Baby Horses!

I have an announcement to make…we officially own two baby horses! These horses have been something that we have been planning to buy for quite some time. We prepared the corrals for them and got everything ready for these fillies months before buying them. They are our two new babies and there names are Haze and Rebel. Rebel has a very fitting name because she has quite the personality. She is a little skiddish around us and can be quite mean, but she means well. Haze is the complete opposite. She is very sweet and lets you pet her and is easy to halter and get to do what you want her to do. These two together make the perfect blend of personalities for our farm. We are excited to train these fillies, ride them and eventually breed them. This is all very exciting news for us on the farm and we can’t wait to share with you the progress of these two animals.

Our other two horses have adapted to the newcomers quite well. They are being very nice to the young fillies and showing great maturity in their old age. It will be interesting to see how things go between these two horses this summer when we let them graze in our fields. We are planning on training them with food and a cowbell to call them back in this summer and are eager to try this method out and see if it works. Stay tuned for updates on these two new additions to our family and farm!

Incoming Pheasant!

So I have had a long day today… A couple of days ago my check engine light came on and I was planning on bringing my car in to get checked today. As I was driving into town, I saw two pheasants starting to take off in the grass to the right of the road. I kept thinking the birds were going to get out of the way, but as I got closer I realized I was going to hit the second pheasant. I tapped on the brakes and immediately hit the bird. There was a loud shunt heard throughout the car. My window was completely shattered. I couldn’t see anything. I slowed down and put my flashers on to let the cars behind me past. I was devastated. How could everything go wrong all at once? I was just going to get my check engine light checked. Below is a picture of the windshield.

Shattered Windshield

There was even glass inside the car. I’m lucky the windshield didn’t completely break and crash into me. But it’s not all bad. I was able to get my car to the windshield place and was able to run a diagnostic on my check engine light and found out it’s only a minor part failure and should be a cheap fix. So the day is turning around, I just keep replaying that moment in my head and what I could have done differently. If I could do anything over again, I would have slowed down the second I saw the two pheasants instead of just assuming they would get out of the way. Next time I will do that. Just another day driving in Montana!

Garden Growth

I thought I would give y’all an update on our garden this year. We made a lot of changes to the garden this season and added a lot to it. One of the things we added was bark pathways and cover around the rows. This has really trimmed up the garden and has greatly improved the way that the garden looks. We also added some additional crops this summer, with one of those being corn. I’m really excited about biting into my first corn on the cob this year and the crops are doing phenomenally well so far! We also made some improvements to our grow boxes and filled them in with high quality soil. This has really made a huge impact on the vegetables growth in these boxes and is performing much better than our straw/potting soil mixture last year. We have already harvested some lettuce and radishes from the garden and are waiting until our other vegetables are ready. We have both greenhouse tomato plants and outdoor tomato plants, and although we don’t have any tomatoes right now, we should be getting some in the next month or so. I wanted to share some pictures of the garden and if you have any thoughts or suggestions feel free to comment in the comment section!

Happy growing!

James

Building Fence

We are constantly taking on new projects here on the farm and our most recent project has been building some peel-on rail fencing around the property. This rail fencing will be used to create a couple new pastures for our horses and perhaps other animals too 👀. I mention that we might be getting some new animals because I hope that we do. Some ideas are to get some cows, while I am wanting to get some alpacas. I think Alpacas are absolutely adorable and their fur can be used to make some really fantastic pieces of clothing. Cows on the other hand are probably more profitable and I love cows too. Whichever animals we decide to get I will be happy to make some new additions to the farm.

The fencing itself has been quite a task to complete. We first drive post with our bobcat and then begin attaching the rails to the fence. We use construction screws to screw in the fencing rails to the post. We also created a water gap to one of our springs for the animals to utilize. This water gap will prevent us from having to water the animals a majority of the year.

Check out the photos below of our fencing and let me know if you have any questions!

Tips for growing in Montana

Montana is a beautiful state with a lot to offer, but unfortunately for those who like to grow a garden, we have a relatively short growing season. This means you must prepare during the spring and maximize your growing season during the fall. Here are a few tips to help you grow a better garden this summer in Montana.

1. Grow your seedlings indoors to start. One of the key things to maximize your growing season is to start your seedlings indoors before the last freeze. Timing is everything when growing your seedlings. If you plant them too early and the last freeze runs into June, you are risking stunting the plants growth and causing death. If you plant the seedlings too late you limit the amount of growth you can get from each plant. My recommendation is to use a chart of when to plant each seed in relative to the last frost day. Use these times to count backwards from when your predicted last frost is and begin growing then.

