Just another Day on the Farm

Switch grass panicum virgatum

Posted on January 20, 2021 by Just another day on the farm

http://ontariograsses.com/main/species.php?id=3080

I have ordered in enough Switch Grass Seed to do a Quarter Acre worth of plants, I have a Multi level Multi Year plan for them.

This year, I will be starting a number of them and then transfering clumps of them onto the top edge line (down about 18 inches or so on top of my ditch line along the front of my food forest front yard.

The county cuts the front ditch line and the middle line but does not cut my side of the ditch line, which tends to grow a number of things including small fruiting native bushes seeded by the birds.

I touched on this before but in case you missed that post, my county closed a local bridge due to age and that means that everyone on this side of the river is now funneled up or funneled down to the other two bridge crossings and this means that the traffic coming past my farm has massively increased as if you are funneling downward, you are now coming right past my farm..

This also means that the local ATV trail club has needed to change their route and yup, its now coming down my road in droves.. we used to see the odd local on their ATV, right now, we are seeing groups of them, up and down our roads daily, I can see between 20 to 50 of them right now daily.. and soon with the snow, the snow machines will be ripping around behind the farm.. they are to swing wide and for the 90 percent that do so, no issue with them.. have lots of fun but there is always that 10 that do not want to take the longer way around, and will cut across and race up my fence lines freaking out my expecting ewes or making my lambs go bonkers and will roar as they come round.. and I will take their photos and turn their ass in or if its local, I will growl a touch to the land owner and he will remind them that they are to follow the sign paths and not run my fence lines..

I really do not mind them at all when they follow the rules and take the paths marked out.. but back to the new ATV pathway, they seem to love to slow down and be neck crankers and that I do mind.. Not that much to see in winter but I love to putter and I like my dogs out in the yard with me..

So we need to fence in that front line of the yard this year but I also plan to put the switch grass in a line on the outside of the fence line, it grows on average 5 to 6 feet tall, so it should create a living fence cover, it is flower from late summer into the fall, its said that the little wild birds love the seed and that it stays up and tall and helps catch snow.. All good things

Then in the spring, its biomass, as its to be cut down to 6 inches, and it is said to produce a massive amount of biomass once its growing well.. I want that biomass.. I have lots of manure but I am buying a lot of straw.. I am hoping? that the birds will do a great job on cleaning up the seeds in winter, and that way I can cut and use the switch grass both in composting and in layering in the gardens

The second amount of seed is going into a swath down the fenceline in the very front pasture to again give me a living fence cover as the bonus but its going to be cut younger/greener for the biomass, and will ideally once in full growth, 2 or even 3 cuts is possable. Time will tell me how good this will go..

On the other hand I am also on the look out for the smaller more clump, less spreading version called Praire Fire as I want it to be the hair on a project coming for the garden this year LOL.. I love the idea of it.. but more on that later 🙂

Do you have Switch Grass in your back edging in your garden? Do you have it in your landscaping? Are you using it to hold slopes stable? Have you used it as a biomass in your compost? Have you cut it down in the spring and used it as mulch>? Have you cut it in green form to use as Feed? and or dried it and used it as bedding?

Posted in Food Forest | Tagged Growing Switch Grass as a mulch, Native Switch Grass to help feed the wild winter birds, Starting a Switch Grass patch?, Switch Grass, Using Switch Grass in your garden | 5 Comments

Garden Center Closures

Posted on January 19, 2021 by Just another day on the farm

tenyardstopsoil

The Local company that I bought my soil from, my mulch from has closed and while I am digging, I have yet to find a company even somewhat close to me that has or is planning to open to replace it.. They closed last fall and it was on their website..

I have no issue making my own compost and I can get sand delivered, I have lots of extra grown here on the farm but honestly I had planned on jump starting by buying another 20 tons of soil.. not sure that is a choice I get to make this year.. I am pretty sure I can get another 20ish tons of cow manure/wood chips blend delivered to the farm again this year and I will ask for the most aged possable.. its aged enough that its rough soil but not weedy at all. If I mix in a couple shovels of sand into the blend with a hand full of kelp and turn it, it will not look as pretty as the above but it will certainly get the job done..

