Lucky's Diet is going well

When we adopted Lucky, our rescue mini-donkey, he had foundered and was life threateningly obese. We have been working to limit Lucky's calorie intake. This requires separating him from Comet the horse during meal times. Lucky is making good progress, although he still has some pounds to shed.

Lucky is also developing a fan club. After all he is really darn cute and appreciates some good pets & brushing.

Sharing Spring Kale

Today Chris delivered 12 bunches of Kale (washed and bagged) to the McCleary Food Bank. They were excited to receive donations of fresh local produce.

Kale is an extremely nutritious vegetable! Kale is loaded with substances that can help protect against cancer, cataracts, emphysema, and arthritis. It is packed with Beta-Carotene and Vitamin C to promote healthy vision and reduce the risk of many forms of cancer.

Kale is super easy to grow in the northwest and is most productive in the spring and fall, although some years it will grow all year long. The variety I grow was given to me by my friend Jesse. If you would like some seeds just ask. I have plenty to share.

Steam for 3-5 minutes or until the thicker stems become tender. Serve with salt and lemon or lime for best flavor.

This Kale was locally grown on Jessica and Chris ’s small farm without any pesticides, herbicides or chemical fertilizers.

Spring is Here

Check out all of our beautiful early spring bulbs.

We are really enjoying the raised beds that we built in front of our house and filled with assorted bulbs.

Fruit Orchard

We are excited to announce the arrival and planting of 9 new fruit trees. 3 Cherry (Bing , Rainer and another) 3 pear (Comice, Bosc, Asian) 2 Plums (Italian and Satsuma), and a Golden Crisp apple. The apple is planted next to our neighbors apples so it has trees to cross-pollinate with. We bought them bare root from a small nursery outside of Tumwater, WA. As soon as we got the trees home we buried the roots in our compost pile to keep them moist until we planted them the next day. We are thankful that our neighbors let us barrow their gas powered auger to help dig the holes, as some of them had large root structures. We also mixed in horse manure compost in the planting holes. As you can see most of the trees are at least 5-6 feet tall.

New fencing in action

I am so happy with how well this fence turned out. It is the 5' tall 2"X4" No-climb wire horse fence on round wood posts spaced ever 1o feet. We were lucky to get connected with Josh, who had a great technique for bracing the corner and gate posts in a way that made them very solid, even in this wet March ground. He used a 4X4 as a cross piece. He cemented it in at the base and used a large nail to secure it at the top. Josh's bracing method worked way better than the cross wire and rail across the top we have used in the past.

New fence

I am so excited to have a new, solid, horse-safe fence surrounding the back pasture and paddocks. It is nice and tight to the ground so it keeps dogs out/ in also. This was a big investment, but I think it will be well worth it.

Getting ready for spring

New pink Muck Boots-- My belated Valentines day present. I am ready to get out there and work on the farm. Photos of newly fenced back pasture coming soon. Donkey paddock also in progress.

Power to the Mini-Donkey!

This is a really cute mini donkey commercial!


You just can't underestimate these little guys!

Rainy Day Activities: Preventing Stall and Paddock Boredom

I often feel guilty this time of year as I watch Comet and Lucky standing idly in their stall and gravel paddock. Unfortunately, the ground here in Western Washington gets too wet in the winter for grazing. Allowing them to go out on the pasture would just create mud, cause compaction and stunt and/or kill the grass I am working so hard to cultivate. So in these rainy winter months they are confined to their stall and gravel paddock. A few months ago, I came across a picture of a slow hay feeder. More research led me to an article that explained that by slowing down the rate at which your horses eat their daily hay, you can keep them from getting board. Slowing down their hay consumption also better simulates natural grazing, which is good for their digestive systems. The basic concept is that you use a hay bag or net with very small holes that only allows the horse to remove a small amount of hay at a time. After reading reviews of different products on the Paddock Paradise website I purchased an inexpensive ($10) 4 cm small hole hay net from Millers and a heavy duty NibbleNet with 1.5" holes ($55). I have been using them for about 2 months now. They both work great. When I feed Comet and Lucky their morning hay in a manger they usually have it mostly finished off in about 2 hours, then they hang out for another 8-10 hours until I feed them again. When I use the small hole hay net or hay bag the same amount of hay lasts them 5-7 hours. This means they spend much of their day gradually munching hay. I think they like it because it gives them something productive to do. They are grazing, rather then just standing around. They still get the same amount of food, it just lasts them longer.

I would highly recommend these products to anyone with a horse that is confined in a manner that does not allow for grazing. Just be sure to hang these low to the ground so your horse isn't breathing in dust from the hay. Feeding horse from hay feeders that are more than a few feet off the ground causes respiratory problems! Because the holes in these slow feeding nets/bags are small the risk of getting a foot stuck in the net is not the same as it is with a traditional, large holed hay net. (Note:Large holed hay nets should not be tied low because an animal can get a foot stuck, resulting in major injury.)

In terms of being easy to use on a daily basis, I prefer the 1.5" Nibble Net. I bought some hardware and mounted it in the stall. It is easy to refill. I just open the top that is secured with a metal clip, insert hay, and re clip the top closed. The hay net has to be taken down to be filled and then tied back in place. This makes it more labor intensive to use. In terms of keeping the horse busy, both products work equally well.

Eating out of a small holed hay net or bag still isn't as exciting a grazing, but at least Comet and Lucky have something to do to keep busy on rainy winter days. Just like kids, Horses need rainy day activities to keep them from getting into mischief.