Celebrating Alpaca Days!

We will be celebrating National Alpaca Days on Saturday, September 25th and Sunday, September 26, 2010 from 10 to 5 with an Open House as well as a Farm Tour with some of our other Farm Friends. The posting with the additional farms and their location will be posted in a few days. 

Come and visit these amazing creatures and learn about their personalities, which each one has their own! There are 7 Alpacas total on the farm. We will have many Alpaca items on sale in our farmstand as well as spinning demos, needle felting demos and a do-your-own needle felting project. We will have refreshments and coloring contest for the kids. So come by and say hi! 

(pictured: above left, "Awan", above right, "Cyrus", bottom left, "Garth" and bottom right, "Norman")

Labor Day opening and White Pumpkins!

It's the great white pumpkin! These are needle felted pumpkins made out of alternating alpaca and sheep wool from our own animals. They are 100% hand made by me and are available in our farmstand. This weekend the farmstand will be closed on Sunday but we will be open on Monday, September 6th, Labor Day from 12 to 4. Have a Happy and Safe Holiday everyone!

The first egg!

O.K. folks, we have done it here at Coon Hollow Farm, we have proven that age old question, the one people spend countless hours pondering, over and over again...which came first the chicken or the egg? Well the chicken of course and 5 months later we got our first egg! With 13 hens and 1 very handsome rooster we will soon have farm fresh eggs in our farmstand along with many other things!

Lily the Lamb

Here is "Lily" the little Olde English         "Babydoll" Southdown ewe lamb. She's getting so big and today she became a big girl because she got her ear tag that will forever identify that she came from Coon Hollow Farm. She wasn't even phased by it at all. I just can't get over how much she looks like her sister "Rose". They have the same parents but it is just uncanny how much they look alike! The only difference is she doesn't have that rose colored fleece, she has a pretty standard colored fleece. She has a personality all her own, here she just got into the hay!

"Sweetie" and her lambs go to their new home!

It's official, "Sweetie" and her boys left this morning for their new home! She will be living with her two boys in Washington, Ct with a family that has also gotten the farm bug! The wether on the left has been named "Joey" and the brown one in the back is "Coco". I know they will be happy being together and enjoy their new family!

Pumpkins and Acorns, oh my!

As the summer goes by I am feeling the stir of fall, so a few weeks ago I began to needle felt some acorns and pumpkins for the farmstand. Autumn is my favorite time of year. I love the colors, the cooler weather and everything about the harvest, the turn of the wheel of life...

Baby Bees being born!

If you look at the center of this photo you can actually see baby bees being born. They are coming out of their cells for the first time. I just happened to be doing a hive inspection yesterday and caught this just at the right time. The other capped cells in the center are baby bees that are yet to be born, however I believe this is a bunch of drones. The hives are doing fairly well for this time of year!

Yet another passing on the farm...

Yet another one of our beloved animals has passed away this year, we sure have had a very bad year. Our wether "Scar" passed away this week. The picture on the left is him getting sheared and he is in the picture on the right in the right hand corner. He had gotten rot under his skin back in the winter and just would not stop rubbing it. We tried everything to keep it at bay and from not getting infected. Untimatley we had to put him down due to maggot infestation. In all my years working with animals and wildlife, of for which I am accustomed to seeing regularly, I had never seen anything like this before, they we everywhere. He would not eat or drink and we thought it best to have my friend, Dr Brown come by and put him down. He was the sweetest most gentlest of all our animals and we will miss him... 

New Needle Felted Necklace Pendants

New in our farmstand is our new Needle Felted Necklace Pendants. They are made with both alpaca and wool, dyed in different colors. As you can see no two are the same. You can also interchange them on a chain or something else you may have. I am trying all kinds of different color combos, as well as shapes and designs, but for now I having fun playing around with these.

Vacation=Skirting wool and building bee hives=priceless

How do you spend your vacation? On the beach, camping, whatever. Well here we always have so much needed chores to get to. The picture on the right is a bee hive under construction and being painted. This will be our third bee hive which is already being established on the "bee hill". I am hoping to check it tomorrow and see if our queen has emerged from her queen cell.

