Our Little Orchard

Ah, our little orchard.  I knew when I first set foot on this farm I wanted to have a "little" orchard.  On a small scale an orchard is also referred to as a fruit garden and sounds more appropriate for our farm.  I love to eat fruit in every form, fresh in the flesh , pies, preserves, cobblers, in my pancakes, muffins, on yogurt or ice cream, and fresh in the flesh some more. My mouth waters at the thought of it. I am often reminded of a moment in my childhood some suggest should be embarrassing.  My grandmother placed a bowl of blueberries on the breakfast table.  Yes, a bowl.  I pulled the bowl in front of me, sure it was meant just for me and proceeded to pour a bit of milk.  With haste the SERVING bowl was snatched from my place mat.  Embarrassed, really?  I knew what was in that bowl.
Gosh, trees in my own back yard!  I can eat the fruit right from the branch it hangs from. What a treat.  Blackberries, blueberries, cherry, apple, pear, plum, persimmon, fig and even pecan are all here now.  We haven't gotten a harvest from each and every one yet.  The harvests of fruit will improve with age, the trees are still fairly young.  Our blackberries and raspberries provided gifts the first year and now there is enough fruit for me to really be challenged with options.  More then you can swallow in one sitting usually means your going to have to prepare them so that they don't go by way of the fruit flies. Plenty of jams and cobblers have been made from our berries already. In fact, as I write I have fruit macerating ...my first step for jams and preserves. I have journeyed through the preserving process so that I'm just getting comfortable.  Now I'm even making my own flavor combos.  Today, blackberry lime!  I have already taken some pictures of the process so you can be assured I'll share the recipes in an upcoming post.  I love, love, love to preserve stuff.  It feels so thrifty and respectful of the food.  There is nothing quite like popping the lid from a jar of preserved fruit or vegi's  you toiled over the year (or more) before.




  As our trees are maturing  each year we have a few more fruits, that is if we get there before the deer, crows, or Japanese beetles.  You'd be surprised how much we loose.  Last year we lost about 50 pears to dining crows.  We wait for the fruit to ripen, they don't!


The fruit we planted that I haven't mentioned is the fruit needing the most attention....peaches.  Of course it is the very fruit we planted the most of.  I have been guided so often on this farm by an idea I've dreamed about in the past, never really understanding what's involved.  Me, really, jumping into something blind....no.  Yep!  That's me.

For those who know our farm you know we're all about the no chemicals or pesticides way of doing things.  We follow organic practices with everything on our farm.   Ever tried to grow a peach tree?  Oh my is it a challenge....  Peaches are very susceptible to all sorts of pests and diseases and AFTER they were planted I heard folks say, "you can't grow a peach without spraying".  I don't know if you were paying attention but I am trying to tell you I was probably told  before I planted them but I didn't HEAR it until after.  Yep, I must admit...I wasn't listening.  Or, was it selective hearing.  Oh well, it wasn't intentional.  I just wanted peach trees and I didn't want to be discouraged.

Well here you have it.  Picked today from one of our peach trees.  They are some kind of yummy and I am some kind of proud.  For anyone who gardens you understand "the fruits of your labor" well this is truly "the fruits".   I wonder if the sweetness is at all influenced by the fact that we grew them right here in our own back yard.  Or, maybe the fruit is so sweet cause we did it against the odds?

I do know we can't take all the credit.  It's been a good year for our peaches.  The long season of cool temps kept the bugs at bay long enough that all the luscious fruit formed and ripened before the bugs got to it.  The reason we had no bugs this year I have figured out.  The real mystery, how did the deer and crows miss these beauties?  We're not complaining, just wiping the peach juice from our chins.

The Hay Bale Fiasco

On a sheep farm you've gotta have hay.  We are a sheep farm.  I'm not adding this up for your benefit, I'm trying to remind myself why we have this current dilemma.  What dilemma you ask?  Well, it goes like this....
Last year we added chickens to the farm to improve our pastures, the natural way!  They're is nothing finer then chickens scratching and chickens pooping on a pasture.  I'm happy to share the science of it all but that's for another Blog topic...and another blogger!  So, having chickens it was and we have enjoyed having them.

