Walk in the woods and the pig mover

Spring!
Well, it is really here now...temps in the 60's, rain and more rain, and flowers and trees coming out. This is what most people consider spring...me too.

A walk in the woods this morning showed some great stuff...lots of wildflowers like trillium, bluebells, dutchman's breeches, and Virginia water leaf. The edibles to collect are wild onions, ramps, and mountain mint. A search for mushrooms proved that the weather, even tho very wet, is still too cold. Maybe in another week I'll see some.

And...on the past edible/not currently edible side of things...I found my first owl pellet!! That was way cool. I've never found one in the wild. I brought it home to disect it and pull out the little bones to see who it was that unfortunately (for him) was et. I started collecting bones this year, figuring that someday I will become a bone woman. Some of you may know the story of the bone woman. If not...well, a good research project for you!

In the barnyard - chicks are doing good and giving me about 2 1/2 dozen eggs a week. I have to get to them before the egg eaters do (Coookie chicken and goofy duck...and her name isn't Cookie like you eat, it is Coookie like crazy or whatever). We got the pigs lined up in their cages on pasture, and the babies out of the barn into a "baby cage" until we can get a bigger one built. Will and I plan to castrate two of the three little boys today. We'll keep the third as a breeder boy for later.

Our latest greatest (besides the outhouse in the woods, which really came in handy today) is the pig moving contraption on the truck. Didn't cost a dime (most important). And works pretty well. It was due to my complaining that I can't be moving 30 cement blocks, and 12 cages, and still walk upright when I get old.
Here it is...

It is a 4x4 piece of wood tied to the truck, with bolts on each end, and on each bolt is a hook on a chain. We put the hooks on the cage and then back up with the truck. Now it might seem this takes more gas...a little bit. But, we have to carry the water out to the pigs anyway, so we take the truck to do that anyway.

And, you might ask...why don't you use a dolly/wheel contraption like Joel Salatin. Well, the cement blocks were too heavy and we have to have them so the cages don't blow away in the wind. (I believe Joel lives in a part of the U.S. where there are less wind turbines.) And the dolly thingy still takes quite a bit of strength when you are moving a 10x4 foot cage with two cement blocks on it. I'm finding our system works really great and stand by it for single, weaker women like me.

Next big project is to put some kind of skid on the front of the cage so they go over the clumps of grass better without bending the cages. Another day...as it is raining again!

Beeves on green

This is the happy trio on pasture.
Right...big mama...Surprise.
Middle...stubby legged blocky guy with a flat face...Budley.
Background...my buddy...Bernie.

They are really happy that the grass if finally getting green and they have been eating it to the nubbies. Budley is a really funny little guy. He can't hardly get two inches off the ground, kicking his heals up with delight. He only really likes Will and won't let me get within six feet of him. Unfortunately for him (and for me too I guess), he is going in to the meat locker later this month to become food for us.

Lots of people question us about stuff like that. How can you raise them from babies and then kill them? Well, it is hard after you spent two years feeding and caring for them (and chasing them around when they get out). I like Budley. But, he was born a boy beef and we told him (and us) from the very day he was born that he would have to be food. If he had been a girl beef then we could've kept her for breeding. But...

It is hard tho. Especially when it comes time for my buddy to go in early this fall. This is my buddy...

Bernie.

He loves me. Gives me kisses, as you can see. He is great, comes right up and wants lovin. He plays chase, kickball, and scrub faces with me. I won't be able to take him in...even tho that is what he is for. That is his purpose in life...food. But, he is my pal. So, Will (who doesn't play with him) will take him in. Will is also going to take Budley in. And, I feel sorry for Will cuz he is the one that bottle feeds them when they are little.

In some ways I think of becoming vegetarian when going thru this time of year. Butchering time I mean. Or buying meat from someone else. Sometimes I envy those people who don't know where that chicken mcnugget (gives me creeps even saying those words!) comes from. No name chickens, no name butchers, no name boxes, no name whatever else they add to it that kills us slowly...don't get me started. But, as I've heard..."ignorance is bliss". Is it?

On the consolation side of it. I am thankful that Bernie and I get to play, that he is outside in sunshine and with fresh grass to eat, that he is happy. I am thankful that he has a purpose in life...sometimes I wonder if I can say the same about me. If my purpose was to live happily in order to someday die and feed lots of people...well...I wonder if that would be okay for me too. In the meantime, enjoy your furry friends and the love they give you!!

Spring?

