Blackberry Lavendar Ice Cream

Back in the spring Dwight and I with our friend, Michelle, and her daughter did the annual farm tour in our area.  A new farm for us was on the tour.  Larry and Lee Newlin began Peaceful River Farm  about 5 years ago on the bank of the Haw River.  Here's a link to them:  peacefulriverfarm.com.  We loved what we saw there.  Lee does dinners and cooking classes.  Michelle and I signed up for a class on Asian stir fry in June.  It was fantastic, and I learned a lot.

The dessert that concluded our class was Coconut Basil Ice Cream:

This ice cream was delicious and easy.  I made some at home and took it on a beach trip with Jody and Sonia and her dad.  Sonia really like it and wondered about the possibility of blackberries with the coconut milk.

Flash forward...it's Sonia's birthday and we have blackberries.  I had to try to make her some ice cream.  I also had some lavender and thought that might be a good combination.  We picked about
1 1/2 cups of blackberries.  I picked a couple of dried lavender sprigs from my plant and blanched the buds from the stems (about 1T.)  following the instructions for basil, boiling and then moving them to ice water.  So I followed this exact recipe (I doubled it), minus the basil, with blackberries and lavender.  It turned out pretty well.

I think my next experiment will be blueberries and lemon verbena.

This is fun.

The tomatoes are waiting attention!

Please visit us on http://www.shadowlandsfarm.org

Improving the Soil

Last year was a little frustrating! I planted seeds and nothing happened...only weeds. I did some reading on soil and its composition. Yep, I noticed some of the weeds talked about in the books I was reading. Big news! You can tell what kind of soil you have by looking at your weeds. You can even tell what nutrients are in your soil by the weeds. So this fall, we've been in the process of amending the soil. We added some mature compost on top of some close-growing weeds we had mowed down. We've added composted goat manure on top of that. We've put out grass clippings and will top that off with leaves. The plan is to not till in the spring but to leave the beds as they are and plant into the grass and leaves. Here's hoping for lots of earthworms, great soil, beneficial insects, and healthy plants!

It's a lot easier to get this done this year. As of Dec. 30, I have a full-time partner in our venture. Dwight has retired from his paying job and is busy at work shoveling stuff for the garden. There's a nice rhythm to life that we have not had before. Looking forward to the days ahead!

Chloe and her pseudo-pregnancy

Well, this will be a strange story, even for you farmers. We have three goats that are four years old, all female, and they have never been bred. Their names are Chloe, Heidi, and Muffin, all appropriately named by our grand-children. So far so good.

Then Chloe starts building up milk in her teats like she was pregnant ... But it was all in her mind ... Except the milk was real. For awhile she was just laying around like she was sick so a round of anti-biotics was prescribed by the vet and after a few days she was better ... But the enlarged teats were still there full of milk. Then after a period, she began to bleed from one of the teats. The vet came and said she needed to go to their animal hospital fir a couple of days to let them work on her there... Mainly to drain her teats and make sure she had no infection left.

The trick was we had to get her to the vet. Chloe weighs about 120 pounds and Susan and I tried for 3 hours to load her in our truck last Wednesday to no avail. We had to lift her about a foot but she was too heavy and no enticements would get her to voluntarily go into the back of the truck. So we gave up. Round one to Chloe.

Then Thursday, our good friend Victor came and with his expertise and strength, Chloe was loaded at 7 am to go to the vet. We unloaded her by using a hay bale as a step for her and an attendant at the vet's basically pulled her out. Whew!

She was at the vet's for two nights and today the vet called and said she was ready to come home. Problem was going to be loading he again ... I was in an all-day class at UNC and unavailable.

So my fearless wife drove the truck over to the vet's, the vet folks loaded her, and Susan was able to unload her at home without much trouble. So now Chloe is back home and was welcomed by the dogs and by Heidi and Muffin.

It looks like she will not have to have her teats surgically removed and we will get the lab result back in 10 days to know if she needs any further anti-booties.

We had never heard of this "pseudo-pregnancy" stuff before but we have just learned of a fox in a zoo nearby having the same thing. So, strange but not too rare I suppose.

Anyway, we hope our special Chloe is on the full road to recovery. Also nice to have a large-animal vet about 20 minutes away.

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.

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.

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 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.

Della, our Black Lab that guards us

This is all about Della, who is our 2 1/2 year old black lab that is smarter than both of us and most other humans.

Here on the farm, everybody has a job and Della's job, which she does quite effectively, is to protect Susan and me from strange things and strange people. She does this with a menacing bark that is directed at anybody or anything that shows up unexpectedly (Fed-ex, UPS, etc.). Once we show we are friendly with the visitors, Della is their friend too. She is all bark and will let it fly from the porch but, so far, has not tried to bite or attack anyone. Also Della has so many faces to fit her moods and I think we know them all by now. That's the good side of Della.

The bad side is Della likes to chase deer and the deer lead her on long runs in the surrounding area. Once onto the trail of a deer she is relentless but never seems to catch a live deer.

Now the worst side of Della is that while on these deer chasing jaunts, she comes up on dead deer (carcasses) left by hunters after they have cleaned off all the useable meat (at least useable by us human types). Then Della has to bring her find home so we can share in her joy, so to speak. i think she competes with the black and turkey buzzards for these finds.

