Chicken Thistle Farm CoopCast

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065 Benefits of a mobile chicken coop, seedlings in the greenhouse, a case study on sick pigs Apr 10, 2013

Show notes

Our farming updates this week suggest that maybe just a little Spring is on the way here at Chicken Thistle Farm. We took some time to clean out the chick wagon. We have also spent some time cleaning up the asparagus patch and getting the greenhouse ready for some seedlings. Then there's an update on the pigs and their gestation progress. We then move to the Veggie Patch and talk a little vegetable gardening as the seasons slowly turn. We talk seedlings, seed starting and soil blocks. Getting things ready in the greenhouse is a challenge as it seems to have been taken over by rodents following the cold winter. We also answer a few questions about starting peas in the springtime garden and discuss our seed starting worksheet in our project library on the chickenthistlefarm.com website. Our last segment is The Farmers Choice where this week we share part of the story of when one of our pigs went down sick and ask you, the aspiring farmer, what would YOU do?

064 Puppy on the farm, April Fools Farming, Pastured Chicken Pricing and the Monsanto Protection Act Apr 03, 2013

Show notes

Our farming updates this week include several things. Like the new animal on the farm, our new Border Terrier puppy Cricket. The Brother to Watson. (get it?). Kelli shares her adventures from last week while Andy was away on business and the "while traveling" farm emergency she had to manage. We complain about the fact it's early April and there's still snow on the ground. We also have a discussion around pricing your products (pastured meats and other naturally farmed goods) and making sure you ask what you should be getting. A little farm marketing advice about how discounting your brand isn't a good idea. If you haven't check us out on Facebook, Twitter or our web site... the fact is we are NOT raising Ostriches or Gators... that was an April Fools joke. The "In the News" segment we talk about the big uproar in the media about the fact that dairy producers want to add sweeteners to their milk and be held to the same labeling standards as the rest of the beverage industry (gasp). Then we turn our attention to the "Monsanto Protection Act" and not so much about how it will impact food safety but rather from a bigger picture of how government behaving like this isn't necessarily in the best interest of it's citizens. "Monsanto Protection Act" primer - http://investorplace.com/investorpolitics/the-monsanto-protection-act-only-in-america/

063 Running a farm while on vacation, taking care of new chicks, Ractopamine in pork Mar 27, 2013

Show notes

This week our farming podcast talks about how we (the farmers) manage to get away on a vaction while entrusting the farm to capable hands. Who says farming needs to be all work and no play. There's a set of steps we undergo to ensure the farm is ready to be watched and we share a bunch of those. We share our story about a farmers market we visited while on vacation in sunny Florida. It was interesting for us to deal with how the farmer becomes the consumer. There's a new segment this week called "Remember When"... where we talk about how we start off little chicks to grow them into healthy birds. Finally, our last segment this week is an "In the News" where we discuss how China, Russia and otehr countries have banned the import of a bunch of US raised meats because of the usage of a chemical called Ractopamine. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ractopamine

062 Washing farmstead eggs, managing pigs in the mud and new farm questions Mar 21, 2013

Show notes

This weeks farming updates include our final decision on how we are managing our turkey order of midget white and Bourbon reds in the coming farming season. We talk about moving a pig feeder to get it out of the swampy mud the spring has brought and finally we are starting some seeds for the vegetable garden.In the CoopCast Community we answer a question about washing eggs. We also followup on the geothermal system and how it's been working through the first real winter it's been online. Finally we spend some time on the farm with a rumination pertaining to the questions we often get from new farmers.We often are asked about advice and information with regards to getting into farming. One thing that we have seen very often when talking with upstart farmers is sometimes they ask questions that they don't want the answer to.

061 Mud season on the farm, Farming and being sick and some listener based rants Mar 12, 2013

Show notes

This week's farm update were kind of all over the place since we missed an episode last week with #farmerandy being down for the count with a nasty lung bug. We talk about sickness on the farm when it's NOT an animial but a farmer, living through mud season on the farm and dealing with mud and pigs. We hase how the chickens onf the farm are doing with the Spring thaw and chickens and the challenges with their coop and netting and muddy eggs. In the Coopcast community this week we spend some time raging in general... must be the sickness and/or the drugs. We respond about a post where some folks were worrying about the CoopCast podfading away... We spend some time answering listener questions about a modibe pig tractor in Grit magazine and some other questions about chicken pasture pens. Sorry all you iTunes reviewers - no drama like high speed chases this week!

060 Farm finances (income and expenses), a listener helps pigs farrow, chickens have been ordered Feb 28, 2013

Show notes

Farming updates this week: Our Facebook page hit 1000+ fans - thanks so much! Chicken orders done for the 2013 farming season Turkey decision still pending In the CoopCast Community: Mark sent us some seeds! Josh helps a neighbor pig rescue in his farming adventures Suggestions posted on FB - for pasture pen plans Kelli's visit to CSA fair Ruminations continue about farm finances: Farm finances continued as we discuss some of the specifics of expenses and income on the small farm Using QuickBooks and a farm credit card

059 Farming updates for the week, Starting your own CSA, Small Farm Finances Feb 20, 2013

Show notes

Farming updates for the week include: Updates AI - no more updates needed, Due dates on calendar Chick Wagon Hay/straw delivery CSA full A new segment called "From the ground up" where we discuss the basics for any given project or enterprise on the farm and what we would do to do it again. THis week we talk about how we would go about starting a CSA Pictures posted of the shares Surveys Reviews How to get people to invest that much Make it a community with recipes, posts each week Host events at the farm- potluck, etc. What to expect and communicate a lot Questions, Conversations and Ruminations this week (and for a few weeks) are a in depth review and discussion around the farm finances. Income Expenses

058 Farming in a big snow storm, farm finances, small farm tractors Feb 14, 2013

Show notes

Updates from around the farm: AI update - no heat for Katniss Checking Herm this week Snow storm - closed off extended pasture; ran extra line Round bales - more $ and hard to get Farm census Taxes and a financial look back at past year- upcoming discussions A simple soil block question This week we have a Farm U discussion around TRACTORS! How much horsepower for diffrnt jobs What is the right type of transmission Confusion Solution for hydraulics

057 Farm updates, vegetable garden seed planning, evaluating our role in the sustainable food movement Feb 05, 2013

Show notes

Farm updates this week include: More AI talk- gator sound needed Katniss heat check this week Day 12 Cold weather continues Super Bowl = good food from the farm Chicken sitting-new chick wagon & lil eggs Veggie patch, our vegetable gardening segment we talk: New varieties we're trying this year Seed organization CSA email out to old members- did raise price Farmers choice segment talks abous our value (or lack there of) in the natural food movement: Our role/value in the food movement Not big, not trying to grow big, not trying to make a living solely from farming- so what value can we bring? Advice on farming abounds and can be annoying.

056 Swine Artificial Insemination, Garden seed orders, farm fence questions Jan 29, 2013

Show notes

Farm updates this week include: Hermione AI Seed order in CSA - email to current customers Chicken trailer update Bogs boots update In the "Extended" CoopCast Community" Song used last episode The Facebook discussion of the picture of Hermione w/ Andy and Katniss in back Questions about fencing Feeding pigs "bad" milk Patti and others - how to know if AI worked Heather and Danielle - couples listening

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