Chicken Thistle Farm CoopCast

Latest Episodes:

085 Sponsoring a coopcast, bunnies for pork and farming apps on your phone Sep 05, 2013

Show notes

With only a month left for the pigs on pasture we are still selling a bunch of sausage... and now bacon too! We also discuss the options we are considering around keeping the mom's like we have before vs selling them after a single farrowing and keeping smaller gilts over winter to save on feed costs. We welcome our new sponsor to the coopcast - FarmTek! We have talked about their products several times over the years and think we have found a terrific partner with them. As a listener you can visit the website and save $25 on any order of $75 or more by checking out with the code mentioned in the episode. This is your chance to support us by supporting our sponsors! In the CoopCast Community we talk a bit about listener messages and questions and how YOU can help US help YOU! We also answer a listener question about bartering bunny meat for pork on a neighboring farm. This broaches topics like determining value of your farm products and goods in a bater situation. We officially launch our new segment called Close Encounters with Free Ranging Farmers on the Front Porch... where talk a bit about the name, the new iPhone next week, the use of social media by farms and what our

084 Healing injured pigs, late season vegetable gardens and a farm fresh tomato taste test Aug 28, 2013

Show notes

With a bit more relaxed schedule the CoopCast takes a bit more of a relaxed discussion of an injured pig and how amazing animals are with injury. We talk about Hermione and piglets as well as a grower piglet with hemorrhoids! We talk a bit about selling our sausage to folks and the process around that since we got over 240 pounds back from the USDA processor last week. We then take a late season walk around the Veggie Patch and talk about what did well in this crazy growing season and what didn't. Since it's late summer there are tomatoes galore now and we did a taste test of the best tomatores in your garden. Kelli also talks about some of what she has been canning and freezing.

083 Moving pigs together after weaning, fencing color matters and other farming tales Aug 22, 2013

Show notes

This week we have been challenged for time so we share a week full of pig centric farm updates. We moved out lone sow back to in with the piglets and it's been a little exciting - both the move and the post move drama. We talk a bit about all the work that goes into settin up a new pasture space for the pigs and the challenges that came with it. We share a piglet injury and a decision to move thigns inside the padock around after it was set up. We also update on turkeys and chickens... and mention something big is happening to the podcast in the near future!

082 Turkey MURDER!, Beloved farm hog to market and hunting on the homestead Aug 14, 2013

Show notes

This weeks episode discusses our sleuthing around a dead turkey inside the fencing and what might have happened. We talk about bringing Katniss to the butcher and the plans for the rest of the pigs. In the CoopCast Community we talk a little about Robert's post on Facebook about soy in food and spend more time talking about how science gets done as opposed to the paper on the subject - . Kelli updates folks on her hand treatments and we make a plea to try and move the needle over on Stitcher Radio - head on over and give our show a "thumbs up"! Our show on ! Ohh - Go rate us on iTunes!!! We are introducing a new segment that we need YOU (the listener) to give a name to. It's kind of a near the farm, homesteading, farmsteading, rural living, country living segment. A place to talk about all the OTHER questions we get about hunting, cooking, sweet tea and "what do you have in your barn" kinds of things. You guys keep asking things that are not "farming" specific - so we figured we needed a segment to fit the bill... but we need a name! This episode we talk at a high level about hunting!

081 Prepping for the pig move, farm show, more farm fresh recipies Aug 07, 2013

Show notes

We are getting things ready to move Katniss off the farm and into the freezer. Part of that process is getting the rest of the pigs ready to move to a new pasture space in the next week or so. We talk turkey about the pastured birds as well as a brief CSA update. Kelli reviews some suggestions for her chapped hands and considers alternative to gloves. Farmer Andy reports from the field in this weeks In The News segment sharing the trends he noted from Empire Farm Days. We talk tractors, alternative heating on the farm and other trends. Finally the Food on the Farm segment returns with rave reviews. This week we talk about (and share recipes) for eggplant nuggets and the best smoked ribs you have ever had in your life!

