You Can’t Herd Ducks in a Pond

When someone says you can't herd ducks in a pond, show them that you can if you gather up the More »

Hunting Wild Turkeys

The day started with a 3:30 am alarm after a nearly sleepless night. My knee hurt enough to keep me More »

April Full (almost) Moon

Tonight, on the way home from smelting, the moon rose, bright orange and beautiful. I changed cameras, put all three More »

Doe, a deer, and a fawn…

We went scouting for turkeys. That was almost a flop with only one hen spotted. We did find deer. Steve More »

Wordless Wednesday: Astia Zucchini

Astia zucchini blossom More »

Am I the one behind the times?

Backwater. Backwoods. Out of touch. Out of date. Woods queer. Stuck in the past. These are terms used recently to More »

Seed Giveaway

Share the post "Seed Giveaway"FacebookTwitterDiggStumbleUponE-mailMy birthday is Monday so I’m giving away a present. There are more seeds in the More »

Sap Moon

The Sap Moon through maple branches and thin clouds. Taken with the Canon PowerShot SX50 HS. More »

Cooking Moose Steaks

These steaks were cooked in a workshop I taught at Winter Skills Weekend for Becoming an Outdoors-Woman. They were so More »

When to Plant Peas in Zone

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14″

January 15, 2008   Daily Farm Life

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Fourteen inches of new snow from this storm. The weatherman warned us to clean up everything, leave nothing undone because there’s a messy storm coming later in the week. Then frigid temps that will freeze everything not cleaned up. I know what I’m doing today!

added 6:45 am  It’s light enough to see up back.  There’s only a thin layer of snow on the greenhouse.  Cleaning out just got easier!

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Oppose USDA’s ‘Naturally Raised’ Meat Label by January 28, 2008

January 14, 2008   Agriculture, Daily Farm Life, Eat local, Food, Homestead

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Rather than spend time writing something Lucy has already said well I’m going to direct you to her blog.

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Snowy Monday

January 14, 2008   Agriculture, Daily Farm Life, Homestead, Poultry, Winter Farming

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<— Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful! And just so you know, I’m not fat.  I’m really big boned.

(He weighs 30 lbs.  He’s always been a big boy but not this big.  He ate a piece of embroidery floss.  It was literally stuck from one end to the other and acting like a saw in his intestines.  Since having intestinal surgery to remove the string his digestive system hasn’t been quite right. He’s gained 10 lbs but his eating habits haven’t changed.)

Oh that’s just not nice!  Taylor saw this and said, “Then he has jelly bones!”

I made two trips out to do morning chores. Because of the storm I was going to leave all of the birds in. Not long after I finished and came into the house the clouds parted and the sun came out. I let the birds out until it started to snow around 11:15 am. The chickens and turkeys have the last two pumpkins to keep them occupied while they’re closed in.

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In Defense of Food

January 13, 2008   Eat local

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Meg and Kelly went to Philadelphia to hear Michael Pollan read In Defense of Food.  They’ve written a review that includes their great notes.

I’m still listening to the CD’s.  I now wish I had the book.  It would be nice to spend tomorrow curled up with tea and the book while it snows (local news says 8″-14″ but I’m going with Weather Bug’s 6″-10″).

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End of January Thaw

January 13, 2008   Maine Outdoors

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It’s mild this morning, 21* and a slight breeze. Sebastian chased something from the barn into the far corner of the woods first thing this morning then wouldn’t come back. I put my boots on and went out with the flashlight. There were eyes at the edge of the field near the raspberry canes. I yelled to him. Nothing. I yelled again, and several more times. Maybe it wasn’t Seb but a coyote instead. I doddered across the icy driveway to look up and down the road. Nothing there either. He knows better than to go in the road but I know better than to eat chips and that doesn’t stop me. I went back to the edge of the shed. The eyes were still sitting at the edge of the field.

“Sebastian! I can see you!” The eyes moved. Either it was a coyote and it left or Sebastian was hanging his head. “I can see you. Get up here NOW!” The eyes came back and started to move slowly toward the house.

“Hurry up.” It was Sebastian. I’m sure he thought he was in trouble. In a light tone of voice I yelled, “Hurry up Goofball, I’m getting cold.” That did it. He broke into a run and came back. Was he in trouble? Kind of. Did I scold him? No. I don’t call my dogs to me and punish them. If they know they’re going to be scolded they wouldn’t come back. He did what he was supposed to do – chase away the pest and eventually came back. He got pets and praise. I need him to want to come back to me next time too.

