Mother’s Day.
Posted on | May 23, 2012 | 4 Comments
Well, some of us put in the hours on Mother’s Day. Not me. But some of us.
Cookie Dough hatched out her ducklings.
Which is a good thing. Because we were almost out of hay. And we couldn’t bring in new hay until somebody got her nest out of the last remaining hay roll. Which wasn’t as much of a roll as a small pile of picked over stems being guarded by an easily agitated and unnecessarily vicious broody duck.
What’s Up?
Posted on | May 3, 2012 | 13 Comments
I ran into a friend at the kids’ school.
“Hey,” she said, “What’s up?”
Well, the chicks in the incubator hatched.
The 3 Day Weekend (AKA Can I go Back to Work, Please?)
Posted on | April 30, 2012 | 3 Comments
I was anxiously awaiting last weekend. After much planning and preparing, Friday was the day I had planned to move transplants to the garden. Usually I carry plants that I’ve started from seed down to the garden in the wheelbarrow. Some plants come by way of my car after they’ve been purchased at the local nursery. This time, I needed the car to transport all the plants that I started in the greenhouse. I almost needed 2 cars.
Make Mine Mint.
Posted on | April 30, 2012 | 4 Comments
Once upon a time, I tried companion planting to get rid of squash bugs. In between my cucumbers and zucchinis and melons, I planted lots of marigolds, nasturtium, and herbs. The bugs ate the marigolds and the nasturtiums as soon as they killed off the cucumbers, zucchinis, and melons. Then the mint ran all over the the thyme, sage, and oregano. So I still had bugs. And mint.
Although, for the record, the thyme tried to give the mint a run for the money.
The mint won.
A friend came over and told me I should have planted that mint in a container. Or else it would be sure to spread everywhere. I figured she was exaggerating. She’s the kind of friend that asks you to excuse the mess in her house. When there’s a coffee cup in the sink and a throw pillow crooked on the couch.
I shrugged.
“It’s the only thing the squash bugs didn’t eat. Maybe if it spreads everywhere it’ll keep the squash bugs away.” Read more
Positioning.
Posted on | April 25, 2012 | 13 Comments
We don’t all get an easy start in life. Take little Tina. My friend’s Toggenburg goat had a difficult delivery. Her feet weren’t in the right position for birth and it took a lot of wrangling to free her. And when Tina was finally born, her front legs were weak and all crumpled up.
My friend and the vet tried the typical treatments for white muscle disease, in case it was that. But the treatments didn’t have any effect and the symptoms didn’t exactly match with white muscle disease anyway. Instead, it seemed that Tina’s difficult positioning during development caused her legs to be cramped up and now they were stuck in that position.
So, like all farmers, my friend was left in a difficult position herself. To intervene and risk complicating the issue as well as putting the animal through needless pain and discomfort? Or to leave it alone, hoping that it resolves itself, and doesn’t worsen to the point that it can’t be fixed? If you think this is what vets are for, then you haven’t stood in the office of the large animal vet and paid $150-200 for the vet to shrug and say, “Well, we can try and fix it or leave it and hope it fixes itself. You choose.” Sometimes even the best vets are left in the same position as the farmer. Read more
Speaking of birds…
Posted on | April 21, 2012 | 15 Comments
…there has been a lot of activity in all the bird species around here.
This is the second year that we’ve had Eastern Bluebirds visiting our property. They are prolific in our region but we never managed to draw them to our property. Until this:
On the street that backs up to our property, someone sold a lot of their timber. The land was scalped and the logging trucks roared up and down the street all day for weeks. It was depressing. Until the bluebirds arrived. Read more
The Boys Are Back In Town.
Posted on | April 19, 2012 | Comments Off on The Boys Are Back In Town.
We spotted the first ruby-throated hummingbird on Sunday. I immediately rushed to find my single remaining hummingbird feeder from last year. Because everyone knows that hummingbirds send out scouts and if they don’t find your feeder out they’ll go somewhere else for the season. “Everyone” being a woman I overheard at church. In any case, it was enough to send me scrambling. Too bad my feeder only had one remaining flower to sip from and leaks out of the bottom.
The Best Laid Plans.
Posted on | April 9, 2012 | 7 Comments
Just what I (never) expected. I couldn’t help but notice there was a disparity between the tomato transplants in the greenhouse. The seedlings transplanted into straw bales had the benefit of the decomposing straw to warm their roots, provide nutrients, and provide consistent moisture. The seedlings transplanted into plastic pots just had potting soil and were set into a tray of water to keep them from drying out. According to my (internet search done at work) research, the tomatoes in the straw bales would grow quickly and vigorously. Which meant they would remain in the greenhouse, providing early tomatoes by May in order to (make the neighbors jealous) make fresh salads while cool season greens were still growing in the garden. The tomatoes in pots would develop slower, making them perfect for transplanting into the garden by end of May when the soil is warm, nighttime temperatures don’t drop below the 60’s, and the greenhouse is getting too shaded for good production. It was an (idealistic and naive) in-depth and deliberate plan.
How (predictable) surprising that it didn’t work out that way. Like all of my best laid plans, it hit a snag. Despite the extensive (anecdotal) documented evidence on the Web, the tomatoes in the straw grew slowly. And the tomatoes in the pots grew like rocketships reaching for the sky. You probably think I’m (making it up so I have something to post about) exaggerating. See for yourself:
Tags: compost > garden > greenhouse > seedlings > straw bales > tomatoes > transplants
Not So Spring Break.
Posted on | April 5, 2012 | 11 Comments
The natives are restless. Officially they are on spring break. But it is not exactly the laying-on-the-beach, pier fishing, and soft ice cream cone break they were dreaming of. Not even close.
The Other Half, my father, and Middle have been determinedly working to complete the water line trench to the garden.
Tags: bottle feeding > cleaning > duck > fish tank > grass > guineas > lambs > magnolia tree > pony > tractor > trench > woodpile
Stumblin’ Pig
Posted on | April 3, 2012 | 17 Comments
There is a bar in a neighboring town called the Stumblin’ Pig. I always assumed the name referred to drunken bikers. After all, they serve alcohol and there is usually a line of Harleys parked in front. Which just goes to show what I know. Because a stumblin’ pig is not a drunken biker. Not even close.
Since Papa Pig passed the 100 pound mark, he has been loose with the rest of the barn crew. His job is to go down to the pond, wallow in the mud, and then trample the areas of muck that he creates. This is supposed to help seal the pond so that it holds water again. Eventually he will be promoted to the job of “bacon”, but until then he is actually encouraged to make a muddy, mucky mess. Read more
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