Backyard Chicken Coop

Lost Lake Farm has more than just a hand full of backyard chickens.  We gather eggs from the hens for our own farm table, as well as other family and friends. All of our chickens are one big happy barnyard family and good neighbors with the guineas and turkeys.  They roam during the day and share a coop at night built on the end of the barn. That being said, we have decided to hatch a few of the special breeds, like our Welsummers.

In order to do that we need to move the girls and this rooster into their own little place.  Recently we were blessed with a good amount of free pallets.  I really wanted to use them in order to build the 'coop' part of the chicken pen.  Pulling pallets apart to use the boards is time consuming.  Keep in mind it would be a quicker project to purchase the materials, but also much more expensive.
Without a pattern or directions, here is our almost completed Chicken Condo designed by the Farmer.

I love it! Not that I will have to live in it or anything. I think the pallets give the chicken coop a rustic country feel.

The boards are mixed and not even the same width which delivers just the right amount of character for my tastes.  I wish I had taken a better photo of the hen nesting box.  When it is complete I will snap one and post on our Facebook page.
Did you notice even the door is a pallet?

The Farmer was able to also recycle some door hinges found in the barn.

The frame of the pen is using newly purchased lumber.  Using the pallets really cut the cost of this baby!

We finished up the side this weekend and have placed the Welsummers in their new home.  Hopefully we will get their condo moved out in the calves pasture this week.  For now they seem to enjoy it!

Next up a coop for these little chicks.

Do you have backyard chickens?


Barn Hop

We named the Farm!

You could say we've been farming our whole lives.  Me and the Farmer both grew up in families that kept summer gardens and farm animals.  Although there were plenty of years that I didn't grow a thing except children in the 'city'!
Now that I am back to my roots and seeking a more simple life; farming, homesteading...whatever you would like to call it, is just what we are doing.
There has been tons of changes 'down on the farm' and we are learning something new each day.  Even as a country girl!
We have big dreams and have been working on a plan to move towards those dreams.  Obtaining livestock guardians and rabbits.

First things first - we wanted to name the farm.  After tossing names left and right, one finally stuck.

Lost Lake Farm

I have also set up a Facebook page full of farm photos.  If you would like to keep up with the day to day antics of farm critters, along with a few fun family farming photos and information on farming, homesteading...give us a holler over there!  Just click this link:  Lost Lake Farm on Facebook  and come enjoy some down home country fun.

Late Fall Garden

The calendar says it is still Fall, but this morning's temperature felt more like Mr. Winter is already here! 
For the first time, the Farmer decided to plant a late fall garden.  We had seeds for two types of greens (mustard and turnip) and set out small cabbage and broccoli plants.  It has really grown and we hope to harvest from our small patch.

I am not a turnip green eater.  My mom would cook them when I was growing up, but I just never developed a taste for them.  I do love steamed broccoli, along with steamed cabbage or cole slaw.

This spring we thought we would not have enough time to garden so we skipped planting one.  That won't happen next spring!   Usually we have a small plot of cantaloupe, tomatoes, green peppers, corn, peas and/or green beans, watermelon, squash, cucumbers and okra.  One year we even planted a few sweet potatoes.

Last year we had such a mild winter we were surprised to see our plowed under garden, reproducing with no help from us.  We ended up with a few cantaloupe and cucumbers.

The strangest thing were our 'wild' watermelons.  Every summer we enjoy watermelons pool side.  After our feast we typically spray off the concrete pool deck with a water hose, washing away any extra seeds and juice that fell from the table.  This past spring, just past the walkway from the back porch to the pool, grew our wild watermelons.

This is a bark covered flower bed where our butterfly bushes grow back each year.

On the other side of those huge butterfly bushes was our wild watermelon patch growing along the sidewalk and creeping everywhere.  We were able to pick and enjoy several melons this summer, right next to the pool.

Yummy!  I would love one of those right now.

How does your garden grow?

Do you plant a late fall garden?  If so, what do you plant?

Sunday Farm Scenes

Beautiful day on the farm.  

Rosie grazing on the green pasture.

Turkeys and chickens out in the barn yard.

Guineas and a turkey hen also barn yard bug hunting.

 Two-face, the barn kitty.

AnnaBelle wants out to play.

Hope you are enjoying a beautiful Sunday.

Welcome to "The Farm"

After my 'baby' girl graduated high school in 2010, I decided to finally move to what we have for years lovingly called "The Farm".

The farm had already given our family many memories acting as a second home on weekends and summers. The 'Farmer' and I figured we would settle into a quite country life with grown kids visiting occasionally and more adult time.  If you have followed my other blog, Design to Shine, you know those plans changed a bit with the arrival of my nephew and little 'cowboy'.

He has lived with us since March 2011 and has been both a joy along with an adjustment at our age!  The blessing in all of this has been that the 'Farmer' and I have had time to re-evaluate life.  The 'Farmer' has really wanted to grow our own garden and we haven't seemed to get it together the last two years.  In 2010, the Farmer had already planted a small garden spot and we enjoyed squash, tomatoes, a bit of corn and cantaloupes.  This year we had 'wild' watermelons (from watermelons shared by the pool and seeds washed off the pool deck).  We didn't even plant the seeds!  But we had watermelons.

Currently we have a fall garden of broccoli, collard greens and what few cabbage plants that the deer spared.  Over the next few posts I will introduce you to our farm animals.  As you can see above, we have horses, although we rarely ride anymore.