I looked out the window this morning and saw a couple inches of white stuff blanketing everything. Ah...spring in Illinois! It's days like these that makes my southern heart depressed. So, with that feeling overwhelming me, I got up and got dressed and trudged out into the white oblivion.

Collecting sap in the snow is okay, especially when it is a little warm. Today wasn't very warm but it was pretty anyway. The worst part is having to chip ice out of the bucket in order to pour the sap out...then getting my gloves wet. My nose was running with the cold and I refrained from wiping it on my sleeve. Not because my Mama told me not to do that as it is nasty, but because I was afraid of my nose freezing to my sleeve.

We collected about 150 gallons of sap today. Another couple of days of boiling to go. If the weather warms up a little it might run again and give us another day of collecting. We have some helpers coming on Tuesday so we hope to have something fun for them to do. But, we just have to see what Mother Nature provides.

Now we are back inside in the warmth, tea brewing and wool socks on my feet. Marty, who is still blowing his nose and coughing from his cold, is downstairs planting tomatoes in flats. I look at my little cacti in the window sill and try to be patient for warmth outside. It is hard sometimes.

view from the window this morn

Sick day

Good morning everyone! It looks like a beautiful spring day outside. But it is about 20 degrees. Oh well. Thankfully the cold weather has our syrup season going longer. We have bottled about 40 gallons now. And today we are on hold again as the sap isn't running again. This has been happening about every four days. We boil for four, wait for four. Tiring.

As usual, I had some pictures to show you but can't get them loaded. I know we are in an internet hole here. I can see the picture, click on it, and nothing happens. At least I got to being able to see it this time. So...maybe later I can try again from the library in town or somewhere that has a stronger signal. Or...I'll just try again...

Marty  at his desk

Okay, call me a liar. So, here is the pic for today. I'm only trying this one pic since it just took me another ten minutes to get it here with a caption. I just love living in this black hole.

The story of the pic is that it is a sick day. Everyone here is sick (not just of the internet connection). Will has had a runny nose and Marty has a fever today. So, as you can see in the delightful pic above, he is sipping orange juice and looking at seed catalogs. I'm okay so far and plan to hold out as long as I can. I'm just sick of the internet connection.

I was able to take an excellent class last Saturday called "Beyond the Farm Gate" Social Media for Farmers. It taught us how to create a new website and blog on Wordpress, do a facebook page, learn to tweet on Twitter, and how to connect it all using Hootsuite. The instructors were great and I learned a ton. Got all started and set up. I'm really looking forward to getting it all up and running.

Now if I could just get a darn signal that was strong...(they didn't teach us how to do that!)

Spring happenings at the farm

Spring is really in swing now. The daffodils are popping out of the ground and the chickens are scrounging for grubs and tiny greens in the mud. And, it is muddy...a sure sign of spring.

We got the outhouse in place and today bought a toilet seat for it. Yippee!
But we didn't get to boil any sap today as we ran out yesterday and there wasn't enough in the buckets to collect. It should run tonight and we should have full buckets tomorrow. So, we will be off and boiling again soon. So far we are at 36 gallons of syrup...one more than last year. And, it is to be cold again/warm again for the next week so that should push our season another week. We hope it will anyway.

We are still patiently waiting the arrival of piglets from Tea. The babies of Maggie were separated a week or more ago and I have been working with them. I call to them in a high piggy voice "piggy, piggy" or "here, babies" and they are coming up to me now. Usually I give them a treat when they come. But sometimes I just rub their ears and noses.

Today we came home from getting our toilet seat and found Bernie out of his pasture again. He got out a couple of times the other day and was put in time out in the barn, which he hated. We saw him out today eating by the other beeves so put him in with them. At first they wouldn't let him eat. I put some food further away from them and he came up to me and I "protected" him so he could eat. He puts his head on the side of my leg to say thanks. Then we just stood outside their fenced area and watched. Surprise and Budley pushed Bernie around some and they all sniffed each other for a while. But no one was really aggressive. So, we will see how they do over night and might leave him in with them. I'm sure he will begin to miss his blue barrel and bucket and ball after a while tho.

Today was also a very nice day outside. Even tho it wasn't real sunny, at least it wasn't raining, snowing, sleeting, freezing, or windy...the usual for Illinois this time of year. We noticed the pussy willows are beginning to get their little paws. I am also enjoying hearing the robins, killdeer, and cardinals in the morning. Last night I even heard a Barred Owl. That was a treat.