Under the heading of "fastest farm notes ever".... we are so tired! Worked very hard today and I'm "TTTT" (Too Tired To Type) and my friend, Eliza, and I say....
So quickly:
* Mollee keeps sitting on her eggs are nite...but during the day she is up and around
* Miss Duck sat down yesterday so 35 days gets us to...May 13th-ish? I might take up her eggs tho and put the meat chicken eggs under her from last summer's Red Broiler hens.
* Speaking of... lost one of the dinner chicks last nite for no apparent reason. Ick.
* Runner's chicken chicks are doing great - very lively and are eating well. She has been sitting on them at night and stands next to the coop during the day. We take her up during the day because she accidentally killed one...there was crying by me.
* The three jakes/toms have volunteered for the freezer. Soon.
* Still nothing from Little Nibbles altho her udder looked really tight today... so maybe in the next couple days?
* Had a light frost/freeze last nite - had everything covered so should be ok.. Blooms on fruit trees are OK.
In irritating news...
* New 'almost neighbor's" dog was over twice yesterday 4/9/2010 in the afternoon. We chased him off because he was chasing the poultry...but he came over again. The Big Man "went over there" and talked to the owners.
* Dog was also in our yard the day before 4/8/2010 in the afternoon... the younger woman came and got him.
* Today we worked on fencing and no one was happy. But we got the front of our property fenced and thru another half roll of field fence. We'll need to get more tomorrow.
And now I am going to bed. Hope everyone is having a great weekend!
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Tiller and farm pix
Hi Javamama!
Do I have an opinion about tillers? Honey.. that's like asking do I have a bowl of ice cream in my hand... why yes, yes I do!
This pic will tell the story of what happens to tillers in our extra bad clay:
Yep. Pretty much this is all that's left of the shattered remains of our tiller. We thought we had a good one. It was expensive....and it lasted exactly ONE season here. The Big Man said something about the transmission or the flux capacitor wasn't strong enough. Now we'll be puttin' what's left of it in the back of our crappy truck and takin' it on down to the scrap yard. With any luck we'll leave the truck there too and get $5 for the whole shootin' match, if we're lucky.
So, if your man is a tractor guy yell into him that we took the easy start motor off this thing and put it on a 1952 David Bradley single plow.... more then likely his eyes will spin around and he'll come running out asking to see the pictures. (Men love that stuff). I'll get some pix of that monster but suffice it to say we needed to go old school for the clay soil here. More on that in a second....
I'd say the garden area combined is less than half an acre..but that's over a couple of beds spread out around the property. Its not big enough for us to use the neighbor's full sized tractor, but its too big to do by hand...and well, it killed our old tiller. We also are working on a "grain only" area which will also be about half an acre.
For any new areas we are using the David Bradley to bust up the clay and hard pan and plant what we can to improve the soil...and then we are pouring on the poop... I mean...compost. The existing garden areas are improved enough to use our little Honda mini-tiller for the initial pass.. and then me using the hoe.This is working well enough but if I ever did win that $5000 survey prize from TSC I'd get the most heavy duty tiller they had and use it just a couple times a year.
If you are starting from nothing my advice is to buy or rent the best tiller you can.... or get a farmer to chisel plow what you have and pasture some pigs out there to really do it up right. Then get a chain gang to come in and use pick axes, and then possibly an Amish guy with a team of 12 horses pulling an extra heavy plow. Working with clay is not for sissies I can tell you that.
I really like our little Honda mini-tiller but, wow ,its been around the block a time or two and frankly needs to be replaced. It wasn't done in by the clay because it can't even dig into it and just kinda scratches around. But it does a find job on the improved soil and digs right in. I did not like the Mantis that we borrowed. I found it to be kinda squirrely and it really beat up my arms trying to hold onto it.
But seriously.... the clay is really tough and assume it will take a couple of years to get it up to speed. So for new beds buy or rent the biggest, baddest, most heavy duty tiller you can find.. for existing our little Honda mini-tiller is perfect. For new areas - chain gang...definitely. Let me know if you have specific questions and we can walk you thru them.
Just for kicks here are a few pix from around the farm - everyone is really active right now as the weather is heavenly.
Do I have an opinion about tillers? Honey.. that's like asking do I have a bowl of ice cream in my hand... why yes, yes I do!
This pic will tell the story of what happens to tillers in our extra bad clay:
Yep. Pretty much this is all that's left of the shattered remains of our tiller. We thought we had a good one. It was expensive....and it lasted exactly ONE season here. The Big Man said something about the transmission or the flux capacitor wasn't strong enough. Now we'll be puttin' what's left of it in the back of our crappy truck and takin' it on down to the scrap yard. With any luck we'll leave the truck there too and get $5 for the whole shootin' match, if we're lucky.
So, if your man is a tractor guy yell into him that we took the easy start motor off this thing and put it on a 1952 David Bradley single plow.... more then likely his eyes will spin around and he'll come running out asking to see the pictures. (Men love that stuff). I'll get some pix of that monster but suffice it to say we needed to go old school for the clay soil here. More on that in a second....
