Archive for the ‘Suburban Homesteading’ Category

The Mystery of the Missing Goose

Friday, January 17, 2014

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When I pulled into the driveway this evening there was a thin line of steel grey streaked across the horizon; that time of day that is well past dusk, but not quite pitch dark. I hurried inside dropped my laptop and quickly slipped into my work clothes. With a few minutes of pseudo daylight left I had just enough time to feed and water before night time set in fully.

I moved around the barn like I was on auto pilot, moving from feeder to waterer to throwing down another layer of bedding. It’s a routine that I’ve done a thousand times over my life; a routine that may have included more animals, or fewer, but a routine that is always the same. Screaming animals get feed first, followed by filling water troughs, then checked over for any signs of discomfort, disease or injury, and this night was no different.

With no lambs in the barn and it too cold to be brooding meat chickens the barn is fairly empty, save for the laying hens and Sophie. In less than 15 minutes everyone was bedded down for the night, or so I thought.

As I walked across the barnyard, breathing in deeply the cool crisp air and admiring a tea stained moon and stars that sparkled like diamonds on velvet I stopped—stopped dead in my tracks. The kind of stop that your body brings about, but your brain can’t figure out why. I stood like a stone, slowing looking around at what might have caused my reaction. I stared at the barn. Nothing came. I looked at the greenhouse, dark and silent, still nothing. Then, as I panned around the garden it hit me. WHERE WAS SOPHIE?

Now, Sophie is a large Sebastopol goose mind you, and unlike a small bantam hen that can easily get missed she is large. Her body is the size of a basketball and she is so white she fairly sparkles in the moonlight. But, on this night she was nowhere. I looked in the barn again. Nothing. I checked under the sweet pea bush (a favorite place). Nothing. I walked and called and peeked and poked, but still no sign of her. In a last ditch effort I stood very still, hands on my hips and called her name, which usually elicits a honk or two, but still not a peep was heard.

As night continued to darken the inevitable began to penetrate my consciousness…she had meet with a predator. There was no more to be done, sadly, so I slowly walked into the house and continued on with inside chores.

My mind kept going over every little detail. I had seen and heard her in the morning when I fed. When I come home from work she is either nibbling grass or sitting by the back door. She’s loud when she hears noise in the driveway or the house. And, when it’s lying season, which it is now, she is too nasty of a bitch to succumb to any small predator. What happened?

As I laid in bed that night I couldn’t help but feel sad. No farmer wants to or likes to lose an animal, but I have to admit that I was grateful for the fact that I would not have any orphaned goslings.  We had bought her as a pair with a little gander five years ago, but he died shortly after we got him, so her eggs are not fertile.

The next day the early morning sun blazed through my bedroom window, bringing me out of a dead sleep. There in my drowsiness, that half awake half asleep state I heard that familiar honking. As I bolted out of bed there she was standing in the middle of the yard, bossy as ever. I quickly threw on some work clothes and ran out the back door, but by the time I arrived on the scene she was gone. I looked around, but saw nothing. She didn’t honk when I called her. I didn’t see her anywhere, so I began an inch-by-inch search of the whole place. I knew she was out there somewhere and by God I was going to find her.

After searching all the logical places I crept around the back of the greenhouse, almost on hand and knees. The greenhouse sits at the back of the property almost surrounded by an overgrown bougainvillea on the east side and a pepper tree, in dire need of a trim, on the south side. I worked my way through the tangle of vines and branches and THERE! nestled beneath the low hanging branches and tucked under the tangle of vines she sat on her nest. I was so relieved, at least for a split second.

It had been more than a week since I picked up the egg she laid near the raised vegetable beds. My thoughts immediate went to the number of eggs she could have in her clutch. If she laid one a day, which geese normally do, that meant she could have…1…2…3…4…5…6…SHIT, almost a dozen, if I calculate from the day I found that egg near the garden beds.

Relief is never without its own predicaments. Now I have to “unthrone” her, gather up all the eggs she’s laid and dispose of them because I can’t eat them, they’ve been outside too long, they won’t hatch because they aren’t fertile, but they will attract other animals, and if left too long they will spoil and stink up the place. Yep, there is nothing else to be done, but pull all the eggs out from underneath her. She’s gonna hate that. And, if history repeats itself I will be enjoying the attack of a hopping mad goose every time I walk outside for the next few weeks. Such is life with animals.

