New Articles about the farm

Well that was interesting..... On Friday we were hosting the Autism Resource Center (a great bunch of people and children!!), when we received a call from Global News, who wanted to do their morning show on the Farm on monday. There was a bit of scrambling around to get things done. First our farm was a bit of a mess as we were just finishing the chicken coop extension and getting things done (pictures to follow). 

But all in all, I think that the morning show went really well. We had a bunch of views on our website (400+) in addition to many following us now on FB (60 new adds in 24 hrs). I guess the word is getting out :)

Thank you all for your support and thank you to Global News for your coverage and coming by!

Now time to swath some hay :)

Looking for updates or more pictures and videos of the farm? Why not join our FB group page? Lots of information, recipes, and videos posted.

First CSA boxes of fresh organic farm produce delivered!!!

After 1 year of official operation, I still can't believe how much has changed on the farm:

1) Fix 'er up: New roof on barn and house almost complete. Well water has been sorted out, new buildings and structures for animals

2) Expanding business: Started off as a hobby farm, but now we are hosting tours, events and selling produce

3) Building Noah's ark: We started off with 5 egg laying hens and 6 rabbits. Now we have Alpaca (2), sheep (8), geese (13), chicken 100+ (meat and egg), and a LOT of rabbits.

4) produce: in the field we have canola planted. But our vegtable plot is now in excess of 6,000 sqr feet. Potatoes. peas, tomatoes, onions, and a variety of herbs (not to mention some fruit trees and fruit bushes). 

5) Bed and Breakfast: This summer we have opened our bed and breakfast option at the farm. An awesome way to get away from it all!!!

Thank you to all of our customers and supporters. We could not have done this without you!!!

We are now offering Bed and Breakfast service on the farms. Room bookings can be made on Air BnB. Take a break from the city life, without having to travel far from the city. 

We had some wonderful guests today all the way from Colorado! 

Come and do something different. Enjoy the beautiful sites and scenes. Also get your own tailor made personalized tour of the place.

Looking for a birthday venue? I guess one can try the standard go to places in the city of Regina (never mind the expense). But at Fenek Farms you get a WHOLE lot more for a whole lot less money.

Call to arrange an appointment. 

We had some complications with our last gosling hatch. One egg hatched no problem. The other required some assistance. But in the end the little ones are doing just fine in the brooder. All's well that ends well. 

Seems like the farm is growing. Goslings are ready to hatch. Some have already broken their shell (see picture). Can also see the full video on our facebook page.

We have had the farm now for 1 year. The place has required a significant amount of renos:

Water well had to be rehabilitated

New fencing

New Infrastructure (tractors, equipment, motors)

Animal housing etc....

On this week's slate? Roofing the barn. Thanks to Arm River Metal and Corrus Enterprise.

Guess what the stork brought us the other day?

A nice healthy lamb. Both mother and lamb are doing fine. 

I think I now know why they call it the long weekend. Spent the weekend working long hours to get our crop into the soil. 

 Almost 6,000 sqr feet of crop was planted. potatoes, tomatoes, peas, onions, zucchini, cucumbers, pumpkin, cabbage, spinach, lettuce, and kale. Works out to about 1000 + plants all together. 

On a sadder note, one ewe gave birth, but it was not viable and lost the lamb. Another ewe is expecting to give birth any day now.....Stay posted for updates. 

Wow. What a long weekend!

We have sheared all the sheep in preparation for lambing (ewes are due anytime now).

Also put in the new shelter belt as well as preparing the fields for our crops. On the bright side, at least we don't have to go to the gym!!!!

Thinking of celebrating a special birthday or event this year? Why not come by and celebrate at the farm? We can host any sized event and are located just minutes from Regina. Check out our website for details or contact us.

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is an opportunity to not only support your local farmer, but to also reduce your ecological footprint.

A CSA is essentially a crop sharing arrangement. Here you will be getting seasonally fresh fruits and veggies, as well as having access to fresh eggs and meat (depending on the arrangement you want). All on a weekly basis. 

