Good afternoon from the Mountain and a special welcome to our new viewers from South Korea. As normal live on the farm is hectic. There is more than needs done than anyone could ever seem to finish. Plants needs planted others need harvested. I bought a new food grade plastic bucket to make Kim Chi in, it cost .75 cents. I bought a second one to make a swamp cooler for the children's room.
I also found out what that sound was on the drivers side rear, I needed breaks, never mind that I had them replaced by the dealer ship less than 2 years ago. Chevy Dealership in Thayer, Missouri should be ashamed of themselves, charging me for breaks and then not putting them on.
So I had a fun day yesterday, hit a parked car at the repair center, thank goodness for insurance. After I filled a claim with The Hartford they went right to work on the claim, they are some great people. By the way if you hit some ones vehicle on private property the police will not issue you a report, 20 minutes of my day gone for nothing....ugh. I also want to thank my mechanic Keith's Auto for their help and Steve's Alignment in Mammoth as he replaced my breaks. Steve does nice work and quick, though I am broke again, but that is how life his. I still need to get the front redone, and new tires. About another $800 dollars that today I do not have, but I know I will have to make it as I need the van. Some things one can not be with out.
The last two days have been rainy and I am happy for the rain, though the ground is not soaked yet. The plants are looking wonderful, some of the first Oaxacan green corn is already three feet tall, the pumpkins are flowing (male flowers so far), and the beans are quickly taking up to growing on the corn, all is well with these guys. I am planting the pumpkin , corn and beans better known as three sisters in batches. They all take around 100 days to mature and this means I will not have to harvest great amounts at a time. The first batch I will can and dry all I can for the home and the second will be half for the livestock and half for the house and so on. I should be able to feed for quite some time. Pumpkins like these will keep for months on a shelf, and everything like to eat them. The beans once dried are good for the animals and us and if stored correctly will keep for many years. The corn must be dried as well, and will keep for years if put up correctly. I will reserve some corn to use as sweet corn though. The plants them selves would be put up as fodder for the winter months, there is no waste and beets, turnips and other root vegetables can be planted as soon as the first round is done. This form of growing is by far the best I have ever know. It is gentle to the earth and promotes a fantastic harvest. If you would like to try the corn we planted you can buy it from www.johnnyseeds.com
First rounds of potatoes will be ready to harvest in about a week or so, still have many pounds to go into the ground, it is not to late to plant potatoes, they take just two months. You do not need land or even a fancy place to grow them. You can use a cardboard box and a plastic trash bag, in my case I am using cardboard boxes and plastic sheeting that we took down off the windows, waste not want not. You take the box line it with sheet plastic or your trash bag. Place an inch of soil into the box and set your sprouted potatoes in and cover them lightly with soil, after about a week they should have sprouted up a few inches, now add more soil, let them grow up again, add more soil. Repeat until the box is full. When your potatoes flower, which by the way was the first reason they were grown in America, for their flowers; you will still have a few weeks left. One they dye back you are done, tip the box over, cut it open, what ever is easier for you and you will be blessed to see many new potatoes ready to eat or be put up for the winter. A banana box will yield over 20 pounds of potatoes in a season from just three potatoes.
On to other news Our dog is doing so much better, though he still has a small wound. I think the goats milk has really helped to get him back on track. We are feeding it to him twice a day and this morning when I went out to milk the goats he was running and jumping and playing. I love to see a happy healthy dog.
After a frantic amount of telephone time and perhaps making some of my fiends a bit uncomfortable; I have found one that for a share of the meat and gas money will help us to take both the cow and the calf to the butcher in West Plains, Missouri. Although my horse trailer is in good shape and would handle the load, my van will not. I came to terms with that yesterday. I wanted to cry as a feeling of helplessness came over me, and the dread of trying to feed and deal with the cows filled my mind. Moo our now retired milk cow has made me a wreck with her running off. The last time she was over ten miles from the farm when some one saw her and contacted us. Her calf scares me to death and is impossible to keep in a fence or barn and can more often then not, be-found wondering my farm in the dark. Michael seems to be fine with this, but when you think of a 700-800 pound 7 month old bull greeting you in the dark it is quite to the contrary of fine. In fact I was terrified. I went out to see what the dogs were barking at, with out my gun of course and from the brush a thundering sound, it was the big black bull calf, snorting and starring me down. I was just a few feet from our water house and I ran, not walked into the building. I prayed he would not charge the door which is old and barley together. I hoped that he would just leave, thinking maybe I frightened him or he would get board. So here I was trapped in the dead of the night in my water house and no one knew where I was. Millions of thoughts ran though my mind, why did I not grab the cell phone, the ac is on in the house, no one will hear me if I yell and it might just draw the bull in closer... and again, no one knows I am gone. About 20 minutes passed and I peeked outside the door, my dog rounds the corner of the building with her little grin upon her face, as if to say, it's safe to come out now. I causeless step outside the door, looking right to left, listing to the sounds echoing in the night and quickly follow the path back to the safety of the house. Never have I disliked an animal before, but I am working towards it. I think the two cows will make great steaks.
Here is the other think the hay crops are not looking so good, many of the hay farmers I have talked to had nothing good to say, it is as if the grass feels that winter is coming and has stopped growing, that means the hay will undoubtedly go up in price. This is very disappointing news for us as we are already hurting with them getting ready to spray what is left of the non-organic wheat in this country with RoundUp, to quote, "dry it faster". So wheat is off our list of feed items very soon. We will have to scale things down in the next few months, just to survive the winter that is coming. Each week buying feed is becoming harder and harder and as we change our feeds , we lead others to do like wise. This means more good feed is being sold, now causing a shortage of that as well. It is very frustrating and the reason that we are trying to grow food for ourselves and our animals.
