Christmas Snow of 2010 & Homemade Dog Food

Well, it finally happened. A White Christmas for us. Actually we had one in 1969 in Williamsburg Virginia while we were still young and no kids. So this is the first in 41 years.

We saw it snowing pretty good before we went to bed on Christmas Day and then woke up this morning to about 6 inches and still light snow falling. It was sticking to all of the trees, the fences, anything that was out there was covered in snow. Absolutely a winter wonderland.

Then we realized at 7 am that our dogs were not fenced in. We saw Della scooting around with something in her mouth which we surmise was a deer part and did not see Daisy at all! Oops. We quickly figured the snow had collapsed our mesh electric fence and the dogs just decided to go for a run ... and for Della, a hunting trip. She loves deer meat and bones unfortunately ... and since this is deer hunting season all around us, there Are often delicacies to be had.

After quickly slipping into long johns and warm outerwear, we headed out to fix the fences and feed the farm animals. It was only about 32 degrees so not too bad temperature wise. The fence was down in two places which were easy to fix. Then I went to get Della and she came easily. Usually when she has deer meat she runs away because she does not want to give it up. But she was easy ... back into the fenced barn area. Then we saw Daisy wandering around and she came easily too... actually rolled over in the snow to get her belly rubbed. This is her kind of stuff ... her hair is at full length and she is bred to withstand very cold temperatures and rain/snow. So in the goes. And now we're back to normal.

Fortunately, the goats were locked in the barn and hence could not get out when the fence is down. Also the chickens were locked in their chicken house bu their fence was also OK ... I tidied it up a little and we fed the chickens. They really do not like snow so they hardly ventured out all day. We tried to make them a path from the chicken house doors to the feeder and the water can but I'm not sure it was used. Anyway, that's their problem.

Now, one last story. We went to the feed mill on Christmas Eve to buy dog food and found it was closed early. So we only had one day of doig food lefyt with the big snow coming. Susan decided to make homemade dog food. One pound of Rob Hogan's hamburger (top quality, grass fed beef!), carrots, blue berries, rice, and cabbage - quite a gourmet meal. After Susan cooked it all together, she took it down to the pups and they inhaled it. Tomorrow will be back to normal and will likely be a big let down. Have you ever heard of homemade dog food?

Anyway, it's been a great day of rest, puzzles, facebook and phone calls. Tonight, the hot tub in the snow.

Oh, back to that Christmas Day snow in 1969 --- we went to Williamsburg for three days and drove to Susan's home in Snow Hill on Christmas morning. While in Williamsburg it snowed and it was quite memorable and striking. We met some friends somewhat accidentally and on Christmas Eve we rode in their 1948 Bentley down the Duke of Glouchester Street in the snow. Obviously, we have never forgotten it. Susan made the cutest red velvet dress to wear at the formal meal we had in the Williamsburg Inn (it actually had an open back) and she wore a fur coat. We went to a string concert in the Governor's Palace on Christmas Eve as well. Those were the days of youth with a full life ahead of us. We have photos somewhere and maybe we can post some of them one day.

Merry Christmas to all of you.

Dwight

Another Animal Story

Susan went down to let the goats out of the barn today and noticed that Daisy, the trusty guard dog, had a small animal in her mouth. After taking a few more looks, it turned out to be a small possum. Daisy was having a good time just tossing it around. It appeared dead.

So I'm dispatched to deal with a dead possum in the goat yard. Daisy promptly hid it in a hole she had dug but then she took it out and dropped it in the barn. Up I go with a shovel to scoop it up and out but, guess what? It was not dead - it was playing possum (makes sense that a possum would be playing possum I suppose) and it began to move a little when I picked it up in the shovel. Well, out it went through the barn door. Then I took it up in the shovel, it began to rouse up a bit more, so I went about 100 yards down the farm road and heaved it into the woods. Maybe the possum will yet grow up and enjoy life but it probably will not wander into the goat yard where Daisy lives anymore.

And that's the way it is here on the farm today.

Dwight

Animal Behavior

Several animal behavior situations have arisen recently that amaze Susan and me and I wanted to share those with you:

1. Our goats have learned to unlatch the farm gate at the barn and go outside on their own. We find it hard to do at times but we think Chloe as the lead goat is the ring leader. Still trying to figure this out.

2. Our cat Tom was locked in the laundry room (so we could eat dinner in peace) but was able to open the outside door to go out. The door opens to the inside which is all the more remarkable. Now we have to lock all the doors to keep the cat either in or out.

