Friday Fun

The big yella bush in front of my house has been blooming since Monday.

Every day it looks better and better.

A few birds are building nests in it.

Everyone in town is calling this unusual weather the "Vermont Summer."

It was so hot today I drove my side kick Mavis to get an ice cream cone at the ice cream stand that opened 6 weeks early because of pressure from townsfolks who have been demanding fresh ice cream since last week.  

After enjoying a tower sized ice cream cone we drove over to water the herd in their new field.

I found them in various locations sunning themselves, napping in the shade and trying to rub their thick coats off on the big maple trees.

I came home and planted some lettuce and more sunflowers.  I am frothing at the bit to rototill the garden and start planting the entire thing.  I am using alot of self control!

There are birds everywhere building nests and collecting materials from the fields.

All the grain stores are taking orders for chicks.  

I looked at the lists today while picking up several blocks of mineral salt for the cows.

There were 4 breeds I would like to get, but I already have 4 fast growing chicks flying around my bathroom.....       

Have you picked up your chicks yet?  What kind did you get?
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Empty Nesters

The yearlings are gone and the moms didn't make a fuss.    They are probably happy not to have to continually give the kids a bath and keep track of them.
Most of the moms were very attentive when I drove up today.

The snow is gone, the kids are gone.        Time for a vacation.
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Virgo Seed Fever

84 degrees Yesterday.  Again.
When I got home from work I grabbed the hoe, seeds, rake and a hat and raced out to the garden.
In 15 minutes I had planted 2 kinds of peas and some giant sunflowers.

I was dirty, sweaty and happy when I got done.  Trucks were driving by ...slow and watching me dig in the garden.
The garden is a little damp but drying out quickly in the sun.
My compost and straw mulch made rich soil.  It smells great and its ready to grow some veggies!

I made a small trench and planted my seeds and put row markers with dates and string. 
The Garden Bunny is now officially on duty.  In MARCH!

What a great day!
Mavis kept watch over me and my dirt digging.

The crocus are up and blooming. Daffodils are coming up fast.
The neighbor was mowing his lawn and mulching his leaves.

I hung my laundry ON THE LINE to dry!

Farmers were on their barn roofs making repairs today--shirtless!  In MARCH

Moved the herd to a new field to graze.  In MARCH!
Still feeding hay.

If the grass could grow just a bit faster before we use the last 4 bales and have to buy 20 more....

I am wearing shorts to work tomorrow  : )
Anyone else take advantage of the heat to get seed crazy ?
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Push'n Seeds

The snow is gone, the robins have been here for a week, the finches have changed colors, the male red wing black birds have returned and all the Canada Geese are all paired up and nesting by the rivers and ponds.  I heard peepers Saturday night and my neighbor saw a toad hopping across her driveway last evening.
The calender says its March, but the sun, sky, birds and soil are saying its JUNE.Its been in the high 70's and low 80's for several days and more coming.
It's hard to ignore, especially when your entire body wants to plant stuff and grow.
I broke my piggy bank and bought some great potting soil to start my seeds.

Most of my seeds arrived in February.
And I swapped seeds with friends and garden club members.   More seed swapping in April will happen too.
Also have lots and lots of seeds I saved from last year.

I warmed up the soil for a few days in my heated mud room.
Now its plant'n time!

Its also chicken fever time!!!   More about that later.

Are you seed starting yet ?
Got your chick order in yet ?
What are you doing different this year in your garden or coop?
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Cabin Fever: Food, Fellowship & Music

There is nothing like a winter Community Church Dinner on a weekend.  By March everyone has cabin fever and need to get out and socialize.
Everyone brings food and a big smile.
It all happens so fast I had no time to take a "before" photo, so here is what it looked like after the "food stampede" to fill plates and cups.

The dessert table was left in shambles.
These church folks know how to cook and bake!

Most of the foods on the tables were locally grown and raised.
The turkey in the cooker below was named Rupert.
He was the last turkey slaughtered last Christmas at my neighbors farm.

As we ate desserts, musicians got up and started playing.
Celinda, from the church choir, made the piano rock with her rendition of a 1695 Irish song written by a blind man of that era.    The next song was Roll Out The Barrels.

Next up was Brian and the Muddy Roads.    Their songs were creative and passionate.
Everyone was singing, tapping their feet and participating in the fun.
There is some real talent up in these mountains!

Met new people.   Some folks drove all the way from New Hampshire for the food and social interaction.

