie and Cooper!)
You could also use the spray or oil for this.

Keep dogs off the furniture
Keep bacteria, pests, and odor off the furniture and blankets.

Just spray down the areas in which you prefer!

Anti-Inflammatory and Pain Reducer
Citronella reduces swelling and increases blood flow, which helps with pain. It can also help with joint pain and arthritis!

Digestive Aid
Using the Citronella oil in your diet could do the following:

Detox body - increases sweating and urination to cleanse body from toxins
Prevent bacteria growth in digestive tract
Speeds up healing process
Can kill parasites and worms in the body
Protects against a number of diseases and infections

Natural Skin Care
Applying a small amount of Citronella to your daily cleansing routine could help you:

Get rid of acne and dark spots
Fade sun spots
Fight warts, boils, and age spots
Heal dermatitis, eczema, and bug bite scars
Makes skin look more youthful

That sounds great to me!

Muscle Relaxant
This one's pretty self explanatory.
Rubbing the Citronella oil on painful areas can help to relieve cramps, swelling, and pain.

Natural Hair Care
Add the oil to your regular routine to get rid of dandruff and oils, and add volume!

The great thing is, all of these requires little to no effort after the oil and spray are made! How convenient!
I have added Citronella to my daily life, and it has helped out so much! It is well worth your money!
Consider trying it!

Until tomorrow!

Aftermath of the Storm

2016-07-25T20:28:00.000-04:00

Good afternoon everyone! Hope you all had a great weekend.. It was definitely a nice one!
Well, after being trapped in the house while it was storming, I'm finally able to finish my post for the day.
I was walking up the stairs of my garage (which are outside) right after it had stopped, and wow! What a mess!
Here are a few pictures:

Nugget didn't make it inside in time.. He got a tad bit wet.

This little one is enjoying playing in the puddles.

I think that's what I will name him...Puddles!

Omelet here made it in right as it started pouring.. She still got wet.

Mazy thinks she's a duck, so she stayed out with them.

Chip and Dip ran away before the storm and never made it back until after, so they got really wet.

Momma did a great job of keeping her babies dry and warm as the wind was blowing like crazy.

Soaked chickens!

The bunnies only got a little wet, so they were happy, although the storm really scared them.

Pig is still screaming because he hates all the water....

Sadly, our backyard is flooded once again, but we really needed the rain.
Our garden and ducks are happy now with all the water.

I hope you all stayed dry during the storm!
Until tomorrow!

All Things Herbal

2016-07-22T13:38:00.005-04:00

Herbs, by definition, are any plant that is used for food, flavoring, perfumes or medicine.

Here at the farm, we use a variety of herbs to do a majority of different things.

These plants are completely organic, mentioning the fact that we grow them with NO CHEMICALS, and they are completely ANIMAL FRIENDLY.

Drying Fresh Herbs

Hang your fresh herbs to dry in order to preserve them or make teas.

Another drying method is rolling them in newspaper and letting them sit until dry.

Drying your own herbs is easy and will save you money!

Freezing Fresh Herbs

If your house is anything like mine, you already have a ton of dried herbs and spices in your cabinets in which you use everyday.

Change it up a bit by freezing your herbs in ice trays with olive oil.

This is will preserve them and make cooking dinner easier on you!

Just throw a cube in the skillet and instantly have oil and spices!

How convenient!

You could include rosemary, cilantro, parsley, bay leaves...anything really!

Of course we use herbs in the kitchen when preparing our own meals, but how else can they be used?

Hair Rinse

This herbal hair rinse makes your hair super soft and shiny! Replace your shampoo with it at least three times per week.

Ingredients:

Water (4 cups)
Dried lavender (1/2 cup)
Dried Rosemary (1/2 cup)
Apple cider vinegar (3 tbsp.)

Utensils:

Pitcher
Pot
Strainer

Instructions:

Boil the water
Turn off heat and add dried spices. Let the water cool. (The longer the herbs are in the water, the more intense the smell is.
Strain.
Pour solution, without herbs, into pitcher and use as shampoo. (I like to pour it on my hair over a bowl so that I can reuse it multiple times.)

What a great way to make your hair healthy without chemicals!

Herbal Washes, Scrubs, and Soaps

By now, you should already know that I fully support the whole organic, natural ways stuff. Knowing this, you shouldn't be surprised that I make my own washes and scrubs.

I use my very own blueberry lemonade scrub as face wash (the acidity of the lemons help with blemishes and oily skin and the blueberries give it a great smell) every morning and I have many different kinds of soap:

Almond
Blueberry lemonade
Coconut
Cupcake
Eucalyptus
Green tea
Peppermint
Vanilla

All including herbs to not only preserve, but to benefit your skin.

Mason Jars are $10 per jar.

There are plenty more ways to use herbs indoors, but lets move outdoors!

Herbs are very handy when you are dealing with animals. From feeding to cleaning, herbs help with everything!

Coop Freshener

Sprinkle the following herbs around the chicken coop and the run.

