Wild Blackberries in bloom in between and the edge of the second layer of the food forest area in the front yard.
Hmmmm, glad to see that my brussel sprouts are coming a long but clearly that ground around it needs to be bedded down for the season.. Last I got ducks bathing in ruts LOL
Now, what I would like photo of is my ducklings, my bunnies, my garden, the things you have planted out, and maybe a photo or two of some of my barn critters, sheep, pigs or moo cows.. hint, hint lovey..
So Deb had recommended that I read Wheat Belly, and I did so, I am very fast reader but for a good book, I will also read it over and over again, something amuses DH to know end, like one of my favorite books Rapter Red, I read it about two or four times a year for the past 15 plus years..
Anyway, I have to say that I just can’t be suprised to find out that they have breed the heck out of our current wheat to the point that our bodies can’t keep up with the changes in it..
I have to admit to being a little sad at reading it but not that surprised.. I think it would be very interesting to give it a try for a month and see what happens, in regards to removing wheat from my diet..
The catch or the problem I have is two fold..veggies and some of the other grains.
a) I would not be willing to remove things I can grow on the farm, potato’s, squash, corn etc from my diet, I would be willing to let go of wheat (Which I know bothers me) but I am not sure I would give up all barley ( which does not bother me and I use it alot in soups/stews). I normally don’t have any issues with oats either..
I would want to see if I could keep limited amount of rice in, I don’t have a problem with his recommended “lower” amounts as that is about perfect for soups/stews etc
I think, I am going to give this a try and see what happens, if I get postive effects, I will work harder at it, will let you know how it all goes..
Wow, do I miss my book collection, and I just do not have time to sit and try and look on the net to figure out what I should be doing.. so I am going to just ask for a bit of help from friends..
Can any of you hit your books and see what I need to be adding in regards to either a) food or b) herbs to help with burning feet..
I have started to add in a banana a day , and I will be going right after I post this to get some salts to soak my feet in, Overall health good, no headache, no swell in legs, normal active, good sleep, but both feet feel like they burn when I put stand on them, by the end of the day for two days in row, limping by the end of it..
Any and all postive thoughts or comments are welcome.. if at all possable, please keep it to things I can do myself and or herbal etc.
The strange yarn of the fugitive flock – heritage sheep said to be related to the first sheep that came from England to Canada – is coming to a messy end after food inspection officials finally found at least some of the quarantined sheep stolen in a high-profile bid to save them from the slaughterhouse.
Canada Food Inspection Agency officials found 28 sheep and has started to kill them, said their owner, Montana Jones.
The sheep were apparently found on a farm near Chesley, Ont., not far from the Lake Huron shore but a five hour drive from her farm in eastern Ontario where they went missing.
Ontario Provincial Police and CFIA both independently confirmed that some of the missing sheep, which were subject to a government quarantine order in a scrapie scare, were found but refused to provide any details or confirm a cull has begun.
More on the link itself, but I copied that part that I felt was the update, the rest is overview..
My other post on this subject.. Warning, its a bit of a rant..
I was able to watch some of Back To Eden yesterday and I will certainly plan to watch the rest, I was about 40 min into it and I very much liked the idea of how he creates soil but once again I was stumped and surprised when they showed huge trucks bringing the materal to the site and a full sized backhoe being used to put things into a massive chipper/mulch making machine..
Come on, not everyone can live close enough to get many loads of wood chips dumped on their land, and even few of us can afford to use or rent backhoes etc.. I could not agree more with the goals of what I saw but I could not agree with how it was being done..
Most of us are going to have to use what is naturally provided on our own land or within our own area, and is able to be made with our own sweat and hands.
Which brings me right back to having my own compost piles, green cut and drop crops, mulch from what grows on the farm and making and using my own green or aged compost tea’s..
Our garden truly looks like a overgrown jungle to the naked eye, Huge patches of Stinging nettle, Burdock plants here and there, about the only thing that does look somewhat typical is that we do have walkways, at the end of most rows we have flowering plants, herb plants or medical plants, for every four or five rows, we have a row of flowering/herbs/medical plants, there are tree’s and bushes in the middle of the garden itself that it is planted around, create mini-shade spots..
Typically if its not planted its got green cover growing on it, or its got sheet metal on it or its covered in wood shavings/critter poo/feathers/hair from the pens.
One of the hardest things to learn to do in my garden is to learn to pull and drop, in many ways I find it hard because my folks always had us pulling the weeds and then removing them from the garden, so that they would not go to “seed” so I fight my inner voice when I just take a knife and cut down a swath of green and drop it in place, leaving the roots in place to rot in the soil, and the green to go on top.. However its very effective, you cut or pull and drop the green cover in place, make your planting hole, I tend to then mix in a bit of the aged compost below into the hole itself and then plant, then mulch around the plants on top of the green dropped cover crop..