 Having a rooster crow in the morning....every farm must, right?  Chickens produce those yummy farm fresh eggs...gotta have those too right?  And so, we did.  The real icing on the chicken addition, we'll sell those eggs and that will really add to our farms productivity, right?

All those facts became reality, except maybe one....productivity.  Again, I am not going to address all the chicken realities we've rearranged our farm for, just the most recent.











We spent a great deal of time last month putting up hay, cutting and baling and stacking ever so beautifully in the barn, Whew!  A huge task done.  The sheep will be fed this winter!  Wait, whats all that clucking I hear?  It was as if we'd sold tickets to THE chicken gathering of the century and we'd asked them to arrive earlier then the gates were opened.  I mean those gals were lined up to get in.  All in, around and over those bales they came.  They were picking at the seed heads and just enjoying the change to their environment....so I thought that's all they were doing.

 Ok, ok, I know I still haven't gotten to the point.  We sell the eggs, right?  We have a pretty standard order to deliver each week, pre sold!  That's great.  Each day we collect eggs and each Saturday we deliver them.  That's the routine.

Well I believe someone forgot to tell the hens we have a routine. Our laying boxes have become passe for the time being. The chickens have decided to lay those eggs 10 feet up on top of bales stacked so tight to the rafters we can't even see what's up there.  So, how productive is it for us to climb and hunt for our eggs each day so that we make about $40 per week?  We've had to scramble a bit to fill our orders and the saddest part according to my husband, there have been no egg consumed in our house lately.   Each chicken challenge we've faced we find a bit more chicken wisdom. We are now presented with a new challenge.  We haven't really figured out how we'll lure them back to our desired organized method of collecting but we'll figure something out.  It is my contention those hens just wanted to be sure we know....Chickens Rule!

My Secret Place

When I was young living in the mountains of North Carolina one of my favorite things to do was wander to a creek situated on the far side of our property.  I now know it was a special place.  I don't recall feeling as though I needed an escape but maybe I did.   I can still hear the gentle trickle from the water.  As if I was right there I can still feel the blanket of nature around me.  I would spend what seemed like hours there.  There was one spot in the creek that leaves would dam up the water flow and my mission, first thing upon arrival was to free the water.  I never asked or wondered if mother nature wanted me to.  It just seemed like the water wanted to flow....


So, here on our farm there is a spot that reminds me of that same place from my childhood.  This creek is quite a bit wider, probably proportionate to a grown up version of what I saw then.  In my 'adult' creek I have depth and can see wonderful reflections of the trees on the banks edges.  If you look in the right spot you can see fish darting about.  The water is very still.  Its so peaceful.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

I have read that Alamance County N.C. supplied the gold to the US government prior to the California Gold Rush.   I wonder if anyone actually panned this spot in the mid 1800's?  Maybe our fortune in gold has been left, yet to be discovered!  Hmmm, maybe I should be panning, not blogging!

Often, I peer up and down this creek and imagine Native Americans skipping across stones or even local settlers making their way down the path to a neighbors.  We've also been told there was quite an active liquor still on the property.   I learned on PBS that a still requires a water source  be close.  So, maybe, ya think it was here?  I'm always on the lookout for signs of activity from people before me.  There is a fairly large mound of stacked rocks very near the crossing, who did that and why?  Who else might have walked across this same path?  Did this 80 year old stand of Poplar trees start from a bird carrying the seed or did someone plant them?  I know, this is nothing more then an "if walls could talk" thing.  Clearly certain places conjure more curiosity then others.   Maybe its the age of all that surrounds me?

Serious though, can't you imagine parking your bum here on the banks edge, listening to nature?  Pull up a rock, it will take you awhile to take it all in.    I don't know about the rest of you but I feel closer to God in these natural spaces then anywhere.  Surrounded by the awesomeness of earths beauty.  

