Fern Dell Farm

Elijah Oct 4, 2011

2011-10-08T14:18:00.001-05:00

Spring Chicks

2011-05-29T09:00:00.007-05:00

Our boy Thor has proven his rooster-hood! (I believe he is a Speckled Hamburg.)
One of our hens went broody, so I marked about 16 eggs for her to sit on, really not expecting anything to happen. I've been a chicken lover for about four years now, and have always had to purchase my chicks from a retailer.
Mary-Kate, (or Ashley, I cant tell them apart) was such a good and patient momma, never leaving the brooder. I really felt sorry for her, and would leave her handfuls of feed and little dishes of fresh water. The other night I went out to lock up the coop, and she was out of the brooder and on the floor of the coop, all puffed up and staring at me, not moving. We've had predator attacks lately, and I was worried that maybe she was injured. When I picked her up to put her back in the brooder, about a dozen little chicks took off running in every direction~ It was so exciting! I hurried to Farm-n-Fleet to get electrolytes for the water, and some chick feed. Apparently, the adult layer feed is bad for baby chicks, and can damage their reproductive systems. I also bought a heat bulb, but that wasn't necessary, since these babies have their momma to keep them warm. I also do not need to worry about keeping them separated from the rest of the birds like I do when I order chicks from Welp. Momma is right there to protect them, so the others just leave them alone. They are now a few days old, and I have not found any sad little chicks that didn't make it for whatever reason. Typically, when I order chicks, I always have to order a few extras because I would always lose at least one or two. Partially, it would be error on my part, for example, not knowing to put marbles in the water and one would drown. Also I think the being one day old, then put into a box and mailed is probably a rather traumatic experience.
I have no clue what breed these babies are, looks like a few different types. Most are black and tiny, a few gray and a bit larger, and one gold colored bird.

The Wait

2011-03-29T07:44:00.002-05:00

Seems like a million years ago since we went to the informational meeting at Pauquette. Since then, we have pulled the house together a bit, completed our home study interviews and (most of) the paperwork, and sent out our portfolios. Now it's just "wait and see."
I have finally allowed myself to buy some stuff, baby supply stuff. Was afraid to for the longest time because I didnt want to jinx it. (spelling?) Now we have a cool 3-wheeler stroller for hitting the trails on the back 40....a car seat, a bouncy chair, bottles, monitor, and loaner items from bro-and-sis-n-law. We've decided to go with cloth diapers, for a few reasons, the environment, health issues, and of course, money. (Thanks Walker, I'll think about you every time I wash a shitty diaper.) I've interviewed a couple day-care providers, and am meeting with a pediatrician this week. All we need now is a baby. It's weird to think somewhere out there is a woman, or girl, struggling with a decision, and maybe choosing us. Please choose us.

Roses & Rylie

2010-06-05T08:35:00.005-05:00

We were finally able to get Aunt Dort's ancient rose bush to bloom! I have been feeding and gently pruning this lovely rose for the past 5 years, never able to produce a bloom. After much research, I decided to prune more aggressively, cutting the plant down to only two "Mother" stems. Reduced the entire plant to about 1/4 it's size, but my brave efforts were rewarded with a TON of buds and extremely fragrant blossoms.

Our newly adopted boxer-mix Rylie has blended right into our family. Here she is, helping Daisy groom our cat Alabama.

Kittens & Chicks

2010-05-07T07:53:00.006-05:00

Some new chicks arrived this week, all "silvers": Silver Spangled Hamburg, Silver Cochin, and Silver Phoenix. They were ordered from Welp Hatchery, and so far seem very healthy and active. We also were "blessed" with a new litter of kittens last nite. Cute little Stripe is now a momma.

Spring Stuff

2010-04-10T08:45:00.007-05:00

Last night we celebrated the new Spring growing season with a few small fires in the newly expanded garden beds. March had been freakishly warm and lovely, but now early April is back to normal temps, including snow flurries. The past few years, once the soil warmed and things started growing, it seemed like all we did was turn our backs for a moment and the weeds would crowd in. By mid-August, we'd be so frustrated with what seemed like futile efforts, the whole garden would become pretty weed ridden. This year, we are expanding the bed to twice the size, with the aim of creating a more manageable garden. One Shermen can ride the mower through, and one we can (occasionally) spray a bit of Round Up on the paths when necessary. We'd tried to "totally organic" thing, and it was just too much work. We cannot afford all the organic sprays and oils, and the home made remedies just weren't effective enough for us. Apparently Round Up is a pretty non-deadly alternative....safe for animals, and gone from the garden in a few days. I guess the University Extension gardens use Round Up...so if it's good for them, it's good for us. All I know is it makes life much easier.

We've transplanted our strawberries into raised beds, much narrower, to reduce the space for weeds to move in. I had been letting the runners go and take root, thinking "hey, more free plants" but read somewhere that allowing runners reduces "crowning" so this year I'm cutting them back to see what happens. Red Pontiac, Yukon Gold, and Norland Red seed potatoes have been cut and are curing in the solarium. I cut, cured and planted some of the Kenneboc potatoes we had left over and sprouting from last year. Last weekend I direct sowed a few varieties of lettuce, wishing I'd started a little sooner. Now I have to wait over a month to harvest one of those mind blowing home grown salads. If Shermen doesn't make me work in the bathroom grouting all day, (see http://www.ferndellfarm.com/ferndellfarm2010.html for renovation pictures) I plan to direct sow some sugar snap peas today. I got my Rouge Vif d'Etampes and Sweet Lightning pumpkin seeds from Jung Seed Co. and would like to get those started inside this weekend. I am excited about expanding the varieties in our pumpkin bed from the oranges, blues and whites we had last year. Pumpkins are so low maintenance, and such a fun way to end the growing season since you can use them for both decoration and yummy seeds and pies. I'd like to try a few different pumpkin recipes this year, since they are supposed to be so good for you, high in Vitamin A and beta carotine.
I ordered some fertilized Norwegian Jaerhon chicken eggs. These are lovely and unusual birds, and very appropriate for a couple of Norse hobby farmers. It will be my first experience with attempting to hatch eggs, and I will post how it goes. I plan to use my hens for sitting, rather than purchase an incubator. I (plan to) also try a homemade incubator, found some plans on Mother Earth News, and will post how that goes as well. Wish me luck!!

The 2010 Growing Season Begins!

2010-03-29T10:39:00.006-05:00

Little purple crocuses are popping up around the yard, as well as tips of daffodils and tulips. Signs that my bulb planting frenzy last fall was not in vain. My hands are covered in blisters from raking, but the yard is looking tidier. We've got the seed catalogs out, I've already picked up a few packets of the cold weather crops.....snap peas, gourmet lettuces, beets. I'm trying seed tape for the beets this year. I never have the patience to strategically plant those tiny, tiny seeds, I just sprinkle 'em over the soil. Nor do I have the patience or the heart to thin the seedlings, I want them all to live and grow and be yummy. What they wind up doing is elbowing each other right out of the soil where the chickens can peck at them. So anyways, this year I'm trying the tape which should eliminate the need to thin. I also purchased one of those little tools that you put the tiny seeds in so you may sow them one at a time.
My last minute garlic from last year, (cloves thrown into chunks of frozen ground then immediately covered in snow,) seems to have actually produced a few sprouts. The chickens scratched up a few, but I pushed them back into the earth and then topped the area w/wire. The chickens are happy and free, already the egg yolks are turning a rich golden orange, far more nutritious than the weak yellow of winter when they are living on mostly feed. Of course, now the hens are also back at the egg hiding game. Daisy's coat is gorgeously shiny from her renewed diet of stolen eggs. I'll probably have to start keeping them in the coop for the first half of the day if I want to collect any eggs. We lost our last bantam, the beautiful Beloved, a couple weeks ago. Those tiny birds are so lovable and sweet, but they just cannot defend themselves against the various predators around here. We are sticking with the large breed birds from here on out. I've ordered a few silvers and need to get the chick rearing area ready for their arrival, sometime in early April.
We are making quite a bit of progress inside the house. Shermen built a really lovely wall / shelf area in the downstairs bathroom, and I am (supposed to be) tackling my storage insanity up in the attic so we can start tearing down walls and putting in the 2nd bathroom and (!!) baby room.
We are sending in the completed application to Pauquette Adoption Agency this week. Wonderfully exciting and busy times!
A great resource I've found for what to do with all that produce we'll soon be finding in our gardens or at farmer's markets, Clean Eating magazine. Recipe ideas, as well as good articles on healthy living. I'm trying to move more and more in the direction of avoiding processed foods, eating as "clean" as possible. They also have a facebook group.

