About Our Blog

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Our blog is to inform and entertain you as we pursue our goal of starting a farm. Here we plan on recording thoughts, projects, farm additions and other note-worthy happenings. You may even see us on a magazine or two. If you would like to comment on our blog or just say "Hi" feel free to do so on our CBOX to the left.  Just enter your name and a message, then click the 'GO' button.  If you want to comment on a blog, please do so.  Just 'click' on the "Leave a comment" below each blog entry. Yahoo users: feel free to contact us...our profile is mn_nice_couple.  Just because we don't appear online, doesn't mean we're not.  When you send us an IM, please identify yourselves... and let us know why you're contacting us. Put yourself on the map! CLICK HERE to show us where you are in the world.

The Sperry House in Willmar, Minnesota.

The Blog   

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Some days I blog w/o checking for errors - you'll know it when you read it

Dec. 31, 2008
- WOW!  It was cold in the house.

We woke up to a cold house this morning.  The furnace ran, but not much heat came from the vents.  When we looked at the thermostat, it showed a temp of only 50ºF.  I looked through the little heat chamber view window and noticed the flame was a billowy yellowish flame, not the crisp flame, with a blue base that I thought it should have.  So, when in doubt, bang on the furnace.  The pounding didn't help.  PLAN 'B':  Bang on it again... but somewhere different.  That didn't work either.  PLAN 'C' was to start a fire in the fireplace.

Realizing it was the day before New Year's Day, I figured I better call a repair guy ASAP.  The first repair guy I called said he was booked into tomorrow.  Since we were located in the Kerkhoven, MN area, he suggested I call Freetly Electric.  He thought they would have enough service guys to help us in a timely fashion.  Before doing so, I described the problem and asked for some advice.  He thought it sounded like a bad furnace... or at least a plugged chimney (another name for a bad furnace when in a mobile home).  It seems that due to the shape of the Coleman furnace chimney, there is little a person can due when it become plugged. 

Within an hour, Tom Freetly was knocking at the door.  He asked a few questions, then looked things over.  He discovered that one of the parts for converting a natural gas furnace to LP was wrong.  As he corrected the problem, he explained to me that that one simple part was most likely the root of our problem.  He then cleaned the furnace chamber. After that he lit the furnace... he had the same fluffy flame I saw earlier.  It was a chimney problem now, he thought the chimney may be plugged (the same conclusion as the other repair guy.  Sure enough, it was plugged.  Tom tried to vacuum it, but due to the narrow, twisted shape of the chimney, he couldn't free the obstruction.  He shut the furnace down.  First the gas and the power, explaining that he didn't feel the furnace was safe to run with it being plugged.  And why have the furnace run if it wasn't throwing heat.

Tom said I had 2 options... a needed either a new furnace (at $2,000 installed) or find a used furnace ($400-450 for labor).  I told him I would think about it and give him a call.  Whether I ordered a new furnace today or Friday, it would be next week before we could get it.  Tom said he had electric heaters at the shop if we needed a few to keep from freezing until next week.  I thought the farm had enough heaters to get by.  Combined with the heat from fireplace fire, we'd be fine.

Out of frustration, I turned on the gas to the furnace, hit the on/off switch and lit the pilot light.  It looked fine.  Then I turned up the thermostat.  While it was firing, I peeked through the little window... the flame looked tight (for lack of a better term).  When I touched the chimney,  WOW!  It was HOT - REAL HOT! 

In a minute or two, the fan started to blow warm, almost hot air.  Since we started living here at the farm, we never had air this hot coming from the vent.  Shortly there-after, Carol and I noticed black specks of soot all around the house.  It appears that Mr. Freetly had cleaned enough of the crap out of the chimney to weaken the soot-plug.  What was IN the furnace before is now ON the snow outside.  For the rest of the day, we had nice warm air coming from the furnace vents.  Did we dodge another financial bullet?  I hope so.  Carol and I both just hope it lasts until spring... a prayer or two wouldn't hurt either.

- Happy New Year's Eve.

Our family had been invited to a community get-together at a small church outside of Sunburg.  I know, I know... to quote a bumper sticker or two, "Where the hell is Sunburg!"  The town of Sunburg is about 10 miles north of the farm... not far.

The evening was filled with music, games and lots of food - ribs, chicken, hot dishes, cookies and way more.  We brought the new year in with many friends that we had met at the Larson's fall hog roast.  Although I was full-on involved with my head cold, I had a great time... as did Carol, Austin and Madison... and even Chastiti' seemed to enjoy her festive surroundings.  Much to the delight of Carol and I, she showed no negative behaviors. 

 

Dec. 30, 2008
- TV ain't so bad.

Carol and I, both feeling a little under the weather, stumbled upon two shows on the History Channel.  The first was the history of canning and the other about beer making.  Both were equally as interesting and very much in the spirit of the homesteader.  If you get the chance to take-in either show, we highly recommend it.

I ran across a Highland Cattle Article from the online GRIT Magazine.  It's a short piece about winter feeding.

 

Dec. 29, 2008
- Homesteading the farm and canning on the homestead.

I made a few calls, inquiring about the status of the farm's special homestead tax classification.  the first call I made was to the State Dept. of Agriculture.  The gentleman I needed to talk to was Doug Spanier.  He's the guy who determines if farms in trusts and those that are incorporated are to be classified as actual working farms.  Mr. Spanier left the office at 11:30PM today and won't be back until the 5th of Jan., 2009.  That's not good news.  My call was then forwarded to a receptionist who could only tell me that the application approval/denial process only takes a week.  I sent my application to Spanier's office 2½  weeks ago.  More news that seemed less than great.

The reason I was a little bummed was because when I was at the County Assessor's office, during the first week of Dec., I remembered that the gal told me they wanted a copy of the State Farm Certification, no later than the end of Dec.

I needed to touch base with my County Assessor's Office to see if they've heard anything from the State.  When I called, Kim answered the phone.  She's the person who helped me a few weeks ago.  Today, she told me not to worry about the Dec. 31, 2008 deadline, as they know I'm working on the paperwork process and are holding the file open.  She then went to the Corporate Farm list on the State's Dept. of Ag. website and let me know that the State Office had the family farm on the Kandiyohi County farm list, under the trust name (Richard D Radtke Special Trust).  She also remind me to bring the official state certificate in, once we received it, so they could record it.

Carol, undertook her day of pressure canning.  Even though she she is feeling less the great, she managed to can 8 pints of chicken, 7 quarts of chicken broth and about 7 quarts of chicken & vegetable soup.  Tomorrow, she wants to can even more.  After brining some venison tonight, she said she'll be canning it tomorrow.  Can we say YUM----MAY?  I know I can.

 

Dec. 28, 2008
- More pressure canning.

Carol spent most of the day cooking & simmering veggies and chicken in a giant cook-pot.  She wants to try her hand at canning chicken tomorrow.  Today is a prep. day I guess.

Carol's sister stopped over this afternoon to pick-up Madison.  Her daughter and Madison had been planning a sleep-over for a few days now, so we'll be w/o our girl for 3 days and 2 nights... Ah, the quiet.  Before Carol's sister left, she was loaded up with the eggs and turkey stock that she was promised.

