Keen Farm and CSA

Pasture raised pigs

2016-02-17T10:52:00.000-08:00

Pasture raised pigs, born in December. I have 4 females and 3 males. $65 each. First come first served. Local pick up only.

Easter headbands

2016-02-10T10:58:00.000-08:00

We have crochet Easter Headbands. We can make them any color and size. $8.00 plus shipping

second we have a calla lily headband. Only made one size 0-3 months. $20.00 plus shipping

Decorative wash cloths

2016-02-04T12:44:00.000-08:00

Decorative wash cloths with a crochet edging only $2.50 each. shipping is extra PayPal.Me/tkeen/2.50

2016-02-03T09:57:00.000-08:00

Just in time for Valentine's Day. Buy your Valentine this heart shaped headband to let them know you were thinking of them. $10. Can make in any color you like just go to my link at PayPal.Me/tkeen/10

Scarves by Casey also available. She makes fuzzy infinity scarves for $20. she has black, white, blue, pink, gold and green available PayPal.Me/tkeen/20

6-24-2015

2015-06-24T12:41:00.002-07:00

1 lb purple pole beans

1 lb green beans

1 head cabbage

1 bunch beets

1 bunch turnips

1 lb new potatoes

1/2 lb banana peppers

1/2 lb tam jalapenos

1 dozen eggs

bunch oregano

I was very excited this week to find the peppers. I was picking pole beans when I noticed the jalapenos. I have not even checked them since I usually don't have any until after I am picking red tomatoes.

5-27-2015

2015-05-27T14:07:00.000-07:00

! bunch turnips
1 bag red romaine lettuce
1 bag Mild Spring Greens mix
1/2 dozen Free Range Chicken eggs
1 Loaf Homemade light bread
1 bunch curly leaf parsley

2015-05-20T12:51:00.000-07:00

May 20, 2015

so here is what you can get today
bunch red romaine lettuce
bunch turnip greens
bunch mustard greens
bunch of kale
small bag of spinach
pint of green peas
spring onions
half dozen eggs
broccoli rabe
a sprig of sage

2015-05-13T12:04:00.000-07:00

May 13, 2015

bag red romaine lettuce

1 bunch radishes

1 bunch kale

1 bunch broccoli rabe

bag baby spinach

bag flat leaf parsley

1/2 dozen free range chicken eggs

1 loaf homemade light bread (not pictured)

1 bunch green onions

Here is my quality tester making sure everything is up to par!

2015-05-09T07:11:00.000-07:00

May 6, 2015

1/2 salad mix
1/2 mustard greens
1/2 kale
1/4 fresh dill weed
bunch green onions
bunch radishes with greens
loaf home made white bread — at Keen Farm and CSA.

Parsley

2014-05-27T12:05:00.001-07:00

I planted parsley according to package directions the other day when I planted everything else. everything has come up except the parsley and spinach so I started looking and the first thing I did wrong with the parsley is not soaking overnight in warm water. Mistake 2 is I left them uncovered not realizing they did not like the light...I mean a seed that doesn't like the light?? come on. Well I couldn't do anything about the first mistake I cover then with a piece of paper so they could rest. Maybe they will come up. If they don't then that will be the second time I tried parsley and failed.

The parsley came up but doesn't look that healthy The next challenge is getting them transplanted into the actual garden.

for more information on growing parsley go to
http://gardenofeaden.blogspot.com/2009/05/how-to-grow-parsley-from-seed-indoors.html

Well this was originally 3 years ago. since then i decided not to replant parsley. it over wintered the first year and the second it died but it came back on its own. this year the pigs got to the herb garden and I thought sure it was gone so I bought some not wanting to go through that planting thing again. I went out to plant it and lo and behold the original parsley came back. So far I have not had to replant parsley, sage or dill they just keep coming back. In fact the dill and sage seem to be trying to take over. Not sure what happened to my pictures I will get some of the new parsley soon.

White Clover Jelly

2014-05-21T08:44:00.000-07:00

First I pick about 3 cups of clover flowers. I brought 2 cups of water to a boil while I rinsed the clovers in cold water. then I added the flowers and let it sit for about 2 hrs.

Then I pulled out the water bath caner with enough water to cover the jars and brought that to a boil. I strained the tea added 1/2 cup of lemon juice and 4 cups of sugar. Brought this to a hard boil added the pectin brought back to a boil for 2 mins. Then I skimmed the jelly and poured the hot jelly into hot jars.

Adjusted the 2 piece lid and processed for 10 min.

mine actually didn't set I don't think I used enough pectin. It is more of a think syrup. I thought about reprocessing with more pectin but the kids need syrup for pancakes also.

I also made a ham and used a mixture of clover syrup, horseradish, and mustard on the grill. It was wonderful

2012-09-15T12:46:00.002-07:00

New blog for my son here his view of the farm

2012-09-15T12:39:00.007-07:00

at the fair and walmart

2012-08-21T05:00:00.001-07:00

just an idea I had wile hanging peas in the garden

Rabbits and Hot peppers

2012-08-02T08:17:00.000-07:00

Well got 5 pints of pickled hot peppers done. The best part is that I didn't burn my hands this year. Turns out gloves are not just for sissies.

