Bee Swarm

Not sure if you can see the picture well but this is half of one of our hives of honey bees, they decided they wanted some new digs. What an afternoon that was.  The neatest part of the whole story I wasn't able to catch with my camera. 

I was canning chicken broth and stepped outside to check on our garlic bulbs when I heard, what I thought was a large number of flies.....that was until I looked up and discovered the bees in flight. I ran into the house to tell my son who takes care of the bees.  They finally settled about 25 feet up in one of the cedar trees we have in the back yard.  Not a very convenient place to get to them.  By that time my husband and other son were rousted and we were all gathering new frames and materials needed to try and capture them. My husband was not real excited about our son climbing a ladder that high to get the swarm.  We began to pray and with in 10 minutes the bees swarmed away from the cedar and ended up on the fence post in this picture.  How cool is that?

 

This is a picture of my son dumping the  bees into their new home.  My husband was lending a helping hand, yes dressed like that!   I guess the biggest issue with a swarm is to try and get the queen without injuring her when you gather the bees.  She gives off a scent that attracts the bees to her. So if you get the queen the other bees just go where she is. Sounds easy but I'm glad it wasn't me doing the dumping.

In the following pictures the bees are being dumped in front of the hive (on a white sheet) where they are marching up the sheet and into their new home.............because the queen is in there.  In the last picture you can see only a few bees left on the sheet.

 

The bees are settled into their new home and have drawn out their comb.  They are busy making honey for winter.  We have had to feed them to get them started and are bummed about not getting much honey this year but we do have another hive. Now to prepare them for and to get them through winter.

 

Makes me think of the old adage, "Don't count your chickens before they hatch".  Such is farm life, you never know what your going to get.  Makes me appreciate the times of plenty, the times of beauty, and the times of wonder even more. Oh, and where there are losses there will be gains in other areas.



 

 

Saving money by Saving Tomato Seeds

How much do you spend on organic, heirloom seeds or plants every year? If you love planting heirlooms and having a variety in your garden like we do, it can get quite expensive.  Unless I want to try a new variety, it costs me nothing to re-produce beautiful plants from year to year.

Our tomato plants are going gangbusters this year and I am making lots and lots of salsa this week.  If you want to read a post on salsa go here http://raf6.blogspot.com/2012/06/chow-chow-and-salsa.html  At some point in the season  I save some seeds to use next spring and since I already had all the tomatoes out for the salsa, what better time to pick the biggest and nicest looking ones to save seeds from.

Tomatoes don't cross pollinate with other tomato plants you may have in your garden so you can count on getting the tomato you want. You do however, need to make sure you are saving seeds from heirloom tomatoes since hybrids won't produce the same kind of tomato the next year.

Start by picking the biggest, best looking tomato of the variety you want to save and slicing into the seed cavity.  Place seeds and some juice from the tomato into a bowl and let sit out for a couple of days.  Rinse with spring water (not chlorinated) and place seeds on a paper towel to dry.  Once dry place in a cool dry location until spring.....oh, and make to sure to label them or you will end up with tomatoes called Mystery Tomato........a brand we have that produces well for canning.  :-0

Around here in April

Can we safely say that spring has finally sprung?  The ornamental cherry trees are blooming, they are very beautiful.  Unfortunately they only  last a few days before they start loosing their petals and grow leaves for summer.  I like to walk out and soak up the spring energy.  You feel everything vibrating and growing if you stand still and close your eyes for a few minutes.

The chickens have been in their outside pens for a couple of weeks.  Everyone (people and chicken) is much happier for it.  Before we know it we will be putting them in the freezer!

This is a picture of the greenhouse foundation getting started.......it's really going to happen!!  We have been cultivating the gardens and planting all kinds of vegetables.  Won't be long before we get our first sun-kissed vegetable.

The front is almost wrapped up and looks really nice.  You Rock Pat and Ian!!

Cedar tree murder

It was a sad day around here.  We had to cut down a cedar tree in our pasture since it was leaning and it increased it's lean every rain storm this spring. It looked like we were going to lose it anyways.  Instead of a big hole in the ground with huge roots sticking up or the cedar falling on our goats or cows, we decided that we needed to be pro-active and chop it down.





Now getting your chain saw out and revving it up to chop down a tree is really cool if your a guy.......as for me, I spent the few short minutes it took to saw it down in prayer that no one would get hurt.

We all stood around that tree about in tears.  It took a lot of years for it to get as big as it did to provide shade and shelter for human and animal alike and in no time at all it was destroyed.

So now we will have plenty of kindling and fire wood to keep us warm next winter and the goats have a new "toy" to jump on.

Around the farm~March 2013

Spring is right around the corner in our neck of the woods.  We have been pretty busy for a few weeks but the pace is picking up a bit.  We have a ton of projects going, babies coming to the farm or being born, gardening chores, and milk, milk, milk.  I thought you might like to see a couple of the projects we are doing this month.

 This is a row of onions, I hope they turn out as nice as my onions last year.  We are now finishing up the bags I chopped and froze.

