Jasmine's Rose Bush

Sarah (my daughter that is across the ocean) picked out this rose bush in memory of her cat Jasmine that passed away last year. It was covered with aphids a few weeks ago and they were eating all the leaves. My green-thumb friend told me to spray it with water and a little bit of dish soap. I've been doing that twice a day for about a week and I don't see any more creepy crawlies. Thanks Spleen! Sarah is gone all summer so now it's my Sarah rose bush. This picture was taken pre-soap treatment...it has a lot more roses now and the new leaves aren't full of holes.

Empty Nest

I've been walking around in a fog for the last week. Two of my daughters are on vacation (one is across the ocean) and the third one is either working or with her boyfriend. Paul is either working or in the fields cutting, raking or baling hay. It's a strange feeling to go from a household of five to a household of one. It's peaceful but lonely...

Anyway, I've been holding off on updating my blog until I found my camera so I could add a new picture or two...but I still haven't found my camera. So without any pictures...here's the low-down on what's going on around the farm. The strawberries are done. It wasn't the best strawberry season but the berries tasted great. There were a lot of small ones this year...the rain didn't come early enough so the berries didn't grow to their potential. I didn't freeze any whole berries this year, we still have several bags from last year, but I did make several batches of freezer jam. The raspberries (which are not for sale...sorry) are just starting to ripen. I picked about 2 quarts today. Not enough for jam so I might just have to make pie.

We had a bit of a catastrophe in the garden. Paul didn't know where I planted everything and was very ambitious with the weed whacker and rototiller. The dill, fennel and parsley were wiped out, and half of the nasturtiums. He feels terrible about it...but what's done is done.

The potatoes are going to town this year and we still have about 7 sweet potatoes that are thriving. The pumpkins are slowly turning into a pumpkin patch. The cucumbers, melons, and zucchini hills are all looking good. The tomatoes are getting big...some flowers but no sign of fruit yet. I think the radish are ready to be picked. There is a scattering of lettuce but it's too bitter. I planted a mesculun mix but only one type of lettuce grew and it's not good. The seeds were a couple of years old. The pole beans are just starting to climb the poles. No sign of the praying mantis. The package said you won't see them until they are big. I'm hoping the chickens didn't eat them all.

The August chickens are outside now...they moved out yesterday. The July chickens have two more weeks until they are ready. In the barn are the hen chicks. The turkeys and more meat chicks will be coming soon.

Happy Birthday to my dear, dear friend Shari. I miss you!!

A heat wave!

Has it been hot this week or what?! The cats and dogs have been like stuffed animals, feet in the air, bellies exposed, flopping from one position to the next trying to stay cool. The baby chicks in the barn have been outstretched and panting...their tiny little beaks hanging open to expel the hot air. The cows have been laying in the grass and in the barn...no energy to play. Us humans have been staying indoors in the air conditioning as much as possible because the moment you step outside you sweat. It went from a cool spring to a sweltering summer. The air this morning feels cooler and much less humid than it has been. We have a ton of work to do in the garden this weekend so we're hoping for a break in the heat. The hot, humid weather has been awesome for the garden and the fields. The weeds are thriving right along with the plants. We need to check the strawberry patch...there should be another round of berries waiting for us. The sweet corn is about mid-calf high. The pole beans are just about tall enough to start climbing on their poles. There are flowers on the cantaloupe plants and the new strawberry plants (which all have to be picked off so they don't waste energy producing berries until next year). Several of the watermelon seeds didn't germinate...but I think I planted an old package of seeds. I'm not sure if the basil and carrots seeds have germinated because the weeds are in the way. The pumpkins and cucumbers look good. We should be able to harvest some radishes this weekend. A lot of growing going on...summer is in full swing.

Who needs shampoo?

Barred Rock Chick

New chicks have arrived!

Future egg layers. Pictured here are the Isa Brown chicks. We also purchased more Barred Rocks. We have found these 2 breeds to be the most friendly and serious about laying eggs. We also have Buff Orpington's and Rhode Island Reds, but the Buff's are very broody and crabby. These chicks should start laying around December. The chicks now have a brooder area in the barn so we can clean out our garage. Now that the hot, humid weather is here, we'll be glad to have the chicks out from underneath our noses.