Our Adoption Journey Begins

2010-03-07T10:56:00.003-06:00

On Shermen's birthday we went to an informational workshop at an adoption agency. We had both done some research on a few different agencies, and have chosen Pauquette as the agency we'd like to work with. We left the workshop feeling positive, knowing we have a long and very challenging journey ahead of us, but obviously one well worth the struggle. Our biggest obstacle is the remaining work on the interior of our home, and the very minimal funds we have to achieve that task. We have support from family, in both morale and dollars, but dont want to burden them too much. The tax credit was a cushion, in case we have to borrow to cover costs, but we found out that after 2010 it will probably be discontinued / greatly reduced.
Yesterday we went upstairs and reviewed the task ahead of us, the different options and potential costs. I kind of melted down, realized I'd been somewhat starry-eyed about the whole project, mentally minimizing the work needed to bring our upper level up to code etc. This will not be easy, but it shouldnt be, and I know we can do it.

Chicken Killing 'Possum Smackdown

2010-02-10T08:49:00.005-06:00

After losing my beloved Japanese Bantam rooster Leif and a sweet Barred Rock hen to unknown predators, I did some online research. Chicken predators can be partially identified by the manner in which they kill....in our case, the predators left egg shells and a partially eaten carcass. This ruled out weasels, which apparently kill randomly and only for the taste of blood, biting the head or neck of the chicken then moving on to the next victim. My mother remembers one of the few times she'd seen her own mother cry, when a weasel got into her hen house and killed about 30 hens. The fact that the animal left empty shells indicated either an Opossum or raccoon, since other predators take the eggs with them to consume later.
Predators are an ongoing bother for anyone raising chickens. I took care of our current "bother" the other night when I surprised two enormous opossums in the act of raiding my hen house. Because I did not have a firearm of any kind, it was "deux contre un".....me against the two nasty creatures, with nothing but a large stick and a five gallon pail to finish the job. It took about an hour. As I dragged a bloody feed bag through the snow to the garbage, I felt monstrous and victorious all at once. I had protected my girls. When I returned to the barn, I found the tail feathers of one of my lovely white Brahmas, and a live hen with a large bald spot on her bum. I had arrived in the nick of time.

Rest in Peace my lovely Leif

Winter is Here

2009-12-20T08:59:00.004-06:00

Winter really snuck up on me this year. The beets (and extra beds of beets) I'd put in due to our mad love for pickled beets froze into the ground and were covered with snow. The lovely braided chains of about 10 varieties of fat garlic bulbs needed sorting and planting, and kept getting put off to the "next weekend." A couple dozen cloves made it into the ground....I managed to hack into the frozen earth and haphazardly put in about a quarter of the bulbs I'd planted last year. Within days of planting they too were blanketed with snow. No time to add a layer of hay for extra insulation, the garlic now carries the same "wish and prayer" of protection as my lovely roses and strawberry beds. I guess we'll be growing that "Darwin-ian" garden Shermen had been promoting, (and I'd been scoffing as laziness) survival of the fittest.
Now it is time to do the "indoor stuff." Paint and drill the dried gourds from two seasons ago. Peruse seed catalogs and plan for the next season. Fantasize about building greenhouses and cold frames. Rue the waste from the recent season, "I could be eating beets from our garden right now, if I'd only....." then quickly smack those thoughts right out of my head.
This year I've decided the garden is for PLEASURE. Big ideas about total self-sustainability, feeding our family and more, participating in farmer's markets and starting CPA's of our own....gone. (for now.) I get enough stress from the work week, our untidy house and unfinished business of a million varieties. Freaking out because the tomatoes and berries are (literally) hen-pecked, the cukes aren't pickled and the basil isn't pesto'd.....over. This year I'm growing more flowers and things we can eat as we stroll through the beds. Snap peas and strawberries. Things that give pleasure right where they are.

Like Lambs to the Slaughter

2009-11-11T06:37:00.007-06:00

Our lambs have been safely delivered to the processor, we are using Wisconsin River Meats out of Mauston. They will be ready for pick-up in the form of chops and steaks in about a week. I think I'll take their pictures down in my classroom, kind of unappetizing.

Bye Bye Sheep

2009-10-11T11:14:00.004-05:00

Erik, Hilda and Matilda just headed off to their new home. Their new owners seem like lovely people, very informative regarding the art of sheep raising- (shepherding?) We learned a lot and definitely plan to try again in the future. The key to successfully raising stock such as sheep, (as Shelly our new friend informed us,) is to be prepared PRIOR to acquiring the animals.
She also told us about a wool festival near West Bend area end of October, which we hope to check out. Another note, according to Shelly and a couple other people who called regarding the Craigslist post selling the sheep, it is very likely that Erik is California Red, but the two ewes are not typical representatives of that breed.

Sheep "Going Rogue"

2009-10-08T10:08:00.005-05:00

Just as good fences make good neighbors...good fences also make good farmers. Here you see our California Red sheep, Erik, Hilda and Matilda, enjoying our tender yard grass and moments away from nibbling (and trampling) the last beet crop. Erik, Hilda and Matilda are lucky we are not gun owners.

We used the electric line-wire fencing to enclose our sheep grazing area. The fence had been working fine so far this year, after we figured out using weed killer on the fence line is not bad land stewardship. As Mom says, "even the UW extension uses Round-up!" Round-up is animal safe, only stays in the ground a few days, and is Kaaren's new best-friend. The wire-line fence was inexpensive, relatively easy for (Shermen) to install, and doing the job of keeping the sheep in. Last winter, our ewes (Hilda & Matilda) lambed 2 males. Shermen and I castrated the lambs ourselves, using the rubber band method with a tool from Farm-n-Fleet. I thought the job went swimmingly, the boys appeared untraumatized, and we even gave them tetanus shots to prevent infection. Apparently, (we later found out from the sheep shearer man) we missed the actual testicles?testes? and merely trimmed up the sacs a bit. While the little rams were probably still rendered sterile, (due to the killingly close proximity of sperm to body heat,) around August they started getting that adolescent flood of male hormones which rendered them impervious to our silly little wire line electric fence.

Wire line fencing snaps easily, and also stretches. The little fiberglass posts that support the line bends and the little yellow plastic things that attach the line to the post detach with just a moderate amount of pressure. You can mend the snapped fence line with little crimpers, but then you have a weak point. I'm not sure, but numerous repair points in a line probably inhibit the electrical flow also.

There is a better type of electrical fencing called "webbing" which is made of material similar in appearance to a dog's leash, but also much more expensive. Plain old woven wire fencing, about 4 feet high is also effective for sheep, doesn't require electricity to work, but does require metal posts for support. At around 5$ a post, this can become a pricey process.

We are knee deep in the home renovation situation, and out of $$$. The guy we bought the sheep from doesnt want them back, as he has switched to a strictly dairy stock of sheep. The little rams are safe and cozy in the barn, fattening up on a diet of strictly corn and grain, getting ready for market. (A pure grass diet may be healthier but is less palatable for most people.) Erik, Hilda and Matilda are in the front yard nibbling on our willow.

Craig's List posts ads for free.

