Barefoot Gardening in the Rain

     I've been trying all day to get myself and some of the kids out into the garden today, but the day was just getting away from me.  And I was kind of ok with it, at least subconsciously I was stalling a little bit because the sun was shinning so bright and I really don't like to work out in the hot sun.

     So, when I finally decided to stop everything that we were doing inside and gather the last minute things that we needed to take to the garden, I walked toward the front door and just before I reached the door, the rain just came pouring down!

     "Noooooooo!"  I said.

Rows of tomato plants.

     It has rained everyday for the past month and a half, and I am not kidding! 

     And I'm really not complaining either, I'm not.  I was just ready to start digging in the dirt and now I have to wait for the rain to stop, again.

     Oh, how I love this gardening thing!  I didn't realize how strong this burning desire has been inside my soul all these years.  It has been bottled up in me for the past 20 years or so and I can't stifle it anymore.  If I do, I will pop!  I want so bad to just get in there and get my hands dirty!

     The boys had work to do on the new fence project that we started and also potato duty.  Esther was going to help me plant, but now we had to wait.  It's a little hard to work in the garden in a downpour, don't you think?

     Oh, how I love the rain!  I love to be cooped up in the house during a rain storm.  But for the first time in my life, I was able to sit outside on my own front porch and watch and listen to the rain as it came just pouring down while the water was making its own little creek on our dirt road near the front of the house.  (Have I told you that the front porch is the best part of this house?)

     So for the next half an hour or so we sat on the front porch and talked while we watched the rain.

A few cabbage plants.

     The baby ducklings that were on the grass in the front of the house, jumped up into their bin and sat there just looking out as if they were afraid of a little water.  The bin was to protect them from the sun not the rain.  Silly little things, water is for ducks!  Shouldn't they know that?

     And then as fast as the rain came, it just stopped.  As the sun quickly came out again, I looked overhead a little to the South and the sky was as clear as could be with little fluffs of white clouds just moving ever so slowly past the incredibly bright sun!

     Well, sun or no sun, it was time to get to work because the day would soon be over.  So we quickly gathered up what we needed and drove to the garden which is about 3/4's of a mile away (thanks to Landon).

     And sure enough, shortly after we started to work, it started to rain, again.  But this time, we didn't care!

     Esther and I took off our flip flops and just worked in the garden barefoot as the rain came steadily down and kept us cool from what could have been a miserable afternoon.  And as for me, life doesn't get much better then this.

I was able to take some pictures between the rain drops.

Esther and a tomato plant.

More cabbage and Esther.

 
   

The sun peaking through the rain clouds.

Tanner adding insulators to the rebar posts.

Esther's garden selfie.

Tanner clearing the fence line.

Where did the potatoes go?

Barrett clearing weeds between the potato plants.

Cleared potato row.

      The Lord has truly blessed us as stewards of this place for this season in time.

Oh, and Cooper, well, he just kept on working, boots and all.  

Sandy

June 16, 2015

Humble Beginnings

When I was first married, more than 20 years ago I purchased some strawberry plants and planted them.  Well, not having much experience with them, or gardening for that matter, I went ahead and just put them in the ground.  I really didn't think about where I was putting them or what type of soil I was putting them in.  I just planted them.  And guess what?  They didn't survive. 

I don't think that it was because the plants were bad, it was just what I did with them.  I think the location and the soil - clay - wasn't what the strawberries needed to survive.  

So they died.

And because they died, I resolved that I could never grow strawberries again. 

Well, then I moved to Missouri and found out that people really can grow strawberries and lots of them.

About 2 months ago, my very sweet neighbor, the Rancher's Wife, gave us a lot of strawberry plants.  So the next day, we planted all of them and watered them well.  And then the next day we watered them again and they were doing fantastic.

Then.................we went to a homeschool conference for 4 days and I totally forgot to tell my kids who stayed back (to hold down the ranch) know that they had to water the strawberry plants.  So when I came home, I found out that only about 1/4 of them survived.  I was devastated!!  Noooooooo!  How could I be so negligent!!  These beautiful plants that my neighbor so graciously gave to me, I killed them!!  Ug!

