farming – Olsen Farm

‘We bought the farm’ is an old-timey way to indirectly say someone has died- often referring to death in a battle, or plane crash. While we did have our share of battles with debt collectors and nay-sayers (no plane crashes though), for us it holds a more literal meaning- after over two years of fundraising and negotiations with family we have finally purchased 28 acres of the family farm lands!

These 28 acres include Sachum Brook, running along the West side of the property. Forest trails through mixed hardwood forest, a vernal pool in Spring and magical hemlock groove, blueberry and apple orchards, our gardens, apiary and chicken coops as well as the original farm house (now condemned) built in the 1790’s.

Forest path that leads across Sachum Brook to the vernal pool and hemlock groove

Big bend in Sachum Brook, a favorite spot year round

The idea of owning land feels strange and disconnected- what does it even mean to ‘own’ land? It has always been our goal to prevent this acreage from being developed, to protect and re-build our four generation family farm and preserve habitats for wildlife, birds and native plants. Our owning the land on paper will allow us to do all this- and more, but we think of ourselves more as stewards than owners.

This land is home to the animals we raise- chickens, honeybees, an Australian Shepherd and three crazy cats. It is also home to incredible wildlife, birds, insects, amphibians and mammals. The old farm house has been a home to little brown bats for years, we have great blue herons fly over the yard regularly. Barred and great horned owls visit and call- bluebirds return to nest each year. This year we had dozens of monarch caterpillars and butterflies- and found a praying mantis in the garden.

We have seen bobcats, a fisher, coyotes, black bear, fox and a mountain lion (yes, it was a real mountain lion!) in the yard. The hemlock grove is home to some very large porcupines, and the vernal pool has had spotted salamander eggs two years in a row. Deer love to come snack on fallen apples, raccoons and skunks are regulars too.

Bluebird houses on the meadow edge- we have had nesting pairs for the past three years

Our apiary- all 19 colonies- nestled between old apple trees and our vegetable gardens

Our three chicken coops, with a mix of bantams and standard birds stand on the other side of the old apple tree

While the work of a farmer is never done- this land purchase is a huge step in the future of Olsen Farm. THANK YOU to everyone who has supported us along the way- we truly could not have come this far without each of you.

If you are local to the Berkshires- please join us Saturday, November 9th from 4-6 PM at Dottie’s Coffee Lounge 444 North street in Pittsfield to celebrate!

We have been looking for the perfect farm pup for nearly a year, finding a dog who meets our criteria proved to be more challenging that we had first thought. With chickens to protect, cats to share a home with and acres of farm and forest to manage we need a dog who can be both a working pup, and a house companion- with appitude to be trained and low prey drive.

In 2016 our chickens were attacked by a neighborhood dog and our rooster was badly injured- he pulled through!- fighting off the curious dog. Last year our flock was attacked by a fox, we lost two hens and a rooster in the fray. Living in the forest means there are predators a plenty- fox, coyote, bobcat, fisher, raccoon, bear, skunk, owl, hawk, mountain lion, weasel, dog- we have had them all in the yard.

After visiting every local shelter, talking with rescue groups and breeders we still had no luck. Would we ever find the right pup for the job?

Our answer came last weekend after a trip to Tractor Supply and a look at their classifieds bulletin board. Meet Aspen! Aspen is an 8 week old Australian Shepherd, she learned her name in just a day and has already picked up a few commands in the short week she has been with us. She met the chickens on her third day here and was the perfect guest in the coop.

This little pup works hard, plays hard and sleeps even harder! Her first night with us she escaped from the kitchen by squeezing under a book shelf and we found her snuggled on the couch.

Finding the right farm dog can certainly take time, but it was worth the wait. Aspen is just what we were searching for- and we are so glad to have her join us at Olsen Farm. The cats don’t quite agree (Yet)

Our Mom, Susan, had a real gift for gardening. She loved birds, butterflies and beneficial insects and planted acres of beautiful gardens around the property at Olsen Farm.

We are very lucky to still have detailed plans and photos of her gardens through the years, so we can look back and see the incredible growth and spread her green thumb has had over the past three decades.

Dad, (Tommy) getting new beds dug and laid out in 1993. Those tiny spruce trees in the center are taller than the house now!

The first flowers were thoughtfully planted with stone paths between. We are still working to reclaim these stone paths from the hearty perennials that have happily spread over the years.

