A Cedar Hills Introduction

Hello!

This is Cedar Hills Farm official introduction to the world of online journals. I think it's appropriate to start with an explanation of what and who Cedar Hills is.

Cedar Hills Farm is an organic farm in central Minnesota. Our mission is simple; to live harmoniously with nature and show love to all. Cedar Hills began when Marco and I moved out of the big city and onto a beautiful 40 acer farm. The farm has been in the family for three generations. My grandfather had gardens, cattle, a corn cribe, a chicken roost, the most lovely old barn imaginable and a wonderful wife to share the farm with. My grandmother sold the farm to my father; who, in turn, allow Marc and I to cultivate our interest in farming.

During our first year at Cedar Hills, Marco and I worked conventional, full time jobs. That summer we broke ground and planted a garden. To our novice suprise we grew more zucchini than we thought possible, two tiny watermelon and a substantial amount of cantelope. Cedar Hills also had four apple trees which produced bushels of apples and gave way to many apple pies over the autumn.

That winter Marco and I discussed purchasing some livestock. We loved the idea of having chickens...Free, Farm-Fresh Eggs! We also decided to invest in a few goats. We chose goats because they could be sustained on a small plot of land, they weren't huge animals and we learned that they were friendly. We knew if we were going to purchase any or all of these animals, the barn would need lots of work. As spring warmed winter's chill, Marco and I tackled the barn. The barn itself was in fine shape, structurally; however over the past 10 years it was used as a storage area. Everything from bikes with no tires, old props for plays, an antique oven, a 1950's style washing machine and wobbling tables filled the downstairs of the barn. The hayloft proved no better - where old hay mingled with stacks of 2x4's and rubber maid containers full of stuffed animals and college textbooks. The next month involved relocating the above mentioned items, insulating the barn's interior, building pens and nesting boxes for the animals and making everything clean enough to live in.

As we researched chickens, we learned there are hatcheries to order from; in which week old chicks are mailed to you! Imagine getting a package of live, baby chicks! Awesome! Well, that was our plan....until Marco's old boss told us he had 12 chickens he wanted to give away. Such a gift! Free chickens....and they were already laying eggs! We picked up the chickens and the next day there were three eggs waiting for us! Amazing.

Right after the chickens arrived, we drove out to pick up our three goats: two males and a female, each four weeks old. We decided to buy Alpine goats, since they produce great milk and are also good meat goats. The two males we named Tyrone and Brunch, the female we named Claribel.

This is Tyrone

This is Claribel

And this is Brunch.

We never felt more life farmers than when gathering our own chicken eggs and taking the goats out to graze. We had great expectations for the upcoming summer - our second year on the farm!

To be Continued.....