Jan. 27, 2009
- What's going on?

Not allot has been happening around here.  Maybe we're lucky... maybe it's been too cold.  Whatever the case, We're doing OK here, for our first winter at the farm.

We have been watching Caitlin, our "pregnant" Highlander cow.  She seems to be getting bigger and bigger everyday.  Carol and I have been doing the math.  It seems that if she doesn't have her calf by Feb. 5th (or so), it will be safe to say that she was never bred.  We looked back on the calendar to the date that we brought her home, knowing darn well that that was the last possible day she was exposed to a bull... until we brought Sampson to the farm, last fall.  To say we won't be bummed if no calf arrives, will be an understatement.

Carol and Madison have had similar false due dates, with regard to their rabbits.  A few of their "expecting" does have pulled hair others have not.  Rabbits carry their young for a month (give or take a day or two).  Some of the rabbits are on day 34... again, it's safe to cross them of the list of pregnant moms.  Carol has never had a rabbit deliver after 32 days.

At dinnertime, Carol made a meal that resembled what many have at Easter.  We had ham, scalloped potatoes, corn, etc....  we even had homemade bread.  The best part of it all, it was all produced locally.  The pork and the sweet corn came from friends Bill & Karen O., the tators came from Carol's garden and the milk came from Farmer Mike's organic dairy.  The food tasted wonderful.  In fact, I would have to say that the ham was some of the best tasting ham I have ever had.

Speaking of ham, our hog (who's name is Ham, Hamster and sometime Hammer) is pushing the 200# mark.  As of yet, we have not spent a dime to feed her.  During the warmer months, she was pastured (no grain whatsoever).  It wasn't until we had snow on the ground, that we started to feed her grain.  And the corn we have been feeding her was leftover ground corn from our friends who do custom hog feeding.  In the past, they threw the feed out when the hogs went to market.  Because they don't have animals and we do, they then offered the feed to us.

Tomorrow, will most likely be the last day of the free feed.  After that, we will need to buy a bag or two.  As soon as we have room in the freezer, Ham (as pet-like as she is) will go to the butcher.  Some of you know the deal we have with many of our animals.  We feed them, then they feed us.

The corn we got, went to feed Ham mostly, but also went to treat some of the poultry.  During the warm months, the chickens, turkeys and ducks had the run of the farm, but were coaxed into the barn at night with treats of corn.  We have too many hawks, owls and coyote to expect our animals to be safe at night out in the open.  Even in the barn, we had a hawk kill a bird or two.  For the most part, the barn was safe for them.

Jan. 25, 2009
- Making butter.

We've been considering making butter, once one of our cows has a calf.  Finding a butter churn (big or small) hasn't been easy.  We've placed a few ads over the last few months, but with no luck.  Today, I figured I'd look on the WEB for some simple churn making plans.  One of the results was from a Nov., 1950 issue of Popular Mechanics.  These directions are for converting a washing machine into a butter churn.  Pretty cool huh?

Jan. 24, 2009
- Mozzarella cheese making... and more.

Carol received a request for the recipe she uses to make mozzarella cheese.  Instead of just emailing it out, we thought we'd post it on the recipe page for others who may be interested in making a batch of it.

Last night, Carol made Lasagna, using the two cheeses she made - the mozzarella and ricotta.  It was delicious. Ricotta means 'recooked' and is made out of the whey that is left from the making of the mozzarella.  Ricotta cheese doesn't have much flavor by itself.  It takes on the flavor of the foods it's cooked with.  I think it was primarily used to as a meat substitute (or extender) in the olden days, when meat was somewhat scarce.

Today, along with the usual stuff, we experimented with making doughnuts.  Carol tried a few different shapes and sizes, Madison ran the deep fat fryer, and I tasted them.  The first shape we tried was a large, round, bismark shaped pastry.  The outside of it turned out better than the inside.  It was a little doughy inside.  The second shape was a traditional doughnut.  Those turned out pretty good.  Since there is no center, it was cooked throughout... the doughnut holes were thoroughly cooked too.  The third shape was half of the first.  These we filled with jelly.  Carol said we should have used jam, since it's thicker.

I made a simple powder sugar glaze for one of the pastries.  I guess I didn't make it thick enough as it soaked into the doughnut instead of sitting on top, so it made a soggy doughnut.  The taste of the doughnut itself was OK, so I don't think we'll scrap the recipe, but it does need something sweet to go with it.  Powdered sugar didn't help much, but crystal sugar and chocolate frosting was good as well as jelly that we used to fill some of them.  I think, with a few tweaks, we'll have something good.

Since it's been so cold out, we have had the fireplace going for most of the day yesterday and all of today.  We have been using the wood heat instead of the electric baseboards.  Carol's sister said, when she was here, that we are pulling too many amps for our 50 amp panel.  That's why we have been having so many problems with the electricity.  She suggested we bump up to a 60 amp breaker if we want to use the baseboard heat, then install a 100 amp panel in the house, this spring.  The thing is, before we upgrade to a 60 amp breaker on the pole outside, we need a heavier gauge wire... otherwise we will have serious problems.  As it looks, I will be chopping more wood.