After a few days of feeling sorry for myself I decided it was time to forget about it and get over it.  There was nothing that I could do about it.  I had to focus on what was still alive.  

And that's what I've done and once again, they are doing fantastic!

"You don't have to be great to start but, you have to start to be great!!"

Zig Ziglar 

Our first and only strawberry of the season (so far)!!

The Valley is Asleep

January 16, 2015

Sleeping Valley

     As we walked along this late afternoon in the middle of January, Elizabeth and I tried to make sure that the dogs stayed close by.  Not that we had to work very hard at it, but every now and then, Elizabeth would call out their names to make sure that they wouldn’t stray too far away.  

     (Ms.) Belle and (Mr.) Poseidon are Great Pyrenees dogs (and more here) and they are about 7 or 8 months old.  We bought them from our friends, Cody and Dawnell, at the Rockin H Ranch, in Missouri.  The dogs main job in life is for them to protect our livestock.  At this point, they mainly protect our family, and slowly, they are understanding that they are to protect our livestock as well.

     In the evenings, they sleep on our porch, and every now and then in the dark of the night, they start barking to let the "intruder" know not to mess with us here.  Sometimes they just stand on the porch and bark, and other times we can hear them off in the distance barking away.  So really, already they are doing their jobs. 

     Whenever someone leaves the house either to go to the barn or take a walk, whether it’s our family or a guest who happens to be staying with us, Belle and Poseidon go and tag along with them.  They are a great comfort and companion to us.  

     Misty, who is about 7 or 8 months old also, came to us from our friends, The Rancher and his wife.  Misty's mom is part chihuahua (and here) and part short hair dachshund.  And really, it's not just about Belle and Poseidon, it's the three of them that work, play, and live together.  

     It's funny how the three of them have their own personalities and Misty seems the most confident and the leader of the other two.   
 
     One evening, about 3 weeks after Misty was born, we went to visit our friends.  And while we were standing around visiting, Ember went over to the puppies nest and brought back a puppy for all of us to see.  

     Ember, who was 7 at the time, was small enough to get into where Rosy and her puppies were living.  If it wasn't for her, it would have been a long time before anyone would have seen them because no one else would have even bothered to look.  

     "Oh, it's so cute and so big!," we all said when she brought the puppy to us.  So we took the puppy from her and passed her around and went on with our conversation.  A few minutes later she came back with another one.  And we took that one from her and continued on.  She left again and came back with another one!

     After the third puppy that came to us, our friends told us that that was probably all there were and so we just continued on talking again.  Well, when Ember came back a few minutes later with another one, we couldn't believe it!  Four puppies!

     Oh, if you could have seen the look on our friend's faces; it was priceless!!   We all just stood there and laughed and laughed and continued on at the same time forgetting about Ember.  And then, all of a sudden, here she was again with another one!!!   Five puppies; all girls!!  How in the world did this little tiny dog have such huge puppies:  one puppy was about half her size?! 

     At this point now, we were all very curious to know if there were anymore, so this time, we sent Ember back to check and make sure.  And sure enough, the nest was empty.  

     Our friends told us that we could have one, or all of the puppies if we wanted, and after I got over the shock of taking home five of them, I agreed to let the girls choose only one.  And little did I know what was about to happen with that comment that I just made.
  
     Oh, what a fun time we had that evening!!

     Well, unfortunately for the girls, they had to wait for the puppies to be weaned and it seemed like that took forever.  In the meantime, we had plenty of time for family discussion as to whether one of these little “mutts” were going to become a part of the Peterson Family or not.  

     Some of the boys thought that we didn't need to have a "useless thing" on the ranch, especially one that was going to cost money to feed.   And so began the long discussion as we waited for the puppies to be weaned.  

    It's kind of funny now, looking back at what we actually went through for the girls to keep one of these puppies.  It was ridiculous.  

     When Emma finally brought a puppy home, it stayed the night, and the family conversations got a little out of hand, not because the puppy did anything wrong, but because of the kind of dog this was going to be; an ugly, useless, little mutt! 

     So with all the drama, I had Emma take the puppy back the next day.  Then after she took it back, the girls, including myself were very upset, so we all sat down and had a very serious discussion about this puppy. 