The cold virus had Carol in its grip.  She looked pretty tough... maybe that's the reason she used today as a prep. day for her canning.  She probably wasn't feeling chipper enough to take-on the complete task.  She was, however, able to watch the Viking's football game with me.  It was a stressful game to watch.  If we won the game, the Vike's clinched the NFC North.. OR... if they lost and the Chicago Bears lost their game they would still be champions.  While watching the game on TV, I had the Bear's game on the computer.  I'm proud to say the Vikings won AND the Bears lost.  Minnesota goes on to post-season play... where they will most likely get their butts handed to them.... lol.

 

Dec. 27, 2008
- Canned turkey stock.

This morning, during chores, Madison and I did some rabbit chasing - two of her adult rabbits were running around in the barn.  I think there was one male and one female, so I'll bet a dollar to a doughnut we're going to have a set of bunnies born in 30 days or so.  Carol will need to mark the calendar for the due-date.

Carol did a whole lot of canning today.  Yesterday, her sister gave her the turkey trimmings from the Xmas dinner, just for that purpose.  As with most things, a deal was made... since we were given the leftover turkey stuff, Carol promised her sister a couple quarts of freshly canned turkey stock and some fresh eggs.  Needless to say, the house smelled great. 

After that, Carol and Madison took off for town to do some grocery shopping and to pick up a few items at the farm store.  While they were away, I worked on the yard light wiring for the 2nd time today.  It seems I had connected to wrong wire earlier.  I didn't know it at first.  Since it was light outside, when I first messed with it, the yard light won't come on... but when it became dark, I noticed it wasn't working - that's when I switched the wire.  And... on it came.  It was nice to have light on the place again.

The common cold is making it's way through our house.  Madison has been fighting it for a day or two and now Carol is looking a little frail.

 

Dec. 26, 2008
- If you don't like the weather in Minnesota, just wait.

The weather today was unseasonably warm - reaching a high temp of nearly 40ºF.  With it being so warm, I thought I'd try starting the loader tractor... and it did.  With the tractor started, I moved some snow... lots of snow.  First cleared was the driveway, then near the garage where we parked the vehicles (before the snow came) and lastly, the roadway leading to the hay stack.  Finally, the place looks like somebody is living here again.

While moving the snow, I couldn't help notice that our little 4x8 trailer was in the way of my snow removal efforts.  Unfortunately, since it was frozen down, I couldn't easily move it by hand.  I suppose I could have given it a push with the loader, but it's a cheapy-trailer and I didn't want to damage it.  I then had an idea.

After I had the snow cleared and the loader tractor shut-down, I started the IH 560.  I use this tractor for moving round bales, so it has a set of bale forks on it.  I used the forks to lift the trailer out of the snow... to worked perfectly - so well in fact, it fit the forks like a pallet.  With that thought, I carried the empty trailer over to the hay stack and loaded it with hay, then brought it to the barn.  I figured that the next time I start the 560 to get a round bale to the Highlanders, I'll lift up the trailer with the bale fork and load it with hay at the same time.  Badda-bing!  Badda-bang!  No more getting 3 bales at a time with the wheel-barrow for me.

Madison and I went snowmobiling in the afternoon.  I tied a sled behind the snowmobile and off we went.  The first 15-20 minutes or so, we zipped around the place and made a pass or two through the vineyard.  After feeling Madison got a feel for the towed sled, I figured we were both ready to venture out.  Hindsight, they say, is 20/20.  Not long after leaving the farm site, I buried the snowmobile next to the cattle pasture.  After 10 minutes of stomping and digging, we got it free... time to head home.  Getting stuck way out where we did, gave Madison a fun story to tell her mom.

With the weather still above freezing, I thought I would remove the rear drain plug of the loader tractor.  I wanted to see if the reason I couldn't start the tractor was because the rear end was froze solid. I've never been able to start the tractor when it's below freezing.  Sure enough, with the plug removed, some water drained from tractor's gear case... then it stopped - no water or oil.  I then poked a screw driver up into the hole... I hit ice.  After poking at it for a bit, oil trickled out.  With the plug back in, I decided I would try heating the gear case with my electric heat gun.  I worked on this little project for about an hour... I suppose I removed about a gallon of water.  I guess I'll have to wait until is gets cold again, before I know if the draining of the water will remedy the tractor's starting problem every time the temps stay below freezing.

Carol called her sister, telling her that the farm doesn't have a working yard light.  Her sister said she would stop out tomorrow and fix it.  I think we can handle one more night of doing chores in the dark.

 

Dec. 25, 2008
- Christmas Day.

Since we went to Farmer Mike's party last night, we opened presents this morning.  After that, we enjoyed a warm apple butter braid, did chores, then got cleaned-up for the Christmas dinner at Carol's sister's home, in Clara City.  Carol had made gift baskets for everybody - consisting of a couple mini-loafs of specialty breads, a kitchen towel thingy that she made (see the photo below), and a few other goodies.  To top it all off, she threw in a bottle of my home-made American Concord wine... it was a very nice looking basket set.  We wish we had taken a picture of them.

Of course, we exchanged a few presents, but the day is more about the celebration and the get-together than it is about presents. 

When we got home, we noticed we didn't have a working yard light.  It seems that one of the wires Carol's sister (the electrician) and I deemed unnecessary was actually needed to provide power to the yard light... but nothing more.  Boy was it dark on the place.

 

Dec. 24, 2008
- Just another day... for celebrating.

Other than the need to go outside at 4:10AM to trip the breaker, it was a restful night.  When I finally awoke, I could smell the scent of roasted Cheerios in the air.  Madison loves eating them as much as she likes making them.

Today, Carol worked on finishing many of her homemade gift baskets, filled with hand-tailored towel sets, apple butter, salsas, quick breads, and cookies.  Some may also have sand-art brownie mix tucked into the basket. 

Later, she prepared some food for the Christmas party we'll be attending tonight.  Farmer Mike and his wife Karen, host a little get-together for their best friends and favorite family members.  Carol said that if they are willing to invite me, this party is not just for special guests.  Hmmmm, she made a good point.  Anyway, we went last year and had a very nice time.  It's a fun new tradition for our family.  The food should be great as both Hostess Karen and Carol are good cooks.

Christmas party was very nice... we expected nothing less for our hosts Farmer Mike and Karen.  We had great food, a couple bottles of my homemade wine and good conversation.  What made the night extra special was the game playing.  It reminded Carol and I of the Christmas's at her grandparent's farm, south of Danube, MN.  We made homemade vanilla ice-cream, at the party.  There was enough for everyone to have a taste. 

We brought a small 1 quart ice-cream maker to the party.  Farmer Mike supplied the cream and milk from his dairy and in about 20 minutes, we had ice cream - fresh on the spot, the kid's helped of course.

The evening ended after we got home, where Madison read The Night Before Christmas to us all.

- Our electrical woes - let them be bygones.

Carol's sister came over again today.  She looked at our electrical problem late last night and thought that if she could get the parts, she could fix it... at least until warmer weather arrives... after that, she would like to see a new elect. panel and a few other necessary upgrades.  Long story short, she did some amperage tests.  It was less than the maximum rating for our main circuit, so she was able to "lug" the cables, bypassing the faulty/worn breaker switch.  She said since we have modern electrical panels at the house, garage and barn, we were in no danger.

So-far-so-good, we have had un-interrupted power at the house and barn.  Here's hoping it stays that way until spring..

 

Dec. 23, 2008
- Our biggest fear.

