Power House Ranch

We moved onto the Powerhouse Ranch in December 2021.  The weather didn't allow us to build our homestead right away, but it did give us plenty of time to plan for Spring and Summer.  

By February 2022 we had more than 200 Christmas Trees planted on our farm. In March we brought home six Easter Egger chicks, and modified our henhouse to accommodate 11 chickens in the first year, as we expanded our growing flock. In April we received our first honeybee NUC and set it in a hive.  In the month of May we adopted two KuneKune pigs and built a small pig pen.  In June were gifted a swarm of bees, allowing us to turn our apiary into two solid hives.  The beehives struggled after a prolonged rainy Spring, allowing us only to harvest half a gallon for our personal use.  Our hens began laying consistently by October 2022 and we were able to sell several dozen eggs to friends and family.  We lost most of our young Christmas trees as the the 80 degree days persisted through Fall.  Our makeshift greenhouse did not withstand the first Winter on the farm, so we are evaluating options for the next growing season.  

In 2023 we will expand our apiary to three hives.  We have planted 2 varieties of garlic in our garden beds and a number of Spring flowering bulbs for cut arrangements. In January we consulted with a nursery owner to determine what Christmas trees would do best on our land.  We will be experimenting with Douglas, Noble and Nordmann Firs for 2023.  In March we expanded our flock to include Blue Copper Marans, Lavendar Orphingtons, Brahmas and Novogens, we ended up with 3 beautiful roosters this year and will try our hand at hatching in 2024.  We added a Kunekune gilt to our team in July and had our first litter in Mid-November.  As we head into the cooler months we will be prepping our hives for the cold wet weather and beefing up our pig shelters in anticipation of the little ones. 

In 2024 we expanded our garden to include two 36' x 3' vegetable beds and a 36' x 3' flower bed.  The additional bed spaced allowed us to plant some of the most delicious carrots, green beans, snap peas, cucumbers, squash, peppers, tomatoes, turnips, and rutabagas.  We were able to source local plums, peaches, pears and apples from our friends to be sold at the Tumwater Farmers Market and for use in sorbetto at Sophie's Scoops.  During the cool months we have kale, Brussel sprouts, Romanesco and root vegetables growing.  We are incubating fertilized eggs from our hens and in order to maintain our flock of laying hens. We have applied for federal assistance to expand our growing season with the use of a high tunnel, pasture improvements, and expanded livestock infrastructure. We are hopeful that the federal farm bill will continue into support growing small farm businesses like our in 2025 and beyond.