3. A pair of cardinals continues to roost outside my office window and the male is pecking continuously at the window. This is due to the reflective nature of the window and the male is protecting his female against what he thinks is another male in the window. Meanwhile I am trying to work in my office. Last year, I tried everything possible to run them off (including expert advice from a birding friend) but nothing works until it gets dark outside and the reflection is gone.

4. Our baby chickens, that have grown up to be adults, are now transitioned to the adult hen house for their nightly roost. We had left the second hen house in the chicken yard and they were using it but we wanted to put it in the garage as it was not designed to be a long term chicken house. These chickens learn fast where to go at night.

So our animals continue to amaze us with what they do.

Eating Outside & Italian

We are entering the fall season which means for us that we eat outside every meal possible - we have a table on the front porch that overlooks our animals and pasture, a table on the back porch that overlooks the courtyard and the waterfall/pond, a table in the courtyard for bigger groups near the gas grill, and a picnic table over under the poplars and maples near the pasture. So, no shortage of places to eat outside depending on the mood, the weather, and the menu.

Also we both love Italian food and, outside of Italy, my wife Susan is the best cooker of Italian cuisine I know. Seriously, she is so creative and uses fresh ingredients. I can't begin to tell you how good the fresh farfalle with pesto was, or the spaghetti with cream sauce, or tonight's dish I can't even pronounce but it was Italian sausage with fresh tomatoes and peppers and garlic etc.

Anyway, that's the way it is here on the farm as the seasons begin to change. Come visit anytime.

New Animals

One of the neat aspects of our farm life is the diversity of wild life we have in this heavily wooded, low population density area of Orange County NC. Last week, we had occasion to see two new animals for us (which is really unusual).

One was a coyote that walked out of the woods next to our pasture, wandered around for a few minutes, then lay down in the grass, and after about 30 minutes, decided to return to the woods. We were in the house and observed this through binoculars. Oh, the house is probably 1,000 feet from where the coyote was, so no danger to us or any of our domestic animals. Also he was out of sight of our guard dog, Daisy, who would outweigh him about 120 pounds to maybe 50 pounds. So no safety concerns and it was interesting to watch a big cat (or at least a bigger than domestic cat). We had seen one other coyote here and that was one who streaked across the top of the hill from one patch of woods to another, so only a fleeting glimpse - nothing like the one we saw last week.

The other animal was a skunk who simply walked through the front yard at a leisurely pace about 20 feet from the front porch. We were inside and just watched him as he went through, seemingly in no big hurry. Skunks seem to be rare in this area as we have never seen (or smelled) skunk roadkill, which is a sure sign that they are around. A long-time farmer, Rob Hogan, said he did not usually see them in this part of the county, only in the northern part (which would be 10-15 miles north).

All of our domestic animals, including Susan and Dwight, are doing fine and we're looking forward to the fall temperatures and garden prep for the winter. Still getting lots of peppers, tomatoes, and some okra. Susan dug our first sweet potatoes of the season today for dinner tonight.


So there we are on the farm on this Labor Day of 2010.

The Life of a Chicken

Yesterday, Susan noticed that one of our new chickens (born in February and raised in a box in the garage then immigrated into the real chicken yard in July) was showing signs of distress - rapid breathing etc. We thought it might just be the heat. But this morning we found the chicken dead under the chicken house. It was one of the beautiful Buff Orpingtons that are solid yellow so now there are two left. I got it out and left it in the edge of the woods a ways away so that another animal would have some food (we have lots of black vultures and turkey vultures around here and they have to eat too).

Nevertheless it was a little sad because we had bought this hen (and 4 others) when they were 1-2 weeks old. So now we have 9 hens and one rooster.

I chatted with Peter Efland at Efland Milling Company as to what causes chickens to suddenly die - he's our expert. Peter says that sometimes it can be a rat but they usually attack when the chicken is on the roost at night and that was not the case here. It's rarely a snake as an adult hen can defend herself OK (although snakes do eat eggs). Because one of the hens had been laying enormous eggs at times (like the size of goose eggs - they would not even fit in an extra large egg carton,m we theorized that maybe she was egg-bound - something new for us but Peter says it happens. Could also have just been a chicken sickness of unknown kind. Who knows, as we did not do an autopsy.