080 Growing pigs, planning for the Fall garden, recipes from the farm Jul 31, 2013

Show notes

This week we share some updates about the pigs on pasture and how well the not so little guys are doing. Katniss and Herm are in heat and lovin on Andy something awful. We talk a little about the new turkey shelter and the heritage turkeys - have we clipped their wings, find out! Finally we talk about how nice the chick wagon is! In the Veggie Patch we talk about Fall planting and the staples of cooler weather late-season plantings like radishes, greens, bok choy, beans, and beets. In the greenhouse we are also testing an observation we have made about lettuce that sprouts in there. Farmer Kelli needs advice on some gloves. Then we spend some time Cooking on the farm and share some of our favorite farm fresh recipes for eating seasonally. Delicious recipes for Bruschetta, a grilled romaine BBQ bacon salad and gourmet pork based burgers. Delicious and simple summer concoctions to make your mouth water!

079 Fall vegetable gardening, building a new farm, food safety and farming Jul 24, 2013

Show notes

This weeks farm updates are short and sweet so we can get to a bunch of our listeners questions. We did more pig castrations - not on ours, but super small mini-pigs. It's a great example of how going slow on a farm make a lot of sense. We also got the turkeys out on pasture - finally - with a redesigned mobile turkey shelter that ROCKS! In our CoopCast Community section we talk a bunch of listener questions like: Are we planning for fall planting? Erin wanted to know about her NC property as a blank slate for a new farm. How would we set things up to start in terms of the barn, the green house, and the animals. Adam asked about our feed mixture for Cornish x and turkeys on pasture Brent (who brought us the phrase "worm worshipping hippies") Asked about chicken processing and how soon after processing do customers pick up? In our Ruminations we share our thoughts on food safety article regarding farm market chickens and their bacteria.

078 A slow return to normal on the farm, chicken processing setup and a farming nugget Jul 18, 2013

Show notes

This week the rain has stopped and the farmers are much happier in their daily chores. We also are finished with our pastured broilers this year and introduce a visual element in this episode for you to follow along in our discussion of chicken processing. (). We then talk about the day in general, the size of the chickens this year and the financials of pastured poultry. We then have a quick update on the pigs and the vegetable garden and CSA. We then have a Rumination continuing on with last weeks whine-cast and talk about the things we have done that made the swampy weather just slightly more managable. Things like our drainage ditch, hut placement, round bales, checking during rain and how we need to improve our soil! A new segment called the Chicken Thistle Nugget This segment is a chance to share something small, a nugget of wisdom, if you will. And this week Kelli talks a bit about a farm blog post she found to be very interesting...

077 Frustrated Farmers, Weaning of Piglets and the Challenge of Chores Jul 11, 2013

Show notes

This is not our happiest coopcast... we have been struggling with endless rains this year and it shows in this episode. We talk about the weaning process of the piglets as well as catching some of them for selling as growers. We do share some good "how to" ideas / lessons regarding moving and catching piglets. But mostly - we use the coopcast as a chance to vent our frustrations with how difficult the weather has made things. We avoid talk about the gardens as things are just not looking good. In our Ruminations segment we talk about knowhing when to say when - when have you taken on too much and when does burn out kill the joy of farming. WARNING: This episode may be a bit of a downer.

076 Hot Pigs, the recovery of sick tomatoes in the garden / greenhouse, remember when on the farm Jun 26, 2013

Show notes

Last week we responded to a listener question with a little bit of good natured humor about a non-conventional mode of transportation - the tricycle. We learned that 99.9% of trikers are funny people and, well, let's just say - if you are going to ask us a question and are looking for an answer... you should expect the same humor and standards we apply to ourselves to also apply to you. We talk about our decision regarding Katniss on the farm and why / how we got to that decision. It's been hot and the pigs have been managing it as we head into weaning time. The broilers are enjoying the pasture more than Farmer Andy is and the chickens in the "chick wagon" are now enjoying foraging outside. We talk a little about the electric netting use this year to "secure" the pens and how it's been working out so far. We also talk about our new tumbler composter. In the Veggie Patch we talk about the tomato ICU we set up after the extraordinary rains caused a bunch of losses. Remember when we had our last farming "Remember When" segment? That's OK, we don't either. This week's remember when talks about the things listeners have asked and we keep forgetting to give updates about. We talk about our concrete pig waterer, that chick wagon post to our blog that never got done and an update about Nugget the chicken.

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