Good thing I live off the road

The other night I was wakened by the chickens in the big hen house squawking at three am. I got up got my headlight on and my rifle and in my night shirt and barefoot I dashed out to the Hen House ready to kill any varmint trying to do harm to my chickens. I opened the door to the coop and saw feathers on the floor I then pointed my light around the inside of the coop and counted chickens they were all there and no varmint! I must have been quite a sight with a battery powered headlight strapped to my forehead, rifle at the ready dressed in my pink night shirt and bare feet! Oh ya I would have struck terror in anything out there. I think the chickens were in a state of disbelief that this obviously insane person invading their house at that awful hour. I live off the main road and it was a dark night, thank goodness. I don't usually show off my night dress to the public, I wouldn't want to scare folks driving by and have an accident :)

The drought goes on, still hand watering the garden and trees, looks like a long, hot, dry, Summer this year. Some folks have taken to hauling water to their cows already as the streams are drying up and the ponds are getting low.

It is hard to see neighbors worrying about their stock and livelihood, sometimes life can be cruel.
I'll keep on watering and hoping for rain. I guess I will get back to painting the porches; there is always something to do around here at least it keeps me from running a muck on the roads and frightening the horses :)

When A Goat Gets Your Goat

We had a whither (altered male) goat that was getting to be a nuisance. He would butt every body and even take on the humans with a challenging stance and try to head butt them. He wouldn't let the female goats eat in peace he would run from one dish to the other chasing the other goats away. His most despicable behavior was to the goat kids he would butt them and harass them so they were constantly running away from him. We tried to isolate him, but he would always figure a way to get out. We tried tethering him which improved the situation somewhat but he still was not controlled enough to stop some of his aggressive behavior. So we changed his name from Justin to Stew and took him to the Butcher.

Tuesday morning we took Stew to the Butcher. This is the first time I have taken any animal to the Butcher. Did I feel bad, sad, guilty? NO, I did not feel anything as he got put into the holding pen. Stew got slaughtered that day and was hung in the cooler for a few days. We picked him up on Saturday and brought the meat home and put it in the freezer. Sunday for lunch we had Goat Steak. So what does male goat steak taste like? Actually not a strong flavor at all, there was a slight flavor that reminded me of Lamb, but much milder, luckily I like the flavor of Lamb. The flavor wasn't strong, nothing like I expected. So later he will be tacos and burritos :) That little mean so and so is going to make some nice meals. Out of that little pygmy goat we got 25 lbs of meat.

After this experience I am thinking that having a goat butchered once a year would not be a big a deal or maybe raising a Lamb for slaughter instead, I like Lamb more than Goat, either one would do.

In Memory Of Times Past

I decided that this year I would explore the world of canning, preserving and freezing.
I have not had the experience of doing it myself, as a child I was around and under foot when my Mother, Aunts, and Grandmother were canning, but I was to young and distracted to be taught much about the process. I did get to pick the produce and fruits then lug them into the kitchen. I also got to scrub the jars and get the old labels off of them.

There always was a whirl of activity in the kitchen during the harvest. The fruits each had their time to be put up; the vegetables had their time also. The first usually were the peaches sometimes strawberries, the women made jam and canned peaches in syrup. The apron and kerchief clad women where busy, peeling, cutting, boiling the jars, cooking the fruit,ladling the fruit into jars, fixing the seals on the mason jars and then immersing the jars into the water bath canners. In good years there would be two canners going at the same time so there was a cloud of hot steam in the kitchen and sometimes a Lilt home perm couldn't take the heat and humidity and drooped.

There always was chatter, lots of gossip, and I knew when it was getting good, I would be sent on an errand for something sure to keep me busy because the item wasn't where I was sent, just so I would be out of listening range. Upon my return the someone would announce "watch out little pictures have big ears!" and the subject of the conversation would be abruptly changed.

So, this year in memory of the women in my family who canned, gardened and kept house and home I choose to learn to as they would say "put up" or can some fruit. I bought a box of peaches (my trees are to young for fruit) and following a recipe I found on line I "put up" eight jars of peach jam. It wasn't as much fun as when the "Ladies" were here, but their presence was strongly felt through an occasional tear for times long lost.

I still had peaches left so I made a peach pie, tomorrow I will get more sugar and spices and "put up the rest of the peaches. No sense wasting any good fruit :)I can those women now "you didn't get enough supplies? What were you thinking? Tsk, Tsk, better get organized if you plan to do much of this, dear me. :))

Hoop House

I had been thinking about building a Hoop House/Green House. I would like to start my own plants in the Spring and extend my growing season. So I did some research on the WWW and got a feel for what was required to build a Hoop House. Basically the house is built using PVC pipe held to the ground by rebar or pipe.