I'd say the garden area combined is less than half an acre..but that's over a couple of beds spread out around the property. Its not big enough for us to use the neighbor's full sized tractor, but its too big to do by hand...and well, it killed our old tiller. We also are working on a "grain only" area which will also be about half an acre.
For any new areas we are using the David Bradley to bust up the clay and hard pan and plant what we can to improve the soil...and then we are pouring on the poop... I mean...compost. The existing garden areas are improved enough to use our little Honda mini-tiller for the initial pass.. and then me using the hoe.This is working well enough but if I ever did win that $5000 survey prize from TSC I'd get the most heavy duty tiller they had and use it just a couple times a year.
If you are starting from nothing my advice is to buy or rent the best tiller you can.... or get a farmer to chisel plow what you have and pasture some pigs out there to really do it up right. Then get a chain gang to come in and use pick axes, and then possibly an Amish guy with a team of 12 horses pulling an extra heavy plow. Working with clay is not for sissies I can tell you that.
I really like our little Honda mini-tiller but, wow ,its been around the block a time or two and frankly needs to be replaced. It wasn't done in by the clay because it can't even dig into it and just kinda scratches around. But it does a find job on the improved soil and digs right in. I did not like the Mantis that we borrowed. I found it to be kinda squirrely and it really beat up my arms trying to hold onto it.
But seriously.... the clay is really tough and assume it will take a couple of years to get it up to speed. So for new beds buy or rent the biggest, baddest, most heavy duty tiller you can find.. for existing our little Honda mini-tiller is perfect. For new areas - chain gang...definitely. Let me know if you have specific questions and we can walk you thru them.
Just for kicks here are a few pix from around the farm - everyone is really active right now as the weather is heavenly.
Vita being silly... we love her spotted nose.
Guinea hens being quiet.... aren't they weird looking? That's the male in the front, Roy, and his mate who is still unnamed. Mostly we call her, Hey Crazy Screaming Guinea!
Mollee, one of our young duck hens getting a sip and reminding me that I have a lot of fruit trees to plant..
Our man, Shine, the laziest barn cat in the world
Hope everyone had a great day! If you're in the path of the storms, good luck and hope to see you online tomorrow!
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
The Farm Buzz...and more on dirt
Its the bees! And the bees knees if you look close enough...
Today we went to two counties over to get some bee supplies for our hive. We got our first hive last year and they are doing great. We've all heard about the bee die-off and all the suspected reasons why....so we were very relieved when we checked our bees and they were booming.
We'll get some honey this year...but we really want the hive to build up its strength before we do any serious harvesting. We'll also plant a lot of flowering plants and trees where we put the hive. The hive is down by the pond, which is an easy water source for them. These things, no pesticide use, feeding with sugar syrup, and a sheltered location are all you really need. And you have to be really brave - I'm NOT the lovely assistant to The Big Man. Me and the dogs hide in the house while he suits up to go work on the bees. I have my limits.
Now about this soil improvement stuff...
When we got to this property we foolishly assumed that the soil was good because the surrounding farms all looked like they were really producing. But then we found out our soil is the crappiest, red, hard clay imaginable. So we started an aggressive campaign to improve it.
Storey's Country Skills Encyclopedia, Mother Earth News, and Small Farmer's Journal were great references to help us figure out what to do about our bad soil. Basically we need to break up the clay by adding tilth...that is, we needed to add a lot of organic material to allow the plants to develop deep root systems and allow those roots to take up the available nutrition. The first year was a disaster, the second year (last year) was better, and this year as we tilled up our winter cover crop of wheat the soil was... heavenly. We had gotten past dirt and moved squarely into soil. Soil is different then dirt. Dirt is just dirt. Soil is a living thing full of microbes and live and all kinds of good stuff.
Last year in the upper garden we planted potatoes which are a good starter crop for clay soil. They root well in clay and we use an easy-peasy method of planting that requires a lot of straw. When we harvested them we achieved two objectives - first such a dig-able crop made us turn the soil deeply. And then we left the straw to compost down which covered the dirt. The key tho was that we over seeded (just sprinkled on top of the straw) the area with winter wheat in the fall. The winter wheat is able to germinate at cool temperatures, go dormant when its really cold, then springs up as soon as there is a hint of warmth. After it grew out a bit, and about a month before we are going to plant, we mowed it down, tilled it up on a hot day...and now.. baby.. its actual soil not just clay.
Tilling (or weeding) on a hot day exposes the roots and such so they wilt in the sun and die and not re-sprout. Now all the dead 'green manure' can compost down into the dirt. This will provide space between the tightly packed grains of soil that make up clay as well as provide nutrients for the new plants. Then we added the lime which further breaks up the dirt particles. I hoed it lightly just to mix it up, then it rained like the dickens last nite and now we are ready for planting in a couple of weeks. I'll plant beans which are also easily rooted, easy to grow, and will "fix" nitrogen from the air into the soil. Next summer my tomatoes will be legendary.
