Paca Criations

06/29/2015

05/27/2015

Hot day... this is how we cool of until the pool is open...

05/27/2015

Almost Mulberry Time......

05/13/2015

05/12/2015

Meet the new recruits! Grant is getting the 'how to' from Don. Faye had already had hers several days earlier and is mowing like pro. Of course seat belts and hearing protection are mandatory ;). Helping out like this even though it is fun is making them realize how much work mom and dad do and they are starting to appreciate being able to help out so we get a break. LOVE our kids :)

04/20/2015

Trying to capture the amount and deep color of our grass. It makes our alpaca disappear up to the knees! Just two rains made it jump like crazy but its too wet to cut or other stuff needs doing. Life's conundrum ;). This amazing greenness has been achieved by intensive rotational with our alpacas and frequent (as in every week in the summer) mowing only! No extra fertilizer, seed or anything else! So proud to see 3 years of hard work pay off :)
Can't wait for next year now that we've added the ducks and they're our own portable manure spreader.

04/17/2015

Welcome to my office ;)

04/05/2015

Just realized our new girls have not been properly introduced!
From left to right: Cookie (Grant's), Toby (Faye's), Tequila (yes yours Truly, and she came with that name), Cinnamon (Don's)

Everyone is anxious to go riding again. It was very short last fall when we accumulated the girls before the weather started turning and it was too cold to comfortably ride with newbies. But everyone caught the bug nonetheless and it won't be long before the saddles are dusted of and we'll be riding into the sunset again!

03/24/2015

The beauty of multi species intense and rotational grazing. On the far left the last field our ducks were in before winter and now has the alpacas.

Look at the color of that grass! Its been left bare all winter, the ducks were rotated on the back 20.

Now its the ducks turn to "enrich" the field the alpacas wintered in, the field on the right. Gotta love nature! Work smarter, not harder :)

03/20/2015

Sherrif Callie is all grown up!

03/20/2015

60 lbs of under 20 micron fiber finally boxed up and getting sent out for throws, teddy's, earwarmers and scarves. Soooo excited! This box is 3 years of fiber clip. It includes 11lbs of true black! Also rose grey, silver grey, maroon, brown, light fawn and white :)

03/17/2015

11/03/2014

What a beautiful day! The kids were begging to ride so..... they did :) Of course there was brushing and combing out tails first ;).
I think everyone had a blast horses included. Both equine's were very patient and are being great teachers. The kids are learning groundmanners quickly and how that transfers to being in the saddle. Couldn't ask for more!

11/03/2014

Look who joined us! Our new ATV's have arrived ;). Everyone meet Excalibur and Tobie. Ex is the tall gelding on the left and Tobie the smaller mare on the right. The kids LOVE them. And yes, momma is getting her equine fix again as well. LOL.
Even though it was freaky cold and windy Saturday they had to brush Tobie (thankfully it wasn't bad inside the barn) since riding was out of the question with the wind and cold and they were bound and determined to spend time with her. The mare and kids both loved it. Couldn't have asked for a better match!
Looking forward to better weather and more fun times!

10/04/2014

Yummmmm, that is some homemade maple rooster ;) breakfast sausage. I LOVE my roosters now....
I've wanted to make our own homegrown sausage for sooo long and finally had the chance and guts to do the whole process. From a walking rooster to yummy sausage!

08/22/2014

The pole beans are producing! I love it, no bending down to pick. Thankfully I only made the frame 7 feet tall ;)

08/17/2014

Check out our page that's gone to the dogs!

Doodlebugs Family Kennel.

Pups available now.

07/31/2014

The summer garden has done really well! So far I've learned a lot!

- A little paca p**p goes a long way! And makes your squash really grow.
- I'm canning 3-4 days a week
- Except for a few slicing tomatoes, its easiest to just throw tomatoes in the blender as soon as they are picked and washed and store the mush in the fridge until you have time to can. Keeps the nats down.
- Pick at least every other day, if not it'll take hours!
- I'll be spraying my seedlings and transplants for fungus before they go into the garden.
- Be vigilant with your Neem Oil or bugs will take over.
- I can't plant in straight rows, LOL. Will pull a string next go around to get straight rows.
- woven wire works great for tomatoes but has to be strung 6" above Roma's and 12" above slicing maters.
- plant my peppers closer and stake them next time.
- leave more room to walk between the tomatoes. - you can NEVER Have enough cans.

And finally.... Its far more satisfying then I would have imagined seeing and tasting what all the hard work turned into. :)

Hooked for life now!