Chicken Tragedy

What a weekend! Friday evening we loaded the first batch of chickens into a friends' horse trailer (thank you Brandy!!)...in the rain. We drove them to Yoder's (an Amish farm in Charlotte) where we left them for the night so Yoder's could begin processing at 4am on Saturday. We got back home around 9:30pm Friday night and had to move the 100 chicks from the garage to the outdoor pens. We finished that just before the rain started pouring. Paul had to work on Saturday so I went to pick up the chickens...I was told to be there at 9am. I arrived at 8:50am with $45 worth of ice. The chickens weren't ready to go until 10:15am...as you can imagine, much of the ice melted during that time. But the loss of the ice was nothing compared to the loss of chickens. 42 of them died over night in the trailer. Chickens are known to pile on top of each other and because of the storms Friday night it appears they did just that. That was a huge loss for us. It was definitely a weekend that will go down in our farm history book...a story we'll have in our back pockets when swapping tragedies or mishaps with other farmers.

TIME TO PICK UP CHICKENS!!

SATURDAY, JUNE 20th, PLEASE PLAN TO PICK UP YOUR CHICKEN ORDERS ANY TIME AFTER 12:00pm. We are processing 200 chickens which we do NOT have freezer room for so it's VERY much appreciated if you can pick up your chickens as close to noon as possible on Saturday. They will be in bags on ice. Please bring your own coolers and ice to take them home. We will have a scale ready, the cost is $2.25/lb. We will accept cash or checks (no credit cards). Please let us know if you will NOT be able to pick up your order on Saturday. We have some freezer space if needed.

THANK YOU!!

Chickens waiting for food

These are the chickens for the July orders...they are still in the garage but will be moving outside this weekend. They get very excited when we open their door...always hoping for more food. They will eat non-stop if you let them.

A gift from Lily

Lily brought this cute little bunny to us last night. Emily was sitting on the porch with the kittens and it hopped out from underneath the refrigerator. It has a cut on it's back leg and a little cut under its eye, but it seems to be doing okay. It ate grass and part of a carrot last night and a bunch of spring mix this morning. We've never had any luck saving a bunny before but this one is showing great promise. We'll keep our fingers crossed!

Making progress...

The calves definitely aren't as trusting as they were before they had their vet work done, but a few of them are coming back around. This is a self-portrait...I'm the one on the left.

(This picture is for you Spleen)

Hanging out at the watering hole

The Scottish Highland cattle are enjoying this cool weather. They like to hang out by the water bowl as you can see from the lack of grass.

Future Zucchini Relish

The zucchini have popped up! I will be making zucchini relish this summer in our licensed kitchen so we can sell it. It is the best relish ever! I've never tasted any other relish like it. It's great on hot dogs, hamburgers, and mixed with mayo for tartar sauce.

Resting Chicken

I thought this chicken looked so cute...it might be hard to see but he has a piece of grass hanging out of his mouth. I'm sure he would've been embarrassed to see himself in a mirror.

Iris in the garden

I think most farms have Iris growing somewhere and our farm is no exception. Along the edge of the garden there are a few varieties that delight us every summer. It's too bad their blooming time is so short.

Playful kitty

This was the only kitty awake and playing this morning. It tried to play with its mother's tail, but she didn't like that and got up and went outside. With no one else to play with, the kitty resorted to going in and out of this pitcher. This kitty is looking for a home...isn't it adorable? And remember, a free dozen eggs with every kitten!

Sweet Potato plant

A few of the sweet potato seedlings seem to be hanging in...maybe we'll have sweet potatoes after all!

Patients in the hospital

Two of the chickens in the hospital with wobbly legs.

Beautiful morning...

It looks like it's going to be a gorgeous day! The kittens are enjoying the sunshine on the back porch steps. Running, jumping, and hiding in the grass, on the rocks, attacking the mother cats' tails, pouncing on each other...they are a whirlwind of activity. The chickens have been moved to their fresh plots of grass. Paul is feeding the calves and the hens. I have potatoes frying for breakfast. There are baskets of eggs to wash...and miles to go before we sleep.
Brad (our nephew) helped Paul plant the pumpkin patch yesterday. Another job checked off the list.
Paul and I went on a MSU Pasture walk last night to a sheep farm in Charlotte. They had a nice commercial operation but a different management style than us. It's always fun to see how other people farm and to network with other farmers. We are still looking for the right place to buy our lambs. It's important to buy your animals from a farm that has a similar management style to your own.
We returned 7 hens to the wagon last night. So far only 1 has made her way back this morning. There are 4 wobbly leg chickens in the 'hospital' (old truck topper). We are feeding them liver in their grain...it's supposed to beneficial for them. I think this breed of chicken (cornish cross) just grows too fast...their legs can't keep up with their body weight. They are healthy otherwise.