Soil management is kind of demanding. Sure you can just go get a bunch of topsoil somewhere, or you can use chemicals, but with all the critters around here we didn't want to introduce any new pests or toxic substances. So we are 'old schoolin' it by adding as much organic material as all these critters can create. We tend to over straw the coops and pens so we have a lot of almost-composted-nitrogen-rich organic material.
To this we add a lot of leaves in the fall (the mold from maples is especially helpful for soil improvement) and just about anything else we can come up with. Tradition says to give it a year before its real compost... but we kinda fudge on that. Many times you can just make a lazy compost pile along the side or near the garden or over an area where you'd like to plant the following year. Maybe we'll do a post on compost.. humm.
Anyway. It will probably take a couple of years to get the garden really booming so everything we are doing, from deciding how much we will till the soil, to what we add to it, what we plant, and crop rotation is really important. At some point we will get the soil tested as we'll have to make adjustments. But for us this is working really well and honestly they would just tell us what chemicals to add.
We are really happy with the progress so far. We stood in the middle of the upper garden with the improved soil on one side, and the one small patch that we couldn't improve on the other and it was like looking at different planets. On one side the soil was light and fluffy and a light brown color (still not the desirable dark dark black) and the unimproved side was hard, red, and unyielding. We'll keep up our efforts until we get it right. Until then its me the garden trolley full of poop and a pitchfork...that's old school for you.
Happy Tuesday!
Today we went to two counties over to get some bee supplies for our hive. We got our first hive last year and they are doing great. We've all heard about the bee die-off and all the suspected reasons why....so we were very relieved when we checked our bees and they were booming.
We'll get some honey this year...but we really want the hive to build up its strength before we do any serious harvesting. We'll also plant a lot of flowering plants and trees where we put the hive. The hive is down by the pond, which is an easy water source for them. These things, no pesticide use, feeding with sugar syrup, and a sheltered location are all you really need. And you have to be really brave - I'm NOT the lovely assistant to The Big Man. Me and the dogs hide in the house while he suits up to go work on the bees. I have my limits.
Now about this soil improvement stuff...
When we got to this property we foolishly assumed that the soil was good because the surrounding farms all looked like they were really producing. But then we found out our soil is the crappiest, red, hard clay imaginable. So we started an aggressive campaign to improve it.
Storey's Country Skills Encyclopedia, Mother Earth News, and Small Farmer's Journal were great references to help us figure out what to do about our bad soil. Basically we need to break up the clay by adding tilth...that is, we needed to add a lot of organic material to allow the plants to develop deep root systems and allow those roots to take up the available nutrition. The first year was a disaster, the second year (last year) was better, and this year as we tilled up our winter cover crop of wheat the soil was... heavenly. We had gotten past dirt and moved squarely into soil. Soil is different then dirt. Dirt is just dirt. Soil is a living thing full of microbes and live and all kinds of good stuff.
Last year in the upper garden we planted potatoes which are a good starter crop for clay soil. They root well in clay and we use an easy-peasy method of planting that requires a lot of straw. When we harvested them we achieved two objectives - first such a dig-able crop made us turn the soil deeply. And then we left the straw to compost down which covered the dirt. The key tho was that we over seeded (just sprinkled on top of the straw) the area with winter wheat in the fall. The winter wheat is able to germinate at cool temperatures, go dormant when its really cold, then springs up as soon as there is a hint of warmth. After it grew out a bit, and about a month before we are going to plant, we mowed it down, tilled it up on a hot day...and now.. baby.. its actual soil not just clay.
Tilling (or weeding) on a hot day exposes the roots and such so they wilt in the sun and die and not re-sprout. Now all the dead 'green manure' can compost down into the dirt. This will provide space between the tightly packed grains of soil that make up clay as well as provide nutrients for the new plants. Then we added the lime which further breaks up the dirt particles. I hoed it lightly just to mix it up, then it rained like the dickens last nite and now we are ready for planting in a couple of weeks. I'll plant beans which are also easily rooted, easy to grow, and will "fix" nitrogen from the air into the soil. Next summer my tomatoes will be legendary.
Soil management is kind of demanding. Sure you can just go get a bunch of topsoil somewhere, or you can use chemicals, but with all the critters around here we didn't want to introduce any new pests or toxic substances. So we are 'old schoolin' it by adding as much organic material as all these critters can create. We tend to over straw the coops and pens so we have a lot of almost-composted-nitrogen-rich organic material.
To this we add a lot of leaves in the fall (the mold from maples is especially helpful for soil improvement) and just about anything else we can come up with. Tradition says to give it a year before its real compost... but we kinda fudge on that. Many times you can just make a lazy compost pile along the side or near the garden or over an area where you'd like to plant the following year. Maybe we'll do a post on compost.. humm.
Anyway. It will probably take a couple of years to get the garden really booming so everything we are doing, from deciding how much we will till the soil, to what we add to it, what we plant, and crop rotation is really important. At some point we will get the soil tested as we'll have to make adjustments. But for us this is working really well and honestly they would just tell us what chemicals to add.
