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
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Saturday, July 10, 2010
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
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
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
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
Saturday, January 30, 2010
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.
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.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Cooking with Sweet Potatoes
We had a bumper crop of sweet potatoes. It's the first time we've grown them. I don't know how many pounds we harvested, but one of the larger ones weighed in at about 6 pounds. To say the least, we have plenty of them!
So my dilemma now is what to do with them all. Sweet potato fries are a real hit with the grandchildren. I can cook one sweet potato and have a whole pan full of fries. So that takes care of one at a time. There's still plenty more to cook.
I checked on the internet for recipes. There really are lots of ways to cook them. So far I've tried sweet potato muffins, sweet potato pound cake, sweet potato cheese cake. I've already tried a recipe for a sweet potato and black bean burrito and will do that one again. Of course, for Thanksgiving, I'll fix the traditional sweet potato casserole that my mom always cooked. I couldn't get by without doing that.
What I've found is that sweet potatoes are a great versatile vegetable. They're quite healthy. They can be used as a side or a dessert. I think I'll plant them again next year.
So my dilemma now is what to do with them all. Sweet potato fries are a real hit with the grandchildren. I can cook one sweet potato and have a whole pan full of fries. So that takes care of one at a time. There's still plenty more to cook.
I checked on the internet for recipes. There really are lots of ways to cook them. So far I've tried sweet potato muffins, sweet potato pound cake, sweet potato cheese cake. I've already tried a recipe for a sweet potato and black bean burrito and will do that one again. Of course, for Thanksgiving, I'll fix the traditional sweet potato casserole that my mom always cooked. I couldn't get by without doing that.
What I've found is that sweet potatoes are a great versatile vegetable. They're quite healthy. They can be used as a side or a dessert. I think I'll plant them again next year.
Friday, September 4, 2009
The Results of the Summer Garden - GREAT!
Well, it's now into September and the gardens are showing signs of the cooler nights (down to upper 50s a couple of days recently) and the lower sun angles. So it's time to give you a report on the summer gardens. Mostly great news!
The asparagus produced nicely after two years of waiting, the corn was great (though organic corn will have some worm issues which we cut around OK), the tomatoes are prolific (still), the butterbeans were a bust (probably due to bad seeds), the swiss chard has continued to produce all summer, the okra is prolific and requires cutting most days even though we only have 4 plants, the squash is still coming on and Susan squashes the squash beetles every day (get that?), the peppers are still going (both the hot ones for Jody and the sweet ones for us), the eggplant is steady (thanks to Hope Hodgkins providing us some of her plants plus the ones we bought from Shoe at the Hillsborough farmers market, and I could goon. as you can see, it has been and still is a great garden season.
The cucumbers were amazing - Susan did not plant any but three volunteered from last year and they were prolific! Susan has put up 14 quarts of sweet pickles and this without planting anything! God is enjoying the garden as much as we do I think.
Then the tomatoes - we started with about 10 plants of different varieties, including heirlooms, sun golds, granddaddy, and cherokees. Then Susan amazingly broke the suckers off these plants after they were up a few feet and stuck the suckers into a raised bed with a little organic fertilizer mixture and lots of watering and guess what - we hads 22 more plants survive which were then transplanted to the lower garden and are vigorously producing. I picked over 50 tomatoes in one day last week (not sun golds either). Susan has developed quite a green thumb as you can tell. Our largest tomatoes weighed in at 1.5 pounds earlier in the summer. The plants are about 6-7 feet tall and would likely be taller except our cages are only 4 feet.
Now the lettuce - i had challenged Susan to get lettuce to grow long enough into the summer to have fresh lettuce with tomato sandwiches and shge did and we have actually had a small amount of lerttuce all summer - now the fall lettuce is growing nicely in three beds so it looks like fresh BLT sandwiches on into October at least. By the way, our fresh BLTs have Susan's homemade soft bread plus bacon from our local co-op Weaver Street Market with Organic Canola Mayo. Nothing tastes any better than this!
The first fall plantings are done - lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, collards, sweet potatoes, cauli flower and brussel sprouts. All look good so far.
Later we will try white potatoes (if we can find seed potatoes) and for sure lots of garlic.
Oh, Susan has put up a lot of pasta sauce and more to come in the coming days.
The goats continue to contribute nice mulch for composting and the chickens are doing their job too. They all work around here and the end result is great tasting food that we do not have to worry about what has been done to it. (A lady at the farmers market said if the corn was pretty (perfect rows) then it muct be treated with pesticides - she only buys buggy/wormy corn for this reason.)
