Home on the Range

The past two weeks on the farm have been pretty busy from doing the regular farm chores (taking care of the animals, cutting wood and not our legs...) to house projects. The new windows are in, the kitchen ceiling is down, and the basement is still wet.

All of the people I've talked to or contacted have been really helpful and kind. Jeremy from the Red Coop Co in Willington has been an amazing source of information, and we met with Keely from Dancing Frog Farm, also in Chaplin CT at a local bagel shop to go over some farm things and ask some questions. It's nice to know we aren't the only ones trying to start a new lifestyle in Chaplin!

We didn't make it to the NE Poultry Congress show this year unfortunately, but maybe we'll make it to the sheep and alpaca shows :).


The dogs are still having a great time playing in the fields and going on walks on the utility trail around the property. Tartan and Nessie have been practicing their sweet frisbee moves for the spring competitions too.

Unfortunately, farm life can take a toll on the body and usually results in a group nap :) (notice Nessie's leg on poor Sporran's head!)

Life on the Farm

Living on BC Farms has had its benefits so far but also its trials. 2009 brought challenges that will hopefully be resolved in 2010, and hopefully this time next year the barns will be taken care of, the the basement will be leak free!

These are some of the current animal habitants of BC Farms:


The dogs:
Collectively known as "the paws", the dogs love life on the farm so far and all the room they have to play! They include Tartan the border collie, Nessie the Australian Shepherd (who both compete in disc dog competitions), and Sporran the smooth-coated border collie.




The cats:
Two elusive barn cats that remain mostly hidden but let their presence be known by their footprints.


White tailed deer:
THere are many signs of white tailed deer around the farm, including footprints, "beds", scat, missing apples, and yesterday we came across a marking by a buck on a cedar tree! Male white tailed deer "rub" trees in order to mark their territory, especially during mating season. This is a pretty significant rub so I think it's an older buck. They leave their scent on the trees by doing this, and prefer to do it on aromatic trees, like cedar!