One of our biggest fears associated with this electrical problem, we've been experiencing happened last night and the result was horrible.  We lost electricity while we were sleeping, due to the faulty breaker.  As I laid in bed, at 6AM, I heard the toilet flush, but I didn't hear it fill... not good.  The pipes must have froze.

Frozen pipes with working heat tape is one thing, but since the electricity went out, that would mean we don't have working heat tape... which could mean the pipes are frozen hard.  Is this the day we move back to town because of frozen water?  It might be.  The best thing I could think of doing was to start a fire in the fireplace (it was 58ºF in the house).  Hey!  If nothing else came of the day, at least I made fire.  LOL   It made sense when I did it.

After the fire was going, I got dressed for the outside morning air.  When I got to the light pole, I tripped the breaker, as I had so many times before.  Then I figured, since I was dressed for chores I might as well do them.  When I returned to the house, Carol said we had both water AND electricity.  I couldn't believe it.  I was sure the water would have froze w/o functioning heat tape.  When the kids finally woke up, I told everyone to be sure say a little prayer, giving thanks for letting us dodge the potential catastrophe of permanent frozen water pipes. Whew!

Oh yeah!  I almost forgot about Carol's Christmas cookies.  The other day, Carol and Madison baked allot of cookies... That in itself is not really news worthy... nor is the fact that we didn't think they would last very long.  It turns out that over night all of the Russian Tea Cookies disappeared from the open cookie container.  Of course Carol asked me if I had gotten up during the night and ate them... I told her I had not.  Carol then asked the kids if they had any, the both barked "NO!"  That could mean only one thing... Ellie ate them.... all 2+ dozen.  Carol did a quick cookie count and the only cookies missing was the tea cookies.

We looked at the dog and noticed she no longer had a gentle expression.  Ellie looked as though she just drank a gallon or so of strong coffee.  Besides Ellie not eating her dog food, she was VERY fidgety.  Every 5 minutes or so, she wanted to go outside.  She didn't go potty outside, she just looked around for a bit, then wanted back in the house.  We also noticed that even though Ellie was warm, she had the shakes, as if she was cold.  Our little Beagador was tripping out from too much sugar. 

With some concern, Carol got her stethoscope so she could listen to the dog's heart... it wasn't racing... that's good.  As the day transpired, Carol got the dog to eat a little, but not much.  This morning, Ellie was back to her old self.  We were very grateful.  We didn't even have a mess on the carpet.

 

Dec. 22, 2008
- It ain't so bad.

It was -17ºF this morning and we were feeling the wind, hitting the east side of the house (there's always a nice breeze that runs across the bathroom floor).  And yes, we had frozen pipes again.  I think we have realized that if this is as bad as it gets, we can deal with it. 

The other day, I was speaking with my sister on the phone.  We were reminiscing about when we lived on the farm, growing up.   It was an annual event having the pipes freeze.  But back then, the pipes froze somewhere under the driveway... and stayed that way 'til spring.   We would fill steel milk cans at my grandparents everyday and hauled them back and forth so we could have water in the house.  From the house, we would fill buckets to bring out to the barn(s).  Comparatively speaking, what we're experiencing this winter is WAY easier than when I was growing up.  Again... if this is the worst of it, we can make it.

Last night, the breaker tripped more times than I dare count, leaving us w/o electricity every time it went.  Like before, one of us would bundle up and venture out to the light pole to reset the main trip-switch.  The 220 volt breaker is split, with 110 on each side, but only one side shuts off... the same side every time.  When it goes off, we lose most of the barn circuits, half of the garage, the brooder house and ¾ of the house electricity.  I'm afraid that some night, when we're sleeping, we'll lose power and all our water lines will freeze tight or worse yet, burst.

Today, I attempted to move most of the load in the barn to the other half of the electrical panel.  This should've lightened the total draw on the breaker that keeps tripping at the pole.  Within an hour of moving the wiring, the breaker tripped... not once, but twice.  That sucked.

Later in the evening, while Christmas shopping, Carol called her sister (an electrician) and asked her if she could do some electrical work at a discount.  She said that her boss allows it.  After handing me the phone, I explained the problem we were experiencing and she said she'd be out tomorrow to look at it, but thought it was nothing more than an old breaker starting to fail.  I then asked her if a new breaker would take care of the sizzling sound in the breaker box... she gasped slightly and said it better, cuz sizzling noises are a bad thing.  lol   I already knew that.

When we got home from shopping, we found the water pipes frozen.  I got all of them thawed except the hot water at the bathroom sink.  I then put some heat tape on two of the pipes, hoping I can reduce the need to crawl under the tub every morning... believe it or not, it gets old. 

After getting the heat tape in place, I decided to put some straw bales and plastic in front of the outside access door of the water heater compartment.  It was 11:30 PM, when I started this little task.  Trudging through the snow, carrying one straw bale at a time was not as fun as it sounds... weird huh?  The draft in the bathroom was reduced to a slight breeze.  In combination with the heat tape, the bales should ease my plight.  Incase it isn't enough to keep the water from freezing, we have the water faucet cracked open.  Maybe a drippy kitchen faucet will keep it from freezing overnight... we'll see.

 

Dec. 21, 2008
- It might get worse before it gets better.

Carol was up and about a few minutes earlier than the rest of us this morning.  But this morning, instead of a friendly "Good morning" I got a "the pipes are frozen... even the cold water."  Oh Crap!  that's not good... not good at all.  It was -, with 30MPH winds, and still in a winter weather advisory, I didn't feel like crawling under the house without first consuming some coffee.  God has giving me the gift of procrastination.

More than a little concerned, I was up and dressed, and trying to mentally prepare myself for the worst case scenario.  You see, this morning was be the first time with no water at all.  The concern I had was simple, where is the water frozen.  Not knowing exactly what to do... I started a fire in the fireplace... maybe something would come to me.

Without any investigation what-so-ever, I put an electric heater under the tub, hoping the water pipes were lightly frozen in the same area(s) as usual.  In about 15-20 minutes, we had cold water running in the kitchen and tub, but not at the bathroom sink or toilet.  Then we lost electricity... at least most of it.  Crap, crap, crap!  So I got bundled up and headed outside.  Yepper... one of the breakers was tripped at the pole.

With electricity restored to the house, I re-checked the water situation.  We had cold water to every part of the house.  OK, good.  It was then time to work on the hot water.  With the heat gun in hand, I reached under the tub and toiled on the hot water pipes (the same general area as always).  After about 15 minutes, we still had no hot water.  Time for plan 'B' - put the electric heater under the tub again and let that do the work for me... after all, the coffee was done and I felt the need to consume some of it.

After my coffee break, I checked for hot water again.  I had it at the bathroom sink... cool!  About 20 minutes later, hot water started to flow at the kitchen and in the bathroom, we had all the fixtures flowing with water as well... both hot and cold.

This means that all the heat-tape that we have on the pipes under the house is doing it's job and has the ability to keep them from freezing... this is obviously a good thing.  So far, I've only had to worry about the pipes IN the house.  I need to remember that when we don't have running water, I simply need to apply heat in the usual places and we'll have water eventually.  The question will be this:  as the frost travels deeper into the ground, will we need to worry about the pipes freezing underground?  Last year, one of our hydrants froze in February and remained frozen until May.  Hopefully, this won't happen again... but if it does, let's hope the lines freeze AFTER the line that goes to the house. 

- It smells like Christmas.