We have also befriended a great local organic farmer who is known as "Shoe" since he does not wear shoes at all, even in the winter. His real name is Rex. He knows an amazing amount about organic farming, works with heritage seeds, and sells wonderful plants from his seeds. We visited his farm two weeks ago and we could have stayed for days listening to him. He taught Susan how to save tomato seeds and gave her some rare tomatoes that he is working with to try to save for next year. We'll keep you posted on this project.
I'm sure there's more but I'll stop for now. Hope you enjoyed reading about Our Life Now.
The asparagus produced nicely after two years of waiting, the corn was great (though organic corn will have some worm issues which we cut around OK), the tomatoes are prolific (still), the butterbeans were a bust (probably due to bad seeds), the swiss chard has continued to produce all summer, the okra is prolific and requires cutting most days even though we only have 4 plants, the squash is still coming on and Susan squashes the squash beetles every day (get that?), the peppers are still going (both the hot ones for Jody and the sweet ones for us), the eggplant is steady (thanks to Hope Hodgkins providing us some of her plants plus the ones we bought from Shoe at the Hillsborough farmers market, and I could goon. as you can see, it has been and still is a great garden season.
The cucumbers were amazing - Susan did not plant any but three volunteered from last year and they were prolific! Susan has put up 14 quarts of sweet pickles and this without planting anything! God is enjoying the garden as much as we do I think.
Then the tomatoes - we started with about 10 plants of different varieties, including heirlooms, sun golds, granddaddy, and cherokees. Then Susan amazingly broke the suckers off these plants after they were up a few feet and stuck the suckers into a raised bed with a little organic fertilizer mixture and lots of watering and guess what - we hads 22 more plants survive which were then transplanted to the lower garden and are vigorously producing. I picked over 50 tomatoes in one day last week (not sun golds either). Susan has developed quite a green thumb as you can tell. Our largest tomatoes weighed in at 1.5 pounds earlier in the summer. The plants are about 6-7 feet tall and would likely be taller except our cages are only 4 feet.
Now the lettuce - i had challenged Susan to get lettuce to grow long enough into the summer to have fresh lettuce with tomato sandwiches and shge did and we have actually had a small amount of lerttuce all summer - now the fall lettuce is growing nicely in three beds so it looks like fresh BLT sandwiches on into October at least. By the way, our fresh BLTs have Susan's homemade soft bread plus bacon from our local co-op Weaver Street Market with Organic Canola Mayo. Nothing tastes any better than this!
The first fall plantings are done - lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, collards, sweet potatoes, cauli flower and brussel sprouts. All look good so far.
Later we will try white potatoes (if we can find seed potatoes) and for sure lots of garlic.
Oh, Susan has put up a lot of pasta sauce and more to come in the coming days.
The goats continue to contribute nice mulch for composting and the chickens are doing their job too. They all work around here and the end result is great tasting food that we do not have to worry about what has been done to it. (A lady at the farmers market said if the corn was pretty (perfect rows) then it muct be treated with pesticides - she only buys buggy/wormy corn for this reason.)
We have also befriended a great local organic farmer who is known as "Shoe" since he does not wear shoes at all, even in the winter. His real name is Rex. He knows an amazing amount about organic farming, works with heritage seeds, and sells wonderful plants from his seeds. We visited his farm two weeks ago and we could have stayed for days listening to him. He taught Susan how to save tomato seeds and gave her some rare tomatoes that he is working with to try to save for next year. We'll keep you posted on this project.
I'm sure there's more but I'll stop for now. Hope you enjoyed reading about Our Life Now.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
The Planting Season for 2009
It's hard to keep these blogs going ... amazing that we have not given you an update since December, but here it is.
Winter is always harder on the farm because of the freezing ... so the hose does not work and we have to bucket water into the barn for Daisy, Della and the goats (Heidi, Muffin and Chloe). It's not but a few feet of course but it's still cold. The ice has to be cracked out of the water trough and the water buckets. Plus it gets slippery walking to the barn some mornings as it has iced over or there is a heavy frost.
But then it is spring and the gardens have to be prepped. This year we are resurrecting the lower garden from the clutches of the Johnson grass (we hope). This meant tilling it four times, raking out the grass and weeds, and building the raised beds. Susan and I worked very hard on this through last week and i even took a week off from my Alcatel-Lucent job to help get it done. It was literally a pain in the back ... but it looks great right now. Susan has planted 4 rows of corn and butter beans intermixed. There are 18 rows altogether (I think). We were surprised to find the asparagus from two years ago had survived the weed infestation of last year and we had several nice meals of fresh asparagus. we also had a hill of garlic survive from 2 years ago and we will harvest that in later June. The rest of the lower garden, as we call it, will be planted in corn and butter beans and a variety of other things that Susan has bought seeds for. We also rebuilt the drip hose system so that the watering can be done easily in the hotter weather. The challenge is to keep the Johnson grass pulled up. We will use the barn hay left by the goats to mulch the footpaths between the rows. The soil is great in this bottom land and we expect great things out of our work.