Garden Progress

This garden picture reminds me of the girls' bedrooms. The dirt is like their carpet...you only see it for a brief moment right after they clean. Soon, the carpet will be covered in clothes as will the dirt be covered in weeds. But weeds aren't all that bad...they have saved many a vegetable during drought periods through the years. I also believe weeds help to keep the harmful insects off of the plants. Speaking of which, we bought a praying mantis cocoon. As soon as it warms up to over 75 degrees for a certain period, 300 babies will emerge and supposedly eat the bad bugs.

Sunset

I found myself with time to just be this evening. I walked around the farm and took some pictures. It was a gorgeous sunset!

I ate a strawberry!

I'm excited to report that I picked our first strawberries yesterday...about 10 of them. They still had a bit of white on their tips but I couldn't resist. They were wonderful!! I imagine we'll have berries to pick this weekend.
Paul is outside, as I type, planting grass seed in the rain. Yesterday, Emily and Damien worked up the paths left from digging trenches for the new water lines last fall so now Paul is working as fast as he can to get the grass seed and straw down to take advantage of this perfect grass growing weather.
We didn't get all the planting done in the garden this past weekend but we made a good dent. We bought another flat of Roma tomatoes, 50 more strawberries, and 25 more asparagus crowns. We also planted cucumbers, sweet potatoes, marigolds, and nasturtiums (edible flowers). We have never planted sweet potatoes before so this is an experiment...one I believe that will end in failure. We still need to plant the pumpkins, green beans, cilantro and more basil.
The hens are finally far away enough from the barn that they are staying put. Well, I guess I should wait until after today to say that for sure. There are about a dozen that make it up every day. Last night Paul took them back to the hen wagon which has been moved quite a bit further since the last time they made their great escape. If they still make it up to the barn today, that's it, there's no retraining them, they will be barn hens. The roosters have been freed from their cat crates and they are staying with the wagon.
We lost another chicken over the weekend. We have one in the hospital now, not because he is sick, but he has a leg issue. He can't stay standing on his feet, he rolls back onto his ankles (if chickens have ankles). I put him in the hospital so he doesn't get picked on and so he can rest near his food and water. He's got it made.
The calves in the barn seem to all be recovering from their horrific ordeal last week. They are definitely more skittish than they were. Slowly, they are warming back up to me, but I don't think they'll ever be as trusting again. Sad. We'll need to do a better job with our next group at getting them taken care of when they're younger. We waited too long. Live and learn.

Chicken Run

Carrying 100+ chickens from the barn to the hen wagon, at night, in the rain, about an eighth of a mile each way, is not fun. Well, it was a little fun in an exhausting, rescuing kind of way. After about an hour of walking back and forth, as it was getting too dark to hardly see, and our legs didn't want to take another step, Paul had the bright idea of putting them in the back of the pickup truck and driving them. That worked great! Once it gets dark the hens seem to go comatose...they become easy to catch and move around. We'll wait until it's dark before we attempt the chicken run tonight. They are having such a hard time leaving their winter home. The barn has been sealed to keep them out, but they're like rats, they can find the smallest opening and squeeze their way back in. The roosters are locked in cat crates in the hen wagon so they'll stop leading the hens to the barn...but now the hens are leaving the roosters and the wagon. The men are stuck at home, crying like babies, whilst the women are out looking for adventure.
Yesterday was a bad day for the barn calves. The vet came out to de-horn and de-nut. What a horrible process. I hope they aren't scared of us now. Paul said to give them a couple of days to recover.
We had a good rain today. I'm anxious to check the garden to see what progress has been made. The potato plants are starting to pop up.
I got my new garden shoes from LLBean today. Very cute. Red with white polka dots.