Speaking of wood chopping... my leg still hurts a little from yesterday, but it isn't too bad.  Just don't touch it and we'll get along fine... lol.  I still have wood stacked in the wood box... enough to last into tomorrow.  I'll wait until then to split logs and chop wood.

Jan. 23, 2009
- Mad cow disease info.

I stumbled upon this 2005 article explaining, in a sense, that the US is doing little more than covering up the problem of mad cow disease.  If you aren't eating naturally pasture-fed and/or organic beef, you may want to, after reading this.  It seems the government allows cannibalization within the cattle industry.  The practice of feeding beef & dairy calves the fat and blood products (including tissue from the brain, spinal cord and retina) of other cattle is exactly that - cannibalism, plain and simple. 

Check out this Organic Consumers Assoc. article Mad Cow via Feeding Calves Blood and Fat from Cattle

- I got wood.

In anticipation for the REALLY cold weather, I chopped wood this morning, after chores.  By that time, we were already facing -0ºF.  It sorta hits you hard when just a few hours before, it was somewhat comfy, at 18ºF.  But once I started to chop, I felt warm. 

I suppose it only took a half hour or so before I had enough wood to fill the wood box next to the fireplace.  By that time I was pretty sweaty (more sweaty than pretty).  I brought the chopped wood into the house and dumped it into an old box, from there, I went to get another load, while Carol stacked the logs into the box.  In no time, the box was full, ready to heat the house.

- I got an egg too.

As I chopped wood, I had a large chuck fly back at me, just to nail me in the leg.  It hit me square in the shin bone actually.  It set me to my knees, it stung so bad.  Nonetheless, I recovered and didn't give it much thought.

After bringing the wood in, I checked my leg.  No biggy... sure, there was a scrape on it, but not bloody or swollen.  Well, after chores last night, I told Carol that when I was reaching for a hay bale on the trailer, I leaned on my sore leg.  I mentioned that the pain was so bad, I had tears in my eye. 

I then showed her the 'scrape' on my leg.  When I pulled my pant leg up, I noticed my sore really hurt... just from the pressure of my pants.  As she peaked at my leg, her eyes got big and then an "Oh my!" came from her mouth.  I looked down to find an egg shaped swollen area on my leg.  SHEESH!  No wonder it hurt so dang blasted much. 

Jan. 22, 2009
- New recipe posted.

Carol posted her pizza crust recipe.  It's a garlic & herb seasoned pie crust.  I don't like trying new things (why fix what ain't broke), but this is a keeper recipe.  I'm sure if Sis Amber made it for her Mr., she would get the adulations as if she were some great chef.

I have been making nest boxes for rabbits today and yesterday.  Carol has a few does that are expected to kindle in the next few days.  She found a set of simple plans online for me to follow.  Since we are refusing to use anything but reclaimed lumber and plywood, the nest boxes are not quite to specs.  They are going to fit the rabbits just fine and that's what's important.

In the past, Carol has used small cardboard boxes, just to find that some of the does would rather chew the box than have their babies in it.  Hopefully, the new, wooden nest boxes will last a couple of years and not just a couple of days.

Jan. 21, 2009
- Good news!

I got some sleep!  Finally.  :^)

The day was a beautiful one.  Stuff got done today.  I patched one of the extension cords that Farmer Mike cut, when he was over here to clear snow for us.  It wasn't his fault really.  These things happen.  I was helping at Jeremy & Kelly's, when he came over.  Carol had forgotten where the cords were under the snow, so when Mike lowered the bucket to clear snow, that was it.

I also hauled a load of hay to the barn, getting ready for our area's next cold snap.  Weather is due to hit sub-zero status in the next couple of days.  Since I had the tractor warmed-up and running, I also decided to get another round bale on the hay forks, ready to go.  The hay will be that much closer when the cattle need it. 

Before I forget... since Mike fixed our hay feeder, none of the heifers have crawled inside of it.  It was kind of weird to see all of the cattle on the outside of the feeder today.  lol

This afternoon, Carol gave her sister a call about the electrical problem, we've been experiencing.  Since I fixed the furnace, Carol's sister thinks the problem of the circuit tripping is caused from the dryer, the well and the dryer being on at the same time.  She's suppose to be coming over tomorrow morning to meter the wires.  She said she'll be able to monitor the load.  I think she's surprised we don't have more problems like this, since the whole house and well is on a 50 amp service panel.  Already she is recommending we update the wiring to the house, the same time we update the wiring to the barn, this spring.  After looking at some of the wiring (the last time she was here), she would like to see a minimum of a 150 amp service panel in place before summer.

Carol made homemade pizza tonight.  It was a 'made from scratch' recipe.  I'm sure she'll post it on this site's recipe page.  I think she called it a Garlic & Herb pizza crust.  She actually made 2 pizzas, on garlic & herb and one regular.  After eating the new crust, the plain tasted... umm, well, sort of plain.  I think we have a new pizza crust.

She also made some mozzarella cheese, I think it was for pizza and then she made some ricotta cheese for the lasagna, she plans on making soon.  The cheese she makes is so much better than cheese found at the grocery store.  Left over from the cheese making, was some whey, which went to the pigs... they love it.

I think that's about it.

Jan. 20, 2009
- Helping one another.