Outdoor Sink / Work Station

2009-09-28T06:24:00.005-05:00

This outdoor sink / workstation may not look like much (cuz I made it myself....) but it has been wonderful for keeping the canning / preserving part of gardening from totally trashing our kitchen. Having a countertop, an old sink, and the composter right there together, my first batch of pickled beets was just a completely different experience. No sand in the kitchen sink etc. It makes a great potting station also because I can just sweep leftover soil off the counter.

Those rubbery, flexible buckets were a great find. I can wedge the little one under the drainspout of the sink to catch the runoff water for my flowers. I bought them at the garden expo in Madison, WI last year. I bought 3, one in each size.

Homemade Holiday Gift Ideas - Succulent Garden

2009-09-27T10:53:00.006-05:00

For the past couple of seasons our family has agreed to a spending “cap” for holiday gifts. Homemade gifts may not necessarily end up being less expensive, but are definitely more meaningful than another scented candle; (unless, of course, it’s a homemade scented candle.) Last year I made little jars of a homemade bath soak which recipients seemed genuinely pleased to receive. It was a fun and inexpensive way of telling family and friends you rarely see that you love them.
I’ve started some succulent gardens and plan to spend the next couple months looking around for unique containers. Hopefully, by the time December rolls around I’ll have some lovely succulent container gardens to give as gifts.
Succulents require soil with excellent drainage. You can always just buy some specialty mix, or just make your own. I did a little research and the “recipes” can get pretty crazy. I mixed up a bag using approximately equal parts of potting soil, sand, perlite and peat moss.

Credenza Before & After

2009-08-30T10:33:00.010-05:00

I finally got around to sanding, priming, "re-finishing" our cool old credenza.
The top of the credenza is a blue enamel. For the front and sides I used Behr's glaze mixed with Behr's Antique Brown over an undercoat of umber brown, for the darker panels I glazed Behr's Toffee Crunch over the Antique Brown. I "scumbled" some gold trim detail, put a layer of glaze over it, then scumbled another layer of gold over that. The pretty blue flower pulls are from Anthropologie.

Canning Time

2009-08-21T10:22:00.004-05:00

Last year Sherm bought me a copy of "Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving"....(I know, how romantic!!) The man knows what I like, I guess. This year I've vowed to try something beyond sweet/dill cucumber pickles and beets. First effort was last nite....a mixed veggie hot pickle, looks yummy. Sitting on the couch hearing those lids popping as they sealed, fall is coming soon.

Next in the canner will be tried and true sweet pickle cukes using spice mix from Wal-Mart...then Aunt Clara's pickled beets. Last year I tried my own version of canned beets. Yesterday I dumped about a dozen large jars of flaccid, pinky-pale, inedible beets into my composter. This year I'm using Auntie's recipes....whenever Mom slips us a jar we devour them immediately.

Auntie Clara's Pickled Beets

Boil beets till tender, submerge in cold H2O, slip off skins and cut into chunks

Mix and heat to boil 2 cups sugar, 2 cups H2O, 2 cups cider vinegar

Put beets into mix and boil 10 minutes

Pour into hot jars and seal...be sure to wipe the rims of the jars before putting on lids, leave about 1/2 in head room.

Mom swears thats it.....not boiling bath necessary.

Garlic Scapes

2009-06-29T09:30:00.003-05:00

Our garlic has started shooting out these lovely garlic scapes. Apparently they are quite delicious, and must be cut so the plant puts it's energy into producing bulbs. I've been putting it off because they are so graceful and lovely to look at. I think some of the kidney shaped swirls echo the organic shapes in a Joan Miro painting. Today is the day.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/2005-10-01/Garlic-Scapes.aspx

School's Out For Summer!!!

2009-06-13T12:33:00.001-05:00

My "to-do" list = totally Martha but my sentiments are all Alice.

Water- Starting a Rain Garden, Building a Wall

2009-05-30T08:57:00.008-05:00

I was so excited to start my new rain garden, did a little web research, checked out some pictures, ran home and started enthusiastically digging. Next day at work, I did a little more research, actually read a bit this time and realized I'd put the rain garden too close to the house. This is bad because the water seeping down can mess up the foundation. Ugh, back home, fill in hole and dig again this time further from house and with far less enthusiasm. Filled it in with a few Irises and some Millet and tried to convince Shermen it was a good idea.

Meanwhile, Shermen is building the cool sandstone wall on East side of house along the drainage ditch he dug last year to keep water away from house / foundation. It looks cool already, can't wait to see it when all the Creeping Thyme, Creeping Jenny, Phlox, Scotch Moss and others start to fill in. I topped off the ridge with some Daisies, decorative grass and Calendula. Should be absolutely lovely in a few weeks.

Kittens and Chicks

2009-05-24T08:58:00.012-05:00

Julie, daughter of Maude and still essentially a kitten herself, finally had her kittens. 5! Born Thursday May 21st sometime in the PM, in Kaaren's luggage, relocated to cozy towel lined box.

Wednesday May 20th I picked up the new chicks for Mom and I. Barred Rock, Auracana, Light Brahma and Golden Queen. Thought I was doing great this year, really becoming an adept Poultry Farmer, because I didnt "lose" any due to drowning, overheating or just weak chicks the first few nites. I didnt have a chick feeder tray, the ones with the holes in them to keep the chicks from standing in their food tray. I was using a small household serving tray, and it seemed to work just fine aside from the chicks throwing their feed all over. Then we had a cooler nite and the chicks crowded onto the tray and one of the Barred Rocks was trampled to death. The Barred Rock must be a more fragile breed, I remember that was what I lost last year.
On May 29th I noticed I lost 2 more chicks....another Barred Rock and a Light Brahma....not sure why this time, they werent trampled, cold or overheated, and they had food and water. The only thing I noticed was the food was getting low, and the chicks had to reach down into the holes of the feeder to get at it....possibly the two that died werent able to reach down that far? Or possibly just weak chicks, which does happen.

Chick tips:

Do not put water dish under heat source, they will crowd under heat source and chicks can drown
Do not put heat source too low, chicks can become overheated and die
Do not use dish with any sort of depth, chicks will crowd in it and trample eachother
I read not to feed chicks the layer mix, it can mess up their reproductive system, use starter grower feed
Make sure the chicks can reach inside the holes of feeder trays to the food, if food levels get low, some may not be able to reach all the way down to reach the food.

Sexy Tractor

2009-05-19T06:36:00.005-05:00

Shermen is now the proud owner of a very hot old Farmall International.

Sheep Bloat: Cause, Symptom, Cure

2009-05-11T06:41:00.005-05:00

Our usual winter sheep feed is a round bale of hay, supplemented with feed mix prepared by a local mill and purchased in 500 lb minimums. We ran out of the mix, so I grabbed a bag of cracked corn from Farm-n-Fleet to tide us over until I could get back to the mill. We were feeding the sheep about 2 large coffee containers full of cracked corn with a bunch of dry hay once daily. At the end of the bag of corn, we poured out the remainder for the sheep to eat up, about twice to three times the usual amount. Bad move. Apparently, sheep are extremely sensitive to any changes in their diet. The next day, a Sunday, I noticed one ewe standing away from the group, totally uninterested in eating. Her shoulders were sort of hunched up, and her head kept drooping down, her ears were droopy, her eyes glassy and she kept slowly closing then snapping them open when she brought her head up. She still ran from me when I tried to catch her, but had very little energy and once caught, was very docile and didn't really struggle to get away. Closer inspection revealed a rock hard and bloated tummy, that sounded hollow when tapped, and when moved, you could hear water gurgling around inside.

