Chicken Thistle Farm CoopCast

By Chicken Thistle Farm Homestead : Farming, Gardening and Homesteading - Pasture to Plate.Society & Culture Science Personal Journals Natural Sciences

Chicken Thistle Farm CoopCast episodes

December 11, 2014 0130 Farming and health care, sick pig and Christmas lists
This episode brings us back from a few weeks off and updates about the events we had around here on the farm that kept us from coopcasting last week.
We talk a little bit about farming and health care in proximity to the farm (given the recent events). We also discuss our sick pig and the course of treatment we underwent to get her back to being a healthy girl again!
In the Farmers Choice segment we share a few simple gift ideas for the holidays that might make your shopping easier!
55 min
November 20, 2014 0129 Easy farm recipes, bad jokes and favorite vegetable garden greens
We are calling this the "We eat good episode" since we are talking about simple, fast and delicious farm recipes including:
Pressure cooker chicken
Frozen veggies in chili
Pre-made frozen cookie rounds
Easy ways to help you can / freeze more food.
In the Veggie Patch we climb on board the Rowboat of Goodness and discuss a few winter squash varieties and some of our favorite non-lettuce greens in the garden.
45 min
November 13, 2014 0128 Pork pickup episode, hunting season updates and a CSA review
This weeks updates are around the pick up of the smoked pork (and we have customers coming as we are recording). Farmer Andy shares a bit of a bow season update and we talk a little about the status of the hoop house.
We close with a review of the local fruit CSA we were enrolled in and all the goodness and a little of the stuff they could have improved.
49 min
November 05, 2014 0127 Pork from the butcher, hunting update and a trip down memory lane
This weeks updates include a hunting season short session. We talk about bo season so far and the only arrow this season to miss its mark thus far. We also talk about the pork that's back from the butcher and the impact of the seasonal reduction in eggs.
In Farmer Kelli's Choice, we take a trip down memory lane. Visit our Facebookpage (login not needed) and scroll back through the pictures to our first post in 2010... we walk through 2010 and 2011 remembering several of the highlights in photos!
46 min
October 08, 2014 0124 Vegetable garden put to bed, starting a CSA and passionate listeners
This week's updates include our prep work in getting ready to move the pigs to the processor this year. We also put the vegetable garden to bed for the season and talk about the process and some of the suprise veggiesthis year. And of course, we have to talk about hunting season.
In the Coopcast Community we respond to questions about black fly farming (maggots!), starting a CSA and the callenges involved and how some of our listeners have used our content at some very emotional and powerful moments in their lives. It's insane to hear people listeing to us with a spouse on their death bed, recovering from cancer or training to defuse a bomb.
53 min
September 10, 2014 0121 Farm updates, tractor project, listener reviews
Back from a break we talk aboutthe pigs in the pasture and how well they are growing, the late blight that got the tomatoes, the success we had with straw based potatoes and a whole lot more.
We also go over the 500th iTunes review and answer some listener feedback on topics ranging from keeping stock tanks fresh to predators to game cameras.
50 min
August 20, 2014 0120 Happy pigs on pasture, canning and freezing garden fresh food, Farm U : Containment
This weeks updates start with the pigs scheduled for butcher, their pasture and their rapid weight gains after worming. We moved the chicken netting fencing for the layers and have been busy in the vegetable gardens and kitchen. Farmer Kelli has been canning and freezing all sorts of fresh veggies as well as baked, roasted, blanched and parboiled treats!
The vegetable garden is producing and we are expecting be offer an end of summer share full of goodness - including a pasture raised chicken.
The Farm U is part of a series we are starting called How We Do It - where we take things that have had lots of questions from listeners and do our best to show with pictures and explanations how we do things around the farm.
This weeks episode is all about "Containment" - our fencing setup and why we made the decisions we did.
To follow along with the images we are discussing - visit our flicker page and the album
Good ole Flickr link -
We are off for 2 weeks over Labor Day - so enjoy your celebrations and be safe.
51 min
August 13, 2014 0119 Weaning pig meningitis, bountiful vegetable garden, the perfect BLT
After taking a week off for a trip to Empire Farm Days, we return with an update from the farm show. We also share the story of a sick pig on the farm who contracted weaning swine meningitis and what we did to get Mr Green Beans back to health.
We tour the Veggie Patch to talk about all the harvested and put up foods Kelli has been making / freezing / canning as she's enjoying a greate vegetable garden season this year. The homestead is certainly going to be prepared for the polar vortex this winter!
There's also a bit of fun discussions around the farm this week too!
56 min
July 30, 2014 0118 The future of farming pigs, garden fresh vegetable recipes and sleepy farmers
This episode won't go down as one of the most exciting or passionate - but we do talk about the status of things mid-summer around the farm. We continue to prep the pasture for the piglet weaning, the layers are laying and the vegetable garden and green house is producing LOTS of fresh produce this time of year.
In the We Eat Good segment Farmer Kelli talks about some of her favorite recipes for the fresh veggies that are piled on the counters this time of year. They are all paper printed recipes so no links - but pay attention and she tells you where to find them or what to Google.
You might find some things here:
http://www.chickenthistlefarm.com/blog/tag/recipe
or here
http://www.chickenthistlefarm.com/blog/category/recipes
44 min
July 23, 2014 0117 Piglets moved, the vegetable garden goodies, listener questions
This weeks farming updatesinclude our experience this week processing chickens on anotehr farm as helpers. We also moved the pigs to fresh pasture and are getting ready for weaning. Finally the vegetable garden and the greenhouse are producing all sorts of fresh veggies... so Farmer Kelli takes us through what they are and what she has been doing with them.
In the Coopcast Community segment we catch up on the listener backlog of emails, posts, tweets and all sorts of other forms of questions. From a solider in Afgahanastan to listeners in Europe to the ever popular Doctor Who and Star Trek questions - we try and answer them all.
In a Coopcast produced and directed by Farmer Andy... things in this episode don't follow any stinkin agenda!
1 hr 2 min