Carol and Madison are are baking away in the kitchen.  So far, they have made Russian Tea Cookies and some homemade cranberry granola.  Sand-art brownie mix is on deck.  Carol calls it a gift in a jar.  Everything is pre-measured in layers inside a decorative jar.  They will be giving a few of these away as gifts. 

Later this afternoon, I think they will start making some of my favorite cookies - Lebkuchen Cookies.  We had some dough in the freezer, so all that needs to be done is rolling it flat, baking & icing.  Carol was talking about making, what we call Jean's Peanut Brittle.  This brittle somehow got named after my sister Gina... I'm sure she'd be the first to tell you it's because she's so darn sweet, but I think it's because she's nuts.  Pardon me if that last statement isn't as funny as it could be... it sounded better as I was writing it and since it's my blog, I'm leaving it in.

 

Dec. 20, 2008
- Another winter storm.

Although we were in a blizzard storm warning, it ain't no blizzard... unless the weather people have redefined the term blizzard.  It seems like a storm at best.  What ever it's called, it arrived this morning.  During chores, I snapped a few photos.  Here's Hannah & Caitlin.

Highlander cattle in the winter.

From the latest weather report, wind-chills have reached -45ºF, but to be honest, it's not bad to be working in.  It may sound really, REALLY cold to some of you folks, but believe it or not, one gets used to it.  Maybe it's just something us northerners take in stride, I'm not sure.

In anticipation of the storm becoming a real blizzard, I stocked up on firewood, bringing as much wood into the house as the wood box could hold.  By the looks of it, I would guess we have enough firewood to last 24-30 hours - we'll see.

For our evening meal, Carol decide to make one of the family's favorite comfort foods - venison stew.  It's always a crowd pleaser.

 

Dec. 19, 2008
- A local market of goat meat.

Not long ago, we discovered a local demand for live goats and goat meat.  A few miles away from our location, we met with a gentleman who use to do a little home butchering and at one time he raised goats for a few Hispanic families.  He got out of the goat business because they were more difficult to raise than he thought they were worth.

I think we asked him if he and his family ate goat and how it compared to beef.  When he asked us why we wanted to know, we explained we had a few wethers we need to sell.  I'm not sure if he had tried goat or not, but he would put the word out that we had goats for sale.  He mentioned that from time to time, his old customers stop in looking for goats. 

Today, this guy shows up saying he has a family looking for a goat they can butcher for the Christmas Holiday.  He said he tried calling, but only had Carol's cell phone number, but didn't get an answer... and taking the chance, he drove here, hoping someone would be home. 

We said our Hello's before he told me the situation and what this family said they were willing to pay.  He stated that they wanted to pick up a goat tomorrow.  The terms sounded fair.  5 minutes later, we had the goat loaded in his pickup and he was gone.  Before leaving, he mentioned that if we had more goats to sell we should bring them over tomorrow... he'll keep them until they get sold. 

While I was trying to establish a working relationship, in which to sell some of our goats, Carol went to a cluck fest.  I define the term 'cluck fest' as an event where a bunch of women get together, for whatever reason, and cluck.  Cluck, cluck... cluck... cluck.  They talk about kids, recipes, husbands and such.  There is little to no reason for a man to be there. 

Anyway, today's cluck fest was promoted as a cookie baking party.  Carol left around noon and finally got back after 7:30PM.  She came home with a very nice assortment of some old fashioned cookies... many of which I remember my paternal grandmother making... (see below).

good looking pan of Christmas cookies

When Carol arrived to her cookie party, it turns out she left her cell phone in the car, that's why the guy who wanted our goat didn't get an answer, when he called.  It seems she didn't want to get any calls from me about having no food in the house or if she's coming home soon, to make me something hot to eat.  She knows me so well.

 

Dec. 18, 2008
- How much dough do you need to get good bread?

The last couple of days were somewhat uneventful.  The most noteworthy thing was Carol's bread mishap. 

As with most days, Carol baked her delicious homemade bread... usually the same basic recipe.  It's always good, so why mess with it, right?  Today's "baked" bread was a new recipe and it didn't quite measure up.  This one flopped and Carol couldn't figure out why.  Me, being the expert I am about all things in the kitchen, piped up with little regard to accuracy or facts.  I blurted out that she forgot something.  Carol argued that the only thing that would cause the loaf not to rise would be the lack of yeast... but she knew she added the yeast.  Hmmmm.

When it came time to clean the ingredients from her bread machine, that's when she discovered what she forgot.  She forgot to insert the paddle for mixing the bread dough.  That's why it flopped... nothing got mixed or kneaded.  It was pretty funny and Carol probably giggled the most as she prides herself on her abilities in the kitchen.  It's a brain fart she won't soon forget.

The one nice thing about homemade bread is it's so cheap to make... maybe 20¢ a loaf.  So the loss of one loaf is nothing major... the laugh alone was worth the $$$.

 

Dec. 16, 2008
- Yep!  It's still cold

We woke up to frozen water pipes in the house.  By mid morning, I had the pipes thawed and water running, but with the winds coming from the northeast, we had frozen pipes, again.  Luckily, we only lost the hot water for the bathroom sink.... the rest of the house stayed open.  To stay warm, thermal socks on our feet and a nice fire in the fireplace seems to be the norm, thus far.

Even though the temps have been dangerously cold, the environment in the barn has been relatively comfortable.  We are very glad we planned ahead, by stacking straw bales along the outside walls.  The barn may be nothing more than an old, tin covered, pole-barn, but when it's warm inside and the animals are content, we're so happy to have the structure on the farm.

Our eldest cow, Caitlin, has yet to have her calf.  She seems to be isolating herself from the rest of the herd (except when eating hay).  We feel her due date is near and we are giving her extra attention.  Every few hours, we go out to check on her... noting any changes to her backend and her udder, but no sure sign yet.

Duncan, the farm's new 1½ yr old dog, is working out better than expected.  If we didn't know better, one would think he has been with us as long as Ellie has.  He has a great temperament - he's alert, friendly, plays well with Ellie and other than his very first night in the house, he is well behaved.  He hasn't had an accident and he has learned to stay off of the furniture (unless he's chasing a cat).  I guess our only true complaint would be that he likes to go after the ducks and chickens in the barn.  We don't get upset as we believe he is just trying to herd them... it's what Corgis do.  We simply keep him out of the barn... problem solved.

Later in the eve, Carol started a loaf of homemade bread in her bread machine... then the electricity went out.  I then went out to flip the breaker on, at the light pole... and Carol restarted her bread.  About 15-20 minutes later, the power went out again.  With another breaker flip, Carol had re-restarted her bread.  At this time, she pretty much conceded that her bread was going to be a flop - in most cases, it is recommended you throw out the dough and start anew.  Carol saw this loaf through and was rewarded with a near perfect, fresh loaf of bread.  It tasted great.   After that, the girls made another batch of Christmas sugar cookies.  It was a good night for eating warm goodies.

 

Dec. 15, 2008
- Baby, it's cold outside

It was -10ºF when I woke up and it was -12ºF when it was bedtime.  I think it got up to -3ºF.  Most of the area schools were either closed or 2 hours late.  This mornings winds were horrendous.  At one time, I heard the wind-chill reached -45ºF.  Yeah.  It was chilly.  The good news was the water pipes didn't freeze overnight.