By not having to truck your food in from other distant locations (or countries), you are reducing your footprint. An additional benefit is knowing how/where your food is grown. Being located just 10 min north of Regina, we can arrange for pick up in the city, or you can arrange to come by to see your crop and collect directly!!!

How does it work?

Buy a membership for a share of the crops: 

$275: Weekly supply of fruits and vegetables starting around July through to September (about $20 per week). All grown pesticide free (remember we have hens) and without artificial fertilizers (our animals take care of that : ).

Available items:

Tomatoes

lettuce

pumpkins

Potatoes 

Herbs (dill, basil, oregano etc...)

tomatoes

apples

pickles

peppers

pears/plums

Cherries (great for jams)

If there is interest, can also do custom veggies as well. So if you want something specifically grown, give us a shout and we will see what we can do!

As we are subject to mother nature, if a crop gets wiped out....fingers crossed it doesn't.... you will get a full refund of the balance of your share. 

Contact us for more information!

I was away last week on a conference trip. What a difference 4 days make!!! When I left, there was 10 inches of snow left. When I came back, it was all gone. Some minor flooding on the land, but nothing that a pump and some hoses can't take care of. At least we can fill up our dugout. There are already ducks in there building nests. Our resident flock of geese are starting to feather out. Can't trust them outside by themselves quite yet. The older ones are still tending to the eggs at the moment, but are occasionally heading out for a stroll or two (now that the grass is starting to grow). 

Spring is officially here!!!

how do we know? Well our eggs have hatched. We have 10 beautiful goslings   : ) and almost 100 egg laying chicks. 

We are keeping them indoors, for warmth and protection. But come may, it appears that they will be heading outdoors. 

Ever driving down a road and ACTUALLY want to be pulled over by the police? : )

Obviously not driving here in this picture, but a funny shot never the less. Picked up 2 male Alpacas to live on the farm. They integrated into the flock very easily. Furthermore, Chewy (the brown one) eats from my had and comes when called. A very quick learner. The white one is called Babe

Eirene, our eldest, said "at least everyone left with a smile". We were worried with all the snow that hosting the brownies might have been scuttled. with round the clock work on the farm we got our tractor rides back up and running and dug out or fire pits and wood piles for the campfires. The young ladies had a blast with the animals, tours, crafts, and games in the snow. Their energy was kept high by filling them with hot dogs, soups, snacks and fruits.....Not to mention s'mores : )

Guess who hatched today? 20 beautiful chicks (Cornish Giant crosses).

As much as we need the moisture, it would have been nice to get it in small increments. Received 40 cm of snow at the farm. We still have to prepare the place for the Brownies (GirlGuides) meeting to happen on March 10th. Could only get the truck 1/2 up the driveway!!!

A big goose egg!!!

Always wondered about that term. Well no longer. One of the geese is definitely a female. Laid one egg (see pic for size comparison). 

We harvested the egg as she was not sitting on them. Not quite broody yet. Since the weather is still so cold, any embryo...if there was one... was long gone. So similar to a chicken egg, will see what it cooks up to be.  Once they start laying regularly, will try to trick them to become broody and sit on their eggs. 

Interested in a funny video? Visit us on our youtube channel (FenekFarms) or see us on our facebook page. 

We had tried to trim the sheep hooves and give them some inoculations.  For the most part, it went ok. But one ewe had some other intentions. In short, not as straight forward as it should have been But fun!!!

Love is in the air. 

We brought home our small flock of Cheviot sheep. The next steps are to acclimate them and see if any of them are pregnant. Lambs would be a nice addition to the farm come spring. Not to mention we can now make wool and sheep's milk!!

Looks like we may be getting some new residents at the farm!!!

Why not have us host your birthday party or family gathering? Or simply come and visit to see the critters!!

more to come.

It has been pretty chilly at the farm as of late. Some nights have dropped down to -45 C with the windchill. See our new youtube channel where we talk about some of the things we are doing to allow for our animals to thrive in this cold weather.

https://youtu.be/vweoCp3ebNQ

Happy New Year!!

Time for new year resolutions, a time for change, a time to move forward on a new footing.