And, I must admit, that little girls imagination is still with this adult girl, especially in places like this.  Maybe it's the peace and quiet that frees my mind?  

Dwarf Coreopsis, also know as Mouse Earred

 I don't think I consciously declared this spot as my secret place but that's what it is becoming.  The floor of the woods has had a few years of rest from the hooves of cattle tromping about.  Now, with each new season  I am greeted by new native wildflowers that pop up out of who knows where.    This is just what's there now, spring!  The summer will behold different ones and fall, and winter...well, I'll have to see.

Wood Violet

Toothwart

MayApple

MayApple emerges in the spring and produces a flower in May that later bears the fruit, or apple. Looking down upon the plant you cannot see the flowers, protected by the canopy of the leaves.  Just who can you imagine has the vantage point to see those flowers?









The fern, as prolific as it seems to be in the richly composted forest soil, it always catches my eye.  The bright lime green against the brown leaves...  nature, our greatest interior designer.







I've been adding to my wild flowers, being careful to include only native varieties.  Saturday mornings, after I've set up my vendor booth for the days farmers market I venture over to see Tim and Helga MacAller of FourLeaf Farm in Rougemont NC.  I like to tell myself I'm going to say my morning hello's but something unusual  lures me in further.  Always truly excited about what they have I love hearing them describe what graces their tables on that particular Saturday.  Usually, I cannot resist something, at least one little treat.

As I hurried to discover whether some of my additions I'd planted the year before had decided to charm my woodland setting, I was so excited to see....

Solomon's Seal

Dwarf Iris not yet in bloom

I also planted Trillium but cannot find any sign that it came back.  Tim MacAller told me though, "don't give up on it, it's a funny plant".  The way he said it I'm convinced it's yet to appear.  I finish this blog today, Friday...the day before my Saturday market.  I'm thinkin I'll say hello to Tim and Helga......

April. Did I miss it?

Where does the time go?  We always hear folks ask that.  If I didn't have so many notes all over the calender for April 2013 I'd swear something happened to that whole month.  Like a whirl wind, come and poof...gone!

Shearing Day over 100 visitors

Fact is April is a very busy time for us.  When April appears we have usually just finished shearing all of our sheep and wool is everywhere.  We always hope our Shearing Day event will reduce the numbers of fleeces we have to deal with as folks in attendance buy them right off the sheep.  We do have fewer but we still face what seems like a mountain of wool!

 Yes, I must admit, the quantity of fleeces can be overwhelming and it takes me longer then it should getting round to sorting through them deciding which will go for yarn, roving or which will be kept to sell as raw wool. Several of them will be too full of vegetation, some matted, or not the quality you'd want to sell to someone in any form.  So, what to do with each bag of wool?  As I have them stored under a shed roof for now it's a BIG task that smacks me in the face each and every time I walk out the front door of our house.  Guess I should have picked a better place to put them?  Maybe if I didn't have to see them they'd disappear like April.  

Mi Sueno

Yes, April is also a BIG month for lambing.  In the fall we put the ram in the pasture with the ewes for 60 days.  That's much longer then most farms would leave the ram with the ewes but our primary ram, Mi Sueno, has my husband speaking for him...get my drift?  The primary downside of leaving Mi Sueno in with the 28 girls longer could be that our lambing might take longer.  Mi Sueno is not a romancer, he's a, he's a, how should I put it?  Wham bam kind of ram?  How do we really know that...lambing was DONE in less then 30 days.

Anyway, basically 149 days from 1st exposure to the ram you start preparing for the possibility of lambs.  Over time you learn tell tale signs and you get used to your girls.

Soon Please!

March 29th was the 1st possible day, no lambs.  March 30th, nothing.  Then on April 1st the lambing began with one ewe and twins.  Within a few hours the lambs take on personalities and we're able to assure them the nursery will be full very shortly. 





