First Snow of the Season

Hyacinth & Harriet

Daisy Mae - 8 mos.

After 2 1/2 days and almost 4 inches of rain, it finally turned to snow....but it is turning back to rain.  The piggies have been staying dry by curling up together in one of the pig huts.  We opened up the pasture to the cows so they could find a less wet place to lay down.  The Highlands are used to cold weather and have a thick coat but we don't want them to have to lie down in puddles of water in the cold.  We are going to bring up a rolled bale of hay today to supplement the hay in the pasture.  With all this rain they need some nice dry hay to eat. 

We canned pumpkin and turkey soup the other day.  I laughed to myself when I saw people rushing out to get bread, milk and toilet paper yesterday....the snow never even stuck to the road.  We make our own bread now (or I should say Cris makes it) and when the cows start producing milk, we will have that as well.  Our grocery bills have gone down already as well as our dining out bills.  Our last dining out bill was about $18.00.  We did splurge and have sushi a couple weeks ago but most of the time we spend about $20, maybe once a week.  Cris is such a good cook that there is no reason to eat out.  The other night we had risotto with mushrooms that we picked ourselves and he used the broth from the turkey for the risotto liquid.  The salad was from our garden and he makes really good homemade vinaigrette's as dressing.  Seems we spend more money on feed for the animals than we do on ourselves.  That bill will go down once we get the pigs in the woods to eat acorns and the grass turns green in the spring for the cows. 

Thanksgiving Weekend

Left to Right:  Baby Daddy (boar), 4 piglets (all sisters), Big Momma (pregnant Sow)

Cris and I both took the Wednesday before Thanksgiving off to get some extra farm work done.  I gave the house a much needed dusting and think I am finally getting a handle on the farm dust...but, don't get me started on the mud.  Three days of rain makes for some major mud.  We really need a sidewalk and driveway that goes to the carport that has not been built yet.  It's on the list.  For now I put plastic grocery bags on my shoes to get to the car when it's too muddy out.

Alex was here for Thanksgiving and he enjoyed playing with the dogs, cows and the newest addition to our farm....the pigs.  We welcomed a pregnant sow (this will be her 2nd litter of pigs), a boar (he is NOT the father of the upcoming pigs) and 4 female piglets (all sisters but not related to the boar or sow).  The boar will be able to breed with all the females and any female pigs born to the sow since he is not related to any of them.  We set up an area in the main fenced field for the pigs.  The boar and sow came off the truck just fine and settled in to their pen.  The piglets were terrified and took off in 4 different directions....right under the electric fence.  Thanks to the efforts of 3 dogs, 4 humans and a utility vehicle, we eventually rounded them all up and put them in the 10x10 dog kennel for a few days to get used to the area.  Teddy the Wheaten Terrier was great at rounding up the pigs when they ran off and he was able to get three of them to stay put long enough for us to grab them.  Unfortunately, Nugget, the labradoodle is not a fan of the piglets and we had an incident two days ago when Nugget got into the dog pen and went after the piglets.  He had a hold of one by the neck and was shaking it.  Piglets scream something awful too.  We have a shock collar on Nugget now and Cris had to shock him a few times on the highest power to finally get him off the pig.  Two of the piglets ran out of the dog pen and went straight for the sow and boar in their pen....so we put some medicine on the bite marks on the hurt pig and then put the remaining two in with the big pigs. That is where they are now and seem happy to be there.  We added a very low electric line to keep them in the pen and they have already learned to respect the fencing.  They are really so cute.  The sow is expected to delivery the first of January which means Cris may have to come home early from Maryland in December but we will play that by ear.  Cris made a 'farrowing pen' for momma pig .... he wants to paint a stork on it with a piglet in the handkerchief.

The cows are doing great and we are able to pet Harriet and Zinnia now as well of Hyacinth.  We move them to a new field about every third day and the pigs get moved about every 3-4th day too.  When we get chickens they will follow the pigs and cows.  They will scatter the manure and eat all the bugs.  It is so nice to be able to use our food scraps to supplement the pigs food. Nothing goes to waste around here...if they pigs can't eat it, then the worms do.  

We are still working on the fence...that will be a long term process.  We want to fence in the perimeter of the pond next so we can put the pigs in there to dig up the area we want to clear and also, pigs love, love, love acorns and there are plenty to be found in the woods.