I happened to have some old pipe handy so I used that, I drove the pipe into the ground with a sledge hammer. The pipe was spaced three feet apart and I made a twelve foot square, I used the pipe on only two sides. I then inserted PVC pipe into the pipe forming an arch. I then added the boards around the perimeter of the house so I would have something to nail the covering to. I then attached board to the end hoops one for a door and the other for a window/ventilation hole. Then the covering was spread over the hoops and attached to the base boards. The covering was folded and trimmed and a hole was cut for the door. The door will be built later. Now I have the Hoop House up and covered, waiting for the door to be built and hung.

The floor space inside is 144 sq ft, 12'x12', this should give me two plant beds 12'x4' one on each side and enough room later in the spring to get my plants started. It took ten hours to build with occasional help of one other person and lots of breaks to think over the next step. One of the frustrating steps was making the covering neat and mostly wrinkle free. Forget the wrinkle free and go for the best you can do and move on or it will drive you nuts. I was surprised at how sturdy it feels once the fabric is in place. How sturdy it is, is another matter. We get some intense storms here and it will be tested well before the Summer is out, I am sure.

Up Date; Door Is Built And On

I thought the door would be a big hassle, but it turned out to be rather simple and as it doesn't have to be perfect the frustration level was zero. I hope it stays together-need to find a latch so I can get rid of the country door stop :)

Oh, I have no idea what the dog is looking at; clouds, bird(s) stretching her neck? Just another puzzle.

The Hay Gets Rolled

The neighbors came here today and rolled the hay that was just cut. The number of rolls was disappointing only nine rolls for six acres. That is way off what should have come from that field. We are way behind in rain for the year and if this keeps up it will be a drought and that is not a good thing. Neighbor lady across the road has one well with a level now below where she can pump the water, around here that is very unusual.

I will just keep on hand watering the garden to keep things alive until it rains, the garden peas are late this year not one blossom so far this Spring, I love those sweet little peas; raw or cooked doesn't matter to me as long as there are lots of 'em.

First Cut of hay this year

This weekend the hay field got cut for the first time. It looks like it will be a good cut, won't know
for sure until it is rolled up and in the barn. There is no rain forecast for the next few days so
maybe the hay won't get rained on like last year.

The garden is coming along, not as fast as I would like, but the past few days have been colder
than usual and that is holding the plants back. For the garden we could use rain, for the hay it would be problematic. It will all work out it usually does.

I went to two auctions today and I didn't buy a tractor, the first tractor was to used up to be a
good buy and the second was to large and powerful for my purposes also to much money.

Just a cool Spring weekend.

Amish Auction

Another weekend and another auction. This auction is a consignment auction, folks bring their goods to sell and the auctioneer takes a percentage-in this case it benefits the Amish school. There were no motorized things like farm tractors or heavy equipment for sale. Usually there are some buggy horses for sale, not this year.

I purchased three guineas these birds are ugly, noisy and flighty. Why did I buy them? They are supposed to be good at eliminating ticks and other annoying bugs, my recollection is that they are annoying in their own right with their calls and squawks they get very excited when something or someone threatens or surprises them, they are not very intelligent birds although some folks like them as do coyotes.

The day started off cloudy and cool, I wish it had stayed that way, around 11 o'clock the Sun came out with a vengeance and I couldn't take the heat. I wanted to stay at the auction, but I was getting very tired and ill from to much Sun and heat so I took myself home and had a nap.

The Guineas are perched in the barn trying to figure out how this all happened to them, this moving from one place to another, I guess. I hope they hang around and do their job feasting on ticks.

The ducks have a little kiddie pool to play in and they seem to enjoy that, jumping into the water and splashing about ducking their heads under the water and flapping their wings.

The garden is doing as well as can be expected, we haven't had much rain and don't have any in the forecast for the next few days, so I will be watering by hand for a few days trying to keep things alive till the rains come. I bet when the rains do arrive it will be to much all at once sort of thing. What can you do, but keep trying.

That's the way it is down on the farm :)

Opps made an error

The last post had a typo that caused a stir, I typed that a farm went for 25K when it actually
was sold for 253K, an astounding amount of money considering that the property has two utility right of ways one for high power electric lines and another for natural gas. This effects the use of the property by the owner. However the land is close to town so there is interest in developing the land for residential use (rumor). I wouldn't want to live under those high voltage lines. Each to their own I guess. If I caused any distress because of my typing error I apologise.

