Looking Up

These are some happy farm dogs. It looks like I photoshopped Ryan's smile but no...that's just his face.

We went to take some photos in the orchard and found Amelia (the ewe) tangled in the electronetting. That wasn't so happy. She is fine but we'll have to be more careful about consistently testing the fence. I think the battery died and Oprah made a clean escape, then Amelia tried to follow and her escape ended in near disaster. An animal getting tangled in live electric fence could end pretty badly.

After leaving the orchard, we found all of the chickens huddled together under a clump of trees, which we've never seen before. We were wandering around trying to figure out what had spooked them when a hawk suddenly flew out of one of the trees. Ack! We've been so lucky about no predators so far with the free ranging chickens - I would hate for that to change. I met a woman the other day who has lost 30 chickens this summer to ravens. I never even thought about ravens going after the chickens - the dogs do a good job of chasing them away whenever they spot them. 

Then the owner of the horses and cows showed up to give them some treats. As the horses, dogs, cows and chickens were all going nuts for any crumbs, 2 large ravens landed amongst them all and started eating the crumbs, too. I encouraged the dogs to chase them but Abby and Ryan were too busy looking for scraps...when suddenly Speckles raced up to the ravens and chased them away! They tried to land again and she did the same thing. That's Speckles in the bottom left corner. She's one tough chicken!

Abby looks tiny next to Fred.

Mac and Molly (the other two Belgians) went to a retirement home a few weeks ago so it's just the 3 big guys left. Barney and Sam don't always seem to get along too well - today we saw them backing up towards each other and kicking each other with those huge, powerful legs. I'm constantly making sure that Abby and Ryan stay away from those feet! I hate to think about what could happen with even one small kick...

Barney (I rode him around the farm the other day- he was so good!):

Sam - the biggest horse I've ever seen:

Thomas the Ramming Ram

 Nathan got published! http://www.powerhousegrowers.com/aquaponics-a-diy-approach-to-organic-gardening/
Look at how fast SoZH is growing! I guess it's to be expected based on the size of his dad...here he is snoozing on my knee in the sun:

He still isn't quite fully feathered and he likes to stay warm however he can.

I think Squishy is getting tired of having him cramp her style...I took over chick warming duties for a bit.

The dogs have been very helpful with chores lately.

Rearranging the wood chip pile:

Speckles helped, too. Her foot is finally looking much better! Took long enough...

Abby helping to clean the chick coop.

The goats have been helpful, too. 

Cleaning some fall brush.

Looking hopeful as I walked by with a handful of kale for dinner (our dinner...but they love it).

I noticed that they need their hooves trimmed so we'd better do that soon. I would hate to start having hoof problems with them! Oprah and Amelia (previously "no name")'s feet are looking good. They're in the electronetting paddock that we've been moving around the orchard so they can eat the nice grass there. Once they've spent another week or so back there, it's date time with Thomas! 

Thomas has been getting antsy. First he escaped from his paddock through a gate that he's always pushed on (we've since fixed it). Nathan came out of the greenhouse and found Thomas just standing loose out there, looking a bit confused. Thomas converts any emotion into the same action: ramming. Hungry? Ram. Thirsty? Ram. Curious? Ram. Annoyed? Definitely ram. I ran to get some grain while Nathan distracted Thomas to keep him away from Nathan's mum and grandma who were sitting nearby. You have one guess as to what Thomas did when he saw me coming with a bucket of grain. Yep....I dropped the bucket and hopped over the fence into the horse paddock. Luckily Nathan is braver (we'll call it brave) than I am and he managed to call Thomas back into his paddock.