As the days progressed we were gathering sometimes 6-8 lambs per day.  Mind you, were a small operation! Each lamb happily greats the new one(s).  Each mom is different, some very protective, others experienced and calm others know they have a responsibility and they'll give off their lamb specific bleat to let the wee one know where they are but other then producing milk and feeding it they're kind of like..."What?  I'm over here!"  Regardless, It's an amazing process to behold.  I am sure some would accuse me of being too imaginative with this whole process.  Maybe I am to some degree but mostly I'd disagree.  Each of these animals is unique, with personalities and feelings.
This year we were blessed with 37 beautiful lambs and only one didn't make it.  Sad fact, they say 10% loss isn't unreasonable. So, as farming goes we'd have to chalk it up to a very good year even with the loss. For those that follow us on Facebook you know about our loss, it was a very tough day.  After 6.5 hours of hard labor she gave birth to the biggest lamb we've ever had on our farm.  A real beauty!  We checked the mom for milk and made sure they had bonded and a few other aftercare protocols.  They were both exhausted!  He didn't make it through the night.  You beat yourself up, what could I have done, what didn't I do/see...this the hardest part about farming to me.  We face a lot of life and death realities around here.  From the raccoon eating our chickens to the lamb that struggles to be born only to pass before his romp through the green pastures.  We often cry but mostly we carry a heaviness for awhile.  Then we find ourselves standing on the fence line watching 36 lambs jump and play without a care in the world.  They gather in a bunch, all of them, and like a swarm of bees they run, kicking up their heels, happy to be alive!

That's where April went!

Triplets

These harsh realities of nature are not easy yet we know we are in a close relationship with Mother Nature and knowing her we feel grounded. 

Nature reaches out to us with welcoming arms, and bids us enjoy her beauty; but we dread her silence and rush into the crowded cities, there to huddle like sheep fleeing from a ferocious wolf.   Kahlil Gibran

Prada to Carhart

                             Farming Fashion!

Several years ago on my journey to find a farm I'd set my eyes on a place in the hills of North Carolina.   A picturesque 20 acre farm situated on a hillside.  Previously, an alpaca farm.  The owners built a very specific structure with human living space above and alpaca living quarters below.  Warm summer days plus piles of alpaca poop adds up to ripe aromas.  Didn't they know that architectural design went back centuries and had been dispensed with probably because the residents couldn't withstand the rising perfumes?  

They built the place to incorporate elaborate fans and exhaust plans so they would only be consumed with alpaca cuteness...nothing else.  It really was a glorious place.  At the time I really had my sites set on it.  Am I glad today it didn't work out? You betcha.  A switch to farming was a shock to my financial reality as it was without saddling myself with more debt and less land to farm.  Never the less, it was an education and an adventure that entertained me until I could fine MY farm.

At the time this was all going down a friend of mine said, "oh, your going to farm where the farmers wear lace".  I spent my first adult life very conscious of fashion.  I loved clothes and all the adornments.  For some reason at that moment I defended the honor of all female farmers before me and those yet to find their way.

My head spun toward him and I said, "...and why not?"  

Why just because we farm would folks assume "lace" was out of the question?  Maybe it was a path I would soon discover.  

Maybe it was a bra about to be burned?

Now, several years later as I speak from the tractor seat I have a much better understanding of the roots of such perceptions.  No, lace isn't a farm worthy fabric this is true.  There are certain realities in farming that become the "fabric" of your day.  Utility takes precedent over frills.  You wear things that are tear resistant, wash hardy (they get washed ALOT), weather protective and last but not least you look for quality in what you wear more then ever before...your clothes have to stand up to hard wear and tear.  Your adornments are chosen by need not complimentary color or bling.  Your gloves are where you can most easily access them, your cell phone is where it won't fall out as your bending over or hurling bales of hay and your boot socks are usually chosen by what's not currently covered in mud!

So, again back to why I'm writing this today...my female (and male) farming friends have found their own individual way to express their fashionable side. Our designers are different and we probably pick up our farm seed at the same place we choose some of our clothing.

Regardless, the farmer fashionista does exist.   As I've said before, don't ever underestimate what's under those Carharts!