However I am going to have to either rethink the plan to finish out cedar mulching the last of the walking paths in kitchen garden or I am going to have keep calling till I find someone that will deliver a load of natural cedar blend.. I do not need the pretty ones, I am hoping to find the landscaper blend as that will work like a dream and save me a little on cost which will help with the delivery fee.

Last fall on of the biggest locally greenhouse in our area annouced that they were moving from open to the public to being a whole sale only.. this was a planned move as a response to covid, it allows them to move sideways, use their greenhouses in a more effective way, removes curbside pickups and allows them to meet a very active and large local landscapers market..

While they will be missed in our garden groups and peaple will certainly miss being able to shop at better prices by doing it themselves at least they have not fully closed..

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However the other BIG greenhouse/nursery/plant center in the big city (50 min away) that has been around for 60 years and 3 gens just annouced they are retiring, i was listening to the on the radio this morning.. they made the choice based on covid, normally they have 27 staff and last year due to covid, they were in order to meet the legal requirements down to 7 staff and they said they were working up to 18 hours a day (so assume all family) and that they promised themselves they would never do another Covid season with curbside pickups.

Clearly they meant it as they annouced their closure, they are done.. They are not the only ones.. I have watched so many other ones sell out early and or off very limited sales and I have seen three places that just did a one year pause.. sold out.. come back next year..

The one thing that i was not expecting was the comments from a couple different folks that were interviewed as they offered two other interesting points..

a) that all the local big box stores that were allowed to stay open, now have smaller plant sale sections and that peaple tend to pick up a few packs (even at higher prices and lower quality) while getting their groceries..

b) That in the time of lock down less want to drive to the garden centers and that without the take your time look at everything and buy extras that just the order means many less sales (this one I can understand, how many times do I go for X and come out with Y Z and B lol)

c) Peaple are home and so they are buying seeds and starting their own plants.. I was a bit surprised by this one to be honest.. but three of the places closing all touched on it, they said.. with peaple working from home, having more time and with the online sales from company’s with seeds, that they were losing a huge amount of their sales to peaple starting and growing their own plants.

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Now that one got me lifting a eyebrow because most peaple do not want to start their own, most struggle to grow them, the garden groups are filled with leggy, floppy, issue ridden starts.. no I am sorry to say that the main reason you are seeing peaple buying seeds and starting their own is not because of time or being home, or covid..

Its PRICE.. I know its hard to hear it when you are the one paying though the nose.. the seeds cost more, the pots cost more, the soil costs so much more and then staff, greenhouse, trucking and so on.. I get it! I totally get it. I do..

BUT last year a 6 pack cell of regular tomato’s last year was 5.99 .. I have no idea what they will be this spring but i can tell you that I know hundreds of peaple that are starting at home this year that normally go and buy..

So I will own up that I am also starting at home this year.. for the past couple years I have ordered my tomato’s, peppers and last year eggplants from a outstanding local grower.. and i love his plants! They are amazing..

However with the cost output for my new indoor greenhouse (I have extra growing space for really early starts, I have extended my 3 season greenhouse) but the biggest issue this year is cost savings..

20190131k www.lovethegarden.com

While I fully respect his price increase per plant and the pot price per plant (and I have always gotten a amazing discount due to bulk buying) the truth is what i can save by starting my own is kinda of crazy.. I am saving about $300..

That is a huge savings, it pretty much can pay for a different garden project this year, so be it.. I can only hope that they will be lots of folks that do not want start there so he will have no issues filling up his space and selling out again.

So are you seeing your garden centers close? Are you seeing them move from public to wholesale? Are you seeing a increase on your area’s garden groups moving over to starting their own this year? Have you seen a increase in the big box stores bringing in the garden sections? Where the garden centers open in your area last year?

Do you think more peaple are starting from seed because they are home and have more time? or do you think cost is a huge factor?

Posted in gardens | Tagged buying cedar mulch, buying compst, buying soil, buying started plants, making your own compost, starting seeds from home | 12 Comments

Garden Records

Posted on January 18, 2021 by Just another day on the farm

gardenplanner

Now normally I use a ruled lined book from the dollar store and i do love my farm books. However I figure that I am putting so much effort into the gardens, the food forest and so forth that this year, I would step up my game.

This book came highly recommended on the homesteading groups and I liked that it kept a page on costs out, but really liked how much room there is for reporting each day and that it has harvest total place.

