Friday, June 14, 2013

Snappers!


We’ve had a lot of rain and that always signals the snapping turtles to begin. Walking, crawling, prowling, courting, stalking. I was doing chores day before yesterday and as I went through the goat yard gate I noticed something by my poo bucket. I keep an empty 5 gallon bucket looped over a fence pole to help me clean out stalls. (It doesn’t do much.)

Huddled down into the grass was this “small” snapping turtle. His shell was about the size of a dinner plate. He hissed and carried on like a two year old when I scooped him up in the bucket and dumped him in a galvanized tub in the back of ZuZu (farm truck). My thought was to show him to H2…my grandson. (Henry #2..actually he’s #3 but he’s #2 in his household!!) He relates to any wild thing. It brings out his own internal wildness and I mean that in a most natural good way.

This is H2 several years ago..he still fishes and he still has that big smile. Oh, and he has teeth now.

I went to town and when I got back to the farm the turtle had not only escaped the confines of the tub, he had managed to get out of the truck bed and continued his walk-about. The creek borders our property so I imagine that’s where he came from and whence he returned. I’m thankful he didn’t get one of my cats or chickens in those jaws.

Today PT Patti Petunia and I were cruising down the road and this gigantic snapper was right in the middle of my lane. There was oncoming traffic so swerving was out of the question. So I slowed down to a crawl and straddled him so as not to hit him with a tire. He was so large as I went over him the back of that prehistoric shell clunked all along the underside of PT Patti. It sounded like I was going over a boulder. In my rearview mirror he stuck out that long neck and stared at me. If looks could kill.

I’m counting the days till two of my does, Polly and Becky, have their kids. I separate them at night from the rest of my herd. This morning I was just certain I had a baby because neither of them were up yet. But, no. They were just sleeping in, which my goats do often. They can be such sleepy heads. I’ve had to wake them up to milk! So, not like chickens—I hear that cockadoodledoo every morning just before daybreak. It’s so nice to smile before your eyes are even open. I love the farm.

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Comings and Goings...


The last two weeks have been a whirlwind of activity surpassing even our usual schedule.

We had our first Integrated Pest Management Workshop. We were thrilled by the great attendance. Our speakers from Lincoln university were knowledgeable and so very willing to help with anyone's "pest" problem. Read all about it HERE Click on SARE Research Study.

It involves beneficial insect plantings, sacrifice plants and chicken tractors. Now how could you not be interested in that!

My little sick hen went to the Great Chicken Yard In The Sky. She gave it her best but just couldn't pull through. I partially blame myself because she spent that night out in the cold rain after she was getting better.

I was asked a question about the apple cider vinegar. It was an ingredient in my health potion. No, it's purpose is not as a sort of smelling salt. The organic components of the ACV are health promoting and life giving. Watch for details at my other blog Nana Earth.

Farmers Market is booming. I just love being with like-minded folks. It's energizing. For those of you in the Kansas City area, drop by: Bad Seed Farmers Market 1909 McGee KC on Fridays 4 to 9 pm. It's a happening organic market..you're gonna love it. And, stop by my booth for World's Best Eggs. Their production is overseen by Mable, Queen of her Kingdom.

This is my little sweetheart, Mable. She loves attention. Read some Mable stories HERE.

Remember my camera saga? Well I have lots of new photos on it, but haven't had time to download the software on my computer. Soon....

Part of my extra activity has been to go to the Iowa Sheep-Fiber doings in Des Moines. My daughter gave me a male Angora bunny for Mother's Day (ADORABLE) He was born on St Patricks Day so I named him "Sean Patrick "Paddy" O'Hara. (Again, photos in my camera!)

I plan to spin the bunny fiber so we thought it would be a grand adventure to go to the fiber-festival. We took a class to learn all about Angora bunnies. It's quite different than raising regular rabbits and I look forward to getting a female.

FarmBoy Gary is going to add on to my bunny complex.

I'm sure I've mentioned loosing half my garden to the freaky hard-freeze in May. I did replant with what I had in my greenhouse, Sprout, but it didn't fill all the spaces. A friend of mine has thousands of extra plants so I made a trip to his place and brought home literally a Patti-car-load of plants.

This is PT Patti Petunia. She's a purple PT Cruiser and I can PACK her FULL. I mean FULL. This photo is at a farmers market.

So, now, my task is laid before me...plant, plant, plant.
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