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Hi Everyone,
Did you lose anything today? For starters I lost an hour of sleep. I really didn’t want to get up this morning for 5:00 comes awful early—but when you have the Spring ahead time change the same time yesterday would have been 4:00 in the morning, and that is just way too early to climb out of bed. As I laid in bed trying to wake up I wasn’t really looking forward to milking the cows because it had rained so hard Saturday night that Papa was not able to separate the calves from their mama’s for the night—which meant that we were going to lose some gallons of milk. Last Monday I had to dry off America, because she is due to calve in about six weeks. So that gave us a little less milk—but the extra green grass made up for it. Then today I was supposed to dry off Sally—and she gives a gallon and a half a day. I am not sure exactly when she is due—but I do know that she has always calved within a week or two of America. Mom belly bumped her the other day and could feel a nice big calf—so since I dried off America, it means that it is time to dry off Sally. In my mind I thought that I had dried Sally off yesterday, but as I laid there in bed this morning I realized that I did milk Sally yesterday which meant that I could milk her today also—which would help make up for the lost milk from the calves not being able to be separated last night, and that thought helped me get out of bed happy that we wouldn’t lose as much milk as we could have if I had already stopped milking Sally. Then as I was fixing to head outside I grabbed my coat and also wanted my little ear bags (ear muffs that attach to your ears)—but I couldn’t find them! I searched every coat that I wear, my garden tote, the counters, my boots, the dryer, the floor, repeat--every coat that I wear, my garden tote, the counters, my boots, the dryer, the floor again and again! Somehow I had lost my ear bags. I lost an hour of sleep, gallons of milk, and my ear muffs all in one morning. Things were not starting out very good. Thankfully I didn’t lose anything else—but poor Papa had his share of losses today.
Sometime late Friday night Ella gave birth to a little heifer calf. She is very cute—and needs a name. I want to call her Flossie, but Mom doesn’t think that we will be able to remember that she belongs to Ella—but we already have an Elsa, and Ellen, and an Ellie. Maybe if Sally has a girl I can call her Flossie—for Sally’s calves get all the old-fashioned names. Anyway, when Papa brought the cows in to be milked this morning Ella’s calf did not come with the herd. It was dark at the time, and he couldn’t find her. Later he did find her a few fields over next to the neighbor’s fence. Then tonight when he went out to separate the older calves, once again Ella’s little heifer was missing in action. Papa searched the field up and down—with Ella following him everywhere. Her calf was lost and she knew it. Then finally Papa went looking in the other fields and found her way off at the corner of the property sleeping by the neighbor’s fence. It is a good thing that our perimeter fences are permanent field wire fence—because the little heifer walks right through all the hotwire fences and just keeps on walking until she hits a barrier that she cannot go through (a sturdy fence or gate). She reminds me of her grandmother, Ellie Mae. When Ellie Mae was young she always escaped the pastures and my sisters would have to chase her all over the property to get her back into the right field. They would come inside so disgusted with Ellie Mae that they would declare that we should take her to the auction. Ellie Mae did finally learn to stay in her field and she grew up to be an excellent milk cow. We actually have more milk cows from her than any other cow in our milk herd.
We spent a good part of last week cleaning up from the Farm to Table Dinner. As soon as the cows were milked Monday morning Mom and I headed to town to purchase some totes and a new shelving unit. We had to buy so many dishes, glasses, utensils, serving platters and bowls, tablecloths and runners for the Farm to Table Dinner—but we had no place to store them. When we got home we ate lunch and then the rest of the afternoon (until like 5:30) we packed dishes back in their boxes that they came in and then stacked the boxes in totes, and the totes on the shelves. My brother Charles stopped by to tell us about his new job, and when Steve’s work day was over, Charles took over picking up the heavy totes for us. In return I fed him dinner. Then come Tuesday Mom and Steve emptied everything out of the east room in the Poultry kitchen so that Papa could pressure wash the floors. Come Thursday Mom and I put everything back into the room and organized the shelves and made it all look nice and orderly. Now Papa has to get the other room cleaned.
Before we went to bed Monday night I got the invitations designed and posted and emailed for the Farm Tour Friday that we are having this Friday here on the farm. From 11:00 to 1:00 we will give a tour of the farm--part walking tour and part hayride. There are baby chicks to see, lambs to see—and of course the newest little calf (if she can be found). Get a peek inside our garden tunnels—and get a chance to pull up your own carrot. If you want you can bring a picnic lunch and eat in our new “Dinning” area. If you want to come you can RSVP here.