Over the past few days I arrive early and I don’t leave until after supper close to the end of visiting hours (not that I am coming in on time either) but this afternoon, Fate as they call it gave a kick.
I got this urge to head out, even though it was way to early, not because I was in fact that tired but just because I need to move, so off I headed, thinking a little of this and little of that and I will take the evening to myself as it looks like ma is coming home tomorrow and then I won’t be getting half day’s off.
My mind was aware in a general way of the world around me but I will own to the fact that I was not my typical on guard self, I was in that almost floating state of mind above, body working, and I saw with my eyes a big tall gent in black leather, colors, tat’s and shade coming towards me, I moved right, he moved right and just kept coming, Move right again and so does he.. finally stop and “look” at the same moment he says my name with a “sis” behind it and I am taken into a huge hug..
Its “Bear” bro, my big brother I meet in collage, my friend for a good number of years that I had lost track of and had not seen in 15 years, he had grown up, where he was a little rough around the edges with a heart of gold in his twenties, now is a man with rings of steel around that same heart that is so big and so full of love for those he cares about that he darn near glows with it..
He looks like the years have made him a little mean, put grey into his hair and put another solid 40 of muscle on him, he is a daddy four times over and granddad 11 times and bursting with pride for his wife and little ones..
Got a quick visit in with a phone number and will be honored to meet the family some time this month at a later point.. I had forgot just how safe and cared for you feel when he wraps those arms around you, I have thought of him often over the years and wondered where he was, if he was happy, and I am so glad to see that he is!
It’s worse than feared for apple farmers in Ontario.
Ontario Apple Growers association chair Brian Gilroy says that it looks like Ontario apple farmers have lost about 88 per cent of their crop this year.
“It’s devastating,” said Gilroy. “The estimates that we gave of there being 20 per cent of the crop left is probably optimistic. We’re looking at probably 12 per cent.”
Warm weather in February and March led to early blossoms that were, in April, burned by frost. A killer blow.
The Ontario Apple Growers surveyed apple farmers in the province. Of more than 220 farmers, only 37 reported back, but the numbers don’t look good.
“On my farm, there’s hardly a McIntosh there,” said Gilroy. ”There’s a large Spy block. You’ll walk by four or five apple trees without seeing anything. The real conundrum is what to do with such a spotty crop as that.”
Gilroy estimated that on his farm, a tree that might normally produce 12 to 15 bushels will only produce one this season.
That also means fewer people needed to pick apples. Gilroy said the damage this season could mean 600 fewer jobs in the Georgian Bay area alone where he farms apples.
Brenda Fletcher of Fletcher Fruit Farm in Binbrook said of the 23 varieties she usually sells, only four or five will produce enough to make it to the market.
Once she gets to the market on Ottawa Street, she’s not sure how long she can stay.
“We may lose our market for the winter,” Fletcher said. “We’re hoping to let our customers know we will be back next year. It was just the weather.”
The news is not all bad. Northern Spy and Gala apples are in good supply across Ontario. Gilroy estimates a “reasonable volume” for both.
Gilroy hopes help from the government is on the way. They haven’t announced any plan for compensating farmers, but the government has been doing the background work necessary to put a plan in place, he said.
He is certain, however, about his message for people who love Ontario grown apples.
“We’ll be back stronger than ever in 2013,” he said. “We’re not going to be that dominant in the market this year but whenever possible ask for Ontario grown.”
So there is my ma relaxing a day or two before having her full knee replacement surgery and here is the different garden box’s and the main garden just waiting for me to get busy!
I will do after photos next week, Mom’s surgery went well but with a few things that still need to be sorted out.. won’t go in detail but hopefully they will be better..
Farm garden update per DH..
Planted out 80 squash plants into the food forest edge trial, planted out the full sun hugelculture bed, worked in the garden, I understand that all the rain meant that he could pull up the wild parsnip with ease an so he cleaned out the different rows an beds for all the perennials
Says that the wild rasberries are in crazy amounts of bloom and same with the wild blackberries.. that we will have blueberries as well as lots of currents this year..
As, you can see the ducklings are growing well, they are week old and have grown at least 1/3rd in size, they are all strong legged and active little peepers.. The baby bunny rabbits are starting to nibble fresh greens and they are growing and developing their coat types, I have one I don’t like to consider for breeding and two that I will keep watching.. and below, you can see that Angelo and Marty are checking each other out, Girl and Miss Piggy figure out who was “boss” of the fields and Marty did the same with Angelo.. cows rule over the pigs, who had truly gotten themselves into a mucky dirty state when they played in the slew.. so here is my stunning Miss Piggy, looking very grubby 
Just another Day on the Farm 