Friday Rambles around the Table- Salves

Posted on March 29, 2019 by Just another day on the farm

 


Good Morning,  Come in, Come in.. it rain most of the night so stay to the paths when possible.  Its still drizzling, I know.. we can see melting around tree’s, fence posts and around rocks..  Coffee’s on..

It is so nice that we can just stand a moment on the deck and look out but lets not get to wet before we head in.. so much to do out there..  Here let me hang up your coat, they say that it will turn to snow later this afternoon and snow all night and that the storm might even go into Sunday

March is going out like a lion! I have a course on Saturday but its nice and close by so I should be able to make it. However if they are right, there goes my plans on the weekend to get to the pruning.

Yes the house does smell nice, its the cedar being dried. I am working on putting up a years worth of Dried Cedar.  Half of it is going into oil in the cold process for the next four weeks and the other half is being prepared.  Some of it will be done into a soaking tea for your feet and the rest will be put up for if I need to make more salve in the future.

The Prepared Cedar oil will be used to make one of my coming tree based salves in my spring salve collection.  I am both excited and a bit nervous to tell the truth but I will be for the first time offering my different salves for sale this year.

I have a number of different sizes..  I will have all six of the spring collection in the smaller silver tin and in the travel size. Farmgal’s Green Salve will be in the Big Gold Tin (it will also be available in the travel size)

The other sizes are to give people as much choice as possible. I am looking forward to this spring so much in regards to foraging, collecting, processing and creating my salves.

I will also be offering salve making classes for those that would like to learn how to do it themselves if you are local.

In a way its been a good thing that the weather didn’t work for the garden/butcher this month because it allowed me a lot of extra time to work on the Spring Salve and Soap line.

Of course I say that now LOL however the coming month means that if the weather works for me, that I will be harder pushed but that’s ok..  it will all come together.. One step at a time. It all adds up.

The red wing black birds have arrived on the farm.. Its a sure sign of spring.. I love hearing their sweet voices.  I had a flock of six come though but only two males have claimed the farm, which sounds about right!

I have been seeing great strides in regards to my physio and I can see where I am so much stronger, I also realized that if I “baby” one thing that I can get so much more done when I have not pushed that area so much.

Squatting is a killer for me, I can only do it for so many times, its not the going down or being down that is that much of a issue, its getting back up that is the issue lol.  I decided to take the bull by the horns and got myself a kneeling pad with lift arms, it gives you a padded area to kneel on and then helps give you that ability to use upper body, instead of just legs and core.

I will keep doing my work but I needed to find a meet in the middle so that I can go longer each day without wearing out.. I think it will greatly help when I need to go up and down dozens of times in a row working on things.

I am so excited to see spring really start, so many folks are already planting gardens down south in the states and you all are giving me a mild case of garden fever.. but everything in its own time.

While there has been flooding in the area, so far my own farm is melting out in a very controlled way, I could not be happier with how its going. The Pond is acting as a great collection point in the front yard, I am interested in if and when? it will overflow into the rain garden collection point behind it.

Only time will give me the answer.  The different channels we cut into the snow are working just as planned, they are nicely directing the melt water as it moves.  This is a very good thing indeed.. (thanks Phil for the idea)

On other news Hubby finished his first draft of his first novel (he is published as both a short story  multiple times and as a novella) but this is his first full length. Proud of him and also really glad that the big writing push is done and that he is on to the edit stage.

He was really “in” it and I was hoping it could get done before I needed to pull him away and focus on the farm now that spring has sprung!

I finally got Instagram on my phone and I am learning slowly how to make it work. If you would like to follow me, I will follow back 🙂

https://www.instagram.com/farmgal1800

Right now I am still figuring things out but I promise to add a good amount of extra photos on it in the coming and goings of the day. While I expect that there will a good amount of farm stuff on it, I hope to use it just as much for short off farm trips.

