Accidental Gardening and Having the OSU Extension Agent Out

For the second summer in a row, we have tomato plants sprout up in the most unexpected of places. Now if I can just keep the birds off of them. I have 2 of my own plants that have fruits on them, and 2 that seem to have succumbed to something.

I contacted Pawnee County Extention Agent, finally, and he is gonna come out here, tell me what I HAVE, and what I need to do to improve the pastures.

On another good note, the kiddo got her camera today, so I can take pictures and get some posted!

Unhappy Cows

Well, T-Bone and Kahlani aren't really happy about the Squire's and Gumdrop's move to the front pasture. They were bellowing about it half the night. What they don't seem to grasp is that they were given the opportunity to move up front with their fellows, but failed to take that opportunity.

Check, Check, Check

Well, there were three things I wanted to accomplish this weekend.

1. Get Joan's feet on the way to recovery. They were terribly overgrown. Check.
2. Get the pigs moved. The 16 x 16 pen was completely in mud, especially with the rain we've had this week. Check, and bonus: their new place is bigger.
3. Get the 3 Dexters up front (Squire, Gumdrop, Kahlani). Well, I got Gumdrop and Squire, but Kahlani wasn't quite ready to trust the small round woman with the blue bucket. But that blue bucket sure sounded good. So, mostly check. The bull is now back on a huge amount of grass, and his intended is with him.

8 Days

Only eight days remain before we get 50 little chickies to raise to eating age! Ok, so I plan on keeping some of them as layers/self-perpetuating flock chickens.

The other things on this weekend's agenda are finishing the other cow pasture and moving the steers over and trimming goat feet. Specifically, Joan's rear feet. They are AWFUL. I'm embarrassed that they have gotten this bad.

Somewhere in that eight days, I celebrate my 10th anniversary! It's amazing that the man stuck with me for 10 years, I'm telling you! Of course, it's a no money anniversary. Not even enough to go out on. Not enough to get a special meal together either. Oh well, at least we have each other, right?

How Much Rain Does It Take?

This is one of the rainiest summers on record, I swear. More storms and rain that went on for hours hit us last night and this morning.

We've had rain for the last few days, and while it is keeping everything nice and coolish (for August), the mud is becoming an issue here and there. Not to mention, the toll the weather is taking on my animal shelters. They are collapsing. Time to rebuild, and coat the exteriors with exterior paint. That was something we didn't think about, but I'm sure it will help.

Wow, Muscovies!

Well, barter is alive and well in the world, right? So, mom paid for my broilers, and I picked up her Muscovy ducklings. These guys are 12 - 13 weeks old. There is an assortment of males and females. There are eight. Four of them are black bodied and a variation of white/black speckling on the head. The other four are white based, varying from almost pure white to blue splash.

I agreed with Jim about having ducks. We were given the Rouens. He likes the mallard look...but I like the Muscovies! Oh well, we'll see how things work out.

Now, let's talk about rain. I like rain, especially in the hot, hot summer. It rained yesterday, it was raining again when I got up. It's supposed to rain tomorrow.

Someone mentioned on a list that most years her goats have begun the winter coat growth by now. I haven't been very observant of this, except I did notice they kept their winter coats quite late this year. Given that nighttime temperatures were in the 50s in June this year, I can see why. Everyone has awesome looking summer coats right now.

What.......Wait.....No Boobs?

Yesterday we wanted to slaughter chickens. You know, so we could eat them. Jim and I bled and plucked the first two, and sent them in to the eviserator (my mother) and the bagger (the oldest kid). Mom came out and said, "These chicken have no boobs, we should wait." So, we had heated up the water for 2 chickens. Oh well, we'll give them 2 or 3 more weeks. But then they gotta GO! Seriously, these birds are 5 months old.

Jim finished making some modifications on the pig pen to keep the B&B boys in. Seems to be working. Now we just need to move the pen. There's always work to be done, isn't there.

Yesterday, I ambled over to my tomato plants. No tomatoes, but lots of flowers. The temperatures are supposed to be cooler...so, maybe I'll get lucky before the end of October!

We are trying to figure out how to move the pigs at Mom's house to our house. One gilt and the barrow are for eating, but the other gilt is to get up close and personal with Willy. Authorized pig sex. To result in authorized piglets. To result in authorized pork! I am surprisingly fond of the pigs that we have right now. Willy just wants you to scritch his back...get him in the right spot and he just flops over. It's amusing to watch, really.

All my city friends think I'm crazy, but they do not know what they are missing. Homegrown meat is just delicious. We looked at the sheep yesterday, and the ram has done his conjugal duty, and now it is time to go to Freezer Camp for him. All we are waiting for now is the engine hoist (hey, necessity is the mother of invention) and a coolish morning.