The cattle finally emptied their hay feeder of hay, so today was the day to have it welded.  I tried welding it last week, but I ended up frying the small circuit board of the welder instead.  With no welder onsite, I knew I had to bring it to a professional - Farmer Mike.  I gave him a call in the morning to find out what time would work best to bring the round bale feeder to his welding shop.  Mike thought early afternoon would work best. 

After Mike ate a quick bite to eat (yepper, I ate too), we headed to the shop.  With welder in hand, Mike not only fixed the broken parts of the feeder, he also reinforced the original welds.  Our Highlanders are a little rough on the used light duty feeder.  I'm glad he took the time to do this for me.

After he repaired my feeder, I offered to help him fix a silo-unloader he had problems with.  I was with him when he picked-up the parts last week, so I knew there was work to be done. We headed towards the barn to start the work.  In no time, we had the broken auger off and down the chute.  Thinking, if we got the old auger down the chute, the new auger should fit up the chute much the same way.  We were wrong.  Plan 'B' was to set-up a rope & pulley on the outside of the 50' silo and hoist the heavy auger up and over.  I brought what seemed to like a 500' rope and pulley to the top of the silo.  As scooting up and down the silo wasn't that much fun, I made sure the rope was set correctly in the pulley before climbing down.  Somehow, from the time I left the top on the silo to the time I got to the ground, the rope came off the pulley and was pinched against the wheel and pulley bracket. 

For a few minutes I tried 'whipping' the rope, hoping it would move back into place.  Crap!, Crap! Crap!  By that time, Mike was there to help.  I crawled back up the silo ladder and dislodged the rope.  We decided that I should stay up top and Mike hoist the auger.  Mike's first pull showed us both that me staying up high was the smart choice... the rope was wedged in the pulley.  From that point forward, Mike pulled the rope, lifting the auger up and I made sure the rope stayed seated in the groove of the pulley.

The unloader part was up and over the side of the silo and then lowered down, inside in just a few minutes.  We did good.  We then worked on the broke-down machine inside the silo.  With a little muscle and some brain power, we got the thing back together, just to find one of the parts, that we needed to finish the job, was the wrong part.  The parts & service guy gave Mike the wrong piece.  We needed a short shaft at the end of the auger, with left hand thread, he gave us a shaft with right hand threads.  It was discouraging to say the least.  At least we had the heavy work done - it was truly a 2-man job.  Once Mike has the correct shaft, he'll be able to finish the job by himself.

Whether we get a lot of work done or not, it's always fun to work with Mike.  Rarely do I leave his farm without learning something.

After arriving home, Carol informed me the electrical breaker was kicking out again, but not as often as yesterday... and only when the dryer was running.  It shut off twice when I was home, both times the dryer was running.  I think we have found a pattern.

Now that the furnace runs quietly, you would think I would be able to get a good night's sleep, right?  Nope!  I kept waking up, wondering if the furnace was running or if had quit working completely.  I couldn't sleep with the furnace rattling all night and I can't get any sleep now that's it's quite.  Sheesh!!!!

Jan. 19, 2009
- House building.

I spent most of the day at Jeremy and Kelly's Sunburg homestead.  I caught a ride up north with Bill to finish installing windows in the old farm house Jeremy & sons are rebuilding for the family.  Today will be the last of the window installation.

The biggest window must have measured 6'X5'.  It was HEAVY!  I bet it weighed 300# or more.  It took 6 huys to stall it.  We lifted it over a stairwell, through the rough opening to the outside of the house, where we had guys waiting for it.  After handing it though the opening, I quick ran around to the outside to help those two guys so we could keep the window from falling to the ground, 1 story below.  It was a real relief to have this heavy beast installed.  The other windows felt light compared to this one.

After having the last of the house's windows installed, there were a couple little tasks to take care of before leaving the worksite. 

I think we can say that the house is officially buttoned up.  Most of the roof is shingled, the house is wrapped and the windows are all in.  They even had most of the front porch constructed (that was new, from the last time I was there).   It is going to be a grand old house.

When I arrived home, candles were burning and the fireplace was going.  Carol let me know that we were having major electrical problems... again.  It seems the circuit breaker outside the house wouldn't keep from tripping.  She had already called her sister, the electrician, and had gotten some advice.  It was thought that since we were having blower motor problems with the furnace, perhaps the motor was the culprit, drawing to many amps.  While I was gone, she had turned off the furnace, relying on the fireplace to heat the house.  In fact, she had most of the house shut down AND the electrical breaker still clicked off a couple of times.  I think she even mentioned the breaker was hot at one time.  URGH!

The good news was that when Carol went to town in the morning, to get critter feed, she also picked-up the blower motor we ordered last week.  The first thing I did after arriving home was to change-out the motor.  FYI:  we now have a furnace that is quiet.

We lost the electricity only once while I was home that evening... and that was when the dryer was running.  That led us to think that the dryer may be to blame.  Hmmm.

Jan. 17, 2009
- Home alone.

Carol and Madison left early this morning to get to Andover, MN on time.  Today there was a rabbit clinic they wanted to attend.  Madison wanted to attend some classes on showing and judging and Carol wanted to take-in a rabbit processing class.

It was a little weird to be home alone... kind of nice really.  After chores, I took the snowmobile out for a little while.  The snow was great and the temps were perfect.  I didn't even notice the strong winds that was blowing.