Our friend, Larry came over last Sunday to hunt.  He got here around 6am, got settled in around 6:30am and shot a buck around 7am!  I watched his friend field dress the deer and I want to try and do it myself the next time Larry comes out and gets a deer or if Cris gets one.  It wasn't as gross as I thought it would be.

Cris scared me today and he got a stern talking to about ATV safety.  Daisy had walked down towards our neighbors house while we were installing t-posts.  I went down on the UTV to call her back and Cris came down on my Polaris ATV.  We found her and Cris went a little too fast on the gravel road..... tried a sharp turn and the ATV went up on it's side and flipped over.  He landed in a ditch with the ATV over him.... if his body had not landed in the ditch, things would be different.....as it was, he was fine.  I screamed his name a couple times as I was running towards him down the road (I could not see him, all I could see was the ATV) and he did not answer.  Then he finally grumbled.... "I'm OK"..... He told me later he was giving himself a 10-point diagnostic check (checking for broken bones etc...) and that is why he did not answer me right away.

The hoop house has an abundance of lettuce and the radishes are huge!  The squash plants are large but the buds are slow to grow.  The herbs are fantastic as well.  We harvested some cilantro, dill and parsley for our neighbor.  The herbs were beautiful.  So green and fresh looking.



Last Saturday we went to our friend's house for their family's yearly stew cooking event.  They take a large black kettle (think witch's brew type kettle) and start cooking the stew over an open fire in the morning.  By lunchtime it's ready and it was delicious.  We met their very large family and everyone was so welcoming.  We all had a bowl or two of the stew and the kettle was still very full.  Each year that they make this, they divide the stew up and each family takes some home to freeze.  It was a very nice day.

Next week is our monthly meeting with friends at the dairy in Middleton.  It's our Christmas meeting and I've been trying to decide what little gift to take to everyone that reflects the 'sustainable living' lifestyle.  I think we are going to bring everyone some of our fresh cut herbs.

Rain is in the forecast the remainder of this weekend so I think we are going to work in the barn and go through the many boxes we have brought from the Memphis house.....decide what to keep, what to burn (some of Cris' paperbacks got wet and have mildew), what to recycle (or donate) and what is just plain trash.  

Windy Weekend

This weekend we made sauerkraut.... or I should say, we starting making sauerkraut...take a few weeks for the cabbage to ferment.  When I think of sauerkraut I always think of my mom. She was the sauerkraut bringer at all holiday gatherings.  She made a great pork and sauerkraut dish.  I also remember her meatloaf...that was always good.  I miss her so much.  Losing a parent is just something you never get over.  The pain lessons but never goes away. 

So, back to sauerkraut.... we put the cabbage in a food grade 5 gallon bucket with a brine solution, put a plate on top of that, weighted it down with water jugs and covered it with a towel.  We will see how it turns out in a few weeks. 

We also made and stuffed into casing:  breakfast sausage and smoked kielbasa.  The kielbasa will be smoking all day today.  Yummmm  We used our Kitchen Aid Mixer with the grinder attachment to grind up the meat and then the 'stuffer' attachment to fill the casings. 

We try to not to let anything go to waste and with our worm bin, compost piles and occasional fire (to use the ash to improve the soil), we are able to get rid of stuff without actually throwing it in the trash.  When we get chickens....they will eat alot of our scrap food but for now we give that to the worms.

Our radishes are ready and I wanted to find something to use the radish greens (tops) for rather than give them to the worms.  I found a really good and easy recipe for Radish Top Soup and that was our lunch yesterday.  It tasted a bit like potato soup and was perfect for a windy, cloudy day.  I also made a Blueberry Buckle that is almost all gone. :)  Cris was picking up a load of sheep manure yesterday so I thought I would try my hand at cooking for once since he is usually the cook.  I was quite pleased with the result of the soup and blueberry dessert.  I even managed to plant two rows of garlic while he was gone yesterday.

Today we are working on the fencing at the area that runs along side the road.  We finished up the backyard fence job to keep the dogs in during the day while we are at work.  That way they can be outside and still have shelter (under the covered deck).

Speaking of dogs, as you can see by the photo of Nugget from an earlier post, he was injured about 10 days ago when he was running through the pines.  He runs just like a deer and jumps over logs....it seems he jumped and did not see a limb sticking up from a downed tree and it basically impaled him in the chest.  Cris heard a scream that he thought was a coyote but it was Nugget screaming when he was hurt but the limb.  Long story short, a trip to the emergency vet, stitches and $440 later, he is fine.  He would not wear that 'cone of shame' on his head so I bought him some toddler t-shirts to wear so he would not mess with his stitches.  He looks so funny in his little shirt but he is used to wearing it now and just sits there while I take off the dirty shirt and put a new one on him, like it's just part of his outfit now.  Dumb dog. 


