Complete Illustrated Guide To Farming - New book!

It's a busy time of the year but we wanted to take a moment to let you know of a new book that might be of interest to those of you in search of information on farming or hobby farming. The Complete Illustrated Guide to Farming written by our own Samantha Johnson and co-authored by Philip Hasheider is published by Voyageur Press www.voyageurpress.com . You might also enjoy visiting the Voyageur's Whole Home News blog for loads of great information www.wholehomenews.com .

Some of the chapters in this book cover crops, livestock, safety, harvesting, conservation and much more! Many of the photos in this book were provided by our Daniel Johnson www.foxhillphoto.com . If you're interested in getting started in farming or even just raising a few animals for your own pleasure, this book is a great kick-start with loads of information.

It's available through Voyageur Press, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, bookstores and Tractor Supply.

Today is overcast and a bit snowy and we've had several good snowstorms over the past few weeks. We love the opportunity to photograph on a snowy day, especially the ponies and cobs. Winter is flying by quickly though, so we'll have to take every chance to get outdoors in the snow while we still have a good base. 

This is one of our Welsh Cob mares, enjoying a romp during a recent snowfall, she's as sweet as can be, a real farm favorite.

Garden Dreamin'

It's that time of the year when the seed catalogs are arriving and we begin pondering over which varieties we'd like to include this year.  We always have our favorites that we put in each year, but we also like to try new vegetable varieties as well.  One of our favorite companies to order from in Seed Savers Exchange in Iowa (http://www.seedsavers.org/) We enjoy perusing their beautiful catalog and have yet to be disappointed in any seeds or plants we've purchased from them. 

We've plans to expand the kitchen garden a bit more, seems like there's never enough room for all the things we want to grow.  Each year we put in a lot of tomato plants and it seems they're taking up more and more room in the garden. 

The new farm will be getting its own garden too, maybe two...one up on top of the hill and one near the house.  There's a great little log building that will be perfect for a garden shed.  Choosing the right site is important, ideally close to a walkway or to the house, so it's convenient to weed, water and harvest when we have spare moments. 

Also this year, we're hoping to improve the fencing around the gardens...in efforts to keep out the two most difficult pests...the Whitetail Deer and the Thirteen Lined Ground Squirrels...both species are cute, but very hard on a garden.  Last year the deer ate the cucumbers and squirrels ate the peas. The squirrels were making a go at the strawberries but we trenched around the beds and buried wire to keep them from digging in...it worked pretty slick!

New Year - New Farm

The new year has started off snowy and windy after a very mild November and December.  There have been many things happening here, including the purchase of another farm just down the dirt road from Fox Hill.  It's a farm we've all admired for years...I still remember the first time I ever laid eyes on that farm many years ago.  We drove down the big hill and there it was sprawling out in front of us, land sweeping down towards a beautiful setting with the house and barn.  We never expected it to be for sale, and never expected that it might work out for us to purchase it.  But on Labor Day I was driving by and saw the realty sign and a few weeks later we'd made the offer to purchase.  We closed in late November and it's still a little hard to believe it now belongs to our family. 

A few photos of the new farm are included here, more to come when spring arrives and we can take inventory of all that encompasses our new purchase.   The numerous ponds are all frozen over right now, but in the spring, the returning geese should once again arrive to raise their little families and we'll be awaiting their arrival with cameras in hand.

Apple Update

It's that time of year again---time for picking apples! Four trees, planted in Fox Hill Farm's garden in 2009, are now growing beautiful, delicious apples. They're perfect for making that sweet, creamy delicacy we all enjoy . . . applesauce!

And in the orchard, "Duchess" (an antique Duchess of Oldenburg tree that has proven her worth many years running) continues to thrive and produce the crème de la crème.

Here's an interesting fact: in Anne of Green Gables, it is said that Anne and Marilla pick apples from their Duchess tree. (Only the best for Fox Hill Farm!) J

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This post is courtesy of Farm Girl Rosie at http://www.farmgirlrosie.blogspot.com/

18 Beautiful Birds

We’re happy to bring you this guest blog, courtesy of Farm Girl Rosie (http://farmgirlrosie.blogspot.com/), as she shares about her recent experiences in bird watching.

I just recently began studying which types of birds tend to gather in the area where I live. So many birds are attracted to suet feeders, and this is a compilation of the different kinds I’ve seen so far on the feeder:

1. Black-capped Chickadee
2. White-breasted Nuthatch
3. Red-winged Blackbird
4. Hairy Woodpecker
5. Pileated Woodpecker
6. Dark-eyed Junco
7. European Starling
8. American Robin

I’ve also spotted these birds in the past few weeks:

1. Canadian Geese
2. Mallard ducks
3. Bufflehead ducks
4. Red-tailed Hawks
5. Killdeer
6. Mourning Doves
7. Northern Flickers
8. American Crows
9. Eastern Meadowlarks
10. Eastern Bluebirds

I highly recommend The Backyard Birdsong Guide by Donald Kroodsma for those who are interested in identifying birds and their calls. This book also comes with a birdcall player; you press a button on the side of the book, and you can hear the call of every bird discussed in the guide. The Backyard Birdsong Guide has been so helpful to me in figuring out which birds are which!

Hairy Woodpecker	Red-winged Blackbird	Hairy Woodpecker

The 4-H Guide to Digital Photography on Kindle!

Did you know…? Dan’s book, The 4-H Guide to Digital Photography, is now available as a Kindle download! Visit Amazon.com to add this popular book to your Kindle e-reader today. Also, check out the five-star reviews! J