At the time I ate lunch (leftover Sausage & Peppers, from last night's meal), I watched the Discovery Channel.  The show focused on the turkey industry.  It showed the difference between confinement production, free-ranged and organic.  The show also pointed out products made from turkey feathers (artificial hair and sound insulation products) and interestingly enough, using turkey litter to fuel the FibroMinn power plant in Benson, Minnesota (about 20 miles from us).  At the time of the making of the show, it was the only power plant of its kind in the US... burning 3,000 tons of turkey waste each day.  The plant is virtually pollution free, producing mostly CO₂, steam and ash.  The ash is then sold as a chemical free fertilizer that some farmers are trying to get cleared for use on organic fields.   I, myself have used the ash on our fields, in 2007.  We paid $10/ton... since then, the cost has nearly tripled.

Jan. 15, 2009
- 100 degrees difference between here and there.

Did we have frozen pipes this morning?  Yes, but only in the kitchen.  I didn't mind, considering it was -30ºF.  Here's the kicker... there was a 100º difference between the inside of the house and the outside.  How does a human being adjust so quickly to these 2 extremes... it's crazy isn't it?

Other than it being insanely cold, there isn't a whole lot to gab about.  We had a little trouble with Carol's car, so Madison was late to the bus stop.  Then, when it was time for Austin to leave for work, his car didn't start and had to wait until Carol came home.  She then took him to work.

Tonight, during chores we were greeted with quite the site in the Highlander pen.  Here's what we saw.  Rarely is there a dull moment.

Here's Delilah atop the round bale.  What a stinker!

Jan. 14, 2009
- The coldest day of the season.

No frozen water pipes yet, so we're grateful for that.  Carol and I are counting our blessings with regards to house keeping us warm and the water flowing, both at the house and the barn.  Last year, we lost the use of the barn water hydrant to the the lines freezing.  I think they finally thawed in early May.

I made a call to my friend who owns a laundry service to find out if he had ordered the lye for us.  He said he had and it should arrive with his regular chemical order, on Monday.  And since it is coming by truck, there is no shipping.  Since there is no shipping cost and the lye itself is a free sample pack, it will cost VERY little to make our first few batches of homemade soap. 

Carol and I ran a few errands in Willmar today.  One of our first stops was the farm store - Carol checked on when she could order chicks and I looked for a fuel nozzle for the gas barrel.  She found out she can't place her chick order until March and I found the gas nozzle I needed, but they were out of fittings to make it work with the hose I already have in place.  Until I find the correct fittings, there was no need to purchase the nozzle... it will have to wait.

Carol did her grocery shopping for the week as well.  In an effort to save more money, she is trying to limit the bulk of our shopping to once a week.  The odds and ends that we need can be picked-up by Austin, the days that he goes to work.  I bet he's hopes he never has to buy granny panties or Preparation-H™ type stuff.

Our new little buckling, Tim, is doing well.  He's eating with some of the smaller goats, but still tries to stay away from the larger does.  We're not real concerned about his ability to fit in as every goat we've gotten had to go through some sort of assimilation period.  Each goat, new or old, needs to figure out their place in the herd.  It's very likely he will start at the bottom of the picking order, but as he is a buck and shows hints of being a good quality percentage boar, he may very well find himself in the Alpha role in the next year or so.  How does he get along with George, our herd buck?  Pretty well really.  Since Tim so so young, George doesn't pay much attention to him.  I'm sure this will change when summer is here.

It was so cold in the evening that all the eggs Madison found, were frozen.  I guess that's par-for-the-course in these incredibly frigid days.  I think the warmest it got today was around -7ºF.  We've tried to brace ourselves for the extreme temps, due tonight and tomorrow.  It will be a true test for our water pipes and the house.  They're telling us to expect tomorrows lows to be -27ºF and highs of -10ºF.

- Getting old ain't for wimps.

A few years back, my sister Regina repeated a phrase that getting old ain't for wimps.  I think she said it because her and I, being less than a year apart, were getting older.  I've got to admit, the 40's suck.  For me, I have developed allergies, can't eat the spicy peppers I once loved and probably the hardest thing to accept is I can no longer eat the double cheese burgers from McDonald's... unless I'm near a bathroom (if you know what I mean)... Ewwwwww!

Well, today's experience was a double punch to the gut for this aging baby-boomer (yep... I'm a boomer, born in 1964 - the last year for them).  When I got my hair cut today, Nikki, the gal who has cut my hair for years mention she has trimmed the last of my 'baby hair'.  Baby hair?  She calls baby hair the stuff that get replaced by gray (in my case its platinum, as blondes don't go gray).  With each swish and snip of the scissors, more and more platinum came through.  She was having WAY to much fun with it.  After leaving that horrible place, we went to Walmart™ to get some new medications for daughter Chastiti.  While waiting for the prescriptions to be filled, Carol persuaded me to look at getting a pair of reading glasses.  Guess what, I now own a pair.  UGH!  I'm getting old and I'm hating it.  I guess if I were ever going to experience depression, I should have picked today.  It really sucks when I can't even get depressed when I should.

Jan. 13, 2009
- The coldest day of the season.