That is where we are...I hope you all are doing well
Be Blessed
Shekhinah
I also found out what that sound was on the drivers side rear, I needed breaks, never mind that I had them replaced by the dealer ship less than 2 years ago. Chevy Dealership in Thayer, Missouri should be ashamed of themselves, charging me for breaks and then not putting them on.
So I had a fun day yesterday, hit a parked car at the repair center, thank goodness for insurance. After I filled a claim with The Hartford they went right to work on the claim, they are some great people. By the way if you hit some ones vehicle on private property the police will not issue you a report, 20 minutes of my day gone for nothing....ugh. I also want to thank my mechanic Keith's Auto for their help and Steve's Alignment in Mammoth as he replaced my breaks. Steve does nice work and quick, though I am broke again, but that is how life his. I still need to get the front redone, and new tires. About another $800 dollars that today I do not have, but I know I will have to make it as I need the van. Some things one can not be with out.
The last two days have been rainy and I am happy for the rain, though the ground is not soaked yet. The plants are looking wonderful, some of the first Oaxacan green corn is already three feet tall, the pumpkins are flowing (male flowers so far), and the beans are quickly taking up to growing on the corn, all is well with these guys. I am planting the pumpkin , corn and beans better known as three sisters in batches. They all take around 100 days to mature and this means I will not have to harvest great amounts at a time. The first batch I will can and dry all I can for the home and the second will be half for the livestock and half for the house and so on. I should be able to feed for quite some time. Pumpkins like these will keep for months on a shelf, and everything like to eat them. The beans once dried are good for the animals and us and if stored correctly will keep for many years. The corn must be dried as well, and will keep for years if put up correctly. I will reserve some corn to use as sweet corn though. The plants them selves would be put up as fodder for the winter months, there is no waste and beets, turnips and other root vegetables can be planted as soon as the first round is done. This form of growing is by far the best I have ever know. It is gentle to the earth and promotes a fantastic harvest. If you would like to try the corn we planted you can buy it from www.johnnyseeds.com
First rounds of potatoes will be ready to harvest in about a week or so, still have many pounds to go into the ground, it is not to late to plant potatoes, they take just two months. You do not need land or even a fancy place to grow them. You can use a cardboard box and a plastic trash bag, in my case I am using cardboard boxes and plastic sheeting that we took down off the windows, waste not want not. You take the box line it with sheet plastic or your trash bag. Place an inch of soil into the box and set your sprouted potatoes in and cover them lightly with soil, after about a week they should have sprouted up a few inches, now add more soil, let them grow up again, add more soil. Repeat until the box is full. When your potatoes flower, which by the way was the first reason they were grown in America, for their flowers; you will still have a few weeks left. One they dye back you are done, tip the box over, cut it open, what ever is easier for you and you will be blessed to see many new potatoes ready to eat or be put up for the winter. A banana box will yield over 20 pounds of potatoes in a season from just three potatoes.
On to other news Our dog is doing so much better, though he still has a small wound. I think the goats milk has really helped to get him back on track. We are feeding it to him twice a day and this morning when I went out to milk the goats he was running and jumping and playing. I love to see a happy healthy dog.
After a frantic amount of telephone time and perhaps making some of my fiends a bit uncomfortable; I have found one that for a share of the meat and gas money will help us to take both the cow and the calf to the butcher in West Plains, Missouri. Although my horse trailer is in good shape and would handle the load, my van will not. I came to terms with that yesterday. I wanted to cry as a feeling of helplessness came over me, and the dread of trying to feed and deal with the cows filled my mind. Moo our now retired milk cow has made me a wreck with her running off. The last time she was over ten miles from the farm when some one saw her and contacted us. Her calf scares me to death and is impossible to keep in a fence or barn and can more often then not, be-found wondering my farm in the dark. Michael seems to be fine with this, but when you think of a 700-800 pound 7 month old bull greeting you in the dark it is quite to the contrary of fine. In fact I was terrified. I went out to see what the dogs were barking at, with out my gun of course and from the brush a thundering sound, it was the big black bull calf, snorting and starring me down. I was just a few feet from our water house and I ran, not walked into the building. I prayed he would not charge the door which is old and barley together. I hoped that he would just leave, thinking maybe I frightened him or he would get board. So here I was trapped in the dead of the night in my water house and no one knew where I was. Millions of thoughts ran though my mind, why did I not grab the cell phone, the ac is on in the house, no one will hear me if I yell and it might just draw the bull in closer... and again, no one knows I am gone. About 20 minutes passed and I peeked outside the door, my dog rounds the corner of the building with her little grin upon her face, as if to say, it's safe to come out now. I causeless step outside the door, looking right to left, listing to the sounds echoing in the night and quickly follow the path back to the safety of the house. Never have I disliked an animal before, but I am working towards it. I think the two cows will make great steaks.
Here is the other think the hay crops are not looking so good, many of the hay farmers I have talked to had nothing good to say, it is as if the grass feels that winter is coming and has stopped growing, that means the hay will undoubtedly go up in price. This is very disappointing news for us as we are already hurting with them getting ready to spray what is left of the non-organic wheat in this country with RoundUp, to quote, "dry it faster". So wheat is off our list of feed items very soon. We will have to scale things down in the next few months, just to survive the winter that is coming. Each week buying feed is becoming harder and harder and as we change our feeds , we lead others to do like wise. This means more good feed is being sold, now causing a shortage of that as well. It is very frustrating and the reason that we are trying to grow food for ourselves and our animals.
That is where we are...I hope you all are doing well
Be Blessed
Shekhinah
Do you live in or about the Camp area,looking for some great deals? We have a place for you, it's the all new Camp Online yard sale group! Please feel free to join us, make some new friends and sell or buy some great stuff. I look forward to seeing you there.
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