Observation of the Day

This sound like anyone you know ?
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Barnyard Babes

A nice crisp day here and perfect for a drive to go see some cows in the neighborhood.

I came upon this heifer barn at a local dairy and stopped to admire the girls as they ate their breakfast out of their feed bunk.

Cows are always curious.  She was checking me out.

She called her 2 friends over..

Mavis, the cow dog, was getting nervous.  She dislikes being in close proximity to bovines.

 

I love cows of a different color....

And in almost every crowd there is a .......

 

Blonde.

I was going to say red head, but the first cow by the fence checking me out was a dark red and this one is a dark golden blonde.

Got a favorite cow color?

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My Week

My seedlings are getting frequent mileage as I move them all over the porch and vehicles to get some sun.

These are all different squash seedlings.  The big one is a zucchini. 

I intend to win the Giant Zucchini Contest in September!

I went to visit my friends Linda and Brad.   All those tree limbs in the background are going to be turned into hugelculture gardens.

 

Brad is big into hugelculture.

Basicaly its all about gardening with sticks and limbs and building a very fertile, moist garden that can tolerate drought.

Here is a quick snapshot of the procedure.

 

Linda & Brad built their home from straw.  Its a very comfortable home. 

They burned almost a cord of wood this winter.

Most folks burned 6-10 cords.

I love rock piles and had to grovel through the one by the future gardens.

Do you see what I see?

If you are a hopeless romantic, you will see it immediately.

 

My other seedlings got moved to the porch when it got too hot...and they keep happily growing!

These are my Brandywine heritage tomato plants.    I purchased them from the neighbor who had a ton of them for sale.  Thats my zuchinni plant in the forefront growing into a contest winner.

I love spring with all the sweet smells from the blossoming cherry and apple trees and lilac bushes.

 I especially love the different shades of green on the hills and mountains that surround this little piece of heaven.  Today they were a lemon-lime color.

And everything is so green and lush after 2 days of rain, that I fully expect a leprechaun to be dancing across the field any minute..

The chimney guys have been here for a week repairing the 250 year old chimney that Hurricane Sandy blew down last year.  They have the best view!

My farm friend and I went to the grain store and picked up our pre-ordered chicks.

 She got 25 red sex link layers and 25 meat birds.

They were a week late coming in and they did not get any Barred Rocks! 

I had ordered two and instead they substituted black sex links.

The grain store lady had big orders presorted into big boxes. 

 

There were thousands of chicks there taking up the entire warehouse space.

 I had ordered 2 red sex links and 2 barred rocks.  Had to take 2 black sex links instead and really didn't want/need them.

 

 So.... when I carried out my friends box of layer chicks to her vehicle..........

 I put the 2 little black sex links in with her new flock.

I do not think she will notice unless she counts them.....

We are still feeding the last of the hay. The herd is still happy to see me in the morning even though I have been wicked sick all week.

I was so sick I called my wonderful neighbor and asked if he could help me for an hour yesterday morning.

I did not have the strength to unroll the big bale of hay and there was no way I could capture, hold and ear tag the new calf alone either.

Yes, I did remember to SHUT THE FENCE OFF before we entered the pasture. Its bad etiquette to electrocute neighbors.

Richard regularly goes to exercise class and walks a lot and even he was exasperated over what a workout it was to unroll the hay!

He made it into a huge figure 8.   I never thought to do numbers~ Bravo!!

I gave him a dozen fresh eggs from my happy hens as a trade for his kindness.

I wish I had taken a photo of him down on the ground holding the calf while I ear tagged her, but the entire herd was so upset and screaming that we had abducted a calf that I thought it wise to get the job done as fast a possible.      Next time I will.    Richard said he would help me do the next calf too. Since there is another one due to arrive any day and I still am too weak to do the calf rodeo alone.

Every person who lives rurally should know how to wrestle, move, capture and hold calves, pigs, chickens and sheep. Since these are the species that tend to create the most chaos when they escape, get born or get hurt.

There should be a test.

How was your week?

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Compost & Tractors

As I headed home the other day I saw a large pile of "something" sitting in my garden.  As I drove closer I recognized the long-awaited-for  magic three year old composted cow manure.  It was the best surprise!   I had been waiting a month for this wonderful stuff.

My only concern was spreading it around my garden as I was exhausted from having already worked at the community garden hand spreading compost on the 90 foot long asparagus patch.

I walked around the garden and enjoyed its robust aroma and figured I could spread it the next day when I had more energy.    There was enough to put 6-8 inches all over the garden and have some left over for a few extra gardens around the house.  I am ready to start planting!

 

Just as I headed to the house for something cool to drink I heard a wonderful sound coming up the road.

It was Bob the man who had rototilled the community garden earlier in the day.

