The 2010 Growing Season Begins!

Little purple crocuses are popping up around the yard, as well as tips of daffodils and tulips. Signs that my bulb planting frenzy last fall was not in vain. My hands are covered in blisters from raking, but the yard is looking tidier. We've got the seed catalogs out, I've already picked up a few packets of the cold weather crops.....snap peas, gourmet lettuces, beets. I'm trying seed tape for the beets this year. I never have the patience to strategically plant those tiny, tiny seeds, I just sprinkle 'em over the soil. Nor do I have the patience or the heart to thin the seedlings, I want them all to live and grow and be yummy. What they wind up doing is elbowing each other right out of the soil where the chickens can peck at them. So anyways, this year I'm trying the tape which should eliminate the need to thin. I also purchased one of those little tools that you put the tiny seeds in so you may sow them one at a time.
My last minute garlic from last year, (cloves thrown into chunks of frozen ground then immediately covered in snow,) seems to have actually produced a few sprouts. The chickens scratched up a few, but I pushed them back into the earth and then topped the area w/wire. The chickens are happy and free, already the egg yolks are turning a rich golden orange, far more nutritious than the weak yellow of winter when they are living on mostly feed. Of course, now the hens are also back at the egg hiding game. Daisy's coat is gorgeously shiny from her renewed diet of stolen eggs. I'll probably have to start keeping them in the coop for the first half of the day if I want to collect any eggs. We lost our last bantam, the beautiful Beloved, a couple weeks ago. Those tiny birds are so lovable and sweet, but they just cannot defend themselves against the various predators around here. We are sticking with the large breed birds from here on out. I've ordered a few silvers and need to get the chick rearing area ready for their arrival, sometime in early April.
We are making quite a bit of progress inside the house. Shermen built a really lovely wall / shelf area in the downstairs bathroom, and I am (supposed to be) tackling my storage insanity up in the attic so we can start tearing down walls and putting in the 2nd bathroom and (!!) baby room.
We are sending in the completed application to Pauquette Adoption Agency this week. Wonderfully exciting and busy times!
A great resource I've found for what to do with all that produce we'll soon be finding in our gardens or at farmer's markets, Clean Eating magazine. Recipe ideas, as well as good articles on healthy living. I'm trying to move more and more in the direction of avoiding processed foods, eating as "clean" as possible. They also have a facebook group.

Our Adoption Journey Begins

On Shermen's birthday we went to an informational workshop at an adoption agency. We had both done some research on a few different agencies, and have chosen Pauquette as the agency we'd like to work with. We left the workshop feeling positive, knowing we have a long and very challenging journey ahead of us, but obviously one well worth the struggle. Our biggest obstacle is the remaining work on the interior of our home, and the very minimal funds we have to achieve that task. We have support from family, in both morale and dollars, but dont want to burden them too much. The tax credit was a cushion, in case we have to borrow to cover costs, but we found out that after 2010 it will probably be discontinued / greatly reduced.
Yesterday we went upstairs and reviewed the task ahead of us, the different options and potential costs. I kind of melted down, realized I'd been somewhat starry-eyed about the whole project, mentally minimizing the work needed to bring our upper level up to code etc. This will not be easy, but it shouldnt be, and I know we can do it.

Chicken Killing 'Possum Smackdown

After losing my beloved Japanese Bantam rooster Leif and a sweet Barred Rock hen to unknown predators, I did some online research. Chicken predators can be partially identified by the manner in which they kill....in our case, the predators left egg shells and a partially eaten carcass. This ruled out weasels, which apparently kill randomly and only for the taste of blood, biting the head or neck of the chicken then moving on to the next victim. My mother remembers one of the few times she'd seen her own mother cry, when a weasel got into her hen house and killed about 30 hens. The fact that the animal left empty shells indicated either an Opossum or raccoon, since other predators take the eggs with them to consume later.
Predators are an ongoing bother for anyone raising chickens. I took care of our current "bother" the other night when I surprised two enormous opossums in the act of raiding my hen house. Because I did not have a firearm of any kind, it was "deux contre un".....me against the two nasty creatures, with nothing but a large stick and a five gallon pail to finish the job. It took about an hour. As I dragged a bloody feed bag through the snow to the garbage, I felt monstrous and victorious all at once. I had protected my girls. When I returned to the barn, I found the tail feathers of one of my lovely white Brahmas, and a live hen with a large bald spot on her bum. I had arrived in the nick of time.


