Lilac buds

Moo is looking for a home

Poor Moo kitty. He was born here but adopted as a kitten. After living indoors for many months his owner moved to a new apartment that didn't accept pets. Moo is an outsider, he has not been welcomed home with open paws. He sleeps by himself, eats by himself on a ledge, and he spends hours sitting on a windowsill looking in the house. He hasn't been neutered yet and I don't know if he has had any shots. We've brought him in the house to visit and he jumps on counters when no one is looking so he needs some manners. But he is litter box trained and very affectionate. We all feel so sad for him and hope that he can find a new owner where he can be indoors again. Please tell all your friends about Moo kitty. Thank you!

Who let the cows out?

Lesson learned: Do not go to an all-day volleyball tournament before feeding the cattle...they will break out of their fence in search of food. We had to get up at 6am for the tournament. Who wants to get up at 5am to feed the cows? Obviously, not us. Oops. We were about 10 miles from home saturday afternoon when we got a call from Paul's mother asking if our cows should be in her backyard. Hmmm...no. Then we got a call from Paul's sister-in-law telling us that our cows were in the road. Hmmm...not good. Luckily it was just the holsteins and not the highlanders. In the time it took us to get home, Larry and Debbie had the cows back in our barn (advantage of living next to fellow farmers). Thanks neighbors!!

Knickerbocker

Knickerbocker was from our first litter of kittens last summer (2009). He became a favorite right away and was never put up for adoption. He's the alpha male cat on the farm, though he was recently neutered so I expect to see a decline in his dominating demeanor. He's very curious and always keeping a close eye on any outdoor activity. In this picture, he was watching the girls play in the snow.

I'M BACK!!

Yes, it has been awhile! Ever since my daughter lost our digital camera last summer I have felt speechless without photographs. We still haven't replaced the camera (she is slowly saving to buy us a new one) but I'm ready to resume my blogging.
I left you last July, in the heat of the summer, before the burst of the garden and the arrival of the turkeys. We lost most of our tomates to some kind of rot. Truly, it was a relief not to have to pick and can them all. We were burned out by harvest time. We raised about 500 meat chickens last summer...that was more than double the year before. We are going to try a new approach this summer and raise smaller batches. We also have to raise our price because we barely broke even and there's way too much work involved to do it for free!
I'm happy to say the turkeys didn't leave me in tears last Thanksgiving. I kept my distance, emotionally, and we had them processed by a USDA facility. This year we hope to put up a pasture for the turkeys so they have more room and so we don't have to move them every day.
I hope you'll stick around as we begin our third season on the farm. We're hoping to make a profit this year!

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!!