I am glad she’s not hurt though.

Female Run Farms Push 1 Million

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Women have always been an integral part of farm life, but in the past 25 to 30 years they have been taking a more active role in farm management, taking the bull by the horns as it were.

In a recent USDA study, the number of women run farms more than doubled in the years 1982 to 2007, that’s about 1/3 of all farm owners, and the number will continue to rise as women take a more active role in producing healthier, chemical-free food. One can only imagine how these women, and the daughters under their tutelage, will shape the future of Ag in American. Should be fun to watch!

To learn more about female farmers in your state or to become involved with other female farmers, check listings in your state for Women in Agriculture (state name), National Women in Agriculture or the Association of Women in Agriculture.

Thanksgiving in the Mountains

Thursday, November 28, 2013

After months of planning for a Thanksgiving week that provided a traditional turkey dinner to over 3,000 food insecure people I shut down my computer, turned off the cell phone, walked out of my office, packed up my truck and headed north for a Thanksgiving weekend in the mountains. We’ll have a wonderful dinner at a local lodge and with the winter storms we’ve had lately there maybe plenty of snow for dog sledding, snow mobiling and sleigh rides (here’s hoping). We’ll walk in the crisp evening air, breathing in deeply the scent of pine and wood stoves burning. We’ll wander the village gazing at holiday decorations, talking to shop owners, ducking into small cafes or coffee houses to warm ourselves by the fire with a cup of tea or mug of hot chocolate. At night we’ll sit by the fire and read, play games or just revel in each others company, miles from the demands of the modern world; a world away from the noise, traffic and chaos.

It’s great to be surrounded by family and friends in large boisterous gatherings, but I have to admit our decision to celebrate the holiday away – just Brianne and I, has been a good one. And, we are not really alone. The cafes are full of people escaping to the hills just like us, wanting to spend the day and weekend in the beauty of nature rather than the commercialism that normally surrounds us. I have to say honestly, I don’t miss the commotion, or the endless conversations justifying my life and lifestyle. Momentary twinges of guilt shoot through me, but I don’t care. Life is about living and that’s what we are doing…living life our way. Breakfast is ready, so I’ve gotta fly. But I wanted to check in and wish you all a

Happy Thanksgiving!

From Suburban Homesteading.com

RAIN!!!

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

RAIN

Wet

Sweet

Gentle

Soothing

Falling from the sky

Hydrating the soil

Quenching the thirsty land

Puddles ’round the barn

Ducks splash

Birds bathe

Life renewed

Life is good

Winter Preps Complete!

Thursday, November 14, 2013

It’s been a wild few weeks between work speeding up and trying to get my winter preps done before the real craziness begins. But, this past weekend marked the completion of all the big winter prep projects and a few not-so-important ones.

I have 2 cords of seasoned and split firewood stacked outside the farmhouse door, with 2 more waiting in the wings. I just have to pick them up.

The summer garden and pumpkin patch has been pulled up and composted. All the fences and trellises for vining crops have been stored. The hoop house frame has been re-installed. Nights are not cold enough and days are too warm to put the bed cover on, but at least having the frame up will make adding the cover easier and faster. The patio garden, planted with kale, chard, radishes and broccoli raab is already3-inched tall. Cool weather crops will be planted in the small raised bed near the barn. I’ll have to wait for the first rains to amend the fruit trees and berry patch. The grapes have been pruned and the fruit trees lightly trimmed. They’ll get a better pruning in February.

The chicken coop and nesting boxes have been cleaned out and re-bedded. The litter was spread on the old pumpkin/squash patch and will be turned in as soon as my loving family brings my tiller back. 200 pounds of chicken feed should get us through the next several months and the coop wire was checked for needed repairs. I pulled out the heat lamp from its storage box and installed it in the coop, partly for extra light to encourage egg laying and partly for colder weather.

The area outside the barn was raked, buckets and troughs stored, sprinklers were put away and hoses coiled up. We don’t get many freezing nights so there is no need to put hoses away.

The truck has new wiper blades, oil changed, smog check done, and anti-freeze added in preparation for our trip to the mountains over Thanksgiving.