While the kids were finishing evening chores, I finally got one of our tractors started.  The cattle now have a fresh round bale of grass hay.  I was a bit fearful of the tractor not starting until the weather broke, but I got lucky... and the cattle are now happy.  And no!  Caitlin has not had her calf yet.  We had a few folks predict a storm calving, saying many mammals, close to their due date, are effected by the low pressure, closely with storm systems.  We sorta figured she'd calf just because the weather was abominable.  Again... no calf yet.

After bringing the bale to the cows, I tried to introduce Duncan (our new Corgi) to the cattle.  As Duncan was a town dog, he was a little spooked when we got close to cattle.  He stuck close to my side and let out a few reserved "woofs."

Instead of going to bed at a descent hour, I thought I'd watch Christmas Unwrapped: The History Of Christmas, on the History Channel™.  It covered the birth of Christ to many of the pagan celebrations... the German tradition of having a decorated tree to the reason why most of us came to give gifts.  The show also covered poinsettias, Christmas card giving and how a minister (Clement Clarke Moore) wrote 'Twas The Night Before Christmas.  It was quite interesting.  I recommend giving it a watch.

 

Dec. 14, 2008
- The British are coming!

Last night (Dec. 13th), we picked up a Pembroke Welsh Corgi.  We got him from a very nice family from Marietta, MN (over an hour away from us). They were so nice and wanted to see him go to a good home, they drove our direction to meet us half way. 

Before we got our dog Ellie, we looked at getting a Welsh Corgi for the farm.  We like pretty much everything about the breed, except the shedding 2x/year.  They are highly intelligent, alert, loyal and predisposed to herding.  These little dogs, much like the Scottish Highlander cattle, also have a weather resistant, double-haired coats, making them a great cold climate animal... but unlike the cattle, these dogs do well in the house too. 

The reason we got Ellie, a Beagador (beagle/lab cross), instead of a Corgi, was simply the price.  The only Corgi dogs we could find, had price tags of $300-500.  For us, we didn't feel the need of a herding dog warranted the cost, especially with the farm being so new.

Here's the back-story on Kipper:  He was a surrender.  The folks, we got him from, found it in their hearts to adopt this little guy from a disabled couple that, due to their poor ability to get around, could no longer care for him.  So, the corgi was "surrendered' to this family.  After two months of good care and much love, Kipper's new family realized they didn't have the best environment suited for him - they lived in town.  That's how we got him - after going through our website, the dog's family could see that a farm would be better for him.

After bringing Kipper home and being in our house for about 10 seconds... he peed on the floor.  Since we really don't know how well or how poorly he is trained, we decided to start at square one with him.  If we can train a puppy, we should be able to train a young dog.  We are beginning with simple kennel training, until we can get him potty trained.  At the same time, we will work on his desire to jump up us and the furniture... from last night to today, he has shown much.  Oh yeah, since we can't get him to respond to his name, we thought we would give him a new one - something with a Scottish origin.  His new name is Duncan, which means "brown warrior". 

What is it with Great Britain?  How does such a small part of the world produce so many unique and useful critters?

- A snow storm is coming.

Today, we readied the critters for the impending snow storm.  We closed 2 of the barn doors - the one leading north, from the goat pen to the outdoors, as well as the door of the sheep pen.  I also brought extra hay to the barn.  Since the forecasters are predicting anywhere from 4 inches to a foot of snow for our area tonight and more flurries, with high winds tomorrow, we want to be ready.

We also gave the barn animals extra rations.  With the temps so cold, the critters are sure going to need the energy to stay warm.  If they don't need it now, a little extra fat ain't going to hurt.

Our pig Ham looks to be feeling better, but doesn't seem to be herself yet.  She is eating and drinking a little more.  Giving her her shots are getting trickier.  She doesn't just lay there like she did a day or two ago.

Carol and Madison made some more Christmas sugar cookies.  If they don't get them off the table tonight, I'm afraid they will need to make another batch tomorrow.  It seems that anyone who walks past the kitchen table, ends up grabbing a cookie.

When we went to bed, temps were dipping below 0ºF.  I think I heard the wind-chills hit -30ºF... and it's only going to get colder tonight.  I won't be surprised if we have frozen water in the house tomorrow morning.

 

Dec. 13, 2008
- Farm sales.

This morning was very exciting for us.  We had our first repeat egg customer.  OK, it may not seem very exciting to most, but for us, it means we doing something right.  We're giving our customers great products at a fair price.  Between customers buying eggs and the offer to those who can't afford what they need, we saw over 9 dozen eggs leave the farm.  What a fantastic day.

We are also keeping an eye on the weather reports for this weekend.  A large and potentially dangerous storm system is suppose to be heading this way, arriving Sunday.  Yesterday, the forecasters were issuing blizzard watch notices with 2-6 inches of snow, through Monday.  Today, we're hearing about a less severe storm, but more snow - 4-8 inches.  After the storm blows through, we'll be blasted with frigid cold temps, forecasted highs are -10ºF and lows around -20ºF.  Right now we're in the Wait-N-See mode.

- Lights, cam, action!

We have the webcam working again.  You may see us outside, you may not.  But you will be able to see the weather and how it looks through the window, at the farm.

 

Dec. 12, 2008
- Some very sad news.

Today, we lost one of our favorite goats.  It was Mary. 

We had recently treated Mary for pneumonia, according to our local vet's advice.  After her antibiotics, the vet gave us some fortified vitamin B complex.  Her improvement was immediate... her appetite and energy level returned to normal.

This morning Mary relapsed.  We noticed Mary's breathing was a bit labored and Carol could hear a little rattle in her lungs.  Carol quickly called the vet and explained the situation.  She was told to come in for more antibiotics (a different one this time).  Before Carol left, we did another check on the goat.  This time, we could hear a rattle from several feet away.

A short time later, Carol came back from the vet with the new meds.  Within 10 minutes we were headed to the barn.  That's when we saw Mary laying there.  She was dead.  Resting next to her were her two kids, Booger & Peaches.

A week ago, when we picked up some worming meds, the Vet had some time to talk with us.  When we told him about our goats - some of them coming from a breeder.  He told us that because most breeders use a therapeutic routine for administering meds, we will most likely have an uphill battle when it comes to worming or other common illnesses.  Boy, was he right.

None of our young goats have been sick... not once, but the mothers have.  We have had problems with worming and treating pneumonia in the same two or three adult goats.  Granted, we don't know how old our does are, but we do feel that most of the health problems... or at least the poor success of the meds, on the original owner of the herd and his/her overuse of preventative medications.

To make the loss of our goat, Mary, even more sad than it already is... tonight, when we did chores, Mary's buckling, Booger, was seen AND heard calling for his mother outside the barn.  It was very sad.  He just stood outside, looking around and calling for his mother.  He called and called, but of course, there was no response.  Poor little guy.

 

Dec. 11, 2008
- Start the holiday season by giving.

Carol and Austin went to a mandatory meeting for work today (Austin does part time work for the same company Carol works for).  While they were gone, I caught up on some internet marketing... but not the usual marketing... this time were not selling anything.  We're giving it away.

You see, some of our younger hens are starting to lay eggs.  This leads to more eggs for sale.  The problem (if you want to call it that) is this - we don't have enough customers buying these extra eggs... yet.  So Carol and I decided we would make it known, that the farm will be giving away dozens of free eggs to whomever wants them.  Kind of a way of saying thanks to the community for supporting us. 