Well, I had better get off the computer and on with the doing.. Everyone have a good day, hard to believe that somehow its the last Friday of March! Where did the month go!

 

 

 

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Pasture Seed Blends

Posted on March 28, 2019 by Just another day on the farm

Well, I have found the company I want to work with, I am just waiting back on word on if I can get it ordered in by our local Home Hardware or if they are going to send me to somewhere else.

I am doing a massive re-seeding of Corner Pasture and Front Pasture. We got the new fence line in last summer to create the Front Pasture, splitting the “big” pasture pretty much in half.

These two area’s are getting a full re-work.. on the Front Pasture, I will be adding in small Swale’s to help with drainage and to increase the land space, each side of the swale will be planted and overall, it should give a total of an increase of about 20 percent.. crazy how that can work but so be it.

The corner pasture has only ever had light frost seeding happen to it and its odd little pasture, it has a natural self made mini pond/large swale.. it fills and holds on all rains.. It’s a bit tricky because I will have to make a short entry way into its backside because they horse’s will need access to the their walk in lean too.

Otherwise, I think I can get four squares out of it for the sheep in terms of stripe grazing and I am going to be planting willow cuttings around the swale/mini pond that will be planned silvo pasture for the future.

That pasture is also getting a gentle but large collection rain garden, the area is already a collection spot, I just want to take an it a touch deeper and add in the collection swale’s to pull that water into the rain garden area.  Its going to be turned into a small stripe grazing paddock with moveable hot line fencing.. It is big enough that I can get nine feeding out of it once it’s fully working.

I will be planting a full new double hedgerow along the road front in the front pasture. The front line will be native fruit bearing/medical with a under planting for native pollinators, the second line will be planned for Silvo Pasture/tree fodder production. I lost over 60 of my smaller feeder tree’s last year. Not just cut down and come back.. I mean I lost them, they were cut down an then pulled out by the roots and piled up.

They need to be replaced or at least a good amount of them do.. and as I am starting from scratch, I might as well do it into mainly willow, a much better choice for all the livestock to be feeding on.  I am planning on going with Native Black willow but I will mix it up to a point as well doing some hedge willow in there as well.

It needs to be this way for a few reasons.. One the front needs to have picking access by human’s as required plus all the bushes types need to be the powerline rules in top out growths.

The second line however needs to be protected by the moveable net as it grows up, but it must be kept trimmed enough that it never gets past the height I can work with by hand.

We will see how many planted out this year. We got a great sale for new sheep/goat fencing at a hundred dollars off per roll this week. I am so looking forward getting that fence line redone, not just because it needs it but because it will truly make the farm look better to those that pull in 🙂

Sheep/Goat Blend

20% Climax Timothy
20% Forage Type Tall Fescue
20% BG-24T Perennial Ryegrass Blend
10% Fixation Balansa Clover
10% HLR Orchardgrass
10% Festulolium
8% Forage Type Kentucky Bluegrass
2% Creeping Red Fescue

This is the blend being used for the Small pasture that will be getting a very heavy frost seeding out to improve and back fill it. This area is a crap shoot this year, I am most likely just throwing things to the wind on this one.. I am not at all sure that I can get this one finished in terms of fencing (its the lowest on my list). While I can get a hot line to keep the horse’s out, keeping the sheep and goats out.. that’s a whole different thing..

The one area that this will be a good thing, is this one is going to into the “Keep” and will be heavily re-seeded.  I will see if they are willing to remove the white clover, if not so be it, that is the one thing I do have lots of.. to much to a point.

Bojangles is going to a busy working horse this year in helping me rework the pastures this year..

Frost Seeding Blend

10% Bruce Birdsfoot Trefoil 7% Huia White Clover
10% Double Cut Red Clover
20% Baridana Orchardgrass
25% BG-24T Perennial Ryegrass Blend 15% Promesse Timothy
13% Fixation Balansa Clover

This is my ground cover blend for the “big yard shake up”..