Then, yesterday evening, while Nathan was at work, we noticed that the horses and cows were all in with Thomas and Zeb. Our landlord noticed first and commented that it was nice that we were letting the animals all intermingle. Nope, not on purpose...the fence at the back had come down. I started running around the outside of the paddock so that I could get to the opening to try and call the horses and cows through. Our landlord headed right into Thomas' paddock. I warned him that Thomas has been pretty 'ram-my' lately but he said that he'd gone in recently without any problems. He got to the broken fence first and Nathan's dad and I started pushing the horses and cows that way (we were along the edges of the paddock - easy escape from Thomas plus he doesn't seem to notice that you're in there if you stay on the edge), so that after they went through, the fence could be patched up behind them. At first, Thomas and Zeb just stayed off to the side away from the action....but suddenly Thomas must have felt some emotion and you can guess what happened next. For a big ram on stick legs he sure can move...he took off right towards our landlord, who was holding the fence open in the middle of the field. I have never seen someone climb an 8 foot deer fence so quickly. I wouldn't even call it climbing...it was more like his legs became springs. One second he was on the ground and the next he was up the fence, straddling the brace. I'm pretty sure I heard a shriek first, but in case he reads this blog we'll say that he jumped in manly silence. Even though I realize that Thomas could really hurt someone...I was laughing too hard to do much and wondering whether filming with my phone would be appropriate. Eventually we got it all sorted out but wow...it is worth having a ram just for the life-endangering entertainment value.

Take your Border Collie to Work Day

Ryan got to go to work with Nathan today. I'm not sure why that makes it seem like he's a 'real' farm dog - our farm is pretty real - but it somehow does.

I went there mid morning try a little sheep herding with Ryan on different sheep, and with a pen set up. He was really good, considering he still doesn't know directions. He ran really far to get them...but when the sheep scattered he started sniffing around because he wasn't sure what to do. Eventually he did gather them and together we pushed them back up the field and, eventually, into the pen.

Ryan and Nathan getting some bad tomatoes for the pigs.

Ryan and the scary pig.

Muddy pigs!

Ryan's bread reward at the end of a long work day.

Meanwhile, Abby and I worked on a sheep pen so that we'll have somewhere to corral the sheep into when we have to check their feet, eyes, etc...and also so that I can practice with Ryan.

Abby waiting at the gate. 

The sheep checking out their new pen.

They seem to like it - we'll try to keep it that way!

Fungus Friday

Untrimmed bushes have, unfortunately, led to fungus.

 It doesn't look too good in the other half of the greenhouse and I'm crossing my fingers that the fungus doesn't spread to our plants. 

I've still been diligent about pruning any leaves that look iffy, but it means that there aren't very many more leaves that can come off without it being detrimental to the plant. We've talked about maybe dividing the greenhouse in half with a wall or tarp but I'm not sure that will work at this point. Today is the first wet day in weeks so that doesn't help, either. There's just no air circulation through the plants in the landlord's half - the branches and leaves are all in big, damp masses.

Our cherry tomatoes are so delicious - I don't want them to end up like those plants! 

Thomas doesn't care. He just wants scratches and treats.

After tricking Ewean a few times (feeding her grain and then grabbing her to check her feet) she isn't so into scratches anymore. I'll have to work on that again, plus we're going to build an actual catch pen soon. They're all such piggies about grain though that they can't stay away if they think I have some.

Until a dog sneaks up behind me, that is. 

"What? Just keeping this farm under control."

Abby has a farm checking and chores routine every morning and every evening. It involves a sprint down the driveway to chase any rabbits, then a quick perimeter check of the main yard, a jaunt through the greenhouse to look for snakes and mice, a loop through the orchard just 'cause, and then snack time (a delicious chicken poop/feed combo) in the coops. 

Surveying her land.

"It's a hard job, but someone's gotta do it."

Ryan's more into looking for food than anything else. He's also terrified of Thomas. He tries to sniff Thomas but if Thomas even looks at him, Ryan runs away. He's such a chicken...

No, really, he thinks he's a chicken.

Why do chickens always look so shocked when they're laying an egg? I mean, I'm sure it doesn't feel pleasant to push one of those out but it happens every single morning.

If I open the nest box while she's still in there she screams at me. She never stays broody for long, though.

