Just another Day on the Farm

Without going into details that are not mine to share, and trust me this was all happening very fast indeed, my dear friend Farmer T and  Farm Helper one, two an three needed to move from their farm to a new place, thankfully still in the area

So first off, we have been Ah, and O my busy, to move a whole house and farm from one farm to another in a matter of days is a whack of work.. I have been helping as much as my foot will let me, which means I putter, I do errends and I make food 🙂 My dear man however has been much more active, and of course we also come home and need to look after our own farm an critters as well.

My horse’s broke a fence to try and see if they could figure out why their horse friends where not answering them from across the road and went visiting, Thankfully all ended well on that, but it also meant that we needed to find time to finish putting the hot wire on the top of the current fence, so far only the big pasture is finished but we have everything but the rest of the wire run for all the other pastures and it will be done this weekend.

Its a huge shock, and I have no idea who will buy the farm next door, its really my only “close” person, prayers that it will be someone who either fits or at least grasps or understands our life style, I have heard horror stories about issues with those that live around you, and I have been so lucky and blessed on the farm.

There might be a flurry of posts over the next while, I am taking photos of things, so I will get posts up at some point on different herbal things I am doing.. at some point

As they all do, I’m sure he has a huge story to tell, a big tall short haired Black with a tiny tuff of white on his chest, a curled ear and a big old bump in his tail from where it broke and healed, he was heard in the ditch in front of the house, and while hubby had a idea of where he was in the talk grass.. he was having no luck.. Kitty kitty was getting him no where..

I tried a few different calls, and when I got to the “meow, Meow” he answer me back and with some time and a sweet female voice, a black face showed in up peeking from the tall grass.. he was leary, o he wants to make friends but he was unsure, he made it half way and then ran back, when a car passed, back into the grass he ran, finally he got almost in touching distance of just me, hubby having backed off, and then it came, the first head bump to my fingers..

Ten min later, we had made friends enough that I was able to put him in the cage to bring him onto the farm, he is a safe spot, he is on the lean side at the moment, and he was very happy to see a bowl of food and water, he was much calmer this morning and had some cuddle time with me, he knows what dogs are, he is not rude with other kitties but he is careful as well, he has not meet any face to face yet.

but with me and less so with hubby, he is a total sweetheart, purrs, head butts, kneeding, and twists and belly flops.. LOVE ME!

He is still intact, I will need to get him some shots and to take him for a little surgery, if anyone locally would like a middle aged love bug of a farm cat, let me know, otherwise, I think he has picked me at his person. If that is the case, so be it..

I don’t know how many of the men will understand this post.. (in fact its worth asking my male readers, what are some of the things men typically do when they feel the need for action but are limited in the offerings by needing to do your daily life)

But for most ladies, one of the first things we change up when we need to answer that ” ah, do something, do something!” its our hair..

Now, If I had not just spent the past two years growing mine out, I most likely would have gone for a hair cut and style but that is not happening, Dh is so happy that for the first time in 15 years my hair is long, not short, that I just can’t do that to him.

So Color it was but I didn’t want Bold or Wild, when I had super short hair, I could do the funky and not worry about it at all, because in six to eight weeks, it would be grown out or cut out if I didn’t like it..

But with long hair.. What you do will have a effect for a good long time to come, so its a much more natural softer choosing of the colors.. I like it, and I think it will work well with my natural hair color..

I also learned a new updo, its called a double twist, and I think its looks quite nice as well.. as for all the things going on, well they are ongoing and I’m not at the point of sharing quite yet..

I have been on the hunt for a new weaner piglet or two all spring an summer long, I have weaner piglets on kijji alert, I have had friends keeping a ear out, the cost on piglets this year is sky high locally, between triple to fours times higher then normal in my area. A normal weaner piglet in the spring flush, 40 to 60, this year 150 to 200, finally now in the end of aug, the price is coming down to 120, but most of those were at least a two hour each way drive, but yesterday on kijji piglets went up for under a hundred and less then ten min away.

Called and booked a piglet, but there was a downside to this, wee babe is just five weeks, not weaned, just taken off mom and handed to me..