Lavender (Insecticide, strong aroma, stress reliever.)
Mint (Rodent and insect repellent, disease prevention, parasite control.)
Oregano (Antifungal, antibiotic.)
Spearmint (Antiseptic, eases nerves.)
Yarrow (Antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, stress reliever.)

Sprinkle the following in the nesting boxes to keep them smelling great and clean!

Lemongrass (Insecticide.)
Marjoram (Laying Stimulant.)
Mint (")
Nasturtium (Laying Stimulant, antibiotic, antiseptic.)
Nettles (Laying Stimulant, health booster.)
Parsley (Laying stimulant, feather growth.)
Spearmint (")

In addition to sprinkling fresh plants in the chicken coop and run, I make my own herbal air freshener.

Ingredients:

Water
Vinegar
Peppermint oil
Eucalyptus oil
Fresh mint
Fresh oregano

Add all ingredients in a spray bottle until you get your preferred scent. I made mine super strong to make sure it lasted a while. It smells nice and fresh!

I spray it on the walls of my buildings 1-2 times a day and the wood soaks it right up. Each time I walk in, it smells better and better.

Animal Food

Pretty much all herbs are good for the animals to eat, but here are some I highly recommend adding in to their feed!

Basil
Bee Balm
Cilantro
Comfrey
Dandelion
Marjoram
Nasturtium
Nettles
Oregano
Parsley
Sage
Spearmint
Tarragon
Thyme

Chick Feed

Basil
Bay Leaves
Chervil
Cilantro
Comfrey
Coriander
Dandelion
Dill
Fennel
Marjoram
Mint
Nettles
Parsley
Spearmint

Chicken/Duck Water

Adding herbs to your animals water could be very beneficial!

Basil (Antibacterial, rejuvenating.)
Dandelion (High in antioxidants, make yellow yolks.)
Oregano (Antifungal, antibiotic.)
Parsley (Laying stimulant, feather growth.)

Chicken Dust Baths

People add herbs to their animals' sand and dust baths for a number of reasons...

Anise ( Parasite control.)
Fennel (Disease prevention, parasite control.)
Ginger (Parasite control, stress reliever.)
Lavender (Aromatic, insecticide.)
Yarrow (Antibacterial, Stress reliever.)

This is exactly why I believe the natural way is the best way. There is so much you can do with fresh plants and it saves you money. There is no need to worry about animals getting sick from it, because it's good for them!

Once again, these are some things I highly recommend doing with your herbs!

I am selling scrubs, washes, and soaps, and hope to be selling bath bombs, bath jellies, and bath salts very soon!

Come back for our next post here on Farming with Cianna!

Homemade Chicken Treats

2016-07-21T20:10:00.002-04:00

Hey there, again!

Today sure was a hot one! All the animals were showing it today as they laid around, waiting for the sun to fall. What better way to cool down the flock than some homemade treats!

I am going to share with you some treats for our feathered friends that they are sure to love!

Hot day, cold treats

Chickens have a hard time cooling themselves in the Summer, so I highly recommend providing cooling options for them.

You can set up sand or dust baths for them to roll around in, but I believe their favorite cooling technique is, of course, eating cool foods!

Freeze their favorite foods in a bowl of water, or even ice trays for smaller flocks, to satisfy their needs!

Here are some of my chickens' favorites.

Fruit Cubes

Chickens sure do love fruit, so why not treat them with it! (It's super easy!)

Add cubes of fruit to water, freeze until solid, and serve.

Some good fruits for chickens include:

Strawberries

Blueberries

Blackberries

Raspberries

Cherries

Apples

etc..

Just make sure to stay clear of any citrus fruits; oranges, lemons, limes, .. are very high in acid, making them toxic to chickens. Also, no moldy foods!

Vegie Cubes

Vegetables are also loved by chickens.

I added corn, lima beans, peas, lettuce, carrots, and radishes to mine.

Leafy greens are great for them, as well are cauliflower and broccoli. Stay clear of raw potatoes, onions, and garlic (in large doses.)

Now I say that, but garlic is actually good for them a tiny bit at a time.

I sprinkled about a tablespoon of garlic powder in the vegie cube to provide a natural anthelmintic.

I wouldn't give them more than 3 tablespoons of garlic a month.

Once again, don't give your animals moldy foods!

Fresh Cubes

Herbal ice cubes are also a good way to satisfy your chickens.

I like to use mint for my ice blocks, but any herb is good.

Same steps as the others, just add it to water and freeze.

What a clean, fresh way to cool down!

Great thing about these cool treats are, all the animals love them! The chickens peck at them to get the ice and food, the ducks eat the fresh foods after the ice melts, and of course Peppa enjoys it all. I started using Tupperware containers to make these treats after the first time I made them with ice trays (Peppa ended up eating them whole, so none of the other animals got any.)

Either way, they are great for hot days!

Hot or Cold Day Treats

Hanging Treats

A mixture of oats, chia seeds, sunflower seeds, and lentils is a great GMO-free way to treat your chickens in a different way.
You can serve it to them like you do their normal food, or even make hanging treats.

