damn damn dam

it is going to freeze pretty hard over the next three nights. we covered the beets.


we covered the cabbages and broccoli.


we covered the trees.

this might not work? i plan to light a candle in a bucket under the peach tree on the third night if it survives the first two. that night is supposed to be still--worst threat yet.


this is the thrift store where we got the sheets $1 each. toly said he needs a driving thingie like this. tristan always heads straight for the most gun like toy. what gives?


we are having a huge flood in the area right now.

this is what the local dam usually looks like. there is a huge one up stream and another huge one down stream from us.


here it was today. where those people took that photo from is under water.


this road drives right into the water--but not normally.


this is shadowrock park. they usually hold the forsyth fair here. all of the building are under water except the really tall arena--huge tractors usually fit under that roof.


the bridge to bobs is way above it's old high water line on the piers. more water to come.


another building peak on the high-ground side of the park.

this is one of those floods that they'll talk about for years to come.

great news

the final test from toly's hospital visit came back. they tested his small intestine to see if it was making lactase, the enzyme that digests lactose. he tested positive, that he doesn't produce lactase. all in all it is good news.

we know whats wrong with him and we can correct the problem. effectually we are naturally are migrating to the solution as a family anyway. fresh raw milk, that hasn't been pasteurized or homogenized, contains the proper amount of lactase to help digest lactose. milk, a food in perfect balance before industrialization messed with it.

no more eating out when we go anywhere--that'll save money anyway.

rori the new cow, is up to two gallons of milk per day. that is plenty for our needs. tabitha can make all the cheese, sour cream and butter we need from that amount.

the cat is flipping out on hormones. she is such a great mama. tabitha called the vet because she was acting so weird.

the local lakes are flooding like crazy. tabitha's grandma is being evacuated from her house lake levels have never been as high as they are predicting. tourist hot spots in branson are flooding. in my opinion mother nature could smite that abomination and cleanse it from the ozarks--i'll miss silver dollar city though.

we almost finished the final leg of the fence yesterday. my hands and arms were ruined by the end of the day. we are going out there right now to complete the final touches before we can turn the cows out there. i'll post photos (in this entry) this evening.


the kids playing on a pile of clay.


the cow are out in the new paddock. the wind is whipping the clothes dry today.


nearing sunset. the cow really like their new paddock.


the light is really beautiful. i am standing on the back step to the house.

kittens

hermione-underfoot has just given birth.

two tailless like her and a third with a tail. they all seem to have her tabby coloring. we are going to keep them all and have a sign carved in granite "free kittens". this might seem irresponsible but we live on a road that is notorious for killing every animal that you cared about.

besides there is plenty of work around here for good farm cats. if her kittens take after her we'll be in the business of raising great mousers.

farm update

the new cow is officially named Rori. all other names were rejected. she is producing a gallon and a half per day. we have ordered feed from a grain mill in Clever, MO. i'll have to make the drive tomorrow and pick it up. leaving after work means that i'm well on my way there already.

the other cows are jealous of rori getting milked. the ration of food that the cow gets while being milked is a coveted thing. they stand around at the entrance and try to get in while tabitha is milking. we need to re-think the entrances. maybe a dutch door will be in order.

tabitha and i scooped all the manure from the field today. i had to construct a compost bin from pallets. we filled the entire thing--many many wheel barrow loads. i make a little rampart from a flat board and drive the wheel barrow up and tip it in. it saves scooping the manure from the wheel barrow to the bin. we cleared the entire loafing area next to the milking shed.

we then forked ruined hay from the last round bale and scattered it around the loafing area. it makes for nice bedding especially during the impending rainy days ahead. we also put some of the driest stuff in the milking shed floor--cozy.

nimue, since her illness has been growing deformed hooves. we have tried to find a farrier without success. finally tabitha and i decided to try to cut them ourselves. i have some flush nail cutting pliers that are just like hoof trimmers. i held nimue while tabitha clipped. we only did a little and will do a little more in a few days. it was hard work even with tabitha's milk-maiden hand strength. nimue would lean all her weight onto me as i lifted each leg. what fun, we are proud for the progress and attempt.

i went to MFA and picked up more woven wire fence and another roll of gaucho barbed wire. we'll be able to finish the lower paddock this weekend. we also need to surround the bees with fence from the cows. we also plan to get another hay delivery of two round bales into the lower paddock. this should go a long way to getting them improving the soil in there. while the cows are in the lower paddock i plan to reseed the the barren areas with clover. we also hope to treat all the cows with whole grain oats while they are down there. this will encourage the chickens to spread the manure into the pasture.

