Chicken Thistle Farm CoopCast

Latest Episodes:

0115 On Farm Staycation, Vegetable Garden Success, SiriusXM + O&A + raw milk Jul 09, 2014

Show notes

After a week of on farm vacation and frozen fresh fruit libations enjoyed on the deck, we are back with a bunch of updates around the pastured chickens, a recent hoophouse project and the vegetable gardens. We also talk about the pigs and some general happenigns around the farm. In the Veggie Patch we talk a lot about the success of the peas, the success we have had training and pruning the tomato plants this year and an update on our mulching. This week on Close Encounters with Free Ranging Farmers on the Front Porch - we talk about a seemingly non-farm thing... The recent firing of "shock jock" (what a stupid title) Anthony Cumia from Sirius XM's Opie and Anthony show and why EVERYONE should be outraged. Not at his tweets and not at his show... but becasue it appears anyone, anytime, can be fired for their opinions when not at work if they are unpopular, unaccepted, not politically correct or whatever. Think this has no impact on you - what if there's "outrage" becasue people don't like you promoting an "unsafe" food - something, maybe, like raw milk?

0114 Piglets get names, pastured chickens and part time farming Jun 25, 2014

Show notes

This weeks updates are pretty simple. We talk about piglets and names, the chickens in the pasture and some a la carte CSA shares. Then we jump into the Farmers Choice that Kelli sprung on Andy - "are you a part-time farmer". What does that phrase mean, if anything. What decisions are impacted when you are "part-time" or not deriving all your income off the farm. There's a bit of debate and some good conversations around this topic.

0113 Farming weather, chickens to pasture, supportive farmers Jun 18, 2014

Show notes

The updates this week start with the farming weather - and the fact it's been unusually "normal". We have moved the chickens to pasture on a solid growth of clover andthey are loving it. The pigs are gowing well and weaning is a few weeks away. In the vegetable garden the peas and eveything else is growing and healthy. Even the weeds are under control with the mulching effort we have undertaken this year. In the CoopCast Community we wanted to take a bit to thank all the listeners and farmers who shared their thougths and good wishes with us following episode 110. We talk a little about some of the questions people asked and share some of our thoughts about raising pigs going forward in the future.

0112 The farms potato patch, vegetable garden fencing and super soil in the greenhouse Jun 04, 2014

Show notes

This weeks updates include the latest on the 7 surviving piglets and the status of their name selection. We talk about the pastured broilers in the brooder and how they are doing as well. We also check in on the laying hens and the egg eating issues. In the Veggie Patch we talk about the status of the garden and fencing. We talk about a great find at a local garden center to help with the soil quality and quantity in the green house and we also talk about this years potato patch plans.

0111 Chicks on the farm, happy piglets, vegetable gardening fun! May 29, 2014

Show notes

This week we are just doing a bunch of updates (since there's a lot to share). We talk about how the piglets are doing well even after the traumatic events covered in episode . Then we tell a story of how great and helpful the United States Postal Service was when they seemed to have lost our box of broiler chickens. But have no fear, we found them and we share how they are doing in the brooder. In the Veggie Patch we talk about the progress and planting of the vegetable garden now that the official growing season has begun. We got in the tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and a bunch more over the long weekend. We also talk about a listener inspired mulching session around the asparagus and rhubarb in the garden.

0110 Loss of a pig and piglets while farrowing on our farm May 21, 2014

Show notes

This episode is a frank and honest retelling of the harrowing farrowing experiences of 2014 on our small farm. From the highs of hand delivering piglets to the lows of losing a breeding sow, this is as honest of a farming story as you may ever hear.

0109 Gardening, farrowing and why the Non GMO Project might just be a joke May 07, 2014

Show notes

This weeks updates are all over the place after skipping 2 weeks of episodes! We talk about moving the pigs to their farrowing paddock, moving the egg laying chickens to fresh pasture and how the weather this spring has changed things a bit. We talk about the vegetable gardens and the progress of potting up plants in the greenhouse as well as some of the first plants of the season being planted in the garden itself. Not having a full season CSA this year has made both the farmers a lot more relaxed and we had a chance to really enjoy our big annual nursery auction. We talk about the new firearm on the farm and why we chose what we did for "on farm carry". We also discuss the joining of a fruit CSA and what we hope to get out of a CSA as customers! In this Farm U we talk about the science behind testing for the presence of GMO's in your food and the results that show that the folks at the Non GMO Project appear to have yet another "pay for" certification that appears to mean absolutely nothing to the consumer.

0108 Cleaning a chicken coop, cooking Easter ham, declining farmers Apr 16, 2014

Show notes

With a bit of warm spring weather we have been able to get to some overdue chores. The joy of the springtime Coop clean out is completed and the compost is on the garden. We have more hydrant troubles and talk a bit about the YNN TV crew that was here to learn about how we produce eggs. In this weeks "We eat good" segment, we talk about the joys of cooking an Easter Ham... kinda. Rather how to simply prepare a ham and the unloved ham steak. Out of the kitchen and back on the front porch we discuss an NBC news article about the declining number of farmers and the long term risk to the country. So - read the article - be concerned and buy lots of food from your local farmer!

0107 Spring arrives on the farm, vegetable garden seed choices, a Mark Cuban quote Apr 09, 2014

Show notes

This weeks updates are finally more than just worrying about the weather. We got a springtime break and took to the outdoors! The asparagus patch got a cleanout of last years fronds. The chicken coop got a bit of a cleaning too. There was fence mending and happy pigs as well. Then in the Veggie Patch we discuss the seeds we have started for this years vegetable garden and why we liked them. We also talk a bit about some challenges with a soil block recipe change this year - a bit unexpected. Then we have some Close Encounters with Free Ranging Farmers on the Front Porch as we discuss a recent quote from the Shark Tanks's Mark Cuban... and how it's about YOUR farm too!

0106 Spring comes to the farm, starting seeds, thinking about the vegetable garden Apr 02, 2014

Show notes

As Spring comes to the farm (with another snow storm too) we took a walk around the propery at the end of March to try and come to grips with what this late Spring means to our garden plans. We discuss the winters impact on our plans and the things we typically got done that are not on the to-do list. We also talk vegatable gardens - specifically what we have been doing with regards to seed starting and preparing the greenhouse. Speaking of the greenhouse, we talk about the issues the cold weather has spawned and some solutions we are considering.

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