Month: June 2012

 

After 3 days straight of daytime temperatures peaking in the upper 90’s, we are SO happy to see these clouds and feel the cool breeze!  The temperature has dropped over 20 degrees with the onset of this rain!  If they could, the sheep would be jumping for joy!  I know that I nearly did, but then a big raindrop landed in my eye and sent me indoors.

 

I’ve spent the last 3 days trying to keep animals cool:  dousing anyone who would let me with cold well water, changing over their water and the hens’ and broilers’ 3 times a day and running the hot water out of the hoses, moving sheep to the bottom of the barn, dealing with an emergency hypocalcemic ewe on Wednesday evening, brought on by the stress of the heat, and then the following morning, dealing with a silly ewe lamb who decided she could go through a fence to get to her mom instead of using the gate and ended up popping off her horn and needing a silly bandage on top of her head, getting up early each morning to let the sheep out in the temporary pastures to graze and browse before the heat of the day set in, and worrying about everyone while I was in the cool of our air conditioned home.

 

Phew!  Bring on the rain!  

 

 

We worked so hard in the garden today that Roy insisted that it was “bloggable.”

 

 

Potatoes, mounded up this morning

 

 

Zucchini – secondary leaves appearing…

 

Corn — good take on nearly all of the seeds!

 

Sweet potatoes — bunnies seem to have found a few…

 

Cucumbers – tomato cages in place…

 

Onions

 

Carrots

 

Grapes

 

Beans

 

Broccoli

 

Brussels sprouts

 

Lettuce

 

Beets

 

One of the few pea plants who has survived “Attack of the bunnies”

 

More beans

 

Tomatoes

 

Green peppers

 

Budding up…

 

Butternut squash

 

Strawberries…almost ready for picking again…

 

Asparagus…done picking for the season…

 

AND – finally -the outdoor debut of our broilers.  They seem happy in the warm breeze…

 

Until the scary lady comes to take their picture, and they all run away!

Need I say more?

Yes, thanks to Molly, Bindi, Matilda, Roxanne and their lambs, and our portable electronet fencing, I can now mow the front lawn and read a book at the same time!

 

Yesterday we spent the better part of the morning putting up portable fencing in our front yard.  This is the farm’s first debut of sheep that can be seen by passers-by!  

 

From the street, except for our sign, you’d hardly know we have a farm — only the top of the barn is visible if you look for it!

 

But today, all of that has changed temporarily!

 

 

I’ve been letting the front yard grow for the past couple of weeks and it was time to move the ewes and lambs onto it.  

 

 

Lots of nourishing clover is being enjoyed by all, the lawn is being well fertilized, and the girls and lambs are getting some pasture that is completely clean from the nasty Barber pole worm parasites!  Nothing could be better!  

 

 

Now maybe I can finally get to the end of this book! 

Here I sit on my front porch, book in hand and iced tea beside me, mowing my lawn.

 

Well, I DO have a little help from my friends Molly, Bindi, Roxanne and Matilda and their lambs!

 

Thanks to them, and our portable electronet fencing, we can move the flock just about anywhere on our property now!

I just “wowed” myself!

 

I finally took time to tally up how many animals we have at Morning Star Meadows after having lived here about 3 1/2 years.

 

111 living, breathing, hear beating, eating, sleeping, waking, noise making bodies (not counting wildlife!) are making a life for themselves at our farm!

 

10 people

 

21 sheep

 

31 hens

 

47 broilers

 

1 cat

 

1 dog