     We finally came to the conclusion, or should I say that I had a lot of influence in the final decision, in favor of us keeping the dog.  Some of the boys weren't to happy, but that was ok.  So off Emma went, back to get the puppy.  She brought her back home and that was it.  Settled.  

     Emma named her “Misty.” 
 

Misty

Misty and Chickens

     Misty, even though she is a little thing, is also a protector.  And she is learning to herd chickens along with Belle as Poseidon just lounges around and watches and keeps guard.  It’s actually quiet funny to watch the three of them.  Sure, the dogs have a lot to learn about protecting livestock and herding animals, but they’re off to a great start.

     And now, if you ask any of the guy about Misty and as to whether or not we should have kept her, I know they would all agree that they are happy that she came to be a part of our family. 

******

Thawing Pond

     Two days ago we had 2 inches of snow and today the temperature was up to about 60 degrees.  The wind was calm, the sky was crystal clear, the snow and the ponds were starting to melt, and the sun was shining so bright that for a little while I forgot that we were still in the middle of winter.  Just a few days ago, the girls were ice skating on the pond and a few of us were out walking around and playing on the frozen ponds.

Ember Ice Skating on our Pond

     When I was very young, I used to walk to the end of our street and then on to a trail that led me to the swamp behind our neighborhood.  It was usually during the spring thaw that I would find myself there because that’s when I had the most fun.  

     With my boots on, I would “skate” across the ice until it broke, and then my boots would fall into the muddy water.  As I continued to walk on the ice, the ice would crack under my feet.  I loved the sound of the cracking ice and the splashing of the water.  I loved the swamp.  I can only remember going a couple of times, because someone decided to put up a housing development where the swamp was and then it was gone.  As a little girl, I couldn’t understand why they had to do that. 

     Today, here on the farm, we experienced almost the same thing.  And all these years later, I loved it just the same.  

     I've always cherished my childhood memories and have stored them away in my heart.  And when those memories are brought back because of something that I'm doing or "just because", it gives me a warm feeling inside.  

     Today, I’m with my daughter who is storing memories away in her heart for a lifetime.  And when the time is right, she will be able to relive those memories also and I hope that it brings the same feelings to her as I have with mine.   

     I’m so thankful for the memories that I have from the past and the memories that are still waiting to be cherished.  

     As we walked along the road, through the creek, over a gate, through a field, past a pond, we came upon the horses and there we stopped.  As we stood in the field, just taking in the sights and sounds, we watched the dogs play.  

     Life at this moment came to a stand still and all the stress of everyday life just ended - at least for a moment.  I still don’t think that any of this “life on a farm,” has really registered with me as of yet.  This is a childhood dream of mine that has finally come true and it still doesn’t seam real.  

Two Bits and Dixie Grazing

Belle and Poseidon enjoying the beautiful spring day!!

******

     It’s been almost a year since we came to live here on this ranch and we’ve been through soooo much!  We’ve learned so much and have made many mistakes.  We’ve been both encouraged and discouraged; sometimes both at the same time.  It’s amazing how emotions can take a turn so quickly.  But we are survivors and we just keep forging along.  No one ever promised that life was going to be easy.  And I guess if it was, life wouldn’t be so interesting. (smile)

******

     Not long after my last post back in August, Tanner went ahead and installed the new update on my iPhone.  Once it was complete, we found out that all of my pictures that I had been collecting were gone and that hit me pretty hard.  And I found out later that other people had the same thing happen to them, and I felt bad for them too.   

     And then, our lives became incredibly busy; more traveling, visitors, holidays, the flu, helping plan a wedding from 400 miles away, and so on (all good things, of course).  But, with being sooooo busy, I completely forgot about what was lost.

     When I started this blog I was very enthusiastic and excited to tell our story, but then I was hit with such a huge loss. I know, I know, it was only pictures, and I shouldn’t have let it get me down so much.  But I had so many pictures and stories to tell, and just that fast, everything was gone.  I was completely discouraged.  

     But this is a new year and I’m finally ready to move on and continue our story.

     So while the valley is still sleeping, I, or I should say we, look forward to spring and the new life that it brings.  From the natural world around us, to the part of the animal kingdom that we have become the stewards of.