The National Weather Service In Caribou Has Issued A Winter Storm Watch… Which Is In Effect From Monday Morning Through Tuesday Morning.

Snow Will Overspread The Area By Midday Monday And Continue Into Monday Night. The Snow Is Expected To Taper Off The Snow Showers By Tuesday Morning. Snowfall Amounts Of 6 To 10 Inches Are Possible By Tuesday Morning.

There Is Also The Potential For Near Whiteout Conditions As Northeast Winds Will Increase To 20 To 25 Mph Monday Afternoon Into Monday Evening.

Six inches would be good. Thaw left us with about 8″ of granular snow under a crust thick enough for a wayward 100 pound dog to run on .  I’m going to cut down the largest lilac bushes today and clean out around a young apple tree at the pond now that the temps will be below freezing during the day.  I need to re-cover the plants in the greenhouse with their Agribon blanket today too.  I love January thaw.  It’s a beautiful break from the cold, a chance to get out and move with only minimal clothing to stay warm, and a reminder of what’s to come.  I’m not ready for spring yet.  I still have a lot to do before then.

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Farming wasn’t my future

January 12, 2008   Maine Outdoors

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Farming wasn’t in my future when I was 16. I wanted to be a writer or photojournalist, get married and have a bunch of kids. I was not going to have a big garden, work in the soil and I sure as hell wasn’t have livestock and poultry. Mum made my dress. It was a little risque for 1980 – no straps and bare shoulders. It’s a wonder my father let me out of the house with as little fuss as he did. Note that it was 1980 and I did not have big hair. That didn’t happen until 1981. =)

I’m grateful that we seldom make all of our life plans at 16. Most of the plans that I did make 28 years ago did happen. I would have missed farming if I hadn’t taken this route. It’s one of the reasons we left city life behind.

If I didn’t farm I wouldn’t have enjoyed watching the young turkeys venture up to the house during a case of spring fever this morning. Video of them is uploading to youtube right now. I’ll post it later. I wouldn’t have watched the ducks playing in the driveway puddles this morning either.

These are probably the only pictures you’ll see of me. I hate being in front of the camera now.

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Maine Nature News

January 11, 2008   Homestead

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This week’s Maine Nature News is online.  There are two interesting photos of bobcats.  Be sure to look in the top right corner of the smaller photo.

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It Was A Dark And Stormy Night

January 10, 2008   Maine Outdoors

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No it wasn’t.  It was Tuesday, a warm, bright and sunny day.  The snow that built up on the front of the house where the original part of the house and the addition come together let go.  As it slid off the roof it caught the radio cable to my wireless connection on the edge of the metal roof and sliced the cable in two.

Once I get Maine Nature News published I’ll catch up with questions and emails.  T has a bball game in ‘Guagus today so I’ll be leaving mid afternoon. I’m not ignoring your emails, I promise. I’ll get caught up as quickly as possible.

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Gloucestershire Old Spot Pigs

January 8, 2008   Agriculture, Homestead

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This is a picture of Kelmscott Muriel Penny and Kelmscott Josephine Matilda, know to us as Penny and Matty.  They were Gloucestershire Old Spot sows.  Long story short, we took Matty in as a favor to a fan club.  They paid her food and expenses.  She was days from becoming bacon when we picked her up.  While we were there we saw three other pigs that needed homes. Since we were expecting one pig we took only the truck.  Before leaving we made arrangements to come back the following weekend and get the other sow and two gilts.  They quickly became the stars of the farm.  The gilts were Matty’s offspring and the result of an ooops breeding.  They weren’t breeding quality so kept them til fall and sent them off to slaughter. We miss having pigs.  The barn is empty other than the ducks.  So…I ordered two gilts this morning.  If the breeding goes well I’ll pick them up in Vermont later in the spring.  I’m excited!
(3/21/09)  Update:  We didn’t get piglets.
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Not Bad For a Monday

January 7, 2008   Poultry

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Today wasn’t bad for a Monday.  My sister arrived a little after 8 am.  We left for an appointment and shopping and returned a little after 3 pm.  Farm work waits til tomorrow.  I don’t have to leave tomorrow unless I pick T up from basketball practice at 5:30 pm.  It’s warm enough that I won’t have to break ice and refill waterers.  Chores will be as easy as opening doors, filling hoppers and collecting eggs.  I’ll check off a few things from this week’s list.

Today’s high was 45*.  It was foggy for a while this morning, we saw a little blue sky, a few sprinkles of rain and a lot of clouds. The warmth felt good and made me long for spring.  It will pass.  I’m not done enjoying the snow yet.  Tracks in the snow show that the ducks and turkeys enjoyed being outside today.