I researched the web and the text book the FFA teacher at school loaned me and learned that she probably had "bloat." She had "feed bloat" caused by excess fermentation of grain intake. The other kind is "frothy bloat" caused when sheep are released onto full green pasture, covered with dew sometimes, and they gorge themselves on green material after winter of dry hay. Both are very dangerous for the animal and can be fatal. It was Sunday, and I didnt have any large animal vet contacts, so we gave the treatments found on the web, (below) and hoped for the best.
The next day, Monday morning, I checked in before work, and the ewe was now down, with her head up, but wouldnt get up at all. At work I was finally able to get in touch with a large animal vet, his opinion was dire. He confirmed that it was probably bloat, and had same advise for treatment that I'd found on the internet (below.) He was very kind, but predicted she would probably be dead by the time I got home from work. His only suggestion was to continue to treat and wish for the best. I raced home during my lunch and ran up to the sheep barn still in my "teacher clothes" to check on my sick ewe. She was up and active, her tummy flatter and much more pliable, and she was eating hay! I gave the whole group a quick dose of the dry baking soda per the vets advise, and Hilda (the sick ewe) one more big drink of the soda water mix.

Treatment for sheep bloat can run to the extreme, in dire cases they suggest puncturing the side of the sheep to quickly release excess gas to prevent death from collapsed lung. Thank god we spotted our bloated sheep in time, and were able to cure the bloat by:

1. Removing all grain feed, replacing with only dry hay
Feeding the bloated sheep mix of baking soda, water and mineral oil- about ½ cup soda, ¾ cup warm water to dissolve soda, plus a couple tbsp mineral oil. I didnt have any large syringes to administer the mix, so I used an old plastic Dasani water bottle.
Manually massaging, (gently) the bloated tummy to help force out gas
Encouraging the ewe to walk to help eliminate gas
Feeding other sheep dry baking soda in a pan, they help themselves to a few bites, to prevent bloat in rest of flock

The one good outcome from this scary situation, Hilda the sick ewe, is now much more tame due to all the handling. She is actually eating out of my hand.

Garden Food Preservation and Safety

2009-04-21T10:27:00.007-05:00

Last August, the 16th to be exact, my dear Godmother Auntie Clara and Uncle Nick gave Shermen and I a pressure cooker for a wedding gift. It was so appreciated, especially considering I'd started home preservation in 2006 by canning pickles in a water bath using a camp stove. The camp stove / water bath combination really limited what i could safely preserve via canning to pickles or the highly acidic tomatoes. Everything else was blanched and frozen, (taking up huge amounts of freezer space.) One of our frozen favorites was a stewed up batch of tomatoes sauteed with herbs, garlic, onions and eggplant. Even after freezing and reheating, it tasted like summer.
Last fall I was so excited to recreate the recipe, only preserving by canning rather than freezing. My new pressure cooker allowing me to can the non-acidic veggies without worries. However, this winter when we opened a jar of "stewed tom w/eggplant," the smell was just off. The jar was properly sealed, but the fear of botulism caused us to turn to a jar of Prego instead.
Yesterday, there was a great program on Wisconsin Public Radio with Larry Meiller about gardening and food safety. There you can find a link to listen to the actual program. Besides food safety, they all discussed state laws when it comes to setting up "road side stands" to sell produce, and what you actually can sell at produce stands in terms of enhanced, or preserved, produce. I found this particularly interesting because living in a tourism area, I have considered selling preserved items for tourists to take home as gifts / momentos, but wondered about legal issues. Think I'll be waiting a few years on all that.
The website FOODSAFETY.WISC.EDU has tons of information also.

Rain Gardens

2009-04-21T09:57:00.004-05:00

The contractors installed the drainspouts on our four seasons room,or solarium, yesterday. My mom suggested putting in a rain garden where the water collects, and it sounds like a great idea to me! The UW Madison Extension has a very informative site, with a pdf manual on how to install your own little rain garden, as well as some great photos of the installation stages, and pages listing WI plants ideal for sunny or shady rain gardens.

http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/runoff/rg/

The plant above is Prairie Smoke, a native to Wisconsin, ideal for rain gardens. Image found on the "Links to Other Rain Garden Sites" from the DNR web-page. http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/runoff/rg/links.htm

Spring on the Farm

2009-04-20T09:49:00.004-05:00

Some greatly anticipated changes have occurred out here on the farm. The Vernal Equinox has arrived! Grasses are greening, and there are hardy perennials peeking out everywhere. It's too early to plant (almost) anything, we are still in danger of hard frosts up here in zone 4 Wisconsin; but we have trays of seedlings growing and waiting. So far we have started bushel and dipper gourds, white coneflowers, morning glories, blue corn, and some other items that didn't make it due to our cat Maude living (and having kittens) in the seed starting area. Maude and her babies have been relocated to the pump house, and we are ready to try again.

A few pea and lettuce seeds have been sown, as well as some fragrant oriental lily bulbs. We've split and transplanted some hostas, and they seem to be doing well. It looks like every variety of garlic planted last fall made it through the winter, and the strawberry beds are also coming to life.

The "Four Seasons" room has been installed on the front of the house, and we have really been enjoying it. Enough siding has gone up to really allow us to see how close we are getting to our dream. Walls are being torn down and put back up. The electrical lines outside are going into the ground. Shermen has moved some major earth, redirecting water routes so we never, ever have to deal with a wet cellar again. He has also fortified our driveway, raising it, putting in culverts and drainage fields. The days of parking and walking through knee deep mud in the spring will soon be behind us.

We have decided to have the lambs "processed." After successfully castrating them this winter, it has been easier to move on to this next step. Sadly, we lost our sweet cat McLovin on March 28, 2009. He was a good cat and will be missed.

Things Looking Brighter, Inside & Out

2009-03-14T09:34:00.011-05:00

Last nite my very ambitious husband worked literally all thru the nite hanging drywall; finally passing out about 7 this morning. What a wonderful change to wake up to- walls! It's actually sunny out this morning, so our big new windows filled the room with light and I was able to truly visualize what a pleasant room this will soon be. We are almost to the point of "cosmetic" work in this

room...(tape, trim, and paint) the point where we can glimpse

some light at end of this renovation tunnel.

I expect he will now sleep the rest of the day, so it's my day to putter about (quietly) and maybe prepare the other half of room for drywall. We debated the financial / quality of life pro's and con's of hiring out the drywall / trim vs Sherm buying tools necessary to do the job himself. We went with #2, and I am now very excited to learn how to use all these exciting tools so I can work on some creations of my own.

I have big dreams for the old chicken coop under the huge maple tree becoming a greenhouse, a cool new trellis & support for the grape vine, picture frames, on and on.

We actually started some seeds early this year, and now it's looking like maybe too early. We have decorative blue corn thats almost a foot high after only a couple weeks. The grow light definitely needs to be put on a timer rather than 24/7.

I'm interested in trying a style of planting called "Three Sisters" which involves corn, beans and squash.

http://www.reneesgarden.com/articles/3sisters.html

http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/lists/teach/2003045238014436.html

I have also been researching white / scented plants, flowers and shrubs for the patio area. I want to create a glowy and fragrant "night" garden area where we can sit and enjoy the sound of the waterfall.

The Emasculator

2009-03-08T13:59:00.004-05:00

Poor poor Martin and Tuesday....operation Rubber Band = mission accomplished. Tetanus shot = check. It's now been 1 week and the "boys" seem fine, healthy and active.

Tail Docking

2009-02-07T10:43:00.004-06:00

It is a balmy 40 degrees out on this sunny Saturday morn....we are ready to open all the windows and let this dusty old home air out a bit. Our lovely pink abode is an island in a sea of mud, gray ice and post-construction piles; but that warm air hinting at Spring wont let the mess(es) get me down.

One of our "to-do's" for today is tail docking on Marti our lamb. Note I am sitting here rather than getting right to it. Farm and Fleet sells the supplies, (little rubber bands & tool,) as well as a tetanus shot to give the poor beast to prevent infection. I guess you (are supposed) to do this when they are very young so that if they have the scours, it doesnt fester up under their rear and cause maggots! Gah! Marti didnt seem to have the wicked scours, and I just havent been able bring myself to be the cause of fear and pain for her. We are trying to make friends, not enemies. I think I'll have Shermen do it.