07/31/2014

This was harvested and the last few days. Haven't canned it all yet. However with today's haul.......

Yes, I actually bought a rack with crates to hold all the produce coming out of this garden :)

Looks like we'll be making tomato sauce, squash soup and pickles for the next couple of days. YUM YUM

07/31/2014

Today's Harvest!

Rijkman is very HAPPY the beans are done for the season. LOL.

And I believe we can make it official: our tomatoes have come in!

07/15/2014

And today's lunch makes ALL the madness and hard work alright :). Since the whole lunch was made out of products produced on the farm, except the onion. We ran out of room in the garden ;)

Veggie hash (tomato, squash and onion), fried eggs and breaded and fried fresh rabbit livers and hearts.

MMmmmmmmmm

07/15/2014

I know I've wanted a garden. And I know I've worked hard to make it it fruitful. Right now however the only thing keeping me sane is my mantra: its the best food for you're family and you'll be glad you have this winter. LOL. I mean seriously HOW much squash can one eat! And this is after processing 50lbs already!

07/14/2014

Got the first tomatoes...... now all we need is bacon. And lots of it!

07/09/2014

Faye posing in our eatable 'jungle'.

Our squash and zuchini are nuts. 10lbs per squash plant so far and almost 15lbs per zuchini! 6 squash plants and 2 zuchini.
Must be the paca poo!!

06/29/2014

Oh my the veggies are starting to come in. 40lbs before you on the counter. Incl 10 lbs of pickling cucumbers in the bag! Kids are soooo excited since now we'll be making our own pickles. Hopefully we can make enough this summer to last the year! That's the goal. :)

06/24/2014

This years chicks have officially joined the Big Hens. The rooster next to the waterer will remain here, all other rooster are for sale!

06/18/2014

What a change in 9 days! Already picked the first Zuchini. Squash aren't far behind.
Sprayed Neem oil for the bugs the last 2 mornings. Garden is too big to spray it all at once before the hot sun hit it!
Tonight the first application of alpaca compost tea with a little epsom salt will be applied.
It should totally rock once the tea goes on!!

06/09/2014

The veggie garden is doing AMAZING!!

Peppers, tomatoes, beans pole and bush, zuchini, squash, cucumbers table and pickling, radishes, carrots and beets. Oh yummy!

05/01/2014

Chicks abound on the farm! Momma hen hatched out 12! We hatched out 3 batches. 1 batch still under lights and the other 2 graduated to our portable grow out coop.
They were in the coop during the last few stormy days and are doing great! I love this design coop. We made a few modifications from plans seen online and its solid as a rock.

04/15/2014

Oh my... spring has seriously begun. Already mowed the whole farm and it needed it! Several fields had the mower pulling hard to cut it.

I LOVE IT! Because that means are pastures have/are improving and the grass is growing in denser covering more ground! Yeah!

04/03/2014

What ya doin?

This is Happy our ferocious barn cat laying up in the loft soaking up some rays this afternoon

03/25/2014

FACEBOOK has recently changed its rules for Business Pages again.
So, here's the deal; A person has to be 'active' on your page a minimum of 3 times within any calendar month period.
This means a 'like' of a picture, a comment or a full post on the wall. If a person is not active on your page, as listed above, after a month of no activity, their 'like' will be removed from your page, as FB has decided they are not interested in your page!
How cheeky is that!
So, if you are a fan of any pages, do make sure you are regularly active.
Even just one quick post a week will ensure that the page will remain in your timeline..
It's also been found that the more Likes or Comments any one post receives, the more people that see it in their Newsfeed.
So if you see a post or photo from any Business page you are a fan of make sure you like it, or even comment on it.
Help keep small Businesses running
Please COPY & PASTE this onto your Business Page Wall if you have one!!

03/25/2014

The weather definitely needs a shrink. Calling for 2-4 inches. Seems to go up every time they look at the radar

03/25/2014

The kids showing of with their Alpacas. Faye is using our Champion Stud Atlantis. Grant is using their PR boy Judson

03/20/2014

Its spring time!!!! The chicks have hatched of our first batch. This is sooooo addicting. 18 chicks hatched, 8 never pipped. Thinking it might be the fact that the ones that didn't hatch, but were fully formed, were used as bowling balls. Going to put rocks, and egg cartons in next time.
Second batch, of straight Americuana, due next week with hopefully 2 ducks as well.
Third batch going in tonight. More Americana and 3 bantams.