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Hi Everyone,
Last week started with rain and it ended with rain. Monday morning we were very grateful for the new concrete at the milking parlor so we didn’t have to deal with the cows standing in the mud. Once the cows were milked and Steve was done feeding and moving the chickens we gathered in the warm and dry milk house to cream the milk. When that was all done I have to admit that all we really wanted to do was curl up on the sofa and read a good book. The time change and the rain sure didn’t make for energetic farmers! By the time lunch was over the rain was too. Papa spent the afternoon on the tractor spraying out our homemade fertilizer (skim milk, water and EM-1). Steve, Mom and I picked up rocks in the back field from the workers moving dirt around for the new concrete pad. Then we pulled out the lawn mowers and the weed eater and went to work getting the area around the Poultry Kitchen all cleaned up—we do start processing in two weeks. I was assigned to push mow between the Tool Shed and the Poultry Kitchen—but I managed to get majorly sidetracked (half my fault and half Papa’s fault). You see, when we had the Poultry Kitchen built we had to take down a portion of fence, and when we had the lean-to put on the hay barn we had to take down another portion of that fence. The only portion of the fence left was ten feet in front of the Tool Shed that was attached to the gate—which no longer served a purpose since the fence was all gone. So I decided that it was time to take down the rest of the fence so that I could mow the area. As I was looking for the necessary tools I found out that milk had spilled out of one of the skim milk buckets as Papa was carrying it out of the milk house cooler—so I offered to clean it up for him. His mess led to me cleaning up a few more sections of the cooler floor that needed some serious cleaning. By the time I got back to the area I was supposed to be mowing, Steve had finished his weed eating and had taken over the push mower—and had my section all mowed. I wasn’t complaining, for now I could focus even more on removing the fence. I had Steve help me take the gate off the hinges and carry it over to the lean-to in order to get it out of the way. We then worked with the weed eater and the push mower to get the grass mowed down from where the fence had been—but we also had to do some mighty ant mound removals. We used lots of water and Dawn Dish soap to wash away the ants and their homes. The area looks a lot nicer. This week we shall have to work on cleaning up the inside of the Poultry Kitchen—getting the rest of the plants out and washing everything down.
Tuesday afternoon after the milking, bottling kefir, making yogurt, putting together all the orders and answering emails, and packaging eggs was done—I headed to the garden to mulch the mullein bed. Mullein is a furry leafed herb that is great for bronchial problems—and after a few rounds of Covid last year my supply is getting low. I planted one plant in the garden fourteen years ago and since then it does a good job of coming up here and there as weeds—top secret medicinal herb plants. I mark their spots in my mind so that I can find them when it is time to harvest their leaves and dry them for future use. While they do come up wild, I like to start a seed tray sometime in October by shaking one of the dried out flower stalks (that are full of seeds) over a seed tray full of dirt. Then whatever sprouts, I pot up and then once they are big enough I plant out in the garden. So last month we transplanted about ten or twelve of them and they are doing great—but the sprinklers are splashing dirt all over the leaves. Furry leaves are not easy to wash, so I need to keep them as clean as possible. We had some old straw so I grabbed a bale and headed to the garden to spread it around the mullein plants to keep them nice and clean. Then I harvested some collards for the Jacksonville deliveries and some Swiss chard for dinner.
I may not have gotten the chance Monday afternoon to curl up on the sofa and read a good book—but I did get that chance Wednesday afternoon. Once the cows are milked, the orders are all packed and I am done teaching piano lessons then Wednesday afternoons are pretty laid back. They give us a chance to relax and recharge. Now that the days are longer the evening chores are not that big for me. Steve gathers the eggs before he goes home, so I just have to lock up the ducks and bring the sheep back out of the field to the barn area for the night. Poor Papa though has to go outside and lock up the chickens and feed the dogs after he gets home from the Jacksonville deliveries and we eat dinner—because it is still daylight when he gets home and the chickens do not go to bed until dusk.
We have been getting a shipment of baby chicks every other week since the last week of January. We bring in 70 Cornish-cross meat chicks every two weeks from February to September or October. This helps us to keep chicken in stock year round without having to process too many at a time—although we didn’t order enough last year because we ran out one month before we start processing again this year. A few weeks ago we got a shipment of 100 Red sex-link laying hen chicks. This will help us to increase our egg supply, but they will not start laying eggs until July or August—just in time for back to school. Last week we got a shipment of 20 Khaki Campbell ducklings. We have way more orders every week than 10 ducks can possibly supply—so it was time to increase our flock. Mom went to the Post Office right after breakfast Friday morning and came home with the littlest box. I was so surprised to know that all 20 ducklings were inside. You can see for yourself here.