Puttin Up the Fence

The other night my dear husband decided some pop corn was in order.  I entered the kitchen and to my surprise he was using the wrong kind of pot, too much oil, too many kernels....you get the picture?  I'm sharing this incident because he has the same reactions with me and my fencing capabilities     Precision is key.  Focus is imperative!  Just as I seek the perfectly airy billow of popped corn,the kernel that can only be achieved with precise execution, he too requires the same from his "kitchen".
I have learned (he says not) that I should just listen and do as I'm told. hee-hee  That will be the day!

Posts into the horizon....

A beauty of a fence he builds no doubt.  "Straight as a gun barrel" one of our neighbors exclaimed.  It is truly an amazing feat of engineering.  Yeah, I know, you and I think it's just a bunch of fence posts put in the ground standing vertical to support a wire fence.  Well we're both wrong.  The beginning of the fence is dependent on the middle and so on.

Corner posts, braces, angles, pushing and pulling...every added component requires thoughtful analysis.  Of course so much of what he knows he learned as a young boy with his father.  His fathers knowledge also came from a familiar source, and added experience of course.
I am not going to write today about the dynamics of fencing because I think that might get a little boring.  I wanted to share how complex the project really is.  I wanted to share also as I look at the process the magnitude of the task ahead and the accomplishment when done.
We bought this farm with little to no fencing standing. The fencing that was here was so old, rusted barb wire, and quite frankly dangerous.  We couldn't begin to use it for our sheep.  So, not only did we have the arduous task of "puttin up a fence" we had to dismantle what was here.  You've also heard me say the fence is our first line of defense in protecting our sheep so fortress like it must stand!
There is so much to tell and share. There is the equipment we attach to the tractor, specific to fencing and the ingenious tools John has created to make the task easier.  For example, each post is positioned 13-15' from the other.  Rather then measure each time he puts in a new post he has created a "gauge stick".   Dah!  He has one for height and one for distance.  The more I write the more I realize this blog might only interest the girls out there?  Maybe guys know this stuff already. Maybe this information is as common to guys as the shortcuts we gals take in the kitchen?

John (oops, I haven't introduced him yet...he's my husband...the master fence builder) also says the fence is such a task he doesn't want to have to repeat it.  Not in his lifetime!  How do we accomplish that?  As with anything you want to last, you want to invest in quality materials.  We could go to the store and buy posts or we could take the advice of the old timers.  There is no written evidence but there is physical evidence in all the posts still standing after 40+ years.

This barn, here on the farm, has cedar beams and pillars and has been standing for 50 years.  The pillars  are 12-14" in diameter.

The "red" is considered the heart

You have to be careful to use the red cedar.  You know the stuff, so fragrant to us but objectionable to bugs.  Here in the Piedmont of North Carolina they have used cedar for centuries.

Cedar all over...see it in the foreground?

Who knows whether they used it because it grows like weeds here or because it lasts.  If we assume either argument we can't argue with the wisdom.  Regardless of why we must still be careful to use only the red heart cedar.  The red heart resist rot and bugs.  The "old timers" say you'll find the red heart cedars growing in the wooded areas.  We are so blessed on this farm to have "posts" growing everywhere.

So, I forgot to mention before any posts or fence can go in the ground a lot of ground work has to be done.   One of the previous owners was just plain lazy and went around the farm with the wire fencing and just attached it to trees.  It will kill a tree over time.  We've found wire actually buried within the growth of the tree.  It's really sad and unnecessary.  (See, I'm learning!)  Nope, the fella I'm building fence with puts a lot of time into the preparation of the area.  We have so much dead fall to move to clear the way for the fence line. If your asking "where to?", good question.  It's not like you drag it to the end of the driveway for the garbage pickup service.  We drag the trees to a central pile, one by one and later with burn permit in hand give the carbon back to the soil.  I know, I know some are probably saying what about the air pollution.  There are plenty of studies to suggest the soil contribution out weighs the air pollutants.  It's all what you choose to read, right?  John has also been confronted with the emotional response from me regarding one tree or another.  He might have his fence line figured out and then my keen eye spots a tree in his line that for one reason or another just cannot be sacrificed.  It might be an old glory or a one a kind specimen or just another old persimmon that the sheep love so much and are spattered about the farm.  Who knows.  Most of the time he understands even though he has to rework a great deal of whats already been done to accommodate my emotions.  That's true love!

