Baking and Baling

I taught a bread baking workshop this morning and this afternoon we baled hay~
The morning started early since our class was a bit larger than usual and I needed to bake a few extra loaves. (Part of the class fee includes taking home a loaf of bread.) I also had the morning milking and feeding chores to do before everyone arrived. Thankfully my mom stepped in, together we tagged teamed and all was done by 10. The last thing on my to-do list was to drop a super on one of the hives before everyone arrived. I took a quick shower and headed to the hives. I did not take time to put on my suit as this is something I do on a regular basis. However, I have never done it with wet hair and the bees were most displeased .They let me know it by stinging me on my eyebrow! Lovely way to start my day..
Class lasted about 2 1/2 hours and was great fun. I met a lovely group of ladies (and children). We baked bread and had a farm tour.
Just as class was ending, the boys rolled in and headed to the hay field. I had enough time to clean the kitchen and put my boots on. My job in the field this year was to drive the tractor that pulled the hay wagon and in the barn I transferred the bales from one elevator to the other. A couple of extra hands arrived late. They left to get the last load and I finished up milking. A whopping 520 bales went in the barn today!

A Sad Day

A while back we made the decision to place the horses. I don't have time to ride much these days and if I did find a day, I am too old to work the "piss and vinegar" out of one that has been standing in a pasture for several months ( an old saying from my beloved grandfather!). Being that I would most likely get tossed, all I can say is that it hurts more than it used to and an injured homesteader is NOT good.

The day started out in the usual way. Milking and chores. We made some time to practice our shooting at the range since Doug bought me a more compact pistol and I needed to practice with it as well as my shot gun. Back home we checked the bee hives and found (much to our delight) they all needed supers. Luke teddored the hay once more and they spent the late afternoon hooking up the baler and rakes for tomorrow. I finished evening chores and checked the garden. I harvested enough strawberries to make a batch of jam and cut all of the elephant garlic scapes.

Just as we were winding down for the day, my older son appeared with the horse trailer. Though I knew it was coming I wasn't quiet prepared. I was most attached to my little bay mare. I have raised and worked with her since the day she was born here almost 4 years ago. Of course she walked right on the trailer! Now Halle, the bottle filly, was a whole other story. It took over an hour to get her loaded, but finally with a lot of grain, patience and coaxing she went on. As I watched them pull of of the drive, I cried. It is for the best, they will get some much needed attention and I gain a pasture. It has been a long time since our homestead has been "horseless". Our farm is constantly evolving and with this change we will most likely be adding some type of beef cattle this Fall.

Planting Late Potatoes

I still had some seed potatoes left and today we put in a late row. We normally have all the potatoes in by mid-March. Those usually keep us until Christmas. It is my hope this year that we will extend our storage another 6 weeks by planting this late. The early potatoes have already begun to bloom and that means tiny new potatoes are to be enjoyed in the very near future. I also put in squash and cucumber plants that were started in the greenhouse.The tomatoes were staked in the kitchen garden. Now that the garden was showing some semblance of order, I turned my attention to the sheep.
Because of the mild winter I fear we may have a huge parasite problem on our hands this summer. The goats have already struggled a bit and the sheep tend to be worse. However, after checking every one, only two needed a dose of wormer. I will worm everyone once the hay is picked up and they are rotated to the new field. Fingers crossed, maybe the new mineral program they are on is helping?!
The day was pretty cloudy and dreary but the boys teddored the hay anyway in hopes of speeding the drying process. It looks like it will be a good cutting and we would be devastated to loose it to a shower next week.
Doug made his famous stuffed mushrooms with the goat cheese I made yesterday  and we collapsed on the porch to enjoy a fine meal. Life is good!

Mowing Hay

For the last few days we have watched 3 or 4 different weather channels in hopes of finding a "window" of no rain so that we can do some mowing. Today seems to be a good as any. Of course, there are never any guarantees, but the hay needs to be mowed. The mowing task was split between my father -in-law and our youngest son. About 6 acres went down today. Good Lord willing and the creeks don't rise, will be picking up on Monday or Tuesday!
While they mowed, I worked the garden with our intern. Today we finished all the weeding and harvested strawberries. I planted another 24 tomatoes, 16 peppers and some more celery. Now all that needs to be done is some cultivating with the tractor and a bit of tilling. Tomorrow!

Turkeys and Chickens

The phone rang at 6 a.m. This is the post office, come get your birds. PLEASE!
I actually had two shipments of birds due this week. The heritage turkeys as well as the Cuckoo Maran and Welsummer chicks were to arrive any day but from different hatcheries. My hope was that they would arrive the same day.
I arrived at the post office at 7 and had to knock on the back door. They presented me with a box of turkeys. Are you sure there is not another box around here? Nope. Okay, I'll see you tomorrow then. I headed home with the babies.
I had their cage cleaned and waiting and when I arrived home all that was left to do was put feed and water in there. I dipped each one's little beak in the water and sprinkled some feed on a  piece of cardboard to get them going. Sadly two did not make it and that left me with eighteen. Nine each of the Narragansetts and Blue Slates.
Once they were settled, I got cleaned up and got the morning milking done. While I was straining the milk the phone rang again. Is this Kelly? Yes. This is your postal carrier. I have a box of chickens for you.You have got to be kidding! No and I think they are thirsty. On my way. I started out and the skies were black with a brewing storm so I swung by the barn to put the goats up and got caught right in the middle of it. I finally arrived at the post office for the second time soaking wet and more than a bit dirty. I heard the peeping when I walked in the door. Those would be mine. Oh, thank goodness you are here. Just be glad they aren't bees, I said, as I headed home, again. So they did arrive the same day, just not at the same time....

Weeding Therapy

After the long soaking rain of yesterday it was perfect weeding conditions. I am always amazed at how therapeutic and relaxing weeding can be. I tend to loose track of time and my accomplishments at the end of the day give me a great since of satisfaction!
The onions can now be seen~

And the snow peas~

 The elephant garlic looks fantastic!

In addition to weeding, the potatoes and green beans had to be sprayed. Even though I had been picking off the pesky bugs some larvae still managed to hatch. Our purple potatoes are almost ready to bloom and we harvested our first radishes!

Our Wool Blankets!!

Our wool blankets have finally arrived. I am so excited! Christmas shopping is done. Better pictures are coming, but they are beautiful.