It has two pages for the fruit and I have them filled out and even added in one more spot on the bottom.. I wish it had three full pages instead of the two.. as it only has 24 slots of the fruit orchard and of course I have more then that.. so I had to decide what I would add into it and I was not able to break them down into kinds.. but it has a good note section so i will do more follow up in that regards into note..

Example, I had to just go with Apples and then I will need to use the note page next to it to break it down into the 9 kinds of apples I grow and their harvest numbers. I am not sure I can hold this to much.

I expect I will find the same issue with the veggies grown section, not enough pages there either but i do grow a big garden and a lot of different things.. I do think for the average garden/yard that there is enough space..

However given that it is for a family large garden, I stand by would be nice to have one more veggie page, and one more fruit page..

I do love the monthly at a glance spare, and the weekly area looks great! I really like the break down though the day because its true, we putter and I like that it allows you to putter record lol

Saladgreens

We started our baby greenhouse at the first of the month and we are harvesting salad greens already, we have pea’s up, radishes up, and the patio tomato seedlings are up as well. I will need to transplant them into 4 inch pots today. They came up in 5 days..

I have hit a snag I didn’t expect.. the cost of soil in regards to microgreens, I have soilless sprouting trays and they would great but they are sprouts, not mircogreens and I used my main soil for doing the mircogreens trays but I figured out very quickly that it will cost to much to do them in soil.. because the soil is full of roots and the bits of stems left after means you can’t just reuse it.. so the chickens are very happy campers and that soil will come back into compost for my garden at a later point.

So I hit the internet and I have a large set of 4 trays including the stand coming that is a two part tray system that is to be used as a mircogreen tray that does not use soil.. I am of mixed hmm on it. I mean the seeds themselves only have so much that they can grow on their own without extra imputes so I will see how this goes..

Keep you posted on it.. I should have my first sets in full producing by the end of the month. Do you use the soilless microgreens trays, how have they worked for you?

On one hand I am not happy for another 50 dollar output this month but if it works, then overall it will be a big money saver and pay for itself within the year.. I have heard that soil is hard to come by this year.. I know last year that many peaple by the end of last season where really having issues with the soil that was being sold, and many were sold out, I have a feeling that its going to effect the ability and for sure the cost for buying soil this spring..

Mean while it appears that at least here in ontario that trying to find onion sets this year is going to be harder then normal.. So I will be starting Onions and Leeks in the next two weeks. Its been a good while since I have needed to grow onions from seeds.. but I was able to buy onion seeds for ones that I would never be able to get locally in sets so that at least is fun and interesting..

I will share as it goes, I have a interesting bunching Russian one, one that is to be a huge onion, it is said that it can by fall reach up to 5 pounds each (i will believe it when I see it lol) its not a keeping onion but i laughed and said to hubby. dang, those are the onions for sauce making.. one five pound onion per sauce batch haha and a few more..

What is the most fun onion have you grown? If you grow onion from seed, do you have a hot tip on a successful outcome!

Posted in Garden | Tagged Garrden record book, growing onions from seed, microgreens, tracking your garden | 4 Comments

Chocolate Snow Icecream Recipe

Posted on January 16, 2021 by Just another day on the farm

Ah Snow, did we ever get snow! 9 inches in the past 24 hours.. Time to make a speical winter treat! Snoe Icecream.. Never heard of it? Here is my Vanilla Snow Icecream regular way of making it.. so easy and so yummy..

chocolatesnowicecream

Chocolate Cream Snow Icecream

This is a lighter version that is safe for hubby to eat..

2 cups of heavy cream
3 TBSP good Coco Powder (light chocolate, use more if you like it more dark chocolate)
3 tbsp of Monkfruit sugar (or 1/4 cup of regular sugar if you are not diabetic)
1 tsp of salt
14 cups of clean snow

In a heavy pot at a very low heat, put milk, coco powder and sugar/salt together, whisk till its blended together and just warm.. you are not trying to make this hot.. just warm enough that the sugar melts in and the coco full blends into the cream.

Chill the chocolate cream till its cold.. then collect your snow, pour over and stir till it comes together.. stir it as it melts.. a lovely treat and made with the monk, it did not spike hubbies blood sugar at all!

Posted in Life moves on daily | 1 Comment

Peas Seeds- One for pot and One to put up..