I was unimaginative when I named my first Bourbon Red tom turkey Tom.  To stay with the unimaginative theme I named the new tom Jake.   I’m impressed with Jake and kicking myself a little that his father now attends freezer camp.  He spent part of this afternoon trying to get to the roof of the hen house.  I’m not repeating the turkey-hen house-greenhouse-fir tree fiasco; his wings were clipped.  He’s persistent, big and an all around nice bird.  I’ll order his hens in the spring and replace all but one or two of the hens I have now.  Jake will stay here at least two years before either being traded to another farm or eaten.

Time for supper – baked stuffed haddock with shrimp thrown in, baked sweet potatoes and green beans.  I found two packages of shrimp in the freezer over the weekend.  I need to use them before Steve goes shrimping soon.

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This Week’s Plans

January 6, 2008   Agriculture, Cold Weather Growing, Greenhouse, high tunnel, hoop house, Growing Vegetables, Winter Farming

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This week’s plans don’t include shoveling snow and for that I am extremely grateful. I’m going to:

  • paint the bathroom and touch up the diningroom paint.
  • use the new mill to grind hard red winter wheat (I think I said that right) and rye flours, and bake bread
  • decide where to send a manuscript and force myself to do it
  • research prices and figure out what it’s going to cost me to grow the greenhouse greens
  • research seeds I can plant in the greenhouse this month. I want to be sure before I plant so that I don’t waste space.
  • before I can finish the Fedco seed order I need to:
    • put together a succession planting plan. It will be much more complicated than previous years. If I didn’t get something in on time it didn’t matter much. It does now.
    • meet by phone with the buying club manager
    • speak with cafe owner again. I’ve already spoken with the inn owner.

It doesn’t look like much. The bathroom and diningroom are a day’s worth of work. Researching seeding for January and transplanting for February will take a half day. The phone calls will take a few hours. Then everything will be compiled, the rest of the seeds chosen, and the seedling house, greenhouse house, hoop houses and open field put together to get the right sized seed packages. Some seeds are measured in tenths of grams and others in five pound bags. Basketball and a day with my sister fit in here too.

The house is clean except for washing the kitchen floor after everyone leaves in the morning. I’m looking forward to a normal non-holiday, non-snow, non-school canceled week so that I can get myself back on track and be productive.

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Sweet Dumpling Squash

January 5, 2008   Cooking, Food

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Sweet Dumpling is a small winter squash. It stores well and is easy to cook. I’m baking several tonight. There’s no need to peel these squash. They’re small and ribbed. You’ll waste more time than it’s worth. After cooking, the flesh will scoop out easily. I cut the top off below the lowest point of the stem and scoop out the seeds. I use a solid ice cream scoop to clean out squash and pumpkins.

 

Add a half inch of water in the bottom of the baking dish and cover. The odd squash is a Zeppelin Delicata, Steve’s favorite winter squash. It’s the last one. I didn’t grow nearly enough. The pan goes into the oven (with chicken breasts tonight) at 350* for 4o minutes. You can add a little brown sugar, butter or maple syrup to each squash if you’d like. I’ll add butter (Houlton Dairy) to mine after it’s cooked.

You can bake all winter squash this way. Poke the squash with a knife to judge when it’s done. If the knife passes into the flesh easily it’s done. If you want to cook a larger squash such as Butternut you can peel and steam or just steam until done. Winter squash can be boiled but it’s easy to over cook, it becomes too wet quickly and it destroys a lot of nutrition.

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Organic Rant

January 5, 2008   Cooking, Food

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Batter Blaster – screw the environment, the ridiculous throw-away packaging and common sense. The USDA will certify anything as organic these days.

How does anyone get so lazy that they need to squirt pancake batter from freaking can?  Bowl, whisk, flour, milk, eggs, salt, vanilla, pinch of baking soda – pancakes.

(I’m not in a bad mood but after finding this while blog hopping this morning I’m thoroughly disgusted.)

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The Pond

January 3, 2008   Maine Outdoors

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Writing a newspaper column, or in general most of the time, is a mildly annoying process I’ve created for myself. I hope Paula doesn’t put herself through this. We come up with a topic together, talk on the phone at least three times, and then sit down to work. I hit the word count no fewer than a dozen times for an 800 word article and I only write half of those 800 words. I’m pathetic. I edit while I write. Big mistake. I’m not the editor, it’s not my job. But I do it. I write and rewrite so that I can fit the most information possible in very few words. Eight hundred words isn’t a lot of space. I stall, like I am now. I goof off, like now. I bug the hell out of friends like Kirk because I know he won’t REALLY leave me quivering like  Jello on the mountain later this year. Before anyone gets the wrong idea, we’re friends only. If he had to be more than that he’d either throw me off Knife’s Edge or pitch himself off. Maybe that’s the reason Steve won’t go up with me. I tell myself that I still have 24 hours and that I’ll do it tonight after the basketball game. I go through the SD card to find a picture I can post here, like this one.

