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ARGOSY FARM  is a farmsteading1 project located in Hillsborough, North Carolina. After years of fast-paced, hectic lives, we're looking for a "simpler", sustainable and self-sufficient lifestyle. We're not abandoning modern conveniences, but we believe we can combine the best living practices of our grandparents with those modern conveniences which bring value -- without ecological compromise. We hope to protect and nurture the land. Integrate simple low-impact, self-sufficient concepts such as ecological design and building, natural and heritage food production, and alternative energy. And most challenging of all, we hope to do this without mortgaging our souls.

We invite you to follow our progress as we wade through the challenges of the local permitting process, and learn the joys and pitfalls of farming, building and more.


Why grow our own food?


 

June 2009

Update coming...


May 2009
Baby chick is first "birth" at Argosy
We had our first birth at Argosy Farm this month. One of our Key West hens went broody and, after diligently sitting on one egg for three weeks, hatched out a little chick. Wish now that we'd had more faith in her ability as we would have slid more eggs under her.

The garden is progressing and is well-planted with a much wider variety of vegetables than we had the previous year. It was a challenge getting everything into the ground on schedule. Seedlings did well in the hoop house, strawberries are producing, and looks like we may have some fruit developing on the fig tree. Spinach, lettuce and mustard greens are still looking good, but as the days heat up we'll see those vegetables slow down just as the beans, corn, tomatoes and other vegetables hit their stride.

Jalapena joins us from Humbug Farm.We built housing and fenced a paddock for three goats that arrived from Humbug Farm this month. Emmy and Jalapeña are Nubians, and Heidi is a Nubian/Saanen mix. We're getting milk from Heidi and Emmy so we're now working our way through Ricki Carroll's book Home Cheese Making. So far, we've tried easy queso fresco, a quick farm cheese, and yogurt. Chocolate goats milk is also pretty good, and it makes excellent ice cream.

Zora (red collar) and Zada (blue)A week after the first goats arrived, we added two-month old Nubian twins, Zora and Zada. The older goats aren't too thrilled with the new additions.

And to round out the month, we added a handful of Red Bourbon turkey chicks, a heritage breed.


April 2009

All Fool's Day brought the birth of little Zora, a Nubian goat kidling born at Cedar Moon Farms. She is the first of what we hope will be two doelings coming to us after weaning. And we've reserved a Great Pyrenees puppy who will serve as a livestock guardian to the goats.  

The first eggs have begun to trickle in. Strawberries, asparagus, sweet potatoes, French fingerlings and Yukon Gold potatoes are in the ground, and we planted a brown turkey fig in the orchard near the apples and pears.

March 2009

March roared in like a lion with blustery winds, driving rain and icy temps. And eight Key West chicks found themselves a new home, albeit a bit nippier than what they're accustomed. But the chicken house is standing up to the weather, keeping the new tenants warm and dry. They seem happy. (Read more)

The hoop house plastic is finally on! We regularly get some strong winds over the ridge, which made it more challenging to install, but the final product looks great. A temperature test taken around noon a few days later registered 81 degrees F. inside and 54 degrees out. We'll be transplanting seed starts into larger pots and moving them out to the hoop house.

We moved the 5-week old chicks into the larger chicken house after cordoning a portion of it off with leftover deer fencing to protect them from the older Key Westers.

Twelve blueberry bushes arrived from Finch Nursery
four each of Tifblue, Premier and Brightwell. We planted them in the orchard near the apple and pear trees.

We also adopted six, 19-week old Barred Rock hens rescued from a factory farm. Their clipped beaks and timid response to us contrasted with the outgoing, free-spirited Key Westers. The hens spent the first three days cowering in a corner of the coop before finally venturing outside. Our black Key West rooster immediately formed his own harem and has the new "girls" following him around. 

February 2009

Our chick order arrived on February 10. (See chick photos).

The chicken house is nearly complete, and none too soon with the chicks expected to outgrow the brooder at age 4-weeks. While it may seem a little fancy for a chicken house, we knew we needed building practice for the sheds, barns and houses to come. Most of the outdoor work is finished and we'll begin making roosting ladders and nest boxes next weekend. (See chicken house photos)

In the meantime, we also have eight certified Key West chickens arriving the first day of March, complements of V's parents. The chicks, complete with certificate signed by Key West's mayor, are descendants of Spanish Fighting Game Cocks, brought first to Cuba in the 15th century, then to Key West by Cuban immigrants. This batch lost their mother to a hawk, were rescued, sent to a shelter, adopted by V's parents, and will make North Carolina their new home.


 

January 2009

A snowy Inaguration Day, January 20, 2009
Winter arrived with a vengeance this month, with high winds and driving rain bringing in the New Year. Falling temperatures then hit a low of 9 degrees for two days running, covering the ponds in an inch of ice. Arctic air brought snow on Inauguration Day. All conspiring to delay installation of the plastic covering on the hoop house. Being forced inside does have its benefits, however, providing time to pore over the growing stack of seed catalogs. After inventorying our saved seed collection, we ordered more for the coming season. Our goal this year is to grow a larger assortment of vegetables and flowers.

We also placed our order for day-old chicks from Murray McMurray Hatchery to arrive in February -- 6 each: Araucanas, Barred Rocks, Buff Orpingtons and Delawares, and 5 each: Dark Brahma Bantams and Mille Fleur Bantams. The hatchery throws in an "exotic" freebie, bringing our total to 35 chicks. We've built a brooder and are making progress on a 12'x12' chicken house.

Our Jersey calf, IsabelleHow fast can a calf run? Pretty darn fast when she's out of the pen and running free. We've had Isabelle for just over a month now and we're still getting to know her. Weighed down by heavy winter gear and hampered by snow, catching her was no easy task. Although this escape was made possible by not adequately latching the gate, we'll be looking at fencing around the property to help keep her contained should she make another run for freedom.

 

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 1 We define farmsteading as a lifestyle of simple, agrarian self-sufficiency.

   
 

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