Posted on January 15, 2021 by Just another day on the farm

60 hours ago, we planted out a tray of pea seeds grown and saved in 2019 and in the tray went into the BG(Baby Indoor Greenhouse) it is amazing how fast things are growing in there..

Amazing considering I didn’t even pre-soak them before they went into the damp soil and yet they are all popping their pretty little green selfs up and onward.

Normally, I grow one row of snow peas and stagger out 2 to 4 rows of regular pea’s that I then pick about 80 percent of the pea’s for fresh eating and or blanching and freezing for future use and then I let at least one row finish out the last 20 percent into seeds.

Typically this gives me lots of peas for planting out in the fall plants and for next years crop.. if I am a little short, i will only pick 60 to 70 percent in the fall to bump up my stock but I will be honest, I like to save from both the spring started and the fall started,

Saving seed from the spring started pea’s help you save seed from plants that do well in very cool just worked soil, they tend to be shorter plants and they tend to close out faster in the heat.. where saving seed from fall started, tend to be better in the heat and tougher in holding though some very light frostings.

By keeping each as their own line, you are working towards improving your lines to both suit your own area but also for the conditions they are raised under.. just do not mix the up.. because the cool soil spring ones can struggle more if started early in late summer in the warmer soils/hotter days.

Back to 2021, I need to flip it.. hubby will do better with the whole pod for the increase in fiber, so I will be growing 4 rows of snow peas, one row of fresh eating pea’s and this year with my eye firmly looking at the whole view, I am planting a whole row into just seed saving, on the spring seeds for winter planting in the baby greenhouse..

Its a combo of winter plantings for pea shoots (cut around 4 to 5 inches for greens) at pretty much low/no cost but its also because pea’s seeds are a great gift..

I am going to bring them as little house gifts (even if its just a driveway drop off).. I am going to do the same with little pots of flowers.. Lets face it, if you gave someone seeds for turnips (not everyone likes turnips) or carrots( they can be fussy to start) pumpkin (o my gosh.. that is a huge plant and take so long to produce), you get the idea..

While a “gardener” might be happy with all kinds of things.. for most peaple, they know what pea’s are.. they are pretty easy to grow, they have lovely flowers and I have never meet a child that does not love to pick fresh pea’s off the vine and pop that lovely green boat and snack on those fresh raw peas.. its just a treat.

Consider starting a extra tray of your favorite flowers and bring a few of them in cute basket, box or ?? with you this spring/summer/fall.. it will help brighten someones day!

Posted in Gal in the Garden Series, Garden, seed saving, Seeds | Tagged breeding for fall planted pea seds, breeding for spring pea seeds, gifting out seeds, give a little gift, growing peas, Pea seeds, pea shoots, Saving Pea seeds | 5 Comments

Pawpaw Seeds

Posted on January 14, 2021 by Just another day on the farm

I ordered in Pawpaw seeds from a seller one zone harder then my own and I hope to get two 3 year old trees this spring about 40 minutes away as they like to be planted in clumps.

pawpaw

I ordered in 15 seeds and the sellar sent 23, and they have been kept in damp and cold in the fridge till this week.. some of them seem much more plump then a few, so we will see how many sprout.

https://www.ontario.ca/page/pawpaw

They are in damp potting soil in the Baby Greenhouse and once I have sprouting, as they have a heavy thick tap root, they will be planted into 5 gallon pots in sets of two or three depending.

Do you have pawpaw on your homestead? Do you prune them.. have you ever pruned them to keep them smaller? Honestly they appear to get very large, I am not sure I want them to grow up to 10 meters, that’s 30 feet tall.. how are you to harvest the fruit when they are that big? speical picking tools?

Then I have heard that they will not grow that big in my area, many say, no.. in our area, they will get about ten feet give or take.. who is right.. that is the issue..

I am not sure I want more then two or three clumps of them, so if everything starts and grows well, then I guess I will be gifting or bartering out extras.

One of the things I find very interesting is that they are a shade tree and that they do not like full sun, they need part to full shade.. that say this is very important for young baby trees..

They also like damp soil.. I have plans to place them edged into my slew area with shade from my big tree.. I hope that they will like this spot.. i will let you know..