New Baby Lamb

2009-01-19T23:15:00.004-06:00

While feeding the sheep and chickens today after work, I noticed Daisy our Lab creating a commotion in the sheep pen…closer inspection revealed a little lamb! The most adorable thing I've ever seen….brand spanking new and TOTALLY unexpected. We thought these "things" happened in the spring, not mid-January Wisconsin. Thank goodness Matilda (the ewe) chose today- this most auspicious of days, Martin Luther King Jr. day, rather than a couple days ago when the temperatures we dangerously below zero.

Now I am in a bit of a panic, researching the web, trying to figure out what exactly we need to do to give our new baby Martin the best chances of survival. Hypothermia is an obvious issue, however, tempting as it is to bring the baby into our nice warm home to snuggle and keep toasty, the research says warming beds should only be last resort. Best situation is to keep the lamb with the ewe. Check that the mouth is warm and the lamb is feeding, not lethargic or apathetic about feeding. There seems to be a yellow tint to the amniotic residue, (these are totally non-vet terms,) but the research indicates this yellow tint is result of birth stress, and one of the causes of birth stress is "inexperienced shepherding." I was all prepared back in summer/fall for something like this, bought the extra vitamins, or "drench" and syringe and kept checking the ewes to look for evidence they were carrying twins. But nothing happened, so I just figured we would have to wait for next year. We don't even have iodine to spray on the cord.

I've been up to the barn checking on them a few times now, and plan to go up once more before calling it a night. Martin seems healthy, he/she is walking around and not shivering or anything like that. He's feeding vigorously and baahing in a way that sounds healthy not scary. He has a little diarrhea on his backside, but not much, and it's dark. Scary sounding "scours" which lead to dehydration and death are yellow or pale. I will check again in the morning, if they are worse I guess I'll have to call in to work in the morning to get hydration and electrolytes etc for him. Hopefully fate will smile on us with this first one. Pictures coming soon!

Salmonella

2008-12-19T12:42:00.002-06:00

Poor poor Shermen......evil wife undercooks chicken, husband suffers.

Corn = Heat

2008-12-09T15:44:00.004-06:00

Today we wrote a check for 360$ for about 2 tons of corn. The goal is to make this last thru the winter. Sherm built a large bin in the cellar to hold all the corn, which was delivered today. Up until now, we were buying our corn by the 100 pound bag at the Co-op. The price literally doubled last season from Sept/Oct to May. Also, the 100 lb bag factor meant at the very most I could stop and pick up corn, but was dependent upon Sherm to lug it down the icy steps into the cellar.

Had our first major snow storm last nite, around 8-10 inches, snow day for both of us today, which was awesome. We both got a lot done. The chickens are now happily housed up with the sheep, and we have been collecting about 3 eggs per day. The cats are happy in their new home down in the cellar, guarding our corn from the mice.

Anticipation & Fighting Blight

2008-12-06T11:46:00.005-06:00

The first seed catalogue for the 2009 growing season has arrived! Now it's time to start a file, compare prices and options, and create the wish list.

We have a few somewhat "theme" oriented garden beds scattered around the property. The original garden was a rectangular shaped combination of a flower and herb garden laid out in a fleur-de-lys design in front; and parallel rows or raised vegetable beds in back. This year, the original- or Fleur- garden is to be devoted almost entirely to flowers, herbs, garlic and strawberries. It will be expanded to wrap around our old, unused silo, which will be a great place for storing the tools I use every day in the garden. The silo will also make a great trellis for climbing beans and flowers.

At the end of fall, I rebuilt the raised beds, and broke down one row in the center, leaving it an open space. On summer mornings we like to host little breakfast parties outside. For a couple years, we would set up a table next to the garden; last year Shermen built the wonderful paved, patio area where we can sit and enjoy a great view of the gardens, waterfall, fields of blowing grasses and the hills in the distance. However, we always think it would be nice to be able to sit and relax right in the garden, that's what I will be creating in the empty space next year. On a more practical note, last year's attack of insects, blight, rust, and powdery mildew made me think maybe my rows were a little too cramped. Some www research informed me that the too-close-rows probably didn't allow the plants to shed moisture quickly enough after rains, which can lead to disease. I have visions of a little bistro table and chairs, maybe a small couple of shelves, an area to sit and enjoy a break while working in the beds. The herbs and flowers seemed the least susceptible to disease; they will be taking over those beds, creating a lovely, hopefully healthy and fragrant environment to relax in.

Last year was an extremely wet season. We "lost" the front flower beds full of seedlings twice to dammed up water that submerged and drowned the seedlings. This fall I built a mulch dam at the rear of the garden to stop the water from pouring in, we also tore down the earth a bit at the front to allow any excess water to be released more quickly. We are also thinking of lining the paths with stones this year, rather than bark mulch, which floats.

Veggies such as tomatoes, eggplant and cucumbers will be moving to areas where they can have more room, and easier access to water. The other thing I learned from the web is that those wonderful "freebie" tomato plants sometimes called "volunteer" tomatoes….the ones that just pop up from last year's fallen seeds….they are bad, vulnerable to disease such as blight, which then spreads like crazy. We have a couple of those big old metal livestock watering troughs with holes rusted in the bottom- lousy for holding water- but great for drainage. I'm thinking those will be our tomato planters, kind of cool looking, easier to maintain and control. The tomatoes were my biggest problem last year due to blight. Next were the cucumbers. Two years in a row now of failed cukes. Year one, they were awesome, tasty and sweet, we'd slice them and salt them and people would just rave. The next year, some sort of chemical disease inside so they looked just lovely, but were too bitter to eat. This year, bugs, nasty endless bugs and weird bulb shaped fruits. Not enough regular water was part of the problem….so they cukes will be closer to the water supply this year. We already have a nice little wooden structure next to one of the water pumps; we will probably just expand upon that. My eggplant did okay, we did have some aphids or something that were pretty aggressive, but all the plants still produced fruit. Only problem was not enough. I also discovered that those Thai eggplants, the long tubular ones, are really great for sautéing because you don't have to dice just slice. Found a great tip on cooking eggplant in one of my favorite cooking magazines "Cooks Illustrated," which suggested you dice, salt and sweat the cubes for about 10-15 minutes in the microwave prior to cooking with them to avoid excessive oil absorption. Worked great!

Obama!

2008-11-09T10:55:00.004-06:00

Is it crazy that I feel this sense of Hope??? It's 24 degrees outside; we had actual snow this weekend. Some of my new garlic is growing, which is bad, not supposed to do that till spring. I'm sick as hell with a chest cold and today we simply MUST get into the cellar and install all the ductwork, really starting to need heat. The chickens need relocating to their winter abode, we've 2 pregnant sheep and for some reason Eric (the male sheep) has taken to attacking me when I try to refill their water. Yesterday he had me trapped against the silo screaming for Shermen to come chase him away. We are praying the ewes are able to lamb without any problems…we don't know nothin' bout birthin no babies!

Snow

2008-10-28T19:05:00.001-05:00

It snowed yesterday.

Garlic & Log Cabin

2008-10-20T06:45:00.003-05:00

Planted about 10 different varieties of garlic this weekend. Sherm tore the entire front face off the house to prepare for the 4-Seasons room installation. We are now living in a real log cabin. The new roof is tight and dry, lovely, lovely, lovely. Our duct work in the cellar hasn't been reinstalled yet, and we haven't tested the corn furnace to see if the replacement parts have brought it back to life after the flood; but we are still toasty warm inside with the wood burner and new little corn burner. First hard frost was a couple weeks ago now, oct 2^nd and 3^rd I believe. All the tom's are off the plants, either stewed up in a jar in the cellar, or rotting on the compost pile. The only produce I managed to save/process this year were beets and toms and a few eggplants. My cuke's had some horrid disease, all the squash were planted too late, and had squash beetle infestation.

