Raising baby chicks is fun and easy, although they do require a lot of attention the first few weeks.
Get your baby chicks off on the right foot, raising them into happy, healthy, beautiful hens.
Have some chicks from the spring that have grown up into lovely young pullets? I'm sure they're all nice and settled in their chicken coop. But maybe you're wondering why they're laying eggs everywhere but the nest boxes you carefully crafted for them?
Chickens not laying in nest boxes is a more common problem than you might think. With a few tips, though, you can steer those girls right, and collect clean, lovely fresh eggs from where they belong - nest boxes!
Growing, learning and adapting is essential to keeping a small farm, homestead, or hobby farm productive, growing and sustainable. And a big part of learning and then making changes is keeping records. A farm journal or some kind of recordkeeping system for growing crops and raising animals can tell you a lot about what you're doing right, and what you're doing wrong, too. And good financial records are key when tax time rolls around. Learn how to keep the right records on your farm without a lot of fuss and bother.
Saving seed from your own crops is a key activity on a small farm. It allows you to produce your own varieties as well as improve the ones you grow year after year. And, it saves a ton of money to boot, if you can save enough seed so that you don't have to purchase new seed next season.
Storing seed once you've saved it, or if you have leftover from purchasing it, is also important to know how to do. (Another way to save money if you're working on a very small scale is to purchase seed in bulk in greater quantities than you'll use in one season, then use the techniques described below to dehydrate it so that it stores for up to ten years. Seed purchased in bulk is generally much less expensive than seed purchased in very small quantities.)
Calendula is a wonderful flower to grow. It thrives despite poor soils, opening big orange and yellow blossoms toward the sun. In fact it looks like a bright globe of sunshine in the garden. And it has many uses: it repels pesty insects as well as being a prime herbal medicine. Calendula heals gastrointestinal issues and repairs skin. It's good to use in salves, oils, teas and tincture. Get started growing, harvesting, drying and selling calendula on your small farm:
