The Freckled Farm Soap Company

Category: Farming

February Snow Storm

It’s no secret that I am not a fan of the cold and snow, but even I can see the beauty around the farm after a snow storm. Everything looks so fresh and clean. A stark difference from the muddy mess we have been dealing with the last few months. This past Wednesday, the day after we received 8 inches of snow overnight, I trekked around the farm documenting some of the beautiful scenes the storms left behind.

With the storm came frigid temperatures. Friday morning it was -6 degrees! It has been a struggle to keep the house warm and get things done around the farm. At this point I am beyond ready for spring to come!

February 22, 2015
Getting to Know… William

Our little boy William was the first baby of 2014 and if you look at his baby picture you will see that he was born with a large one on his left side! We noticed this while cleaning him up after he was born and we knew at that moment that he was destined to stay on the farm. William has since been “wethered”… meaning he was castrated, and he keeps our herd sire (another addition to our farm in 2014) company so he doesn’t have to be alone. Goats are social animals and do not do well by themselves.

William’s dam is Hillary and his sire is Milo of Chribrydon Farm in Louisa, VA. His full sister is Chelsea.

William is extremely sweet. He immediately bonded with our son, Breckin. They spent the first couple months of William’s life endlessly playing in the baby goat pin, racing from one end to the other. William loved having someone to roll around with. As William got older and larger, they were able to play together less and less (something we warned Breckin would happen once William was bigger than him), but Breckin still loves to go and talk to him through the fence, or play with him while supervised.

February 16, 2015
Getting to Know… Chelsea

Last year I did a blog series that allowed our readers to get to know each member of our farm. Since the completion of that series the farm has grown significantly! New goats, new chickens, new cats… So, I figured it was time to meet the newest members!

We are starting out with our little girl Chelsea. She was born on our farm last year. Her dam is Hillary and her sire is Milo from Chribrydon Farms, located in Lousia, VA. She came from the first kidding of 2014. Her full brother is William.

Chelsea, with her fawn color, really stands out in our herd! When we dried her off after she was born I was shocked by her coloring. Both her mother and father are very dark. Chelsea has a wonderful, fun loving personality. Of all of the 2014 kids she is the one who plays around the most, leaping and running through the pastures. She is a full blown goofball!

February 9, 2015
January’s “Other” Pictures

By now I am sure you know that we are doing a 365 Project on Instagram – A Photo a Day from The Freckled Farm, but aside from the “photo of the day” that we are posting each day there are others that get posted… and because they aren’t the photograph chosen to represent that day they get left out of the month’s round up. There are some great images that get left out, so instead of just letting them fall through the cracks I decided to do a round-up of the “other” pictures each month. This way if you don’t have Instagram you aren’t missing out!

If you do have Instagram consider following us (@Thefreckledfarm)

February 8, 2015
365 Project – January

Have you been following our 365 project on Instagram (@Thefreckledfarm)? We have been posting at least one photo a day from the farm. If you aren’t following us you might want to consider it… come March there will be a ton of pictures of baby goats!

Don’t have Instagram? At the end of each month we will be posting a round-up of the pictures that we posted throughout the month. Below are all the pictures from January. Enjoy!

February 1, 2015
What’s up Wednesday – 1/8

It was a cold day on The Freckled Farm yesterday… as it was for most of the country. Monday and Tuesday night we closed the animals up in the barn and coop. Normally we leave the doors open to the pasture and run, but we wanted to prevent any wind from getting to the animals and to allow the deep bedding to do it’s job. The animals faired well through the cold weather, although there were points when I was working in the pasture that I could see the goats shivering. They ended up spending the entire day in the barn, only coming out when I was doing farm chores. We have one chicken though who decided that she wanted to molt late in the season and still hasn’t gotten all of her feathers back. I have worried about her quite a bit, but she seems to be doing fine.

On Tuesday Kevin went out to feed the animals around 5:30am and the temperatures were in the negatives with the wind chill. He closed everyone back up after they were done eating and I went and let everyone out once the sun came up. I had to go out several times during the day to remove the ice from the water buckets. This is my least favorite winter chore. We thought about getting heated buckets, but the breeder of Tina and Hillary told us to avoid them because they lower the goat’s resistance to cold, and if the bucket should break or the electricity go out the cold water could end up hurting the goats. So I trek out the barn and coop every couple of hours to remove the layer of ice that has formed on the water and add warm water. Last year there were only a few days that we really had to fight ice in the water buckets. If we lived in an area that is as cold as what we are dealing with right now all the time I might have consider investing in something else to combat the problem!

In other news, today is our first day at My Courthouse Market in Goochland, VA. This is an INDOOR farmers market located inside the YMCA in Goochland Courthouse. The market runs from 3pm-7pm. Come and visit us!

January 8, 2014
Around the Farm

A few weeks ago we did a little impromptu photo shoot because we needed photographs of us with the animals for several different things. We got some great images, so I thought I would take the time to share them here on the blog. Enjoy!

Breckin and Baby Ruth:

Breckin and Baby Sonia:

Me and my buddy Afton. We have a special relationship. Also, Kevin, Bryce, and Baby Sonia:

Tina had to be closed up in the barn during the photo shoot because she isn’t good with the children.

December 27, 2013
Getting to Know The Freckled Farm – Our Chicken Coop

Want to know more about the farmers, animals, and buildings on The Freckled Farm? Every Friday I will introduce you to another part of The Freckled Farm. This week you have a chance to get to know our chicken coop!

This is our chicken coop. It’s beautiful, isn’t it?! Kevin built it from a picture I gave him. He is quite talented. The floor of the run is sand in order to prevent standing water and mud, which is an issue on our sloped property. There has a ramp up to the hen house, which features two perches widthwise and two nesting boxes. The door to the hen house slides shut giving the chickens extra protection at night. We also have a night guard on the front and back of the coop. It is solar powered and blinks red at night. It’s designed to deter predators by making them think that a predator is already there.

This will be the last “Getting to Know The Freckled Farm” post for a little while. We’ve now been through all of the animals, and the important farm buildings, but come the spring we will have baby goats, more chickens, an additional chicken coop, and a bigger and better garden, so check back!

December 20, 2013
Getting to Know The Freckled Farm – Our Barn

Want to know more about the farmers, animals, and buildings on The Freckled Farm? Every Friday I introduce you to another part of The Freckled Farm. This week you have a chance to get to know our barn!

When we purchased this property it was just a house on some acreage. It wasn’t set up as a farm, but I had a vision of what it could be. We dreamed, planned, and saved for several years. We slowly moved towards becoming a real working farm and finally in August of 2012 we built our barn… or more accurately we had Thad from Louisa Barn and Buildings build our barn. It was an emotional process for me. I had dreamed of my farm for so long and the barn is really what makes a property a farm. Everyday when the builders left I would go stand out in the middle of the construction and marvel as I watched this thing that I had dreamed about for years and years piece together. It’s not a huge barn, but it fits us perfectly and we have lots of space to grow into it.

Many goat people have visited and were blown away by our barn. It’s beautiful and is far more than most people do for their goats. Although it’s not always the case, a lot of people simply have a lean-to or shed to house their goats and really this is fine for a small herd, but we hope to have 10-13 goats when the business is running full steam. My philosophy is do it once and do it right. You save money if you do it well the first time and if you aren’t trying to constantly keep up with your growth or mend a shelter that is not as solid as a barn might be. Also, Virginia weather can be unpredictable and I didn’t want to be left trying to figure out how to house the goats if we had a blizzard like a few years ago.

Our barn is the centerpiece of our farm and we are very proud of it.

The Freckled Farm Soap Company makes handmade goat milk soaps. Our body care products are all natural and made with love. For more information about our products please visit our website: www.thefreckledfarmsoapcompany.com

December 13, 2013
Getting to Know The Freckled Farm – Cheep Cheep

Want to know more about the farmers, animals, and buildings on The Freckled Farm? Every Friday I introduce you to another part of The Freckled Farm. This week you have a chance to get to know Cheep Cheep!

Ok, so you might be thinking “Cheep Cheep? How does that go with the theme of sitcom characters?” Well, it doesn’t. Cheep cheep was named by Breckin when he was 2 years old. The day the chicks came in the mail Breckin told me that he thought this one chick loved him and that he loved her. After about a week, once the chicks were stronger and we believed that they would all live and grow to be adults, we decided to allow Breckin to name the one who he thought loved him. I asked him what name he would like to pick and he said Cheep Cheep. I questioned whether he may have thought I asked him what a chicken says… but either way her name became Cheep Cheep.

Cheep Cheep is a Silver Laced Wyandotte and she is beautifully “laced.” She has a bit of an attitude and can be a little moody. She isn’t going to be the one to let the children catch her for some love and attention.

The Freckled Farm Soap Company makes handmade goat milk soaps. Our body care products are all natural and made with love. For more information about our products please visit our website: www.thefreckledfarmsoapcompany.com

November 15, 2013