Daisy is 100% adjusted to living with us now and is just the sweetest dog but is quick to alert us of anything that is out of the ordinary on the farm. 


The cows are doing great as well.  Our friend Susan delivered the 4 heifers (Scottish Highlands) to us last Sunday.  They are Mandy, Hyacinth, Harriet and Zinnia.  Our first morning with them was theatrical because the 3000 volt electric fencing was not enough to keep Zinnia in and twice she went for a walk in the woods.  I 'babysat' the cows Monday morning while Cris went to Tractor Supply and picked up a 5000 volt system which now works just fine.  A couple pops from that and she decided that inside the fence was better.  We are doing the 'rotational grazing' where you move the cows every two days.  Once we get chickens in the Spring the chickens will following the cows on the schedule and the chickens will feast on the bugs that go over the cow manure and that will help to scatter the manure around the pasture.  The girls get a little sweet feed each morning with some d.e. sprinkled on to keep them parasite free.  We are trying to keep them on a natural diet which means no commercial drugs.   The only heifer that will let us pet her is Hyacinth because she had alot of human contact as a calf.  The others will stand by us (especially with the feed bucket in my hands) and are starting to warm up to us a little each day.  Hyacinth is halter trained as well. 

Teddy seems to be the cow dog and studies them. He at first would be aggressive and bark at them but he is learning to respect them more now.  I am sure as their horns continue to grow, he will learn a little more respect for them.  Nugget could care less about the cows and Daisy is more into being a sheep guardian dog then cows.

The Pups

Daisy-Mae - 6 mos old

Nugget resting after his puncture wound - $440 puncture wound!  Poor Pup.

Working on the back deck

Fall Frenzy

I just can't seem to keep up to date with the blog.  Could be because the nights are getting shorter and with us living full time out at the farm now, we are working until dark, having dinner then are in bed around 9:30pm. 

We have accomplished some of the 'to do' on the list from the last post though.  We got the hoop house cleaned up from the summer and have planted squash (4 varieties), tomatoes, lettuce (coming up nicely), eggplant, various herbs, peppers and okra.  When the sun shines, it does get pretty warm in the hoop house.  We hope to have lettuce growing year round....nice to be able to go out and pick fresh lettuce for dinner in the middle of the winter. 

The front deck is complete and the back deck is about 1/2 done.  Part of the back deck will be covered and enclosed with screen to keep bugs out. 

Cris planted winter wheat that is growing though not as high as it should due to lack of rain.  It will become dormant and then when Spring comes around, it will start growing again.  Same thing with the garlic we planted.

We purchased more trees..... pears, apples, pomegranate, persimmon, pecan and fig as well as more blueberry bushes.  We are growing various herbs as well...for cooking and medicinal.  We took a herb/foraging class last month and learned alot about what plants in our area are great for medicinal purposes.  I learned that the red sumac berries make a fantastic tea or lemonade.  (not the poisonous sumac)  The guy who gave the course, (The Southern Herbalist) is coming back up for a Spring class and I am really looking forward to it.  We learned how to make a liniment and salve for cuts, scrapes, poison ivy and also how to make lye for soap making.  I took ALOT of notes and also bought his book on CD so I could keep track of what plants are what in our area.

MUSHROOM HUNTING - has slowed down with the cold weather but we have had some great discoveries.  We found  a huge amount Mi take Mushrooms (Hen of the Woods) and we harvested them and froze them for future use.  Great for cooking and medicinally one of the best 'shrooms to eat.  Cris found more oyster mushrooms and one of our logs that we plug over the summer had a couple shitake mushrooms on it so that was a nice find.  Hopefully in the Spring the mushroom logs will take off and have shitakes everywhere. 

ANOTHER DOG??? yes, our friend who owns the farm where we get sheep manure has 2 puppies left from the litter of Great Pyrenees.  She kept the male for herself as he was instantly tuned into the whole livestock guardian dog thing and never leaves the sheep area of her farm.  She was going to keep the female pup but decided that since she already has the momma and the male pup, she didn't need the girl.  She gave us first dibs on her because she wanted her to go to someone she knew because she fell in love with her.  So we picked up Daisy Mae (Cris named her Daisy, and I added the Mae because she was born May 1st) about 2 weeks ago and she is an absolute doll.  She will be an outside dog which is fine because Great Pyrenees are used to cold weather.  It's actually in the summer when you have to be careful and make sure they have enough shade and water because they can get overheated with their double coats of fur. 

