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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Blue Monday

I was just about to start packing away all my turtlenecks and sweaters yesterday.

I have spent the week wearing t shirts, so it was time to make the switch of putting summer clothes in my closet and moving the winter clothes out.

Then yesterday the temps dropped to 52 and then last night down to 40.

I brought all the hanging plants in and shut the windows in the chicken coop.

Thankful that I did not plant my tomato plants yesterday.

This morning it is 44 degrees with a very brisk cold wind.

Tonight the temps will dip to 32 degrees.

Might have to put the down comforter back on the bed......

Have you packed your winter clothes away yet ?

Whats the weather like where you live ?
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Friday Farm Fences

A blast from this past winter.... just a few short months ago.....

A local hillside barn in the fog with its guardian tree providing shade in the summer and some woody character in the winter.

 

The farmer here raises Devon beef and lamb.

I picked up my reserved lamb here in December.

I love knowing the farmer who raises my food and seeing where and how the food is raised.

There are no bar codes on fresh food.

 I also received lamb hearts, tongue, kidneys, liver and necks for my famous cattle dog, Mavis.

The kidneys also make delicious Shepherds' pie.

I had to order the lamb a year in advance.    Well worth it.

Where are you buying your meat these days?
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Hay Hay Hay

The days are longer, cool and comfy and the hay is still delicious and great to roll out.

I had a welcoming committee this morning waiting for me.   I wish they could hand me a cup of coffee when I arrive.

A field of white marshmallows....

I did not have any help unrolling this morning.

 

 

I decided to make the letter "L" for LUCKY.

I am a lucky girl to be living the rural life.

I actually unrolled the hay in a "H" last time.

H for HAPPY.

 The herd does not care what letter I unroll the hay in.

It all tastes the same to them.

Although I KNOW when I unrolled it in the "J" shape a few of my older girls smiled.

When I unroll the hay early in the morning, I have many other sets of eyes watching me.

They wait until I leave the field and then they come nibble with the herd.

The turkeys are as hormonal as my own 2 ducks. These tom turkeys have been in the same exact little area of the field for 4 days, in plain view strutting and gobbling.

When the grass gets about 8 inches high, we can stop feeding hay and start rotating the cows through the field. I think it will be next week.

Who else is still feeding hay ?
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Spring Trim'n

The spring flowers are bright and big and the flock is enjoying all the little bugs that are starting to crawl around in the sunshine amongst the flowers.

The two hormonal drakes are inspecting each and every bush and shub on the farm .

They trim every branch that they determine needs some "duckbill landscaping."

They have been very intent on shaping the forsythia bush into a beautiful form.

Who knew that deviate ducks had such good horticulture skills ?

Do your flocks trim or ruin ?
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Activia Hens

I was given an overload of Activia a few weeks ago. Much more than a normal person could eat, so i shared a few packs with my hens.

I put the 4 pack container in a larger empty cottage cheese container and popped the lids off and let them feast.

Perfect for four hens. They each get their own little container to enjoy.

It went fast.  They loved it and gave it a 6 toes Up approval.

and the next day I got 6 eggs.

Jaime Lee Curtis would be so happy.
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Vermont Hammer BARN

As you can see from this blog, I travel many rural back roads for my job and for my own simple pleasure.

I see all kinds of wonderful things.  One of my favorites are old barns...and weathervanes.

This particular barn has one of the most unusual weathervanes I have ever seen.

Click on the photo to see the larger detail.

I have always said that you can tell the character of the person who lives here simply by the condition of their barn.       Very true in this situation.

 

 

 

 

So my question to you is;

If you had your own barn, what kind of weathervane would you put on it  ?

Yes, you can have more than one weathervane.

Start your list!

I would have a cow, with a calf at her side, and a small reluctant cowdog sitting next to them.
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Tyler's Big Day

Spring break brought decent weather and a high school freshman to my door.

Tyler volunteered to help me do some yard work and soon we were cleaning out the coop.

He came dressed to work, including his heavy duty boots so I gave him the special shovel and headed him to the hen house.

 

The entire coop was shoveled out and the heavy rubber floor mats were dragged out too!

Next we cleaned the nest boxes and took out the rubber mats while the red Meverette hen inspected our work.

Tyler said he "loved this."  He kept up a constant chatter with the chickens and asked lots of great questions about the coop design, the breed of hens, their names and what my plans were for the garden.

 

While we were busy cleaning the nest boxes, Ms Marilyn was looking for a place to lay an egg.

She jumped into the shavings bale and made a nest in case she needed it.

We hurried and prepared one of the nest boxes just for her and she obliged by laying a very large egg in it about 15 minutes after we completed it.

In addition to the coop cleaning we trimmed a large forsythia bush and raked up parts of the garden and lawn.  Tyler made light work of a few heavy jobs.

I sent him home with 24 seed starters that we planted with tomatoes and squash so he can start his own garden.  And the hens gave him a dozen eggs for a job well done.

When the truck load of composted cow manure comes, I will be calling Tyler to help me spread it on the garden and asparagus beds.     Should be a fun adventure.

Who helps you with your farm chores?
And do you pay them with food, products or cash ?
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