Blind Hog and Acorn have been busy busy- composting, gardening, lighting, welding … Even if it means eating a big lunch then falling promptly to sleep for 90 minutes…
Garden is in the process of being planted, kidding has about ended. Had to make a run for conduit so acorn could have hoops to support the floating row covers for the bed she planted today.
Morels have begun to pop out, Sam the Farm Dog has a new backpack. Listen in and see what else has been going on…
Of course, when you check the air in one tire you automatically want to check the air in ALL the tires, right? Well, maybe wrong- especially if you are checking air in fluid-filled tires and the valve has corroded. Acorn found this out the hard way and long story short, a tractor tire valve had to be replaced, STAT!
Good news is that all went fine, except for the 38 miles out and back but it was a lovely late afternoon.
Busy week on the farm; selling goats, stringing out grazing areas in the paddocks, checking eggs for progress in the incubator, baking cookies.
Happy Easter from the Farm!
Sunday’s podcast tells how Acorn is incubating all sorts of ideas to make farm dollars, literally and figuratively. 14 goose eggs are in an incubator, and 2 doz chicken eggs to go into the other. Plus, pending goat and heifer sales, let the good times roll!
Blind Hog continues progress working on the wall sculpture commission, so that is also most excellent.
Lacking only 5 more goats to kid, “piss or get off the pot!” Acorn is getting a bit tired of waiting on the stragglers, but stragglers they are. These girls must have just gone out of heat when the bucks went in, so you can figure 4 weeks after the first kids hit the ground, so there you go.
Has been a lovely first week of Spring, but wait- snow and subfreezing temps in the forecast in a few days. Always something…
Podcast dropping 3/21/2021: First day of spring on the farm and how cold was it??? 23F!!! Crazy! Good news is that it will be warmer next couple weeks, so that will be helpful for the new baby goats- up to 41 total now- is a field of popping white kidlets out in the field.
Blind Hog and Acorn have been doing the usual chores, setting out hay, counting the kids. Even started back on that sculpture friends Glen and Becky desire. Acorn could not help giving Blind Hog a hard time about “studio help…”
Pasture rotation will be more of a priority in 2021, keep the herds moving and make the most of the available forage. The more you move, the better it is. If you have the time of course and time is what we have plenty of.
Acorn has been dusting off her caprine midwifery skills, Blind Hog has been Master Electrician. As of now, 21 kids on the ground! Episode 11 airs Sunday morning, 3/14! Pi Day!
Bottle kids are cute, but not desired. They wrap around your ankles worse than cats. A set of 3 lb twins born- will see if they will pull on through. Is almost time to give them another bit of colostrum- they cannot stand yet to nurse, so any assistance now will help them down the road.
Ethel the Goose has begun to lay- using her older eggs for baked goods. Eventually she will go broody and hopefully hatch out some, but for now she lays lays lays... 20-40 perhaps!
Been working on one of the pickups to sell- is in the shop now as my initial fuel filter replacement was not quite enough…
Time to go give the new kids a bit of bottle!
Let the pigeons fly! 2021 Kidding, Round 2 has begun! Old Fawn, 10 yrs old popped out twins.
What more did Blind Hog and Acorn get up to this week? The usual chores, plus plumbing and electric repairs.
Weather is nice, but it turned out all the crazies in the Big City. Lawdy- all the wrecks, all the people. Shopping is not a delight but something to be done in the early weekday mornings- not on a Sunny Saturday afternoon!
The sap run was short and sweet! Acorn figures it was actually a false run, brought on by the Polar Vortex. Two weeks of below freezing temps forced the sap back down, and when the temps warmed up, up came the sap. Good enough for two quarts total of finished syrup. Impressive, especially if you think of the 40:1 sap to syrup ratio!
Goats in the dairy barn are all kidded out, now is kidding time for the commercial and Spanish goats. The old goat barn has been prepped, all good to go.
Acorn had to get out of bed at 10:30 pm to eliminate a varmint in the hen house that killed another hen. Sam got skunk sprayed. Blind Hog got his first Fauchi Ouchie. All in all, a typical week on the farm!
The Polar Vortex is winding down, cold air receding, and temps actually creeping above freezing. Hot Damn! (Episode #8 goes live 2/21!)
Blind Hog and Acorn have continued to soldier on- feeding the livestock, waiting for baby goats- expected and unexpected.
Fortunate for running water and electricity, however plans are in the works for “yet more farm improvements…” There is always room to make things run better, smoother, and to be prepared for outages of one sort or another.
Good news about the increased temperatures is that trees were tapped today for syrup, and Acorn saw sap collecting in the jugs! Amazing! Boiling it down will only yield a few ounces, but OH! What a treat it will be!
The polar vortex is upon the farm. Single digit highs, minus “whatevers”at night. And snow… And gusting north winds… And yes, dairy kids being born!
Verdandi had twin bucklings, both weighing in over 10lbs each- which is pretty darn impressive. They need that size to help them get through the cold in the dairy barn. Acorn made Verdandi an insulated “goat fort.” Verdandi is pleased.
Blind Hog and Acorn have been trying their best to deal with electrical resistance, amperage, wattage calculations. Working on electric lines from the house to the dairy barn, at midnight, in the 5F cold is a great way to kick off Valentine’s Day…
Good news is that (knock wood) they have everything under control. (knock wood louder…)
Acorn baked more brownies. Why the hell not? Calories are being burned and two farmers need refueling!
Intrepid farmers will be tapping walnut trees by the end of the week- black walnut syrup is the goal. Spiles and tubing purchased, just need a day above freezing to drill the trees. It will get above freezing again, right?
Oy! Blind Hog and Acorn have readied the farm for the upcoming hard, deep freeze. One day might have highs in the single digits and lows? Minus whatever… Been there, done that- they know what they need to do.
Of course, the dairy goats might go into labor next week when the vortex settles in- let’s hope not!
Blind Hog has been Mr Electrician, wiring in the new receptacles for the welder and plasma cutter. Acorn has been busy doing other stuffs, including kidding pen set-up and freeze-proof watering for the geese, chickens, goats and cows. All is ready!
Zucchini bread is a great way to use that shredded summer squash you loaded in the freezer. You DID shred and freeze surplus squash, right? Recipe link is here..
BTW- Acorn fixed the microphone issue from last week, just a matter of the input source being changed after the computer did a system upgrade- back to the desired settings!
That Florida Run of 2000 brought back all kinds of memories. We have had our share of harsh winters, seems the temps are colder and the precip is markedly less here in the Ozarks than it was back in Boone.