Planning already for next year….for sure we'll find a spot for some pumpkins, and other "Autumnal" themed plants….decorative corn, straw flowers for drying, decorative gourds. Beans for drying, mid-season crop of onions. Etc.

New Kitty, New Heat, New Roof, New Room

2008-10-01T06:22:00.005-05:00

Lena is now a Grandmother! Maude Lebowski had one little kitty approx 3 weeks ago in Sherm's dirty laundry hamper. A little girl kitty we named Julie. Sherm has been working his butt off tearing off the old roof and working with a friend to get the new roof on. So far we've only had one day of rain inside the house. The guys found a major bee's nest in the attic which put everything on hold for a while. Our "four seasons" room has been delivered and is out in the pole shed awaiting installation. The supplemental heat for the new room is a wood pellet / corn burning stove that Sherm picked up yesterday and is right now just flaming away in the living room. Works damned well.....our only heat right now, and nites are getting down into the 30's. Ordered about 40$ worth of mixed garlic bulbs from http://www.wegrowgarlic.com/, a place here in WI.

Garlic

2008-09-20T09:09:00.001-05:00

I am adding a variety of garlic bulbs to my fall planting repertoire. I've noticed the local grocery store garlic, while inexpensive, seems to be losing it's "oomph," growing more and more bland. I like the idea of braided garlic hanging next to the onions in the cellar.

My research sources have primarily been www.gardenweb.com and the Sept 2008 issue of Herb Companion.

Here's my pre-planting info…

The braiding kind is the soft-neck, what you usually find at the store….not ideal for super cold winters. Hard-neck has a flower stalk which needs to be removed or the bulbs get smaller.

Plant in fall, pointy end up, 2-3 inches deep, 6 in apart in rows 10 in apart, in loose "loamy" soil w/near neutral PH. Cold winters need a loose mulch, but remove in spring to prevent slugs/mold.

Water well but let dry out about a week before harvest. On the hard-necks, cut off the "scapes" (flower stalks) after they curl down and before they uncurl. You can eat these in soups, salads etc.

Harvest when about 5-6 leaves remain green, cure in well-ventilated area out of the sun in bundles of 6-12 for several weeks. Store in netted bags.

Severe winter tolerant garlic = Purple Stripe, Porcelain, Marbled Purple Stripe, Rocambole.

Creole varieties have good flavor and store well.

Silverskin is best for long storing. Long storing varieties do not have the flavor complexities you find in other garlics.

Sources for info/ordering

www.GarlicFarm.com
www.FilareeFarm.com
www.TheGarlicStore.com
www.HoodRiverGarlic.com

The Godmother, Canning, New Kitties

2008-09-07T09:00:00.002-05:00

I am officially a Godmother as of this weekend, very cool. Looking at my beautiful neice Madeline in all her snowy white satin and tulle, pretty much exploding with love, i remembered the little sketchbook/scrapbook i'd started for her when she was born... and my plans to add a page here and there....and all the pages i havent added. Best laid plans...Every time i see her, i think "ohhh, this would be a cute little drawing to put in her book..." but then the rest of my life crashes in and it never gets done. Last nite i lay in bed thinking about Maddie kissing her reflection in the mirror at church, what a great page that would make, how would i do all that white...i really need to start making art again. i miss it.

meanwhile....there's wax beans and tomatos to be canned. and more beets. found a great recipe for eggplant in my "cooks illustrated" mag i'll be trying for maddie's b-day party next weekend. still havent got out the thank you's for the wedding gifts...etc etc etc.

we now have 3 generations of kitties....maude, daughter of lena, had one little kitten last week.

finally!

2008-07-18T10:05:00.000-05:00

Finally! After years of wrangling, Fern Dell Farm now belongs to us, Shermen and Kaaren, and the bank. Up until this point, not knowing what may happen, we have tried to keep our out-of-pocket investments in the farm and farm-house minimal. We have done what we could to make the old 1850's log-cabin farm-house more livable by tiling the bathroom and kitchen floors, painting and putting up temporary walls. We added a much needed corn burning furnace and ductwork to supplement the wood-stove heat. We threw tarp on the roof and weighed in down with cinder blocks and prayed during major storm action. We bought a new fridge when the one that was here started leaking inches deep puddles every day. We've lined the bathroom ceiling with pink styrofoam insulation, and squeezed "GreatStuff" into every nook and cranny to stop the arctic winter winds. Winter meant not seeing out the windows due to the heavy duty plastic wrap, and the base of the farm-house was lined hip high with hay bales. For the first couple years, we cooked AND canned on a camp stove and electric burner. Getting the old gas farm stove running this past spring was heavenly! Being able to boil water in under 1/2 an hour, yay!
We put in a nice veggie and flower garden, and had success (in spite of the stove situation) with canning pickles and beets. We've enjoyed the fruits of our labors during the cold winter months by pulling yummy eggplant pasta sauces out of the freezer and marvelled at the difference between home-grown and store-bought. We raised meat chickens...processed them ourselves the first year, letting them go too long so the only way you could eat the tough old birds was by cooking them all day in a crock pot. Year two, 2008, we processed them sooner (and paid to have it done,) resulting in delectable and tender chemical free, humanely raised chicken. We had a pair of turkeys, lovely Royal Palms, but they were immune to the electric fence, at the heads off all they beautiful tiger lilies, and were a nuisance in general...so they went the way of the meat chickens. We still have 3 of the original 6 lovely layer hens....Polla, Odette and Tyrina. 6 additional layers purchased in April of this year, 2008- not yet laying- and 3 little bantams. We also have 3 sheep- Eric the ram, and Hilda and Matilda, the ewes. The current flock is skittish to be petted, we are looking forward to bottle raising some lambs for pets.
In preparation for the wedding, Shermen put in a gorgeous patio area and waterfall, which Kaaren then prettified with flowers and plants.
We are learning about leaf rust, japanese beetles, excess nitrogen, why some cukes are so bitter they cannot be eaten, not to plant 100's of sunflowers under building eaves or the rain will knock them all down right when they are blooming....we have learned this year to just suck it up and start again when all your lovely flower seedlings are under water for days on end. We have learned that for some reason, Kaaren cannot grow lavender from seed. We have learned that while free tomato plants are great....(self-seeded romas) for some reason they dont taste all that great, and too many just rot on the ground. Little round cherry tomatos are not only the most flavorful, they dont split and they are easiest to freeze. Decorative gourds and pumpkins are cool, but take up a ton of room and pretty much just wound up rotting on the ground....so we skipped those this year. We have a ton of dried out birdhouse gourds ready to be turned into beautiful bird houses....but all these projects take time.
That, I believe, has been our greatest lesson thus far...time is pretty much the most precious commodity of all. Together, Shermen and I can do pretty much anything....we have a ton of wonderful ideas...ways to make life easier, ways to make life more beautiful, yummy things to grow and eat, fun things to build and create...fun ways to share our love of this farm with others...all of it takes time, (and money.) Now it's all about prioritizing. Which dreams can we make a reality? Which need to go on the backburner for a few years? Which for a few decades? We are having a big, beautiful wedding out here on Fern Dell Farm in a little over 3 weeks. At the same time, the farm house is going to be under major construction...once we finally decide which of the renovation projects we can afford, we've already decided which are necessity...roof, foundation, electric, windows....now which of our little dream projects can we have?
Up until now, we have been dipping our toes in the water of this major commitment...now we are ready to jump in...a wedding, a mortgage, a renovation...it's all becoming reality!!!

Winter blah

2008-03-27T13:18:00.000-05:00

This winter crap has gone on long enough. Just when you can almost see the ground without any ugly blobs of dingy snow, apparently, we have another big puke of it on the way. The hens were so happy, back to getting about an egg a day, because they were able to get outside and scratch.
Shermen and Mike checked out the new sheep barn and Mike said all looked good. We get our new sheep on Monday, I'm so excited!