This is Violet.  She was a surprise.  Her Momma has a way of giving birth secretly AND quickly!  We went out to the barn to check on her Momma and there she was.  We brought her in to warm her up, Bella our dog loves to be part of the action so she was helping us take care of Violet.  Violet is now capering about the barnyard (when she isn't sleeping) causing all kinds of havoc.

 Ian refinished this bench for me and surprised me by having it hanging on the porch when I came home one day.  I really, really like sitting on this bench while I watch the comings and goings around here.  The really neat thing is this bench was a gift to us when our quadruplets were born.  I was on the porch of our old house.  I have a few pictures of our kids a toddlers sitting on this bench.  Now they can't all fit on it at the same time.  Maybe I will rock a grand baby on this bench one day.  Thank Ian, you are my hero!

 Connor, the morning he picked up his 75 meat birds.

This is the new water line to the barn and front yard.  As well as a new water pump at the barn, I get new walkways and landscaping off the front porch.  Can't wait to plant!

We have been planting onions and some other cool season crops.  I ordered a few more fruit trees ans planted them.  We have been working on mulching some garden areas. We really need to get the barns cleaned out for summer but I guess that will come.

Pastured poultry~the beginning

The Cornish rocks have arrived and made it safely into the brooder Connor put together for them.  This will be their home for the next 2-4 weeks until they go to a bigger home in the pasture for finishing.  We lost 7 in transit so we have replacements coming next week,  not sure where they will go.

You can't see in the picture but I also purchased 8 red comets to add to my flock of laying hens this year, that makes 78 birds in this picture with 25 more coming next week.  Yowza!  Good thing we like to eat what we grow and share some extra with our CSA friends.

Here they are the morning of arrival looking like cute, fluffy Easter Chicks.  Unfortunately by Easter they will have feathers and not be so cute anymore.  More updates to come as they grow.

Meet Miss Adelaide

 

Introducing Miss Adelaide or Addie for short.  Miss Addie has come to live with us this week.  She is still very tiny and still a baby and she is very cute, right now.  You may be asking why we need another dog since this is what I have been asking myself as well.  

Pheobe, our white and black Cathoula that we purchased last spring has severe hip dysplasia which was diagnosed when she was 6 months old.  We called the breeder and asked for a refund or a replacement since Pheobe was so bad.  This was Rachel's "I sold my horse and want to purchase a puppy" money so we felt very bad for her thinking that she purchased this puppy and we would have to put her down in the near future.

The breeder offered us pick of the litter with the next litter.........so here we are with three (yes three) dogs.  Pheobe is still with us and will be for a while yet.  She has good days and some bad days.  Mostlly when she goes out and runs around a lot the day before.

Did I mention that Addie will be guarding our goats one day.  That is what I keep saying but I'm not sure that anyone is listening.  Meanwhile she is settling in and starting to let Phoebe know who is boss.

Roosters bite

I really, really dislike Rhode Island Red roosters.  They tend to get very aggressive and protective of their little flock of hens.  When that happens you had better watch out and you had better carry a very big stick.  We had Rhode Island's a few years ago but no more.  The hens are good layers but we were only ever able to keep a rooster until his 1st birthday before he got mean and ugly.
                          

"Big Red"  was the last RIR rooster we have ever had.  He decided to pick a fight with me one day when I wasn't looking and ended up in the pot by sunset.  Boy did I ever enjoy the chicken and biscuits that night.

As you can see by the picture he got all froggy on me and "spurred" my leg.  The puncture was3/4 of an inch deep and took a tetanus shot, two different oral antibiotics, and all summer to heal up.  You should have heard me trying to explain to the nurse why I needed to come in to be seen.  She kept saying, "your rooster bit you?".......no, my (soon to be dead rooster) spurred me!!!


If you ever decide to get chickens or already have them, be very careful if you have Rhode Island Reds.

Bottle babies ~Layla's twins

Meet Layla's Twins.  The doeling is on the left and the buckling is on the right.  We decided to bottle feed these guys since we won't be keeping them.  We are hoping to sell them as bottle babies.  What that means is that tonight they are in the house and have been getting colostrum (first milk) that we milked from their Momma about every two hours.  Luckily most baby goats sleep all night so we don't have to get up and feed them.  Tomorrow we will feed them 4-5 times during the day,  the next day 4 times a day for about a week then three times a day for a month or so before we drop it to twice a day.  We are hoping that we won't have them that long though.

Our kids were at college when Layla decided it was time so my husband was forced into action.  He did great helping me dry the babies and introducing them to their Momma.

The little buckling had quite a bit of fluid in his lungs and Pat had to help me hang him upside down to drain it out.  For a little bit I didn't know if he was going to make it.






We disbud the babies anywhere between 2 days old and 2 weeks old.  It still amazes me that there is such a difference in the bucks horn buds and the does.  The little bucks come out with horn buds that need to be burnt off in the first few days and the little girls horns are tiny and not really ready to be burnt until a week or better.  We learned early on that it is better to do them earlier than later, especially if you don't want scurs.  This is not a fun job but it goes quick and the babies are nursing their Momma's or bottles in just a few minutes and have forgotten what just occurred.

Rosies twins are busy romping around the barnyard and bouncing off the walls of the barn.  It is so much fun to watch them play.