We are really happy with the progress so far. We stood in the middle of the upper garden with the improved soil on one side, and the one small patch that we couldn't improve on the other and it was like looking at different planets. On one side the soil was light and fluffy and a light brown color (still not the desirable dark dark black) and the unimproved side was hard, red, and unyielding. We'll keep up our efforts until we get it right. Until then its me the garden trolley full of poop and a pitchfork...that's old school for you.
Happy Tuesday!
Monday, April 5, 2010
Turk-peeps and Farm Notes and STORM!
Yikes! I'm typing as fast as I can... we are having a big storm roll in and I need to sign off quick! But not before I post a few pix of Runner, our turkey hen, and her chicks!
Looks like 9 lived.. but we lost one. We saved one of the 9 that hatched butt first. Normally they pip out right by their little faces...they use their beaks to break thru. However this little guy some how had the shell stuck to the top of his head! It was very cute.
Runner probably broke the shell and that's how he got all turned around. We were afraid he might smother and his little face was all smooshed....so we carefully took the shell off.. but kept the membrane intact.. then we wet the membrane and carefully peeled it off... and he's fine!
Here is the first one that popped out...ain't she a looker?:
And here is most of the crew... and the "momma," Runner. Obviously she didn't lay the chicken eggs but I put them under her when she decided to set a nest. She has one of her own eggs and if she stays on the nest until Friday it might just hatch. You can see there are still a few eggs that haven't hatched and we'll have to take them up if they don't hatch tomorrow.
Why didn't all the eggs hatch? Well, lots of reasons - maybe they weren't fertile, maybe they didn't have the required constant temperature or humidity, maybe the chicks developed but couldn't pip out, or maybe they had some kind of bacteria in them and died/never developed. And as always.. in farming you learn the hard lesson that not every body makes it.
Normally a hen will stay on the nest for a day or two trying to get the rest to hatch -- ducks seem to try longer -- then they just need to take care of the live little ones and at some point just move off the nest. Generally we don't interfere in the course of nature.. but last year we pipped two turkey poults out of their shell and they lived! It was amazing...and we were glad that we did.
Quick farm notes as the storm rolls closer:
* Yesterday we planted about 50 lbs of taters!
* Everything planted in the ground so far is popping up..but not the more sensitive seeds in flats
* Maples, forsythia, pears, ornamental cherries are blooming (bee notes); fed bees again.
* Shoveled yards and yards of turkey poop but wow those coops are clean now!
* Little skip poppers are eating grain; neighbor kids will come over and give their shots in a day or so; Gilly may be going to his new home soon... oh geez.. I can't resist one more cute goat shot:
Happy Monday! Quick I have to close some windows!!
ps thanks everyone for their comments over the weekend - hope you all had a wonderful holiday. I'll get caught up tomorrow.
Looks like 9 lived.. but we lost one. We saved one of the 9 that hatched butt first. Normally they pip out right by their little faces...they use their beaks to break thru. However this little guy some how had the shell stuck to the top of his head! It was very cute.
Runner probably broke the shell and that's how he got all turned around. We were afraid he might smother and his little face was all smooshed....so we carefully took the shell off.. but kept the membrane intact.. then we wet the membrane and carefully peeled it off... and he's fine!
Here is the first one that popped out...ain't she a looker?:
And here is most of the crew... and the "momma," Runner. Obviously she didn't lay the chicken eggs but I put them under her when she decided to set a nest. She has one of her own eggs and if she stays on the nest until Friday it might just hatch. You can see there are still a few eggs that haven't hatched and we'll have to take them up if they don't hatch tomorrow.
Why didn't all the eggs hatch? Well, lots of reasons - maybe they weren't fertile, maybe they didn't have the required constant temperature or humidity, maybe the chicks developed but couldn't pip out, or maybe they had some kind of bacteria in them and died/never developed. And as always.. in farming you learn the hard lesson that not every body makes it.
Normally a hen will stay on the nest for a day or two trying to get the rest to hatch -- ducks seem to try longer -- then they just need to take care of the live little ones and at some point just move off the nest. Generally we don't interfere in the course of nature.. but last year we pipped two turkey poults out of their shell and they lived! It was amazing...and we were glad that we did.
Quick farm notes as the storm rolls closer:
* Yesterday we planted about 50 lbs of taters!
* Everything planted in the ground so far is popping up..but not the more sensitive seeds in flats
* Maples, forsythia, pears, ornamental cherries are blooming (bee notes); fed bees again.
* Shoveled yards and yards of turkey poop but wow those coops are clean now!
* Little skip poppers are eating grain; neighbor kids will come over and give their shots in a day or so; Gilly may be going to his new home soon... oh geez.. I can't resist one more cute goat shot:
Would you look at the legs on these two! Gilly is on the left, Ginger on the right.
Happy Monday! Quick I have to close some windows!!
ps thanks everyone for their comments over the weekend - hope you all had a wonderful holiday. I'll get caught up tomorrow.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Runner's Chicks are Hatching! & Farm notes...
How cute is this... Runner, the Bourbon Red turkey hen, was all broody so we let her set a nest of chicken eggs..and they are hatching! Three perfect little puffballs so far...but she didn't want me peeking so I had to butt out. Hopefully we'll have pix on Monday (I usually try and take Sunday's off).