Costly Cat Cremation Etc

2008-03-24T13:16:00.000-05:00

3/24/2008 We lost "Old Kitty" aka Fleetwood, to old age. His ashes are in a cardboard box in the cupboard, waiting for the ground to thaw so we may properly lay him to rest (260$.) Daisy is newest addition to farm family, lovely chocolate lab - catahoula mix. 3 of the original chicken brood are still with us....many more to arrive soon.
Shermen's spring break was last week, Kaaren's is this week. Good Friday, March 21st, 2nd day of Spring, we got about 6-10 inches of snow. We are pretty much ready to go insane at this point with the snow. At least today it is sunny, supposed to get into the high 40s, so hopefully some of the damned snow will melt.
We have 3 sheep to be delivered soon. Shermen has fixed up the old pig-barn and they now have a lovely, large hay covered bedding area with nice windows for ventilation. We are getting one ram and two ewes, supposedly the ewes will get pregnant and birth around late summer - early fall. They are California Reds....Mom already has someone interested in the wool. They are supposed to be good meat animals, but I think these are just going to be pets. We arent set up yet for cattle, but really want to get there soon. We may get a pig this year tho, need to look into processing cost, but that would be great to have fresh pork all year.
We are considering a peacock.
We also ordered about 70$ worth of chicks on March 14th. I ordered 30 of the Cornish Cross meat-birds that we raised last year. (We "processed" (beheaded, plucked, eviscerated etc here at the farm last year, with the assistance of Kaaren's Mom, Dad and Uncle Ricky- who had NO idea what he was getting into. This year we will pay whatever it costs to have them processed professionally. Way too gross and time consuming, plus, kind of hard to enjoy as food when you've had your hand up it's ass.) We are going to have a few whole, but the rest cut into breasts and pieces.....cooking a whole chicken is kind of a hassle. Also ordered a dozen or so mixed up exotics:
2 Cherry Egger, 1 Cockerel and 2 straight run Black Australorp, 2 Hatchery Choice Heavy Breed, 1 cockerel Araucana, 2 pullet 1 cockerel Dominique, 2 pullet 1 cockerel Light Brahma, 2 Colombian Wyandotte, 2 Salmon Faverolle, 2 Delaware, and 1 cockerel Partridge Rock....not that we'll have any idea what's what. Should be interesting introducing them to existing hens. The 3 original hens quit laying for the winter. Apparently if provided with artificial lite source they would lay in winter. They started again this month (March.)
We have created a poster for a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) to hang at school, Kaaren has done a bunch of research about it, and based upon past 2 years of garden production and Mom's input as experienced CSA facilitator, we should have no problem filling 2 market baskets. It's still somewhat unnerving to take someone's money with the guarantee to deliver a certain amount each week. We may decide to do a bi-weekly market basket for the first year.
Shermen is in process of registering farm with the State as a 100 and 150 year farm. That is cool as hell. We will get a certificate to frame, and another source of justification to continue what we have started when others say just burn and build new.
Produce wise.....the sautéed eggplant, onion, garlic, herb, tomato mixture FROZEN in zip-lock bags stores wonderfully...retains gorgeous flavor all winter. the canned beets were great, but frozen the texture gets gross. it made me SICK to shell out $$$ for dried herbs at the store this winter, definitely must find good drying system and then do it, don't just talk about it. We didn't eat any of the banana peppers or summer squash I grilled and froze, and only a fraction of the cherry toms i halved and froze. A friend told us that she makes meat spaghetti sauce, which she then cans. I think I'll try that this year. Our cucumbers this year had some weird disease or something, they were all bitter, inedible. Cantaloupes just don't work for us....they take up a ton of space in the garden, with a yield of only about 3 edible fruit. NO summer squash this year! Wayyyy too prolific, and we didn't really like them. 2 tries at brussell sprouts have not resulted in edible harvest. Skip those this year. Grow then freeze spinach this year. We buy a lot of frozen spinach.
We are going to try fruit bushes this year. Haven't ordered any yet.
5 cats = major vet bills or many kittens.

Bulbs Ordered

2008-02-18T13:15:00.001-06:00

2.18.2008 Today I ordered bulbs from the Michigan Bulb company. Even though I am going to try to switch our "format" over to 100% Heirloom eventually, they have some nice stuff at a really good price. (Got 20$ off order of 40$ or more.)I ordered: Ghost Fern, 10$, Candy Stripe Rose, 13$ + 1 free, Irish Moss, 6 for 10$, and Climbing Peace Rose, 10$.
Stuff wont ship until April, should arrive April-May.
The rest of the plants I order this year should be from Heirloom catalogs. I bought about 50$ worth of seeds at Wal-Mart earlier this year. I may try to return those.

Corn Burning Furnace

2007-11-25T13:14:00.000-06:00

Late fall 2007 We bought and installed a corn burner furnace. LOVE IT! So cool to just walk over to thermostat on the wall and push a button and voila! HEAT. We were foolish grasshoppers again this summer....are going to have to buy our wood all winter...but that turned out to be blessing in disguise because the guy we buy the wood from is really cool and is going to sell us some sheep also. Shermen installed the ductwork in the cellar for the furnace, (Kaaren helped) and it looks so cool down there now.....civilized. Something is there that wasn't before, and we did it.

Party Like Rock Star

2007-10-10T06:06:00.000-05:00

Monday when I got to work, one of my co-workers asked if I "partied like a rock star" this weekend. (We planted bulbs this weekend, in anticipation of our spring wedding.) I told her hell yeah, like an aging rock star in recovery. Steven Tyler perhaps?

We planted bearded irises, in almost black, pink and blue/white. We planted allium (sp?) and white bleeding heart, some blue wild geranium, some blue/purple fragrant things i forgot the name of, a red peony...transplanted a couple lupine, dianthus and some ground cover. I'm so excited, even if only half of it blooms, it will be so gorgeous.

Engaged!!!

2007-09-29T13:42:00.000-05:00

Last nite Shermen suggested we go for a walk on the property to watch the sunset. It was a beautiful Autumn nite....and a gorgeous sunset which I have attempted to memorize so I can paint it. Oranges and purples and fiery red. We saw a deer running across the field, and a cayote jumping thru the tall grass. Very cool. After the sun set, Sherm looked at me and asked, "Do you think you could watch this sun set with me for the rest of your life?" (I'm getting all teary eyed just writing this.) Of course I said yes, which he made me repeat a couple times, just to be sure, I guess. He then got up onto his knee, (we were sitting on a blanket) and took my hand and held the ring at the tip of my finger and asked if I would marry him....I cried and laughed and said yes yes yes. (he was a bit teary eyed also.) It was just the most beautiful moment. I couldnt stop crying cuz it was just everything I've ever wanted but didnt know it yet, so perfect, and I was just filled with this feeling of being so very blessed. It was a moment where everything just felt so perfectly right, as if everthing was exactly as it should be. As we walked back to the house we were just so taken with the beautiful scenery, and Shermen said, "Sweetie, we are going to grow old here together."

We had a lovely nite and a lovely meal at a very posh restaurant. This morning he woke me up by covering my face with kisses, and I just love the fact that I was smiling before I even opened my eyes. Today we bought a beautiful red tea rose to plant in honor of our engagement. Earlier this summer, Sherm bought me a flowering plum tree and a pin oak for himself, which he planted at the same time. I just feel so happy and content, there is nothing in this world I would rather do with the rest of my life than to spend it with him on that beautiful land, helping to make it even more lovely with each passing year.

Betrothed

2007-09-28T13:12:00.000-05:00

September 28th 2007 Kaaren & Shermen officially engaged to be married!

Bulbs Eaten

2007-09-10T13:13:00.000-05:00

Fall 2007 All the bulbs I did such a good job of digging up are gone because Daisy ate them. Find a better storage place. We have the lovely cellar...duh use it.