To make hanging treats, you will need oats, sunflower seeds, chia seeds, lentils, peanut butter, string, scissors, and a toilet paper or paper towel roll
The steps are super easy!
Cut a small hole in the paper towel roll to fit a piece of string through. Cut the string as long as you prefer and knot it after putting in through the hole.
Mix the ingredients, spread peanut butter on the toilet paper roll, and roll it in the ingredients. The mixture will stick to the peanut butter.
Hang the feeder in the coop and watch them go for it!

If you wanted, you could even go as far as making whole treats by mixing all the ingredients, including the peanut butter together and shaping them with cookie cutters. After they have dried, you can put a string through and hang it up for the chickies!

More things you could hang for treats are heads of lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, and other vegies.

Herbs

Basil, Bee Balm, Cilantro, Comfrey, Dandelion, Dill, Marjoram, Mints, Nettles, Oregano, Parsley, Sage, Spearmint, Tarragon, and Thyme are all great herbs for chicken's health.
Pick some fresh plants and hang them in your chicken coop. They love having different things to peck at!
I love using herbs around the farm for EVERYTHING!
Speaking of which, my next post is going to be everything herbs!

Come back later to read about all the great uses for herbs!

Until tomorrow!

First Garden Follow Up

2016-07-21T12:52:00.004-04:00

Good afternoon, friends! Thanks for coming back to Farming with Cianna!

Yesterday, I published my gardening post revealing some great tips on garden care. Well, today, I have to make some corrections.

Yesterday evening, Brodie and I were walking down the sidewalk to go to the backyard. At the end of the sidewalk, there is a large flower garden. As I called for Brodie to follow me, I realized he wasn't coming because something was in the flower bed.

I walked over only to find Peppa munching on some leaves.

At this point, I was thinking this is impossible; he has to be magic or something. We have blocked all the places that he gets out under the fence and all the gates were closed. How does this happen!!!

I walked the fence, searching for a new opening in which pig could fit. I saw nothing.

Luckily, my little cousins had watched the whole thing! (Thank goodness for them.)

They showed me to the hole and I quickly got it fixed. We safely got Piggers back in the fence by trapping him in the garage and leading him with food.

I thought we saw all the damage he had done, in the flower beds, but I was wrong.

This morning, just like every other morning, I walked out to observe the garden. My routine consists of checking all the plants to make sure they haven't been destroyed, helping the vines interweave through the trellises, and pulling weeds.

My morning garden check was ruined the moment I saw this:

My lettuce had been trampled and eaten by Peppa, along with some onions, radish leaves, and green pepper leaves! (Hints the hoof prints throughout my garden.)

(A picture of the lettuce from yesterday)

So, I had taken the time to recommend some organic ways to keep pests out of your garden in my last post. I am now letting you know cayenne pepper, chili powder, and garlic powder DO NOT phase pigs!!
Trying to find a way to end this, I Googled "How to keep pigs out of the garden." Surprisingly, it had already been searched before (which was really funny to me for some reason.)
Pretty much all they had to say was put up a fence. I guess that's all you can do when it comes to hungry animals.
Although Peppa shouldn't be able to get out anymore, I am still planning on finding something he doesn't like to spread on my garden, just to be safe.
When I find that item, I'll let you know!

Hope Piggers at least made you smile today!
Check back for healthy, organic chicken treats later tonight!
Much love for all my readers!

Gardening 101 (From Dummies)

2016-07-20T15:17:00.001-04:00

Welcome to the first official non-introduction post here at Farming With Cianna!

Dan and I are looking forward to giving you a few gardening tips that we have learned this Summer with our own garden.

Instead of "Gardening for Dummies", we have decided to name it "Gardening from Dummies", given that we are first year "farmers"!

This has been our first year having a garden WITHOUT mom's help. We did everything completely on our own, including starting the plants from seeds (with few exceptions).

We have a wide variety of plants in our garden; all were started in late March (I wish we would have started them earlier).

We have the following plants:

Strawberries

Watermelon

Cantaloupe

Jack-o-Lantern Pumpkins
Jack-be-Little Pumpkins
Cucumbers

Snap Peas
Lima Beans
Tomatoes
Zucchini

Hungarian Wax Peppers
Green Peppers

Onions

Radishes

Beets

Cabbage
A Variety of Lettuce
Kale
Spinach

Celery
Stevia
Citronella
Wild Mint
Spearmint
Sunflowers
A Variety of Marigolds

White Daisies

So far, we have gotten many radishes (most of which were fed the animals), a TON of mint, a few strawberries (even though they weren't supposed to bloom this year), a gallon of the hot peppers, we have about 100 onions almost big enough, and we've gotten around 2 gallons of lettuce (a lot has been fed to the animals). Our Sunflowers are doing great, along with the Marigolds (we're growing them for chicken food).

Our Watermelons, Pumpkins, and Cucumbers are finally starting to grow up the trellises and even have little starts on them...

And our Tomatoes are getting huge! (The picture definitely doesn't do them justice.)

We have around 50 small green tomatoes at the moment!

