Animals
- Springtime Delicacies
One of the many things that we look forward to in the spring,is duck eggs.Every spring we find duck eggs along the bank of the pond on an almost daily basis. Not this spring, however...no... this spring there have been no...and will be no duck eggs....
- A Perfect Day...for Spreading Manure?
There are some days that are just so beautiful,they take your breath away.Yesterday was another one of those magnificent days.Temps reached 80... low humidity... as nearly perfect a day as one could imagine! What would you do on such a gorgeous...
- For The Love Of Compost
I consider myself a jack-of-all-trades,master of manure!What I lack in brains, I make up for in sheer willpower. So, when it comes to tractors and farm equipment...bring 'em on! Yesterday was manure spreading day... me doing the loading with Dear...
- Manure And Other Fun Stuff
Living on the farm has given us many skills...some we are good at,and some at which we excel. We grow our own food, grow hay for our horses,keep bees and many animals...but the thing we just may be the best at is making great compost! We have an endless...
- The Ultimate Recycling Project
Here on the farm, we are committed to recycling as much as we possibly can. We compost whatever kitchen scraps we have (that the chickens won't eat). We compost our manure and leaves. We try to find a use for everything. This winter we had several...
Animals
Of Morels and Manure
With a beautiful Spring backdrop,
I squeezed as much out of a sunny yesterday as I could.
With several days of rain on the horizon,
I felt a certain urgency to get a lot of items checked off my Spring chore list.
Fasten your seatbelt,
here goes....
5:30 AM up with puppy, dressed, breakfast.
6:00 AM out for morning chores (i.e. feed, water animals and clean their houses)
8:00 Chimney sweep came
Baked a batch of double chocolate/walnut cookies
Took many weeks worth of recycling to recycling center
Ran to the bank and grocery store
Afternoon chores
Loaded 2 big piles of compost in the manure spreader for Jim to spread.
Made dinner
Planted 2 flats of cabbages
planted 1 flat of broccoli
watered seedlings in greenhouse
Did bedtime feeding and tucked animals in for the night
(With several puppy play times interspersed throughout the day)
As for spreading manure...
as I dug each load of compost,
this group of hens that had been relaxing under this small pine tree
came running over to eat the abundant worms that had been unearthed by the tractor.
Worm after worm they gulped in one quick swallow.
This is one of the things that makes farm fresh free range eggs so good...
and full of healthy omega three fatty acid...
much healthier than the grocery store variety!
Naturally, whenever anything interesting is happening around the farm,
the turkeys are there to supervise.
Sam, on the other hand, took the opportunity to catch up on his naps.
Many thanks to Jim, my #1 farmhand, for helping me spread manure!
Don't you just love that old tractor?
It's our 1953 Ford Jubilee tractor... restored by Jim to its original paint colors.
She's a beauty!
(You might not know this about me...but old tractors make me swoon!)
I made a discovery yesterday on my many trips back and forth through the orchard.
Our old (magical) craggy apple tree (that no longer bears fruit)...
is once again home to a Spring crop of morel mushrooms.
The first one has just emerged...
I am betting after this week's rains there will be several more.
Once they have all matured, they will become part of our annual spring omelet...
served at Sunday Farm Breakfast.
Fresh asparagus, morels, chives and homemade cheese will go into this
once-a-year omelet.
- Springtime Delicacies
One of the many things that we look forward to in the spring,is duck eggs.Every spring we find duck eggs along the bank of the pond on an almost daily basis. Not this spring, however...no... this spring there have been no...and will be no duck eggs....
- A Perfect Day...for Spreading Manure?
There are some days that are just so beautiful,they take your breath away.Yesterday was another one of those magnificent days.Temps reached 80... low humidity... as nearly perfect a day as one could imagine! What would you do on such a gorgeous...
- For The Love Of Compost
I consider myself a jack-of-all-trades,master of manure!What I lack in brains, I make up for in sheer willpower. So, when it comes to tractors and farm equipment...bring 'em on! Yesterday was manure spreading day... me doing the loading with Dear...
- Manure And Other Fun Stuff
Living on the farm has given us many skills...some we are good at,and some at which we excel. We grow our own food, grow hay for our horses,keep bees and many animals...but the thing we just may be the best at is making great compost! We have an endless...
- The Ultimate Recycling Project
Here on the farm, we are committed to recycling as much as we possibly can. We compost whatever kitchen scraps we have (that the chickens won't eat). We compost our manure and leaves. We try to find a use for everything. This winter we had several...