The other pictures are of the wool from the sheep that we are "skirting". That is a term for picking the bad stuff and the "poop" out of it. The picture showing my fingers, if you look close enough you can see the lanolin. The fleece is soaked in it.

Don't worry though we are planning a few things to do on vacation for fun!

Chickens first outing!

Here are the chickens on their first outing from the enclosure. They were a bit apprehensive at first, but that turned into curiosity quickly. They were fascinated with my garden beds and scratched, ate bugs and took a few tasty bites of grass. Tim and I played protective mom and dad and the dogs sat watch over them as well.

Success! A new hive

My attempt at a split to make another hive appears to "bee" succesfull! I kept the nuc hive in the basement for a full week which was a little longer than I should have but it seems to have worked. As soon as I opened up the base, they came out in a furry, many of them made off for a good bathroom flight while some just checked the outer part of the hive out. I did not take a chance to open it up quite yet, a hive tends to be a bit aggressive while they are raising a new queen and with a 90 degree day I am not about to put the bee suit on. I will give this some time and see how well it has worked out in a couple of days.

Beginning a new bee hive

In this picture is what is known as a nuc box. It is a smaller version of a bee hive and is used for capturing swarms as well as starting a new hive. Today I placed a few frames of brood (baby bees), honey and empty frames. They will remain in here for about a week in my cool basement. They are taped and locked in here, and this will trigger them to raise a new queen. In two weeks I will put them in a new hive body and hope to start a new hive. This is my first time trying this so I am excited to see what happens, as I continue to evolve in my bee keeping efforts I learn and also hit my more experienced bee keepers friends with advice. Thanks to David and Ralph who always seem to have the answers to my questions!

Today I also was able to locate both my queens and mark them. I attended a class recently with the "Backyard Beekeepers Association of Ct" and learned how to locate and mark the queens. I was excited because it was done with little effort on my part and all because of the techniques I learned from them! 

Farm Tour and Open House this Sunday!

This Sunday, June 27, 2010 we will be having an Open House as well as a Farm Tour with 5 other small area farms like ours. It is from 12:00 to 4:00 p.m. There will be spinning and felting demonstrations as well as beverages and snacks from things grown here on the farm. Come see the animals and visit our farmstand which will be filled with various items. The tour is set to share small scale farming as well as organic and self sustainability which is getting to be very important in this day and age.

The following farms will be joining us:

*ALPACAboose Farm:12 East St., in Oxford, CT. Come and meet our Alpaca girls and spend some time learning about these wonderful animals. Browse our farm store full of products made from their beautiful fiber. We will also have spinning and needle felting demonstrations. Contact Ron or Rose East for more information: 203-888-4695


*Alpaca Hill Farm: 8 Willow St, Seymour, CT. Visitors can meet our 19 Alpacas, muscovy ducks and herd guardian, Kramer (Great Pyrenees) when they come. http://www.alpacahillfarm.com/ or call 203-888-1526. We sell soft yarns and roving from our own animals in a variety of natural colors. Alpaca felt with a blend of colors is also featured for sale from our herd, as well as our own products we have lovely garments made from alpacas. Cuddly alpaca toys and alpaca bears are a favorite. Visitors will learn about alpacas and their care, as well as getting to pet and feed alpacas alfalfa cubes.

 *Dream Come True Farm: 82 Freeman Rd, Oxford, CT. Mike and Pam Blasko will feature, Ashford spinning wheels with demos, goats milk soaps, handspun yarns and turned wooden bowls, among other items all made here on the farm. http://www.dreamcometrueyarn.com/ 203-736-2630


*Old Solar Farm: 153 Bowers Hill Rd, Oxford. Bill Deusing, We grow organic vegetables, and have a few chickens for eggs, as well as fruits and berries. 203 231-1790 http://www.ctnofa.org/


*Rowanwood Farm: 31 Chestnut Hill Rd, Newtown,Ct. A.J. and Jeff Collier have alpacas, llamas, Olde English Babydoll sheep, and Nigerian Dwarf dairy goats. The farm has "gone green" following the trends of today, by harvesting and selling all of the natural products produced from the animals. There is alpaca fiber, sheep wool, and homespun yarns. They have thirty varieties of uniquely scented , handcrafted goat milk soap. The pedigreed herd of alpaca, goats, and sheep are also for sale. 203-270-8346 or http://www.rowanwoodfarm.com/

There's an imposter in the hen house!