It felt great to start another project for the gardens and the food forests on the farm..

pawpaw flowers

One of the things that i am looking forward to even if it takes a long time for fruit is the flowers.. I mean a tree in the spring full of amazing scarlet flowers, stunning..

interesting fact on them, they like to be pollinated by beetles, not bees.. or so I read.. I have never had the chance to date to try these real life so I am taking a bit of a leap o f faith that they do taste good 🙂

Posted in Food Forest | Tagged ontario pawpaw seeds, paw paw tree, pawpaw fruit, pawpaw red flowers, pawpaw seedlings, Pawpaws in food forest understudy, spring flowers on trees | 2 Comments

Homemade Custard Recipe

Posted on January 13, 2021 by Just another day on the farm

I hope this photo shows you how silky smooth this custard can be..

Ah custard, so easy to make when it goes right, and fussy when it does not..

Creamy Homemade Custard Recipe

4 cups whole milk

4 egg yolks

2 tsp of vanilla extract

2 tsp of corn starch (add 1 tsp more if you like a stiffer custard)

1/4 cup sugar (if you want a sweeter but its not needed)

In a heavy bottom pot add your milk, sugar, vanilla and corn starch (blend this together while its cold, then add half a cup of your milk to the beated egg, blend it together and pour it into your milk mixture. This goes on your small burner for even heating and you want it at a low-med heat.. which on my stove is #4, it does mean that it heats slower but its worth it.. Whisk slowly and softly the whole time.. don’t worry it only take a couple minutes to bring it up to heat, it only needs to cook at that very slow low heat till the yolk cooked in combo with the corn starch thickens..

Once you have trail lines behind your whisk,, take it off the heat and stir another min or so, it will keep cooking from the heat of the pot.

Details in regards to your egg yolk Split out your egg yolk from your egg white, (save your whites to add to a omlet or however you would like to use them), beat them till they froth and have that lighter color change. Do each egg on its own, try as hard as possable to have no egg white in there.

This can be served hot (its very good fresh hot from the pot as is, its thinner but you will not care) or you can put it into a heat proof tub (cover it if you do not want a skin on the top to form and chill in the fridge, it will be thicker this way..

Can be served with fruit, can be served on pancakes or waffles, is amazing with banana’s, or a sprinkle of coconut, can be put in your icecream maker.. o my! can be placed in tart shells with a drop of whipped cream on top.

Now the joy of this is that you can take your recipe up or down as needed.. I find that the 1 cup whole milk to one egg yolk works very well.. I like half a tsp of thickener but if you like a thicker custard, you can up that a touch.. but do try it that way first.

Posted in Life moves on daily, Sheep Milk | Tagged custard, Farm Fresh Eggs, Making custard, sheeps milk custard, smooth vanilla custard, ways to use custard, winter egg use | 3 Comments

Increase your Skill Set -Hair cuts

Posted on January 11, 2021 by Just another day on the farm

When it comes to increasing my skill set when it comes to hair cuts, there are three area’s to get better at.

Human Hair trims/cuts

Sheep Shearing/crotching

Dogs Trims/Shaping

If there is one thing that 2020 taught us, we can go for ages without getting our hair cut, we can do our own nails, shape our own brows.. If you didn’t already do it.. bring your trims “in house” for 2021

In this case, I am do not recommend any major hair cut style changes and if you can do so, utube is your friend on this.. or just stay with the most basic trim, do your split ends and go..

I started trimming hubby’s hair year one of our relationship, he wanted a trim and we were way up in the north and he said I will get my hair cut next time I am down south, which had me give him the funny look and while it took me a bit to explain that we did home hair cuts 99 percent of the time in my family.. so I did the smallest trim possable for the first cuts he got.. I have been cutting his hair/beard/eyebrows for the next 20 years lol

2020 was the first time he trimmed mine.. he was very careful.. to careful really I wanted more off but it will come with time. Always better to want more trimmed off then to regret that to much was taken off.

I saw someone say, what are skills that we should be learning and or getting better at, and hair cuts was really on the top of that list.. Dog hair trimming was for sure in the top ten skills to learn.

Makes me wonder how many peaple are sending their dogs out to be groomed.. I do not mind grooming my dogs. My oldest girls are the ones that have the longest hair and need the most thinning/shaping and or shave down depending on the time of year.

I perfer to take the time to thin and shape then shave if I can.. but I have been known to take miss paris right down with the clippers once a year.. Dezzy is very double coated but short haired on her legs and so its a matter of trimming and lots of bush out..