2. Use heating pads. The use of heat pads will greatly impact your germination rates. If you find yourself getting a less than predicted germination rate for a specific plant, you might need to use heating pads underneath the seedlings to improve germination rates. We use heating pads and have seen our seedlings germinate faster and at a greater percentage.

3. Grow a variety of different plants and vegetables. Diversity is key to survival in the gardening world. Mistakes happen and you don’t want to have all your eggs in one basket when growing your garden. Try to limit the amount of seedlings per type of species. This way if disease, or other tragedies occur you are hedging your garden and protecting your other crops.

So there you have it, 3 tips for growing a better garden this summer in Montana. Feel free to ask any questions in the comments section and happy gardening! For more tips follow our blog for more tips on how to grow in Montana!

Is it Spring yet?

James Gibbon - The weather is starting to change around here and Spring is on the way. March has been off to a magnificent start with great weather. This has been bad for skiing, but great for getting outside and enjoying the day. Our chickens have really enjoyed the nice weather and the melting snow. They are now able to move freely around the outside of the coop without running into inches of snow pack. The chickens hate the snow.

As for our horses they are ready for spring and the grass to start growing. Having been cooped up during our February cold blitz, they are finally getting some much needed time out in the field. It has been fun to see them enjoy this time so much. I’m excited for when we have fields full of green grass for them to graze in.

Our dogs have been enjoying the new warmer weather as well. During the cold blitz they were hardly able to walk in the snow without their paws getting too cold. These warmer temperatures are a welcome surprise for them.

I have also been able to do activities that I haven’t been able to do in months - like ride my bike. I recently road down some roads nearby and really enjoyed it. Plus the weather was absolutely gorgeous.

I know these days won’t last forever, but I also know that we are getting much closer to spring and even summer. I love how the seasons change here in Montana and am enjoying every last minute of winter as we enter spring.

Winter Has Arrived.

In my last post on Montana Farm Life, I spoke about how winter was holding off for the time being and we were still mountain biking in the valley. That is no longer the case. Winter has arrived and it has come with vengeance. Our local ski mountain, Bridger Bowl has received 50” of snow in the last 5 days. This snow as desperately needed both on the ski mountain and on the farm. The Gallatin Valley has never recorded a drought, and I was getting worried that this year might be a drought for us. The snow fall is so important for the health of the rivers, creeks, and land in the mountains and in the valley. We need the snow fall for our hay crop that we harvest every year. Without the snowfall, we lack the moisture needed to produce a fertile crop of hay. Not only does our livestock depend on this hay all winter long, but we sell a large portion of the hay to local ranches to support their livestock. I am so thankful that we are starting to get significant snowfall.

One thing I am not thankful for is the extreme low temperatures that we are experiencing. Much like most of the midwest and northern plains, we are getting very low temperatures. This is due to the polar vortex dipping down into North America. This polar vortex usually stays up in the arctic, but due to low winds the polar vortex is creeping down into lower regions this year. It is amazing how quickly the weather can change in Montana. It feels like one day you are driving with your windows down, and the next day you are wearing all of the clothes that you own!

It has been fun going through this cold weather and getting all of this snow. Temperatures are likely to dip below -20 degrees Fahrenheit we are planning on bringing our four chickens indoors. They might be able to withstand this cold, but we do not want to take the risk of losing them.

I will keep you posted on how things turn out after this weather passes. I’m having fun with it thus far, but am looking forward to when temperatures return back to normal.

Waiting on Winter...

James Gibbon - Typically, winters in Montana are long and harsh, but this year has been a completely different type of winter. It is now January 5th, 2021 and we still barely have any snow on the ground. This has been great news for our chickens, but it has sadly put a real damper on the ski and snow sports. The chickens have really enjoyed the lack of snow and have spent more than their normal amount of time outdoors and out of the coop. It has been fun to see them enjoy this warm winter and get outside more than usual. Our horses have been enjoying this weather as well as they have been able to easily find grass in our pastures. Typically we have at least a foot of snow on the ground, and this prevents them from being able to easily graze in the pastures. However, this lack of snow has really negatively impacted the outdoor recreation activities we usually participate in during the winter. These include: snowshoeing, skiing, sledding, and playing with the dogs in the snow. We barely had a white Christmas this year and it just did not feel the same as our usual Christmas’. My wish is that we start to receive more snow so we can enjoy the fun parts that winter has to offer. I miss seeing the sparkles in the snow scattered throughout our fields as the sun shines on the blankets of snow. Hopefully we start to get some snow soon and I can update the blog on how much snow we have gotten. Until then, we will have to wait and see what mother nature has in store for us.