In the Christmas spirit of things, we also want to do our small part of helping others who may not have enough food or money to by all the food they need.  We're hoping a couple dozen of free eggs will help out.  We truly enjoy meeting our new customers, neighbors and those who stop in just to say 'HI'. 

When Carol arrived home from the meeting, she decided it was time to start decorating the house, here at the farm.  With the re-arranging of some of the furniture, we had a place for the tree.  With so much of the world's rain forests being destroyed, we feel an artificial tree it the way to go.  I suppose you could say that the manufacturing of new fake trees is a destructive process... and we would agree.  But this particular tree was found in one of junk cars that was on the place, when we started straightening up the farm, a few years back.

Our Christmas decorating this year will be quite basic - nothing compared to what we use to do, before moving to the farm.  Before accepting the simpler life on the farm, we, as most folks, were caught-up in excess... big house, lots of decorations, and lots of presents, etc...

this is a photo of our old house and how it usually looked at Christmas

here is another

But, with it all, we were no more happier then, than we are now.  Do we wish we had a different house?  Heck yeah!  Our old house was 5X larger than the one we're in now.  But it's OK... on one hand - we make due.   On the other, we acknowledge our blessings... and we know what we're doing here is a good thing... for the kids, for ourselves and for the farm.  If we can do this... anyone can... remember - we went from the house above to a drafty, mid-70's trailer house.  I now chop wood so we have something to feed the fireplace.

Tonight, will be filled with traditional Christmas music and tree trimming.

 

Dec. 10, 2008
- Tractor not working.

Yesterday's nightfall brought us snow - about an inch or so.  Maybe we got more than that, I don't know, but it was enough to justify the starting of the tractor and move some snow.  The problem here was that the tractor didn't want to start.  When I hit the starter switch, it only clicked... not like a dead battery click, but more like a starter that can't turn a flywheel click.

Also, yesterday, Gertie was picked-up and brought to her new home,  a local farm with other large sows they use for farrowing.  When we mentioned that she was not to be sold or eaten, we were told not to worry, as older pigs that have had a litter of piglets don't make good butcher hogs.  The flavor of the meat isn't very good.  That was a relief.  There were several comments about Gertie's genetics and thoughts that she should be a good mother.  Pretty much the same ideas I had when I first saw her the night we loaded her into our trailer.  She was a good looking hog and with any luck, she'll prove to be a great mama.

Today, Carol and I brought daughter Chastiti' to her Neurologist in St. Paul (a 5½ hr round-trip drive). We've been having problems with some of her behaviors and the Doc told us that she suspects Chas' anti-seizure medication may be causing some or all of her self-injurious conduct.  So... another year, another med change.  There is more to it than that, but as most of you are non-family members, we'd like to keep some of our life private.  With that said, if you want to email us to learn more about how we manage our homesteading life, while caring for our adult handicapped daughter, feel free to do so.

Other than that, not much has happened around here.  Caitlin, the farm's first Highlander cow, has yet to give birth.  Madison thinks the cow is holding out for a Christmas calf.

 

Dec. 08, 2008
- Homestead certification.

If you have been following our blog, you'll know that we are in the process of getting the farm homesteaded (see Dec. 3rd & 5th).  Our initial appointment with the Assessor's office was encouraging, the phone call on the 4th was disappointing... the visit on the 5th was empowering... and today, we are delighted. 

Kim, at the County Assessor's Office called with good news.  She said the County looked over the farm's trust and the copy of the State Statue that I brought in with my Homestead Application.  It was determined that the farm qualifies for the Homestead tax status.  The only thing we're waiting for is the Minnesota State Ag Office to certify the farm as a Trust held, family farm.  Once we become State certified, the farm will be issued a corporate farm number, which we'll need to bring to the County.  Being homesteaded will help save the farm $1,500-2,000/year... for us, that's a huge savings.

While washing this morning's eggs, Carol discovered an egg that didn't look like what we normally get.  This new egg was the same size as our other eggs (except the Bantam eggs, of course), but this particular egg was spotted.  To be more specific, it was tan with brown spots.  Carol is quite excited about her new find.

We may have found a new home for Gertie.  She will most likely go to a small farm southwest of us.  The family has a few "big girls" that they use for farrowing, so Gertie will not seem so oversized for their farm.  They already know that a condition of care for Gertie is that she will not be sold or eaten.  We'll know more tomorrow.

We had some mild weather today, so while Carol and Madison were in Willmar for Chas' therapy, I decided to split more wood.  We bought a new wood splitting wedgy thing the other day... it works very well on the large chucks of wood.  I split a dozen or so logs with the wedge and maybe a half-dozen smaller logs with the ax.  It's nice to see our pile of split wood growing larger.

Also, we had visitors to the farm.  A guy noticed (as he drove past the place) that we had goats.  He was curious if we have any for sale... of course I told him we did.  It turns out he likes his goats quite a bit younger than what we had.  He asked about our Kentucky Bourbon turkeys as well as our Scottish Highlanders.  He seemed fascinated by the cattle's large horns and shaggy coats.  

 

Dec. 07, 2008
- Crap, crap, crap.

This morning, both the hot water and cold water to the kitchen froze - it was not a good start to the day.  And at 1:30PM - I still did not have the pipes thawed.  I had to cut into the skirting of the tub, to create an access hole.  For a few hours, I had a small electric heater running with out results... still, no water in the kitchen.  It wasn't until 4 PM when it occurred to me that maybe the pipes weren't froze where I thought they were.  I then moved the heater under the kitchen sink.  Within 15 minutes, we had the cold water running and after another 15 minutes, the hot water ran.  Sheesh!  We could have had water this morning if I had only put the heater in the right spot.  All's well that ends well, right?

One of Madison's rabbits had kits today.  This morning the bunny pulled hair and that is always a sure sign with this particular doe.  Madison and Carol checked on the rabbit hutch every hour, then 2X/hr... then even more frequently.  Then it happened - the rabbit had her babies, but only two of them.  Madison came into the house with a sad look on her face - the doe stepped on one of the kits, leaving a solo.  With only one bunny surviving, the girls decided to bring the lone baby into the house.  Alone, a baby bunny cannot produce enough body heat to survive, 2 little ones is 'iffy' and 3 or more in a nest is best.

Before the rabbits were born, Madison decided to pass time by making Christmas cookies.  Carol helped Madison mix thing up, but nearly everything else was done by the little one.  Madison rolled the dough, cut-out the cookies, sugared them and baked them.  We now have a large plate of sugar cookies to eat.  They'll be gone before Christmas.

Caitlin is showing another sign that her calving date is drawing nearer.  She is showing some swelling in the rear.  Although she'd not bagging up, we're starting to believe that she will actually have a calf soon.  We're quite excited and will be checking her closely.

 

Dec. 06, 2008
- It's chilly.

It's getting colder here in Minnesota.  With snow on the ground and frigid temps it's really hard not to think about the Christmas Holiday... throw a couple logs in the fireplace and the farm scene doesn't seem so cold.

To help celebrate the season, we decorated the old blue truck, out front, with a little Christmas tinsel.  It doesn't look great, but it does reveal some expressive festive spirit. 

This morning, Carol and Madison left for Litchfield to meet a gal who bought some Creme D'Argent meat rabbits, but decided to get rid of them.  I think Carol said the owner bought them for show & meat.  When she could not come to butcher some them, she stopped breeding them. 