We can't wait to make our own spaghetti sauce!

So what are some things we did that got us to this point? Well there are plenty of great tips for us to share with you!

Replant foods that can be replanted!

How many times have you gone out and bought a pack of celery or heads of lettuce this Summer?

We've only bought them once because we replanted the bottoms!

The steps for this is as easy as cut the bottom off the celery or romaine lettuce, plant in dirt, and water!

It only take two-five days to start regrowing itself after planted!

Both the celery and romaine lettuce grow back quickly, and fully. The lettuce head don't grow back to look like the originally did, but it produced the same tasting lettuce.

This is a great way to save money and grow more!

2. Try growing in containers or raised boxes!

We don't have raised boxes this year, but everyone that we know who does have them, loves them. (Hopefully next year we will get to build a couple.)
Since we don't have the gardening boxes, we planted certain plants in containers and pots.
Of course they all were started in plastic boxes like these (right), but many plants get too big to grow up in them.
We have some lettuce, celery, onions, stevia, citronella, and some flowers planted in pots. Everything that we have planted in the pots has sprouted and grown really quick.
We have them our on our deck, so it's hard to forget to water them since we see them every time we walk out.
You don't have to worry about weeds taking over and you can place them anywhere that gets sun. (they can be right at your fingertips like ours!)

3. Fertilize, Fertilize, Fertilize!

Though not everyone fertilizes their gardens, I have had a great outcome from using organic fertilizer.

We use a mix of chicken and goat manure, and the duck's pool water! People use all different kinds of things to boost their gardens, all of which work great, such as:

Animal poop (chicken, duck, goat, cow, etc...)
Wood ashes
Compost (decomposed fruits, vegies, eggshells, coffee grounds, etc...)
Blood meal and other animal products
and finally, my favorite of all...EPSOM SALTS!!!

I just recently started sprinkling Epsom salts on my garden after reading a great article about its' benefits. (http://garden.org/learn/articles/view/68/)

After sprinkling a tiny bit on each plant and watering to let the soil absorb the nutrients, my garden thrived tremendously!

My one zucchini plant wasn't looking too hot. It's leaves were yellowish and it wasn't growing. After putting the Epsom salts on it, this is what happened:

I still can't believe how much it has improved since last week.

Epsom salts are one of the easiest ways to fertilize. Instead of shoveling manure, turning a heavy barrel of compost, or even carrying the bag of store-bought fertilizer, all you have to do is buy the small container of salts, and sprinkle about a tablespoon on each plant every two weeks. No hassle, no pain - just gain!

This is one of the smartest things I have done this year and it's probably about my #1 tip for you today. Try it!

4. Keep your garden weed and pest free!

I don't know about you, but I like to keep my garden completely organic and chemical free. This gets pretty hard to do when you have weeds taking over and pesky animals trying to steal food.

Weeds

I was scrolling through Pintrest one day and stumbled upon a great gardening tip that I have used ever since.

Homemade weed killer!

Of course it's not 100% chemical free, but it is the best one that I have come upon.

You mix vinegar, dish liquid, salt, and water in a spray bottle and spray the weeds in full sun.

The mix should kill the weeds by the next day and then you can easily remove them.

Note that it may not kill the larger stuff (I've learned the hard way), but it should kill all the smaller weeds in your garden.

There are different variations of the recipe to try listed in this website: http://www.garden-counselor-lawn-care.com/vinegar-weed-killer.html

They are all great!

I highly recommend this safe alternative.

Pests

It's always devastating walking out to see a half eaten garden (it's happened to me more than once this year.. All but one time because of my own rabbit who can escape without a trace.)

A fence would be helpful, but it's a big hassle, so I've found a way to keep bugs and animals, like rabbits, from eating up your plants. Again, organic ways are the safest ways!

Cayenne pepper scares away most predators because of it's spicy smell. No animal wants to eat hot stuff!

It's completely organic and works for deer, rabbits, and other animals that happen to be sniffin' around.

Likewise, chili pepper and pure black pepper work the same way.

Garlic powder and onion powder have seemed to work for me when dealing with bugs.

I usually mix garlic powder, chili powder, and cayenne pepper when I sprinkle my plants.

To make a spray for your plants, blend 10 cloves of garlic and a tablespoon of cayenne pepper with one quart of water. After letting it sit for at least 24 hours, strain the mixture through cheesecloth and add a cup of cooking oil. When ready to use, add 1/2 cup of water to the concentrated mixture.

These are just a few safe ways to keep the pests out of your garden.

A big thanks to people on Pintrest for helping me find these awesome alternatives!

5. Save your seeds!

I know not everyone enjoys starting their plants from seeds, but it is a cheaper route to take when planting a garden.

I have already began saving seeds from this year, just to get a head start.

I collect the seeds from any fruit or vegie that I can do so.

So far, I have green pepper, hot pepper, marigold, and sunflower seeds dried and ready to be planted.

I then let them dry out on a paper towel. I use plastic ziplock baggies to store my seeds in so that I can easily label them. You can use whatever you please.