Well, last night about 3 am, Della, who sleeps in our bedroom on her rug at night) stirred and Susan let her out, presumably to take care of her bladder business. Then she returned about 4 and Susan let her back in. Off to sleep until daybreak. Then when we went out to feed the chickens and goats about 7 am, Susan cried out "Come here!" And there, under the walkway that connects the garage to the house was a full grown deer carcass that Della had drug up in the night. It was huge but obviously a hunter had cleaned it so what Della got was mostly ribs and a few bones, but the skeleton was still fresh and intact. Well, we promptly loaded it in a big black trash bag and put iut in the truck to go to the dump later. Only then did we realize how strong Della can be. It weighed about 15 pounds and the nearest hunting is probably 1000 feet away. She has been recuperating all day with more sleeping than normal. We're not 100% sure it was Della that drug this carcass up to the house, but if it was not, then we've got a bigger problem I suppose (Coyote, Mountain Lion, etc.) but this is not likely or Della would have had a fit last night (remember her guard role?).

Oh, the life of a dog! We love Della as do all of our 8 grand-children but sometimes she can be very frustrating. But most of you would kill for a dog as great as Della.

And to think we got her from the local Animal Protection Society! That's the place to go for good dogs. And that's Della's story for today. I'm sure that all her chapters have not been written.

Thanksgiving

I almost forgot - yes, Thanksgiving was great. We had the 26 expected and it went well. Two tables outside (it was nearly 70 degrees) and one inside. Very inter-generational and inter-family. Lots of fun. We really are blessed.

Winter Is Coming

Thanksgiving is behind us and the wonderful Christmas season has begun. We have two plans for the winter: Plan A is what we do when it is below 32 degrees and Plan B is what we do when it is above 32 degrees. Keeping the animal water flowing is a challenge. Plan B is haul it in buckets and plan B is use the hose system for the goats and Daisy. So these are big questions in the morning and in the evening: Is it going to freeze tonight? We really like Plan B best - easier, quicker and more pleasant.

Yesterday I saw a young bald eagle fly by as I was sitting in my office. Still hear the pileated woodpecker in the mornings.

Two days ago, one chicken got loose and two goats got loose, unrelated events. Took a while to get everything back under control. Third goat got tangled in the electric fence (juice was not flowing at the time). Today I repaired the fence so that it will be harder to get tangled. Also got the juice flowing.

Chickens not laying eggs yet and we hope it is still due to the molting --- otherwise we'll have a big problem --- not feeding chickens that don't do eggs for long. It's been 6 weeks now.

Bought Christmas tree last Friday, erected it in the stand last night and will finish decorating it this Friday. This is pretty good for us.  

Garden is growing winter crops but slow to get to harvest. Amazing how they hunker down in the mornings when it is so cold and then rebound as it warms up. God really knew what he was doing, didn't he? We get mint, cilantro, and some other herbs from the yard as we need them for dinner. Susan still is creative in using what we have for the meals. We eat fresh stuff most of the time.

The field is cut for the winter and on heavy frost mornings it looks like a nice dusting of snow.

Beautiful moon these past few nights with Venus and Jupiter hanging close by.

So a little slow these days on the farm, but that's the way it is ... and should be.

Come see us.

Dwight

Fall Events at our Farm

As we move through Fall, we are more aware than ever of the full impact of the change of seasons.

Some things, like mowing the lawn, cutting the field of hay, and planting/harvesting the kitchen garden take less time.

Others take more time - like water for the animals (due to overnight freezing temperatures, our hose systems do not work in really cold weather), like us getting dressed to go outside(shorts/T-shirt vs. lots of clothes & heavy coats, and it just seems we move a little slower. The days are shorter so we have longer nights after the dusk when all the animals are tucked in for the night, which is nice.

The sunsets are absolutely gorgeous on most days, we enjoy the early-morning pileated woodpecker on the dead tree (wow, is he/she loud!), and the freshly cut field is giving us better views of the deer.

One chicken died - Susan thought it was sick a few weeks ago as the crown was not straight but what do we know, as rookies at this? Bad thing is it was a hen, not one of the 3 roosters. And an older hen at that so this will cut down on the eggs. One of the roosters born this year is really pretty with many colors - he's really a mixed breed but wish all of you could see him. His feathers are many colors, including a shiny green. Right now, the chickens are still molting and not producing eggs. We're faced with the sad possibility of maybe having to buy some from the co-op. But maybe they'll get going again soon.

One goat - Chloe - somehow found herself outside the goat pen fence - and since it is electric (in theory), she was quite distraught until we led her back into her familiar territory. That was a first and we hope a last. I think she was just jumping around and crashed through the fence accidentally.

We enjoyed identifying trees in the fall by their leaf color and found that we have a dwarf sumac, which is brilliant red (like a sugar maple).

Our friend Jerry cut the field yesterday for the winter. Looks really good - from a distance, like it was mowed but really it was bush-hogged.

One of our cats, Jerry, just seems to come and go for long periods. He leaves when we are away for a couple of days and he returns after a week, or sometimes after a month. He looks well fed. His brother Tom stays around. Tom has asthma and knows not to play very far ...

Della is doing fine - she's our black lab. She may be smarter than most people. Loves chasing deer, barking at strange things (which is her paying job - we pay with food and good heath care) that show up (like the UPS man), and snuggling with us. Really, she is pretty sharp. We can almost talk to her in our English. Still have to fiugure out how to keep her close by as she is beginning to wander towards the road and on the neighbors lands as she fruitlessly pursues deer. We tried an invisible, radio fence but it scared her too much so we sent it back. To fence in her area would be about 1000' of fencing - yuk. So still open thing to be solved.

Lots of hawks mixed in with eagles and buzzards these days. They're incredible at how they just seem to float.

The sky is clear most nights so the moon and stars are spectacular. Esp. since we do not have outside lights in this area. Very dark.

Susan is harvesting winter crops - mustard greens, some lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, broccoli rob, some spinach. Still getting swiss chard - great stuff. She also planted a few flats of pansies as a buffer with the kitchen garden fence - looks really good.

Next week is Thanksgiving and we expect about 26 people. Will tell you about that later.

Anyway, that's the way things are in the Fall of 2008 here on the farm.