     My heartfelt prayer is that we will take this tiny part of our world and at least, preserve what is already here or make those improvements that will be of benefit to those who will steward the land after us. 

******

     I dream...........and I dream..........and I dream.  

     I dream of where this is going to take our family.  By trial and error things will start to happen around here.  I don't think that anyone can succeed if they don't have failures in life to learn from.

     I hope I can write so that whoever is reading this, will feel a part of what we are doing here.  I'm not a writer, but I'll do my best to keep things as real as possible.   

Sandy 

Welcome to Your New Home, Girls

Our Goat Transport:  Dakota's Van.  (He was very kind to let us drive these girls 400 miles in his vehicle.  And yes, we know, we need to get a small trailer for "such a time as this"!!)

     Emma was thinking about adding some goats to the ranch and so we started talking about where we could get some.  I thought the oberhasli breed was a very pretty breed and she wanted milking goats.  Perfect.  We both knew right away who we should talk to.  

     Our friends from Chicago, the Kuntz family, had the breed that we were looking for so I sent an email to Mr. Kuntz and asked him if they had any baby goats that we could possibly buy from him.  We had been to their home a few times before and always talked with Mr. Kuntz at the DuPage County Fair so we were familiar with his goats.  And we knew how much he loved them and how well he cared for them.

      A few years ago, we went over to his home with a few of our kids and the Smock Family, and Mr. Kuntz showed us how he made mozzarella cheese and ricotta cheese.  And during our "class" we sampled fresh goats milk and kefir and he showed us his cheese that he had aging in the basement.  Yummy!!
It was so much fun, I can not begin to tell you!!  

    We knew what kind of milk these goats produced and that's what we wanted to try and duplicate.

     When I sent the email to Mr. Kuntz, we received a response almost right away.  Mr. Kuntz and his wife were just talking about what they were going to do with their "herd" because Mr. Kuntz was being relocated to another state because of his job and he wasn't going to be able to keep his goats.  Getting rid of the goats that had been a part of their family for many years was not something that  was going to be an easy thing to do.

     So, after doing a little bit of "negotiating" we came to an agreement and closed it with a dozen doughnuts, and here we are today.  I have to say that we were quite ecstatic and a little bit nervous all at the same time.  The Kuntz family was so very generous with this "deal" and the only thing we can say is, "Thank You"!!

       Before loading up the goats to take them home with us, Mr. Kuntz showed us the proper way to trim their hooves, give shots if we need to, and we talked about all the other "stuff" that came with the goats.  Oh, the day when we can drink some fresh milk and kefir and make some tasty cheese won't be here soon enough!!  

     Now we have the added "pressure" of taking care of these goats.  The Kuntz family really wanted the goats to go to a family that would take as much care with them as they did and we want to honor that the best that we can.  And so far, they seem very healthy and happy to be here with us on our ranch.

Thanks again, Kuntz Family!!

 

Esther is not quiet sure if she's liking these traveling companions or not.

"Are we almost there yet"?

Just out of the van.

Looking and smelling around, trying to figure out where they are.

Meet, Cassia,

Curry,

and, Saffron.

"Hum, what can I eat"?

Still browsing.

Just walking around.

This is their new home?  Well, hopefully someday.

     When we walked the goats out to their new home, we thought they would just love it so much that they would want to stay there, but little did we know that they liked to be around us more then they liked their new home.  

Actually, we tried to hook up the solar fencer to the electric fence and it didn't produce a strong enough jolt.  The goats just walked over the fence and came over to us.  So we walked them back and put them back in the fence and then they just walked over the fence again.  We did this a few times and realized that this was not going to work.  So until we can figure out the solar fencer and get them to stay where we put them,  they will be in the fence with the electric fencer near the house in the back yard.

Sandy

August 2014

Why "No Name"

Lessons in ear tagging.   Thanks to "The Rancher" and his wife.

     It is very hard to get our family to agree on a name for our ranch.  So, as it stands right now, we don't have one and we are having a hard time coming up with one.  So while we ponder the "name" thing, here are some pictures to enjoy!!  And if you think you have a name that we might like, please let us know!!

