In other news, this is the Cornish X Rocks last week. The rest of them are going to get processed next Saturday. They're monsters.
And lastly, a picture of a happy dog.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Lawn tractor
We were waiting until we had enough money to buy a real tractor, but we were looking at needing at the very least $5,000 for a used, 1950s tractor without attachments. (There are lots of 1950s tractors around here.) A new small tractor was going to be about $10,000. So we sucked it up and bought a riding mower. Not just any riding mower... a 22hp, twin engine, 48in John Deere. This sucker has some power. It also came with a attachment cart for free (Lowes was running a special). We can also buy a snow blower or snow blade attachment.
In other news, this is the Cornish X Rocks last week. The rest of them are going to get processed next Saturday. They're monsters.
And lastly, a picture of a happy dog.
In other news, this is the Cornish X Rocks last week. The rest of them are going to get processed next Saturday. They're monsters.
And lastly, a picture of a happy dog.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Dia gets a backpack, bully stick
Dia got a backpack! We understand that German Shepherds are happiest when they have a job to do. We like to go hiking and camping and thought that it would be worth a shot to see if she'd carry her own gear. She was weird about it when I strapped it on her the first time, but after she figured it out, I think she really likes it! She seems so proud to follow us around with it on. She does seem happiest on a mission... we've started taking her to the dog park and she's pretty ambivalent about other dogs. She seems to get bored even when all the other dogs are going nuts and playing. But we take off on a trail off the dog park and she's all about it. There's a trail we want to take her on that's about 3 miles long. We're training her right now to get used to carrying the backpack by putting it on her with a water bottle on each side and walking around the property.
And lastly, she's really into these things called Bully Sticks.
And lastly, she's really into these things called Bully Sticks.
lettuce, flea beetles, worms
We're being eaten out by Flea Beetles. They eat huge holes in the plants and turn them into skeletons. They particularly like eggplant and potato leaves. We're going organic, so we're faced with some pretty mediocre choices in getting rid of them. They've decimated the eggplant already, but the potatoes should be okay, they're much hardier than the baby eggplants. We're combating with diatomaceous earth and yellow sticky cards. Over the weekend we'll add some neem oil to the ground to suffocate the eggs. The diatomaceous earth is a very fine powder that acts like glass to tiny bugs and cuts them and they lose water and dry up.
In other garden news, we harvested a round of lettuce and spinach. Here was tonight's dinner:
Last weekend Roger harvested the compost from the worm bin. It yielded maybe 20 pounds of good worm compost. He then moved the worms and their eggs into a fresh bin.
In other garden news, we harvested a round of lettuce and spinach. Here was tonight's dinner:
Last weekend Roger harvested the compost from the worm bin. It yielded maybe 20 pounds of good worm compost. He then moved the worms and their eggs into a fresh bin.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Chicken Slaughter
The chickens were 6 weeks old yesterday, and the males are ready for the freezer. So we decided to start with six of the 16 and see how it went. It was traumatic for all, but more traumatic for the chickens. Some PG pictures are posted, and other PG-13 pictures are behind links if you're brave.
This is a picture of the set-up. The pallet on the ground is where we dispatched it head, then we stuck them in the orange cone to bleed out. The table was were we skinned and gutted them, putting the remains in the blue bucket and the finished product in the big silver can with ice.
This is the finished product.
If you would like to see what happened inbetween, the PG-13 pictures are behind the links.
here
and here
And if you would like to see the pictures that would make small children cry, the whole album is behind this link.
don't say I didn't warn you
This is a picture of the set-up. The pallet on the ground is where we dispatched it head, then we stuck them in the orange cone to bleed out. The table was were we skinned and gutted them, putting the remains in the blue bucket and the finished product in the big silver can with ice.
This is the finished product.
If you would like to see what happened inbetween, the PG-13 pictures are behind the links.
here
and here
And if you would like to see the pictures that would make small children cry, the whole album is behind this link.
don't say I didn't warn you
Friday, May 15, 2009
Dia's recovery
I don't usually post without pictures to share, but I thought I would take a moment to update everyone on how Dia is recovering. She's had a tough couple of weeks and we've been worried about her. We've had two friends come to the house to visit us and she was scared of them both. The first friend she really freaked out about and wouldn't be in the same room with her. The second one was a little better, but she still wouldn't settle down enough to be touched. She didn't appear to have this problem when we got her... she came up to us and made friends instantly.
On Monday she went and got her staples out. She growled at the vet tech when came to get her. We perceived this is normal, as the last time the vet tech came to get her she got staples in her head. Other than that, she was slightly fearful in the waiting room, but warmed up considerably to the other dogs and ended up practically licking the face off this tiny toy dog.
The next day we had the unfortunate discovery that she had broken open a bit of one of the incisions. When they stapled her closed they did bunch the skin up so much that one of her eyes was pulled up and it looked like she'd had a bad face lift. We wondered if she just blinked really hard and that was all it took to break it open. It was oozing some clear pus and blood and I was pretty grossed out, but didn't panic as it wasn't gushing blood. My dad actually came to visit that night and I asked him about it, although I knew he was going to say she was fine. Her brains could have been leaking out and he would have said she was fine. I can't tell if his stoic lack of empathy for living creatures is real or if it's just a running joke. Anyway, of course he said she was fine. I've gobbed some neosporin on it as she keeps scratching it or running her head into things and breaking it open and it oozes again. At lunch today she thought it would be appropriate to rub it on my work pants, so now I have sticky pus crusted on my pants.