So all you folks that were packing your bags and heading to Kentucky to buy a 25k farm maybe you should think about it cause there aren't any 74 acre farms going for 25k these days. In fact the price of land has been going up. It amazes the locals they remember when there were farms for less than a hundred thousand, working farms at that, those days are gone.

Local auction

I went to a local auction this Saturday morning my goal was to buy a farm tractor. The farm its self was up for sale at the auction and the 74 acres with barns and small house went for 253K. A lot of equipment was up for sale including gates, hay wagons, tools, haying equipment, small vehicles, trailers and my interest, three tractors. One of the tractors a Ford with a front end loader took my interest. I ended up in a biding war with my Vet! I reached my limit and then he was in a contest with someone else, he got the tractor. I got to go shopping somewhere else.

Auctions are a community event, lots of gossip, handshakes, loud talk, renewing of acquaintances and catching up on the local and family news.

Some auctions last all day and are an endurance contest I am going to one this coming weekend, the Amish School Auction, it will last all day. One has to be prepared for such an event and up to it physically and mentally. Oh yes, don't forget your wallet :) At least at the Amish Auction lunch will be available, as the notice says the Amish ladies will provide lunch and refreshments :)

Spring up date

Well things are moving along here at the farm. Spring arrived after a false start and now it is here for good, I hope. We have been busy planting that's for sure. More fruit trees went in so we are up to twelve fruit trees with two more on the way. Thorn less blackberry bushes have been planted (6), rhubarb roots (4), asparagus roots (10), sweet corn three rows, one hill each of pumpkin and gourds, two rows of Irish potatoes, one row of sweet peas, one row of string beans, one row of onions, twelve tomato plants, water melon, musk melon, sweet peppers, garlic, carrots, radishes, lettuce, eggplant, cabbage, concord grape vines (2) and there are sweet potatoes coming that have to be planted and more water melons and winter squash also red raspberry bushes. I also planted some herbs to see if they will take.

The ducks are doing fine getting big, I moved them to the barn, they were in my utility room and the smell was getting to me, so I moved them out to the barn. Only lost one duck to a predator so we are down to ten ducks. They have a nice cage to spend the night in so don't worry about them to much. The ducks haven't gotten enough courage to go outside on their own yet, but they are getting closer to the door every day :)

The goose is sitting her eggs about six eggs I guess, unless she had a visit from the neighbor's gander I think her efforts will be fruitless this year.

The baby goats are doing fine I took them to the vet and had them dehorned. This procedure is not for the squeamish or those that don't like strong smells. The method used to stop horn growth is to use a very hot iron on the horn bud, the bud gets burned the goats scream the smoke rises and you feel either sick to your stomach and or sad for the goats. They also got some shots and in the process my hand got in the way and I got stuck with the needle too. :(

I am still looking for a farm tractor-went to an auction last weekend and got out bid for a rather stout Massey Ferguson tractor with front loader. There is another auction this weekend I hope I have better luck this time.

I was at Wally World today and I checked the prices of canning jars, OMG, the prices are outrageous. Well maybe there will be some for sale at the auction coming up. Got to have jars if I want to put things up for this winter. Peach season will be upon us soon and I want to make peach jam and then there will be strawberry season too! I better get over the price shock and get some jars this week. I am looking forward to using my new canning equipment, I have a new pressure canner and hot water bath canner with all the usual tools to help can the harvest. I also have a " new to me" freezer to help put up some of the harvest. I have to remember to leave room for when one of the calves comes back from the butcher this fall. I hope to sell one of them at auction and sell half of the other after butchering. That will pay for next year's calves or what ever I raise. Gee I wonder where I could put a piglet or two?

It has been raining off and on all day, there is a flood advisory for the county and I am sure that at least one road is impassable to town. Yup, either not enough or to much all at once.

All and all things are going well looking forward to the summer and getting more done around here.

Ducks Cute Ducks

While shopping at the local feed store, I bought some ducks. The ducks were cute if they survive they will grow up to be Pekin ducks nice white ones and they will lay duck eggs. Why ducks? I guess I am a sucker for cute little animals. I hear they eat bugs, we shall see. I hope they don't eat the garden instead of the bugs.