Barrett and Cooper getting ready to push the hay bales onto Shane's truck.

Getting ready to deliver hay.

Moving hay.

Moving hay with Shane's truck.

The head gate and corral.

Man vs. "Wild Beast"

 

A Very Secure Brooder - Hopefully!!

 When God said in Genesis 1:28:

      "And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” .....................................

Can we really take "Dominion"?

     Our first starter batch of chicks on our ranch came from The Cowboy.  Because of an unforeseen circumstance, three days after he bought one hundred chicks, he realized that he had to get rid of his fifty chicks because he wasn't going to be able to take care of them (the other fifty chicks went to a friend of his).  He bought Cornish Cross X chicks (meat birds) and that's what we were looking to buy, so we bought the fifty chicks from him.  It worked out perfectly, at least in the beginning.

     We talked to him on Friday.  The Tuesday before, The Cowboy went on a day trip.  And on this trip, he just happened to "stop by" the hatchery, where we were going to order our chicks from, and bought chicks.  When I found out that he just walked in and bought some chicks, I was a little upset!  One hundred chicks?  I wasn't upset with him, I was upset with the hatchery. 

     When I talked to the hatchery about a week earlier, I was told by them that it was going to take three weeks to get an order, so I couldn't just walk in and pick up chicks.  So how did The Cowboy do it?  I wondered.  Did he sweet talk someone into selling him some chicks that aren't there, according to the hatchery?  Did he offer to buy someone dinner?  I was a little confused.  

   

     The next day, I called the hatchery.

     Here are some bits and pieces of the conversation.
 
      ".....................but my friend just walked in yesterday and bought 100 chicks," I said.

 
     "Well, we had an overstock."

     "What?" I said, "Overstock?, but you told me that you didn't have chicks for people to just walk in and buy that day and take home." 

 
     "Well, we don't and...............you can't."  The lady said.  

 
     "So then why did my friend just walk in and buy some chicks and you said we can't do that?"  I asked.
     
     After she tried to explain, I asked, "If you don't have an overstock, and no way to feed chicks that aren't picked up, and you can't just walk in and buy some that day - but my friend did..............where did the 100 chicks come from that my friend just bought?

     "Well, they were an order that the customer didn't pick up for the day. ......................and..........what do you do with one hundred or so chicks that someone orders and doesn't pick up at closing time???"

     "Well, we don't have any left over chicks the next day", she said.

     "Huh?"  I thought.

     This conversation went on for about twenty minutes as the lady was trying to get me to understand whatever she was saying.  I didn't get it!! 


     Then the lady had the nerve to tell me that I could call her on Monday or Wednesday to see if there are any left over chicks and I could pick them up on Tuesday or Friday.  What did you just say!?, I thought!  Oh, she wasn't making any sense to me at all!!

     I kindly said, "good-bye" (which at this point was very hard for me to do) and hung up the phone and then told my family how crazy this lady was!!!!

     At this point I should have just found another hatchery, but I didn't. 

      As soon as I got the chance, I placed my order with the hatchery for our chicks and waited the three weeks for them to be ready.  Once they were ready, we decided we would drive to the hatchery and pick them up rather than have them shipped through the post office.  This way we would get to experience a new town, learn some more routes and roads, maybe find some fun things to do or visit along the way, and be able to see where these feathery little peeps came from.

     After we picked up our first batch of fifty chicks from The Cowboy, which came to us looking very healthy and chipper, I started counting down the weeks to processing time so we could enjoy some fresh chicken.

     We set up a brooder in the barn using an old round 8' diameter horse trough and put the chicks in with a fresh layer of wood shavings, two lights, water, and two feeders.  They were very happy!!

     Some of the neighbors said that you can't keep chickens around here because the predators would eat them.

     Well, I didn't want to believe them because there are other people that live in the country and raise chickens and other birds and they don't seem to have a problem, so why would we.  But, I listened to what they said and now was now more determined to not let any predators get our birds.

     Well, the first predator that we had to deal with was "our" cat.  The cat?!  I was thinking that we would have to deal with a real predator like a raccoon, an opossum, a snake, a rat, a lion, tiger, or bear.  Not a stinkin' cat!!!  Really!! 

