Too much rain

For the second time in days part of our road in under water making it impassible. There are no road closed signs posted either, which makes it seem dangerous to me, especially in the thick fog we've been having. We've been getting showers that are bringing large amounts of rain in short periods of time. The roads are washed out all over town. One of the drops behind the cows in the barn had about 2 inches of setting water in it tonight because the water table is so saturated. The farmers are having a bear of a time getting any hay made. Even if we get a day w/out rain, the fields are so wet they have standing water in them.
Two of our sons are in Oregon working on a ranch. There they don't have nearly enough rain and have to irrigate the fields. They said it did rain today. There was lightning too. They said where the lightning strikes it starts fires because it is so dry. They saw a fire like that today.
I wonder if anywhere between here and there they are having the perfect summer?

Something is eating my plants!

Something or someone has been eating all my squash plants AND my pepper plants. They seem to eat some of the leaves, but not all of them. Some of the leaves they just leave beside the plant. I have seen no woodchucks nearby but I have seen rabbits. More than one person swears that a rabbit will not do this. I don't believe it. I have put mouse traps and human hair around them. It doesn't help. Any ideas would be welcome. Thank you.

Naughty Pig

We have just one pig these days. She is a girl pig and I want to get her bred. Trouble is finding her a husband. I've been looking. Trouble is, she has decided she does not wish to be single any longer and would like to help me look! That would involve her getting loose! Have you ever tried to catch a pig? A big pig? This is NOT a fun thing to do! Let me tell you, she is fast and sneaky and she can cover a lot of ground! It took 6 of us to get her back in last night. There isn't even any sense to me going to check on her now because I don't have the manpower until everyone gets home from work and school to get her even if she is out!

10 Year Old Tour Guide

When you visit our farm you will be greeted by our 10 year old at some point. You will instantly take to her, and her to you. She is our tour guide. She is a natural. She chats away while leading you all around the barn. She is outside doing just that right now and it is so cute! She tells interesting facts and answers questions about every animal in sight. She knows birth dates, names and all about any calves, kids or bunnies that have been born. You'll get to pet the animals, brush them or maybe even help give her calf a bath. It all depends on what she has in store for you. If you are little, she will find something little and gentle for you to visit. If you look ambitious or outgoing, she may offer to let you lead something a bit more frisky around. Come see for yourself. You will be amazed and entertained.

New baby calf!

Black Jersey had a heifer calf this morning. She is a really neat dark red color. The girls are in love with her already. Looks like a beautiful day. There is some freshly smoked bacon in the pan in the kitchen. Have to run. I'll try to post a photo of our new addition soon.

Gardens

I have been soooooo busy trying to get all the gardens in order. Had to replant the green beans. I thought maybe it was too cold when I planted them but when I went to redo the area yesterday I found no old bean seeds. UGH!
Jake started all of our tomato and pepper plants in the green house at school. Great plants. He also started some herbs. I'm finally putting in a very small kitchen garden where I'll have my herbs.
The annual flower containers and window boxes look good so far.
The perennial beds are a LOT of work. So much harder to control the weeds when you don't till up the soil every year.
Something has been eating the summer squash plants. Think I need to sit out there at night with a pea shooter. We have mouse traps and human hair around them now. Anyone have the solution for keeping the nasty pests away, let me know!

Fun Day on the Farm!

Falkenbury Farm Open House
“Fun on the Farm Day”

June 13, 2009
(Raindate June 14th)
2-10 pm
Falkenbury Farm & Guest House
1520 Park Hill Road
Benson, VT 05731
www.falkenburyfarm.com

2:00 Meet our baby goats
2:30 Making (Shaking)

3:00 Egg Toss
3:15 Kid’s Games
Sack Races
3 legged race
Untie yourselves
Hay bale throw
4:00 Hike/Scavenger Hunt
5:00 Frog Catching & Frog Race
Prize for biggest frog caught
Prize for the fastest frog
5:45 Barn chores
Feed the cows, goats, rabbits, chickens, pigs
Watch the cows get milked
7:30 Potluck Dinner
8:30 Silent Auction closes

Bonfire, Lightning Bugs & Stargazing

CHILDREN MUST BE ACCOMPANIED BY AN ADULT
NO DROP-OFFS
NO DOGS!
Schedule subject to change.

Spring Planting

We had a busy weekend. We planted 5 out of the 6 new apple trees that we bought. Our youngest and I also planted 25 new strawberry plants. Those somehow took up more space than I anticipated. I bought some new asparagus roots too. Jake helped me start digging for that project. We'll put them over by the other asparagus we already have. The peas I planted are up and so are the radishes. The flower beds need constant attention. I don't know if they will ever be done. Good news on the raspberries. Finally, they have caught on. It looks like they all made it thru the winter and there are many new plants. Oh, and the lawn got mowed. Jake did that w/ his own tractor. The manure pile is mostly spread. Bob put it on our hay field. The grass was really growing well and now it looks kind of beat down since they had to drag the field after spreading because the spreader was not working right. Anyway, we avoided the rain (knock on wood) and had a very productive weekend.

Beautiful Day!!