So, a few months ago I ordered my chickens and it read "hens only". My order went in and figured that would be nice to just have hens and not have to deal with an aggressive rooster. We have been noticing this guy for the past couple of weeks and am convinced she's a he! This picture doesn't show his tail feathers but he is getting them, long and black and red. Check out the iridescent feathers coming out in his neck. He has not started to crow yet but he even cuckles different than the others. The hen in the background is what a hen should look like. This guy is also much bigger than the "girls"...oh well...I think I'll keep him anyway, he's kind of grown on us.

Update: The morning after I posted this, Tim and I were walking up to the chicken coop when we heard a gosh awful sound which sounded much like the owl at work when we are cutting his talons. We stood there for a moment and realized it was the rooster attemping to crow!

Needle Felted Alpaca Pillows now in the Farm Stand

Needle Felted Alpaca Pillows are now in Coon Hollow Farm's farmstand. Each pillow is made with 100% Alpaca and handcrafted here on the farm, generally into the night after long days at work, but the desire to create makes me choose that over sleep! I have so many new designs in mind and can't wait to get started on them!

Olde English Babydoll Southdown Lambs for sale

On the left is our two brother lambs a couple of days old and on the right is them now. They are inseperable and will be sold as a pair. One is black and one is white. Their wool is wonderful and would make a great addition for a spinner. They are both friendly and as sweet as can be. Their father is "Harley" a super nice ram and their mother is "Sweetie" and the name totally fits her.  In the morning when I go down to feed they tug on my pant leg, they always want to know what you are doing and will let you pick them up and they actually act like they enjoy it!

As you can see in the picture below and on the left, he wants to know what the camera is all about!

Bee inspection, a success!

The picture on the left is a very interesting comb that the bees have made in 3 days. I opened the hive up on Thursday morning and by Sunday morning they had successfully built this beautiful comb. In this picture they are busy working and...

in the picture on the right is after I had smoked them. It sends the bees running below and also calms them. In todays inspection I also saw each queen in both hives which is something I have never been able to do before. Some of the frames were drenched in honey and dripping. There was capped honey and each hive had brood (baby bees) as well. I am so happy with my hives and am looking forward to a great year of bee keeping!

 

Our New Chicken Coop

Here is our new chicken coop in the making. It is made from mostly recycled items that we got from here and there. The cage part is an old wildlife cage that I had, the fencing was being thrown away and we salvaged it. Tim also took down some old caging I had and is recycling the hardware cloth for the outer part of the fencing. In the future we will be building a greenhouse on to the front of the wooden part which will act as a solar heating area and will keep them warm in colder months.

Next is making some laying boxes which will be out of recycled items as well. We've already looked at it and are making some changes.

This picture below, is the chickens now about 7 weeks old and their first day out and about. They were chasing bugs and exploring whatever they could find.

The gangs all here...

The gangs all here...a typical day at breakfast time. It seems like I get up earlier and earlier every morning to keep the sheep quiet. Belle the ewe in the forefront of this picture has a big mouth. Do they make a sheep muzzle? She is teaching her lambs to have the same bad habits!

A Lambs gotta do what a lambs gotta do...

This is our new little ewe lamb "Lily". She got frustrated trying to get to the hay and decided to problem solve her way, she went high. I just happened to be walking into the barn and had camera in hand and caught this shot of her. She is quite the problem solver and very smart!

Another passing on the Farm...

Sadly old man, Fergus has passed away. He was old when we took him in last year where he was starving on a farm with our other llama, Angus. He was gentle & sweet and we will miss him so.