     I have heard that cats are good and they are needed on a farm, so that's why we still have them hanging around.  We have never owned any cats so we have some things to learn about them.
   
     The cat came with the ranch and she recently had five kittens that she was trying to feed.  And boy was she smart:  smarter then us - at least in the beginning.   She would get into the chicken brooder that we thought was secure and snatch one every now and then.  She ate seven chicks from the brooder over the course of about a week. 

     At the same time that the chicks from The Cowboy were in the brooder in the barn, the new set of chicks that we just picked up from the hatchery were inside the house.  We had to keep them separated because the chicks from The Cowboy were about 3 weeks older and they were getting too big to mix.  The older ones would possibly start to pick on the younger ones and we didn't want that.

     Inside the house, we had four small containers filled with chicks and one of those containers happened to be close to the front door.  There was no reason for putting them there other than we had to put the containers near electric outlets so we could plug in a light to keep them warm. 
  

     Somehow the cat figured out where the chicks were (inside the front door) so when someone opened the door, she ran in and grabbed one and ran out faster than we knew what was happening.  She was not allowed in the house so we initially thought that the chicks were safe where we put them, but we were wrong.  The first time she snuck in and snatched a bird, we should have known to move them but we didn't.  We thought it was just a fluke that she got a chick and we didn't have to worry about it happening again.    I think she snatched 3 birds before we stopped denying the fact that she was so fast and we had to move them away from the door.

     Early one morning when the sun was rising above the trees, we went to out the the barn to check on the chicks in the brooder to give them more water and feed.  When we stepped into the barn, there was a strange sort of silence in the air.  We didn't hear the usual peeping sound of the chicks and as we approached the brooder we were faced with a horror scene.  All of our meat chickens were dead!  We just stood there for a few minutes before anyone said anything while peering into the brooder and trying to comprehend what we saw.  Just the night before the chicks were walking around and chirping and they were as happy as could be.  And then silence!  We couldn't believe it!!  They had enough water, feed, and heat, but yet they were all dead!!  Why and how were the questions buzzing through our minds.

     What was it like to be a chick in the brooder the night before to have witnessed such a horrible scene?  At first glance we didn't see any signs of anything "breaking in".    

     The first thought that came to our minds was that the cat was the one that did this.  So Landon turned around and quickly started walking back to the house to get a gun to kill that naughty little thing.  We all know that she has to feed her young, but she lives on a ranch with all kinds of other things for her to kill and serve to her little ones, so she doesn't need to kill our chicks!!

     Landon was really upset, just like the rest of us were, and rightly so.  Now the cat was in danger of her life.  As I was trying to keep up with Landon on his way to the house, I started to question what he was about to do.  Whatever just killed the chicks didn't want to eat them.  They just killed them.   And up until now, the cat only killed one chick at a time and then she passed it along to her kittens and they always ate the entire bird.  So, as I called out to Landon to tell him what I was thinking, he stopped, turned around, and we talked.  Then we both walked back to the barn to rethink about the mass killing that just happened.  And after looking over the scene and talking about it, we began to realize that it might not have been the cat. 

     Whatever it was that did this awful mess just wanted to kill - not eat the chicks.  The killer broke in, did the damage, and left without a trace.  No sign of anything other than dead chicks!   After closer inspection, we noticed that the killer left a hole in the chicks neck and it looked like it just ate the heart and the esophagus.  It was an ugly crime scene!!  Dead chicks everywhere. 

     So in a "panic", and in a-sort-of-a-kind-of-way, I wanted to help save the cats life.  I'm not a cat "lover," just a "liker" of cats.  And again, knowing that cats are good for a farm, I didn't want the cat to die if it wasn't the one that did this. 

     So, as we were trying to gather our thoughts, I quickly went into the house and pulled out my Pastured Poultry Profits book by Joel Salatin and started reading about the predators again.  Based on what I read, it was possibly a possum.  According to Joel,

                            "Opossums, which of course we call 'possums, are spiteful.  

                            They are not nearly as interested in eating the birds as they 

                            are in making a mess."  

                           "'Possums seem to just enjoy killing for pleasure.   

