Pigs Join The Farm

We got 4 cute little piglets.  You may be asking how we keeps pigs and bees on our 1/4 acre urban farm?  We don't, but we keep part of our farm at my parents.  They have a acre and have joined Sommer Time Farm.  A family that farms together, stays together. We share the responsibilities, costs, and benefits. One of the pigs is also my brother's and another is a family friend.

 

 The night we got the cute little piggies was like a circus. I'm sure whoever saw us thought it was hilarious. I didn't know that pigs could squeeze through small holes and run for what seemed like hours.

My husband spent a couple weekends making a super nice pen for the pigs.  It has a roof on one end and sides so the pigs can have protection from the elements.  Then one weekend my parents and my family poured cement in the pen.  Easy to keep clean.  Well after all that work those little piggies didn't even care to stick around for a minute.  As soon as we let them out of the carrier that we brought them home in, they squeezed through the squares of the wire and escaped. We chased those little piggies around the yard, through the neighbor's yard, across the street, and back again.  Finally we caught all those piggies, and back into the carrier they went.  And to town we went to buy smaller square fencing to wire around the whole pen.  No more escaping for those piggies!

Now those cute little pigs, named bacon, sausage, ham, and porkchop, are growing and not escaping.  We will chalk this into a funny memory and learning experience.





 

Sommer Time Honey Bees

A new beginning for Sommer Time Farm.   We got bees!  We are starting with just 2 hives, but we hope to expand every year. 

 

 

The day we got our bees the weather was a windy cold sunny day.  We watched a video one more time on youtube to refresh us on how to install our bees into our hives.  Then we bundled up and put on our bee jackets and headed out to install our bees into brand new hives.

 

The bees were as cold as we were and they didn't move much.  Poor little ladies.  The guys didn't put on their jackets and veils.  They are braver than the rest of us.

We headed to the hives and installed the cold little ladies into their hives.  The queen comes in a little cage with a candy plug in the end for the worker bees to eat and let her out.  By the time they eat the candy plug and let her out, they have accepted her as their queen.

We hung her little cage inside the hive.  Then we dumped the rest of the bees in the hive.  Not all come out, but most do.  We leave the cages the bees come in by the entrance of the hive.  The rest will come out and figure out how to get into the hive.

 We brush the bees out of the way with a soft broom so we can put the lid on the hive.  That way we don't squish the little ladies.  We spray them with sugar water as we go to help keep them calm.  We will use a smoker when they are established in a week or so, but sugar water is enough for now.

Then we put a bucket full of sugar water in the next super(box).  Also we put a pollen patty in each hive.  This will feed the bees until they get established and there is flowers blooming for them to collect pollen from. 

Then we put the roof on and pray that they all live and they accept the queen. 

 

We will most likely not be able to collect honey this first year, while the bees are building their hive and making enough honey to get them through the winter.  Next year they will be more established and we will be able to collect their honey and wax for our use.  We also plan on adding a couple more hives.  I can't wait!!

 





Strawberry Syrup for Canning

 

I was at the grocery store the other day and a case of strawberries was on sale for $13 a case!  That's $1.62 a package.  It was deal I couldn't pass up.  But then what to do with all those strawberries?  Well my family loves strawberry syrup.  It's good on everything.  Pancakes, waffles, french toast, ice cream, the possibilities are endless.

So after looking on Pinterest, and not finding a recipe that I had all the ingredient's for or sounded good, I decided to combine what I had read and what I like and make my own.  It turned out delicious and was a great recipe to bottle.  No complaints from the guys.  Just happy faces and tummies.

Strawberry Syrup

10 C pureed strawberries

10 C sugar

1 TSP vanilla

Juice of 1 lemon

1 TBSP butter

 

After pureeing strawberries-strain with mesh strainer.  This will remove some of the strawberry seeds.  Combine strawberries, sugar, vanilla, and lemon in large stock pot.  Slowly bring to boil on medium-medium high heat.  Reduce heat and boil for 20 minutes.  Syrup will have a lot of foam.  Add butter to reduce foam.  Remove any foam that is left over.

 

Pour into jars.  Wipe rim of jar to clean and place boiled lids and rings.  Process in water bath 20 minutes.  Store opened syrup in fridge.

 

 

 



Let Me Introduce Myself

Hello!  My name is Sommer.  I love to garden and preserve what I grow.  My backyard is small but produces a lot for my family.  I have a large garden, chicken coop with 9 chickens, a orange kitty and a black golden doodle.  Come along on our journey and get to know us.  My husband John and I have been married for 15 years.  We have 2 boys-Kayden 14 and Riley 11. Enjoy following us as we work our urban farm and share our adventures.