Olsen Farm farmer, Chris, showing off Mom’s new garden bed layout (and his Little League pride!) in 1993

The farm house in the back was built in the 1790’s and is where our great grandparents lived back in the 1930’s when they immigrated from Norway and founded Olsen Farm

Stunning close-up of rudbeckia and cone flowers- some of Susan’s (and our) favorites!

Full bloom, Summer at Olsen Farm 1996

Olsen Farm holds so much history for our family. Susan’s amazing gardens are a very important piece of what makes this land such a special place. We have been working to uncover some of the overgrown gardens and bring them back to their glory.

The impact of a well thought out pollinator garden is so much greater than can be expressed through words and photos. Susan really had a gift for color, planting bright flowers to bloom in each season. We know our honey bees (and native pollinators) are thoroughly enjoying all the delicious flowers Susan planted!

We recently registered Susan’s Gardens on the National Pollinator Garden Network, a part of the Million Pollinator Garden challenge. Please check out their project and register your gardens: http://millionpollinatorgardens.org

At Olsen Farm we believe all chickens are special, but there is something especially magical about the silkie breed. Over a year ago we were gifted a few silkie eggs to incubate and once those tiny fluff balls hatched we fell instantly in love.

So, what is it that makes these mini fluffy muppets so special? Here are some unique traits of these sweet little birds:

Silkie hens lay three to four eggs a week. Their eggs are about half the size of a standard chicken egg- but equally as delicious!

Silkies are fibro melanistic, which means they have black skin, black meat and black bones. They were originally bred in Asia and some believe eating their black meat will cure what ails you. While silkies are bred to be both show birds and meat birds, we have yet to eat a silkie because they are just so damned cute!

Three day old silkie chicks- seriously the cutest thing you will ever see.

Silkies have feathered feet, and their feet have five toes- rather than the usual three of standard chickens.

Their feathers remain light and fluffy into adulthood, because of this trait they can become sick or die if they get wet during cold weather. Be sure to keep your silkies dry and warm- they LOVE baths and getting their feathers blow dried! These little fluffs do amazingly well at staying warm during cold weather if their feathers remain dry, they are a winter-hearty breed.

Silkie feathers come in many color variations including black, white, buff (brown/tan), splash (light grey/ black and white mix), blue (dark grey) and partridge (brown mix)

Teen ‘blue’ silkies- this is the awkward phase where their adult plumage is growing in.

Silkie roosters, like most roosters, have larger combs and wattles than hens. They develop these later than standard breeds, and it can be difficult to distinguish a hen from a rooster by looks until they are over six months old and start either laying or crowing. Meet Twister, our ‘splash’ silkie roo

Silkies have a wonderfully gentle temperament and are great for first time chicken keepers. They are calm, tame and very fun to observe. Silkies are also great mothers and will hatch and raise ducks, turkeys, standard chickens- you name it!Even silkie roosters are gentle and calm- they still stand their ground with other roos, but don’t mind being carried around!

We have been bringing Maple (below) our sweetest silkie hen, to the local farmer’s market for a few months. Our original thought was that children would love to pet a cute chicken, and it would be a great educational experience for them. What we did not expect was the intense joy and peace meeting a silkie had on the adults at the market. Many residents came to visit Maple each week, bringing her treats, taking photos and snuggling her. Maple became a therapy chicken simply by being her adorable fluffy magicical self. We are so glad to have been able to share our sweet birds with people who needed a little nature medicine.

Silkies are magical birds. They make wonderful pets, are great mama hens and are cute as hell. Plus, they can cure what ails you.

If you are ever having a down day, pet a silkie- they really are the best medicine.

Bees are truly incredible creatures. They have complex communication and social systems. They are hardworking, intelligent and organized. They pollinate our flowers, fruits, trees and plants. Without their hard work our gardens would not grow. They make delicious honey- a natural antibiotic and delicious vaccine for pollen allergies. We literally could not live without them.

At Olsen Farm we started keeping bees last year because of the importance of supporting pollinators and our drive to practice natural farm and gardening techniques. We have a responsibility to protect native bees by planting healthy gardens- free of chemicals and pesticides, as well as a responsibility to care for our domestic bees like any other pet.

Our colony survived the winter last year but was not able to survive the unfortunate February early thaw and sudden temperature drop. Bees are powerful and delicate, with our quickly changing climate and growing use of toxic pesticides their world is in great danger- and in consequence so is ours.

This year we have added a second hive, and are continuing our hope for the bees and all they share with us.

Here are some photos of the hive-filling process:

Prepping the smoker, dried grass makes great smoke!