Can't wait for the next Community Dinner.
Go to one if you have a chance.
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Potatoe Day

Top of the Day to you all!

Today at the local Farmers Market there was a class on how to grow potatoes.

After my career ending potatoe growing disaster of last summer I thought it a good idea to take a formal class from a sucessful potatoe farmer.

Well worth the cost of attending! (free)

I quickly learned the "few" things that I had done wrong that added to my miserable failure.

Here is the almost complete list of my mistakes:

1. Buy certified potatoes (blight resistant)      I didn't.
2. Buy early and buy many.  I bought very late and bought the "left overs."
3.Make sure the spuds have many eyes, at least 4 per potatoe.    Mine had maybe one each.
4.Cut the spuds in half.  I had cut them in 1/4.
5. Let the cut potatoes harden off for 4 days in a dark cool place.      I didn't know about this.
6. Plant the potatoes in a new area to reduce any problems with nitrogen issues. I didn't know that too much manure causes issues with potatoes.
7. Potatoes like slightly acid soils.   I had limed them.....
8. Don't over water.      We had more rain than Seattle last year.
9. Let the plants flower and let the flower die naturally and then 5 days later dig your potatoes.
 What flower?
10.Plant marigolds next to potatoes to piss off the bugs.    I planted cosmos.
11. Pick off the orange potatoe bugs under the leaves every day.   Thats why I got chickens.
12. Plant in 5 gallon white buckets to avoid soil issues. Plant 2 spuds cut in half, at bottom of bucket and add soil as they grow.           I am now collecting buckets by the dozen. Got any?

This was an excellant class and I got all the handouts and took notes.
I was so pumped up I went and had my pruners sharpened and bought freshly ground rye flour.

The air smelled like fresh soil so I went home and started digging up the parsnips I had planted last summer.
All the rain from yesterday softened up the ground enough in one area that I was able to extracate a few from my garden.

It was great to smell the earth, get dirty and see the fruits of my successful labors.  Also, I was darn lucky that there was no snow this winter so the plow guy did not destroy my parsnip patch!

I washed them off, sliced them up and then they were carefully fried in butter and water in my best cast iron pan.

The entire kitchen smelled so sweet from just peeling them!!!

Their taste was earthy, sweet and rich with nutrients.

There is no doubt that I am much more inclined for parsnip farming than potatoe production.
I am enlarging my parsnip plantation this year.  I will be digging many more up over the next month and enjoying them in every imaginable way.
Anyone else growing parsnips?
Hope you all had a wonderful St Patty's Day!
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An Old Farmer's Advice

* Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight, and bull-strong.
* Keep skunks and bankers and lawyers at a distance.
* Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.

* A bumble bee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor.
* Words that soak into your ears are whispered...not yelled.
* Meanness don't jus' happen overnight.
* Forgive your enemies. It messes up their heads.
* Do not corner something that you know is meaner than you.
* It don't take a very big person to carry a grudge.
* You cannot unsay a cruel word.
* Every path has a few puddles.
* When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.

* The best sermons are lived, not preached.
* Most of the stuff people worry about ain 't never gonna happen, anyway.
* Don't judge folks by their relatives.
* Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
* Live a good, honorable life.
* Don't interfere with somethin' that ain't botherin' you none.
* If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin'.

* Sometimes you get, and sometimes you get got.
* The biggest troublemaker you'll probably ever have to deal with,
watches you from the mirror every mornin'."

* Always drink upstream from the herd.
* Good judgment comes from experience, and a lotta that comes from bad judgment.

* Lettin' the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin' it back in.
* If you get to thinkin' you're a person of some influence,
try orderin' somebody else's dog around.
* Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly.

* Leave the rest to God.

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They Grow Up So Fast

It was the perfect day for a round up.
Sunny, 20 degrees and the dirt roads were still frozen solid, making for good driving.  Better than the mud we had 2 weeks ago and the mud that is coming soon.
A young woman came to pick up the 3 heifers she reserved several weeks ago.  She has a dream of raising quality grass fed beef and having her own herd plus a processing facility and butcher shop.
My heifers are her foundation stock.  Her beginning.  Their future.  Her future.  All entwined.
To date, all my heifers and cows that I have sold have become foundation stock for new herds.
It only took 10 minutes and 2 packages of Nabisco Graham Crackers to get the girls into the corral.
Early training with these treats really pays off.
I got a special bale of 2nd cut sweet grass hay for them yesterday just for this event.  They loved it.  It kept them busy for 2 hours.
During that time I kept evaluating them with my eye... and my heart.