I will be using this blend on the close cropped down side ditches and used in full amounts anywhere there is bare ground that does not get a tree, fruit bush, or plant.. I would rather have to cut and drop this where needed, then have bare soil in the yard.

Add in this blends availability to help feed the pollinators and we are good to go for sure!

Non-crop land Pollinator Blend

Alfalfa, White Clover,
Yellow Blossom Sweet Clover, Crimson Clover, Chicory, Sunflower, Alsike Clover, Single Cut Red Clover, Double Cut Red Clover, Brown Mustard, Groundbreaker Radish

The Big Pasture is going to just get a light cover of oats to help create a quick fast growth on it to fill in the spaces and otherwise, its on next years list.. A person can only do so much per year..

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Farmgal’s Photography March 28th

Posted on March 28, 2019 by Just another day on the farm

Big Black Drake..


Crème one of the yearling goats

Sofie enjoying the warm sun and a relaxing grooming..

My first of hopefully many detailed closeups, a believe this is a northern paper wasp  its a challenge to get a clear closeup.

 

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The Gal in the Garden Series 2019 “Spring Ordering”

Posted on March 27, 2019 by Just another day on the farm

Let me tell you straight up that I have NEVER ordered as much off farm tree’s, bushes, plants and plant plug trays and garden veggies as I have this year.

Spring orders for 2019

  • Bare Root Fruit Tree’s
  • Bare Root Nut Bushes
  • Bare Root Fruit producing Bushes
  • Started Plant Plugs in lots of 12 or 24 plus Fruit Producing Bushes
  • Started Plant Plugs in lots of 12 to 24 in regards to “herbal use” bushes
  • Started Plant Plugs in lots of 12 to 24 in regards to “animal fodder uses or medical use for livestock”
  • Started Plant Plugs  in lots of 12 to 24 for “Herbal Tea use” and different season bee feeder plants
  • Six kinds of Seed potato’s
  • 2 kinds of Started Tomato’s
  • 4 kinds of started Pepper plants
  • A full lot of 12 started Aunt Molly Ground Cherries
  • 24 bare root Sweet Potato cuttings

That’s just the stuff that is coming off farm to the farm as each shipment date comes up.  Then there is all the early starts that I am working with..

I will be starting my own seedlings this coming week (more on that next week) and I will be doing more pruning this week.. we got the plum tree’s pruned and we will be working on the rest this week.

Ideally this weekend will bring me to the Permaculture propagation pruning’s. I will be pruning and creating a large number of High Bush Cranberry, Elderberry and Black Chokeberry cuttings.  I would like to be starting at 2 dozen of each..

Then when I get to the gooseberry and currant bushes, I hope to get at least a dozen, perhaps 2 dozen red, white and black currant cuttings to start after those bushes are pruned up.

I will be adding in some pin cherry babies this year from a friend’s farm. I will be also cutting digging and transplanting at least one more 50 plant raspberry row. I hope to gift at least another 40 to 50 this spring for someone else’s farm, along with at least 10 cuttings of red currant, high bush cranberry, elderberries and maybe a rhubarb cutting or two.

I would like to tell you that this week as been really productive garden wise but it’s just not true, we have been having more below 0 days and down to -14 to -16 nights on average.. they say that it might be warming up a bit

I have gotten some of the now “full sun” side garden along the house raked and some of the smaller rocks removed.. we placed a large piece of glass over one area to help raise the soil temp and I will plant it out and use a cold frame over the area as an early spring move the plants back and forth. I can’t plant there as we need to keep cleaning the area out, move out the rocks, and raise the height of the bed itself. I am up in the air if I need to add enough soil that I need to dig out the daylily’s or if I will just add a layer over them this year and the next couple years and build it up that way over the plants. I will share how it goes.

It’s so very strange to have a whole area of the yard suddenly be full sun, that has always been in shade since I got the farm. It means a good amount of changes in plants a ways to use those gardens.

