Mish Mash

I was really hoping to do a blog post today where I could just put up some of the nice pictures that Nathan and I took over the weekend, instead of talking about ailing animals or plants. The animals, unfortunately, didn't cooperate with that plan. 

Abby had to be rushed to the vet on Saturday for staples after a visiting friend's dog chomped her head. He wasn't happy about being locked in the yard and Abby happened to be standing closest to him. Poor Abby - what a belated 9th birthday present. We're keeping her off the farm right now so that the wound stays clean. She has been pretty sleepy and swollen but I don't think there is an infection (keeping my fingers crossed). 

Ryan has had to take over duties as farm patroller. 

While Abby takes a more "hands-off" approach with her farm staff, always maintaining distance and professionalism, Ryan prefers to become one of the gang and form real relationships with the staff. He even takes lunch with them.

Sometimes this can lead to a bit of a power struggle when the workers forget who's boss. Unfortunately, Ryan ran away from the conflict and left his cucumber behind.

Meanwhile, Abby was inside having a power struggle of her own. She isn't sure why the other house patient seems to be getting much better treatment than her.

As if Speckles' bumblefoot issue last week wasn't enough, today I found Dorothy all puffed up with her eyes closed in the coop when I went to collect eggs. This is very unusual when all of the chickens are usually running around the farm foraging in the morning.

I'm not sure what's wrong with her so I tried a few treatments. First I gave her a warm bath in epsom salts in case she's egg-bound (can't pass her egg). 

Then I gave her some epsom salts in water orally in case she's constipated, and some apple cider vinegar in water for dehydration (and because apple cider vinegar is one of those 'cure-all' kind of things). Oh, and a bit of olive oil in case she her crop is blocked up. I basically covered most of the home cures in the book (or in the google, in this case). So far so good - she made a giant normal poop on the towel, is eating her scrambled egg and grain mix, and then perked up enough just now to jump on the table next to my computer to stare at me. 

It might seem funny to blog readers to see a post one day about slaughtering chickens and then a post a few days later about treating a sick chicken and serving her scrambled eggs on a plate (chickens love their own eggs). We want all of our animals to live happy, pain-free lives. Even if some of them are for eating, they still deserve to be healthy and well treated. That should be a given when keeping any kind of animal. 

We'll stop short, though, of orthodontics for our animals...even though I'm pretty sure Zeb could use a set of braces. Maybe a headgear, too.

The ever-so-photogenic Thomas.

You couldn't get a better setup if you tried. This little frog was hanging out on an artichoke flower.

Our artichokes were inedible! They were fibrous and the heart was just a mass of white strands. I'm not sure why... if you let them flower they sure are pretty. I don't think I'd bother growing them again, except maybe as decoration.

We never did get a swarm of bees in our hive but we are definitely getting pollinators in the greenhouse.

Lots of butternut squash were pollinated and are growing well. 

We planted our fall crop - cauliflower, carrots, broccoli, lettuce. 

Seedling sprouting in a grow bed.

The newest grow bed. This would be the perfect height for picking bush beans. Picking them from the ground is back breaking!

And finally, I call these "Three Girls", or alternatively, "A Good, Bad and Fantastic Date".

One for Woolly Bully

There was definitely no time to update the blog this weekend. The weather changed from a rainy, grey week to extreme heat just in time for our 8 guests to arrive. It was so hot that Nathan took both ends off the greenhouse and we built Zeb and Thomas an extra shade shelter since Molly the horse was hogging the first shelter. We knew they needed another one when we saw Thomas chasing Zeb all over the field (who knows why) and then suddenly collapse, breathing really hard. Zeb didn't even look winded - maybe his stint with Lucy last week got him in shape.

While we were building the shade shelter, our guests were sitting on stumps watching us and enjoying the traditional bbq in the paddock. We were concentrating on pounding the posts in when we heard screaming. Before we even really noticed what was happening, all of our friends were inside Nathan's truck with doors and windows closed. Woolly Bully had been walking along the fence and he took a half-hearted 3-step charge at Abby (she very easily avoided him), which I admit may have been panic inducing for a newcomer to the farm. I wish we had had a camera out there...

It was also finally hot enough to swim in the creek we discovered a few months ago. We all hiked in there to swim on Saturday, then went to a nearby lake on Sunday and to the ocean on Monday. Apparently there's a lazy river nearby that the locals tube down in the summer - that's next on the list!

When we cooked dinner on Saturday it was so nice to hear things like "this is how chicken is supposed to taste!" and "I don't normally like green beans but these are delicious!".

Carrots, beans, broccoli, peas and basil...everything is growing so quickly now!

Including the "chicks". Zebra Head now crows every morning....but they still take naps throughout the day. 

They also still sleep in a pile instead of on their roosts, and try to burrow underneath each other like they would with their mother.

The Debut

Yesterday the farm front stall made its first appearance. 

We have had a grand total of...0 customers. I've seen at least 3 people stop and look and not buy anything. I'm thinking that it will be more popular when we have more than lettuce and herbs available (hopefully!). 

I pulled up the first carrots yesterday. The one in the middle must have hit a rock while growing. They were delicious!

Mmm more basil for pesto - this time it went on a pizza with zucchini, radish, onion, garlic and sundried tomatoes. It was one of our best yet!

The name "Sweet Million" isn't much of an exaggeration for these tomato plants. They are *covered* in vines of growing tomatoes. 

The lettuce (romaine and manoa) that I harvested for the stand yesterday. It's hard to keep it from wilting. I put it and the kale on damp towels on the stand and I stood the bunches of herbs up in some water. That seems to keep it pretty fresh. 

Nathan got some red wriggler worms to add to the aquaponics system. They help to break down the fish waste for the plants. He put them in the grow beds and they tunneled right down into the media. 

Our landlord is digging a trench to lay irrigation pipe from the rainwater pond by the greenhouse to the orchard. Nathan had a small work team of 3 to help him dig.

All of the dogs had had a pre-weekend bath. Back to farm life...