Little Magpie is out of her awkward teenage phase. Still not laying eggs, but I wouldn't be surprised if she had a secret nest somewhere. 

Tonight we'll try our first artichokes!

Farm Birthday

We were away all weekend for a wedding. It was a bit stressful leaving everything even though it was only a few days. Our landlord kept an eye on everyone's water and fed the chickens and fish. We brought the dogs to my parents' and left the chicks inside with a pile of food and a big waterer. Everything was just as we left it when we got back - except the veggies. We had so much to pick that our stand had its biggest day yet yesterday!

The view from our campsite. It turns out that trying to get ready for a wedding when there is no running water or power is slightly difficult. Luckily I can always use "I live on a farm" as an excuse...

Turkey poults at Nathan's work. They're so funny - they already strut around in that puffed up position even though they're only 6" tall.

Ryan got to be the tiniest bit useful as a sheep dog, for once. He helped Nathan move a bunch of the work cattle and sheep through 2 pastures. He wasn't actually that useful at all...mostly he just had to heel and help intimidate the animals since he doesn't know the concept of driving vs gathering. At one point, though, the ram and wether went into a deep patch of brambles that would have scratched everyone's legs up. Ryan flushed them right out and earned himself a dip in the stock tank. 

We ate our first eggplant last night. This isn't a very good photo to show how pretty they are.

Today Abby turns 9 years old. I took her for a birthday swim but I'm pretty sure living on the farm is the only present she'd ever ask for.

Chick Playpen

It has been so much nicer this time to be able to let the chicks hang out outside all day instead of under the heat lamp, inside. The other chickens are interested but mostly in the chick food. Two of them have started laying eggs so we're getting 4 normal eggs and 2 mini eggs a day!

We're still at about 2 lbs of tomatoes a day and 3-4 cucumbers. I harvested and ripped out the edamame plants and the rest of the carrots, as well as the broccoli. We planted beans in their place and some more carrots. I let some of the beans get really big (accidentally) so I replanted the beans from those pods. I'm not sure if that will work or whether you have to let them dry - we'll see!

Lesson Learned

Ewean and I discovered yesterday why you don't shear sheep with scissors.

 I went in there intending to just cut off some bits of longer wool that hadn't come off with the rest of her belly wool (I'm pretty sure we got sheep-newby tricked into thinking she was a hair sheep...). She was so good while I trimmed her, just standing next to me grazing or lying down, that I kept going...and going...and...yup. 

Poor Ewean.

At least I used kids' scissors (and I have the blisters to show for it). Safety first.

This guy was really interested in what was going on. Maybe he thought I'd uncover some bugs under the wool.

Not quite as bad by the end...

I moved the lambs into the yard near the house again so that we can keep an eye on them - their eyes look a bit infected and Ewean needed her hoofs trimmed. It seems as though her left front keeps getting long faster than the others (and Oprah hasn't even needed her hooves trimmed yet), and the hoof is slightly detached from the foot pad. She was so easy to catch - I walked over to her and picked her up, then passed her to Nathan so that he could restrain her. We trimmed her hoof and scraped some mud and grass out and we'll give her a foot bath in some zinc sulfate if we can find it. 

Bad side on the left, good side on the right (pre trimming). 

With her goopy eyes, her gimpy foot and her new haircut, it's no wonder the landlord asked today why "the white one looks so decrepit". 

At least she will be slightly cooler - it's still so hot! The veggies love it.

I got over eager and picked some of those yellow ones before they were fully ripe.

This must be some kind of mutant tomato plant. How does it have that many flowers...and will it actually be able to produce that many tomatoes??

The edamame had been hiding - they're almost ready! 

Along with asking why Ewean looked so decrepit, the landlord also asked me why my edamame were so hairy. Ahem. Excuse me? My poor lil' beans...they were born that way!

Lots of raspberries from the little plants next to the house, ready to be frozen and then put in smoothies!

Ryan is back to his normal, goofy self. The heat (and being a farm dog) makes him tired...