She was pretty aggressive towards my dad, but we thought it was more appropriate than the freaking out she did over the previous visitors. She growled pretty fiercely and even barked when he would enter the room. But she never lunged at him or anything, so we're hoping this is a movement in the right direction when it comes to her behavior with visitors. We take her to the rail trail several times a week and sit and watch people and dogs go by. We're going to start taking her to the off-leash dog park when her head dries up. We're trying to teach her that we know when somethings dangerous and she doesn't need to freak out if we're not freaking out.
In other developments, she's playing pretty good now. She can half-fetch. We toss the ball and she'll go get it, but then she'll bring it back and lay on it so we can't get it back. She thinks this is a terrific game.
On Monday she went and got her staples out. She growled at the vet tech when came to get her. We perceived this is normal, as the last time the vet tech came to get her she got staples in her head. Other than that, she was slightly fearful in the waiting room, but warmed up considerably to the other dogs and ended up practically licking the face off this tiny toy dog.
The next day we had the unfortunate discovery that she had broken open a bit of one of the incisions. When they stapled her closed they did bunch the skin up so much that one of her eyes was pulled up and it looked like she'd had a bad face lift. We wondered if she just blinked really hard and that was all it took to break it open. It was oozing some clear pus and blood and I was pretty grossed out, but didn't panic as it wasn't gushing blood. My dad actually came to visit that night and I asked him about it, although I knew he was going to say she was fine. Her brains could have been leaking out and he would have said she was fine. I can't tell if his stoic lack of empathy for living creatures is real or if it's just a running joke. Anyway, of course he said she was fine. I've gobbed some neosporin on it as she keeps scratching it or running her head into things and breaking it open and it oozes again. At lunch today she thought it would be appropriate to rub it on my work pants, so now I have sticky pus crusted on my pants.
She was pretty aggressive towards my dad, but we thought it was more appropriate than the freaking out she did over the previous visitors. She growled pretty fiercely and even barked when he would enter the room. But she never lunged at him or anything, so we're hoping this is a movement in the right direction when it comes to her behavior with visitors. We take her to the rail trail several times a week and sit and watch people and dogs go by. We're going to start taking her to the off-leash dog park when her head dries up. We're trying to teach her that we know when somethings dangerous and she doesn't need to freak out if we're not freaking out.
In other developments, she's playing pretty good now. She can half-fetch. We toss the ball and she'll go get it, but then she'll bring it back and lay on it so we can't get it back. She thinks this is a terrific game.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
New dog - week one
Dia is finally learning how to play. It takes a lot of patience, but we're teaching her slowly. We throw the ball/toy, then lead her over to it, get her to touch it, and then reward her. After she does this enough she will pick it up, then pick it up and run with it. Of course it doesn't stick with her well, so we have to start over again every time. She's also gaining confidence and has begun to wag her tail enthusiastically. Her eyes are also normal again. She gets her staples out Monday.
New Gnomes
We have two new gnomes to welcome to the farm. Welcome to Norman the Woods Watcher and Mother Gnome. They are hand crafted and painted and were finished two weeks ago.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Dia had surgery
Poor Dia already had surgery. We took her for a well visit to meet the vet and the vet aspirated these lumps on her head that we had been told were ingrown hairs. Well, the liquid pulled from the lumps was not a clear or even a pus but a dark brown sludge. It looked like dirty oil. The vet also noted the skin was lumpy and abnormal looking. She thinks best case scenario it's an old wound (maybe a bite) that got infected and wasn't treated. Worse case, of course, is some kind of tumor. We had it removed the next day. Poor Dia.
We also discovered she had an eye infection in both eyes (rather obvious, as her eyes were blood red and had green discharge), and tape worms and hook worms.
As you can imagine, we're pretty pissed she was so neglected at a so-called "rescue".
She's been treated for the tape worm already, but we have to wait another two weeks to treat the hookworms. We also have to hold her down every twelve hours and smear goo in her eyes, which is particularly awesome when she's wet and we're in our work clothes.
In other news, we're working on getting the garden planted. Today we went to the Farmer's Market and bought starts. We planted lettuce, spinach, peas, beans, cucumbers, yellow cherry tomatoes, big pink tomatoes, better boy tomatoes, yellow peppers, red peppers, sweet bananas, chili peppers, corn, zucchini, eggplant, red potatoes, blue potatoes, and russet potatoes. We also bought some cool looking flowers to plant in the front.
Last weekend Roger finished the pallet compost bin.
We also discovered she had an eye infection in both eyes (rather obvious, as her eyes were blood red and had green discharge), and tape worms and hook worms.
As you can imagine, we're pretty pissed she was so neglected at a so-called "rescue".
She's been treated for the tape worm already, but we have to wait another two weeks to treat the hookworms. We also have to hold her down every twelve hours and smear goo in her eyes, which is particularly awesome when she's wet and we're in our work clothes.
In other news, we're working on getting the garden planted. Today we went to the Farmer's Market and bought starts. We planted lettuce, spinach, peas, beans, cucumbers, yellow cherry tomatoes, big pink tomatoes, better boy tomatoes, yellow peppers, red peppers, sweet bananas, chili peppers, corn, zucchini, eggplant, red potatoes, blue potatoes, and russet potatoes. We also bought some cool looking flowers to plant in the front.
Last weekend Roger finished the pallet compost bin.
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