The upper garden, or kitchen garden, required composted horse manure to be added to the beds to continue enriching the soil. Susan bought a truck load and had it dumped right outside the garden so it was easy to move it into the garden via wheelbarrow ... but it took a lot of trips! but it's done. This garden has tomatoes of a diversity of types, onions, spinach, bell peppers, hot peppers, peas, Swiss chard, lettuce (3 kinds), carrots, basil, and some cucumbers. Lots more to go as this will be our main eating garden. Susan has pruned the tomato plant suckers, rooted them, and has an entire bed of new plants made from these suckers. It's amazing to watch this process. Needless to say this garden is already a winner. we are eating Swiss chard, lettuce, and basil. Lots of tomatoes are formed so not long before we eat them as well. By the way, we use wire cages made from cattle fence and then tie the plants on the long stakes used to secure and stabilize the cages. Susan is an expert at knowing how to do these things and i just help and watch!
The third garden is the herb garden in front of the guest house. It is in great shape with a variety of raised bed sizes and shapes with walkways between the beds. The beds are planted with a large variety of herbs, some new and some that wintered over. It's very tasty to have fresh herbs that you can use and eat within minutes of them being cut.
The chickens continue to be an interesting story. I think we told you that we hatched 3 chickens last year and two of them were roosters (yuk). Well, we finally had to get rid of the two extra roosters. They were constantly fighting with each other and with their Daddy (Earl) and it had gotten pretty bloody a few times. So I used our fish net to catch the two roosters (Earl Jr and Goldilocks), loaded them into the dog crate in the back of the truck, and took them to Peter Efland at Efland Milling. He said he would give them away. I'll find out their disposition next week when i go pick up the dog crate. It was awful watching them fight so i can understand why cock-fighting is illegal. Also 3 roosters and 6 hens made it really difficult for the poor hens. They were constantly being jumped by one or more of the roosters. the hens took to roosting on top of the chicken coop to escape the roosters. Things are very quiet now in the chicken yard and we continue to get 4-6 eggs daily from the six hens.
Daisy, who is the goat guard dog, got her summer haircut last week (a lion cut). She looks much smaller but is still big! and seems to have more energy without all of her thick winter dog hair.
We still enjoy the birds. A pair of pileated woodpeckers have taken up in the trees next to the house and we see and hear them every day. These are very large (24" +) woodpeckers who are able to make very loud pecking sounds in the dead trees nearby. This sound is soloud and so unique that it gives them away. Lots of blue birds, cardinals, hawks and buzzards all the time. This week I hung a hummingbird feeder on the window of my office and it has seen a steady stream of ruby-throated hummingbirds p male, female and juvenile. they are lined up to drink the sugar water... only about 5 feet from my office chair but because of the reflective window tine, they cannot see me during daylight hours. So this is a great distraction for me.
So basically, there are still some seeds to be planted, some watering to be done until they germinate, and weeds to be pulled. But the foundational work is done and it's the best it's been in our three years here on the farm. We only need to get composted straw on the footpaths between some of the rows to help dampen the weed growth. A good season of harvesting and eating and preserving will follow.
One of the wonderful, unsung aspects of living on a farm is that you can see first hand the miracle of God's creation and his bounty. To see these seeds and plants grow and produce our food is a miracle that could only happen by His grace and provision. Living in the city and buying from the super market (who buys it through a distribution network of big truckers, big growers, etc. ) causes you to not know this aspect of God's love for us. The early morning dew and fog before sunrise, the floating of the hawk or buzzard or eagle overhead in the updrafts, the production of 4-6 eggs per day, the painted beauty of the sunsets, the peraceful herd of feeding deer in the pasdture, and the brilliant stars in a night skywithout man-made lights are all reminders that our God is a great God and that He is a creator with much creativity and He wants us to enjoy His creation with Him, even in it's fallen-ness.
We invite you to visit and enjoy this with us. And we're serious.
Winter is always harder on the farm because of the freezing ... so the hose does not work and we have to bucket water into the barn for Daisy, Della and the goats (Heidi, Muffin and Chloe). It's not but a few feet of course but it's still cold. The ice has to be cracked out of the water trough and the water buckets. Plus it gets slippery walking to the barn some mornings as it has iced over or there is a heavy frost.
