An Orchard for Sis

I have a self-declared "fruititarian" in my family.  Sis does not like vegetables but definitely loves her fruit.  Many days when she packs her lunch, fruit is the only thing included.  I know, I know she needs protein and grains too but believe it or not, she is the least sick and prone to allergies in our family, so most of the time I let her be .

At our old house in town, we had planted fruit trees but did not get the pleasure of seeing them produce.  When we bought the farm, Sis and I both wanted to plant fruit trees in our first year, since it takes 3+ years to harvest.  

Fall is the best time to plant trees but the busyness of life took over and the trees were never planted.  Spring is the second best time to plant so I came up with an idea to give Sis an orchard for her birthday.  In our family we tend to give "strange" gifts.  And in the past several years, Sis has gotten her fair share of live animals for her birthday.  Just so happens baby critters are prevalent in early Spring.  This year we decided to give her something living, just in a different way.

Introducing, the Orchard at Shamba Creek:

In the Orchard, there is a collection of apple, nectarine, pear and plum trees, and blueberry bushes.  Not sure if you can tell in the pictures but we have surrounded the orchard with electric fence in an effort to keep the deer out.  I have heard they will eat the trees down to the ground.  I have thought about running wire through the trees, think "The Matrix" laser scene, however for now we are hoping the deer will leave them alone.

Sis was super excited about her orchard and she has spent many hours sitting on the bench reading.  Hopefully we will have an abundance of fruit to share in the future...unless Sis eats it all!

Barn Reno Part 1

The barn came with the land.  We have asked several of the neighbors and the best we can tell this old barn was built in the early 1960's.

The land had been leased to many people over the years and the barn had not been repaired.  The dust was overwhelming as you walked in the barn.  The hinges had rusted out on 2 of the 3 doors. The one working door was barely hanging on, and as we used it one of the supports broke on it so it was left to the mercy of the wind.

I wanted to tear down the eyesore but Tim and several other people kept telling me that there was a lot of life left in the old girl.  I was thankful that it kept the 4-wheelers out of the rain and kept the cats dry but it was not fully functional, and if it was going to stay, it needed a makeover.

I am kicking myself for not getting better before pictures but here is what I have...

The open door is barely hanging on!

Nice hole for animals to crawl in and out.  

The floor looks great here after a 6 ft mountain of compost and dirt was pulled out.

Here is the barn in process:

The entire structure was shored up and rethought...

There is a lovely view out the back but my husband said I could not put windows in :-)

Another exciting part of the reno is we are getting electricity put in!!!  

And here is the new front...

I LOVE IT!

We used old barn tin for the doors since the roof is rusted tin and we are not replacing it.  The trim is rough sawed oak which should age grey.  I got my sliding barn door, actually on the barn, not my house :-).  In phase 2 we are going to add a workshop and feed room...which is hopefully rodent-proof, since the critters are very destructive.

Today we found out that one of our 4-wheelers is kaput because mice chewed up all the wiring.  This was a tough hit but we are learning that is how life rolls on the farm.  I am trying hard to focus on building up treasure in heaven, and not building up treasure on this earth that moth, rust and mice will destroy.

Our 1 Year Anniversary

We just celebrated our one year anniversary at Shamba Creek Farm.  It is hard to believe how much has happened and changed in our lives over the past year.  We are still passionate about becoming "farmers".  Kinda hard to write that word 😁, we have so much to learn, that I don't consider myself a true farmer, but that is all part of the journey.

This farming decision has changed our children drastically, they are becoming young entrepreneurs.  They enjoy researching animals and the products that could be sold from each animal.    The farm is also teaching all of us about loss, one of the very hard lessons of farming is that sometimes animals die for no apparent reason.  We are learning to cherish each moment and not take tomorrow for granted. I love how we are all learning and growing together.

Throughout the past year, the LORD has really been working on developing my patience.  Waiting until the funds come in to do repairs or buy equipment, waiting for young animals to get old enough to breed, waiting to process animals, waiting for babies to be born and so much more.  However, we are also getting to reap the blessings of much joy during the waiting.  I cannot tell you how lovely and peaceful it is on the land, how much closer I feel the Lord's presence.

This past year has had me counting many blessings:  Tim's job in town, great neighbors, energy, health and strength to do the many chores, other farmers that we have met and gleaned knowledge from, the beauty of the land, new friends and customers!

We are a continual work in progress and we look forward to sharing some new developments and changes coming this summer and spring.  For now we are joyfully caring for 10 Large Black Hogs, 5 Red Angus Heifers, 11 layers, 39 baby chicks, 5 cats and 2 dogs - oh my!

Here are some of our favorite spots and memories from 2016, we hope you will join us soon and come out to explore the farm:

Thorn trees: while not really a favorite, they remind me of the cross and how Christ suffered.  

These trees are a menace and they are everywhere.

Frost flowers, these fascinated me, they are so beautiful.

The beauty of the creek that changes daily.

Our first toy purchase, Ranger is not so shiny today...he is a hard worker.

They spent many hours in the creek last year, playing and exploring.

A unique feature that is only visible after a hard rain.  We have named it Savior Falls.  By far my most favorite place on the farm.

The beauty of the woods, so very peaceful.

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Why Large Black Hogs?

When we decided to become farmers, we truly did not know what that would look like, we are still continuing to work through decisions.  However, as we researched animals, we felt strongly that we were supposed to raise animals the way God created them, to the best of our ability.