Sunflower Bummer

2007-08-09T13:12:00.000-05:00

August 2007 All the lovely lovely sunflowers were ready to shine...then the rains came and wiped them all out. Plant away from direct water flow from eaves, and provide support.

aug 8

2007-08-08T11:42:00.000-05:00

major sadness here on the farm....our sweet dog louis either ran away or was stolen, we arent sure. he's been missing since last tuesday, july 30th. we made up lost dog posters and knocked on doors etc., but no louis. we'd finally kind of accepted that he's gone when yesterday we got a call saying they saw him, right at the end of our (very long) driveway! looking very lost and sad. but hours of searching and calling have so far yielded nothing. we'll keep trying though.

another chicken, the big rooster, 'broke' the other day, and sherm processed him all by himself. pretty impressive! i notice another is down but dont think i'll be taking it upon myself to take care of it. i did clean out the 'coop' all by myself the other day. felt like quite the authentic farm woman out there in my wellies and overalls, shovelling shit in the 90 degree heat. i do my part.

our new floors are gorgeous, and the new 'temporary' walls look great too. as sherm says, no fabulous or anything, just normal. like normal people live here.

its aug 8th and i am putting in the seeds for our autumn crop today. chinese cabbage, radishes, beets and cucumbers. our current crop of cukes are lousy. if they arent bitter, they are bizarrely large or misshapen.

Babies

2007-08-01T13:34:00.000-05:00

Little Lena had 3 kittens Sunday, July 25th. The day before we found a nest of baby bunnies in the middle of our snap pea bed.

"Off With Her Head!" - Processing Chickens is Totally Gross

2007-07-31T18:28:00.002-05:00

Yesterday sherm and i "processed" our first chicken. apparently the variety that we have, the cornish cross, is simply bred to be very fast meat producers so you dont have to keep/feed them for more that about 8-10 weeks. sometimes, for whatever reason, they "break" which i guess means they lose the ability to stand. we know this because about a week ago we pointed out this chicken that suddenly would not stand/walk to his step-father, who said, "oh yeah, it broke." and said we needed to process it asap because it wouldnt get better. we were not able to bring ourselves to do this until last nite, so we went about a week having to move the bird by hand so it had access to water and food.

i researched processing techniques on the net, and we had lots of advice from family, so we had a pretty decent idea of what we were up to. however, as neither of us had actually killed anything (on purpose) before, we were both pretty nervous about the whole thing. the poor bird was pretty complacent. she just sat there next to the cutting block, unable to walk, while i shoo-ed away our 3 layer hens because i didnt want them to see us kill a chicken. we had a kettle of boiling water on hand for dunking to open the pores and release the feathers. i held the body and looked away while sherm stretched the neck over the block and whopped off the head with one chop. then i had to hold the body neck down to let it bleed out. letting the body run about without a head is apparently not the right way to do it, from what i read online. this part was pretty horrible. soon as he chopped i looked over at sherm and saw him staring at the head on the ground with a weird look on his face. then i felt the body start to quiver and the legs were kicking pretty hard. i continued looking away and gagged pretty good a few times, but did not throw up. then i kind of started to cry but pulled it together because, as sherm said, this whole thing was my idea in the first place. i couldnt bring myself to look at it to see if it was done bleeding, so sherm let me know when it stopped. then we dunked it in the hot water for about 30 seconds or so, and started pulling off the feathers. they came off really easy, we were both surprised about that. then i used a set of kitchen scissors to cut open the body for the 'evisceration' process. that was gross. i did not set aside to later put into a baggie and freeze inside the body the liver, neck and gizzard as suggested in one of my research articles. the bird is pretty scrawny, but i think thats cuz it was not 'well' there at the end. sherm is supposed to grill it later tonite.

our cucumber crop sucks, the ones we picked so far have been so bitter they are inedible. i used organic seeds this year, as opposed to buying seedlings at menards last year. these are not the 'bush' variety either, and their shape is also very disappointing. large and not uniform. i thought maybe the bitterness was also a result of the organic seeds, but i guess it's some kind of chemical found naturally in the plants and effected by moisture and temperature. this is a drag because i opened a jar of last year's pickles the other day and they are really really good. i think i will go ahead a try to make a batch or two of pickles anyways.

we have about a gazillion sunflowers, planted from seeds from last years flowers. we are so happy that they actually grew! this year we are going to collect seeds from everything to grow next year. we even have some tomato plants this year that just came up i guess from fruit left on the ground at the end of last season.

we bought a big chest freezer and hope to be eating our chickens and frozen garden veg all winter. i'm planning to go with freezing and drying over canning for most of our storage this year.

Questions questions questions

2007-07-19T15:32:00.001-05:00

RE: the chickens. We are at 20 and holding, barring any catastrophe, looks like 20 will be processed. (We are down to 3 layers/pets. Lou, newest dog member of our family, killed the lovely Vesslamay about a week ago. We mourn her loss deeply, she was the prettiest, and her eggs were a beautiful sky blue.)
I am in process of researching how to kill a chicken. We plan to slaughter, with the help of my parents, around the 2nd week of August. I am trying hard not to become attached to the chickens, who have become quite cute and friendly. We picked up the chicks May 26, I think they were only a few days old then. The man at the local feed co-op said we should process them at about 8-10 weeks. After that time they just eat and eat until they drop of heart attack or something. Thus far we have spent the initial $1.09 per 25 chicks, 5 bags of feed @ $10 each, $12 and $5 for feeders..(unecessary) and $35 for waterer. A few weeks ago, my mom paid $15 each for 4 organic chickens, so I think we are doing pretty well on our investment.
We are in the scary process of choosing heating systems and contractors etc for our total-renovation-of-farmhouse project. Finances dictate that our immediate investment goes into roof, foundation and heat source. We currently heat with a wood stove in middle of the house. Ambient heat, meaning, only warm right up near the stove. Also, very very very messy. We are looking into corn/wood pellet stove, maybe with gas as a supplement.

Chickens

2007-05-25T07:34:00.000-05:00

started process of becoming potential organic chicken farmers. wednesday, picked up 25 adorable baby chicks from farm-n-fleet. setting up brood area, put water dish directly under heat light. thursday morning, 1 deaddrown chick, 2 verging on death. move water dish. at school, students place bets on how many live chicks kaaren will have by last day of school- june 7th. not too many votes of confidence. bets hover around 12-15. thursday afternoon, remove dead chick #2, pray over borderline dead chickie gasping for breath. all others look pretty good.
meanwhile, the 4 hens: vessie, polla, tyrina and odette are in hen house on lock-down due to bad behavior in the gardens. our challenge- find way to house all these damned chickens in humane fashion.
expediture so far, approx 25$ for chicks, 10$ for chick feed, 3$ for feed tray.

Winter Hell

2007-05-12T13:10:00.001-05:00

Winter was hell.....sole source of heat the iron wood-stove with crazy old unlined chimney that crackled with creosote due to our burning green wood. Cant count how many panicky nites we had, with Kaaren running outside to check if there were flames shooting from the chimney while Shermen listened for fire in the walls. Kaaren resorted to showering at Mom and Dad's when the chill got to her. Shermen the trooper, still enjoying the novelty of hot water in a shower vs standing at the kitchen sink in a cooler with a cup the year before.
Still getting too late of a start...with the planting, all the seedlings we started with a grow lite in the cellar were wiped out by ladybeetles. Mint and dill need to be planted in containers so they don't take over whole bed.

2006 Garden Notes

2006-10-25T13:09:00.000-05:00

2006 Garden Notes need good staking system for Tom's...rain and wind knock them over when heavy with fruit. Prune the crazy beautiful foliage off tom's so the energy goes into fruit. Stagger plant so you don't get entire harvest at same time = a lot of waste. Plant snow peas and onions earlier. Add sand to soil for root veg. Turnip greens and spinach attract flea beetles like crazy. Even pretty weeds are still weeds, they take over the beds.