Stormy Night

April 4th, about 8pm, a large intense storm hit the farm. About a half hour previous to this lightening could be seen and thunder was heard. I turned on the weather channel and heard them announce that a series of severe storm cells were moving rapidly across the state, from the weather tracking radar the cells appeared to be north of us. Shortly the wind began to increase at a rapid rate, suddenly the wind was hitting a high pitch and a crash was heard as the door to the second floor flew open with a bang. A rush of cold air came down the stairs and another crash as one of the living room windows broke, then the lights went out! Wahoo this was getting interesting! So there we are in a howling storm, windows broken, cats running to hide, dogs looking worried and I was searching for a light.

Upstairs there were three windows out in the upstairs bedrooms, two could be replaced as they were just pushed out of their tracks the other was in pieces. Some cardboard and wooden shelf boards nailed up to the windows solved that problem. Next was the window in the living room, more cardboard was nailed up against that window. By then the lamps were lit and things had calmed down a bit. The rain was fierce for a while, when it let up the animals were checked and all was well. The new Purple Martin bird house was bent over at a ninety degree angle, one of the big barn doors was bent in at an odd angle and the furniture was blown off the porch. By ten thirty everyone was snuggled in bed listening to the rain on the metal roof. The lights came back on at 4am (humph not out long enough :) ) I guess the adventure was over.

The next day the windows were replaced quickly as I had spare ones on hand. The barn door was pried back into place and just needs a bit of reinforcement. All and all the placed fared rather well, some folks not to far away lost their roof and others lost part of their house. An old barn was demolished and several badly damaged ours seemed no worse than before the storm. We didn't lose any trees, others lost big trees and were busy cutting them up the next day.

Just a little adventure on a dark, stormy night in the mid-west :) The weather mavens are still trying to decide whether or not we had a tornado, I think not as I didn't here the chug, chug, chug of the demon go by.

Now it is cold again and like the cats I hang about the wood stove soaking up warmth.

More goats little itty bitty ones

An interesting day to say the least. I got a bee in my bonnet about looking for a tractor and went searching for one. Found a John Deere I liked and had a neighbor go with me to look it over found out something about how to inspect an old tractor. He found that the clutch pedal was traveling way high before engaging the clutch and with the number of hours on this tractor 4700 this meant that the clutch was worn almost out and would have to be replaced $$. Also a few minor other problems like a drive wheel rim that would have to be replaced soon because it is rusted out $ and that even warm the tractor took a while to start meaning the motor was worn and would need to be rebuilt soon$$. The dealer dropped the price but I didn't buy it because I don't want to put up with the hassle of hauling a tractor to the shop for expensive repairs every few months. I am getting an education about tractors that's for sure thank goodness for helpful and experienced neighbors. I tried out a Massey Ferguson tractor just been worked on needs new tires in the front and a hydraulic outlet on the rear, ran good looks worn out though.

When arriving home we found that the little white goat had her babies, three kids two females and one male. So that makes five new goats added to the herd this week, wow what a week and it is only Tuesday :)

Birthing day

This morning I checked the goats and found two baby goats from my brown and white Nubian. The mother wasn't nursing the goats she was kicking every time one got near or I got near. So I got her into the milk stand and milked her a little and then put a kid on her and the kid suckeled well. The second kid wouldn't suck I got some milk into it by using a baster that seemed to help but that kid won't go near the mother. I am worried I will lose that kid. The mother was so sensitive that it was hard to milk her I had to use a hoble, and still there was a fight to get the milk. She is nursing the one kid now but ignoring the other.


I'll update this entry as events unfold.

Update, I have seen both kids nurse on the mother goat now so I am a bit relieved by that observation. Still a bit concerned that one got is not getting enough milk. I will keep an eye on the kid in question and take over for mom if things are not going well.

I think there are two does there, so if they stay healthy that's a going to be a real bonus. Gosh they are cute. Mother is still not thrilled to be handled by anyone. I think there is a chance she will get over the jumping and kicking stage (ya, sure :\)

The search for my farm tractor

I have begun to look for a tractor to use on the farm. I would like to keep my own fields mowed do my own plowing and disking for the garden and move manure around. Also I want to move some small logs out of the wood lot and maybe split wood with a pto driven wood splitter. The two characters above are not impressed with my goals, they just want to know when I am serving their dinner :)

I searched the local papers and haunted the local tractor dealerships for miles around without finding my tractor. I also searched EBay listings where I thought I had found my tractor and traveled 300 miles round trip to only find that the condition was not as advertised and I walked away from that deal I am sure to hear more from EBay about that deal. My search goes on for my tractor. It doesn't help that I am rather frugal (cheap) with my money.