At a rabbit show, some time ago, she talked with Carol about these rabbits.  This gal knew we had rabbits we breed for meat... and that brings us to now.  Carol now owns some high quality Creme D'Argent show rabbits.  The parents of one of the rabbits placed Best of Breed at the 2006 Nationals.  There are other significant awards, too numerous to mention.  Carol is pretty proud of her new bunnies.

This evening, we treated the two goats we suspected of having a bout with worms.  With a new medication, we're hoping to resolve this pesky problem.  The goats we have, once belonged to a meat goat breeder.  With many breeders, comes "therapeutic" vaccinations... whether the animals needed it or nor.  This type of scheduled vaccinations, is the same treatment that eventually prevents it from being effective.  The intestinal parasites, in this case, become resistant.

I think Carol and I will be deworming Madison's llama Bingo soon too.  She was thin when we got her and just doesn't seem to be gaining weight as fast as we think she should.  She is alert and has a good appetite, but... again, she isn't packing on the winter pounds.  I guess we like our critters a little on the chubby side during the winter months.  A healthy animal is a happy animal.

Tonight we had some pipes freeze again.  For some reason, the cold water line, for the kitchen, froze.  This is not good.  2½ - 3 months w/o cold water in the kitchen is way too long.  Most of you might say to put a torch to it.  Normally, that would be good advice, but in this case, the lines to the kitchen are made of flexible plastic tubing, similar to PEX, so high heat is a no-go.  Perhaps, an idea will come to me before morning... or at least before we need the cold water again.  Wish us luck.

 

Dec. 05, 2008
- No calf yet.

Caitlin isn't showing any more signs of her impending calving.  We're keeping a close eye on her due to the weather.  Winter seems to have moved in.  We are also suspecting one of farm's other cows is pregnant.  LaVerne, the Scotch Highland we bartered for (their cow for a website & hosting) looks a little pregnant.  Carol and I did the math on the 6 yr old and since she had her last calf in April, we could see another calf as early as late Jan. or early Feb....so she's really not that far out.

Most of our newest farm additions seem to be assimilating nicely. The new ewes (Baby & Daisy) are starting to cozy-up to Cooper, our Katahdin ram.  In fact, Daisy (the Suffolk) stood for Cooper today.  We're not really sure he got the job done or not, as he has had so little "dating' experience, but he's got time.  Just incase he's done the deed... we're marking a due date on the calendar... we want to be ready.

Carol figures that most of the new rabbits are bucks.  I think she mentioned that she noticed only a single doe.  Supposedly, the rabbits are Flemish Giants, but we're doubting they are purebreds... they're just too small.  A quality Flemish should be a minimum of 14 lbs - these bunnies aren't even close... it could be that they are very young, but still, at least one of them should be of the correct size.  They are very docile rabbits, a real pleasure to pet.

The new chickens are doing well... all except one.  We found a dead Black Australorp-cross chicken in Gertie's pen.  We're assuming Gertie got her (a nice looking brown egg layer), since we've never had the goats kill a chicken and our other pig is still in her pen.   Over all, we love the new poultry and have taken a fancy to an Americana rooster (see photo below).  He's a big boy and has coloring unlike any of our other chickens.

The farm's new Americana rooster

Carol and I made a quick run to the local vet clinic for some de-worming medication.  We have a pregnant goat and cannot use the meds (Valbazen) we have on hand.  The clinic gave us Panacure to use.  The doc suggested a 2 day treatment.  We bought the needed dosage, since a full bottle is well over $100. 

While in town, I dropped off papers at the County Assessor's Office, for getting the farm agricultural homesteaded.  Yesterday afternoon, I got a call from one of the office gals, saying that since I had a sister (a shareholder of the farm trust) that was a non-resident of Minnesota, the farm would not qualify for the homestead status.  That news didn't make sense to me, so I looked-up the Statute online.  In a nutshell, it stated that all owners needed to be Minnesota residents... except in the case of a trust... then a farm "held by a trustee under a trust is eligible."  After showing the Homesteading Statute to the gal, she said they don't deal with many trusts, and it will need to be looked at.  So... here's hoping.

 

Dec. 04, 2008
- A new calf is on its way.

As we do on many occasions, Carol and I stopped to look at the farm's cattle, while taking a short break from morning chores.  Carol thought Caitlin, our favorite Scotch Highland cow, was walking oddly... maybe a little stiff in the rear.  Of course Carol quickly climbed into the pen to make sure our mini-cow wasn't injured... then with an excited voice, Carol announce Caitlin had some blood near her rear-end.  With a VERY pregnant cow, that hopefully means a new calf is on its way.  If the calf is moving into the birth canal, that could explain her odd gait.  Caitlin isn't bagging up yet so we're not expecting anything a calf today, but hopefully, we'll be seeing something going on with the next week.  We're quite excited.

Onto weather:  Temps have dropped and snow found its way to our neck of the woods... again.  I think Carol mentioned it was around 10ºF this morning when she got up.  Winter is clearly on its way.  FYI:  I hate winter.

 

Dec. 03, 2008
- Homestead taxes in MN .

A short time ago, we learned we could take advantage of a Minnesota law that allows us to classify the farm (which is in a family trust) as homesteaded.  This classification will save us approx. 50% on the farm's real estate taxes.  Until last year, this could be achieved by simply filling out a short form and bringing it in to the county.  Well, this year it is not quite as easy.  The State of Minnesota needs to certify a farm that is in a trust as a real "certifiable' farm.  OK.. whatever.

I ran around from office to office, retrieving the necessary paperwork.  With the help of my USDA office and an extremely helpful county employee, we got it figured out.  One form goes to the county... another multi-paged form goes to State.  Now we wait.

As we have been experiencing frozen pipes more frequently, Carol and I decided we needed to buy a short section of heat tape for the pipes of the trailer house, we are calling home for the winter.  Of course we went to Menard's for that.  While we were there, we picked up a few supplies in order to finish the fireplace enclosure... maybe we'll have something to hang stockings on for the Christmas holiday.

We have noticed some changed behaviors in some of our animals, since getting Gertie, our very large hog.  If she's in the barn, all the other animals vacate immediately.  And our smaller pig, Ham, is no longer eating.  She is deathly afraid of Gertie.  We have since penned Ham in her own space, but she frantically tries to chew through the cattle panel whenever Gertie is anywhere near the barn.  With Gertie around, our llamas have been staying in the pasture... they don't even come back to the barn for hay. 

To say we're concerned about how Gertie is fitting in would be an understatement.  We have contacted another small farm owner if they could keep her for awhile (with the agreement they will not eat her or sell her), but before making any decisions, we'll give the other critters more time to 'make nice' with the big girl.  Gertie is such a sweetheart otherwise, hopefully, it will work out for all.  She seems to be right at home and very comfortable with her new surroundings... it's the others that are having a problem.

 

Dec. 02, 2008
- Last night's voice mail.

I forgot to mention - last night Carol got a message on her phone's voice mail.  It was from the teacher that bought one of our farm-fresh Thanksgiving Day turkeys.  With excitement in her voice, she let us know how moist and tender the turkey was.  And she wanted to say that even one of her pessimistic guests (a non-believer of quality farm raised turkey) commented on how good this bird was to eat compared to store bought.

We want to thank everyone for the great feedback on turkeys we sold you.  Rest assured, we'll raise more next year.

For those interested, we may have 1 turkey ready for Christmas.  If interested, send us an email ASAP.

- The new critters.