three cows are pushing the bounds of our property. tabitha calls it o'melay-intensive. we collect the manure for our garden and improve the soil using the broiler chicken tractor. the areas where we moved the tractor the last two years are strangely free of weeds and healthy with grass that we never planted. we'll continue these measures until we need to expand further into the "way-back" beyond the ravine. i'll start cutting paths and getting fire wood from there next year. i have been contemplating what sort of vehicle i'll need to get in and out of the "way-back" with wood.

now to answer questions:

wendy, lisa, tansy, suzanne, beth, thank you we have been busting our butts. hard work feels good when you have so many aspirations.

nt moore, if you saw the soil here you'd not believe it. it is mostly rock. digging with a shovel is often impossible. we dig our holes with a HEAVY steel pointy rod. it is used to break the soil (clay and rock) like a pick and scoop it out of the hole usually by hand. even augers mounted on tractors are useless in these parts.

lisa, the kids slept the-sleep-of-the-just both nights.

donna, cedars are weeds in these parts. they are feral and invasive. they are habitat for ticks and chiggers. the "way-back" is filled with cedar. it is just a pain in the ass dragging them to where we can use them.

madeline, hot baths--yummy

hillbilly, still sore today--maybe even worse.

cat, tabitha is due july 24th.

danielle, yes tabitha is a superwoman. passion drives you to take your body further than you thought you could.

note to self: fix roof leak above laundry room.

muscle fatigue

the parade of chickens.


we fenced for two days. my hands are sore the most. my whole body is sore but i can barely type. we are two thirds the way done fencing in the paddock to the ravine.


this is what we started on the first day.


this is the second leg of the first day--yesterday.


here is one of the corner posts next to the rocky crossing.


here is the view from below up the second leg. it curves around the ravine a bit.


this is a view from above. it looks a little messy cause i had to cut that huge looming tree and it took out several other trees when it fell. so i have a bit of a mess to clean up yet.


here tabitha is digging the holes for the third leg. can you see the kids playing in the woods in the background?


here is kassi climbing a tree. in this photo she is about 6 feet off the ground.


tristan is playing on some vines near the creek.


here they both are. i love seeing my kids playing in the woods.


this is what we have to to the second day.


this is what we did the second day. the second post is the one tabitha was digging in the earlier photo.


we only had to put in two post on the right side. the approach to the rocky crossing is a bit tricky.


this it the furthest corner on our second leg--only one more leg to go.


here is the view toward the rocky crossing. that is a cattle panel acting as a gate at the end of this run.


this is my two wheeled dolly. this is indispensable in the ozarks. i don't have a tractor so when i do stuff it is all by hand. this tool carries rocks that i can't lift and fence posts that are too heavy to shoulder.


just a nice photo of the girls. they were following me around thinking i should feed them--i did. they are like pets with benefits. they are pleasant to be around and feed us at the same time.

photo update

things are really greening up around here.


this is the top corner post. it is double tensioned because it might hold a gate someday too.


this is the lower first corner. we are cutting out the ravine from the paddock. the cedar posts got sap all over my gloves. these are tensioned to keep the corner straight under fence pressure.


this is the redbrand woven fence. we hope this will help keep the chickens home..


and one surviving guinea.


i use gaucho barb wire. it is cheap and lasts. some people hate it because it has a memory. it'll coil back and give you a good poke.


this is my trusty wheel barrow. i wish i had three more of these. we use the chat (gravel) to help pack the fence post down in. i use the flat end of the heavy bar to really drive the post sturdy with chat, rocks and dirt.


here is our chicken tractor. it has seen a few hard years of use. it needs a re-vamp. i just bought the stuff for a second tractor. we are going to raise three broods of broiler chickens.


a view of the garden from the barn loft. i can't wait to make some progress on the barn.

photos of the new cow to come this evening.

pablo this is for you, and anyone who'd like to guess too.




this is the new cow. we might name her frida. she is pleasant and pretty

new cow

we just confirmed the purchase of a new jersey (in milk). yes we have two cows--but not really. one of our cows is owned by our friends. we are her care takers. we dried her up cause she is due very soon. i look forward to her freshening soon--fresh cream in my coffee again.

anyway, the new cow (yet to be named) will arrive tomorrow. we are getting her from a friend--whom we trust. she is bred back via AI to a show jersey bull--fingers crossed for a heifer. she is due in late fall after our cow, nimue. we'll be in the milk then..