We had been taking up her eggs - but she was soooooo broody. We felt it was too early and the weather too unpredictable to let her set a clutch of turkey poults (who are much more delicate then chicks). So the day she sat down on just one of her own eggs I just gathered up all the hens eggs and stuffed them under her.
Hen's eggs hatch at 21 days, not the 28 days poults take to hatch, so she was mighty surprised when the pippin' started. She was looking under her belly at the eggs while I was watching and suddenly saw me, squawked, fluffed up her skirt and sat back down. She had four doomed clutches last year so I think she finally got it right.
Can different species hatch other's eggs?
Sure! As my pal says, "Its a good use of a broody" to put whatever eggs you have under a gal who is determined to set. Mama raised clutches always do better and its much less work for you. And as the ever so wise, Harvey Ussery says, "...a mother hen is a lot smarter than me when it comes to raising chicks.." So just let them do the job. (BTW, that's a great article - check out his site for everything you need to know and more!)
Bear in mind the different incubation times tho - a 35 day set over muscovy eggs may be a might long time for a little hen used to 21 days. A fellow farm wife told me she had a duck set hens eggs once. I guess that little duck just couldn't understand why her babies wouldn't follow her into the water. Otherwise, it works out just fine.
Farm notes:
* Still nothing from Little Nibbles....she's still huge
* Debbie's littles are starting to eat real food; Deb has a lot of milk in the mornings.
* Penny the goose seems like she is getting close to setting. The old timers say geese start to set their nests after Easter weekend. We'll let her and Cindy set a few. Secretly I'd love a field of geese...but The Big Man hates them.... drat!
* Work work work all day yesterday prepping the soil in the upper garden; applied lime waiting for it to start raining. Also plowed up a couple strips in the far front field.
* Dash is still acting weird, as is Mollee (who we couldn't find until late last nite); and Miss Duck. I wish Miss Duck would just sit down... Dash must have a nest somewhere hidden and we can't have that. The great duck caper may be commencing tomorrow.. we'll secretly follow her, superspy like...
* Dinner chick update pix. I believe they are just about 2 weeks old... do you think they'll be ready at six weeks??
Happy Easter everyone!!!
We had been taking up her eggs - but she was soooooo broody. We felt it was too early and the weather too unpredictable to let her set a clutch of turkey poults (who are much more delicate then chicks). So the day she sat down on just one of her own eggs I just gathered up all the hens eggs and stuffed them under her.
Hen's eggs hatch at 21 days, not the 28 days poults take to hatch, so she was mighty surprised when the pippin' started. She was looking under her belly at the eggs while I was watching and suddenly saw me, squawked, fluffed up her skirt and sat back down. She had four doomed clutches last year so I think she finally got it right.
Can different species hatch other's eggs?
Sure! As my pal says, "Its a good use of a broody" to put whatever eggs you have under a gal who is determined to set. Mama raised clutches always do better and its much less work for you. And as the ever so wise, Harvey Ussery says, "...a mother hen is a lot smarter than me when it comes to raising chicks.." So just let them do the job. (BTW, that's a great article - check out his site for everything you need to know and more!)
Bear in mind the different incubation times tho - a 35 day set over muscovy eggs may be a might long time for a little hen used to 21 days. A fellow farm wife told me she had a duck set hens eggs once. I guess that little duck just couldn't understand why her babies wouldn't follow her into the water. Otherwise, it works out just fine.
Farm notes:
* Still nothing from Little Nibbles....she's still huge
* Debbie's littles are starting to eat real food; Deb has a lot of milk in the mornings.
* Penny the goose seems like she is getting close to setting. The old timers say geese start to set their nests after Easter weekend. We'll let her and Cindy set a few. Secretly I'd love a field of geese...but The Big Man hates them.... drat!
* Work work work all day yesterday prepping the soil in the upper garden; applied lime waiting for it to start raining. Also plowed up a couple strips in the far front field.
* Dash is still acting weird, as is Mollee (who we couldn't find until late last nite); and Miss Duck. I wish Miss Duck would just sit down... Dash must have a nest somewhere hidden and we can't have that. The great duck caper may be commencing tomorrow.. we'll secretly follow her, superspy like...
* Dinner chick update pix. I believe they are just about 2 weeks old... do you think they'll be ready at six weeks??
Happy Easter everyone!!!
Friday, April 2, 2010
Girl. Drives. Truck
Thanks, wickett6029, for your kind comments! Here's a funny for ya... you know we farm gals need to stick together. You'll know what I'm talking about with this one...
Thinking how we farmgirls are all in the same boat..rather, truck... kinda reminded me of a story of what happened when this Ohiofarmgirl took a drive one day. I actually had a “function” to attend... no big deal but different than my normal day. I even had to look nice. So I put on my 'goin to town clothes' (my one set of non-pooped on clothes) and boldly launched out of our driveway in Big Red – our enormous fire-engine red, Ford work truck. Settling in for the big drive several hours away, I had my snacks, bottle of water, and a lot of country music. I was supposed to be there in the early afternoon.