I started my seeds in late March, which was not early enough compared to everyone else's plant sizes. We stored them in a vehicle that wasn't being used to provide a "greenhouse". They got plenty of heat and light being outdoors, so we made sure to keep them well watered.

Hopefully, we can make a greenhouse for this coming year.

I recommend starting all your seeds, even though some packages say not to start them before the enter the ground. All of ours did well.

Doing this will save you money for years to come!

Hopefully we gave you some helpful tips for gardening. I plan to do a follow up post on the garden soon.

Thanks so much for reading!

Update me on your garden and tips you have for me below, in the comments!

Feathered Friend Introductions ~ Ducks!

2016-07-20T13:39:00.000-04:00

Welcome back to Farming with Cianna.

I am so happy to be sharing my farming experiences with all my friends and family. I hope everyone is having a great day so far.

To wrap up our intros all together, we have our 15 ducks here at the Savage Farm for you to meet.

We started getting ducks a week after we got our first batch of chicks. That trip to Tractor Supply was one of the best!

It was just mom and I going to pick up some supplies when we heard little peeps coming from the chick section. These sounds weren't like they were the week before. They were louder and more bold.

As soon as I saw the fuzzy little ducklings looking up at me, I HAD to have one!

Of course, they had a minimum of 2 per order, so we ended up coming home with 2 Pekin ducklings.

Ever since then, we have had over 30 more ducks here.

They are each unique in their own ways.

I definitely love my ducks!

At the moment, we have 13 full grown ducks and 2 babies.

We have a mixture of Pekins, Runners, Mallards, Rouens, Rangers, and mixes.

Our two babies were born about a month ago. One of our own ducks hatched them for her first time!

Since she was a first-time momma, she wasn't the best at her job.

There was a total of 4 ducks hatched. Two were taken by a snake or other critter.

We immediately took in the remaining ducklings to protect them until they were big enough to protect themselves.

This is Chocolate. She was the third baby to hatch. She looks like the female Rouen ducks, so that's what we're calling her (even though we're not for sure.)

She sticks right beside her sister, Ro (below).

This lovely ducky is Ro.

When she was in the process of hatching out of the egg, she was not strong enough to fully exit the shell. Because the momma thought it wasn't going to make it, she just abandoned it.

Luckily, I was walking over to see if anymore had hatched when I saw Ro just laying there. I could see she was breathing slightly, but she wasn't moving. Being me, I had to go help it because I was already in love with the little creature.

As I was walking through the fence to save the baby, some male ducks came running over to where the nest was located. Not moving, the saw Ro as dinner.

They all attacked the poor baby before I got to them.

I shoved them all away and the duckling was just laying there. At this point I was pretty scared she was going to be gone.

I picked her up (she was no bigger than a ping pong ball), and took her to the garage where we immediately set up a heat lamp and dried her off.

We kept her right by our side as she learned to stand and walk, taking her to the store and other places with us.

Her first steps were so exciting to my sister and I mentioning the fact that she had the hardest time learning to stand.

She lived in my room in a tote when we weren't around, but most of the time she was out doing stuff with the family. (She loved playing in the dirt when we were planting the garden!)

When we decided to be Chocolate in after the other attacks, her and Ro were instantly BFFs.

They are still together today, growing up fast.

For now, that is all our ducks. I'm sure we will get many more after the winter months.

I surely can't wait!

I hope you enjoyed meeting all of the Savage Farm Family over the past three days!

Thank you so much for reading!

Come read later when I publish my Gardening 101 (From Dummies) post!

Feathered Friend Introductions ~ Chickens

2016-07-20T00:27:00.000-04:00

Good Wednesday Morning! The weather man says it's supposed to be a beautiful day today here in the great state of West Virginia! Can't wait to see what the day brings here at the farm.
Today I'm planning on working in the garden and getting my garden post ready to publish for you!
It's the last day for introductions (yay!). You will finally get to meet the chickens and ducks on this special day.
First is the chickens!

As I mentioned in my introduction, we got our first chicks over a year ago, around Easter time. The dream of having 1 chick was quickly crushed as the Tractor Supply worker told us we had to get a minimum of 6. I definitely have no regrets on buying those first 6 chicks. They have started a wonderful thing here that keeps me busy.
Now, we have a huge variety of chickens, each with their own personalities.
Again, we have around 50 chickens all together.

We have three full grown roosters on the farm. All of them are good at their job and have made chicks!

This is Chirp, one from our first batch

of chicks. He's a bantam rooster,

and he thinks he's the boss of everyone.

He has happily made one chick!

Tighty Whitey or Whitey Tighty, whichever you want to say, is a great rooster. He's made 9 chicks!

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=whitey+tightys is exactly why I didn't call him Whitey Tighty...Dan did!

This is the newest to our flock, Nugget the Rooster.

We got him the same day we got the black rabbits (Thanks Grandma!).

He's a beautiful Polish chicken, who's supposed to have a full head of feathers

like the Polish chicken below, but he got too close to the heat lamp and it burnt the feathers

right off his head. That's okay though because we normally have to pluck the feathers from around their faces so that they can see.