The new garden bed to be in front of the deck will be a kitchen garden with a lot of vertical growing space being planned into it. The main plan for that garden is dead simple..

Fresh eating climbing cucumbers, cherry tomato’s, radish, green onions and some chives, and then a nice pretty front border row of flowers for a pop of color and to help bring in the bees/pollinators

It’s not so easy to figure out what I want in the small front yard garden area.. it’s not really that small either LOL but that’s its name.. the small front yard garden area because its needs to be split and understood that it’s not part of the Big front yard Permaculture style food forest/mini gardens etc

I will take some photo’s for you when it’s not under 2 plus feet of snow, nothing much to show you.. snow and more snow.. but it is slowly melting (they say we will have more snow in two days)

So I leave you with a cute little video of my Dez being a good helper farm dog, she is always willing to give a helping paw LOL

Hopefully I will have more updates by next week, at least I should have a good amount of pruning updates and start’s for propagation on cuttings

 

 

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Lard Based Bird Seed Cakes

Posted on March 26, 2019 by Just another day on the farm


Most folks tell you that you need to use Tallow (Beef) lard in regards to making a homemade bird feed seed cakes.  I wanted to share that it is very possible to use lard (pork). I will admit that I am using pasture based no corn/no soy locally processed self rendered by myself.

Having said that if you can find rendered Tallow or Lard at your local butcher, I see no reason why this would not work just as well.  I think in a total pinch, you could use lard from the store as well.

I have Tallow and Lard cakes out in the yard at the same time, and I am needing to make and replace the lard one faster then the tallow. I will admit to being a touch surprised by this fact.

This recipe is a great blend of 2 cups of sunflower seeds and 2 cups of mixed small bird seed with two cups of my home rendered lard. Mix together and place it in a tub or pan to chill, then cut and place in the feeder.

This recipe makes 2 blocks. My suit feeder is a double feeder, one block on each side and my big sunflower feeder as seen above also needs two blocks, one on each end.  If you only use one block at a time, you can still make this recipe. Just put the second block into a tub or bag and pop it into the freezer until you need it. Bring it back to room temp and then put it out into your feeder.

If you buy a store feeder block, just wash it up and keep it as your mold to make your homemade ones in.

 

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Stump Garden 2019

Posted on March 25, 2019 by Just another day on the farm

Last fall a huge old Maple Tree came down in the “Yard Shake up 2018” and it left me with this huge rotted out stump. I meant to do more with this it last fall but all I really got done was prepping it some for spring.

Well, Spring is here! This past week, I took a shovel out and removed layers of snow on top and around the stump itself, as once its exposed to the sun it will warm up faster.

Here is my Stump Garden to be.. three days after I shoveled it out. Still very frozen in the middle, I scraped out the top layer of sugar snow till I hit more solid ice.

Then we added in two huge shovels worth of rabbit poo.. So our first layer in the stump is the well rotted wood that you saw being pulled down in the video above and now I  have added in a four inch layer of rabbit poo.

This has been done for two reason’s..

The first is that the black rabbit poo will act as a heat sink for the sun and will help this area heat up and melt down faster.

The second is that I want that layer of a cool manure to rot down into the water holding rotted wood below it..

Once that has melted out, I will top it with a mix of well finished compost/dirt to fill up the rest of the stump and get it planted out.

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Dogwood 52-Fill the Frame

Posted on March 25, 2019 by Just another day on the farm

This photo is not cropped and It drives me a touch crazy that I didn’t get perfect levelness when I took it but it meets the fill the frame, one subject.. one color.. Ok, so it’s shades of the same color…. call it one camo color blended lol..

Patrick was giving the eye to the birds at the feeder and was facing the sun so he had crazy intense look at the time..