These heifers are thick, wide, long, calm and friendly, with 40 years of grass fed genetics and just the right blend of Simmental influence and British breeds.  In their genes they have incredible maternal traits: high milk, fast growth, fertility, pigment and the always desirable: longevity.   Top quality.

And smart!!   The trailer door opened and the three of them jumped right in,
No fuss, no hesitation.
Easy Peasy.        Amen.    Fastest loading ever.
There was delicious hay for them in the trailer and I fed them a few more of their sweet treats.
A box of Nabisco grahams went with their new owner with implicit instructions for daily feedings.

I never wanted to sell these wonderful girls. They are my replacement heifers to grow my own herd. They were my future. But as with most farmers like me, we walk a very thin line with finances and the cost of gas to commute to my off-farm job has burned a huge hole in my pocket.
I will miss these three special girls, but their future awaits.   They have a job now and they will do it well.
GrandSlam Kate, Willa & Glory--Make me proud!

FYI: To everyone in New England who is looking to buy heifers "in the spring"---do it now.  There are not enough heifers on the face of the planet to satisfy demand.
Find your heifers, PUT A DEPOSIT ON THEM and pick them up in April or May if you must--but RESERVE NOW, or miss out!!!  Yearling steers are also impossible to find.  And worse yet is that breeding bulls are harder to find because breeders are turning all their bulls into STEERS because they can get more $ if they process them into meat.  Consumer demand has shifted and to meet that demand many things are changing rapidly on the beef producer side as well.    Buy early and buy more than you need if you can get it.     Good Luck!
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Breakfast With The Hams

I never know where my travels will take me.
Recently, I ended up at a neighbors farm early one morning, just in time for breakfast.
Breakfast for her beautiful hogs.

All heritage pigs.
All very curious and calm.
They were very comfortable around my camera and quickly became "photo hogs" as time went on.

Mavis was there too and she didn't mind that the pigs sniffed her.

She actually stayed IN the barn and continued to watch the pigs.

I was happy to see such healthy, happy, good looking pigs.

They get a home grown breakfast of whole corn, sunflower meal and pellets.

I had such a good time with my special "Breakfast Club" that I can't wait to go back and spend another morning with them.

I bet they would love to have some of my cows special crackers too...

Do you have a special pig in your life?
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Barn # 4

Nothing prettier than blue skies and red barns.
I drove down a road known as "Barn Alley" because of the dozens upon dozens of barns that line the roads and fields for 12 miles.

I liked this one the most.
It's located right near the river.   Eagles frequently sit in the apple tree by the river and the fields roll down to the river where the trout have been calling my name....

A tractor in every barn. 
I like the way this barn garage is designed and how the roll bar folds down to fit the tractor into this snug space.

This barn needs some TLC.
It's empty.
The farmer makes and sells hay.
I could do a lot with this barn.  

If you were given a free lease on this barn, what would YOU do with it?  Tell me your ideas.

As I drive these rural roads, I often fantasize about what I would do if I had one of these barns that sit empty and unused.
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Tractor Test

Look carefully at these tractor signs.

Tell me what is missing.

I really wish that road signs depicted real life situations.

Tell me how you would/could correct this sign.

I am getting my magic marker out.....

( answer is in the comments section..)
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Eagle Eye

As I drove down the road in the morning, I saw a large black object a good distance ahead, way up in a tall tree by the river.

My first thought was that it was just a large plastic bag that had been blown up into a tall tree, since it has been so windy around here and I have a tendency to mistake unusual things for bird sightings.

I took 20 colorful photos of a "family" of turkeys out in a field a few summers ago only to find out they were just tufts of mud...

So, I didn't get too excited about what might be a bag in a tree...until I was about 50 yards away and then I got a tingle down my spine.

I drove as close as possible and just started taking photos from a distance, half thinking it could still be a bag in a tree.

I knew I was on to something when a vehicle passed me and then did a 360 in the road and came back to look.  The passenger had a camera and started taking photos from her side of the road.

There was no safe place to pull off the side of the road, since both sides were muddy ditches, so I took about 100 photos of a large dark object in a tree.

I rushed home and was relieved to see I got a few good photos and that the object of my focal point was indeed a huge American Bald Eagle.

Another great day in Vermont!

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