There’s been a lot of shopping also. Furnace filters were replaced. Stocks of rice, beans, grains and a few other staples were added to the pantry just to round out what I already had. We also have a whole lamb, 15 chickens cut in halves, quarters or whole, a few pork loin roasts, 6 ducks and quarts and quarts of various soup bases in the big freezer.

I made a batch of apple butter with the heirloom varieties we bought up north and it turned out great. I’m saving the pumpkin for later.

Summer sheets have been replaced with flannel and quilts and down comforters have been added to each bed.

I keep an arrangement of candles in my fireplace during the warmer months, but it has made way for the firewood grate and fireplace screen. Our late, late nights are dipping into the high 40’s, but not early enough in the evening to warrant a fire.

I even managed to paint my potting bench turned beverage bar and the new barn door I built last month. Hopefully I’ll get it hung this weekend.

All-in-all I think we’re in good shape going into the colder months. It certainly is a lot different than prepping 50 sheep, 30 head of cattle, dozens of chickens and hundreds of acres for winter. I’m not quite sure which I prefer.

A farm at rest is an eerily beautiful thing.

Winter Warmth & Winter Preps

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

 

This past weekend was two days of endless work; about the turning of a season, the changing of months. There is still much to do before winter sets in and I still have lots of projects to finish, but am on track to accomplish it all. There’s many stories rolling in my head, but I’ll just post a few comments and pictures for now.

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Saturday morning was all about fire and warmth for our small farmhouse. I don’t heat exclusively with wood, but the fires that burn warm the house long into the night. That bit of heat keeps the furnace from running until the very early morning hours when the temperatures are the coldest, which helps keep the heating bills manageable

For years I have gotten my firewood free from a local farmer. It’s nice to have a source for seasoned, split wood. If it weren’t for them I’d have to buy wood and that might be an expensive proposition. Firewood in my area is more about aesthetics than function for most people. Bundles of perfectly cut & split logs can be found at almost every store in town. But, I much prefer gathering my own. When I was young we lived near an abandoned walnut orchard and every October we made a day of gathering and splitting branches and trees that had fallen during the year. For some strange reason I always enjoyed the work. It’s a kind of ritual I look forward to. And, this season’s haul of wood was no different. I didn’t have to cut and split it, of course, but between the loading and unloading; hauling and stacking there was plenty of work, along with dirt and sweat to make up for not actually having to split my own.

With every fire I burn this winter a silent prayer of thanks will ride on smoke across our valley.

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I harvested the last of the winter squash. What few I left on the vine to get a little larger didn’t really grow much at all so it was time to pick them and ready the bed for a planting of cool season crops. The squash crop was not large this year, but there will be plenty for baking with maple syrup, brown sugar and spices or cutting up and adding to savory stews. A few of the varieties I had not grown before and I will enjoy seeing what they taste like. It took about an hour to pull up the vines and make a compost pile before pulling the weeds. Every so often I would come across another squash that had been hidden in the overgrown mass of leaves and vines.

When the pile of weeds was taken away I moved into the chicken coop to clean out the nesting boxes. They were sorely in need of new bedding.

When Brianne was showing sheep we had a routine of cleaning out the trailer at the end of the show season and using the shavings for winter bedding in the coop, then in spring the boxes would be cleaned and that bedding would be added to vegetable beds or the compost pile. It was a strange kind of circle of life.  But, with no lambs around I bought a bag of shavings. One-by-one I cleaned each box and spread the litter across the old pumpkin patch. It will be tilled in to feed the soil with good quality nitrogen. When the trees start to drop their leaves they too will be tilled in to add organic matter to the soil.

The piles of weeds scattered around made perfect places for the chickens and Sophia scratch and peck looking for tidbits and bugs.

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After several hours of straight work I was ready for a rest and a glass of tea. I pulled a chair out to the barn and sat in the shade of the peach tree. I love this time of year. It is so easy to get lost in the work of the day. My favorite CD of instrumental mountain music was playing in the background and with the sun casting an umber hue over the farm I couldn’t help but melt into the scene.

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As I sat sipping my cool drink I noticed a few stray apples hanging from the tree. They aren’t very large but they were ripe enough to pick before the birds got to them. And, an apple turnover never cares about the size of an apple, does it?

With my break over I raked in front of the barn, throwing everything into the raised beds. I always find it amazing how much the soil in each bed shrinks over the growing season. Each spring I level off the beds with a good layer of new soil and by the time late fall rolls around it has sunken at least six inches.

