Back In The Saddle!

SNOW and more snow. January has been defined by the stuff. The ducks, geese, turkeys and chickens have been surviving storms with temps in single digits. I keep thinking I will find frozen poultry in the morning. They have a shelter, but I see them hanging around outside most daylight hours.
Ugh, the huge bags of Fertrell organic potting soil was frozen solid under a foot of snow. So unthinking of me to have forgotten to bring it inside before the weather turned. Aaron shoveled it out and dragged it into the house. Thankfully it thawed and we can seed onions and flowers.
Here is another snow lover! Max is like a child, just does not want to come in, even after hours of lounging belly down on the frigid piles. He makes me cold looking at him. Finally, after I can't stand it anymore, I muscle him indoors.
This poor Black Crested duck was found stuck in the ice and snow. Somehow it got wedged between the pen and barn wall. I don't know how long he was caught but he had signs of struggling fiercely to free himself. His bill and wing feathers were rubbed raw and bleeding. I didn't know if he would make it. After 4 days of ICU in the laundry he rejoined his flock.
The original water is in service as I can not keep the lines to their automatic water thawed. There is no electric to the barn or coop. Anyone know of a solar livestock tank heater?
View off the front deck. No matter the time of year, Lancaster county is beautiful.
Ducks and geese in their new fenced area.
Back view.

All sunrises are special. This is the view from the kitchen sink. In only a few moments I can literally watch it rise over the woods in the neighbors field.


We are ready for another season of growing produce. How quickly the weeks pass. May we grow for you? If you are interested check out our website for the 2011 CSA shares.

BUSY!

Not blogging much as I have a blog type website. The 2011 CSA brochure is now uploaded as well as some new pics. Drought and stress are consuming my veggies and me! It has been a rough season. Yesterday it finally rained a fair amount, continuing heavily today through tonight. The wind is howling as I type. Too bad it could not have come sooner, several plantings might have had a chance.

It feels like apple butter time. Maybe tomorrow I will get around to the task. There is just so much other stuff needing attention, downright annoying. If the weather forecast is correct I won't be in the kitchen, at 80 degrees. It has been pleasurable sweatshirt temps yesterday and today. I am not in any mood for 80. Go away.

Reality Stinks

My poor Columbian Wyandotte suffered a horrific injury last Thursday. She got tangled in some trellis netting that I had left on the ground, major guilt here. I was not home at the time this happened. When I did arrive home I thought it odd that my turkey had a bloody beak. There were no signs of anything amiss. After several hours Aaron found the hen. I was so upset and thought that the trellis had ripped her scalp off in her struggle to get free. When faced with an emergency I "just do" and later after the fact crumble. Never had I an injury so awful with any of my children, not even a broken arm. This was horrific and all my fault.

She was still alive, barely. Very stunned and her left eye would not open. What to do, what to do???? She was so traumatized that I did not want to run water over her head. Her scalp was completely gone. It dawned on me that it was the turkey who brutally attacked her, while her neck was tangled. I set up an ICU in the house. But had no idea how to help her. She could not drink on her own. I tried a bit of gatorade in a jar cap. She took a few sips. Her right eye opened but she was so "shell shocked" she did not seem aware of her surroundings.

She survived the night and the next day. On Sunday she was eating wet mash on her own, but I noticed her right eyelid was starting to swell. She could hear, was alert and seemed to be on the mend. Monday her eye was worse. Tuesday she was in bad shape. In retrospect I think if I had got her some antibiotics right away she would have not developed the eye problem.

Several people said to put her down, but when she perked up and improved I felt so hopeful. The thought of killing her was not easy. First off I had only butchered one chicken, and that was using a killing cone. Def not the way to put her out of her misery. I also did not want to cause her any more suffering by botching the job. In the end it was a farmer friend who came and helped. He raises chickens and there is a specific humane way of turning their necks which severs the spinal cord quickly. He was very kind and gentle with her and I saw her suffer no more.

This part of the "circle of life" is one of the most disturbing parts of raising animals. In retrospect I think I should have done it immediately upon finding her.

Little Update

Have not posted much here as I have been busy with farming, of course. There are updated photos and some posts at the website, check out what is new. It has been a rough summer, sooooo hot and then too much rain. That is the ag life, weather dependent.

Rain Finally

Gracie chillin in front of a fan
Baby zukes are surviving drought, later it finally RAINED, for 5 days
Emily digging Carola taters

Beautiful, freshly dug potatoes.

Hot, Dry and Struggling

Red cabbage, still tiny.
Early Jersey Wakefield, a strange cone shape distinguishes this variety. As you can see the Cabbage Looper has already visited for a few snack bites.
Boothby heirloom cukes are ready, too bad I wasn't ready with the hortonova trellis!
Dill and cukes go hand in hand for pickles. These are particularly huge heads.
Rosalind broccoli was to be the star of the share bag this week. What a disappointment to realize they had "buttoned". This phenomena occurs when temperatures spike for several days, along with uneven water. The heads remain button size and sometimes leaves grow up through the head. Aaargh!
Solar power electric fence charger runs poultry netting to keep out predators.
Ahh, farming is really hard on shoes. SHOE-GOO to the rescue! The whole side had come apart but a few dollars and 24 hours will get another 6 months out of this pair.

We have not had rain for weeks. BAD. Thursday we put a few hundred peppers in the ground and 4 varieties of okra. Yea I know, way late. Celeraic, rutabaga and turnips were seeded in flats for fall root crops. Summer squash and beans are on the way. Work, gotta plant everyday. The temps have been in the 90's last few and I sure feel wilty.

A load of stone was delivered for the new outside post harvest wash area. No more mud holes!
Early Freezer peas are in shares this week. They are short vined, prolific and tasty.
A chicken was killed while we were out for a few hours, this being the second loss. The attacker left only feathers. I put up electric poultry netting but the birds feathers act as insulators. They need to grow larger to keep from slipping through the net.
Last week at market for radishes. Their bed has already been replanted to salad mix.
Garlic scapes, which at 50 cents each, folks complained were too costly! Let them bend over in 93 degree weather and clip each one.

Emily washing and bunching radishes.
War on weeds, part 1! Black groundcloth to suppress tenacious Canadian Thistle. We are over run with these horrors in one section of our plot. Thick rye cover crop did not make a dent in this enemy. I am hoping groundcloth will kill the intruder. Any suggestions? one week after this photo the uncovered chopped rye on the right is a living thistle carpet!