we have been working on fence around here, as best we can. the rain thwarts our every other attempt. we'll need more pasture for all these cows--at least pooping space. it's raining now else i'd take photos. tomorrow it is supposed to let up for the weekend. hooray!!!!! i'll be fencing and working on my root cellar.

the new baby is definitely a boy. whoo hoooo the toilet seat stays up--the boys outweigh the girls(just kidding). we are going to name him romneya (it'll be Rome for short). the kids already call him baby rome-rome.

i laid tile all day today at bobs. i have a helper now. in true bob fashion the tile were all surplus. i have to make something out of a pile of discarded tile. i finished about thirty square feet of tile after spending a few hours planning, measuring and imagining. in my minds eye it should look great. such a huge challenge but great fun at the same time.

rained-out

i really wanted to get some fencing completed this weekend. the rain has saturated the ground. when i tried to dig the corner post holes they filled with water faster than i could dig them out.

i tried to work on the root cellar. flooded..

i set up the solar pump and started to pump it low enough so i could work on the door area. it started to rain in earnest. i fled.

i moved some gravel to the bathtub drain overflow. it was making a muddy ditch. the rain had saturated the little leach field that is under the yard. the bees were drinking from there and i'd prefer them to get better quality water that is available just a few feet further from them.

my kombucha addiction has infused into my soul. i can't believe that i'd never had the stuff before my recent discovery. i drink at least a pint of the stuff everyday--i would drink more if i had it. i have three gallons brewing at any given time. sometimes i get a little anxious and pour a glass a little before it is finished brewing. too sweet. i like a dry dry strong kombucha. i have to start another gallon so i can start bottling it for those hot summer days where i'll need a few pints to keep me going.

i tried to brew some from a bottle from the health food store. it was a dismal failure. i really need to split another scoby and start another gallon i figure it i have five gallons going at any time i might be able to bottle some for long term carbonation. i have only ever filled six grolsch bottles at a time. by the sixth day and the last bottle they were really tasty--effervescent.

tristan got a guitar from the goodwill yesterday. he loves it. he had been writing songs. drawing the little notes on paper. where did he learn that? one of them titled horrible song. the other on is called jack into a box. such a fun boy.

toly is down to prevacid every other day. he smells a little acidic every now and then. we have aloe juice which seems to help. we are trying to wean him from the strong drugs--taking our time. he is mostly happy. luckily nothing has come back from all the tests so we want to try to deal with this via diet.

i really hope our carrot experiment works out. it was a ridiculous amount of work getting the beds ready. i guess it can take up to two weeks for carrots to germinate. we planted two separate heirloom short-carrot varieties. we eat lots of carrots.

we feel very lucky to have squeezed our spring garden planting in. the rain intervals have been relentless. the list goes:

beets a big wide row

swiss chard another big row

half a row of broccoli

half a row of cabbage

a row and a half of onions

half a row of mixed greens, beets, chard

two raised beds of carrots

jerusalem artichokes

the garlic has been in since fall

the asparagus is perennial

stuff left to plant at a later date

pole beans

pumpkins

squash

cucumbers

melons

sweet potatoes

edamame

okra

basil

more greens

seedlings started

tomatoes

tomatillos

hot peppers

chamomile

rhubarb

nasturtiums

lavender

thyme

fennel

celeriac

help in the garden

toly loves to run the tiller. tristan was giving his expert opinion. toly would have none of it--he has to do it his way.


toly was convinced that i needed this hammer. his method of taking a soil sample was to taste it--yummy.


this is the second row of onions with some mixed greens and beets.


here is a nice wide row of beets.


here is our over-wintered swiss chard. the arugula already went to seed.


here is the carrot bed. i dug out down to the sub soil and piled the dirt on a tarp. the soil from the 17 by 3 area amounted to about three wheelbarrow loads. i built some frames from some rough sawed wood. we then mixed in a load of compost and a load of sand. we pulled the edges of the tarp and folded the soil over and over. i set the frames about 1/2 half way into the earth. we added the carrot mix and soakers. if this method doesn't produce decent carrots then we'll cross them off our list.


i moved the bale ring form the cows mostly eaten bale. it becomes an instant bed.


my bees are happy with the peach blossoms. they are such wonderful creatures.

their activity is amazing.


the asparagus is about to start coming on. there are two tiny spear heads in this photo can you see them?