Snow Storms & Sprouts

Yesterday morning I was axing through the permafrost to find power cords and chopping ice with my favorite garden tools.  There was no electricity to the cow side of the farm.  The fence charger was not making its usual clicking noise and the water tank heater was taking an unnecessary vacation.  The cows were lined up for a drink and I was determined to get them one.     My garden tool is always under my truck seat and I have found hundreds of uses for it over the years. My favorite use is to actually garden with it, but this winter it has helped me dig trenches thru the ice and chop up the ice flows in the water tank.

They all got their drinks and I filled the tank up before I left for work.

And.... checked on the status of their red block of mineral salt.
All animals MUST have salt and this herd goes through 50 lb blocks of salt as well as 50 lb loose bags of red mineral.  Each cow has her preferance.....

Part of this tub is a bit singed from the barn fire.....it was 20 feet away from the barn, the heat was so intense.  Its a momento of a bad memory.

This morning the barnyard was turned into a winter wonderland again with the snow coming down fast and fluffy.

I would rather have it snow than get the miserable rain that other states are getting today.   Since we now have no barns left for the cows to get completely out of the worst weather ( wind and rain ) I pray constantly for just snow!

Apparently I now have a rather large following of church friends, blog pals, village folks, girl friends, relatives, store owners, library guests, tractor dealers, mechanics, animal rescuers and co workers also praying with me.   So.. if you are really wondering why its snowing so much up here in the northeast, its not climate change, its "Prayers for Cows."    Please join in and pray for snow and NOT wind and rain.

The cows and I thank you.

The cows like the snow.  They lay down and chew their cud while it is snowing.
Snow is an insulator and actually keeps the cows warm when it is on their backs.

This is Red Sox Faith.    #1 snow lover.   #1 Red Sox Fan.     Born 4/4/04
She is the reason the BoSox broke the curse.
She desperately wants a Red Sox hat.
She continually gets in my face about it.
Someone told her the Red Sox have a game next week.

Here is the Friday Morning Cud Chewers group. They meet before 8 am and chat and chew for 2 hours.

For those of you who continually ask me how the old Jersey cow, Susan, is doing....she is alive and well.
I discovered she loves those really big thick carrots.
I thought she was deaf and semi blind, but when I showed up with a fat carrot I found, she trotted right over to me and ripped it out of my hand.
I have not been able to find those fat carrots since!  Made a special trip to WalMart and came out empty handed.

Ohh, here she is again, asking for a Red Sox hat.......

By now you should all be very familiar with this nose.
Its Gwen asking for her graham crackers and a smooch.
She's not into hats...

After I watered the cows, counted heads, checked on the calves and fixed a fence, I headed home to shovel.
As I changed clothes I saw I had some visitors around my truck looking for cracker crumbs.  There are several large flocks of all male turkeys that have been recently frequenting the mailbox, my truck and my compost pile.
Handsome brutes.  Always a pleasure to see them or their tracks.

Last weekend I returned to the best indoor Farmers Market in Vermont, in the extra tiny village of Groton, and got another lesson on how to grow nutritious sprouts.

They are all delicious and I tasted every kind of sprouts and shoots!!

And I tasted them in a variety of ways:  just plain by the handful and mixed with cream cheese on a cracker or piece of bread.
Too darn yummy to describe!

As a farmer I have an insatiable desire to GROW things.
Flowers, vegetables, fruits, cows, poultry, you name it and I want to grow it.
Since this winter has been like an evil energizer bunny, I need to grow something NOW!!!!!
So these sprouts have really got my attention.
They come with a demo at the Farmers Market and simple directions, PLUS the personal email address of the CSA farmer if I have questions and an affordable kit which includes a special screen on the lid of a ball jar and 2 kinds of seeds. I chose broccoli and the very tasty peppery radish seeds. I picked my jar from the 3 attractive demo models.

This complete kit was $4.00

I forgot to take a copy of the reasons sprouts are so GOOD for you, but I took a photo instead.  click on the photo to make it bigger so you can read all the great info.

I came home and started my broccoli seeds in the jar and while I was at it, I also started some lettuce seeds I had.

This is what the broccoli seeds looked like this morning..and they have grown even more since the photo!

I am planning on a really fabulous salad in a few days!!

And.....I think I am going to get a few more jars and do a little more mass production!!! 

We are Growing!!!