                            They prefer to eat the innards rather than the meat, 

                                                and will even kill adult birds."

     After looking over the brooder for any signs of entry we determined that the possum probably got in through a 4"x 6" hole that wasn't very secure.  When the boys built the brooder, they didn't think that that hole would be a problem.  Although they did put a brick over the hole "just in case".  That was our mistake.  The boys thought that the brick covering the hole was enough.  Unfortunately, some lessons are learned the hard way and this lesson cost us about $100.00. 

Our New Set of Chicks

     This time, with our new batch of chicks, we hope to take dominion and not let the "wild beasts" of the earth "win" again.  And, so far so good.

     We are using the same brooder as before, but this time, we are trying to make is super secure.  Shane drilled holes in the top of the horse trough and Landon wired the 1/2" welded mesh to the sides of the trough.  Shane's initial holes were about 8" apart.  But after the guys put the top on, they realized that the holes should have been about 4" apart because the mesh wasn't wired down tight enough.  So until they can drill more holes, this is their solution.  Landon weighted the top down with some miscellaneous "things" laying around the barn to keep anything from opening the top and getting in.

     To make it easy for us to get into the brooder to feed and water the chicks, Landon took a conduit pipe and shaped it to match the curve of the horse trough, wired it to the welded mesh, and hinged it, which created a door.  The door works perfectly, only after we lift up and move to the side the incredibly heavy "things" that he has laying on the top of it; which hopefully will be corrected in the future. 

     After these birds are ready for the pasture and they leave the brooder, then we will drill those extra holes in the top of the trough so we don't have to worry about the safety of the next set of chicks.  

     Our main goal is to protect our flock from predators.  If for some reason it comes down to loosing another chick or one of our other livestock to a predator, we will take the predators life, if, we can catch them.  We won't just kill any "wild beast," just the ones that are causing a problem.  

     It will be a challenge to outsmart the "wild beasts" of the earth.  And it's very possible that sometimes we will win and sometimes we won't.  But, our goal is to learn from our mistakes and not let the same things happen more than once. 

     I think the best way to learn how to do something, is to just do it.  For me, I can spend countless hours reading about something until I can't stand it anymore and that paralyzes me.  At some point I need to just get out in the "field" and put into practice what I have learned so far.  The "field" is where the true learning takes place.  I will make mistakes, and so will you, but making mistakes is what makes us stronger and more knowledgeable.

 Here are some pictures of our newly arrived feathery "friends."

Rhode Island Red's and Bronze Broad Breasted Turkeys

Cornish Cross X

Chicks in Their Secure Brooder

Guineas

Sandy
July 2014




    

Mushroom Hunting

     Emma and I went mushroom hunting on our property and this is what we found.  Now we have to try and identify them to see what, if any, are edible and which ones might be poisonous!  All together I think we found 17 different mushrooms.  It was a lot of fun!!

 Does pretty mean edible?

 

 The sun was setting and it really made the mushrooms look so pretty.

 Same as above, just a different angle.

  This one is kind of creepy looking, although maybe it's that the picture is a little blurry.  You know, I should really use my glasses when I take pictures!!

 You have to look closely when mushroom hunting because you might miss something. 

 These are the most beautiful orange mushrooms I've ever seen,

especially when the sun hits them just right.  (Really, these are the only orange mushrooms I've ever seen and they were amazing.)

 This one was about 3 - 4 inches in diameter.

 Interesting.

 I don't think this is a shriveled up version of what's just above.

 It's interesting how some mushrooms like to grow from dead logs and some grow in the ground.

 This one looks like popped pop corn.

 Interesting one.

 This one looks like it's hard, but it's not.  It feels like a mushroom.

 Maybe a button mushroom?

 Just a flat one.

 I don't think this is a morel, but who knows, we're new to this fungus stuff.

 These are pretty.

 I wonder how long these grow for the season because if these continue to grow, they might just take over the whole forest!

    This is a close up of the stump above.  Sorry it's blurry!  Glasses, I know, I know!

Well, that's our day hunting mushrooms.  Now we have some work to do.  If you can identify any of these fungi, please let us know!  

Thanks!

Sandy 

July 14