Supposed to be near 75º today.
The baby goats are out on the lawn enjoying the sunshine.
Almost all of the mama goats are outside searching for those sweet green tidbits too.
I've got some peas planted and need to get the spinach seeds in the ground. Should probably plant some carrots too. I've been busy trying to get all the flower beds in order. We're supposed to get 4 new apple trees so I need to figure out where to put those.

Just flurries

No big snow here yet, just a few flurries. But the wind is sure howling!
Yes, still making cheese. I have 2 gallons of fresh Jersey milk waiting to get up to temp down there. Today I think I'll wing it. I can't seem to find a recipe that calls for all the things I feel like doing today. I'm going to use yogurt for a starter....oh, I don't know. The hardest part is the wait. Hopefully all this cheese I've been making isn't awful. Since it has to be waxed and aged for months I have no idea if it will be any good in the long run.
We had another new baby calf over the weekend. She's a heifer and all black.

46ºF on the farm today!

They say the rain is on it's way but it's great outside right now!
I've been out pruning our Mulberry trees. I've never really pruned them before but noticed this year they have lots of sucker shoots and have really filled in. Our little guests love picking the mulberries and climbing the ladder we usually have set up in them. Their mom's really like their purple hands and faces when their done too!
I took the snowmobile out this a.m.. Couldn't resist. It was just setting there. We still have some snow-cover but there are certainly lots of bare spots too, especially on the side hill where you can see deer eating every afternoon.
Yesterday we took what seemed like an endless drive to NY to pick up a new fullblood Boer buckling for our herd. He is only 8 weeks old. We went all the way to Halcott Center to find him. I'll try to get a photo up of him in a day or so.
Made a soft cheese for dinner tonight. We'll serve it w/ crackers for an appetizer. I think I'm making chili.

My heroes

Moms of special needs children are my heroes! You always make it look like you are so organized and have it all together! Lately my kids seem to be falling apart and I've been back and forth to doctor appointments, emergency rooms and hospitals more than usual. It's driving me crazy. It's so stressful. I don't know how moms that deal with serious issues continually do it. It's unimaginable to me. You are my heroes! Just this little taste of having to put my kids in the hands of specialists and surgeons has left me in awe of people I know that have done it continually for years. It just leaves my head spinning. How do you find the best doctor for your children? How do you put your trust in them? How do you always know you are making the right decisions?

Turkey Jerky

Wow did husband make some awesome turkey jerky over the weekend! It takes a couple days to prepare, even before it hits the smoker. He really enjoys experimenting with his smoker. This latest batch was definately one of his best.

The snow is melting

We've had a couple days that have gotten into the 40s. Wow did it take away our snow quickly. We are still pretty much snow covered but the layer is pretty thin in spots.
Basketball season is almost over. YEAH! Chasing two teams is quite the challenge.

Still hooked on cheese making

It's the weather and I'm itchy to be doing something creative. Would rather be playing outside in the dirt getting gardens ready. Yesterday I made 'brick cheese'. That didn't work so well. It was only supposed to press for 12 hours but this a.m. it was still way to crumbly so I put it in the press. I don't have high hopes it's going to stay together.
Last night we waxed two of the cheeses. They look really good. Time will tell. We now have to wait month to see if all this energy has been worth it.
This a.m. I made a chive and garlic cheese from raw cow milk that only needed to be pressed for 2 hours. I wasn't very impressed but the neighbors loved it.
I need to look up on the goat calendars to see when the kids are due to start arriving. I'm looking forward to that.
Our guests left this a.m. They're now driving back to a warmer climate down south a bit. They were great.

Here's a photo of the CJ7 we picked up yesterday. Has a nice hole blown in the side of the motor. Will be a while until it's on the road.

We brought some wood in today.

We had a nice bull calf born yesterday. We came across my son trying to catch him when we were out snowshoeing. He and his mom, Honey, got to sleep in the barn last night.

0ºF

It is 0ºF this morning. Pretty chilly.Our youngest and I went snowshoeing yesterday. We hiked for over an hour. I was wishing we brought a sled with us so we could slide most of the way home. You should've seen all of the animal and bird tracks we saw! Wow! We know where some of the deer are hanging out now. I was neat to see all the different tracks. We need to find a book or chart to figure out what more of them were. I know there is one around here somewhere.

We picked up another jeep yesterday. It's a CJ7. It has a nice hole blown thru the side of the motor though. We have a lead on a new one (used). Now we have 2 and still don't have one to drive around.

Quilting

Our oldest daughter made me a really cool quilt for my birthday. She brought it up last weekend to tease me I think. I say that because she took it back home with her. She wasn't quite done sewing the binding which she does by hand. It is a very neat pattern and she used dragonfly material. (I like dragonfllies, if you didn't guess.) Each of the squares on the front is a different dragonfly print. Just finding so many different materials must have been a challenge. I can't wait for her to finish her latest creation!! This is the second quilt she has made for us. The first is huge and she made it for our anniversary. She has been taught to quilt by her mother-in-law who seems to be a master quilter. She makes quilts that are much sought after and very beautiful. Our daughter is very ambitious, very creative, very giving and appears to be a fast learner when it comes to quilting.
I think it would be fun to invite a bunch of quilters to stay in the guest house so they could bond and quilt all weekend.
(I'll try to remember to post a photo of my new quilt when I get it.)