There are rainbow trout, sunfish and bait fish under the ice. Steve will take the auger down this weekend to make a hole for Fish TV. We’ll drop a little food down to the fish at the same time.

No more stalling…back to writing.

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In Defense of Food

January 3, 2008   Agriculture, Eat local

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In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan

The postman just delivered this, part of what I spent my Amazon gift certificate I won in the photo contest.  I didn’t mean to order the CDs.  When I realized what I’d done I logged back into Amazon to change it and changed my mind instead.  I can write and listen at the same time.  This is a great story to listen to while I sit here writing the next newspaper column.  That’s due tomorrow but heck, why rush.  I’ve never missed a deadline.  I work well under pressure!

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What’s this?

January 3, 2008   Maine Outdoors

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From my outdoor blog – what’s this?  Do you know?

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Winter Growing & Daylight

January 2, 2008   Agriculture, Cold Weather Growing, Daily Farm Life, Greenhouse, high tunnel, hoop house, Growing Vegetables, Homestead, Winter Farming

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We have another foot of snow this morning. Snowshoes will make getting to my work easier. I can see one side of the greenhouse from the house. Wind kept the snow from building up. Clearing it won’t take long. The seedling house is nt going to be that simple. The roof doesn’t have the peak it needs to shed snow. That’s going to take me a while. Shoveling should be easy work thanks to fluffy snow. After today’s work we get have a break coming.

There isn’t any snow in the 10 day forecast, there is a reasonable amount of sun and the temps are going to be warm. I’ve been researching winter greenhouse growing. For years I’ve read and been told it’s all about day length. This hasn’t made sense to me in the last week or so because my greens are still growing. They were still growing slowly during the shortest daylight of the season. I kept thinking “last time” and being surprised by another cutting the following week. I no longer believe it’s all about day length. The amount of time the sun shines does significantly impact growth but that’s not all there is to this. Warmth matters.

During the shortest days of the season it was warm.  We had a couple of days above freezing.  The poly was clear and it warmed nicely in the greenhouse.  The plants grew nicely.  I wasn’t cutting daily but we were treated to truly fresh vegetables once or twice a week. I expect this to continue for the next 10 days.  I researched more about this yesterday and found a couple of articles.  One claims that living between the 40th and 45th parallel provides enough sunlight in a reasonably sunny winter to grow, not just harvest, twelve months of the year.  The coming cold snaps, probably bitterly cold, will kill a few things.  Others will stop growing and look pathetic but it’s probably very short term.  This is an exciting discovery for me.  It changes the expectations I had and gives me more information to gather.

Farmers must keep an open mind.  Kelly talk about the things she’s learned in the last few years at Sugar Creek Farm.  I’ll always believe that farmers need to share their knowledge.  We can get a better grip on our food supply when we work together by sharing what we know.

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Hello 2008!

January 1, 2008   Agriculture, Daily Farm Life, Winter Farming

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Goodbye 2007.  I thought 2007 would be “my year,” the year I accomplished a lot.  As I often say here, I was wrong.  It was possibly the least productive year of my life.  House construction that I planned my year around didn’t happen.  The field sat almost empty.  Health knocked me for a loop.

My health has been taken care of.  Improvements on the house is different and going slowly.  The seed orders sit on the diningroom table. The next newspaper column is sitting in my head but heck, it’s not due for two days so I’m not rushing. There’s nothing like a deadline to get my adrenaline pumping.  2008 will be a busy, productive, satisfying year.  I’m sure of this.  Mother Nature is going to make sure I start my year off productively.  This morning I’ll deal with yesterday’s 10″ of snow and tomorrow morning I’ll deal with this:
… Another Snow Storm To Affect The Region Late This Afternoon Into Wednesday Morning…

.Low Pressure From The Great Lakes Will Redevelop Over Southern New England This Afternoon And Then Intensify As It Tracks East Northeast Across The Gulf Of Maine Toward Western Nova Scotia Tonight. This System Will Then Continue To Track Into The Eastern Maritimes Wednesday. Another Round Of Snow Will Occur Over The Region Tonight Into Wednesday Morning… With The Heaviest Amounts Again Focused Over Central And Southern Maine.