We did not want to confine animals unless it was for their protection and of course within the boundaries of our property.  We wanted animals that would thrive on the pastures that we have with minimal input from us.  Through our research, we came across the Livestock Conservancy whose mission is to protect heritage breeds of livestock and poultry from extinction (https://livestockconservancy.org).  What does that mean?  Well, you can visit their website for more details but for us it means raising the animals the way our grandparents and great-grandparents did.

100 years ago, families did not buy all of their food from the local grocery store, they had gardens and raised much of their own food.  There were animals that thrived in the pasture and woods.  As our family has had to deal with many food allergies and sensitivities, we have taken a closer look at what we are putting into our bodies.  Yes, we still eat junk and processed food but we want to develop our farm so we can eat better and provide great pasture-raised protein to our friends and neighbors.

Through this process, we discovered the Large Black Hog.  It is a heritage breed that is on the Threatened list of the Livestock Conservancy.  It is a native English hog that is well known for its lean meat and docile temper (ours are like big puppy dogs).  The breed peaked in popularity during the 1920's but it was not competitive as an indoor breed as intensive animal husbandry began to develop.  In the early 70's it was put on the critically endangered list and has since moved up to the threatened list.  This breed is great at foraging and mothering which makes it a wonderful fit for our farm.

Don't worry, we do feed our hogs.  However, with their foraging ability, they get a balanced diet and lots of exercise.

We want to encourage children and adults to come out and meet our animals, to learn about how food is grown...not sure about your children but mine were very surprise about the process of growing a hog from baby to table.  It is a lot more work than picking up a package of pork chops from the grocery store.

While we have sold out of our first 2 hogs that we processed, we will have more coming this summer.  If you are interested in purchasing a whole or half hog, please contact me at 479-640-6393 or shambacreekfarm@gmail.com.  We are taking deposits at this time ($50 per half, $100 per whole).

These 4 girls arrived at the farm this weekend and will be ready for processing this summer.  They need a bit of fence training before we release them into the pasture😊.

And here are some beauty shots from our customers...

“So good. Texture of beef, but a pork flavor. Fantastic!” – Jeff L.

Thank you Jeff!

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2016: HOGS!

It is hard to believe all that has happened at Shamba Creek Farm since my last post.  The Fall was extremely busy since we decided to sell our home in Rogers and move closer to the farm.  We got our Large Black Hogs in late August from our dear friends at Hanna Ranch in Bentonville.  We chose this Heritage breed for many reasons some of which are their docile nature, lean meat and their ability to graze in the pasture.  You can learn more about these amazing animals at http://largeblackhogassociation.org and http://livestockconservancy.org.

All 4 fit in a dog crate, kinda hard to believe looking at them today!

Meet Maddy, Big Mama, Buddy and Pumba  this is a Proud Papa moment.

These are the sweetest animals, I have ever known.  I never dreamed of being a hog farmer at any point in my life but these animals have changed me.  They have amazing personalities and come running up the hill when they hear our vehicle, their ears flapping in the wind.  I know, I know they are just hungry and know that we are giving them dinner. :-)

We have had a blast learning about raising them and there have been many great lessons for our children.  God says that mankind is to rule over the livestock in Genesis 1:26, our family has a whole new understanding of this command.  We have learned a lot about how the animals are really fun but they cannot care for themselves, especially when their water freezes or predators are around and you have to change your plans to secure the fence.

Here is our piggy bathtub

The temps have been cold!  Lots of icebreaking going on at the farm.

A couple of weeks ago, we bought a boar for our girls.  He needed a buddy so here are Mr. Incredible and Pork Chop meeting the rest of the crew.

We are one week away from sending Pumba and Buddy to market.  Another lesson for my tender-hearted children.  We have had many discussions and some tears but we all agree that anything on the farm must have a purpose...no freeloading allowed!

These babies have grown up fast and are pushing 300 lbs each.   Let us know if you would like to try some of our Pasture Raised Pork, our freezer will be full the beginning of February.  Until next time...

New Arrival - Red Angus

Much excitement around the farm today!  We got our delivery of Red Angus heifers.  Over the past 2 weeks, the farm has been a flurry of activity getting everything prepped.  The farm was at one time a dairy farm.  There was an old corral overgrown with cherry trees and rotten wood fences.

Two weeks ago, we started clearing out this area.  We pulled lots of nails and cut out lots of branches and cut down several trees.  We debated building a permanent corral or putting up temporary panels.  After much discussion, we decided to build a permanent corral.  

Our new friend Shane, got to work right away...we are so very thankful to him, his father and brother.  They worked nonstop to get the corral built even in unbearable heat and torrential downpours.   Here is the finished product...

This morning, we got our delivery of Red Angus heifers.

It is getting real around here! :-)  

Kittens

We found a mouse nest in our 4-wheeler and removed it twice.    We have seen the mice around the land and they are hug!  Barn kitties were on our list but they quickly moved to the top after these treasures were found.  My daughter thought it would be fantastic to watch baby mice grow up, I however did not agree, especially not in the 4-wheeler.

Our friends had a kitten they wanted to get rid of but we needed a friend for her, which of course led to 2 friends!  I am such a sucker for baby animals, just not baby mice.  Meet Chui, Rafiki and Masai...

Last week something killed all of our guinea keeps and we decided to move the kittens to our house.  They are enjoying the garage...a little too much! :-)  We need to strengthen the pen that we have been keeping the kittens in to make sure they are safe.

See you next time!