Our new chicks

We now have seven new baby chicks. They are Silver Lace Wyandottes. We have one rooster and six hens we hope. They hatched August 17^th. They were shipped in the mail and arrived August 19^th. AMAZING! They are a week old and so far all seven are doing great. They're so cute! See pictures down below.

Box that chicks came in.

Seven chicks in a tub

Chicks eating boiled egg

Smile! It's your close-up!



Moving our new chicken coop!

     Our friend Josh, who also teaches all three of us the guitar, needed to sell his chicken coop. So we bought it! Then we had to move it! It sounds easy, but it's really not! Daddy had to rent a trailer because our trailer was too small. Daddy hatched a brilliant plan he used a high-lift jack, a come-along, a pulley, and PVC pipe as rollers plus lots of pushing from Mama, Josh, and me also some pulling from Daddy. Finally, we got it loaded on the trailer. We slowly made our way on curvy mountain roads to our new farm. The farm house finally came into view. Grand looked out the kitchen window and started laughing because it looked like there was a chicken coop coming down the road because she couldn't see the truck. Finally, Dawson, Daddy and I got it unloaded. Soon we will have a place for the newest arrivals to the farm. See pictures below

The chicken coop arrives at the farm!

Ready to unload

Foundation blocks first

PUSH!!!

Look Out! Don't smash Mama!

Safely unloaded

What a beautiful spot. Lucky chickens.

The search is over!!!

     Guess what?!!! Sweet Summer Farm has finally become a reality! We closed on it Monday, August 3rd, and celebrated with cake. We have now bought a farm that is 6.9 acres, half pasture half woods. It has a two sheds, an old barn, and an Appalachian farmhouse that is about 100 years old. It also has a beautiful creek that runs through the property. We have already ordered chickens.  We got six hens and one rooster they are all Silver Lace Wyandottes. They have a beautiful design on their feathers and they lay the same eggs as Buff Orpingtons. We have three Buff Orpingtons (Our Three Girls) and we love their eggs. I am really excited to try this new breed of chickens. We have also bought six blueberry plants, four raspberry plants, one pear tree, and lots of flowers. I still can't believe we have a farm! Oh, we'll have to get to work. See you later!

The 100-year-old farmhouse

Two large rock steps going up to the deck.

A side view of the farmhouse



The old hill barn on the property

The two sheds mentioned above

4-H Cupcake Wars

    I'm in the 4-H and they have a Summer Relief Program. One of the lessons was 4-H Cupcake Wars. We were divided into eight teams, two people on each team. I was on a team with a friend named Brianna. We thought up the theme The 4 Seasons. We decorated five cupcakes, one for Winter, Fall, Spring, Summer, and one that said The 4 Seasons. Then, we gave a small speech to the four guest judges. Out of the eight teams, Brianna and I won the second place! We each got a big box of candy. See our prize-winning cupcakes down below!

U-Pick Blueberry Farm

     We went to the Carringer's U-Pick blueberry farm and picked over 20 pounds of blueberries. We had lots of fun and ate lots of blueberries. There were huge bushes that had blueberries covering them so we had lots of fun picking them. We were also able to buy fresh vegetables at the blueberry farm. After we picked the blueberries we went home and made blueberry pancakes and sausage. They were delicious If you would like to pick your own blueberries, you can find the Carringer's at 3738 River Road, Franklin, NC 28734. Below are some pictures of our trip to the blueberry farm. 



Summer and I picking blueberries

  

Matie picking blueberries



The U-Pick blueberry field



Clumps of blueberries that are almost ripe



20 pounds of blueberries we picked

Pile of blueberry pancakes

Blueberry pancakes, Sausage, topped with maple syrup



 




Update: Search for the farm

     We still haven't found the right farm, though we keep looking. We did come very close to ending the search when we found an old farm house down in Georgia. There were about four acres of cleared land and another four acres of forest. It seemed perfect. There were three outbuildings and an old farm house that was built in 1920. We made an offer on the property and it was accepted. We had a home inspector come and inspect the house. He found there were problems with the roof and post beetles. The offer fell through and we were back to searching. After that, we found a parcel of property in North Carolina. It was over nine acres of partially cleared land with over 1,000 feet of creek frontage. This was also perfect, but we couldn't get financing for land without building a house. We continue to see farm after farm as we keep hoping we will find the right on. We will find it, it's just a matter of time.

Giveaway Update

     We still haven't heard for the winner of our Homemade for Sale Giveaway. Lynne was the chosen winner in the comments of the giveaway blog post. Lynne, please send your contact information to sweetsummerfarm@gmail.com.  Thank You!

The Blacksmith

     When we were at the Mother Earth News Fair, we went to the John C. Campbell Folk School  Area. We met a blacksmith. The blacksmith's name is Paul Garrett and he owns Smokey Mountain Ironware in Brasstown, NC. P.O. Box 66. Phone Number 704-604-1777. All products are made in the USA. He was very nice and we enjoyed talking to him. We watched him make a nail and he gave my brothers and me each a nail. He makes many things such as hooks, knives, herb cutters, wine glass holders, and even Round Tuits.

Free Nail

Free Nails for everyone









Lots of Hand-forged items from the blacksmith

A really neat herb cutter



Hand-forged  nail, a hook, and A Round Tuit



A hand-forged hook

A round Tuit

Sweet Summer Farm on Facebook

Sweet Summer Farm now has a Facebook page! We are posting small updates exclusive to Facebook. You can check them out on Sweet Summer Farm. We hope you enjoy!

Giveaway Winner

GIVEAWAY HAS ENDED and we have a winner!

Congratulations Lynne, you are the winner of our Homemade for Sale Giveaway!!! You have won the copy of Homemade for Sale By: Lisa Kivirist and John Ivanco. Please send your contact information to sweetsummerfarm@gmail.com. We hope you enjoy the book!