Teaching Moment

Last week my son had caught a grasshopper (we have millions of them), and called it his pet "Jumper". He kept Jumper in a small plastic 6 oz. cup with another one inverted on the rim for a lid.

When nighttime came I saw a teaching moment.

"Why don't you let him go outside now that you're going to bed?"

"He's my pet, I want to keep him."

"Well, think of all the animals we have here. Do I keep them locked up in small areas? Is Wagner [our dog] kept in a cage? Do the chickens stay locked up, or do they have a huge coop and big fenced in run? Can the bees fly anywhere they want?"

Now, I realize the last question there was a bit silly, but it helped make my point.

"They all have room", he responded.

"That's right. When I was growing up, sometimes we had to keep our pets locked up in cages, and I didn't like it. That is why I give all our animals lots of room to move and run and enjoy themselves."

It got through to him. Jumper went home that night and I hope he learned a lesson about keeping you pets and livestock happy and healthy.

Root Vegetable Harvest

A couple weekends ago my in-laws were up visiting us to see our new baby and he wanted to know what he could do to help around the house. My root veggies were too long in the ground so we went out for a couple hours of harvesting.

We pulled up about 15 gallons of red potatoes, tons of red, white, and yellow onions, French and Dutch Yellow shallots, and about 10 different garlic varieties.

I've given a bunch of them away, peeled and packed in oil the garlic, and still have tons of it in my garage. I guess planting in an area that has been used as a horse corral for the past 20 years was a good idea.

Welcome to Maple Acres!

Welcome to Maple Acres at Spring Creek.

Although I live in College Ward, Utah, the area is commonly referred to as the Spring Creek area. I like the sound of that much more than College Ward, so I use it as often as possible.

This blog is designed to document the progress, success, and failures of my (currently) 2 acre hobby farm in the Spring Creek area. It will cover everything from my garden, to my beehives, to my hand planted woodlot (maples galore), to my berry patch, to my nut orchards, to my forthcoming animals.

I love where I live and what I am able to do on my small 2 acres.

Visit often and hopefully we'll see lots of progress, growth, and good living.

(Photo is of autumn time Rocky Mountain Maples (Acer glabrum) of which I have about 40 planted in my yard).