Installing the Bee Packages

Today we "installed the bees". This is just the term that is used when you are putting bees into a hive. The first hive went well, bees dropped down into the hive and the queen was released with very little effort. The second hive however gave me some trouble and the bees got a little annoyed and there were some bee stings! My coat took the brunt of it. In the first picture I am trying to get the can out of the center. It is filled with sugar water and is a bit heavy to get out. In the second picture a gentle tap of the package sends the bees down into the waiting frames in the hive. It was nice today to see the bees buzzing about. Everything is either in bloom or about to bloom so we got the bees right in time.

Our Bee Packages have arrived!

Our Bee Packages have arrived! In this picture is two "packages of bees". They are held together by small pieces of wood so they don't tip over. A queen is in each package. The top is held down by a piece of wood, under that wood is a can inverted with sugar water for the trip.

Each package contains three pounds of bees, which is the equivalant of 10,000 bees! In this picture the bees are clustered around the queen who is in a "Queen Cage" until we install them into the hives. We are very excited to have the bees back and I am sure our neighbors too, the gardens are always at their very best with the bees pollinating them! Between manure and bees you can never go wrong!

Herb Window Boxes for Sale

These Herb Window Boxes are available at our farmstand. Tim built the boxes, I painted them and we grew many of the herbs in the cold frame or over wintered them. We have culinary as well as tea boxes available. We have a large assortment for whatever herbs you may want. They make a great gift as well and are reasonably priced at just $8.00 for the small and $12.00 for the large one. The one in this picture is the large one. The farmstand will be opened every Sunday ffrom 12 to 4 weather permitting of course...

Shearing Day on the Farm!

It was Shearing Day here on the farm. This picture is of our two shearers, Rick on the left and Jeremiah on the right. These guys are pretty amazing, they managed to shear and cut teeth on 8 Alpacas, 2 Llamas and 5 Sheep in less than 3 hours. We had a lot of help, thanks to Elsa on the gate, a great help, my mom helping bag the fiber and Angel on the pull rope. It was sure hot out there, reaching 90 and with a lot of humidity. A lot of sweat and a lot of water being consumed! Thank goodness it's over until next year! Now it's time to get spinning the stuff I still have from last year...

Surprised Baby Chicks!

This picture cracks me up. I had the camera down in the big pool that they are in and they were so curious that they came over and had to see what it was, then I took the picture. They then got frightened and ran around the swimming pool and I felt bad. I just wanted to get a picture of them now that they have some feathers! Can't wait to get them outside!

Fiber on the carder

Here is a picture of some beautiful alpaca fiber I dyed pink. It reminds me of cotton candy! You almost want to eat it. It's so soft. The machine you see it on is called a "carder". It has hundreds of tiny metal teeth. The two drums meet and as it turns it seperates the fibers and turns it into a "batt" that makes it easy for spinning.

A Cool Invention--it makes Plant Pots

Check out this cool little invention called a "Pot Maker". You take news paper strips, wrap it around the wooden part of the pot maker and the fold the paper at the base, then use the base part to shape the bottom. This packs the paper into a useful pot to plant your seeds. Then when you are ready to plant, you just put the whole thing into the ground and the pot biodegrades allowing the plant to grow and extend it's roots. It's a very "green" product. I got this one on ebay.

The Cold Frame is full!

The Cold Frame is chock full with growing plants. This Cold Frame is one of the best things we ever built, or should I say Tim has ever built! We are growing everything this year, no buying plants from the store. We ordered organic and heirloom seeds. We are growing everything from tomatoes, peppers, and. Also in there is a couple of Patchouly plants as well as a few Bay plants. The Mesculin is getting there, can't wait to have a salad from them as well as the spinach and lettuce!

The loss of a bee hive

Each week this time of year, I take the top off the bee hive and see where they are and inspect for anything out of the norm, parasites, etc. Much to my sadness today I discovered most of my bees were dead. There were many baby bees, some about to emerge from their capped cells and bee larva present. The queen lay right in the center of a cluster dead. A few weeks ago I noticed one bee had a mite on it and have been treating them with a powdered sugar method. The best I can tell is that my bees died from this parasite or possible use of pesticides in this area? Bees are such an important part of our enviorment and I beg all my readers to please not use them! These things are not only deadly to bees but leach into our food supplies as well as our water and contaminate the very enviorment that we hold so precious.