Dipping down to a temp of near -30ºF, this was brisk.  We woke-up to a balmy -25ºF... lol.  We didn't even try to start a vehicle.  Well, not right away.  At 10:00AM, we got a call from a couple who had some nice looking rabbit cages that we were interested in.  They had 3 cages with waterers and food cups (about a $30 value), priced at $10 each.  The cages were located near St Cloud, but with the price of gas, it was well worth the drive.

In the same area as the cages, we were in contact with a gal who now longer wanted to care for her husband's pet goat.  She wondered if we could take it from her.  We agreed we would.

At 11:00PM, I tried to get our van stated, for the trip to get the cages and the surrendered goat.  The van turned over, but really slowly.  I thought, maybe I should plug in the engine heater and try starting it again in a couple hours.  As I plugged in the heater, the end of the cord broke.  It was so cold it snapped clean off.  That sucked!  I then went to the garage to find a wire cutter to strip the wires.  With the bare wire exposed, I shoved them into the end of the extension cord.  I was so freaking cold by this time, I went back in the house to give Carol the news that it was doubtful we would be going anywhere today.  She then called the cage people and the lady with the goat, describing our dilemma.  They understood.  We were to give them a call if we got the van started.

Finally, approx.2:15PM, I got the van started.  Carol made some calls and Madison & I headed to the St Cloud area.  Our first stop was the guy who had the cages.  I started loading the cages when I thought I saw a big rat.  Here it was a Lion Head bunny.  He told us it was one of the rabbits his kids lost interest in and let go to fend for itself (we hate hearing stuff like that).  He said if we could catch it, we should take it (he knew we take in unwanted rabbits - no questions asked).  As I finished loading the cages, he offered to give us another large cage and a small carrier type.  Madison was still trying to catch the Lion Head.  After about a minute of effort, Madison had a scared, skinny little bunny in her arms.  The gentleman thanked us for getting the cages and rescuing the rabbit.

About ten minutes away, was the gal with the goat.  She told us, initially, that it was a fairly large boar buck.  That's why we had the van... for the large animal.  When we arrived to the hobby farm, we found a little, 6 month old buckling in a dog house.  He had free-run of the farm, but it was so bitterly cold, he was quite content being holdup in the small structure.  The buckling appeared to be well fed, but lonely.  And he wasn't too motivated to leave the warmth of his shelter.  I scooped him in my arms and carried him to the van.  Madison opened the doors for me, we assure the owner that "Tim" would be in a good home.  She was glad to here we had a farm and other goats.

On the way home, I called Carol.  She was glad to hear things went well and also warned me that snow was heading our way.  It was already snowing at the farm, she said.  An hour or so later, the snow started to fall... don it came.  From St Cloud on, there were plenty of cars in the ditch, so we made our home with caution.  We wanted nothing more than to get ourselves and the animals we've been entrusted to care for, home safely.

When we finally arrived home, we found Carol doing chores like a trooper.  She ogled over the new bunny and carried him to the barn.  I think she figured he was a Sable colored Lionhead.  He was young and very thin.  Madison was still in the van, wrestling with the goat.  Once we finally got him out, he ran behind Madison all the way to the barn... it was kinda cute.

It was a full day... I was glad to be home.

Jan. 12, 2009
- My chance to help.

Not a lot happened today, except for the van that went into the ditch by us.  Our handicap daughter Chastiti', attends a work training program.  A van picks her up for work, daily and brings her back.  For the most part, I suppose it is a good program for those who benefit from it... enough said.  But the van drivers who we have been exposed to are less than stellar.  Most being poor drivers, and Chas' current driver is no exception.

Shortly after collecting Chastiti' today, they closed the doors of the work program, due to the weather.  The van was due to return to the farm at 11:00AM.  At a quarter after, Chas was still not home.  Then Carol got a call - it was the van driver (who we call 'the van lady').  She called to say she "slid off of the driveway" and ended in the ditch.  She needed someone to pull her van, full of clients, out of the ditch.

After failing to start for the last 3 weeks, I got the 4X4 pickup running.  While it warmed up, I thought I'd walk to the farm entrance to tell the van lady what my plan was.  Upon seeing the van, I noticed she did not slide off the driveway... HECK!  She wasn't even close to the driveway.  If I had to guess, I'd say she was driving too fast, hit the brakes and lost control (Carol and I have reported her a couple of times for driving too fast - FYI: she's the same gal who hit our dog Ellie).  The tracks in the ditch showed the rear-end of the van had swung around on her.  Nonetheless, she missed the drive by about 20+ feet.  Fortunate for her, the farm truck was able to tow her crabby butt out of the ditch and onto the driveway w/o much effort.  Chas was safe and sound.

Jan. 11, 2009
- Before I forget.

I forgot to mention this before, but yesterday, we received our conformation letter from County Assessor, stating they received a copy of the farm's Dept. of Ag certification and that they are processing our Special Agriculture Homestead tax status.  This will extend our Homestead Tax classification from our residential property in town to the farm, saving money on the real estate taxes, payable in 2009.

Another thing - most of us grew-up watching 'Hee-Haw"... with some families being bigger fans than others.  I think it is worth mentioning that another noteworthy cast member passed away - one of the Hager twins.  If you want to read more click here.  The article kind of brings one back to the day of when we were all kids... remember the 'Hee-Haw' girls.  Saaaal-lute!

- A new market.