But then it is spring and the gardens have to be prepped. This year we are resurrecting the lower garden from the clutches of the Johnson grass (we hope). This meant tilling it four times, raking out the grass and weeds, and building the raised beds. Susan and I worked very hard on this through last week and i even took a week off from my Alcatel-Lucent job to help get it done. It was literally a pain in the back ... but it looks great right now. Susan has planted 4 rows of corn and butter beans intermixed. There are 18 rows altogether (I think). We were surprised to find the asparagus from two years ago had survived the weed infestation of last year and we had several nice meals of fresh asparagus. we also had a hill of garlic survive from 2 years ago and we will harvest that in later June. The rest of the lower garden, as we call it, will be planted in corn and butter beans and a variety of other things that Susan has bought seeds for. We also rebuilt the drip hose system so that the watering can be done easily in the hotter weather. The challenge is to keep the Johnson grass pulled up. We will use the barn hay left by the goats to mulch the footpaths between the rows. The soil is great in this bottom land and we expect great things out of our work.
The upper garden, or kitchen garden, required composted horse manure to be added to the beds to continue enriching the soil. Susan bought a truck load and had it dumped right outside the garden so it was easy to move it into the garden via wheelbarrow ... but it took a lot of trips! but it's done. This garden has tomatoes of a diversity of types, onions, spinach, bell peppers, hot peppers, peas, Swiss chard, lettuce (3 kinds), carrots, basil, and some cucumbers. Lots more to go as this will be our main eating garden. Susan has pruned the tomato plant suckers, rooted them, and has an entire bed of new plants made from these suckers. It's amazing to watch this process. Needless to say this garden is already a winner. we are eating Swiss chard, lettuce, and basil. Lots of tomatoes are formed so not long before we eat them as well. By the way, we use wire cages made from cattle fence and then tie the plants on the long stakes used to secure and stabilize the cages. Susan is an expert at knowing how to do these things and i just help and watch!
The third garden is the herb garden in front of the guest house. It is in great shape with a variety of raised bed sizes and shapes with walkways between the beds. The beds are planted with a large variety of herbs, some new and some that wintered over. It's very tasty to have fresh herbs that you can use and eat within minutes of them being cut.
The chickens continue to be an interesting story. I think we told you that we hatched 3 chickens last year and two of them were roosters (yuk). Well, we finally had to get rid of the two extra roosters. They were constantly fighting with each other and with their Daddy (Earl) and it had gotten pretty bloody a few times. So I used our fish net to catch the two roosters (Earl Jr and Goldilocks), loaded them into the dog crate in the back of the truck, and took them to Peter Efland at Efland Milling. He said he would give them away. I'll find out their disposition next week when i go pick up the dog crate. It was awful watching them fight so i can understand why cock-fighting is illegal. Also 3 roosters and 6 hens made it really difficult for the poor hens. They were constantly being jumped by one or more of the roosters. the hens took to roosting on top of the chicken coop to escape the roosters. Things are very quiet now in the chicken yard and we continue to get 4-6 eggs daily from the six hens.
Daisy, who is the goat guard dog, got her summer haircut last week (a lion cut). She looks much smaller but is still big! and seems to have more energy without all of her thick winter dog hair.
We still enjoy the birds. A pair of pileated woodpeckers have taken up in the trees next to the house and we see and hear them every day. These are very large (24" +) woodpeckers who are able to make very loud pecking sounds in the dead trees nearby. This sound is soloud and so unique that it gives them away. Lots of blue birds, cardinals, hawks and buzzards all the time. This week I hung a hummingbird feeder on the window of my office and it has seen a steady stream of ruby-throated hummingbirds p male, female and juvenile. they are lined up to drink the sugar water... only about 5 feet from my office chair but because of the reflective window tine, they cannot see me during daylight hours. So this is a great distraction for me.
So basically, there are still some seeds to be planted, some watering to be done until they germinate, and weeds to be pulled. But the foundational work is done and it's the best it's been in our three years here on the farm. We only need to get composted straw on the footpaths between some of the rows to help dampen the weed growth. A good season of harvesting and eating and preserving will follow.
One of the wonderful, unsung aspects of living on a farm is that you can see first hand the miracle of God's creation and his bounty. To see these seeds and plants grow and produce our food is a miracle that could only happen by His grace and provision. Living in the city and buying from the super market (who buys it through a distribution network of big truckers, big growers, etc. ) causes you to not know this aspect of God's love for us. The early morning dew and fog before sunrise, the floating of the hawk or buzzard or eagle overhead in the updrafts, the production of 4-6 eggs per day, the painted beauty of the sunsets, the peraceful herd of feeding deer in the pasdture, and the brilliant stars in a night skywithout man-made lights are all reminders that our God is a great God and that He is a creator with much creativity and He wants us to enjoy His creation with Him, even in it's fallen-ness.
We invite you to visit and enjoy this with us. And we're serious.
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