Here at the Farm we plan to post weekly blogs on every Friday. We also plan to open up the Farm ad a bed and breakfast, where you can get away from the city, without having to travel farm. And also get a chance to enjoy the sites and sounds if the country. 

We hope that your new year is full of joy and prosperity!

Had an interesting occurrence today. I showed up at the farm and low and behold there were people on my roof!!! Back in Oct 20th, there was a big windstorm that had caused damage across the province (winds in excess of 130 Kph....so pretty fast).  It caused some places to burn down in fact (downed power lines). Fortunately for us, the wind only stripped shingles off of the roof. I had initially asked the insurance about this, but had never heard back. I had left a message a couple days ago and then this happened. I think with all the claims they are undergoing, things got pushed back a bit. 

With all the nice warm weather, time to do some yard work. On today's agenda is to set up new pens for the rabbits. I had tried to use old pallets. They work great.....for the most part....except the rabbits realized they can chew wood (and boy can they chew!!!!). Going to add some chicken wire to put a stop to this. Also built some new chicken nesting boxes. Made my own roll away box. Hopefully will do the job. : )

Check out the pictures with some of the new bunnies we are selling . Makes a great first pet for children. Easy to potty train and cute as an ewok : )

Already setting up plans for next year. As the demand for eggs is sooo high, will be increasing the size of the bird flock. At the moment we only get to keep a few eggs and are unfortunately turning people away. Furthermore, we have already received several orders for geese.

So next year will be getting 45 geese plus over 120 hens to meet up with demand. As cute as they are, will be busy during the winter months further securing the free range areas for the geese and hens. While not too worried about predators and geese, more of a concern with the hens at the moment. 

Snow is coming down pretty hard today and apparently tomorrow. Everyone appears to be doing well. Going to enjoy some apple preserve pie with maybe a glass of Riesling tonight to help remember the warm sun!!!

Alas we have to bid adieu to summer and fall. Snow has fallen on the farm and looks like it wants to stay!

Chicken coop has been insulated and the animal shelters have been winterized. Hopefully it is a short winter.....fingers crossed. 

A great time had by all

While most farms complain about a beaver problem (or even Prince Albert with their beaver blackout), Fenek Farms welcomed these little critters : )

A small tour of the farm, visiting the farm critters and talks about farming equipment and safety. 

All followed by a hay ride where we saw the local weasel check us out, badger den and critter tracks (deer, coyotes, birds). Followed this with a wiener/marshmallow roast.

At the end of the night, we made some coyote calls to see if we could bring the local pack to talk back. Had the coyotes howling back as well as the children.

Hope to see the troop visit us again soon!!

So we come to the end of our first year of farming. To send the year off with a bang we decided to hold a bonfire. Took items from the past year to send them off in style. For the end of 2018 we will be making this a public event and send incites out.

The fire was big enough to be seen in regina, just south of us. Guests and curious onlookers came by to see what was going on. Good thing we had treats and drinks on hand!

From fenek farms we thank you for your interest and business. We wish you all the best for the new year and hope that you stay in touch as we journey together on the Farm.

A fun time had by all!!

We were blessed with to have the youth (80 people) from two churches come visit the farm. The barn was turned into a sacred place (albeit temporarily). The youth ministries at Resurrection Parish (Fr. Arpe) and Christ the King Church (Fr. Steve) came to the farm to celebrate adoration. 

After adoration, we had one big bonfire.....Humongous was a word used by many of the youth.... With loads of hot chocolate, hot dogs, and marshmallows.  

We could not have asked for a better night. With mild temperatures, clear skies, it was beautiful to hear the Christmas carols under such a starry winter night.

A night to be remembered!!!

People have said I am crazy to run a farm and do everything I do (e.g. rentals volunteer etc...). Truth be told at times I may have to agree. But I see the farm as being very therapeutic. The moon rise (seen above), sunsets, sunrises, stars at night. They are really soothing. One can sit and contemplate life. Enjoy the quiet. Listen to all the animals (farm and wild). It is really soothing for the soul to be able to sit and listen to nature for once as opposed to listening to traffic and people complaining. Makes you appreciate all that is good with the world.