Carol's chicken customers arrived this afternoon from Walnut Grove.  They bought 20 young chickens (all but 2 were roosters), as they said they would.  Carol then mentioned that if they needed a reliable supply of chickens, we would be interested in providing them with more medication free - hormone free birds. 

There is a saying out there, "Be careful what you wish for.  You might just get it."  It turns out, the folks that came out, would like to buy 100 chickens a month.  And if we can raise that many for them, they would like to buy them from us.  What they are looking for is 3-4 month old birds... and from time to time, a larger, more mature rooster (for their religious/ethnic ceremonies).  As of right now, Carol and I will do our best to meet this demand.  We're both proud and excited to be able fulfill the order that others cannot.

Before these folks got here, I brought 20-25 hay bale to the barn, getting ready for the winter storm that is due to arrive tonight and tomorrow.  I also checked on Caitlin, to see if she appeared any closer to calving than she had in the past.  When I checked her udder, she winced a little.  When I did a visual check, I noticed that one of her front teats show signs of frost bite.  The end of the teat was somewhat hard and already blackish in color.  I was concerned, so when I got into the house, I called farmer Mike for some advise.  The bad news is that most of the damage has already been done... from here on out, it's damage control.  I think Mike was trying to tell me not to be too surprised if Caitlin ends up losing milk production in one quarter of her udder.  I was a little bummed.

Jan. 10, 2009
- Look what I found.

If you follow this blog at all, you will remember that we had some problems with the furnace.  The furnace guy we had called, all but condemned the beast... in fact, he shut it down.  After coming to terms with it, I had an idea and tried it.  The problem was resolved... so we thought.  It started to run better than it had ever ran before.  That lasted about a week.  Now, the blower motor is showing signs of its age... it's rattling.  I don't know if it's bad bearings or what it is, but it's getting tough to get a good night's sleep with so much noise being generated every time the furnace runs.

Anyway, I thought I'd run to my grandparents old farm where my dad had an old trailer house stored.  I figured I could pull the blower off of that furnace and replace the noisy one we had.  As soon as I set foot inside the messy old trailer (it was used for storage) I could see the furnaces weren't the same.  Somewhat discouraged, I popped the furnace covers off... just incase.  Nope, there was nothing I could use on this one.

I then started to wander around the old trailer, just sort of taking in the sight of the mess.  That's when I noticed a large manila envelope.  For some reason it drew me to it.  I grabbed it and looked inside.  I couldn't believe it.  I recognized the contents of the envelope instantly.  The documents were the original copy of the Trust my dad had drawn-up in March of 1992.  I thought they were lost years ago.  Granted, they aren't the Dead Sea Scrolls, but they are significant to us.

Unfortunately, I still need to address the noisy furnace.

This evening, Carol, Madison and I spent part of the evening catching young roosters.  2 days ago, we were contacted by a gal from Walnut Grove, MN.  She was looking for colored chickens... and guess what?  We raise colored chickens.  In a nut shell, it sounded like she wanted to buy all that we had.  Unfortunately, we only have about 20 that we're willing to sell.   This gal is suppose to be here tomorrow afternoon to pick them up.

Jan. 09, 2009
- They even make cartoons about it.

I was surfing through some website about animal cruelty within the commercial meat industry.  I'm sure most of you have either seen or heard about the dangers of this type of productions.  Well, here is an internet cartoon telling about the dangers and mistreatment.  It's quite entertaining... more so if you've seen the movie The Matrix.  Check out www.themeatrix.com/inside/ .  It should pop-up in a new window

There were lots of tears today.  For some reason, we lost nearly a complete litter of baby bunnies.   Carol and Madison had 2 batched of rabbits born a few days ago.  I think there we from two of the Flemish Giant does we took in last month.  Since it has been so cold outside, the girls brought the babies inside and have been bringing the mother to the kits at feeding time.  The kits (baby bunnies) were big and healthy... VERY active.  Then this afternoon, Madison checked on her litters to find on nest-box full of dead babies... with one sole survivor.  She checked the other nest-box and those kits were just fine. 

We were so confused to what happened.  We assumed if there was something wrong with the mother's milk, we should have lost all of them, but the little survivor is still doing well.  Carol had placed this kit with the other litter and letting that litter's doe nurse her babies as well as the solo kit of the other litter (just incase there is something wrong with that mama's milk).

After Farmer Mike and I spent the day running errands, he tried to "bump" Caitlin to see if he could detect her calf.  For the most part, he felt nothing.  Only once did he think that he may have felt something.  Although disappointed, I wasn't too surprised.  I've been told that some old breeds of cattle (Highlanders, Galloways, etc...) have an unusually large embryonic sack around the unborn calf.  Supposedly, it was to give some extra protection from the rugged landscape of Great Britain.  If the cow were to stumble and/or fall, there would be little danger to the unborn calf.  So if Mike wasn't able to feel the calf, this may have been the reason.

The reason I wanted Mike to bump Caitlin was because IF she is pregnant, she is VERY due.  If we don't see a calf by the end of January, we won't be seeing one until summer.  From time to time, we have see blood from her rear-end and lately, she has been found, standing off by herself.  But, I guess we will need to be patient and wait to see what happens.

