Category Archive: farming
The body knows and geese
So often we hear that we should listen to our bodies as “the body knows”. I’m not sure about that now. This morning, I got up and went through the normal routine, then decided to clean a couple shelves in the pantry. By 8:45, I was ready for a nap and took an hour nap.
After lunch, I went shopping (mostly unsuccessfully) and came home at 2.45. This crazy body wanted another nap. I need a reset button for when it pulls this. But I don’t have a reset button, so what does one do?
A photo of our second set of Pilgrim geese. These came to us already have grown, but as you can see they are in “flight” mode. Now I need to catch them and leg band them so next year, I know which ones to put together into pairs.Hay, hot wire, OMG, and company
Today was busy with hay, hot wire and company. We first had to take a partial wall and flooring out before the hay arrived. This corner holds about 3 ton. There is more stacked at the back of the barn and another half ton in another building, a total of 6 tons. I will have to put some 2 x 4s across the front to keep little mouths from making a mess as we won’t be breaking into this until after the first of the year. It is beautiful, second cutting, organic, grass hay cut this week.
We just finished stacking this, when the fellow came to work on the hot wire on the perimeter fencing. This is taking way more time than it should because he has a full time job elsewhere. So when school is out, he will have more time and can give hotwire and the cross fencing more time.
The home health nurse came to check on DH who is doing much better, and apparently he will be making another visit on Friday. He was followed by our daughter, her DH and 2 sons. It was lovely weather to sit on the deck and just enjoy the weather. I know you’re wondering if I’ll get back to sewing or quilting, or something involving fiber. Sheep count, don’t they? Rain is forecast for Thursday, so if we have no further life interruptions, I plan to get started on a new project then. I am so itching to make something again, but the sun compels me to be outside since it is such a short season.
Meanwhile, I am linking up to Elm streets “One Monthly Goal” with this rabbit I finished earlier this month.
I hope you had a lovely memorial day weekend and remembered those to whom we owe this holiday. We are blessed to have this freedom.
Recycling, sheep, nettles = farming
Recycling day – Amazon, we wish you would collect all the cardboard that you bring here. The car is as full as it can be and hopefully the driver can see out. It will go to the recycling place in the morning.
It is terrific to have a sheep who comes when called. Ava (in pink) and her son went out through the gate when I drove in. DH found her and opened the gate. No response until I called her. Then she was so happy to come in. Another great thing is that she is an alpha to the group. When she runs, they all want to see what she has found. So she is helpful in that way as well.
It was a wonderfully warm day again, but our helper spent 6 hours cutting nettles, so that they wouldn’t bloom and create more trouble.
And the new washer arrived. It has been test driven and is so quiet, one barely knows that it is running. Our last one could be heard throughout the house when spinning.
I tried to digitize this, but I’m at the very beginning and it was sunny outside and I can come up with as many excuses as a child as to why nothing happened. I got nowhere on this today and there are 7 days and a pot holder to do. I will learn, but you won’t see much in the way of results for awhile.
Shopping for essentials
We spent much today shopping for essentials. That is if you call tractors and washing machines essentials. We looked at both and will take the next week to make decisions. The tractor salesman may have talked himself out of deal. He is coming over next week to look at the land, but really thought he knew someone who would do the work we need at an incredibly low price. But then sometimes that is too good to be true. We will wait and see.
The washing machine has a higher priority. I am not finding a top loader that has all that I want and that I can still fill with water if I want to soak something or even dye it. So I’m still searching. It seems the companies have gone to the programmed machine that weighs the clothes and decides how much water that load will need.
We did buy groceries and light bulbs, so we are all set for the weekend.