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My small potted patio garden is up about an inch. I planted two old wash tubs with broccoli raab, kale, chard and radishes. I usually plant salad greens, but decide to try something new. It’s easier to take care of this small garden by patio light rather than trek out to the garden by flashlight, now that it get dark before I get home from work.

The less fun part of my weekend of winter preps involved buying heater filters, paint for the new barn door, outdoor light bulbs, stocking up on cat food and chicken feed, scrubbing the fireplace screen and replacing my fireplace candles with the firewood grate. The more I have to be in town the more I prefer being at home, puttering on the farm.

It was a full weekend of work and dirt and sweat, but I’m feeling better about going into winter. With the busiest season at work approaching it was a relief to get so much done. Now I can look forward to the changing seasons (and weather) with confidence, and few other projects I’ll write about later.

 

Soup’s On!!!

Monday, October 28, 2013

 

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We had a glorious fall weekend, with mild temps and just a slight breeze. It was the kind of weather that calls out for chores to be done more out of the pleasure of being outside than the necessity of getting the job done.

Vines that once fed our pumpkins and squash were pulled up and composted. Garden soil was turned over and amended and made ready for a late Fall planting of cool weather crops. There was cleaning around the barn, but not actually in the barn. A stack of rabbit cages needed to be cleaned and made ready for their new owners.

After years of raising meat rabbits both for fair and freezer I have decided to stick with meat chickens. So, I popped up a post on Craigslist and within hours the whole lot was snatched up by a family eager to turn their backs on GMO fed and factory raised rabbits. We had a nice chat on the phone and by the end they seemed more excited than ever to start their own rabbitry, or maybe it was the fact that I wasn’t put off by the idea of raising one’s own meat.

As the day lingered I worked my way, slow and steady, through picking up, cleaning up and reorganizing the barn and tack storage, and a little bit in the garage. I always feel so much lighter and in control when my farm is organized and makes sense.

As I shoveled the last pile onto the compost pile the sun threw a golden cast over the whole farm. It was glowing with peace and tranquility, if not cleanliness. It was a signel though, that the end of my day was coming. I worked well past dark finishing up chores and picking up tools because I knew there was a hot meal waiting when I was through.

Earlier in the day I had started a batch of beef barley soup in the crockpot. I’m a huge fan of crockpot cooking because it allows me the freedom to tend house and farm without watching over a stove.

Tonight’s meal would be a combination of leftover steak, hearty vegetables and a rich aromatic broth. Paired with fresh picked pears from a local farm and some crusty bread fresh from the oven it would be the perfect fall meal to the ending of a perfect fall weekend.

My recipe is simple, just like the meal. 6 cups of beef broth, 3 diced carrots, 3 diced potatoes, 1 diced onion, 4 chopped mushrooms, leftover steak, chopped, ½ cup pearl barley and ½ cup frozen peas. Throw the whole mess in the crockpot and set on high.

The weather has turned off blustery and cold; the kind of cold that bites at you and cries out for multiple layers, thick and warm. Its days like these that make me grateful for the simple pleasures of a hard job done well and the meal waiting like a reward.

Farming for One

Sunday, October 6, 2013

It’s been a year since Brianne moved off to college and life on our little farm is different, decidedly different. The rhythm, the pace, the flow of the farm has changed drastically. No more are there 6 market lambs to feed every morning. Gone are the meat rabbits that kindled in spring, were shown in August and processed in September. And, there is no need to raise more than one batch of meat chickens or ducks. One is more than enough to last the whole year. The 6 laying hens provide plenty of eggs for omelets and scrambles; baking and breads, with some left over to share.

The garden beds are smaller too, arranged and planted to meet the needs of a single person household rather than a home with a busy child. There is no need to plant an entire bed of lettuce or spinach or beets or beans. A short row of each is plenty for table and fridge. The amount of food I preserve has lessened too. Rather than canning dozens of jars of produce, fruit or jam, a few will suffice.

The farm’s calendar has changed too. There are no colorful hi-lighted boxes to grab our attention and remind us of upcoming activities. There are no confirmation slips or auction flyers or shopping lists to tell us where we are going and what we need to buy. Our farm no longer revolves around school and livestock auctions; sheep shows and trips to the feed store. There is no need to set a planting calendar around trips away from the farm because the reasons for leaving no longer exist.