After Mike left, I thought I would repair the round bale feeder that I have been using for the cattle.  It has slowly been getting beat-up and bent by them.  Highlanders may be small, but they're quite strong.  I had inherited a little 110V wire-feed welder when my dad passed away and though that this may be time to give it a whirl with this little repair project.

After rolling the hay feeder out of the cow yard, I did a little grinding on some old welds.  I was able to weld one break before running out of welding wire.  It seems the spool of wire that comes with the little welder is just enough to start a project... not fully complete it.  Since the cattle needed to be fed, I rolled the feeder back into yard.  I'm hoping they don't completely demolish the feeder before I can get it fixed. 

Sometimes life on the farm is so frustrating... especially when one has such a small budget.

Jan. 08, 2009
- Something exploded in the house.

I'm not sure what Carol and I were doing - maybe we had just finished with lunch.  That's when we heard it... a small explosion.  It sounded like glass broke too.  Our first thought was to blame it on the cat Waffles.  As we walked down the hallway, we noticed brown shards of glass-like stuff on the rug.  Hmmmm.

I rummaged through the pop containers on the floor in the hall (the hall is also our pop/beer fridge).  Then I saw a berry flavored 12-pack container with a busted can of soda in it.  The hall floor was so cold in the house that the lone can exploded and shot large crystals of icy pop onto the floor.  I decided to clean it up with the vacuum cleaner.  It worked well.

We caught another mouse in the trap today.  That makes 2 mice in two days.  I switched it up for them... instead of baiting the trap with peanut butter, I used plain old creamery butter. 

We sold another dozen eggs.  The gentlemen who bought the eggs mentioned that he will contact us about raising some chickens for him. 

Jan. 07, 2009
- Cosco.

Friend Bill and I spent most of the day at Jeremy & Kelly's place, northwest of Sunburg.  When we were there last time, we ran out of house wrap, but was able to get some work done.  Today, we had a fresh roll waiting for us.  We arrived to their place at about 9:30AM and left shortly after 5:00PM.

We prepared the rest of the house for the work, got it wrapped then preceded to install a few windows.  I think we installed 4 on the main floor and 4 on the 2nd story.  As we finished the work, Jeremy had just arrived home from work.  I think he was pretty impressed with the progress we made.

When I got home, the house was empty.  Carol had gone to collect Madison from GEMS (a religious based type of girl scout group).  So... I grab myself a plate of casserole that was sitting on the counter.  As I was chowing down, I turned on the laptop. 

On the screen was the Cosco™ website, featuring The perfect alternative to other “white meats.”... as it was stated on the webpage.  The product was Rabbit Front Quarters (legs), at $8.00/lb.  Granted, we don't have any Cosco stores around here, nor do we have tons of folks that eat rabbit.  But if you ever find yourself craving rabbit meat, don't go to Cosco before checking with us.  We have meat rabbits and have raised meat rabbits for a few years now.  Like the meat rabbit supplier for Cosco, we don't use hormones or antibiotics.  But here's the difference... WE DON'T CHARGE $8/POUND!!!  There is such a thing as a good product at a fair price.  It's one of our farms policies.

Jan. 06, 2009
- It all about the poultry.

Carol posted her Brined Roasted Chicken recipe, that she fixed for us us 2 days ago.  Looking back at the blog, It appears I had neglected to post for that day... Sorry about that.  The chicken was delicious.  In most cases, the skin of the chicken has all the flavor, but with this brining, the seasoning is throughout.

Other poultry news is: this morning, while I was looking for nests of eggs in the barn, I noticed a new nest.  It was evident that had gone undetected by us for at least 2 days, as we had several frozen eggs.  When I removed the assorted eggs from the nest, two of the eggs look strangely different from all the other eggs that had been collect thus far - they were larger than the average egg AND had small brown spots.  I do believe these 2 eggs were turkey eggs.  When I showed the eggs to Carol, she, too, was excited to see them.  She was pretty sure they were from our oldest Kentucky Bourbon turkey hen.

After our other turkey hens start laying, we will most likely collect 2+ dozen eggs to bring to the neighbor of ours who has a large incubator.  Last fall, he said he was interested in hatching eggs for us. 

- good clean fun.

Since we already have a short list of folks who want to buy turkey eggs and/or chicks from us, we suggest that [if you're interested] you contact us ASAP about info regarding ordering chicks or eggs from us.

Carol and I have been looking for an inexpensive source of lye, for soap-making.  Last week I contacted a gentleman I had done some work for.  He owns a commercial laundry and I thought, "If anyone can find some obscure and/or semi-dangerous [but legal] chemical, he can." 

I gave him another call today and he had good news.  His chemical distributor is willing to send out a 5 lbs. sample of pure lye (Sodium Hydroxide), for the cost of shipping (approx. $5).  Normally, lye sells for $3/lb, before shipping.  So we're getting quite a deal.  The catch is: if we want to order more in the future, I was told that the company only sells lye in bulk, with the smallest quantity being 50lbs.

We're hoping to make some homemade soaps.  The butcher we brought our goats to, gave us 4-5 freezer bags of hog lard.  Once we get the lye, we'll be whipping up our first batch of soap.

- more poultry.

Tonight, during chores, Madison found another turkey egg.  This one wasn't frozen.  In another month or so, we should be seeing the eggs of the other turkey hens.  It will be a very exciting time.