Anyway we get about 6 eggs per day now and that's still plenty for us to eat and give away.

Life on the farm is interesting.

Looking forward to some cooler weather soon!

Dwight

The Bounty of Farm Life

Well, it's now July 10th and we are beginning to reap the bounty of the garden. Still getting swiss chard, lots of cucumbers, celery, the onions are up, most potatoes are dug, variety of tomatoes coming in, garlic is all braided on the porch, and zepher squash plus butternut squah. Have begun to get the sun Gold tomatoes in good numbers daily, the bigger tomatoes are still a few days away from reddening. Isn't it remarkable how much can be grown in such little space?

Let me talk about the volunteers first. The butternut squash volunteered in the compost pile and we let it go - it now occupies about 250 square feet of the yard, is on the fence came through from the outside to the inside and is on the gate. There are about 8-10 huge squashes - most are at least 12-18 in size and are about the size of a football. Then the tomatoes have volunteered all along the garden fence and they are prolific. Sun Golds are hybrids so the seeds do not always give you what you had the year before. Mostly, the sun gold volunteers are much bigger than the hybrid sun golds and seem to be just as tasty.

The blackberries have been providing a great fruit for granola every day for the past couple of weeks and show no signs of slowing down. We have one blackberry bush that re-rooted itself several times and now is about 15-18 in width. The thorns are awful though! Today we found out that there is a seedless variety now that we may look into. But for now one plant gives us a pint of blackberries every day. Isn't that wonderful?

This week Susan made potato salad with potatoes (of course), celery, pickles, onions, peppers, and eggs that never left the farm. She grew it all with help from the chickens of course and the pickles were from last year's cukes.

The stirrup hoe has proven to be a miracle tool for getting weeds and grass out of the garden. I think we have hoed up over 10 wheelbarrows full of weeds and grass this week and the garden is nearly spotless. If you are a gardener and do not own a stirrup hoe, you need to buy one. Oh, Susan is the main hoer and I am the main hauler. We work early in the morning and still are dripping wet after 60-90 minutes.

our new chickens have now begun to lay eggs - right on schedule - they are 5 months old - they are laying dark brown eggs so far and we expect the other new chickens to lay greenish-blue eggs. All are the same on the inside.

Tonight Susan fixed skewers with marinated beef filet (from Rob Hogan's grass fed beef), peppers, onions, tomatoes and mushrooms. All but the mushrooms from here and we are talking about growing mushrooms one day.

The weather has moderated and that's been helpful - highs now in the upper 80s or low 90s, not the upper 90s or low 100s like last couple of weeks. Rain is still sparse so most of the farmers including us are still praying for rain soon.

That's all for now.

Dwight & Susan on the Farm

From the Snow in January to the 100 degrees of June

Well, there's a lot to catch up on here on the farm.

1. Our trusty peach tree that precedes us on this property and which has been so good to the birds and the bugs is nearly at the end of its life. There have been four major branches that just have fallen off this spring due to the rotten wood and the weight of the peaches. There are two remaining parts of the tree and these continue to be full of peaches but it looks miserable. We are already thinking about what to do this fall or winter when it breathes it's last breath so to speak. It must be 20+ years old and is fundamentally rotting from the inside out.

2. The kitchen garden was expanded about 50% into the space that was prepared by the chickens. The chicken coop was moved a second time by tractor at night and is now down near the lower garden. Before their move, the chickens had prepared the soil for us so nicely by working/scratching with a huge pile of compost over the past year or so. We expanded the deer and rabbit fence around the new space, tilled it, made beds, and planted it this spring. The soil is nearly black from the compost which is a big contrast with our native red clay. Susan ordered a new set of drip hosing and lengthened the ones we had. The new kitchen garden is about 30 by 60 feet. It includes about 20 beds plus a cold frame.

3. Susan has planted the following: multiple varieties of heirloom tomatoes, lots of different kinds of peppers, two kinds of squash, two different cucumbers, varieties of lettuce, turnips, beets, two beds of yukon gold potatoes, vidalia onions, three beds of garlic (5 types), eggplant, spinach, and some things I'm surely leaving out. We have harvested a lot all spring and early summer and are on the verge of the big, big harvest time. I think there are about 35 tomato plants which are my favorite of course.

4. The really cool thing Susan did this year was grow everything from seeds, using the garage as a greenhouse. At one point there were over 600 plants growing in the garage. We still have a second crop of peppers and tomatoes to move to the garden. This has been so successful that we will do this annually going forward.

