Schoolhouse Farm
Schoolhouse Farm products come to you direct from our farm. In other words we are responsible for raising or creating the products we sell. Our chickens and goats are lovingly and ethically raised here and we take great care to ensure their lives will always be good. Our eggs are a product of our animal-focused practices, our goat’s milk soap is hand-made using the milk from our divine milking goats, whilst our garden produce is chemical free and seasonal. Our courses combine all of these endeavours; born out of a drive to connect and share our passion, skills and knowledge.
We farm for ourselves and to connect with the earth and community
Hi I’m Deborah.
It all commenced around 2007 when I decided to breed heritage chickens, for myself and because I felt a passion to be ‘part of the change’.
I have always been driven by the ideals of sustainability; during my childhood a love of nature and a desire to understand was nurtured in me. It was no surprise that I went on to study ecology at university and then teach it as my academic career developed.
My journey developed when I ‘found’ permaculture; my practice developed as I turned my quarter-acre block over to growing food and developing habitat.
Blog
Thinking About Getting Chickens?
So you’re thinking about getting chickens - it's all in the breed! Don’t rush into it, take time to think and plan, to choose. The key questions to ask yourself are, “What characteristics am I looking for and what breeds suit my circumstances?” This really should...
Meet “Bella”, NOT looking her best at the moment as she goes through her annual moult
When Straight-Comb-Bella hatched I whispered, “Be a Bella”, and she was! Let’s celebrate the elders in our flock! Those chickens that keep on keeping on, you know the ones, they seem to have 9 lives but they’re not cats. Bella is such a chicken, turning 9 this year....
For the Love of Goats
My word for kidding time is ‘intrepid’, a combination of bravado, audacity and joy! There’s something about goats. They are charming, endearing, smart, engaging. They are also testing, frustrating and, frankly, at times exasperating. You either get them or you don’t....
Timing is Everything
What we first noticed was the sound, an orchestra of bees, thousands of them, circling. Spring is not to be trusted. This is the time of the year when one never knows what the weather may bring. It’s time to celebrate ‘layers’ and be prepared for just about anything....
Pipping!
But in the end you have a hat full of chicks, which we call a swaddle of hope! Pipping is when a chick breaks through the inner membrane of an egg and then through the outer egg too. You’ve waited 21 days for this to happen, wondered about the effects of the weather,...