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Pruning of the Plum Tree’s 2019

Posted on March 24, 2019 by Just another day on the farm

Yesterday hubby and I put on snow shoes and headed out into the main part of the yard to try and get to our plum tree’s. They were in a way the fruit tree’s that need the least amount of pruning on the farm as they took a huge pruning/cut back job on them last year due to treating a disease on them.

It was a brutal pruning job done at the wrong time of the year but we cut out all the effected limbs and removed all the fruit and treated the tree’s. We will need to treat them again this spring and clean up all under them.

So really this spring we headed out with two goals in mind in regards to pruning the plums.

  1. To remove suckers, cross over rubbing branches out of the trees, any branches that were growing downward instead of upwards and to open up the middle of the tree’s to encourage a nice open middle of the trees.
  2. Trim down all but the single or double main shoots into whips as the younger 2 to 3 year old plums are going to be dug up and moved around the yard this year in the great replant.

Here is what we were mainly dealing with in general.

This is a plum in need of spring pruning, that snow is a good 18 to 22 inches high, so there is a good base down there yet.

Here is the same tree with its approx. 1/4th to 1/3rd taken off.. Because we took so much last year, we went pretty easy on the plums this year.

I was checking the plums pretty closely to see where they are at, as they are the very first hard fruit bloomers in the spring and where they are at helps me figure out when to start warming up and releasing my mason bee coons into the permaculture based food hedgerow plants.

I will take photos of them later in the season and link it back though for you!

 

 

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Increasing your pollination coverage timing using Native Bees

Posted on March 23, 2019 by Just another day on the farm

Excited to be adding in one more native bee to my breeding program this year. We have Mason Bee’s and Leaf cutter Bees and now will also be “hopefully” breeding for this wild and native species Osmia californica.

 

It is about the same size as our early mason bee (Osmia lignaria) and nests in the same size nesting tunnels. So there is no need to buy additional nests for this species.

Increasing diversity will spread your pollination over time from early spring to late spring.  The Osmia Californica tends to naturally come out later than the Osmia Lignaria bees.

The Osmia Lignaria tend to be the Mason bee’s that a would be most active in regards to pollination for your plums, cherries, pears, apples and Crab apples.

As the Osmia Californica hatch out a few weeks later, they are wonderful  in regards to extending the mason bee pollination of the later bloomers. Pollination with this species extends into blueberry, raspberry and Saskatoon blossom time.

I will scenting out their own house and am very hopeful they will enjoy what my garden has to offer, I currently have large patch of raspberries/black berries canes. A number of blueberry bushes and five saskatoon bushes at this time.

I will look forward to tracking to see who is liking my clove current and other current bushes? I have some extra camera equipment coming in this year to try and take a crazy amount of photos of the different native bees on the farm this year.

 

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No Spring Kittens for us!

Posted on March 23, 2019 by Just another day on the farm

Little Baby LeeLoo was growing up fast and turned six months old..

With the longer days and the warm sunlight it was only a matter of time before she was going to go into her first heat and we all know what a spring heat means.. Kittens..

No Spring kittens on the farm this year! Leeloo headed to the vets yesterday to get altered, this saves me money because I get a better rate for the surgery as she is not in heat, not expecting and not had kittens.

She was picked up this morning, poor little gal says.. where did my fluffy belly go 🙂

Otherwise, she is relaxing and happy to be home.. She enjoyed her breakfast and is now napping..  I am sure it must be so confusing to them to be taken to the vets, the smells, the drugs, the surgery.

I picked up the meds to keep the purr pride and the hounds safe from flea’s, ticks and more on the same trip.. I am not going to be starting them on it yet, I think if the weather holds, I expect I will not need to use them till May.

Weather is tricky and it could change suddenly. The local reports says that we are going to a bad tick year.. we will see if they are right. I am preparing for it, got my tick remover, got my chicken flock ready to get some extra freedom to help clean up the yard.

I was very pleased  but surprised that they are having local lime and tick information session this spring in our county and those around me.. its very new to have this issue in our area.

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