Student farm help
As we are aging, I find that I am not getting as much done as at one time, and we also added to the work here. This year I have help from the Tilth farm school. They take about about 15 young students – mostly early 20s – a year who work on the farm and have classes. They each have their own garden area on the farm and do farmer’s markets and at least 2 of them will be doing a CSA this year. They learn mostly about gardening because this is the Seattle area and more city than animals. So when I put an ad up asking for farm help, there were 2 people particularly interested in a work/learn program. That works for me as well. They teach me what they learn and we learn together as we do. I asked one of them who has been here 3 weeks if this is what she expected. Her answer was “exactly” as she wants to have her own small farm and she is getting to practice and see what works and sometimes what doesn’t work. Between them, right now I am getting about 24 hours of work weekly. Most of the jobs are not exciting, but they are real. Monday, stalls were cleaned, weeds whacked, and some hoop house planting and harvesting was done. Today, the gutters are being cleaned, and
They were also both particularly interested in the sheep. It’s difficult to wrangle sheep and take a photo at the same time, so I only have the photos of sheep after we have coats on them. Yes, I do have to order more coats, as we didn’t have enough of the right sizes.
Ah, someone has the answer. She thinks all of you are so busy working on your lists that you haven’t had time to let us know how you are doing.
Overwhelmed, understaffed, and lists
What do I do when overwhelmed and understaffed? I make more and more detailed lists. At the top of the day, when I wasn’t sure which way to go, I started writing down all the things that were bothering me. I knew they couldn’t all be achieved today or even this week. On paper, they are not bogging my brain down. Having made these lists, I could then do a better job of prioritizing. And yes, more was added as the day went on. I mean who knew that
the washing machine wanted to die today? And who knew that when I went to REI to get a pair of gym pants, they would have nothing casual? Every pair they had were meant to show every wrinkle in the skin. So after an hour of driving to and from REI, I went to my list and added, “shop for pants and a washing machine” Costco is sending me pants to try and probably Sears will be delivering a washing machine (still deciding). Now that was so much easier and better than chasing all over the countryside, wasting time and gas. I do love some of these modern conveniences even though I believe that we should know how to be self-sufficient.
And who knew my neighbor would call trying to find another neighbor who was no longer in the nursing home (she was transferred back to the hospital)? Who knows what a day will bring, which is one reason I need my lists for a larger picture of what has to be done and what can be pushed off.
What did I achieve today?
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made these muffins that we had with yogurt and fruit for dinner.
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made a list of things to be done by the woman who periodically helps me with the garden and animals.
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Called repair for washer and water under wood floor. Will run fan for 2 days to try to save floor.
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at stated above made a trip to REI
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researched which washer I want to buy and sent link to
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checked bees water
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went through fleeces and put a lock in that sheep’s folder
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watered hoop house
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paid the bills that were due
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Copied the utility bills and delivered the neighbors for them to pay
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Checked in with a sheep neighbor for info and to see she’s okay
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contacted sheep person for registrations for sheep I purchased a year ago
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ordered dog food
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did two loads of wash before disaster
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got lemon tree moved to hoop house
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checked on Aunt and found she was moved to rehab today
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sew a button on a jacket
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and all the things we do every day and don’t count – sweep floors, make meals, feed animals, etc, etc, etc.
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There will be more things done between now and bedtime that I can check off. But then again, I’ll think of more to add.
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sewed on my bunny.
Did you notice how many of these items only took a few minutes? What did you achieve today? I’ll bet it was a lot more than you gave yourself credit for. Make a list of everything you do in a day. It will surprise you, because normally one gets to the end of the day and can’t think of much that was accomplished. At least that’s what happens here. When I make a list, I can see that something is done which in turn makes me feel better.
Okay, it’s your turn. GO make those lists. And I would love to hear how it went.
Bees and pea soup
The new bees arrived today. I hope they will be happy here. We will do our best to keep them comfortable. Maybe I can find a spot to put in a bee garden of flowers they especially like. We got them set up and then couldn’t find their water bottles so we called several stores. All were out of them, so we are improvising with chicken watering bottles. By the time, we had done what we could to make them happy, we had spent 3 hours. And that doesn’t count the hours, we go back out just to look and see that everything is good. Does anyone know if I have to fence around them so the sheep won’t knock them down?
