Category: Farm

And You Thought Garden Posts Were Done for the Year – Nov. 10, 2019

The last few nights have been very cold for this time of year. A couple hovering around 20 f but today the day time temperature is above 60 f, the sky clear and very little wind. With one more day similar to this due tomorrow, it seemed like a good time to prep the garden for winter and to get the perennial onions and garlic planted.

The bed that was designated for it is a 4′ x 4′ raised bed that had sunflowers and cucumbers in it this past summer. It was cleared of stalks and a few weeds. Each time I put straw or woodchips in the chicken run, they scratch them into wonderful compost mixed with their droppings and some of it gets kicked out the low end of the pen. I was able to gather a full wheelbarrow full of this rich compost to add to the bed.

The alliums were planted, a thick layer of hay spread over the top and mesh fencing laid over the top to hold the hay in place in the wind and to keep the chickens from digging that bed up when I let them scratch in the garden during the winter.

While I was in the garden, I pulled the Creeping Charlie from the Blueberry bed, removed the deteriorated tarp from over the mint bed, grabbed armloads of mint, dead pepper plants, and weeds to throw to the chickens. Cardboard was placed over the mint bed. I am going to add another layer to it when I can get some, place heavy rocks to hold it down and put hay over it too. Maybe I can regain control of that bed.

Each morning, I go to the coop to let the hens out. They get free range time for several hours until the dogs need to go out again. Once I release them from the coop, I look in to see the cleanliness of the coop, to check to see if their water is frozen, and make sure their 5 gallon feeder still has feed. They have been only providing 1 or 2 eggs each day now for a couple of weeks, or so I thought. When I looked in the coop this morning, I saw an egg in the back corner opposite the nesting boxes so I climbed up in the coop to get it. Tucked in a neat nest there were 11 eggs. Sneaky birds. And I actually bought eggs yesterday at the Farmers Market.

Having an extra dozen around with Thanksgiving coming is a good thing. Eldest son and family will be here for a couple of days so breakfast will be needed for 4, hubby doesn’t usually get up for it. Pumpkins pies will need to be made, so more eggs will be used than the usual amount. I cook an egg for the dogs each morning and sometimes one for me for breakfast or dinner. Now that I know they are being sneaky, I checked the coop while out in the garden and sure enough, there were two more in that corner, plus one in the nesting boxes. I guess I am going to have to check daily.

If tomorrow proves to be another good day as forcast, after I go for my hearing aid fitting tomorrow morning, I will weed a couple more beds, cut back the asparagus tops and get hay on that bed as well. It is fenced off so the hens can’t get in it. Then the hens will be given time in the garden to scratch for bugs and seeds to help keep the weeds down in the spring. I still want to get help to redo the fencing and posts, but the garden is getting bedded down for winter.

Voyeurism II – Nov. 8, 2019

In March 2013 when I was just beginning to blog, I did a post that I have revisited to read many times. As the trees have lost their leaves for the most part, the week of several hard freezes at night beating down the underbrush, our hay field having been brush hogged, being able to see the deer, turkey, and occasional coyote reminded me of the post. Though much of my archives are trapped in the ether, never to be seen again, I had some of the early ones saved. I am going to revisit parts of it here.

     The overcast weather brings the wildlife out into view.  The week has brought a large flock of wild turkey repeatedly out to forage the hay field for bugs and seed.  Each late afternoon and often early mornings, a herd of deer seemingly materialize from the edge of the trees, one at a time to graze in the same field, and a doe with her twins from spring frequent the area around the barn each evening. They seem to know that we are safe and do not flee when we are out around the house and going over to deal with the chickens. They raise their heads, look in our direction, and return to grazing on the still green grass.

 With the pups indoors and the lights inside kept low, we can sit and watch them.  When there is snow cover in the woods you can see them as they move among the trees before entering the field.  So far we haven’t had more than a sublimation snow shower, but may get a little early next week. At this time of year, the deer coats are dark and when they are still, they are perfectly camouflaged in the trees.

It is currently deer hunting season in this county. Bow season ended and black powder season is active. This time of year, I don’t like to walk our property or the country road off which we live even wearing a blaze orange vest and hat. Too many hunters are afoot and though we have our property posted, that is not always a deterrent. Our familiar neighbors are respectful of this and if a wounded deer from a non kill shot crosses over to our farm, will ask permission to look for it.

We always worry a bit about our dogs during hunting season. Ranger, the mastiff is apricot color. He is a 200 pound dog and though he isn’t built like or moves like a deer, we don’t want him to be mistaken for one. Shadow is a German Shepherd and moves farther afield, though usually staying on our farm, but with the abundant number of coyotes/coywolves/coydogs in the woods, we don’t want her mistaken either. The alpha we see most is as large as a German Shepherd and is black. As a result, the dogs get much more supervised outdoor time during hunting season.

Each season here on the farm brings different aspects to enjoy. The spring budding of trees, the young bunnies and fawns. Summer is haying, gardening, and enjoying the beauty. Autumn brings bright leaf color and and cooler weather. Winter, the voyeurism, warm fires, and hot cocoa or tea while wrapped in a hand knit shawl or a warm quilt.

Old Dog, New Trick – 10/26/2019

Depending on the trick, this old dog can be taught a new one. About 2 years ago, ads for the Instant Pot or it’s other brand variations were prevalent. I suggested to hubby that it would be a good birthday or Christmas gift (those events are only a month apart). He didn’t know what one was and I had a coupon for Bed, Bath, and Beyond that was about to expire, so we went looking. They had a different brand that I didn’t like all the features on it, and we had to go over to Target for something else and they did have two sizes of Instant Pot brand on sale. I didn’t get it for my birthday or Christmas, he told me to go on and get it right then as it wasn’t very expensive. It has totally changed the way I cook. To be able to cook dry beans in 40 minutes, stew, or brown rice in about the same amount of time was luxury. I have used it for making yogurt, but that is as easy in a cooler. I cooked a dozen eggs for deviled eggs, but a steamer works just as well. The Instant Pot gets used about 5 times each week. Now that I know it’s features and how long it takes to make a recipe, I have begun to experiment with other recipes.

One that I used to make for the family is Greek Stew. It takes hours to prepare, but is delicious and even better as left overs. The farmers market had green bell peppers and the last of the season’s eggplants today, both are ingredients necessary for the stew.

Because I needed the kitchen for one last soap session, but because I wanted to prepare the stew while the ingredients were fresh, I set about altering the recipe for the Instant Pot. The recipe starts by sauteing onion quarters until golden. It has a feature for that. Once the onions are spooned out, stew beef dredged in flour and cinnamon is browned, again the saute feature. The browned beef and onions are added back together with tomato sauce and beef broth and simmered for several hours to tenderize and cook the meat. Instead of hours, 40 minutes on the pressure setting will handle it. Then you add raw rice and cook til the rice is tender, the Instant Pot has a rice setting. Then you add cubed eggplant and cook for 20-30 minutes which can be done on the low saute setting and finally 10 minutes with large chunks of green bell peppers. Instead of more than 4-5 hours, this stew will be ready in just a little over an hour.

The beautiful pottery bowls are from a local pottery and friend, Dashing Dog Studio, the wooden ladle is from Chester P. Basil’s Wood, purchased at a craft fair at least a dozen years ago.

Sometimes, I don’t know how I cooked without it, but if necessary, I can still cook on the stove top, the top of the woodstove, or the gas grill when Mother Nature takes out our power.