The late fall, sunny drive was stunning – tons of leaves to peep, sunshine, and warm enough to have to the windows down. I sang the latest hits at the top of my lungs as I headed on down the highway. I made the exchange to the northbound freeway and headed for my favorite truck stop.
Now, aside from being the only woman at the dump... nothing is better for the feminine esteem than being the only woman at the truck stop in a big ol' 'arrest me red' Ford F250 4X4, superduty, extended cab, extended bed work truck, with an NRA sticker in the window. I hopped out of the cab and instantly was the center of attention.
This wass funny for a couple of reasons.
1. I'm not a spring chicken anymore
2. I don't particularly do anything to attract THAT kind of attention.
In fact, on a normal farm working day with my too-long shorts, big sweatshirts and work boots I generally turn heads AWAY from me. But in the clean clothes and shiny truck, I guess I was just too much for them long distance boys to handle.
“How you doin', honey?” One of my fellow big work truck drivers said to me over the pump.
“Why jus' fine.” I replied moving an imaginary hair out of my face and flashing my wedding band... just in case.
“Nice truck,” he continued.
“It'll get her done, if that's what you mean, friend.” I said as casually as I could. Knowing where this just might go I looked over his smaller, not heavy duty, short bed Ford. He started so say something else but I cut him off...
“Say friend, whatcha got in that truck?” I asked already knowing the answer..
“Well, I work construction so I have all my tools...”
I cut him off again with a slightly bothered “Hum.” Then before he could defend himself I observed, “That little truck carries all those tools? Well, friend, what you need is a man-sized truck then – like this one here.” I said patting the hood.
The pump clicked off and in a smooth, practiced motion, I repelled back up into the cab, waved, and roared off leaving him stunned and wondering what I may have meant....
North bound and down, loaded up and truckin' I hit the city limit sign several hours later.
I stopped at the nearest McDonald's to put on my official church meetin' outfit. Not just the clean clothes I wore for the drive but real dress clothes. I had even curled my hair that day – all I needed now was a little make up and I'd be just about presentable.
I opened my official 'girl bag' of cosmetic products and peered in. It had been a while since I had actually worn any make up. In fact, our wedding may have been the last time... so it all looked a little unfamiliar and I carefully removed each small packet of this and that as well as the necessary fluffy brushes for appropriate application. I found lipstick that may or may not be older than our youngest cat. I began the beautification process.
The problem, clear as day right there in all my glory, was that the day before the event I had developed the worlds largest zit. It was right there for all the world to see. The remedy was the all important girl-product, liquid make up. It hides everything if you believe the lady at the Estee Lauder counter – but she's paid on commission so you never know. Hopping it would work as directed I reached into my bag for it. I searched in my bag for it. Panicking I dumped my bag out onto the counter looking for it. Gone. Not There. None. Now what?!?
My mind raced. I could... I could.... stop at kmart and get some? Nope. No time. I could just go like this? Nope. I looked ridiculous. I could... I could....and then I vaguely remembered something from an old episode of America's Next Top Model when Tyra said that you could mix some face powder with your moisturizer and voila – liquid make up. I had face powder! A-haaaa....there was the solution!
But.
I didn't have any moisturizer. Humm... I thought as I gathered up all my “possibles” and shoved them crudely back into the girl bag.... wonder if there was anything in the truck that I could use..... I headed back to the truck. Surely there was something, maybe some hand lotion in the truck??? I picked up the pace as I was going to be late if I didn't hurry.
Aside from some emergency tire inflater foam, and some window washer fluid... the only thing my search of the truck revealed was...
udder cream.
Yep, thats right. Every farm truck has got some udder cream for your cow, goat, whatever you're milking and for all your general farm uses. Bag balm they call it. It cures everything.
And as I now know, makes a damn fine base for homemade liquid make up.
Officially late and as beautified as I was gonna get, I took the last few turns and barreled into the parking lot of the event, straw flying out the back of the truck. As I dropped out of the truck and strutted just like one of those Top Models into the event, I laughed that Tyra Banks probably would look better than me in my work truck... but she probably didn't have any idea what you can do with udder cream.
Happy Friday everyone!
Thinking how we farmgirls are all in the same boat..rather, truck... kinda reminded me of a story of what happened when this Ohiofarmgirl took a drive one day. I actually had a “function” to attend... no big deal but different than my normal day. I even had to look nice. So I put on my 'goin to town clothes' (my one set of non-pooped on clothes) and boldly launched out of our driveway in Big Red – our enormous fire-engine red, Ford work truck. Settling in for the big drive several hours away, I had my snacks, bottle of water, and a lot of country music. I was supposed to be there in the early afternoon.
The late fall, sunny drive was stunning – tons of leaves to peep, sunshine, and warm enough to have to the windows down. I sang the latest hits at the top of my lungs as I headed on down the highway. I made the exchange to the northbound freeway and headed for my favorite truck stop.
