Honeybees: Although we love our honey, our organically raised honeybees are valued more for their pollination skills than they are for their sweet byproduct. Their presence allows and encourages our garden to thrive.
Pest control for us comes in the form of these colorful birds. They are guineas… and they provide amazing organic control of fleas, ticks, and grasshoppers. Too bad the IRS doesn’t acknowledge these hard workers as agricultural expenses…. they truly save us thousands of dollars a year AND help keep our farm and our cats and dogs chemical free.
A polish chicken!
Meet two of our rescues: Lily and Cocoa. Lily is an Akbash livestock guard dog, and Cocoa is a Great Dane. Lily provides amazing protection from predators both day and night. Again, too bad her services are not recognized by the IRS! She keeps our chickens, cats, and other animals safe.
Part of our garden from last year. We compost scraps, manure and stall shavings and use that as our soil amendment… even commercial fertilizers can be harmful to us and our soil. We have the greenest and healthiest plants! North Texas is known for its black clay soil…. not always conducive to great gardening.
Donkey Boy and Lola. DB is also a rescue, and is one of the favorite Ararat Acres mascots!
Henri and Cocoa. We have a policy on the farm… everyone gets along. It can take a little training, but once they are friends, we have a unified “farmily”.
Meet Henri! She is our #oilyfarmsquirrel and another farm mascot. Henri was an orphan we raised. For the first several weeks, Ningxia Red was a large part of her diet. She has been released back into the “wild”, although I’d hardly call her life a wild one. She has chosen to live with us and the rest of her adopted farm siblings: 6 dogs, 7 cats, 4 horses, 1 mini donkey, 8 dairy cows, and numerous chickens and guineas.
The Wellness Prepper
The Wellness Prepper 