Resurrecting the Farm and Ranch

[southernmom]

Well we have a big family-and my brother and mother and aunt and uncle all live very closely, so I'll be sharing and making a lot of cheese...and maybe starting a little dairy business. (super small)

[tk]

Lynn I grow everything in raised garden boxes now. But hope to get my onions in 1st or 2nd week of March. Right now though everything is under at least 2 feet of snow.

[southernmom]

Here's my problem with gardening-I decide on a plan, get all my seed (always too much) and then once it's in the ground I decide it's not enough and I need to plant more. I'm looking around now for a good spot for another tater patch.
And I plan on doubling my sweet potato area.
I ordered a dehydrator (a nesco snackmaster something or other) so I'm going to dehydrate everything I can get my hands on this season. I used to dehydrate tomatoes but haven't done that in a long while-looking forward to it.

[southernmom]

Been way busy!
Got the dehydrator and promptly dehydrated 7 or so lbs of apples-promptly go eaten! Really tasty. I also grabbed a few lbs of tomatoes and have them dehydrated for soups, etc. I've got more apples going now (soaked in lemon juice for 5 mins and sprinkled with cinnamon). Good stuff.

Potatoes are coming up, got some green beans in the ground as well as a last run of mustard greens and carrots. I still have a bunch of onions and garlic I'm letting bulb up in the ground. I got some stakes and made a couple 4 ft on the short end of the garden and then ran some stakes between and tied some string between them for some state runner beans to climb on. I think the little kids will love that! And of course putting in tomatoes and tomorrow is the big day to finish up the plowing and plant some peas by the end of the week.

I plan on planting zippers, black eyed peas, speckled butterbeans, fordhook limas...and who knows what else. I will have plenty to eat and share should they all come up right.

I've also got 40 eggs incubating. I've been super busy-but you know it feels like nothing is coming to fruition when it's all in the 'doing' phase. I feel like I run around tending everything. *sigh*. I love it though. I really do. Wouldn't trade it.

[DMH]

I envy you SouthernMom! (in the good way!)

[southernmom]

aww thanks! It does seem so wonderful... but talk to me again in July when it's 90 degrees at 11 am and I have an 1/8th of an acre of peas to pick, haha! I think my posts are going to be very different in the summer.

[southernmom]

SOOOO this morning I peak outside and see one of our herefords tearing ass across the pasture with her calf and another similar calf hanging out with the angus herd that runs on our property. (Ya'll know that cows babysit for each other, right? They can and often do!) So she comes back across the pasture with the two calves to the backside and in an hour the herd comes heading over to be let through the gate. I got a close up of the new calf (another hereford baby). He's got amazing facial markings!
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[southernmom]

And another one...1506582_10202269174623450_1325851063_n.jpg

And here's my grandmother with one of the herd 1924936_10202269174303442_675429150_n.jpg
and dh (The Almighty Rigger) and gma 1621933_10202268709451821_1153589292_n.jpg

[southernmom]

Ugh have things been crazy.

We got the garden area almost entirely fenced in-it's a chunk taken out one of the pastures. It is going to work out to being 110 x110. That's in addition to the other garden plot and several raised beds. The remainder of the pasture will be for the two milk calves. They love it and like to meander down to the fence to talk to the neighbor cows.
We've been busy with that-got a compost bin built out of pallets-VERY EASY AND FAST! Just set up three pallets in a box shape and wire them together. Got it full already so we will probably build another.
Tomorrow is planting day.
We had four calves born-two heifers and two bulls. Went out this afternoon to check on one because she wasn't seeming real interested in nursing and sure enough her mama was nudging her and still trying to get her to nurse (at this point about 18 hrs old.) The calf's stomach looked all sunken in and she was just generally looking poor so dh brought the calf to the house and we got some colostrum in her. She's up and about but very shaky. We tried getting the mama cow up here but she is with the herd and not interested, much. I'll try again tomorrow. Meanwhile she'll be a bottle baby. I hope she makes it.
Bad last week, though. My son's jack russell, Bandit died (thinking it was a snakebite) and now today one of the older dogs who has been winding down looks like he's about to die. My grandmother hasn't handled any of this well. She's thrown out all the dishrags in the house because she said they were dirty, can't remember what cabinet the dishes go in and she's also been really snappy. She's at her sister's this afternoon.
I was sick for several days-and got behind in all sorts of other stuff but did manage to get some tomatoes planted. Not feeling so hot right now, just bummed. Also my mother wanted to keep the donkey all of a sudden so I have to AGAIN change the status of the critter from available to unavailable. Vincent's gonna hate me. Sorry
I'm going to lay down and attempt to read a book. Till the kids start raising hell, at least.

[Tex]

Southermom, you have been having the same exact past few days that we have been having. 2000 miles between us, yet the exact same sort of week.

The Hostile Natives has put "pallets" on my list for when I go to town. We have to get some lick tubs for the stock and pallets are always available at the feed store, So getting them will be no trouble. She wants them for the same reason you are using them. Could you please post some pictures of your compost box? We have quite a bit of manure and different stuff to put into ours and will probably need two compost boxes. I am thinking of making ours one pallet wide and two pallets long, or deep.

I will say a little prayer for you and the ranch, because I know exactly what you are going through.


Tex

[southernmom]

Thanks Tex! Sorry things are rough for you right now, Will keep your place in our prayers, too. How's your back?
I sent my daughter out to get pics of the compost bin, will be up shortly.

The calf got a shot of antibiotics today because I went out and she was lethargic and one of her eyes was filmy. I got the shot in her fast and then got another1/2 pint of colostrum in her belly and she promptly went to sleep. Grandma and my 13 yo son rode around in the jeep and got the herd (thank goodness she can still manage to drive around the pastures) this way and cut the mama off and reunited them. She promptly went to wallering all over her calf! Hopefully she will entice her to nurse. I really don't want to lose this little gal.

Anyway, getting these pics up asap. Thanks again for the kind words, Tex!

[southernmom]

compost bin:

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[W.Lynn]

Much better to return nutrients to the soil, instead of endlessly having them taken away, and paying for replacements in the form of sprays or granules.

[dangerdan]

compost pile needs to be turned over on ocasion to allow oxygen in ,helps micoorganisms do their thing .
If it smells like manure ,its working .
DD

[southernmom]

Here's my first 9 chicks hatched-a few are spoken for so I'll try not to get too attached, haha! We also broke down and bought a $100 coop from tractor supply and lo and behold for our uses it's great! I will use it for my interim home (between 3 day brooder and pullet hoop coop)
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