From Rebecca:
We’ve had a lovely autumn. But now finally the world is covered with downy blankets and feather pillows of pure white snow, prepared to slumber in peace until spring! The spruces were bowed down with the weight; then along came the wind with huff and puff and began the job of relieving them of the burden.
I was just outside and and that stinging wind quite quickly forced me to pull my scarf over my ears! It’s not so enchantingly peaceful now as yesterday, but still beautiful!

Here at Bountywoods Farm we’re ready for winter. There is wood stacked close to the house; the poultry is in the barn; the Cackellac poultry shelters are where we want them to stay for the winter. We will use two as greenhouses for early spring planting. And we’ve shot videos of Cackellac 1312 assembly that we hope to edit and post on YouTube soon. Now we can sit in the house and toast our feet beside the fire in the woodstove… when we’re not busy with other things 😉 Now of course, THAT is rarely the case!

From Marvin:
Hello, and welcome to our family farm! We really are looking forward to meeting you, and forming relationships with people who care about where their food comes from.

Since we moved onto this place on the first of October, we have been settling in, doing some minor house renovations, and planning our gardens and orchards. When spring comes, we will be all ready to plant vegetables, bushes, herbs and fruit trees. We are planning to form small ridges along the contours of the hill, and plant the trees and shrubs on them. The ditches created by forming the berm will both catch a supply of water for the trees, and also take away the excess. The trees will have access to water, but being on the ridges, they will not get really wet feet. This is our plan…. we’ll see how it works out. Every situation is different, so we expect to have to adjust as we go along. Of course, we will not be able to do all the tree planting in one year.

We are planning to grow a variety of vegetables, herbs, and flowers next summer, and find out what grows well on our soil. After that, we may focus on fewer selected varieties.

We will start selling eggs in May 2016, when the hens go out on pasture in the mobile shelters. Chickens for meat take about 9-10 weeks to grow, so the first ones should be available some time in July. We plan to grow a traditional type meat breed, and possibly some of the faster growing White Rock Cornish Cross. The traditional breeds generally grow slower, so they cost more to raise; however, they also have the best tasting meat. White rocks do have somewhat more breast meat than the traditional breeds.

If you are interested in growing your own poultry, we now have some extra Cackellac poultry shelters in stock for sale. They are discounted until the end of January – so now is the best time to buy if you have made up your mind! We believe every one can grow some of their own food, and make a small difference. If you have an area 100 feet square (100′ x 100′), you have enough land for a Cackellac 812 with 30 chickens in it. Go for it! – unless you want to grow some fresh vegetables on that space. Maybe you can do both! If not, we will try to help you with healthy food options soon!