Bright and early this morning, Carol and I did chores.. but not before I let everyone know how bad my teeth hurt and how my bruised lip felt (see yesterday's blog). We wanted to let the sheep into their new pen & pasture, as well as Gertie, the pig, into hers. 

Once the sheep saw the open trailer gate, that was backed to gate, they jumped out.  They were excited to be out of the trailer an in a large outdoor pen.  The pen leads both into the barn and on the other side - the pasture.  As expected, they were greeted by some very curious Shetland sheep.  The new sheep seemed overwhelmed by all the space and a little annoyed by all the butt sniffing that was going on.  I was quick to throw them a fresh bale of hay, trying to calm them with food.

Our Katahdin ram, Cooper, seemed more interested in the new hay than the new ewes.  Then, as if he had an Eureka! moment,  he sensed there were females around.  Hay didn't seem to have the same value as it had, just minutes ago.  When things settled down, the new sheep casually explored their new surroundings... Cooper went back to the hay.

Now it was Gertie's turn to be released.  Once I backed the trailer to the cow-yard, we opened it up for Gertie.  She looked around.. then hopped out.  Before we had a chance to follow her into the barn, the llamas and goats filed out of the barn, in rapid fashion.

Here's Gertie, exploring here new surroundings.

In the barn, our pig, Ham, seemed to beg us to let her out of her pen.  We got a look as if to say, "Hey! This big pig is out & about, you better be thinking the same for me."  So we did.  Right away, our Hampshire nuzzled Gertie, but Gertie didn't seem to care.  Shortly there after, the 2 girls went out to the cow yard.  In the pic below, you can see the size difference.

Gertie & Ham playing

As soon as the pigs were in the cow-yard, the llamas and goats headed out to the pasture. They were use to the Hampshire, but wanted nothing to do with this big red pig.  That's when we heard it... a screaming noise that sounded like a hyena cry.  It was coming from our llama, Dolly, then from Gandhi, our male llama.  Carol tried to record the sounds on the camera, but to no avail, when the camera was ready, the llamas were not.  We will be keeping an eye on the llamas, making sure they don't harm Gertie. 

Llamas have been known to kill stay dogs and coyotes quite easily and we have seen Gandhi attack our cow Caitlin, so we're quite concerned about today's weird behavior.  We'll see how the day plays out before making any decisions.

 

Dec. 01, 2008
- You hit me in the face

Maybe I should say, "Ewe hit me in the face."  Today was the day to retrieve the critters we were waiting for.  A couple of days ago, we answered an ad from a wonderful gal (we'll call her DJ), who had a few farm animals that she felt deserved a better home.  Even though she loved her animals and gave them good care, personal circumstances and the present state of the economy, dictated her choice to pass her beloved 'babies' to others.  Other than her ducks and geese, she chose us to be the caretakers of her extended farm family.

DJ had quite an assortment of critters on her hobby farm - 2 sheep (a Suffolk & a Polypay), 1 large sow named Gertie, some chickens, ducks, geese & rabbits... the geese and most of the ducks were taken by someone else already. 

When we arrived, DJ had me pull around to the shed/barn door and back the trailer in.  We then tried to access the difficult task of which animal(s) to load and how - we went with hardest first, easiest last.  With that, Gertie was chosen to be the first loaded.  Although Gertie was fairly tame it didn't change the fact that she was very strong.  As most folks know, even little pigs have a way of getting in and out of situations they don't want to be in... and Gertie was NO little pig.  After a few feeble attempts to "persuade" her into the trailer, we decided to let DJ coax her in with a heaping pan of pig chow... and after a few short minutes, it worked.

Onto the sheep... how hard could it be to load these gals?  Harder than one might think.  DJ tried the same food technique on these two as she did with the sow, but with poor results.  These ewes had been together for so long, they seemed to share one panicked brain.  If one freaked out, the other would as well.  Plan 'B' was...?  Oh yeah, catch one at a time and force them in.

After chasing these girls around the barn a few dozen times, we cornered them in a small area near what was Gertie's pen.  The black faced ewe (the Suffolk) lunged forward to get past me, that's when I grabbed her.  She was gentle after that... and into the back half of the trailer she went.  If it worked once, it'll work again, right? Again, we chase the Polypay, even more freaked out than before.

Somewhat trapped between the trailer and a car (still inside the barn) the ewe made a dash to get past me (her only hurdle to freedom).  As I moved in for the 'catch' she jumped into the air.  Even with the jump, I still caught her... after which, I discovered her head rammed me in the face.  Almost instantly, I could feel my lip fatten up.  She got me square in the mouth.  And after muscling her into the backend of the trailer to join her stable mate, I checked my mouth.  I didn't see any blood but one of my teeth hurt unusually bad.  That's when I discovered the ewe had knocked one of my teeth loose when we collided.  It dawned on us that the loading of the pig wasn't the hard at all, compared to the sheep.  Hide sight is 20/20 you know.

Most of the rabbits were caged, so that went well, except for the hutch roof falling on DJ's head - OUCH! The chickens went w/o a hitch as well.  Our daughter Madison and DJ caught them and Carol put them into the crates. 

Sometime before we were ready to go, but after the sheep were loaded, Madison and I caught one of the ducks... her and Carol caught another bunny, who was running free... and while I was covering the little animals in the pickup, DJ, Madison and Carol found a bunny nest of 3 little ones -  they caught 2 of them.  The baby bunnies looked to be about 4 weeks old, so the one that was left behind should do alright as DJ had several other domestic rabbits running around the farm, eating hay & pellets and drinking from the other pet's water.

To let everyone know, these were not surrendered or rescued animals, we did pay for them and hopefully, they will all work well with our present farm arrangement.  If not, as with all of our animals, we may need to look for an adoptive family for whoever does not fit in.  Since we work as a foster farm for the local Humane Society, we can not and will not let these animals go to home with the intention of being eaten.  On paper, we see no reason why these animals should not view our farm as their new permanent home... for the rest of their lives.

We arrived home shortly after 10:00PM.  As Carol put the new bunnies in to the large hutch, for the night, I brought the crates of chickens into the barn.  I simply set them down and opened the crate doors, letting them come out at will... which they didn't.  After a few minutes, Carol encouraged them to leave the confines of the carriers and to join the other barn populace.  The new arrivals were greeted with much chicken chatter, but quieted with time.

Since it was late, we decide to let the sheep and pig over-night in the trailer.  With plenty of fresh straw for bedding and feed for their bellies, Carol and I headed for the house.  Madison was already in bed, so as Carol tucked our little farmer girl in, I helped myself to a glass of homemade wine, hoping to ease the sting of my fat lip and loose tooth.  It was quite a night.

 

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CHICKEN FOR SALE -  Only $2/lb ** We are now selling  processed birds by the pound. ** (as outlined by the Dairy and Food Inspection Division of the Minnesota Department of Agriculture) We sell all our birds skinless and frozen.  If you want skin-on, quartered or cut-up chicken, please let us know ahead of time.  Do we eat what we raise?  You betcha!  We will be raising approx. 70 chickens for our family alone.  Why so many?  Simple... we like knowing we are eating a healthy chicken, raised with care in healthy conditions and we love the way they taste. We also have some beautiful Heritage Turkeys (Red Bourbon).  Turkeys should be ready in Nov - early Dec.   SOLD OUT! for Thanksgiving 2008  CALL CAROL TODAY:  320-220-3235

 

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