Chris puts on gear to protect his hands, face and arms while filling the hive

Prying the lid off to remove the queen’s cage

Removing lid to expose can of sugar water queen’s cage is attached to during travel

The queen’s cage is attached by a strap that has to be pried off for removal

This can is covered in bees! As soon everything else will be too…

Chris gently brushes bees off the outside of the queen’s cage and into the hive box, setting queen’s cage aside for placement later

Holding the bee package upside down over the brooding box, Chris gets ready to shake them out

The most exciting step- shaking, or tapping, three pounds of live bees into their new home. No stings to date!

Chris carefully places the queen’s cage between two frames so the colony can get used to her pheromones and she can be released in a day or so

Giving the colony some smoke to calm them

Chris carefully stacks the super on top of the brooder box

Weighing down the lid cover with a cement flat

We use a ratchet strap to secure our hive boxes together, making it more of a challenge for a bear to break them apart if ever one gets through our electric fence

Happy bees, already getting to work cleaning up a honey drip in their new home

Orioles are beautiful birds with an amazing song and bright, sunny plumage. These stunning birds LOVE sweet blossoms and fruit, particularly oranges.

To attract these beauties to your yard you could simply stick orange slices out on posts in the yard, or you can make a decorative treat with sliced oranges with these simple steps.

What you will need:

fresh oranges

sharp knife

2-3 inch twigs

string or twine, cut in 12-15 inch lengths

a skewer or knitting needle (I used a knitting needle)

1. Slice oranges in half

2. Cut a few 2-3 inch twig bits

I used willow twigs because they are plentiful in our yard and are flexible

3. Use a sharp knife to cut a small nick in the center of each twig, as shown below

4. Wrap string or twine around nick in center of each twig and tie securely

5. Use skewer or knitting needle to poke a hole through the center of each orange slice

6. Push twine or string through hole in orange from bottom to top, so that twig sits and base of orange

This step is very juicy and sticky, don’t be afraid to get good and messy for the sake of the birds!

7. Hang your finished bird treats in a tree where you can watch the orioles enjoy them!

Orioles love the sweet blossoms of apple trees so I decided to hang some orange slices here for an added attraction.

Orioles build incredible hanging basket-like nests. You can cut some lengths of string or twine and lay them on garden fences or branches for these amazing builders to collect for their nests. Enjoy your bird watching!

Great Grandpa Olsen used his draft horse, Joey, for all his plowing and field preparations on Olsen Farm for decades. In the early to mid 1900’s farmers all used hand tools and animals for plowing and heavy farm work. By the 50’s motorized tractors became available and were ‘the next big thing’ in farming- if you didn’t have a gas tractor you were falling behind.

Great Grandpa preferred to stick with what he knew worked- Joey was steadfast and reliable. He loved Joey like a child and trusted him like a friend. Great Grandpa had a way with animals, he passed this love of nature and compassion for living things on though the generations.

We still have the remains of the first motorized tractor Great Grandpa was given by the agricultural department as an incentive to expand his farm, and produce more. In the late 1950’s more and more farmers were being incentivized like this to make the switch from hand and horse to mechanical tools for plowing and planting. Great Grandpa was set in his ways. He rarely used his gas tractor, it spent much of it’s life taking up space in the shed. He would always lament about how that new-fangled tractor was his nemesis- a feeling we can relate to often today with all the fast-paced technological advancements.

This photo is framed and displayed in our living room to remind us of our roots, and the importance of working the land by hand, and horse. Thank you Joey for all the work you put in at Olsen Farm!

photo credit: Andy McKeever iBerkshires staff

Olsen Farm, and our story were recently featured in an amazing article on iBerkshires.com. The parallels between our struggle to save the farm now and our great grandparent’s struggles over 80 years ago are striking. Olsen Farm has been here before, and because of our blood ties to this land we will persevere- like our great grandparents did facing the same odds so many years ago.

The community support and outreach generated by this publicity has been incredible. So many people have contacted us with suggestions, resources, offers to help fix up the farm- people have been recognizing us from the article and coming to talk with us about Olsen Farm’s story. This kindness and generosity, from friends and strangers alike, has helped us feel like the overwhelming tasks we are wrapped up in are not so unreachable.

Being part of an incredible community is what us makes small, local farms a success. Thank you, thank you!! to everyone who has reached out with resources and donations. Each small piece goes toward preserving our family farm, and through your donations and support you all have become part of Olsen Farm’s legacy as well.