In yet another effort to become more self sufficient, we are venturing into rabbits. I found some rabbits on our local radio party-line yesterday. I will be going to get them tomorrow. I have some old rabbit hutches in the pole shed that we have used for chickens and quail that I will be using for the rabbits. My biggest challenge will be the heat. we have has a record hot summer and rabbits don't like the heat. I found alot of information on how to care for rabbits in the heat at this site http://fogcityrabbitry-meatblogs.blogspot.com/.

Canning

2012-07-31T11:00:00.001-07:00

12 jars wild plum jelly, 7 quarts bread and butter pickles, 7 quarts dill pickles and 3 trays of plum fruit leather. So what have you done to prepare for winter

Keeping Goats from getting their heads caught in the Fence

2012-04-12T06:38:00.000-07:00

The little red head goat is named Godzilla(kids named her). She know the grass is always greener on the other side so she sticks her head through the fence to get it. The problem with that is her horns are just the wrong size. she can't get her head back through so she stands and hollers until I find her and free her. This gets old every twenty minutes day and night.

So here is my solution to fix it. I took a 1 1/2 inch pipe and cut it about 12 inches long. just long enough that it will not go through the part of the fence she keeps getting caught in. Then I measured the distance between her horns on top and drill two holes the width of her horns at the proper distance in the center of the pipe. I didn't drill all the way through . Then came the fun part. I put the pipe on the top of her horns and had someone hold her while I duct taped the pipe securely on her horns. She hated this part. I think the sound of the tape coming off the roll scared her.

Well it took a little getting use to and she certainly didn't like me for a while but it has been on her 3 weeks now and I haven't had to get her head out of the fence since.

Can chickens really weed my garden?

2012-04-04T06:57:00.000-07:00

Its called mobbing. Putting too many animals in a small space. They eat the grass too nothing and fertilize the ground. I seen where others were using chickens to work in their gardens. Not a weed one is growing in their pen, but when I turn mine in the garden they dig up plants and don't always eat the weeds. I saw a plan for a moveable collapsible chicken tractor here

http://craftlog.org/craftlog/?p=4175

So I built one. I used plastic bird net so it is lighter I also didn't make a separate side panel because of the plastic net. The chickens can get out the sides if I don't put something in front of the sides. I move them up and down the rows and they weed, loosen soil, fertilize and work it in, and they find and eat all the grub worms. So far I am very pleased.

My only problems are putting the chickens in an taking them out. The garden is a short walk from their pen and I can't open the door and tell them to go and get in the chicken tractor and get to work. For some reason they don't listen to well.

Candleing Eggs

2012-03-07T13:05:00.000-08:00

Thought I would share how I candle eggs. After my eggs have been in the incubator about 10 days or so I candle them. You could do it before but It is hard for me to decide weather something is in them or not at about 10 days there is no mistake. All you need is a flashlight, roll of toilet paper, a dark room and an egg.

Hold the flashlight between your knees put the roll of toilet paper on the light and the egg on it. That's all there is to it. If the egg is clear like this one nothing is in it, but if your egg has a dark blob in it, it has a chicken in it. The roll of toilet paper funnels the light and the opening in the roll is just the right size for the chicken egg. A dark room helps but the toilet paper roll reflects the flash so I had to take this picture during the day

Nancy and Yoda

2012-03-06T07:48:00.001-08:00

Nancy had a little billy on Thursday. The kids named him Yoda because of his small head and large ears. They were taken and penned in the barn because of our little coyote problems. I watched them extra carefully since Maisey let her baby die. Nancy seems to be a real good momma. Yoda is growing real good and is always busy jumping around and exploring.

Other news, our little bantam hen just hatched out 10 biddies. One died ,I think it hatched before the others and for some reason she kicked it out the nest. If my hens will hatch their eggs I let them. I prefer they take care of the biddies and not me. I do still have some in the incubator from the big hens. They haven't tried to sit on their eggs yet. Yesterday I had one quail hatch out, about 3 days early. Nothing else has hatched I'm not sure why this one did. I have him in the house in a box with a light waiting on the others.

Two of our beagles are missing. They went hunting rabbits on Wednesday and haven't been home. Not sure if they just got lost, caught by coyotes, or shot. We miss them very much.

2012-02-23T10:50:00.001-08:00

Got some seed started indoors. I actually find that it doesn't save me much time as far as getting things to harvest faster. Seeds that I sow directly in the garden will usually be ready about the same time as the plants I started in the house but I just have to start planting, I just cannot wait so I start them in the house. This year I did buy a grow light and hung in under my kitchen cabinets so we will see if the plants grow better. I usually just put them in a sunny window and turn them once a day. The plants are usually tall and week and when I put them in the garden they just kinda stay that way for a while before they finally decide to grow. I have great hopes for this year. I hope I didn't just waste $24.99 on a light.
My oldest daughter wanted in on the action. She saved all the cantaloupe seeds from last year. I didn't actually plant them last year but some how the seeds got to the garden (I'm not naming names Abigail). Casey loved the cantaloupe so much that she wanted to plant some this year. I let her plant her seeds, I don't know if any will come up but she has planted them. I told her with that many plants she will be able to sell her cantaloupe. I hope her plants do well.