Now, aside from being the only woman at the dump... nothing is better for the feminine esteem than being the only woman at the truck stop in a big ol' 'arrest me red' Ford F250 4X4, superduty, extended cab, extended bed work truck, with an NRA sticker in the window. I hopped out of the cab and instantly was the center of attention.
This wass funny for a couple of reasons.
1. I'm not a spring chicken anymore
2. I don't particularly do anything to attract THAT kind of attention.
In fact, on a normal farm working day with my too-long shorts, big sweatshirts and work boots I generally turn heads AWAY from me. But in the clean clothes and shiny truck, I guess I was just too much for them long distance boys to handle.
“How you doin', honey?” One of my fellow big work truck drivers said to me over the pump.
“Why jus' fine.” I replied moving an imaginary hair out of my face and flashing my wedding band... just in case.
“Nice truck,” he continued.
“It'll get her done, if that's what you mean, friend.” I said as casually as I could. Knowing where this just might go I looked over his smaller, not heavy duty, short bed Ford. He started so say something else but I cut him off...
“Say friend, whatcha got in that truck?” I asked already knowing the answer..
“Well, I work construction so I have all my tools...”
I cut him off again with a slightly bothered “Hum.” Then before he could defend himself I observed, “That little truck carries all those tools? Well, friend, what you need is a man-sized truck then – like this one here.” I said patting the hood.
The pump clicked off and in a smooth, practiced motion, I repelled back up into the cab, waved, and roared off leaving him stunned and wondering what I may have meant....
North bound and down, loaded up and truckin' I hit the city limit sign several hours later.
I stopped at the nearest McDonald's to put on my official church meetin' outfit. Not just the clean clothes I wore for the drive but real dress clothes. I had even curled my hair that day – all I needed now was a little make up and I'd be just about presentable.
I opened my official 'girl bag' of cosmetic products and peered in. It had been a while since I had actually worn any make up. In fact, our wedding may have been the last time... so it all looked a little unfamiliar and I carefully removed each small packet of this and that as well as the necessary fluffy brushes for appropriate application. I found lipstick that may or may not be older than our youngest cat. I began the beautification process.
The problem, clear as day right there in all my glory, was that the day before the event I had developed the worlds largest zit. It was right there for all the world to see. The remedy was the all important girl-product, liquid make up. It hides everything if you believe the lady at the Estee Lauder counter – but she's paid on commission so you never know. Hopping it would work as directed I reached into my bag for it. I searched in my bag for it. Panicking I dumped my bag out onto the counter looking for it. Gone. Not There. None. Now what?!?
My mind raced. I could... I could.... stop at kmart and get some? Nope. No time. I could just go like this? Nope. I looked ridiculous. I could... I could....and then I vaguely remembered something from an old episode of America's Next Top Model when Tyra said that you could mix some face powder with your moisturizer and voila – liquid make up. I had face powder! A-haaaa....there was the solution!
But.
I didn't have any moisturizer. Humm... I thought as I gathered up all my “possibles” and shoved them crudely back into the girl bag.... wonder if there was anything in the truck that I could use..... I headed back to the truck. Surely there was something, maybe some hand lotion in the truck??? I picked up the pace as I was going to be late if I didn't hurry.
Aside from some emergency tire inflater foam, and some window washer fluid... the only thing my search of the truck revealed was...
udder cream.
Yep, thats right. Every farm truck has got some udder cream for your cow, goat, whatever you're milking and for all your general farm uses. Bag balm they call it. It cures everything.
And as I now know, makes a damn fine base for homemade liquid make up.
Officially late and as beautified as I was gonna get, I took the last few turns and barreled into the parking lot of the event, straw flying out the back of the truck. As I dropped out of the truck and strutted just like one of those Top Models into the event, I laughed that Tyra Banks probably would look better than me in my work truck... but she probably didn't have any idea what you can do with udder cream.
Happy Friday everyone!
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Farm Notes and Return Of The King.. I mean... Queen
WOW! What a day we had -- sunny and 80*. Could not have been better.
And we are so glad to have Queen Vita back with us. Actually her name is Evita somethin'-somethin' according her to registration... but we just call her Vita. Here she is with the little ones - look at Ginger goofin'! And I love Vita smoochin' on Gilly..silly goaties.
Vita is our big ol' Sanaan -- the "Holstien's of the Goat World" - they are HUGE. Like big as a cow big... like, "Hey lets run back to the truck and get away from these monster goats", big. Big like.. well.. big. But they are usually described as big marshmallows -- really easy going personalities, easy to work with, and mostly they come in one color: white.
A sassy showgirl, Vita is our herd "queen." Like all herds there is a hierarchy and honestly, we were getting a little sick of Debbie trying to throw her weight around. Vita sauntered into the barnyard, walked right up to Debbie...and then gave her special muzzle nuzzle I hadn't seen before.. and that was it. No fighting, no squabbles, and she didn't really care one way or another about the babies. Altho unlike with the other gals, Vita is happy to share a bucket of hay with those little ones. Now that the queen is back, order is restored and everyone is happy.
