Bath Time for the New Ducks

We rescued eight juvenile ducks earlier this week.  They will get a new coop up by the ponds in the next couple of weeks.  Little man is having a great time watching them grow.

Weed control, landscape cloth

I have tried all manner of weed control on the farm - tilling, mowing, rotation, mulch, spraying, and last year it was landscape cloth.  A section of old pasture was tilled in and the landscape cloth was carefully rolled out.  When performing this task, be sure to choose a day with little to no wind - much easier that way!  Rocks were collected from various piles put on top of the cloth at the end and on each seam.  It wasn't until later in the year that I was walking through the hardware store and I found out they make 'staples' to secure this stuff to the ground - I bought those for this season.

When we finally got the cloth down, it was a little late in the season and my transplants were getting root bound so not as much care was taken with the rocks to ensure that everything stayed where it should have.  The wind got underneath one section during the summer and over the winter, it took up two more sections and wrapped them around neighboring trees.  Where the cloth stayed down, the weeds are pretty much gone, although there is still some stubborn grass.  Areas without cloth are definitely covered with weeds.

The cost of this stuff can be pricey when you start talking about acres, but I am thinking that I might run each section of new field through a season or two with the cloth to help eradicate a lot of the weeds.  Long season or set it and forget it crops might get landscape cloth all the time.  It worked really well for our squash patch last year.

This section will get tilled this week and the old landscape cloth re-applied.  Some people say that you shouldn't bother rolling it up but the cash flow is meager at the moment so I will re-use and recycle it for another season.  Now I have to find the seeder that has the big holes for the squash seeds.

Ear scratches

Little one loves her some scratches behind the ears!

She isn't so little any more with a weight measurement of just under 250 lbs.  I will be watching this weekend for signs of heat from her and Sally.  Late last month Zeb appeared to be on his game so I am hoping...

Seedlings ready for transplant

I have been watching the weather with an obsession for the past two weeks; that was the day that the seedlings moved from inside the house to the greenhouse.  After being carefully protected while inside, watered carefully, turned so they received even sunlight, these tomatoes had grown up enough to move into their own pots.  Like a mom whose kids were moving from their crib to their toddler or big kid bed, I was a little sad to see them go outside.

The greenhouse is not heated, it is more like a giant cold frame with some heat retention characteristics built in.  There are bricks in the floor by the door, there is a large raised bed with dark boards to help hold any heat collected by the sun throughout the day and there is the compost experiment in the corner.  But it was late March/early April in Northern Vermont, the risk of frost remains very real for another month and a half.

For the first night, the transplants were fine.  The following day was cool, rainy and snowy.  At only 224 sq. ft., it doesn't take much to keep the temperature above freezing, but it does require action on my part.  Into the garage to find the small propane tank and the little buddy heater.   Little man's father got it all set up while the temperature inside was well in the fifties, no need to waste the propane.  I went out later to turn on the valve and light the heater - NO HEAT!  Moving over 750 transplants back into the house was not going to be a fun experience, especially with it snowing.  I closed the valve, took the heater off the tank and looked inside to fine one ticked off spider.  I grabbed a pencil and evicted her then put the assembly back together, turned on the valve, and poof - HEAT!

We have used just over 20 lbs of propane (a standard grill sized tank) over five nights.  This coming weekend is forecast to have some upper 20 degree nights.  I will watch carefully and decide whether supplemental heat will be needed.

During the day, the temperatures inside the greenhouse have to be watched as well.  If I leave the house in the morning with outside temperatures in the upper 30's and overcast skies, I would consider leaving the door closed.  If the sun were to come out and shine in earnest for the better part of the day, the poor little transplants could cook before someone else arrives to open the door.

Spring brings renewed life and a longer to-do list to this small farm.  It is hard to be off the farm when the sun is shining and temperatures are above 40 degrees.  Soon enough this farmer will be able to be on the farm full-time.

Prepping pigs for piles of snow

Snow, and lots of it.  That is what Mother Nature has in store for the farm for the next 12 - 24 hours.  Being prepared for storms is essential in all walks of life, but a little more so for folks who have livestock depending on them for their well-being.  Fortunately my off-farm job let us leave early as the road conditions deteriorated.  My 23 mile ride back to the farm took almost 45 minutes instead of the usual 25.  Just over two inches were on the ground when I arrived so I changed and went directly outside to complete chores, thankful that I could get them done before the worst of the storm arrived.  

Each pig hut received extra hay.  The pigs immediately set to work rearranging it, piles were moved to the front of each hut to ward off the snow which normally blows in from the North, but today is blowing in all directions.  Both houses have enough hay for the pigs to completely bury themselves with extra to spare.  I took a couple of flakes and tucked them into the north facing corners to ward off the worst of the forecasted wind.   

Back across the pen to their water bowls (sawed off bottoms of 55 gallon plastic barrels), the snow is falling harder and I am reminded why I bought a good pair of bibs when I moved back to Vermont, now if only I had put them on!  I attempted to turn each bowl over only to find them frozen to the ground.  I headed back across the yard to get some hot water only to forget the splitting maul.  The hot water works on Zeb's dish, but not on the girls'.  Back over to the garage, the hood of my jacket is little match for the blowing snow.  Splitting maul and one bucket of food in hand, I head back over to the pen.  Several whacks with the maul and a little more hot water and the girls' dish is emptied.  The rest of the hot water added to their dish and before I can rinse it out - they dive in.

