Gettin Started on the Farm...

Howdy. That's what they say in Texas, which is where we moved from. When we lived in Texas we lived in the suburbs. Total suburbia- within 5 minutes of 3 grocery stores and the Katy Mills Mall. We moved here via a quick stop in another Keeping Up with the Jones type suburbia area- which is funny because the Jones' lived in a gated community that was completely fenced in like a ghetto or a prison with a swimming pool.
So here we are now a year later - "hillbilly hicks" living on a farm(-ish)
We decided we wanted to get away from the bright lights of the city- that would keep us up all night between the traffic and used car lot lights, and escape into the quiet firefly lit country nights.
Pa has always dreamt of land. Mommy used to dream of the mall- but now she dreams of chickens. Austin is in between with just enough of each to be well rounded. So we bought the "Citadel" a beautiful piece of property and dove in head first. This blog was started to chronicle the Citadel Life.
First thing we decided to venture into was lagomorphs. What are lagomorphs you ask? they are rabbits. or as Pa says Rare-bits of meat. We got our first rabbit named Jessie who is about as big as a cat and as fluffy as a pillow- per Austin. Jessie is a Flemish Giant Rabbit and a sweetie. He is also a stud (muffin) he and our other rabbit Precious who is just as the name implies have a litter every few months. Jessie, Precious and the Edibles -so we call them- are a story for another day. Then came the BabyGoats. Sugar (mama -one day) who is the herd queen, Spot who thinks he is all that, and sweet lovable GarnerGoat. We got the goats as kids and have been raising them from there. Right now they are in their terrible twos. In the beginning of October we got our misfit chickens. Why are they misfits you ask? They have been debeaked. That means they had their beaks "trimmed" very short. They also had their wings clipped so they couldn't fly when we got them. We were not aware of all of the trimming before we picked them up. - maybe next time I won't buy chickens from the Co-Op. Our most exciting chicken -Houdini Hen - Henrietta, is an escape artist. She was the first one to lay an egg and to learn how to duck under the gate.
Right now we get six eggs a day! It is sooo fun to go collect eggs. Especially when they are body temperature- it's kinda weird. Yet awesome. So for city slickers we have quite a bit of livestock. We also have a Cat- named Cat. Cat is also known as the Great White and Black Hunter. He got his nickname from hunting lizards and he now hunts very successfully small game such as chipmunks, mice and moles. Cat has not yet bagged any large game though he has gone after a a doe with two fawns. He also ambushed the goats- who run from his 9 pounds of ferociousness.
We had a garden over the summer - which turned out ok. It was a learning experience. I learned many ways to use zucchini (which I had way too many of) I learned not to plant too many cherry tomato plants (long story) and I learned what grew well and what did not. AND I learned to HATE cabbage worms. Oh and I canned alot and learned some new canning recipes.
We have decided that so much happens on a daily basis that we would try to write daily. So we will update you tomorrow on Citadel Everyday Life
So a bit of Texas and a bit of our new home life combined... "Peace Ya'll" - see you tomorrow.