Talk about small, medium, and large! We usually think that Debbie is big but Vita has her beat by a mile!
Vita was at the breeder for the winter. She "freshened" on Friday and had an adorable little doe and a big strapping buck. The breeder, with his award winning herd, will find great homes for them and dear Vita came back with us for the summer. In the fall we'll take her back for breeding again. This unusual arrangement worked out really well for us.
We are glad she is back!
Farm notes (and a reminder that part of this blog is my record keeping...apologies if its boring)
* Dinner chicks are really progressing - feathering out. It was too hot for them with the light on. Trying a bigger drinker for them also.
* Evita is milking like the dickens. Between her and Debbie we probably had about a half a gallon. The hens went nuts for it. We didn't keep E's milk as she still has some meds going thru her system from "freshening" (when she had her babies). We will worm her tomorrow.
* Everyone was out enjoying the sun. Little Nibbles looks like a blimp.
* Worked on organizing the lower garden workspace and setting up additional window teepee greenhouses.
* Planted a couple flats of:
- California Wonder Peppers - 75 days till harvest; may be too cool for them
- Basil - in the hottest part of the greenhouse; 10 days to germinate
- Beefsteak, Roma, & Super Sweet 100 tomatoes
- Early Bush Italian beans
- Black Beauty eggplant; 65 days til harvest
- One row of green onions in the protected part of the green house
- One row of sunflowers in the back of the greenhouse
- 10 pots of mixed sunflowers: Hallo, Lemonade Mix, & Mammoth Russian
All are under the greenhouse/protected area out of reach of birds of all types. Did mostly half packages just in case I'm rushing a bit. We should not have too many more cold nites and I can cover the exposed parts of the planting areas.
* Bees are doing GREAT! Lots of different colors of pollen was found in the hives. Very active today.
Here are my low budget (FREE!) window teepee greenhouses so far they are working great. Probably too much air gets in, but it has kept the frost off the little seeds poppin' up. In the background you can see my other free greenhouses... water bottles. The bottom is cut out and I just put them over tender plants and seeds.
Happy Gardening everyone!
And we are so glad to have Queen Vita back with us. Actually her name is Evita somethin'-somethin' according her to registration... but we just call her Vita. Here she is with the little ones - look at Ginger goofin'! And I love Vita smoochin' on Gilly..silly goaties.
Vita is our big ol' Sanaan -- the "Holstien's of the Goat World" - they are HUGE. Like big as a cow big... like, "Hey lets run back to the truck and get away from these monster goats", big. Big like.. well.. big. But they are usually described as big marshmallows -- really easy going personalities, easy to work with, and mostly they come in one color: white.
A sassy showgirl, Vita is our herd "queen." Like all herds there is a hierarchy and honestly, we were getting a little sick of Debbie trying to throw her weight around. Vita sauntered into the barnyard, walked right up to Debbie...and then gave her special muzzle nuzzle I hadn't seen before.. and that was it. No fighting, no squabbles, and she didn't really care one way or another about the babies. Altho unlike with the other gals, Vita is happy to share a bucket of hay with those little ones. Now that the queen is back, order is restored and everyone is happy.
Vita was at the breeder for the winter. She "freshened" on Friday and had an adorable little doe and a big strapping buck. The breeder, with his award winning herd, will find great homes for them and dear Vita came back with us for the summer. In the fall we'll take her back for breeding again. This unusual arrangement worked out really well for us.
We are glad she is back!
Farm notes (and a reminder that part of this blog is my record keeping...apologies if its boring)
* Dinner chicks are really progressing - feathering out. It was too hot for them with the light on. Trying a bigger drinker for them also.
* Evita is milking like the dickens. Between her and Debbie we probably had about a half a gallon. The hens went nuts for it. We didn't keep E's milk as she still has some meds going thru her system from "freshening" (when she had her babies). We will worm her tomorrow.
* Everyone was out enjoying the sun. Little Nibbles looks like a blimp.
* Worked on organizing the lower garden workspace and setting up additional window teepee greenhouses.
* Planted a couple flats of:
- California Wonder Peppers - 75 days till harvest; may be too cool for them
- Basil - in the hottest part of the greenhouse; 10 days to germinate
- Beefsteak, Roma, & Super Sweet 100 tomatoes
- Early Bush Italian beans
- Black Beauty eggplant; 65 days til harvest
- One row of green onions in the protected part of the green house
- One row of sunflowers in the back of the greenhouse
- 10 pots of mixed sunflowers: Hallo, Lemonade Mix, & Mammoth Russian
All are under the greenhouse/protected area out of reach of birds of all types. Did mostly half packages just in case I'm rushing a bit. We should not have too many more cold nites and I can cover the exposed parts of the planting areas.
* Bees are doing GREAT! Lots of different colors of pollen was found in the hives. Very active today.
Here are my low budget (FREE!) window teepee greenhouses so far they are working great. Probably too much air gets in, but it has kept the frost off the little seeds poppin' up. In the background you can see my other free greenhouses... water bottles. The bottom is cut out and I just put them over tender plants and seeds.
Happy Gardening everyone!
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