Got my husband to disc the garden under. I planted winter wheat for the first time at the end of last season as a cover crop and for organic matter in the soil. Of course my hens went to work right away ridding the garden of any grub worm. Whatever my husband didn't get turned under my hens certainly will.

My new pregnant nanny Maisey wasn't happy in the field with the others. She is very far along so I put her in the pen with the pig we decided to fatten out. All his brothers and sister were just sold and he was lonely and scared. They seem to really enjoy each other. The nanny will not let anything close to the little pig and the pig lays with the goat and they eat hay together.

UPDATE: Maisey had one nanny on Friday while still in the pen with the pig. She would nurse the pig but not her baby so I pen them separte in the barn. While I was out there she would nurse the baby but if I wasn't there she would not. I didn't realize she wasn't taking care of it until to late and she died on sunday night after I stayed up most the night trying to bottle feed it and keep it warm. Maisey was turned back out to the feild where she sits by the hog pen with the baby pig.

Coming soon...March 10, 2012

Got the incubator full of eggs, Chicken and Quail. I don't hatch any during the winter because winters here can sometimes be harsh and I am not going to take care of biddies all winter long. I am also excited that I have a new broody hen. She is sitting on ten. We haven't had a broody hen since the first year we moved here. We had always had free range hens at the other place so I didn't have them in a pen and when they went to sit something would get them. So we built the pens for their protection but I had already lost my good broody hens.

Spring is in the air

2012-02-20T10:11:00.000-08:00

My young hens have started laying again and needed nest boxes. I am not good at building so I had to improvise. I had an old box step out of a trailer sitting in the yard so I took it and nailed two nails in each end of the step. I also put a nail at the top of the chickens lean to spaced apart the same length as the step. using a chain, I hung and secured the step at the same height as our other nest box. I nailed a board across the front and put three creats inside that I filled with shredded paper and leaves. The chickens love it and I am rewarded with 3 big brown eggs a day

I haven't been able to till the garden yet due to rain, but we couldn't wait any longer to get started. Last year my husband built our son a small raised garden bed. He planted tomatoes in it last year but they didn't do very well. This year He is going to try his had at carrots. He planted the seeds then covered with a light layer of leaves to keep the wind from drying them out.

We also transplanted our garlic to a raised bed so the rest of the garden can be tilled to get ready for spring planting.

2012-02-14T15:00:00.000-08:00

These are images from last year's garden. After breaking my arm nothing else got done.

Here is my chicken compost. It was nice of them to make it for me without me having to lift a single pitch fork.

Our okra had a rough start because rabbits liked to eat the top out while they were small.

It was not a good year for tomatoes either. Most people around here didn't get any. I did but they were late in the season.

2012-02-07T09:57:00.000-08:00

Since Valentine's day is coming up I decided to share how to make this valentine box.

Materials: 1 cracker box
                5 toilet paper rolls
                10 baby food jar lids
                2 pencils
                2 film canisters
                2 Popsicle sticks
                1 Velveeta cheese box
                paint
                miscellaneous cardboard

Cut 1/3 of Velveeta box . Cut a strip of cardboard as wide as the Velveeta box and as long as the 1/3 box laid horizontally and the 2/3 part vertically and the cracker box with the open end of the cracker box at the end and opening out to the sides like the doors of a semi. Hot glue the boxes on the cardboard strip. This makes the cab and trailer.
   Next glue the baby food lids on each side of the toilet paper rolls. These are the wheels. Paint then black then glue them under the cab and trailer. The film canister are glued under the cab. The Popsicle sticks are glued to the inside of the doors on the trailerto add stability to the doors. The pencils are glued behind the cab for smoke stacks.
   Paint the truck any color you want. I think red and white would be the best color but my son didn't want anything girly. Paint on detail such as the window, windshield, doors, handles,the front grill, and headlights. This trucks name was Wind Breaker and it delivers for Valentine's Express.
My son continued to play with this Truck long after Valentine's day until his big sister say on it and it was finally beyond repair.

2012-02-02T10:21:00.000-08:00

OK so I haven't been on here in a while. A lot has happened to us since my last post. I will not try to fill you in on everything but will let you know what we have been up to lately. After breaking my arm in October I haven't done much I am just now able to crochet again. So I found this pattern online for a ruffled scarf and decided to try it. Although slow even I am impressed. Here is the link to the pattern I used http://littlesliceoflife.wordpress.com/free-patterns/cascade-scarf/. I changed to a slightly thicker yarn for the single crochets on the last row which gave it a little more body a the difference in color adds interest. I also used a 6mm hook instead of a 10mm.