Looking Back At 2014

Looking back at 2014...

2014 at Aisling Farms: A Year of Alot of "Firsts"

This year was very different than any year of all our lives. Alot of changes, new things, learning etc that we took on and enjoyed! I wanted to reflect on all the things we did this year here on the farm! Hope you enjoy!

The Home: Our big one for the year that pretty much makes us able to have all our other "firsts" I list are that we purchased our first home on property! We have done alot in such little time and it has been quite the journey! I am excited though to have a full year in our home. 

The Chickens: First time to raise farm fresh eggs along with first time just eating a farm fresh egg in general! We had never had them before not even from another farm or the store. (not that the stores are "farm fresh") Those first two eggs were awesome  and it actually took me awhile to eat my own eggs but when I did I fell in love! We now get over 2 dozen a day and have 50+ chickens! You can tell we enjoy our chickens based on all the pictures I take of them! We had the enjoyment of having broody hens hatch out their own baby chicks as well! 

The Pigs: First time raising pigs and eating pig meat not from a grocery store, along with my daughter being apart of 4H with the pigs we raised. Pigs were rather easy for us to raise. I think the hardest part was making sure their "space" was set up properly so they don't escape. I did have the one incident where I left the gate unlocked and 6 pigs escaped and I had that moment of freak out but eventually got them all back in once my lovely husband showed up to help me! 

Kylee took care of the first two pigs we owned as they were her 4H project. 

This was Kylee's first year ever in 4H along with raising and training her own pigs. It was a great experience for not only us but for her as well! She raised such good pigs that she got Grand Champion for her Market Class along with Reserve Champion for show. We can't wait to do this again in 2015!

The Rabbits: This rabbit adventure is still somewhat new as it is something we started towards the end of this year. They are still young rabbits and we have tried to breed one but don't think it took. Next year will be rather exciting with all these little does and their babies! 

Preserving Our Harvest: First time canning, fermenting and dehydrating. I want to do this alot more in 2015. I borrowed the dehydrator and I need to test my pressure canner so those are on my "bucket list" for 2015! 

First Taste of Homegrown Meat: First holidays being at home and consuming our first homegrown meat for both Thanksgiving and Christmas and a few other meals this year! 

Last but not least we named our farm! 
Aisling (means a dream or vision in Irish) Farms

You can say we jumped right into this "farming thing" in 2014! We learned alot! Can't wait to see what 2015 holds for our family!

What are your firsts that happened in 2014???