Now is the time to start moving manure from the barn up to the garden plots and to start tilling that “black gold” into the earth but this year things will be a little different in one of the plots. We have decided to grow potatoes for markets. Soil preparation for these beauties does not include manure as an amendment..so there will be less hauling than in years past. Can’t wait to see the lush green plants starting to pop up!

Each market season we have noticed that Spinach and Carrots are limited, so to do our part in answering the call for more of these foods, we have increased our garden area to add several raised beds for carrots and a second garden spot for spinach. Then of course there will be the usual cast of characters..tomatoes, okra, cukes, squashes, eggplant and lettuces.

On a different note, all of chickens seemed to be loving the warmer weather and longer days already. We have eggs everywhere! Our chickens are totally free range so as a result egg collection closely resembles an Easter Egg hunt each day. That’s OK though it is worth it when we are able to put together a carton of eggs that look like this…

Thank you girls…

Next on the list for our Spring “to do’s” will be sheep shearing. That’s always exciting too..when we get the chance to see what this years growth looks like. By the winter being mild, it doesn’t look like we will have the usual bumper of wool. We will be adding Cashmere this year to our fibers available. Friends of ours are getting out of the cashmere business but they still have 10 goats that need to be combed..so yes, I volunteered to do the combing. Payment for this job..we get the fiber! There will be some pretty cool rovings and yarns available in the fall!

Maybe I’m wrong..look at all that wool!

Well that’s all for today. I’m afraid if I keep writing, I’ll wear myself out.

What is it and what does it do you may ask? It is a water retention and fertilizer system that is made from 100% all natural and organic materials. When you container garden or grow house plants, you are always faced with watering your plants..even if you are on vacation. Using our pack limits the need to constantly be watering your plants as the natural sheep wool acts as a sponge absorbing water and holding it for longer than just soil. The added bonus..you get a pack of sheep manure compost to add to your soil as a natural fertilizer.

These are all of the supplies you need to use this pack:

The contents of the pack, a container, your plant or seeds, plus soil.

Start with an empty large to extra large container. Line the bottom of the container with the enclosed sheep wool. Now take the wonderfully rich in nutrients package of sheep manure compost and blend it with your soil..place in your container on top of the sheep wool. Add your plant. Water. That’s it..easy peasy!

It is a wonderful system for container vegetable gardening. By using this all natural system you eliminate the need to continuously fertilize your plants too. Your container tomato plants will be the envy of the neighborhood!

The Natural Growers pack is available in our ETSY store, through Fall Line Farms Co-op, Local Roots Co-op, The Great Big Greenhouse in Richmond, VA and more locations are coming soon as we fill orders. You, of course, can buy them direct through me and we will have them at local Farmer’s Markets this Spring and summer.

Do something good for your plants and make Mother Nature smile at the same time..oh yes, and each time you purchase/use one of these Natural Growers Packs you are supporting a small family owned sustainable farm business!

Isn’t it amazing how unpredictable the weather really can be? Yesterday we had a beautiful snowfall in the morning, followed by a sunny afternoon and ending with another brief snowfall before evening. In a single days time, the pastures are turning green and those Spring flowers that were not already blooming are today showing signs of bloom. We’ve had thunderstorms in February and a steady flow of rainfall this Winter..all will serve the ground well for the growing season. While we need to get the earth tilled to start the gardens, the ground is actually too wet. This will postpone that early harvest we always shoot for but a late harvest is just as beneficial.

We have taken some time off from selling through our local Co-op’s and Winter Farmer’s Markets while we’ve reworked our farm. There will be a lot of changes to some of the products we have sold for years and we are adding a lot of new. We started selling our farm products in our ETSY store. It is slow going but we have had some sales. I’ve started working on the plans for offering workshops throughout Spring and Summer. There are so many things that a person can do to live a more sustainable lifestyle and hopefully these workshops will generate interest from those who are anxious to learn.

That’s all for now. I always promise that I will be better about keep up with Blog posts, let’s see if this time I can really do it!!

“Boom Boom Pow” – Black Eyed Peas

“Linus and Lucy” – Charlie Brown

“Firework” – Katy Perry

“Bad” – Michael Jackson

“Sheep Go To Heaven Goats Go To Hell” – Cake

“You Make Me Feel Like Dancing” – Leo Sayer

“Born This Way” – Lady Gaga

“Bad Romance” – Lady Gaga

“Who Let The Dogs Out” – Baha Men

And the Winner is!!!

“You Make Me Feel Like Dancing”

(submitted by Mugsy via Facebook)

Video Coming Soon!

For those who did not win this giveaway..there are other places you can find our Natural Nesting Balls to purchase. http://www.breezehillfarm.com/ordering.aspx Also, in Richmond VA…The Great Big Greenhouse and Yardbirds.