Please check out the article if you have not already had a chance:

http://www.iberkshires.com/story/54452/Lanesborough-Couple-Fighting-to-Save-Historic-Family-Farm.html

We were so excited to find this old sign with great grandpa’s name while cleaning out the basement and are planning to re-create a new ‘Olsen Farm’ sign in the same style

photo credit: Rachel Payne

Chicken trouble: bare backs

Spring is for the birds and the bees- and this means our rooster is working overtime. Sometimes he can get a little carried away with his ‘rooster duties’ and end up pulling feathers from the girl’s backs. Once the other hens see bare skin on their sister’s back they can’t resist pecking and pulling out more feathers.

When a rooster mates a hen he climbs on her back, standing on her wings and holding her neck and back feathers in his beak to get in position for transfer of sperm. Sometimes he pulls out a few feathers during the process. Over mating, or aggressive mating, can lead to hens with bare backs and at risk of further wounds and infection if not cared for.

We tried using Blu-Kote Antiseptic spray, which we have had success with in the past when chickens had skin exposed, on our girl’s backs but it did not seem work. What else could we do to protect our chicken’s backs?

The answer- chicken saddles! I searched around and found this article: here from Mother Earth News including a sewing pattern and instructions and decided to try it out.

What you will need:

A basic understanding of sewing is necessary for this project, I used my sewing machine but saddles could easily be hand sewn as well.

machine washable, breathable fabric
1/2 inch elastic
sew-on velcro
scissors
straight pins
needle and thread or sewing machine
saddle pattern (can be printed from Mother Earth article)

I chose fabrics that would match the feather patterns of my flock in order to maintain their camouflage while out foraging the yard. While it is cute to have brightly colored and patterned vests for your chickens their feathers are their first line of protection from predators and their safety is a greater priority than their cuteness (although they do look pretty adorable in their feather-tone vests as well!)

Step by step

Print out your saddle pattern from the Mother Earth article

2. Cut out the paper pattern and pin it to your fabric, fabric should be folded double so you end up with two saddle shapes after cutting.

3. After cutting, unpin the paper pattern and re pin fabric layers with patterned side facing in

4. Cut two strips of 1/2 inch elastic at 7 inches

5. Pin elastic strips to neckline, so that long end of elastic is hidden between pinned layers of the saddle, as shown in photos below

6. Stitch 1/4 inch seam around the edge of your saddle, leaving a hole (seen on right hand side) unstitched on one side

7. Using hole left unstitched, turn saddle right side out, like a pillow

8. Sew 1/4 inch seam around outer edge, closing up hole used to turn right side out

9. Cut two pieces of both male and female velcro at 1.5 inches and pin female side to body of saddle and male side to the ends of elastic

10. Stitch elastic in place, fasten velcro and be proud of your beautiful and functional new chicken saddle!

Now it is time to try your saddles on the chickens! Saddles sit with the squared edge against the neck and elastic straps go under each wing to secure at the hen’s armpit.

Here is our Jelly Doughnut modeling her off-white saddle on the grass runway:

Chicken saddles are easy to make and can truly make a difference in the health of your flock. We have had our girls wearing saddles for almost a week now and are already seeing new feather growth returning on their backs.

In January we lost our father unexpectedly after a short illness. He grew up helping his grand parents take care of the chickens, cows and pigs at Olsen Farm. Those were his fondest memories from childhood, and he always loved to reminisce about what an incredible experience it had been to grow up on this farm. He then built his own home on the family farm lands, where he raised his children with a love for the outdoors- creating his fondest memories from his adult life.

His recent passing is part of what inspired us to make Olsen Farm opened to the public as it once was when he was a child growing up here.

We now live in the house he built back in the 1980’s and recently received scary financial news. Because of debts and outstanding bills against the estate we are in jeopardy of losing our home and the farm. This news has come after the sudden tragedy of losing our dad, and has been an unfair piece that has interrupted our grieving.

One day we hope to raise our own children on this land, and continue the legacy of Olsen Farm. This farm is special. This land is meant to be planted, grazed and harvested. We need your help to ensure the future of Olsen Farm.

Below is the link to our GoFundMe campaign, please donate if you are able and share if you are comfortable. Every little bit is one step closer to saving a small, local farm. We truly appreciate your love and support.

www.gofundme.com/please-help-save-olsen-farm

Thank you all,

Chris and Kristen

Olsen Farm

Tag: farming

Chicken trouble: bare backs

What you will need:

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