Out of the two new boys, its Uther above that needs the steady daily groom time.. He would shed enough with all that lab blood and that crazy blow the coat twice a year.. but he really shows his Chessie blood all down his back line and he has this crazy course/wire type all over his back and down to his shoulders.. its so thick and water proof that the vet felt the need to warn me twice now that I will need to groom him regular to brush that out, keep the oils moving, and brush it back up after swimming as he says they can get skin infections if its not looked after properly.

So he is learning that he gets a daily brush out and I am always amazed at all the things that come out that you do not see.. little seeds, bits of hay, little sticks and so on..

Then comes the one that I am not fond of but do need to get better at.. shearing.. I am down to 3 ewes that need to be sheared.. and I swear at some point I will get back to only having hair sheep that shed out fully on their own.

Until that day comes, at least once a year I have to tackle shearing the ewes, I promise you they are not more happy to see me coming then I am to do it.. I know that some folks like shearing their sheep, I am not one them.. I wish I was!

So this year, I am going to see if there is any way to learn to be a better at it, to try hard to be safe but just a touch faster at it.. Thank goodness I use the wool in my gardens and I am not shearing for wool..

So when it comes to clippers/scissors use in your house, have you brought them in house, will you be bringing them in house.. Do you do basic grooming but send your dog out for the trim/cut/bath?

When it comes to the sheep, do you have any words of wisdom to make my shearing go better? If so I am all ears? I have power clippers as well as hand shears

One part of me wants to point out that it will save you money and it will in the long run if you keep it up but in truth depending on how much you need to buy in regards to grooming kit (dog) sheers(sheep) and grooming kit (human) it could be a bit spendy to set you up..

Still if push comes shove for peaple at least, you need a straight comb and a pair of straight scissors, if you have to in a pinch, good fabic scissors will get the job done..

Posted in farm | Tagged brushing your dogs coat, cutting your hair at home, doing your own dog grooming, Shearing sheep, trimming your dog, Trimming your own hair | 5 Comments

Carrot Slaw -Lighter Carb

Posted on January 10, 2021 by Just another day on the farm

I love a good carrot slaw in winter, the carrots keep so well if prepared properly and they just get sweeter with age if they are the right storage kinds.

This is just one of my Sweeter Carrot Slaw Recipes.. A lovely red Carrot Slaw. I also love it with a creamy dill dressing made of mayo, cream a bit of sugar and lots of black pepper and dill, so good.. or how about this great Sweet Pickle Slaw recipe?

However with Hubby’s new Diabetic rules in place, I wanted to lighten this version up..

Carrot Slaw Light Recipe

2 Medium size Carrots, Peeled and grated med course
2 Medium young Zucchini, ends trimmed, grated med course
1/4 cup of pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds
1 tbsp of golden raisins
1 tsp of poppy seeds
1/2 tsp of salt free herbal salt replacemnt
2 TBSP of a good Italian Dressing

If you need to drop out the raisins you can do so.. but even just the odd one works to bring in that the chew texture at times and that hit of sweetness.. the poppy seeds seem to meld but they do add to a bit of pop in the mouth feel. I personally go unsalted with the seeds as hubby’s heart issue also means we are balancing between heart smart and Diabetic at the same time.

The joy of the Zucchini is that is lower carb compared to the carrot and it takes on the flavors of the carrot in a lovely way.. Enjoy..

This makes 4 sides to go with a meal or a hearty salad to go with soup or meal side.. Does not hold up that well in the fridge as the Zucchini lets out more liquid and makes the carrots even more soggy..

If you need to keep in fridge, be prepared to drain off , add a bit more grated fresh carrot and touch up your dressing to bring it back up to full flavour and texture.

If you are looking for a way to turn leftovers into something different, a leftover of this could be added to a cabbage slaw to create a new dish to finish it up very easily.

Posted in Recipes from the Root Cellar | Tagged Carrot Slaw recipe, Carrots in salads, Winter Carrot Slaw, Winter Keeping carrots, Winter root veggies | 8 Comments

Increased Theft in Rural Area’s

Posted on January 9, 2021 by Just another day on the farm

My biggest and best driveway alarm

Every single day my local police department puts out a notice on what is happening in our local area, I have watched the reports of theft increase.