Across the dooryard one last time for five more gallons of water and the second bucket of food for Zeb.  I notice my face turning pretty red and that my worn out jeans are no match for this weather.  Inside the heat washes over me as I fill the water bucket.  Once upon a time this girl might have said to heck with it and left the rest of the chores for later to enjoy being warm.  Back outside I went, pigs watered and fed, then back into the garage with my empty buckets and maul then onto the chickens.  Eggs were collected, more water was thawed and re-filled and their feed dish topped off.  I also let them out of their coop - if chickens could talk I would have gotten some choice words as the girls headed for the open garage door only to turn quickly and head back in the other direction.

Returning to the warm house, I was well aware that my choice of clothing did not protect me well from the weather.  When I moved back to Vermont ten years ago, I purchased a good quality jacket, some warm bibs (ski-pants), great boots and a good pair of gloves.  The gloves have since met their demise and the jacket has survived longer than any garment that has seen as much as it has, should.  I do not have a pair of farm/rain boots so my older shoes act as a non-waterproof version of farm shoes.  Each chore on the farm requires an appropriate tool or set of supplies and I have learned to be better prepared to complete those projects before they are even started.  The other thing that this farmer needs to learn is that she isn't going to be very successful in getting anything done if she is appropriately attired for the weather.  Good rain/muck boots have been added to the to-buy list for spring and a new jacket has been added to the list for fall.

For now all the animals, including the two-legged ones, are tucked in and nice and warm.  Snow totals are forecast between 14 and 24 inches.  Everyone will be checked twice more before we settle in for the evening and tomorrow morning will come earlier than normal as fences are checked, feed and water containers are dug out, the driveway is cleared and the storm heads out.  Little man is pretty excited to be able to go sledding again and mom will certainly join him!   

Storing potatoes & easy recipe

This picture almost makes them look green,
they were perfectly fine.

Last weekend I used up the last of the potatoes that were stored for winter use.  We put up just under 100 lbs for the off season and they lasted through the end of February.  150 lbs will have to be the number for this year so that we can make it most of the way until the next harvest.  

Three factors will ensure successful storage of your potatoes:

• A good cure right after harvest
• That the potatoes aren't washed - you can brush off a lot of the dirt being careful not to harm the cured peel - but don't wash them
• Store them in the dark - if they aren't in the dark, they will turn green - if you eat too many green potatoes, you could become very ill.  

A burlap bag inside of a cardboard box proved very effective this year in the mudroom.  Temperatures didn't stay below zero for too long so that room was fine.  Had they stayed below zero for any length of time, that room would have gotten too cold.  Potatoes like it just above freezing.

There are three of us in the house, we don't have company for meals very often but we both take leftovers for lunches for our off farm jobs.  Potatoes stretch or fill out chicken & biscuits, stews, soups, top shepherd's pie, stand alone, are spiced up for side dishes, put in foil packets with onions and cheese on the grill; they are used in a pile of my cooking.  One of my favorite potato recipe is so simple that it is hardly worth writing down and probably is somewhere on the interweb, but it is so good, that even if I cut up two potatoes for each of us, there aren't any leftovers.

Herb roasted potatoes 
3T olive oil
2T minced garlic
1T each of oregano & thyme
Salt to taste
Paprika for color
3-5 medium potatoes - cut up into 1 - 1 1/2 inch pieces

Preheat oven to 400 or 425 degrees.
In a large bowl mix the first five ingredients until blended.
Add potatoes and toss until evenly coated.
Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper - spread potatoes evenly.
Bake for 25 - 35 minutes until potatoes are crisp and tender.

Enjoy!

Upset tummy again!

In an effort to save money, we get a lot of our pig food from the cheese factory in the next town over.  Most often pelleted pig food is supplemented by cheese, vegetable pieces, whey and food scraps from a local organic foods market.  If Little man's father and I don't communicate well, the pigs might get too much in scraps one week and not enough grain.  Last week that was apparently the case as Zeb had an upset tummy again.  

I wasn't sure if it was the wormer I gave him or if he was getting too many scraps from the cheese factory.  It looks like it was probably the latter.  Combine the rich food with the fluctuating temperatures from highs in the 60's to highs in the teens, anyone's system would go a little whacky.  He was put on pig pellets alone, given some extra hay and a scratch behind the ears.  Monday afternoon he looked much better and by Tuesday things seemed to have returned to normal.  He is the first pig I have had where we had to watch what he eats.

The timing of his ailment was unfortunate though as both Sally and Little One came into heat over the weekend.  Last time Sally was in heat, Zeb had also been under the weather. The calendar has been marked and in addition to checking the girls, we will relegate him to pellets and vegetables for the week before they are scheduled to go into heat again.

We will have piglets on the farm this summer, albeit behind schedule.