Driving my favorite kind of tractor. 

What a sight for sore eyes.

He moved the compost around easily with his front end loader.

My knees and back thanked him.

And then he carefully rototilled the compost,  chicken manure and shavings into the garden soil to make a fertile blend for vegetables to grow and thrive.

When he finished he waved good bye and headed down the road to go rototill the next dirt divas garden.

How lucky I am to have a friendly neighbor who loves to play in the dirt as much as I do.

Thanks Bob!

Have you had your poop delivered for your garden ?
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Mavis' View

Mavis parks herself at "her" window whenever she is inside and watches over her domain.

 Nothing escapes her.

She is constantly alert.

As she watches over the farm the hens sit under their favored bush and enjoy the sun.

 

... and the tomato seedlings grow with every breath she takes.

 

 Maybe she is a reluctant cowdog, but she is the perfect farmhouse dog.

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Blue Roo # 2

Of the 4 pullet chicks I got in March. two have now turned into Roosters.

Unfortunately, both of the 2 Blue French Copper Marans were roosters.

I so wanted at least one pullet so I could have a few chocolate colored eggs every week.

Thankfully, the Blue Laced Red Wyandotte and the "Mystery chick" have both remained pullets... so far.

#1 turned into a rooster at a mere 3 weeks of age when he started crowing.

#2 quickly morphed into a rooster several days ago, when he also started crowing and growing a comb and 2 giant feet.

Handsome, handsome.

 

I quickly placed an ad on craigslist and had 2 interested families in about 20 minutes.

 

 
Shawn drove 40 miles from Greensboro Vermont to add this boy to his growing flock.

 

 He is naming him "Frenchie."    The copper coloring around his neck and the blue feathers are just starting to come in.

Frenchie popped out of his transport box and rode in the back seat all the way to his new home.

So....... how many of your pullets, ducks, geese, etc have turned into males ?

HERE is the link to the story of my adventures going to get the chicks in March, including the holy blessing and the car accident.

HERE is the link to the first Roo story and the really nice family that I met.

More chicks will be coming soon and I hope some of them remain females!
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Pasture Gift # 1

Busy day today so I went to see the cows late in the day.  It's been cold and there has been a very brisk wind all day.  I needed to wear a jacket..    The farmer had rolled the hay out to the herd early this morning as I am recovering from a nasty UTI and bladder infection and am a bit "under the weather."

By the time I drove down to the herd it was just a few minutes before the gate would be locked by the quarry workers at the end of their shift. The herd is presently on a secondary road by a quarry business and our chore schedule evolves around their work schedule. On weekends when they are closed we have to walk a good distance out to the field to feed and water the herd.   As soon as the grass grows a few more inches we will stop feeding hay, but for now this is what we do.

Since I was in a rush to check the herd before the gate closed, I did not bother to drive to the barn and shut the electric fence off.     Remember this, as the fence has been a rather hot issue with me and my brain. I have so many things to think about that I have forgotten to shut the darn thing off at least 4 times this year when I needed to.

I drive down the road and see the herd laying down on their carpet of hay that was rolled out this morning.  Most of the girls are laying down and chewing their cud. All seems fine, all seems quiet and normal

I pulled off the road and turn my vehicle around to leave and then...........

 

I see this.......

 

Do YOU see what I see ???

First calf of the season.

I got out of my vehicle and was about to jump the 4 strand high tensile fence on the roadside when I remembered that I DID NOT SHUT IT OFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Grrrrrr.

 

I had to be satisfied with looking at a distance, as the clock ticked and I heard the quarry truck coming up the road to shut the gate for the night.

Gwen is the mom and a good mom she is. She also had the first calf of the season last year as well.

This calf looks like a beautiful heifer to me.  What do you think ?

Gwen produces a lot of milk and always weans a heavy calf in the fall. 

Look at that udder.

Gwen is 1/2 Simmental and 1/2 Hereford.  I call this combination of breeds (SimHerf) a Smurf.

Her calf is sired by a polled Hereford so this new fancy heifer is 3/4 Hereford and 1/4 Simmental.

As the 2 men in the quarry truck admired the new calf, they said they saw it in the field this morning.

They always look for calves in the field on their way to work...and.... their boss owns the good bull that we are lucky to be able to borrow the past several years.    
Up here we are all related through our cows.
 

We all agreed that calving season is the best holiday around here.

Tomorrow I hope I have the energy to catch, hold and ear tag the new calf.

 I absolutely LOVE finding gifts like these in the field.  It makes all the craziness of feeding hay all winter in horrible weather and in mud season, so worth it.

Have you found any gifts in your field lately ?

Oh and now I need some "G" names again.....  Or should I deviate from the G's since I do not think there are any left.....

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