Thanksgiving - Frying a Turkey

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Thanksgiving is one of our favorite holidays here in Montana. Starting last year we added a new tradition to our Thanksgiving festivities - frying a turkey. There are many ways to fry a turkey, but one of the safest and easiest ways to fry a turkey is with an electric fryer. We specifically use the Butterball XL Electric Fryer which is a great electric fryer. It is capable of frying up to a 20 pound turkey and you can use any type of oil you want to fry with. We chose to use canola oil to fry our turkey. This is because canola oil has a high smoke point of 400 degrees Fahrenheit and it is a healthier oil than peanut oil. If we were strictly going for taste, peanut oil would have probably been the better option.

The Butterball XL Electric Fryer is incredibly easy to use. You simply pour 11 Quarts of oil into the fryer and plug the fryer in. Then turn the heat up to max and wait for the green ready light to turn on. Once the green ready light is on, this means the oil is heated up to the correct temperature and you are ready to fry your turkey. Make sure to wipe down the turkey completely and eliminate any moisture left on the bird. Also be sure to fully thaw the turkey before frying. Once your turkey is ready, insert it in the basket and start to lower the turkey into the oil. Once fully lowered into the oil, leave in the oil for 4 minutes per pound of turkey. Our turkey was 16.5 lbs so we fried it for 66 minutes.

Once the turkey is done cooking check the turkey’s temperature and make sure it is fully cooked. You want the internal temperature to be at least 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Let the turkey stand for 5 to 10 minutes and then start carving it up. If you do everything right, you should have the best turkey you have ever had.

Below are some pictures of me frying the turkey and the finished product.

James Gibbon - Growing Outdoor Tomatoes in Montana

As many of you already know, we like to grow tomatoes. This year we had two different setups for our tomatoes. We had a group of tomatoes in our greenhouse, which were our main producers, and we had a group of outdoor tomatoes. The outdoor tomatoes were a bit of an experiment for us, as we have never tried to grow outdoor tomatoes at our place in Montana. The weather up here usually only allows for certain types of tomatoes to grow outside. The preferred method of growing tomatoes in Montana is with a greenhouse.

As the season went on, our greenhouse tomatoes ripened and were picked; however, our outdoor tomatoes never seemed to ripen up. The tomatoes remained green all the way until October - at which point our growing season was coming to an end. So what were we supposed to do with all these green tomatoes? Well we decided to pick them off of the vine and put them in brown paper bags to speed up the ripening process. Several days later this is what we ended up with:

These gorgeous heirloom tomatoes were all under ripe and green when picked off their plants. Each tomato was equally delicious as they looked, and it was really cool to have tomatoes all the way up until November! Now, as we enjoy our last few days of warm weather, we wait for winter to arrive. The days of growing tomatoes might be over for the farm, but that doesn’t mean we didn’t get the maximum out of our crop this year. I look forward to growing more outdoor tomatoes next season and experimenting with different varieties to see which types grow best in our climate. I’m curious to learn which types of tomatoes have you had the most success with growing outdoors in your growing zone? Enter your comments and answers in the comments below : )

-JG

Update: The Life of a Chicken Keeper

Over a year ago, we purchased six chickens off craigslist. They have been blessings to our lives ever since. Unfortunately we are down to four chickens due to illness and death. This is a sad reality of owning chickens or any animals. The loss of both of these chickens was really tough for our family. Especially the death of our dear and beloved Little Blackie. Little Blackie got her name from being a smaller, black chicken who had a ton of attitude, sass, and personality. She was very vocal and brought a smile to my face every time I went to feed the chickens, or give them a treat. When she got sick, I never would have imagined her dying. She was so full of life and was a true gift to our world. Sadly, the illness took over her and crippled her body. After a visit to the veterinarian, she was dead by the time we drove her back home. It was very sad.

However, Little Blackie was just one of our chickens. We still have four more chickens and they are thriving. Although their egg production has slowed down substantially due to their age, their personalities are as big as ever. These four are the highlights to my day and I can’t wait to let them out of their coop in the morning and let them in at night. Perhaps my favorite of these three chickens is Roberta. Although Roberta can be a bully from time to time, she is the last remaining Barred Rock Chicken we have. She stands alone within the flock and I admire her perseverance and dedication to the flock.