Filed under: Contest, General, Giveaway, goat's, Nesting Balls Tagged: farm, goat's, just for fun, Nesting Balls ]]> http://breezehillfarm.net/2011/12/09/giveaway-and-the-winner-is/feed/ 0 breezehillfarm http://breezehillfarm.net/2011/12/07/giveaway/ http://breezehillfarm.net/2011/12/07/giveaway/#comments Wed, 07 Dec 2011 14:14:03 +0000 Breeze Hill Farm http://breezehillfarm.net/?p=647 ]]>

Hear we go! This is Gryffon (aka Scrap). He is the little goat buckling born a week ago this past Sunday. Being a musical family here, we have decided that Scrap needs a song all his own. Once he has a song, we will add that song to a video of Scrap doing what little goaties do and create his own music video! His song can be any type of music..even Christmas music. It should be fitting of a little critter that at this point weighs about 8 pounds and has enough energy for 5 of him.

So we need for you all to come up with a song. If we choose the song you come up with..you will win 2 of our new Natural Nesting Balls. See one for you and one to give as a gift! You must live in the US to enter this giveaway as we are covering the shipping as well.

So go to the comments for this post and start listing the song you think will best work for Scrap. At days end tomorrow we will go through your suggestions and pick the song that we feel best fits Scrap. Please make sure I have some way to contact you to let you know that you are the winner. We will take care of the shipping details later.

Scrap’s music video will air before Christmas!

Things are going very well at the farm. We are fielding orders for Nesting Balls and Dryer Balls hourly now and hope that everyone who receives them as Christmas gifts will love them as much as we do. Though they are very simple items a lot of work does go into their creation..starting with raising the animals. I have the best producers in the world out there in the field growing fiber so that I have the materials I need to create. Three cheers to the SHEEP and GOATS this morning!! Speaking of, I should get down to the barn and feed them.

OK, that’s it for today. Be looking for the giveaway announcement tomorrow!

Is he too cute or what!!

Many people have asked me where they can find our new natural Nesting Balls in the Richmond, VA area. These have taken on a life of their own and we love it. Right now the list is short but growing everyday. As everyone knows with Fall Line Farms Co-op..you can find them listed weekly on the Co-op. They are now available at Yardbirds in Gayton Crssing Shopping Center and starting this weekend at Primrose and Persimmons Antiques in Goochland Courthouse, VA. If you cannot make it to any of the events we will be at this Holiday season, these are a few places you can find them. Also, you can always contact us at breezehillfarm@verizon.net to order direct through us. OK, enough sales pitching for now.

Have a great day!

Here is one of our new items -

This is an All Natural Wool Nesting Ball. It’s a grapevine ball filled with sheep wool. You hang it in a tree or on your deck and birds come a pull small pieces out to aid in nest building. It’s a great gift to give to the bird lovers on your gift list or to give to yourself.

Our other new item from the farm are our Eco Friendly Dryer Balls. These are made from 100% all natural wool from our sheep. These are just great..they do the same job as a dryer sheet without all those nasty chemicals and with wool being able to absorb over 60% of their weight in water..using these dryer balls reduce your dry time which equates to less electricity use.

So as you see, we really have been busy putting together items that will make nice gifts for others or for you. Who knows, before Christmas we might just come up with some other all natural farm gifts!

Filed under: Eco Friendly Dryer Balls, fiber, General, Nesting Balls, sheep Tagged: Eco Friendly Dryer Balls, farm blog, Nesting Balls, sheep ]]> http://breezehillfarm.net/2011/11/22/just-in-time-for-the-holidays/feed/ 0 breezehillfarm IMG_0856 IMG_0867 http://breezehillfarm.net/2011/06/06/more-babies/ http://breezehillfarm.net/2011/06/06/more-babies/#comments Mon, 06 Jun 2011 15:17:34 +0000 Breeze Hill Farm http://breezehillfarm.net/?p=629 ]]> Friday evening was so peaceful and relaxing. We spent time visiting with each other..discussing the week and our plans for the weekend. I started taking care of the Quail and hubby made his way to the barn for evening chores. He had been at the barn only a few minutes and he called me on the phone. This usually means one of two things..something is wrong or there are new babies.

Happily, it was the latter. We have 2 new doelings! Oh, my they are soooo cute and their fiber is amazing. These little ones are 3/4 Angora and 1/4 Alpine Dairy goats. It’s the same crosses we done since we started raising goats back in 2002. It’s such a wonderful cross because we end up with adults that give us pounds of fiber and they are excellent milk producers too. The fact that they are does is just a plus.

These photos were taken yesterday morning.

One Happy Mom!

 No matter how many births we have here..I always enjoy each one as if it were the first. Wish the farm was bigger so I could keep them all!