The inside joke on her name is that when I asked if they were eating well, was told they are eating windfall apples, she is sturdy, she has a good temperament, she needs a bath but she is a pretty soft red with white band, she is a bershire-tamworth cross.

Because she is so little, and has not been properly weaned, she is in a big dog crate in my house at the moment, so that a very close eye can be kept on her, once she is bigger, stronger, eating well, and has been gentled, she will be introduced to the big pigs..

She was a very sad piglet last night, but she soon figured out the bedding was soft and comfy.. better pictures soon I promise

Pleased to introduce you to ……..

Well, at some point, she will get a name.. her mom’s name is Coco, but I think as she is my first wool ewe, that I will find a unrelated “idea” for her, as my other breed of sheep has food or drink names.

She is a huge ewe, as a five month old, she is almost as big as my fully grown hair sheep, the ewe’s in the hair breed I have average 120 pounds as a female, she will grow up to be 200 plus.

She is a Arcott (a Canadian Breed of sheep) crossed with a Icelandic Ram, I got her for her mother’s awesome milking ability, and she will be trained as my new up and coming milk sheep, you see Dirty face is eight now.. she should I hope live to be 10 to 14 but she is getting up there in age for a sheep.

My New girl is a woolie as well.. she really show’s her dad’s genes in her coat, and its huge! She will also be the only one that when crossed with my new ram (who is Karakul-Icelandic)

who will produce wool babies, and I hope! that she will have at least twins each year, one to get the fleese on and one to turn into a sheepskin pelt!

I have plans for that wool, felting, felted soaps, learning to make yarn, learn how to naturally color the wool with plants that I have grown myself etc

Love my sheep, like that I can expand my flock in wool way to try new things, because the cost of a fleese is really high, and there is a learning curve, would rather use my own to learn on.

Ok, so lets just say it and get it over with..

NO! Just NO!

You should not replace sunflowers for corn in three sisters!

Grow the sunflowers on their own with a ground cover between then, that’s fine..

DO NOT, repeat do not believe the books that say, you can just replace them in the three sisters garden..

The sunflowers that are planted by themselves, are doing great.. they are huge and rocking it, the sunflowers that are interplanted with cucumber plants far enough between the plants that they don’t effect each other, are doing great..

The hills that where interplanted with squash, beans and sunflowers.. are a huge failure!

Massive! unbelieveable failure..

Its been a wonderful garden year, and just to prove the point, if I take the unproductive plants out of the hills and away from the sunflowers, they recover and produce like mad, while the ones left, are stunted and produce poorly..

If you are doing Three sister hills, use corn! Grow the sunflowers in their own rows..

I am in some ways very anti-Vaccine.. its true, and I know it..

But in other ways, I would have to be considered Pro-Vaccine..

This morning was one of those moments where I was glad that I had been pushed to doing a Vaccine..

You see, my folks never gave a vaccine to a horse, I was not raised with it, ferrier, you bet, vet out if needed, for sure, teeth floated.. Check. but Vaccines.. that’s a new thing..

I got my Brandy Girl and she was born local, and was ponied with a lead rope out a window from farm to farm, she had seen a vet at least once in her life but the odds of vaccines where not so good but she is a good girl, never really worried about it, she stay’s on the farm and rides in the local fields and forest trails, the only horse’s she really saw was those that live right by her at the other farms.

Caleb was different, he came with vaccines, and when I knew I wanted to take him off the farm and play, I found out that Vaccines and Coggins was needed.. so got a recommend for a top horse vet ,(that means I have five vets now LOL, the local vet, the horse vet, and in the city three different vets that are more tailored), we went over what I did and didn’t want to do and Caleb got more “protection” then Brandy because he needed it with what I was asking him to do off property..

Well there as been a outbreak of a disease locally and its deadly to the horse’s, the ones that have died and its been confirmed was a unvaccinated gelding with no travel history. Its not that close to me but its close enough.. and I will admit that when I checked and found out the both of my sweethearts are covered for it, as its one of the higher risk possablity’s in the province.. I did give a big sigh of relief.