Tuesday was a rainy day and while Steve and Mom spent a lot of time cleaning out the one room in the Poultry kitchen, I spent my time in the house kitchen—after I bottled the kefir. A few weeks back I started a new batch of Relief Salve—but only got as far as infusing the oil with the herbs and then draining the herbs out of the oil. I needed to add the beeswax and melt it all together and pour the hot liquid into the little 2 ounce glass jars. While I waited for the beeswax to melt I labeled a bunch of lip balms that I had made a few weeks back. It was a nice relief when all was said and done—for those two projects had been staring me in the face for weeks. Then I had to make the yogurt and join the egg party. Once the eggs were all packaged Steve and I headed to the garden to harvest the greens—mustard, kale, and collards. To my delight the little salad turnips are ready to eat and I can munch on them while I work in the garden.
Carrots—they are past ready for harvesting. So Thursday afternoon I headed to the garden and harvested one of the three, twenty foot long rows of carrots. Those I cleaned up and then Mom packed them in totes of sand and we placed them in the walk-in cooler. They last well over a year stored this way. You ask me how I know—because when we got into last year’s totes we pulled out about ten carrots in perfect condition that our intern Clayton and I had harvested last January. The other carrots we hope to can in chicken broth, dehydrate, sell, and let people pull up during our upcoming farm tour. There is nothing better than pulling a carrot out of the ground and eating it fresh—well, I guess it is right along with pulling up a salad turnip and eating it, or picking ripe sugar snap peas right off the vine and eating them by the handfuls, or fresh blueberries off the bush, or sun warmed strawberries off the plant, or peaches right off the tree, or a tomato right off the plant. Somethings are definitely best eaten fresh from the garden.
When Mom and I were finished milking Friday morning Mom headed to the barn to stain another picnic table. She only had time to stain three of the five tables before the Farm to Table Dinner, and with the Farm Tour fast approaching she needs to get the other ones stained. I headed to the garden after I bottled the kefir and washed the kefir dishes. I was like a child playing on a playground. I was enjoying life to the fullest—pulling weeds. When people ask us what we do for fun, Mom and I always tell them “work in the garden”. There are so many beds that need to be weeded—some worse than others. I managed to pull up the dead basil and green pepper plants so that the daffodils coming up in that bed could be enjoyed. Then I weeded the apple mint bed and the comfrey bed. To my dismay a chicken had gotten into the garden and terrorized the comfrey plants. To my delight I was able to notice that the root balls were still there and little comfrey plants were starting to sprout back up. I weeded a rose bed, and was just fixing to start on the gladiola bed when Mom called me in for lunch. I felt like I could skip lunch just so that I could continue “playing” in the garden. It was around 1:30 when we stopped for lunch and then while Mom finished staining the fourth picnic table I did the lunch dishes and washed the duck eggs. Then when Mom was finished we got ready and headed to town. I needed a few groceries, Mom needed a new halter for Melba—our heifer in training, and we needed another picnic table. We wanted six tables for the Farm Tour this Friday—and we wanted six tables so that we could increase the number of people that we could serve at our next on farm dinner Friday, April 5. Once again we are teaming with Brett and Jenni from Kalacrow Wood Fire Pizza—and this time we are having an Italian night of salad, pizza, and gelato! You can get tickets for the April Date Night here.
For me spring starts February 1, yet for our seasonal decorating we take down the winter décor and put up the spring décor around March 1. This year I do believe that Mom and I both could have changed out the décor in February—but we were so busy getting ready for company and the Farm dinner. Then Saturday rolled around and we put everything else on hold and brought down the empty winter décor boxes and filled them up. Then we gathered all the spring décor and put it up. The dinning room is so light and cheery with the pink tablecloth, the light green napkins, the black rabbit napkin holders, and all the other pinks and whites throughout the room. It is just perfect!
I plan on spending most of my week in the garden. It is almost time to plant the spring garden—and I need to get some things ready. I will be starting some things this week in the greenhouse and garden tunnels. I was filling up my potting soil tote the other morning and to my dismay I found out that ants had moved into my metal storage can where I store my bulk potting mix. I didn’t realize it until my tote was full—and I had ants crawling on me. Now I have to figure out how to get the ants to move out. I think that I will dump the soil on a tarp and let the sun heat them out. Ants are such a bother!
Tomorrow we have a family coming to volunteer some help—and that is always appreciated for there is always much to do.
Well, I had better close and maybe I can find that lost hour of sleep.
Serving you with Gladness,
Tiare