Another storm couple of days for us here on the farm and as current the gardens are taking much more work than I would have ever thought. Because of all the rain we are going to be eating a lot of greens and strawberries. In fact I just found out today he a friend who has a farm has invited people to come out and pick and keep strawberries, gosh I wish I could go tomorrow, but I need to take Rachael to the dentist before her state share of cost stuff runs out at the end of next month and the cruel reality of young adult-hood sets in. I just found out that half the cow is ready to be picked up and I am taking Mrs. R to pick it up ion Friday, maybe after that I can go and visit Ida and pick some berries. I could always use more berries...emmm yummy pies and jams of all kinds...it is a dreamy thought ewww and the big mess this is all gonna make in the kitchen, lol.
So I have to replant sections of the garden over the next few days, killed the first round of corn and radishes and beets are going to see, once they are done, into the wok they goo and I will plant green beans and more squash. We are so close to having the new section up and I am ready to get the rest of the plants in the ground and be done with at least that part for a while, but it all depends on the storms. My peas are all over the place, they were knocked about pretty bad from the winds, hail and heavy rains,I may have to pull them and use for animal fodder, we will have to wait and see.
We have been rotating grazing land for the animals and part of our afternoon time is spent grazing sheep, goats, horses and moo, who for a few hours a day has the run of the farm and sometimes further. Today once again she thought she would knock on the door and get us to come out and pet her, honestly she is a sweet goofy cow...I think she thinks she is a dog...lol I was worried about her hoofs being a bit longer than I like but since she has been on the road more she is wearing them down nicely. She has of course still not had the cafe yet and I must admit I am concerned. I found out after may hours of research that there are cow pregnancy tests, for about five bucks each or so, they make one where you test the blood, one for the urine and one for testing the milk and each one will tell you in a very short time, if the cow is pregnant or not. Now here is the interesting part, no one here in Arkansas Carry's them, even thought they are like 99.9% accurate. they would rather do what is called slieving the cow, they put on a glove go up the cows rear end and palpitate the womb. I think they are all cruel and rather a few cards short of a deck. Why in the world would you want to risk the life and healthy of a cow to do this, when you can run a safe non-evasive test. Now if the test came up with a problem, well than maybe, but only as a last resort. I plan to keep many of these tests here at the house and give them to other people as animals have the right to kindness and should not be treated cruelly.
As to other things we are using our sweet potatoes to bake bread and it was nice, I like the black walnuts, but intent to work on the recipe a bit more before posting.
We are getting some more geese and a few more Muscovy ducks added to the gene pool some time soon , the nice lady came down and talked to me about it today, while we were swapping eggs, I still owe her eggs, guineas just to let you know hate thunder and quit laying. Out of 50 plus birds no eggs today, the geese are equally not as happy and have also not graced us with eggs. I hope they both start laying again very soon.
Corn is going up in price so high so fast it is crazy so I am going to see about getting a few bags of whole corn put up for the winter for family use and I am unsure what to do about the animals needing it. Michael says that some of the birds do not like the soy and layer mash, I say they better learn to like worms, yup, I am setting up more worm beds and I guess I can dry the worms for the birds for winter use. I still plan to scale down the number of birds we have as well.
Other things I am up to...trying to get the bags done for a batch of soap, making mustard seed pendants and thawing all the freezers and fridges, in prep for summer and new cow meat...
We have made no further progress on the roof as we can not seem to get it dry enough, long enough, but it will get done before winter comes.
anyway I am adding some photos to share with you all and I hope you enjoy them and than off to bed for me.
News From The Doghouse and Gotta Keep A Running...
Well, Tuesday was a blast, had the air conditioner on from the heat and humidity, (miss the weatherman in New York saying hum-ditity) AND had a fire going in the basement to take out the chill and dampness
Got the chores done and worked over in the studio house and got some cleaning and organizing done, then had an area to work in and got the wiring done for the welder. Had lots of problems, but managed it all quite well I guess, still have to have the test run though. Also, put some scrap junk together and made a locking latch for the goat gate and successfully held in the 2 primier escape artists, so far that is. The little critter crew all escaped from the pen somewhere, even after my mending and patching the fences that Jim Bob, Joe Bob, and Hammerhead put up some time last century...oh well, I put those 5 kid goats back into the makeshift goose/geese enclosure that is supposed to be the porch for the studio, guess I just liberated the momma goat from all of them and took the other milk goat, Miracle, from the barn away from her cellmate Rebekah. Rebekah has just been getting tied up outside mowing different areas and seems quite content with this new job and status, does not jerk the lead line or anything, coming or going, anymore.
Today (Wednesday) started out with a very loud suction noise and a door slamming shut at @ 2AM...got up and checked out lightning outside, and turned the weather channel on to find out we were under a tornado watch until 4 AM...Elisha climbed into the bed with us at 1 AM, before this storm...the night before when it was a really bad thunderous storm, he slept through it all and when it was over and just when I finally fell asleep he climbed in, waking me up...what can I say, he's only 4...so I try to enjoy it while he still feels the need for security, or just go bonkers, if I wasn't already.
So got woke up today, to garlic breath Bears, tickling my feet, and I sat in the easy chair with coffee, just exhausted, taking my time getting started. Took the Bears out on the walk with Lady and we collected mushrooms, all sorts of types, sizes, shapes, and colors. I had only seen a couple of them the evening before, I planned this expedition. Didn't think of taking the camera until after the fact and seeing this really nice orangish red coral looking mushroom. Most of the mushrooms today were not edibles, but we all had fun on the adventure and got school work done doing the whole thing I guess. Got all the other chores done, with some nice egg collecting, but not as great when I find a peacock egg or the large amount of geese eggs, as something like that really helps the farm pay for feed, or get ahead on things, supposedly. One good day means the feed bill for the week in some cases, or something to splurge on, whether it is groceries, or yard sale-ing, or a beer lol
We had a nice dinner tonight, I think it was called Plotnik somewhere sometime, just tired now and getting hard to think or recollect clearly at the moment, of course I am sure it did not have gold corn kernels like ours did...the Boss said it needed garlic, my line to say usually, but I thought it was sweet tasting, the lambs quarters was succulent and tender, that's wild spinach to you un-ed-you-krated cityfolks ;-P
Be blessed dear ones and pray for the Prez of the USA as it tells us to in Psalms...
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