Rest in Peace my lovely Leif

Winter is Here

Winter really snuck up on me this year. The beets (and extra beds of beets) I'd put in due to our mad love for pickled beets froze into the ground and were covered with snow. The lovely braided chains of about 10 varieties of fat garlic bulbs needed sorting and planting, and kept getting put off to the "next weekend." A couple dozen cloves made it into the ground....I managed to hack into the frozen earth and haphazardly put in about a quarter of the bulbs I'd planted last year. Within days of planting they too were blanketed with snow. No time to add a layer of hay for extra insulation, the garlic now carries the same "wish and prayer" of protection as my lovely roses and strawberry beds. I guess we'll be growing that "Darwin-ian" garden Shermen had been promoting, (and I'd been scoffing as laziness) survival of the fittest.
Now it is time to do the "indoor stuff." Paint and drill the dried gourds from two seasons ago. Peruse seed catalogs and plan for the next season. Fantasize about building greenhouses and cold frames. Rue the waste from the recent season, "I could be eating beets from our garden right now, if I'd only....." then quickly smack those thoughts right out of my head.
This year I've decided the garden is for PLEASURE. Big ideas about total self-sustainability, feeding our family and more, participating in farmer's markets and starting CPA's of our own....gone. (for now.) I get enough stress from the work week, our untidy house and unfinished business of a million varieties. Freaking out because the tomatoes and berries are (literally) hen-pecked, the cukes aren't pickled and the basil isn't pesto'd.....over. This year I'm growing more flowers and things we can eat as we stroll through the beds. Snap peas and strawberries. Things that give pleasure right where they are.

Like Lambs to the Slaughter

Our lambs have been safely delivered to the processor, we are using Wisconsin River Meats out of Mauston. They will be ready for pick-up in the form of chops and steaks in about a week. I think I'll take their pictures down in my classroom, kind of unappetizing.

Bye Bye Sheep

Erik, Hilda and Matilda just headed off to their new home. Their new owners seem like lovely people, very informative regarding the art of sheep raising- (shepherding?) We learned a lot and definitely plan to try again in the future. The key to successfully raising stock such as sheep, (as Shelly our new friend informed us,) is to be prepared PRIOR to acquiring the animals.
She also told us about a wool festival near West Bend area end of October, which we hope to check out. Another note, according to Shelly and a couple other people who called regarding the Craigslist post selling the sheep, it is very likely that Erik is California Red, but the two ewes are not typical representatives of that breed.

Sheep "Going Rogue"

Just as good fences make good neighbors...good fences also make good farmers. Here you see our California Red sheep, Erik, Hilda and Matilda, enjoying our tender yard grass and moments away from nibbling (and trampling) the last beet crop. Erik, Hilda and Matilda are lucky we are not gun owners.

We used the electric line-wire fencing to enclose our sheep grazing area. The fence had been working fine so far this year, after we figured out using weed killer on the fence line is not bad land stewardship. As Mom says, "even the UW extension uses Round-up!" Round-up is animal safe, only stays in the ground a few days, and is Kaaren's new best-friend. The wire-line fence was inexpensive, relatively easy for (Shermen) to install, and doing the job of keeping the sheep in. Last winter, our ewes (Hilda & Matilda) lambed 2 males. Shermen and I castrated the lambs ourselves, using the rubber band method with a tool from Farm-n-Fleet. I thought the job went swimmingly, the boys appeared untraumatized, and we even gave them tetanus shots to prevent infection. Apparently, (we later found out from the sheep shearer man) we missed the actual testicles?testes? and merely trimmed up the sacs a bit. While the little rams were probably still rendered sterile, (due to the killingly close proximity of sperm to body heat,) around August they started getting that adolescent flood of male hormones which rendered them impervious to our silly little wire line electric fence.

Wire line fencing snaps easily, and also stretches. The little fiberglass posts that support the line bends and the little yellow plastic things that attach the line to the post detach with just a moderate amount of pressure. You can mend the snapped fence line with little crimpers, but then you have a weak point. I'm not sure, but numerous repair points in a line probably inhibit the electrical flow also.

There is a better type of electrical fencing called "webbing" which is made of material similar in appearance to a dog's leash, but also much more expensive. Plain old woven wire fencing, about 4 feet high is also effective for sheep, doesn't require electricity to work, but does require metal posts for support. At around 5$ a post, this can become a pricey process.

We are knee deep in the home renovation situation, and out of $$$. The guy we bought the sheep from doesnt want them back, as he has switched to a strictly dairy stock of sheep. The little rams are safe and cozy in the barn, fattening up on a diet of strictly corn and grain, getting ready for market. (A pure grass diet may be healthier but is less palatable for most people.) Erik, Hilda and Matilda are in the front yard nibbling on our willow.

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