At first it was hard getting use to the “new” farm. Hard to come to terms with a morning routine that took only minutes and night time rituals that were finished long before the sun went down. I felt like I was missing something, that I had forgotten to do something and I couldn’t figure out what it was. I would stand in the garden looking around, checking off a mental list of chores completed like watering the beds, feeding the hens, picking ripe produce, staking a vine heavy with fruit. When you have time on your hands it can be unsettling, especially for someone who has spent so much time, so many years thinking months in advance, planning for events that were weeks off or outlining projects that were seasons away.

I had time on my hands and nothing to fill it. Or, so it seemed.

It took “time” to realize that life on our farm was not so terribly different after all. I still garden, just on a smaller scale. I still raise livestock, just in smaller batches. And, I still cook and bake and preserve, just in smaller portions. As time went on I realized one important thing that I never really thought of when my life was so scheduled, so deliberate. That is “time” is a precious gift, especially time to leisurely go about your life instead of rushing from place to place and chore to chore. I have time to sit in the coop and watch the girls scratch in the dirt. I have time to observe the nitty gritty life on my farm. From the red wigglers growing big and fat in the damp ground under the chicken’s water trough, to the blue jay that has build a nest of straw and twigs and twine in a far off protected corner of the barn. Time had given me these gifts.

And, now, I have time to spend with friends, to participate in community and to share with people who want to know about life on a farm. Now, I have time to read more, listen more and engage more. Time has made me a farm of one, a woman farming for one, but it hasn’t made me alone.

It’s time, folks. Time to take stock of how we spend our time. Time to make time for what is truly important. Time may change you and life may be different, but that doesn’t mean it can’t also be good. Oh, so good.

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The little flock of hens are in full production, laying a half dozen eggs a day. Even the new additions from early spring have begun to lay. Ever since we stopped showing chickens egg production around our farm has been all about egg color. With Cochins, Wyndottes, Americanas and Sussex we get blue/green, light brown, dark brown and what my neighbor calls “pink” eggs. But, they’re all the same scrambled with ham and cheese, baked into a quiche with fresh picked spinach, mixed into our latest baking project or made into egg salad–Wonderful! Flavorful! Better than any store bought egg could ever dream of being.

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Pumpkin and squash seeds started in 4-inch pots back in the cooler months of early spring were planted out a few weeks ago and now our pumpkin patch is poised to exploded with runners and flowers and newly set fruit. There is Sugar Pie for pies and pumpkin butter, Connecticut Field for carving and decoration, Cinderella for looks, and Butternut, Sweet Dumpling and Delicata squash for baking with amber maple syrup, brown sugar and cinnamon, or stewing in a savory Moroccan Lamb Tagine.

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Life on a summer farm is lived in the moment, but we never loose sight of what’s to come. We’ll enjoy the freshness of the garden and barn today while dreaming of that crisp fall day when pumpkins will adorn the front walk and the aroma of fresh baked pumpkin bread will fill the house.

Now that’s a fair promise for ya!

 

One Nation. Underfed.

Saturday, February 23, 2013

It’s shocking to think that 50 million people, many of them children, go hungry every day. It’s even more shocking when you learn that almost ¼ of food produced in America goes to waste.

From the Directors of FOOD, Inc., Kristi Jacobson and Lori Silverbush examine the food insecurity issue through the lens of three people who are struggling to feed their families—a single Philadelphia mother who grew up in poverty and is trying to provide a better life for her two kids; Rosie, a Colorado fifth-grader who often has to depend on friends and neighbors to feed her and has trouble concentrating in school; and Tremonica, a Mississippi second-grader whose asthma and health issues are exacerbated by the largely empty calories her hardworking mother can afford.

Woven together with the insights of experts, A Place at the Table will show how hunger poses serious economic, social and cultural implications for our nation, and how it could be solved once and for all, if the American public decides-as they have in the past-that making healthy food available and affordable is in the best interest of us all.

As farmers, gardeners, homesteaders and foodies of all kinds we know all too well how simple changes can improve a family’s food security and self-sufficiency.

I hope you will take time to watch this must see documentary…and then decide how you can be helpful in your community.