Nugget and Teddy have warmed to her nicely and she has already done a great job of being a guardian.  Her first night at our house she went straight to the front of yard when it got dark to keep an eye out for predators.  She has chased coyotes away with her big girl bark and the other day a stray dog came up and Daisy made it clear that the stray was not welcome.  Pyrenees' are not confrontational and will not fight unless absolutely necessary....usually their large size and large bark is enough to keep predators away.  She's really great and does not run off.  We can leave her out all day long while we are at work and she will not run off.  I really love her disposition.  The other two dogs freak out and jump and bark when I pull up from work (we keep them in a dog pen because they would run off to try and find us!) but Daisy just sits there and waits for us to come say hello.  Teddy likes to stay out with Daisy at night and assist her with guard duty but Nugget (Labradoodle) does not have enough of a coat to stay out all night long in the cold....plus, he barks and anything and drives me nuts. 

Daisy is 6 mos. old and weights 56 lbs.  She may double that within the next few mos.  She will look like a big white polar bear. 

Alex is enjoying college life and will most likely rent a room year round from the fraternity he is joining.  That way he can get a job in Memphis and not have to drive back and forth from the farm to Memphis during the summer and winter breaks.  I would worry about him driving late a night on side roads in the country.  Since I work in Memphis during the week, Alex and try to connect at least once during the week for lunch or he will stop by my office to visit. 

CANNING - as well as freezing stuff, we have canned more spaghetti sauce, chicken soup and beef soup.  Cris makes really good soup and it's so handy to just come home, pop open a jar of homemade soup.  Canning is better than freezing (though more time consuming to can) because it won't spoil if we lose electricity. 

We are having our monthly sustainable living dinner meeting at the dairy our friend's own this Saturday.  We are discussing MRE's or "Meals Ready to Eat".... We are having a taste test of various MRE's that one of our members purchased from a company that sells emergency equipment for homes.  Should be interesting.  The idea of the MRE's for our group is to have food available to eat in case of a lengthy power outage.  There has been a time within the last 10 yrs in Memphis when people were out of power for over 3 weeks because of a ice storm.  Our farm, I am sure, would not be on the top of the list to get the power back on should there be a large scale power outage...so it's nice to have options. 

I get on kicks of reading certain types of books.... for a while I read ever book I could on mountain climbing..... Mt. Everest etc... I was just engrossed in the stories of survival and death on the mountains.  Well, now I am on a 'catrastrophy' type kick..... kind of like the movie Contagion....  I saw the movie Contagion but felt it didn't really show the true actions of what people would do in that type of situation.  Some of it yes, but not the extreme that some people would go to keep alive.  Since then I have read, "One Second After" which is about a country wide EM Pulse that knocks out electricity, cars, pacemakers, etc.... and how one small town deals with it.  It really makes you think.  The other book I recently read is "The Jarkata Pandemic" which is about a superflu that hits the world and how one small neighborhood deals with it and each other.  What is yours suddenly people assume is now theirs..... again...makes you think.  I recommend both books.  Am I a doomsday person.... is my cup half-empty???? No.... I just love reading about these types of things because it gives me ideas of ways to prepare in case of a long term power outage or a very contagious flu that may hit us one day.  Am I storing tons and tons of items in preparation....NO, but I can see how some people may live their life preparing for the end of the world.  I am sure in a couple months I will get off the end of the world kick and start ready about something else...... I really need another Harry Potter book!  This what happens when you don't have a TV on the farm.  We read every night which I have come to really enjoy.  I feel more relaxed at night without the TV blaring and I don't miss any important news because we have the computer and my phone with all it's apps. 

We haven't purchased a central heating system yet so we are using space heaters.  We have two little ones in each of the bedrooms ($20 and puts out the heat when needed!) and also have two for the kitchen/living area.  The living room one is actually a Duraflame Heater that looks like a real fireplace.  I've included a photo above.  It's a plug in fake fireplace that has a blower that puts out some heat and the logs glow and there are fake flames.  Cris said all it needed was the number 3 for Dale Earnhardt and we would truly be redneck!  Ha!  I actually like it alot and at night it is pretty to look at and makes the room toasty.  What the heck, we live in a pimped up trailer so why not??