This is our other Polish chicken, Mazy. She was supposed to be my sister's chicken, but I don't see her out there taking care of her, so I claim her. As you can see, she can't see. Like I was saying before, we normally have to remove the feathers from around their eyes so that they are able to see. You often see her running into things and acting clueless. It's kind of comical, but I start to feel bad when she gets to that point.

She lays an egg every-so-often, and it's normally in the nesting boxes! (Some of our chickens decide there are better places to lay their eggs.) What a unique chicken!

She is from our second batch of chicks.

This is our Easter Egger, Owl. Like Chirp, she is from our first batch of chicks. When she started laying eggs, I was amazed to find a light blue egg in the box! Now she lays 2-3 eggs a day and they are beautiful!

This is one of our Barred Rock hens (there was another one identical to this one). We recently got the pair, Zebra 1 and Zebra 2, and they have been a great part of our flock ever since!

This is Momma Hen and her 10 babies. After hatching her chicks without us knowing, we relocated her and the chicks to a new pen in the chicken coop for safety and shelter. They are all doing well, including Momma. They are around 2 weeks old now and they are starting to get some
feathers. Momma is very protective of her little ones, which is a good thing. For her first time going broody, she did fantastic! It was SO NICE not having to take care of them myself. The brown one in the bottom left-hand corner is Chirp's baby and the rest are Tighty Whitey's.
How cute!

These are just some of the Meat Chickens we raised this Summer. Talk about MEAN!

This is our Turken... Yes a Turken...No, not a turkey chicken mix. I thought that too at first, but after doing a little research, I learned that it's just a breed of chicken!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naked_Neck -here's proof.

Her name is Chip, and the little black chicken in the background of the Barred Rock picture in Dip.

We named them "Chip and Dip" because they are always together - Thanks Dan.!

I will just go ahead and show you 1 of our 6 Guineas. We just got them about 2 weeks ago, along with Nugget and the rabbits. I haven't really got to spend a bunch of time with them, so all I know is- they are sneaky and they like to fly. We have them in a pen connected to the Momma's pen. They can squeeze through the chicken wire and create a hectic mess with the Mommy Hen.
One has even escaped from the chicken coop itself! I was pretty impressed with it's work, even though I was worked up over it getting out. Luckily, We caught it and returned it to it's home. Now we take even more precaution when opening and closing the chicken coop.
(That's Dan in the picture :) )

Those were only a few of my many chickens here on the farm. I'm sure you will meet the rest in later posts.
Look forward to seeing all the duckies! I will be posting their intros shortly!
Thanks so much for all the support!(: Stay tuned in for all the buzz.

Furry Friend Introductions ~ Puppies!

2016-07-19T16:00:00.000-04:00

Good afternoon everyone! Hope everyone is having a great day and enjoying the nice weather.

I just want to say, thanks so much for all the support. It really means so much to me.

Well, I figured I'd go ahead and wrap up the furry friend intros so that we can start with the feathered friends tomorrow!

The last of our fur babies are of course, my puppies.

We have two puppies in the family, Brodie and Cooper.

Brodie was given to me last year for my birthday by my boyfriend (talk about the BEST gift EVER!)

They pulled it off petty good...all except my mom who took us to Dairy Queen for dinner, ate her ice cream for about an hour as she was waiting for Dan to arrive with the dog, (they were obviously late) and then pretended to poop in the bathroom to kill time. When Dan finally showed up, we walked outside and I saw the tiny puppy in his arms. I totally thought he went and bought himself a dog until I thought about how long mom made us wait. When he handed Brodie to me, I was shocked that my mom would actually agree to letting me have a dog. That was definitely one of the most shocking things she's done.

Oh well! He has been my absolute BEST friend ever since(:

Baby Brodie is a Chiweenie...yes a Chiwawa-Weiner Dog mix (one time I was trying to tell a stranger what breed he is and I accidentally said "Chiweena"...Talk about embarrassing!) We got him when he was just 2 months old on May 27, 2015.

Now Brodie is a year and 4 months old. He is full grown and ornery as ever.

He enjoys tearing things up, barking at people, and playing with other animals. He sleeps right beside me, under the covers every night...and WARNING: he is the grouchiest dog ever when he is tired!

Brodie can definitely be bad, but he is my BFF.

Just recently, about 2 weeks ago, we took in this little guy.

Cooper was found under a porch by one of our friends, along with his sister. We do not know his breed or age, but he was able to eat and drink on his own when he arrived at the "farm". His looks and howl lead us to believe he is part Hound. He is definitely a cutie!

My boyfriend and I were supposed to be watching him until our friend found him a home, but MOM TOLD HIM WE WOULD KEEP IT!!!!

Wow! Another crazy action by mom!

Thankfully, we were able to keep Cooper and make him a permanent member of the family.

Him and Brodie enjoy play together, barking at each other, going on walks, and getting in all kinds of trouble together.

He already knows how to sit and speak, and is a fast learner!