5. Our son Jody moved this spring from a house into a condominium and he gave us his hot tub. We had a concrete pad built in the courtyard and the hot tub was moved and connected. The first time we used it was in January with our friends, David and Carol Anne Trent from Charlotte. It was 14 degrees and snowing - pretty cool - no really cold but the 104 degrees of the hot tub took care of the cold in a very nice way.

6. Susan has worked hard at planting several of the flower beds in the courtyard - probably 200 plants over a period of three months. It looks radically different and is becoming the courtyard that we envisioned when we designed the house. Very pleasant with the pond, waterfalls, lilies, and other flowering perennials. Jami and Owen helped repair an old bench last fall and it is strategically located in the shade and gives us a retreat spot for quiet times. Now Susan has begun to plant the area around the peach tree out front and it's taking nice shape - hopefully it will be established before the peach tree has to be removed.

7. Not much new on the wild animal front - Susan ran off two foxes that were close to the chicken house a few weeks ago. Today we saw an animal scoot along the side of the woods - either a fox or a coyote based on the way it was moving. A few wild turkeys, lots of perching buzzards, big hawks, lots of birds - an Indigo Bunting this week, but usually cardinals, bluebirds and humming birds are dominant. Only spotted black snakes twice this year - and no bears or mountain lions. We are often able to see and hear pileated woodpeckers at dawn on the dead tree next door and hear the barn owl at night. Actually very nice.

8. Our farm animals continue to be healthy. We have added five new hens because our original flock had been producing fewer eggs (and none in the winter!) so now we have 10 hens and one rooster (Earl). We bought biddies at Efland Feed Mill and raised them in the garage until they were ready to go outside (mainly big enough to fend off the hawks). Hopefully 10 hens will produce enough eggs in the winter. Della (black lab) is great as always, Daisy the Lancier dog had an infection but we caught it and got her treated in time and now she is sheared for the hot summer. the three goats (Muffin, Heidi and Chloe) are doing fine. Tom is our surviving cat as Jerry disappeared in September and he copes pretty well despite his asthma or breathing disorder.

9. We continue to focus on either growing our own food or knowing the people we buy from. It costs more but the taste is surely better and we have the satisfaction of knowing that we are nearly 100% local and nearly 100% organic. No pesticides, herbicides, chemical fertilizer, etc. If any one wants to talk about this, call us. We also recommend anything by Michael Pollan, especially "Omnivore's Dilemma" or "In Defense of Food". We buy beef from Rob Hogan near Chapel Hill, pork from Cane Creek Farm, chicken from Weaver Street Market, vegetables from the farmers markets or our garden.

10. We have befriended many others in this local, organic gardening community, including Shoe, who is an encyclopedia of farming knowledge and has given us so many good ideas. He does some experimental seed growing for seed distributors, has a small farm near Hillsborough, and is a staple at the Hillsborough Farmers Market. He is like a "Ben Franklin" of gardening, always looking for the new idea, the better way, the easier tool, the best fencing, etc. Shoe of course is his nickname and comes naturally - as he never wears shoes, even in the winter. One of the kindest, gentle persons we have ever met. we visited his farm last fall and he gave Susan some of his seeds which she planted this spring. Also he has recommended a number of tools for weeding, hoeing, etc. which are wonderful. Maybe I can talk about tools in a future posting.

Well, that's it for now. Hopefully you've caught up with us in June 2010.

Dwight

Our Snow on January 30, 2010

Today we are enjoying about 6" of snow. Of course, that enjoyment includes the gorgeous view of our pasture all white, the many birds at our feeders, using our new hot tub, and enjoying the warmth inside of the fireplace, the hot tea, and the good food. It also means enjoying the fellowship of our good friends from Charlotte, David and Carol Ann Trent, who are sorta stranded here until the roads co-operate. But that's great for us.

The down side of course is keeping water un-frozen for the chickens and the goats and dogs. Not easy since we do not have heated water capability. It's about 21 degrees at 4:30 in the afternoon and tonight's forecast is for about 14 degrees with wind chill near zero. This is hard on us here in the central NC area.

The chickens will not come out of the chicken house so I moved their feeders and their water inside. They seemed to like this.

The dogs love the snow, especially our Lanceer, Daisy. this is her kind of stuff and she has been rolling in it all day.

Stay warm and we'll try to do better with the blog in the future.