Memorial Day Weekend

What a beautiful weekend! The weather was perfect for working in the garden...sunny and breezy. I made a good start on the planting and weeding. Saturday morning my mom and I went to the Meridian Farmer's Market (in Okemos). I bought 2 flats of organic seedlings - 1 flat of tomatoes, and 1 flat mixed with peppers, basil, and musk melon. I've never heard of any of the tomato or pepper varieties, they will all be a surprise. I also planted some seeds: mesclun salad mix, radish, fennel, parsley, and zucchini. My hands are evidence of weeding the raspberries...ouch! The new patch of strawberries are almost weeded...the older patch is a nightmare. It is so full of grass and prickers...it will be 'pick-at-your-own-risk'. I'm going to wait for a good rain in hope of being able to pull the weeds without too much effort. There are berries on the plants so it shouldn't be too much longer before we have red-stained fingers.

Paul got our first hay cutting baled, the field corn planted, and the first batch of sweet corn planted. If he wasn't working on our crops he was working on Larry's. I always feel like a widow this time of year.

The hen wagon is outside now. Most of the hens are staying with the wagon, but there are a couple dozen who head for the barn first thing in the morning. At night Paul and I have to wait for them to roost so we can catch and carry each one back to the wagon. Hopefully when we move the wagon to the back pasture they'll stop thinking the barn is home.

We moved the baby calf into the barn on Sunday. We thought he was weaned but he might need a few more days of milk. Being the smallest calf in the herd he doesn't get first dibs at the grain. Paul is getting a new calf from Fogle's today.

It's raining...yeah!!

You take the good with the bad, right? Yesterday was a bad day. Due to my stupidity of wearing shorts and sandals to do chores, I was stepped on by a calf while carrying their grain bucket to the feeder and then attacked by the rooster on the back of my thigh while filling the hen's water. Damn rooster. If he wasn't so handsome and able to cock-a-doodle so idyllically, he'd be toast. Speaking of toast, my twisted neck chicken is no longer of this world. Poor thing. Every death breaks my heart.

One of our mom cats is getting fixed today. 1 down, 2 to go (assuming we are able to give away the 14 female kittens).

This picture makes me smile. This is Maude, a hen we no longer have. She looks like a good listener...like she really cares.

Lovin' the Egg Man

Paul isn't the most romantic guy, but every now and then, when I least expect it, he surprises me. On one of his feed/supply trips last week, he bought me several pots of gerber daisies...my favorite. Not only did he buy them, but he planted them along the sidewalk up to the house and waited for me to notice. How sweet is that! Thank you honey bunny.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

I did it! Welcome to my first blog entry. I've decided to create a blog rather than monthly newsletters. It will be easier for me to share stories and photo's on a daily basis.

We are busy with chickens. The first group of 200 moved outside on Monday...they seem to be enjoying the grass, the sun and the wind that just won't stop! We have two portable outdoor pens, though we need at least 2 more. Right now, since the birds are so little (they are about 4 weeks old), it's okay to have 100 in each pen...but they will quickly outgrow their space and need more room.

Tuesday we welcomed 100 new baby chicks. They are in the garage under heat lamps. It has been warm enough that they are venturing outside their 'heat zone'.

We have one 4-week old chicken that I have taken under my wing. Something happened to his neck...he has no control of his head, it's twisted so the top of his head is on the ground. He can eat and drink with my help. If I hold his body and let him put his right foot on my finger, he can flip his head around to peck at food or get a drink of water. It's a slow process. We probably should put him out of his misery but I get so attached to any animal that "needs" me. We'll take it one day at a time.

The hen wagon will be moving outside soon. We are getting them used to laying their eggs in nesting boxes rather than straw piles in the barn. The nesting boxes will be attached to their wagon.

We have 15 kittens!! 4 of them are eating solid food and using a litter box. 6 are close behind. 5 are still sleeping and eating 24 hours a day. They are so darn cute! I will be posting pictures of them all soon with the following caption: FREE!!! I meant to get our 3 females fixed over the winter, but it just never happened. The kitten experience has been wonderful for the girls...they witnessed all the births and are having a blast loving on all of them.

The cattle are all doing well. I've learned that it is foolish to go in the pasture with the Scottish Highlands without some sort of protection. A few of them are so friendly they want to run and play and rub their heads on me. Their horns are about a foot long now so that is a bit scary. The Holstiens in the barn are even more friendly, but they are much smaller without horns. They'll be stronger and bigger than me soon though.

We hope to get a bunch of seeds planted in the garden this weekend. The strawberries are looking good, full of flowers, and we've been enjoying our first year of asparagus this spring. Paul will be planting the sweet corn as well. Lots to do!!

Until next time...