In my free time I like to give the chickens treats. Sometimes we have leftover lettuce and tomatoes from our garden, and sometimes I just give them store bought Mealworms. I think the mealworms are their favorite…

If you are considering purchasing chickens I highly recommend it. They demand a lot of attention, and can be time consuming, but if you have the time to truly love and care for them, they are worth it 100%.

Stay tuned for more chicken updates.

-JG

Climate Change Cows - Regenerative Grazing

We’re getting into the cattle business!!  Well, sort of…  If you’re an advocate of climate change, then you have probably heard of regenerative grazing.  If you haven’t heard of regenerative grazing, it is the method of grazing cattle in a humane way that promotes the distribution of carbon into the ground.  There is a really cool documentary on regenerative grazing on Netflix you should check out if you haven’t already. This is very helpful for the environment and rebuts the argument that cows are bad for our climate.  Cows are not bad for the environment, but rather the way in which you graze the cattle determines whether the cattle have a positive or negative effect on climate change. 

So we want to be apart of this positive change.  We are in the process of building our fencing for our cows and creating a network that allows us to move the cows from pasture to pasture in a regenerative fashion.  So far, the fencing is just in its preliminary stages, but we do have a couple H-post in place.

Our goal is to raise five or so cows in these regenerative grazing pastures.  We can then have humanely grown, pasture raised, grass fed beef.  Knowing where your food comes from is a huge part of living the Montana Farm Life, and we are excited about this new venture for our farm.  We are not just grazing cattle, but we are growing grass.  The new regeneration is here – climate change cows are joining the fight.

Bridger Foothills Wildfire | Bozeman

Just a few days ago, Northeast of Bozeman near the “M” trail, a wildfire broke out. At first the fire was small, but it quickly grew and started spreading up the mountain. Many firefighters, smokejumpers, planes, and helicopters were deployed to help put out the fire, but the fire continued to grow. Many of us started to fear the worst as the fire approached Bridger Canyon - a popular development with many expensive houses. A day later we learned that many of those homes had burned to the ground with nothing left but a foundation. This quickly turned from a small wildfire to a community tragedy.

All of Bozeman came together to help those fighting the wildfire, those who lost their homes, and those searching for help to relocate their livestock. The later of which I was amazed to see how the community came together. A Facebook group was started to help connect those who needed help to those willing to help. As I scrolled through the post, I saw many people searching for homes for their horses and other livestock. We offered to take in a couple horses, but at this point many people had found homes for their animals. Eaglemount in particular took in a large amount of horses and many people volunteered with their trailers to help haul the animals to their new locations. It was so wonderful to see the community come together in such a special way.

This fire has been a reminder that nothing is promised to us. One day you might have it all, but the next it can all be taken from you. I’m grateful to have a roof over my head and willing to do whatever I can to help those who lost their homes due to this tragedy. I know Bozeman will pull through this together and we will be stronger because of it.

Caring for a sick Chicken

As a chicken keeper, when one of your chickens gets sick it is absolutely terrifying. Concern for the chickens health and well being becomes the ultimate priority, and it becomes time to do what needs to be done to bring the chicken back to health. One day we opened our coop to find one of our chickens severely ill. She was weak, only able to walk for short periods, severe diarrhea, loss of egg production, loss of voice, and total loss of personality. What made matters worse was that this was our favorite chicken in the flock. We could not afford to lose her. I instantly went to backyardchickens.com and began researching to find an answer. After a few searches in their forums, I was able to find a close match to her symptoms. The illness looked to be something called Coccidiosis - a parasitic disease. The good news… there was a cure; something called Corid. This solution became our only hope. I rushed down to Murdochs and purchased the Corid and a syringe. We immediately started putting this solution in the chickens water and drenching her with the solution through her beak.

After a couple days she was still very sick. We were experiencing some hot summer days and thought it would be a good idea to separate her from the flock and get her to a cool place. We captured her and put her in a dog kennel and transported her to a cooler location. Here we were able to provide her with corid water, gatorade, and Hen Boost. We did this everyday for the next 5 days or so. With time she started to get better. Her personality started to come back, and she was speaking to us again. I instantly became overwhelmed with gratitude. I really thought there was a chance she could die, and for her to make a full recovery is nothing short of remarkable. I am so thankful to backyardchickens.com for helping us diagnose and cure our precious chicken. I hope all of you use this resource as it is very valuable and helped save our chicken’s life.