Now to be fair, its not like theft is not a somewhat normal event in our area and I am sure the same in yours? We have had a small propane tank theft in some of our small towns locally that has struck year after year..

we all try and figure that one out.. do they use the tanks? are you they stealing them to turn them in for the refund on them when you recycle them? Where do they sell them onward because its not local that they are going?

Sure those hit are unhappy at the loss but its one of those.. o again.. when its reported. We have really had a increase in vehicle thefts and they are very targetted and rarely recovered, they are believed to be targetted, chopped and shipped out of the montreal port at very rapid speed. (no idea if its true or not, just here it on the news and radio) this morning, they annouced 5 vehicle thefts of the same make/model in a very small local area..

Clearly someone wanted parts or those makes and has a plan.. no one steals 5 of the same make and model (but different colors) in one night without knowing what they are going to do with them at the end point.

We have very little theft in regards to truckers compared to the big city areas, where they will hit the whole truck and take everything out the back.. it can happen but its rare.. heck we have even had peaple come and steal truckloads of grain..

Of course we have the normal amounts of B&E’s it happens.. not to often but it does happen. We have a mother-daughter set that did local B&E’s for a couple years in a wide ring around our rural area.. they were finally caught and the whole area got real quiet that way.

Right now, the biggest issue is farm thefts, they are using small drones to check the farm out.. a) to check to see if they want to hit your farm b) to see if you are home

now that is taking new tec to a level that I am honestly surprised at.. I am not even sure our dogs really would react to a small drone zipping by.. do you think yours would?

They say the top items that are being stolen off the farms are, mobile generators, wood splitters, chain saws, tools, Jerry can’s, snow blowers, lawn mowers, ATV’s, Moterbikes, Saddles/horse tack,

In the past two years the other one we see is small stock theft, baby goats, baby sheep, the odd calf and chickens.. I mean really.. chickens.. and then there is garden produce theft..

Last year someone within 2 hours of my farm, had someone come in at “JUST” the right moment and cleared out 12,000 worth of garlic.. first to do that in one night did not happen with just one person and second.. who and how did they move 12,000 worth of raw garlic.. ??

I have heard of fruit trees picked clean in the night, I have heard of garden raids, I want to believe that they really needed that food.. but then I think about the time someone raided my own garden as it was to close to the road.. no one is ever going to make me think that a herd of raccoon came, cleanly picked all the ready zucchini on the same night.. as I was growing for canning and there was over 30 plants worth.. I still do not know who or how they needed and used that much of the green stuff lol

I am just glad they did not damage the plants and so it was a blip, but still.. it taught me to not plant quite so visable to the road that’s for sure.

So the stats clearly state that having dogs, really helps and that often the sound of a barking dog or in my case a pack of barking dogs will encourge them to look for easier pickings..

Yes, she put be behind this fence.. yes I could clear this fence in a heartbeat.. she is just trying to make you feel better but know I am watching you..

I swear my new lab boy would help them load stuff(maybe he will grow into a better watch/bark dog) but given Remmi would not let them out of the truck its a moot point.. and my little girls would be raising a rackit that would be loud enough to raise the dead..

Remmi will wake me up in the middle of the night if he thinks he hears something, one night someone parked on the road, I am not sure why but it was around 2ish in the morning and he heard them, woke me up, I went and let him out.. he pointed his nose to show me the issue and barked his fool head off while a line went up his back..

The two men shaped shadows on the road standing out, kind of leaning on their car, got back in and sat for a min or two and then started the vehicle and pull around and drove off.. while he has got me up a few times that I am not sure why.. he is very sure why and I do respect his work ethic.

Camera’s are a good idea if you can make it happen, Locked Gates will help to a point, Locked doors will also help, if you have lots of windows, spraying with the window paint that is that soft white can help, lets the light in but blocks just looking in, unless they scrape it off. Chaining things up can also help.. in some cases running a hot line in just the right place and way can give a nasty surprise.

None of those will really stop someone with good planning and skills but they will stop those that are just looking for a quick grab and go..

So best theft preventing tips? What is the most commen types of theft is being reported in your area? Have you had theft’s happen to you directly, if so what did they take? What do you do to help prevent issues? Do you think with things going the way they are in regards to job loss, that we are going to see a increase in theft?