… Heavy Snow Warning In Effect From 4 PM This Afternoon To 10 AM EST Wednesday…

The National Weather Service In Caribou Has Issued A Heavy Snow Warning… Which Is In Effect From 4 PM This Afternoon To 10 AM EST Wednesday… Replacing The Prior Winter Storm Watch.

Snow Will Overspread The Warning Area Late This Afternoon And Continue Through Tonight… Heavy At Times… Before Tapering Off Wednesday Morning. A Total Of 8 To 14 Inches Of Snow Is Expected By The Time Accumulating Snow Ends. Milder Atlantic Air May Result In Snow Mixing With Sleet And Rain At Times This Evening Into The Overnight Along The Immediate Downeast Coast… Somewhat Lowering Totals There.

This Storm Will Have A Moderate To High Impact On The Warning Area. A Combination Of Heavy Snow And Northeast Winds Of 10 To 20 Mph With Gusts Up To 30 Mph Along The Coast Will Create Hazardous Conditions. Visibilities Will Frequently Be Less Than One Half Mile In Falling Snow With Occasional Blowing And Drifting Snow Causing Near Whiteouts.

The trees are heavy with yesterday’s snow.  A lot of them aren’t going to survive the weight of another foot of snow so I’ll have flashlights and candles out.  We’ll bring in the firewood before the storm starts, clear the bird feeders and get them refilled and make sure our own birds are tucked in safely.  And of course, the snow around and on the greenhouse has to be dealt with again.  The year’s off to a busy start, just the way I like it.

Happy New Year!  May you have a productive, prosperous and satisfying 2008.

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Up Another Tree

December 31, 2007   Homestead

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Once I had ten of the 11 turkeys in I closed up the hen house and barn and went back to the house for a while. I knew everyone would want to see a nondescript turkey sitting in a cherry tree after dark so I grabbed the camera when I went back out. The furnace guys were gone. I’m sure they didn’t see me shaking the dust mop at the birds. They’re locals who know me well enough to laugh at me. The only natural light came from the moon, she’s still in the tree and I’ve added a flash light to juggle. Can this fiasco get any worse! I grabbed the dust mop from the seedling house and follow my tracks through the snow. The plan is to get closer to the cherry tree and shake it with the mop. The trunk is 8″ around but I can do it.

When I looked up I realized she’s turned herself around and if the need comes up she’s going to poop on my head. I’d had enough of this and something had to happen. After tossing down the mop I took a few more steps, grabbed the tree and shook. And shook. She wiggled, squirmed, crouched down and balanced herself with her wings.

“Poop on me and I swear you’ll be on the dinner table!” I meant it at the time but she’s breeding stock. Eating her isn’t a real option. She lost her balance, jumped and flew. AHA! She was going in the right direction. The light was on in the hen house so she could easily see her target. This wasn’t going to be as bad as I expected. It was going to be worse! She flew past the hen house, veered left and landed 15′ up in a 50′ fir tree. No! NO NO NO NO NO! I followed the snowmobile path as far as possible them stepped off into the snow. It’s only a foot deep out back. Yelling at her wasn’t going to get her out of the tree but it might have made me feel better. I threw a snow ball at the branch she was sitting on. I think I saw her laugh when the branch moved a centimeter with the impact of my snow ball. I wasn’t willing to have a back of will I knew I’d lose. I went back to the house and started supper. Steve would have more patience with the situation.

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In the Greenhouse: December 30

December 30, 2007   Agriculture, Cold Weather Growing, Daily Farm Life, Food, Greenhouse, high tunnel, hoop house, Growing Vegetables, Homestead, Winter Farming

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I’ve debated and researched and experimented. I now know why snow has to be cleared from greenhouses in snow-heavy areas. Snow builds up and has no where to go. It stays on the poly. That can’t be allowed.

A warm sunny week provided me with a great surprise today – fresh vegetables! I’ll be picking spinach, three kinds of lettuce, pac choi, tatsoi, kale and beet greens. They’ve grown noticeably. The baby spinach is almost ready to cut but I don’t know when to expect it. I didn’t think anything would be growing now.

Winter Density Lettuce

Tatsoi Center leaves are regrowing.

Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce The outer leaves are the oldest and largest. The cell walls burst when they froze. Notice the younger, smaller leaves are green and healthy. The cell walls are more pliable and don’t burst.

Vole Hole It’s time to set the traps and start feeding the compost pile again. I noticed this afternoon that they’ve been into the bale of straw to get to the few seeds.

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