Down On The Farm
As parents, we are ever concerned about the health of our two children. With that in mind, we had a desire to grow and/or raise our own foods without the use of chemicals and preservatives. Our dream of Homesteading began to come to fruition in the Spring of 2009, when our children were gifted 3 day old chicks by their grandmother. After giving each of them a name, and watching them grow, we were hooked. When the fresh eggs started coming in, we were REALLY hooked!
We decided to add a few goats to our farmette in late summer, and the search began. After studying, we decided on Nubians because of their exceptional milking capabilities (and because the man-farmer really digs their ears!) Being that our space was limited, we were a bit leery of full-sized Nubians. We considered Nigerian Dwarves, but eventually decided to split the difference and bring some Mini-Nubians to our farm. We bought four does, and later a buck. And have now had successful kiddings with each doe!
In early 2010, the FarmerMan got a wild idea to move. "More land!" was his cry. After searching, we found a beautiful 12 acre farm in the hills of West Virginia. We are settling in nicely, and the chickens seem very happy to be ranging free instead of cooped up in the run to protect them from the neighbor's dogs. We have been pouring over seed catalogs, trying to decide what to plant for this coming Spring/Summer, and are finally milking some of our does. Very soon we will be adding two very handsome guard llamas to our Windy Wether family. Next year, Lord willing, we are hoping for the addition of some Kune Kune pigs, beehives, as well as a few wind turbines to defray some of our energy costs.
Our intention for Windy Wether Farm is self-sufficiency. We want to teach our children self-reliance, as we learn the process ourselves. I am tired of spending a large portion of our paychecks on mediocre foods that are not fresh and are full of "extras." We are looking toward the future of our farming with great anticipation. But, knowing that our homeschooled children are learning important lessons and character building that cannot be found in school books is the most important benefit of all.