Its the same as with the hounds and purrpots, I believe in core vaccines, they need their babe sets and then the followup adult set, after that, well, then I get more flexable on what I have control over, (our laws say that we must have X so many years) Some I do very little, maybe a booster every three years once or twice more in their life and then I consider them good.. Others, depending on what they do and where they are being taken to.. more is needed.

The sheep is a good example, I fought hard to NOT vaccine the adults but after three years of battling a health issue on the farm, which had sheep on it before hand, I had a choice, Vaccine the moms, have a healthy flock and allow the mom’s protection to protect the lambs (so they could be raised without needing the vaccine) or have unwanted suffering and even the odd death in the flock..

I choose to vaccine and its was the best choice, after treating the flock for a few years, I had seen no signs of the issue and have been able to keep back healthy replacement breeders that are unvaccinated but thrive..

Do I ideally want to get to the point that my whole flock is clean and does not need that vaccine, you bet.. but do I stand by my choices, for sure, my sheep can’t say to me.. Hey, can I get that needle so I don’t get sick.. they can’t say.. this ground is not healthy, I will leave it and go eat ten miles over.. I have a moral obligation that I must put their welfare over my “desire” to be vaccine free.

I view Vaccines, like I view Antibodics.. Use them as little as possible and be DANG happy that they are available for when I do need them.

Ah, Peaches, we are so lucky to get locally grown peaches, love it, they are really only available for a few weeks a year and the good prices on them (well, now a day’s good prices) are maybe one or two weeks and buying in bulk can help or not, depending on where you are shopping.

I am out of canned local peaches, which meant that I had planned to put up 48 pints of peaches and I had planned another 12 pint jars of peach pie filling but my plans have been tweeked with my broken foot..

But the peaches still came into season and so I got six baskets, each basket cut up into six cups of peaches approx. and while I can’t quite yet stand to can yet, I can stand long enough to wash them, and get the prep ready, they got cut into my slices, six slices per peach and they went into freezer bags and while I don’t like freezer peaches anywhere close to canned, I have enough put away that I can do 14 pies or cobblers etc

I look at it as I can have fresh local peaches as a treat over the next year, or I can not have peaches, I won’t buy the ones from the store the rest of the year, and I won’t buy canned peach pie filling.

Suddenly frozen peaches sound lovely! LOL

Yesterday, we had a lovely treat, fresh peaches with homegrown rasberries

When I got Caleb, I was told that when they had got him, he was pushy about treats so they had never treated him by hand, and so that had been years of extra’s in the bucket etc

But I hand treat my horse’s and I can not be giving treats to only part of the herd and not others.. plus its part of my I’m herd boss.. standing quiet and waiting as I treat the horse one by one mixing up who gets what and when.

but Caleb cracks me up.. he will try anything.. so far this year, we know he will eat any kind of herb, kolerabi, beets, carrots, turnips, blueberries, (which he helped himself to!) and he adores watermelon and of course he loves his apples..

But today he tried banana and it was a hoot for him to figure out the texture and taste.. snort, giggle..

I think I said that I am growing a total of eight different kinds of spuds this year, so far we have eaten the older German kinds called Sieglinde, which we are in love with, and we are going to plant a huge amount of them next year.. they are some of the best tasting I have had in years, good as spring fresh eating, good as mashed, good as baked, they say good as fries but I have not tried them that way.. they say good for storage, so we are growing out three plants, one for my thanksgiving mashed and two to watch for storage etc

Then this week we cracked into the first of our “strawbedded potato’s” we started on the one end that had been growing the best, it was nice small red potato’s a typical norland, we had planted them as we have grown them in a few different ways an we wanted to compare yields and for first harvest, the straw grown was lacking!. Lacking in both amount of potato’s and how big they had grown considering when they went in..

So today was the day, I sent hubby out to try a different kind, this time he came in with All Purple, more potato’s, but again the volume overall was greatly lacking.. does that mean that the number come in the straw but you need to allow them extra time to fill out.. maybe.. taste tastes seem to agree that the purple’s taste really good when grown in straw. The color was also much darker and fuller then any year I have grown them in the ground.. is that the seed potato, or the year or the way they were grown..

The darker the purple, the most healthy they are..so that is a point on the plus side!