The search goes on

What's been happening

The goats are ready to have kids any day now just a matter of when they are ready to be born.

Other than the goats getting bigger with kids I have had another bout of chest pain and spent a night in the ER. I have new medication that seems to help most of the time. This heart disease
problem is getting to be a bother. I am pre-occupied with the state of my health and somedays I am to tired to accomplish much, then other days I am fine.

The garden has been plowed and waiting for disking. I have the seed potatoes waiting to put in the ground. The pasture has been reseeded, I borrowed a neighbors tractor and equipment and spread the seed myself. This was the first time I drove a tractor and I loved it. I have begun looking for my own tractor to use here on the farm.

So for now we or on the brink of spring and this coming week we should have spring like weather up into the seventies :)

Tonight there is a thunder storm and my big brave dog is trying to find a place to hide she doesn't like the thunder at all and tries to get under something for protection.

Thanks to all that sent messages inquiring about me because I haven't posted in a while, it is nice to know people care.

Waiting for Spring

The above photo is yours truly the ol'lady farmer carring water to the live stock because the water lines are froze in the barn, the lines have been frozen for weeks now. I just look at it as just part of the experience of living on a farm. The calves are doing well by the way and it looks as though we will be having some baby goats this spring too.


The bird feeders have had lots of business this year and the Cardinals have been feeding in flocks. Sometimes there are more than ten males and and an equal number of hens feeding at the same time. Talking of birds the chickens are doing well and still laying regular which is most unusual at this time of year, I am very surprised at their laying ability, got seven eggs yesterday from eight birds in the middle of a winter freeze-up.

Now it is just a matter of hanging on till spring which will be here in just a few weeks and then it will be time to plant the garden and tend to the new born animals. Before I know it I will be out berry picking again :)

A little bit of winter

Here it is the end of January and we get a cold spell with snow, the horse had a bit of fun in the snow prancing and galloping about like she enjoyed it. Up till now the weather had been unseasonably warm, can't say that anymore. We are having a bit of problem with the water hose in the barn it is frozen and some of the pipes in the bathroom are frozen also, I will have to look into that when the weather abates and in the daylight, as I have heat tape on the pipes now, maybe I need more than that to keep the pipes unfrozen.

Yearly Report

I have been living full time here at Oak Spring farm for a year now.
A lot of things have happened to the farm and to me. Fences have been built, live stock added, new roof on the house, the siding has been completed on the house, bathroom put in, electricity added, telephone service brought in, hot water heater installed, kitchen cabinets installed, mud room dry walled and painted, kitchen painted, porches rebuilt, new wood stove for the living room, ceiling fans, new posts and beam to straighten the house, new ceiling in the utility room, textured the ceilings in the kitchen and living room and new septic system installed, repaired the road to the house and installed a culvert to help drain the field and road, and planted fruit trees. I have also added high speed satellite Internet and Dish TV.

Seems like a lot but it was done a bit at a time and there was time to visit the grandchildren and do some exploring in the area. I also made two trips to the hospital for short stays and feel better now than I did. I have made a few friends here and life has become quiet and low stress.

This winter has been mild, higher than normal temperatures which should change next week as it is supposed to get colder. I have already started thinking about spring and getting the garden planted. This year I hope to plant the usual; corn, potatoes, sweet potatoes, peas, green beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, pumpkins, carrots, lettuce, gourds, strawberries, onions and other things that strike my fancy. hopefully most of it will grow in abundance so I can put up my own veggies and make jam. Some where along the way a steer or half of one is going into the freezer. Of course we have fresh from the chicken eggs from 'girls' out in the hen house.

That is what has happened and those are the plans I hope we are here next year to give the yearly report :)

New critter on the farm

Here is the newest addition to the farm a Jersey bull calf. He hasn't been named yet, but I was thinking of something like What's, like in what's for dinner ? Okay bad joke but he is burger on the hoof for someone, even if he is a cute little fella.

A very quiet day here at the farm Christmas day or any other day you still have chores to do and they can't wait. The is home now to lots of critters and I spend more time there taking care of them. However, there are farmers here who have thirty plus calves to take care of and they do it year after year, so my little calves are no big deal concidering what others do. It has been raining here for a few days so things are muddy and squishy, there may be snow later tonight, we are all snug and have plenty of wood in for the stoves and the animals have fresh straw bedding so we should be comfy and dry.

In the spirit of the season, we wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!