Thank Goodness!

Well, you've now met all our furry pets here at the farm! Hope you're ready for some feathery fun tomorrow! Thank you again for your time.

Until tomorrow!

Furry Friend Introductions ~ Rabbits

2016-07-19T14:03:00.002-04:00

Welcome to Farming With Cianna!

I thought right now would be a great time to introduce these four-legged friends to our audience since they are lovin' getting their pictures taken!

Our bunnies here on the farm are the newest type of animal we have brought in. We bought our first rabbits around Easter time 2016 (without my mom knowing) (ooopss).

Funny story..

My friend and I were out shopping for prom dresses one day and the dress shop just so happened to be by Southern States. Of course I couldn't pass my opportunity to see what animals they had at the time, so we went in after our dress searching came to a terrible end (they had absolutely no cute dresses in my size:(...no prom for me!). We were kindly greeted by the lady at the front register and she showed us to the rabbits. I was hesitant to buy them even though they were SO CUTE, mainly because my mom is always preaching "NO MORE ANIMALS."

Hannah and I agreed that I should call my boyfriend and ask him what to do since we both wanted them. After being told "do what you want", we decided we should buy not one, but two:).

We came home to a farm with no place to house the bunnies. We ended up making a barrier in the garage so that they were trapped in a small area and could not escape. THEY WERE THE CUTEST THINGS EVER!!!

Sadly, the little brown one, Charlie (Hannah's) didn't make it. We're still not sure what was wrong with it. It just got real sick out of nowhere. But Moose, the orange cutie, is still with us today. Now, he is about two times the size he was in those picture.

Since then, we've added more bunnies to the family so that Moose would be happy, and Dan made them an awesome cage!

They now have a decent size living space and can comfortably do their own thing! Thanks Dan!

We have future plans to make a mobile cage for the yard. It will be on the ground to provide them grass, and have wheels so we can move them around.

We don't know the breeds of them but we can estimate about how old they are.

It's crazy how fast these little critters grow!

This is Moose now, along with his gorgeous girl, Cali!

These two are not even a year old yet and they are still huge!

These are our newest babies, which we got

last weekend.

This is Coal. He's doing really well in his new environment.
He's very friendly, but loves nibbling on fingers!

This is Jewel. She was sick when we got her and went to be in bunny
Heaven, last night. She was absolutely precious.

Our rabbits here at the "farm" get a variety of hay, vegies, and grain.
Their favorite snack is celery and they enjoy chewing on hay throughout the day.
They get fed in the morning and at night.
We make sure there is a constant supply of hay,
in order to keep happy bunnies(:
These are all of our bunnies for right now.
We are hoping to be getting a bunch of babies soon,
but we'll see! I am looking to sell the babies, so I'll keep you posted on that!

Thank you for meeting more of our furry friends today!
Stay tuned in!

Furry Friend Introductions ~ Peppa the Pig

2016-07-19T09:48:00.000-04:00

Good morning on this beautiful Tuesday morning; what a great day!

Well this morning, like many, I woke up to my pig "excitedly" chasing a large tote around the yard.

Not only was the tote making a ton of noise from being pounced on, but Peppa was also squealing at the top of his lungs!

Peppa the Pig is very much an attention seeker. If you're not paying attention to him and ONLY him, he screams until you are! He's also one of the nicest pigs I know though.

This is Peppa (my mom named him after the kid's cartoon.) He's a potbelly pig who loves having his chin and belly scratched. We got him about a year ago; our lives have been changed ever since.

Piggers started out living in our house. He was extremely skiddish at first due to only being around his mother and siblings. My crazy Chaweenie puppy wanted to play with him so badly, he continued to bark and scare the poor pig even more. We put two dog crates together so he would have one side with his bed, eat and drink in between the cages, and use the bathroom in the liter box, which was in the other side.

Once he was in, we let the monster (Brodie the Chaweenie) out to meet him. It really didn't go as good as we were hoping. At the time there was a bowl of raspberries in water and another bowl with salad in the middle. Brodie scared the pig by it everywhere through the outside of the cage, that Peppa knocked over the raspberry water ON THE CARPET! Surprisingly, mom wasn't extremely mad...I think she was just excited that there was a actual pig in her house.

Peppa finally got used to Brodie and using the liter box the next day, so we made the decision to let him roam the house. I've never seen an animal sniff as much he did; he loved it so much. Brodie also loved it! He was an "only child" before then, so it was exciting for him to finally have someone to play with(:

After a few months, Pigga started getting bigger, which we expected coming from a mother who was 110 pounds. The snow was melted and it was getting warmer out. We decided it was time to finally show him the world. We released him and my puppy in the fenced in back yard (all the other animals were in the houses so Brodie wouldn't attack them) and let them do their own things. Of course they stuck side-by-side as they explored the new territory. They loved being able to run free! After we saw how happy the pig was, we agreed to allow him to make it his new home until Winter.

Peppa is still running around in the backyard with all his animal friends, happily. He is pretty much the boss of everyone. He gets what he wants, just because he is so smart he can figure out how to get it by himself.