The joy of the garden - James Gibbon

Having a garden is one of the most fulfilling things you can do. The hard work and time put into the garden during the spring, combined with the constant watering and weeding is finally paying its dividends. As I discussed in my last post, we started to get our first cuttings of lettuce and other vegetables. Now we are starting to be overwhelmed with vegetables from our garden. The radishes, carrots, lettuce and tomatoes are in full swing and we are getting vegetables everyday from the garden. We even have a cucumber and should have more on the way! How exciting!

Summer will be over before we know it and I am doing my best to take advantage of every day out here on the farm. Whether it’s spending time in the garden, managing the chickens, or taking care of the horses - there is always something to do to keep me busy. I’m excited to see what more the garden produces and am already coming up with ideas for next year. Stay tuned for more updates!

Planting the Cucumbers

Cucumbers or pickles? I’ll take both! This is one of the reasons I was so excited to transplant our cucumbers into the garden the other day. Let me walk you through the process:

1. Prepare the soil for planting. I got some Organic Compost to place on top of the top soil to enrich the soil and provide a better ecosystem for the cucumbers. I layed out 1 full bag of compost and it allowed for about 2-3 inches of compost layer above the ground.

2. Take cucumbers out of tray with spoon and begin planting. I used a spoon and spooned them out of the tray they were seeded in. I then dug out some holes with the Korean Hand Plow in the compost and covered them up.

3. Water the cucumbers. Water the fresh transplants and ensure a safe and secure transplant.’

Below are some pictures of the entire process!

Reintroduction to the Flock

If you remember, we had a chicken who was unable to be with the rest of the flock. Over the winter, she started bleeding and was being pecked on by the other chickens. We had to separate her from the flock and heal her wounds. After a month or so of isolation, we began to reintroduce her to the flock, but found that the other chickens would still peck her. This created a real dilemma for us because keeping a chicken in the greenhouse long term is not a long term solution. We needed to find some way to reintroduce her to the flock otherwise we were going to be forced to give her away.

In late April/early May we decided to try to reintroduce her to the flock again. This time we would let her be with the flock during the day, but then separate her during the night. This way it would be a smooth transition into the flock. We did this for a couple weeks, and then finally decided to let her stay overnight in the chicken coop. To our surprise, she did great! The chickens have accepted her back into the flock and pecking is no longer an issue.

It makes me so happy to see the flock all together in peace. Getting her back into the flock has been the highlight of my time on the farm here and I hope the good behavior continues. To anyone having troubles with pecking in their flock, please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions - I am happy to help!

Farm Makeover | Tree Implants

Some people do plastic surgery, others prefer something a little more natural. That’s why we decided to get tree 🌲implants for the property to add some cosmetic design to our land in Bozeman, Montana. We recently ordered 3 large 25 ft spruce trees and had them shipped to our door. The process for ordering and installing the new trees was really cool and I hope you think so too. First, the truck loaded the tree and drove it to our property.

I should mention that before this happened, the truck used it’s giant spades to dig out a large hole where we wanted to put the tree. 🌲 Once the tree had a hole to be planted in, the truck utilized it’s hydraulic mechanisms to angle the tree and place it exactly where it needed to go. This was a really cool part of the process and we all pitched in to help guide the tree to the right angle in the hole. At this point the tree was then lowered into the hole and planted in the hole. The large spades let go of the tree and just like that, we had a 25 foot tree 🌲 planted near our house 🏠. How cool is that!

Bluebird Mornings

One thing I love about living in Montana is the abundance of natural wildlife we have. From wild turkeys to elk and everything in between, Montana has a lot to offer. Living in Montana gives you a unique perspective on nature and allows me to become closer to the wildlife and ecosystems that support it. About a month ago, we went to our local Wild Birds Unlimited store and purchased 4 wooden blue bird boxes. We were told to hang these up in March and have them facing the East. We went around our property and hung up the boxes in various locations around our property. A few weeks went by and we saw minimal activity. But then all of sudden, the Mountain Bluebirds started to appear! The gorgeous blue birds were all around our nesting boxes and we couldn’t be more excited. All of the work was finally starting to pay off. In fact, just the other morning as I was on my way to take care of our chickens, I spotted this bluebird at our garden nesting box. Below are some pictures for you to enjoy!

blue bird (garden nesting box) - James Gibbon