Jan. 05, 2009
- It was C-C-COLD this morning.

Some of the weather reports said it was -18ºF in our area and -21ºF just north of here, near Alexandria, MN.  The good news is this: Our water pipes didn't freeze over night.  It has been over a week since I've had to access the space under the tub to thaw pipes... this has got to be some sort of a record.  So far, it seems as though we've had a good start to the new year. 

Around noon, we went to Willmar to the County Office Bldg.  Today was the day I proudly dropped off my paperwork that certifies the farm (even though it's held in a trust) is a real farm, giving us the Homestead classification we have been hoping for.  In Minnesota, farmland and residential properties generally fall under two main tax categories - homestead and non-homestead.  Homestead just means you pay too much in real estate taxes... the non-homestead classification is the State's way of telling you that they are bending you over and there ain't a damn thing you can do about it.  Oh yeah... they practically double your land taxes too.  In our case, with being homesteaded, the farm's land tax should be reduce by between $1000-1200.  For this little farm, that's a lot.

After running a few errands downtown, Carol, Madison and I stopped-in to a little pizza place called Jake Pizza.  If you're from the area, you already know this place has been around forever and only serves thin crust style pizza, that is cut into little squares.  My oldest sister can attest to the fact this was one of our dad's favorite places to eat, when us kids were growing up.  Jake's hasn't changed much over the years and sitting in one of the booths, facing the kitchen, brought back many fun (and maybe painful) memories of being there with my dad and sister.  This time, I didn't feel the need to cry just because I had to eat an outside crust piece of the pizza... LOL.  Boy, I'm sure glad I was able to grow out of that phase of my life.

This evening, Carol being the ever increasing good cook, prepared a Hambone soup in her programmable slow-cooker.  The name of the soup sounds a little crude, but it tasted pretty good.  She used what was left of the ham we had Saturday.  Instead of leaving it just as a traditional soup, she employed her wand-mixer on half of it, making it a creamier type soup.  The blending creates a thicker more unified tasting dish, so much so, I dare call it a ham bouillabaisse or bisque.  Can you tell we watch the Food Network quite a bit?

Jan. 03, 2009
- 1st snow of the new year.

I found myself inside the house for most of the day, due to my never ending head cold.  I think I've already doubled the amount of days I've felt ill, compared to how long Carol was feeling under the weather.  I was able to get another trailer loaded full of hay moved to the barn.  We're anticipating some -0ºF temps tomorrow.  I want to have hay by the barn, ready.

Later in the afternoon, snow started to fall.  We're slated to get 4"-6" by tomorrow.  After we checked the weather channel, I knew that if we were going to have firewood to burn for Sunday's cold weather, I better load the wood box full of logs today.  I brought wood to the door and Carol and Madison stacked it in the wood box for me.  Our system worked well.

Tonight, for supper, Carol made ham from the ½ a hog we bought from friends Bill & Karen.  So far we have been very pleased with the meat.  If you are in the market for farm raised pork, both Carol and I recommend their farm's meat.  If you want more info, contact us - we'll put you in contact with them.  Anyway, the ham turned out great.  With the ham, Carol made some homemade baked Mac & Cheese.  I'm sure she'll post the recipe on the recipe page in the next week or so.  Make sure you look for it... it's pretty good

That's about it for tonight... can't wait to see how much snow will be waiting for us tomorrow morning.  Hopefully, the loader will start for me.  We already have enough snow to clear away.

Jan. 02, 2009
- A cold day for construction.

Bill, a friend of ours, and I headed north to help other friends (Jeremy, Kellie & family) with a major construction project - the rebuilding of a farm house.  With some help of a lone carpenter and some friends, they are tackling the project themselves... it's a very ambitious undertaking.  From what I understand, Bill has been invaluable.

Today, we did some prep-work to the exterior of the house (pounding nails, patching, scrapping, etc...) so we could apply house wrap.  Even though the lumber yard didn't have any full rolls of wrap for the house, we were able to find a partial roll - it was a start, if nothing else.  Once we got that stapled in place, we installed 4 windows.  It was chilly, but we were able to step back and enjoy the beginning of this structure's transformation.

We then moved inside to do more work and to get out of the wind.  We patched the floors and moved a couple of walls.  Kellie, had looked at the plans for her future pantry and noticed the wasn't room for her small chest freezer.  With her encouragement, us guys went out to look at the actual construction.  The consensus was that cutting & moving a couple of short stud walls was not going to be too complicated to prevent the change, making Kellie very happy.  The task was completed in a short order.

I got home around 6:00PM to a big pot of venison soup that Carol had made.  The cold I had was really starting to catch up to me... the soup was the perfect medicine for me.  It sure helped to warm me up.  I gotta tell you, the meat was so tender and full of flavor, I had 2 bowls of the stuff.

Jan. 01, 2009
- Happy New Year, Y'all.

Carol and I, both feeling a little under the weather (she's getting better, I'm getting worse), 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.

Carol did a bunch of canning again today... this time she focused her attention to some venison.  She was able to to can some meat, then some broth.  It looked and smelled terrific.

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

Oh yeah!  The furnace is still working well... we love the warm air.  Even though it's a little chilly outside, the house has never felt warmer.

Weather