Ever since we released him, he has gotten himself into all kinds of trouble such as:

Digging his way under the fence and running the neighborhood

Push the fence open to escape

Opening and closing doors to let in/let out other animals

Locking the chickens out of the chicken coop because "that's his sleeping place"

Destroying feed totes just to get the feed

Stealing the other animals' feed

Going crazy, pushing totes up and down the yard

Squealing as loud as he can because it's raining instead of just going inside

Pushing the ducks out of the pools on hot days because he wants in

(I will link some of these to tell the whole story)

And there is so much more, but I'll keep you updated on that.

Well, it was a pleasure introducing you to our crazy pig, Peppa. Hope you enjoyed reading about his exciting life.(:

Have a wonderful day wherever you are!

Keep reading!

Furry Friend Introductions~ Goats

2016-07-18T23:06:00.001-04:00

Welcome! As I mentioned in my introduction, we have many animals on what we call our "farm".

I am going to start their introductions with the goats!:)

These are the funniest animals here (besides the pig). They're not scared of much, so you never know what you'll walk out to see them doing(:

We have four goats here: Bill and Chloe, the parents of Diesel, and there's pepper.

This is baby Diesel. He was born in February of 2016 along with his little sister who was born allergic to milk. Because of her allergy, she could not digest her mom's milk nor milk replacer. She passed about a month later, but Diesel is doing great. He is a Nubian-Diary goat mix. Billy and Chloe (the next two) are his parents, and they are great at it!

Here are Chloe, Diesel, and Ailee right after they were born.

Diesel enjoys bucking heads with the other goats and teaching the others new habits such as raising their front paw to shake your hand. He's a wonderful addition to our farm.

B-b-b-illy is a friendly, loving goat who has been my best friend since day one. We got him from one of our friend's herds, along with Chloe. He has been a great dad to Diesel, teaching him to be just as fun and caring as he is. He's a Nubian mix. Now that Bill is getting older, it is harder for him to maneuver, but he is doing great otherwise. He still loves bucking heads and getting rub downs from us!

This b-eau-eau-tiful Diary goat is Chloe. We got her when we got Billy, and they've been together ever since. She's not as people-crazy as Bill and Diesel, but she is still friendly when she comes around. She tries to avoid human contact unless you have food, and if you do she will jump right up on you until you give it to her!

Lastly, we have Pepper. We recently got Pepper, along with her sister, Salt from some other people we know. Salt didn't make it due to a Bloat (if you haven't read about bloats in goats, here's a great link: http://www.goatworld.com/articles/bloat/bloat.shtml !) Little Diesel somehow got a food bin with laying pellets in it open and Salt ate too much. :(

She was surely beautiful!

Thankfully, Pepper is still around. We don't know for sure what breed she is or her age, but she is the largest goat I've ever seen. She could stand on her hind legs and be much taller than I am (I'm 5 ft 8 in..) She easily jumps our 4.5 foot fence just to eat weeds out of the woods. There's not too many people around, so we just let her be, but it's still amazing that she is capable of jumping like that.

We really would like to be getting babies this fall, but I guess that's their decision. This will be Pepper's first time having kids, but Chloe's second. We can't wait to see what else is in store!

There are so many funny stories I could tell about these cra-a-a-zy animals, but I'll save those for another time. It's getting late! Everyone have a wonderful night.

Until tomorrow!

Introduction🐣☺

2016-07-18T16:53:00.003-04:00

Hello there from the hills of Almost Heaven, West Virginia. Living wild and wonderful here on the Savage Farm!
I started my "farm" right in my own backyard a little over a year ago. We don't have much land, but it is enough for the animals we have.
It all began around Easter of 2015 when I decided I wanted ONE chick. My mom agreed to get me that ONE chick thinking it would roam the fenced in backyard and sleep in one of our old dog houses.
We finally got to Tractor Supply on the Friday before Easter, only to find that the minimum number of chicks you could purchase at a time was SIX. Mom was a little hesitant of buying six chickens, mostly because we didn't have the proper housing, nor did we actually know how to raise them. She went through though, and surprisingly bought me the Americanas, Bantams, and Rhode Island Reds that I happily picked out.
Countless hours of reading BYC and other helpful articles gave me the help I needed to confidently raise these chicks (THANKS SO MUCH!) Funny thing is, the more confidence I had, the more animals I bought. Numerous times that month we had to go back to Tractor Supply to pick up supplies and such. Each time I would leave with more birds!
I ended up with around 15 chicks and 8 ducks!
We soon bought a big coop with a covered run big enough for all the animals. I was literally in Heaven every time I would go in the backyard (I spent countless hours back there just watching.)
Now, over a year later, we have over 50 chickens, 15 ducks, 6 guineas, 4 rabbits, 4 goats, a pig, and 2 dogs!
It's so unbelievable how much our little homestead has grown in the past year! My boyfriend and I are always having to deal with crazy situations that will blow your mind. I'm excited to introduce all my animals to you! Can't wait!

Yours truly,

Cianna