Mom had one goal Thursday—to spend at least an hour in the garden weeding. Penny was not here because she had to go take care of her Mother, therefore we had to wash up the milking equipment before we could go to the garden—which meant it was after lunch before we made it to the garden. The cattle trailer was full of soiled hay from delivering the last heifer so Papa cleaned it out and then pressure washed the floor—since it is all new you got to keep it clean! Once the trailer was all cleaned up Steve, Mom and I came up to help Papa park it in the new lean-to. Do to the slopes of the land the roof is not quite tall enough for the tractor to fit into the new lean-to—a problem that wasn’t noticed until the project was done. Oops! Therefore things couldn’t get parked the way we imagined, but there were still other options—like instead of parking the trailer in the lean-to from the east side, you park it in from the north side. On the north side there are two openings—one is ten feet wide and the other is eleven and a half feet wide. We started with the ten foot wide space—which gave us one foot of extra space on either side of the trailer. We also found a problem with using the north side—the fence is so close that it makes backing the trailer in very difficult. Papa did a lot of backing up and pulling forward, and we did a lot of Stop! Turn the other way! Stop! Stop! Stop! It would have been much easier if Papa could have seen where he was going, but it is impossible to see around the trailer so he had to rely on our eyes. After a good 15 to 20 minutes we all gave up—it was truly impossible to park the cattle trailer in the new lean-to. We went up to the house and we talked and I decided that it would be fun to at least park everything else in the barn—and there was no better time than the present. Before we started with the hay bailer, the hay mower, and the flatbed trailer we decided to give the cattle trailer one more try—and this time in the bigger spot on the north side. (It is 7:00 p.m. and I must interrupt this journal in order to go outside to do the evening chores since Papa is gone for the evening). It is 90 minutes later and I am back—now back to our story . . . Parking the cattle trailer in the other opening went much better—even though there were still quite a few Stop! Go to the right! Go to the left! Then Papa parked the flat bed in the smaller opening and he could see what he was doing with that and it went much easier. The next thing to park was the hay baler, and the last thing was the hay cutter. It was 5:30 by the time I got inside to cook dinner and since meatloaf was on the menu I changed the menu because it was too late to cook a meatloaf.
Friday morning when Mom got home from picking up the ducks she filmed a short video of them and then she joined me in the milking parlor so we could get all the cows milked. Then there were customers to take care of and kefir to bottle before we could load up in the van and head back to town. Mom and I had some shopping to do, and we needed to get home early enough so that Papa could take the van in for an oil change. Well, our first stop after the bank was Lowe’s Garden Center. Mom wanted some flowers and plants for the courtyard planters—an old metal water trough and a wooden half-barrel. May I say that picking out flowers took a LONG time? Well it did! Once our BIG metal cart was full we checked out and headed off to our other stops—one being Tractor Supply of which we found to be totally remodeled with an addition of a Gardening Center. So of course that took us a little longer—not to mention that we then had to find where everything was in the newly arranged store. Then we had to go to the other side of town to pick up some honey for a friend and then head back across town to get a few things at Publix. It was now 3:30 and Papa was calling to see where we were at. We scratched off getting wood chips and pots for fruit trees at Home Depot and told him that we had one stop left and that we would be home by 4:15. I flew through Publix and yes, we were home by 4:15. When we arrived another farmer had just pulled up and we spent the next hour and forty-five minutes talking with him. He wanted to see the sheep, so before he left we walked out to the sheep and looked around. It was 6:00 now and I had yogurt to make before I could start dinner. The ground beef was still sitting in the fridge waiting to be turned into a meatloaf—but meatloaves take 20 minutes to prep and an hour to cook and when you hit the kitchen at 6:30 you scratch meatloaf from your menu.
As I said we finished the week out with more rain—but only half an inch. We got 4 inches the beginning of the week. We did spend some time resting—and I took a nap. Then a customer came and I went outside to take care of them, and Mom got up and decided that we would spend the rest of our afternoon in the kitchen—but not baking and cooking. The fridge needed to be cleaned out and organized. It took us quite a few hours to turn a small fridge mess into a large kitchen mess, and then into a clean and organized fridge and kitchen.
So another week has come and gone, and another week has already begun—and Spring officially begins this week.
Serving you with Gladness,
Tiare