Funny thing happened with Rosie and Peppa (our big Alpine herd queen) the day after she gave birth.  Seems Peppa picked a fight with Rosie and they bashed heads for 20 minutes.  Peppa lost the caps off her horns and was all bloody before she decided to give up.  Rosie is the boss now......it is so funny to see Peppa slinking about the barnyard in fear.  One good thing that has come of it is that Dora (the low goat on the totem pole) now gets to eat hay and hang out in the barn without any issues from Peppa.  You go Rosie girl, you rock!

~Dexter's~

 Meet Boo AKA Booger our newest friend here at Raisin Acres.  She is four years old and due to calve in May/June.  Behind her is Joy AKA Paprika.  She was born in June of last year and right now is sad and getting used to not having her Mommy.  Another way to say it is she is being weaned. 

 Boo and Joy are headed out to the field to get some grazing in.  We are milking Boo twice a day to get her used to us before she freshens.  Her milk is very tasty and I can't wait to make some butter from the cream.  I might have to wait until June but that is ok.  Good things come to those who wait, or so I have heard.

The goats are quite afraid of them right now but they seem to be warming up a little.  Here Peppa is trying to figure out "what it is".

Fall days

We had another frost last night.  The days are marching into winter quickly now.  We have cleaned out most of our garden beds, re-planted cool season crops, and generally prepared the beds for spring.  By January I will be wistfully looking through seed catalogs and my gardening books.  We still have Swiss chard, carrots, parsley, and lettuce in the garden.  I am going to have to cover it at night very shortly to try and extend the season a bit.  I really dislike buying lettuce in the store.

We have been having in fun in the leaves from our maple tree out front.  The girl's were so inspired that they had a little photo shoot out there.

They actually took some nice pictures but this was a fun one to share with y'all.

The goats are getting fat and sassy as well as putting on thinker coats for winter.  The new pullets  or should I say hens are having fun digging through our compost on the garden.  This isn't pleasing to my husband who spread the compost and will have to get it back on the garden.

 This is Dora

 This is Jazmin or "Jazzie"

My parents came for a visit and brought apples.  We love apples around here and eat a lot of them fresh.  We also make apple sauce, apple butter, and dry them for later use as a snack.  I have been working on getting some of them dried for winter and spring eating.

We have another batch of rabbits and more on the way at the end of the month.  They are so cute when they are little, after they get fur of course.










We are going to have a stretch of weather that is in the 60's and 70's and I can't wait.  I have my list of outside chores all lined up.  The fresh fall air is so nice.

Predator

Here is my hubby with a coyote he shot out back.  We were out milking when our daughter spotted something in the upper field.  With the scope on the gun, we were able to determine that it was a coyote hunting for mice in the field.  Thankfully we spotted him before he decided to go for our chickens or goats.  I am so amazed at what a good shot my husband is...he shot him at 150 yards first shot.  Granted when the boys went up to check on him he got up and started running away with his insides hanging out.....they were able to put him down quickly with one more shot.  It always make me sad to shoot one of these critters but it is kill them or lose your livestock to them.  I would prefer to keep the animals we raise and labor over, thank you very much.

 By the way this guy weighed 45 pounds and was fully capable of taking down Jazzie our young Alpine.

Fall and planting garlic

Fall is here and with the cooler days and nights we are feeling an urgency to get the garlic planted, the gardens beds cleared, and some of the outside projects that we have been putting off done.

I love the smells and colors of fall.  We are at peak this week in my little part of the world.  I have been driving and walking around trying to soak up the beauty around me.  I want to store it up for the long brown days of winter that lay ahead.  Don't get me wrong, winter is nice for the slower pace and time you have to reflect and plan for the next growing season.  I just have issues with less daylight hours, colder/wet weather, and the tapestry of browns that canvass the landscape in winter.  So, for now I will spend as much time as I can enjoying this season....maybe stopping the pace of life to sip a warm cup of tea and inhale the fresh, crisp air before it is too late.

We planted (Pat and the boys) 4 different kinds of garlic this year.  Pat has decided to take over the garlic raising, he has put a lot of thought and effort into it.  I am pretty proud of him and can't wait to see the finished product next summer.  We are thinking that is we have plenty, we might try to sell it from the farm or at the farmer's market next year.

The garlic came in net bags with labels.  When you plant garlic, you have to break up the heads and plant the individual cloves.  We sort the cloves and only plant the larger ones.  "Big cloves produce nice size heads of garlic", or so we are told.  In my experience it also depends on the year as far as weather, the bed they are planted in, and how they are cared for.  Garlic is one crop that is pretty easy to plant, grow, and care for.

Here is a picture of Connor planting a row of garlic.  Notice the white string that is attached to stakes that is helping him plant a straight line?  This is something I love about Pat, he is very thorough about any job he does.  Me, on the other hand would have raked up the bed and eye-balled a straight line while I was planting.  My rows aren't always too straight.  What can I say?








Here is another picture of Connor getting to clean up after me.  That was one big pile of mint and roots I pulled out of the flower bed.

I will have to see what other yard chores we need to complete before the cold weather really hits.