We were out of split pea soup which is a big calamity around here. But someone forgot to tell me we were getting low, and I wasn’t keeping track. For him, it’s a staple. He likes about 5 pints a week. I made up 50 pints because that was all the jars I had available. I processed 2 batches today and will do the others tomorrow. That will give him enough for 2 more months. Then I can do some more just before it gets hot which will probably be about the end of July. However, it’s been a cool spring, so it may not get really hot this summer. It seems as soon as I get a few jars empty, there is something else to put in them.
Sheep fix: https://youtu.be/kASFnc3ReK0
Beehives and spinning
It was a beautiful morning, so we decided to work outside. I finished skirting the fleeces and then we started to set up the beehives for the bees coming to live with us on Sunday. We bought new frames as the old ones were well used. The location is set and one hive is ready. The other is still here in the garage as the weather suddenly changed and we had a good blast of hail and a downpour. It is still raining.
A short nap and then spinning seemed like an excellent idea. I filled the bobbin and this is the swift that I put it on. The yarn broke at about the half way point on the bobbin, so I just wound off to that point as I think I can get the rest of the yarn spun on this bobbin.
From there it gets washed, dried and then a sample is made. I counted 460 yards in this hank. This is about a sport weight yarn or perhaps a bit less, so I should have enough for a simple cardigan.
One bite at a time
Remember the old joke “How does one eat an elephant – answer: one bite at a time.” That’s how I feel about the farm in the spring. I can only deal with one thing at a time.
Today I weeded the hoop house with Ava following me along on the outside. She is funny! So the weeding is done, the cucumbers are in the ground and the watering is done for today. Watering will be a daily thing for the summer. I also did the fertilizing and put down Sluggo for the slugs to enjoy.
For the lettuce I tried one of those preplanted items one lays on the ground and adds a thin layer of soil over the top. It was interesting and they are so thick that I need to thin them out as soon as possible. (I doubt I’ll buy one of those again). I am not pushing the hoop house to be full yet, because I want to save room to over-winter some foods this year.
The refrigerator crisper is full of delicious crisp lettuce and radishes with more to pick.
We put a new tarp on a storage building since the old top had shredded after 4 years and weeded the containers sitting in front.
I managed to skirt 2 more fleeces. I started a third, but that fleece was too felted so it will become compost.
This washed and dried fleece is waiting its turn to get carded and then wait to get spun. My goal is to make time for carding this in the next two weeks.
Right now, I’m finishing spinning some lovely roving that I started last year. I don’t remember when I purchased, but it must be at least 2#. Then I will ply it for a sweater.
In just two weeks these little tiny pieces of down have turned into these much larger Pilgrim geese. Due to not spending time with them, they are rather wild.
And these were today’s bites.
Uncoordinated bits and pieces
Todays news is uncoordinated bits and pieces
You know someone is walking really close behind you when they step on the back of your sandal. She does wait at the door when I come into the house, though I think if given any encouragement, she would love to come in. Her nose is frequently in my hand and sometimes checking out the pockets.
Daughter gave me this cute knitting bag. My guess is she was tired of seeing the Ziploc bags in which I was constantly carrying the knitting. So now this bag carries the beginning of a new pair of socks. Perhaps I can find the instructions soon and put them in the bag as well.
I also took apart the legs of 2 pair of jeans in preparation for adding designs on them. If you have ever had to remove the original stitching, then you know why they hold together so well.
Today’s frustration was that I hire people, tell them exactly what I want and after 1/2 day’s work, they tell me that they are done for today and will come back next week or later in the week for another day. Today, I was privileged to have 2 people help with the clearing and one to spray fruit trees and whatever else needed doing. The fruit trees are sprayed. She lasted 4 hours today and will be back to work more tomorrow. The others- one lasted 3 hours and the other 6 hours and they want to come back next week for a day. Is this something new? I mean the sun was shinning, which has to be better than working in rain. How does one hire people who are willing to work all day and several days until the job is done?