 Now, let's talk bracing.  Good bracing according to John, is the key to fence longevity.  You have all the vertical posts in the ground and the wire gets pulled tight to the post so you have to "brace" your corners and bends so the posts don't pull out of alignment.  I am not even going to begin trying to explain the placement of the braces.  That's advanced fencing!  So, here we have a few pictures showing the braces, usually always on a long stretch or a corner, or where the wire would begin or end like at a gate.

Fencing, fencing, fencing...

Now I digress...I'm distracted.  I pull back some bark on one of the posts and what do I see? 

A burrowing worm made his home here.

The most curious art in nature....

Now that I have established a break from pounding nails how about a moment for a Glamour Shot?

Not completely off the job, at least I'm posing on the fence.

Poor John.  Some employees are just too much distraction!

As John has proclaimed time and time again, "I'll probably be fencing for the rest of my life" so, rest assured, there will be more to come on the topic....

Lovely Cup of Chai

Alright,  my blog topics are all over the place.  One theme I recognize through out my posts is reference to those little surprises in life that represent, EASY when you thought surely, HARD.  Take Chai for example.  Have you tried it?  Chai means tea in many cultures.  In this country we've come to know it as a spicy tea drink usually mixed with milk.  A combination of cardamon, ginger,cinnamon, and black pepper...how could it be wrong?  It  produces a warming, soothing effect.  I don't know if it's the spices themselves or the whole experience. I do know it gives me a sense of well being.  I can't really explain it.  I also know it's difficult to resist a second cup.  Once I discovered it I craved it. As is often the case with new love you seek it out. You go back and back to it's origins.  Then as if magic, it appears in more and more places. You can grab a cup at most coffee shops, Starbucks included.  Warm or cold whatever you fancy.   I then began to find it at various stores in those cardboard cartons they're packaging so much in now.   Take it home, add milk....ahhhhh!

I believe it was after the second carton that I realized what a rip off it was but I continued my addiction.  Let's see...the carton had about 4 servings (mugs) and cost almost $5 and you had to add your milk of choice too.  If you bought 4 tea bags you wouldn't be close.  Now mind you I'm not trying to be critical.  I know products take a lot of care to make but as is often the case you can do it a lot more economically on your own.  On top of the economics if you buy quality ingredients you'll often have a better outcome.   I know, it's only a rip off if you buy it but I was!  You can buy the spiced tea bags but somehow I still wasn't getting the same result.  Truth is, I went without my occasional fix for sometime.  Then, the other day I came across the recipe.  So, here it is....that easy, simple fast surprise recipe for Chai tea and I'm telling you it's the best I've ever had.

Chai Tea 

1 teaspoon peppercorns

8 cardamom pods

8 whole cloves

2 sticks of cinnamon

Star Anise

6 black tea bags

1 Cup of milk (almond, coconut, whole, whatever your choice)

2 Tablespoons sugar

Lightly crush your spices and place in a saucepan with 6 cups of water.  Bring your water to a boil and add the tea bags.  Remove from heat and let steep for desired amount of time.  For me it's when I got back to it. I believe it was actually several hours.  Strain the mixture and it's ready to go.  

Here's what I did.  Strained the mixture, added the almond milk (I had some left from someone's visit and it sounded like a good way to use it) and stored it, mixed in the fridge until ready to use.  When I want some I pour it into my cup and heat it, then I add the desired amount of sweet which I must admit I like.  Something about the sweetness up next to those dark, intense spices...um, um, ummmm...

I enjoy an afternoon cup of tea but somehow the spices and the milk  give you that cozy comfort that I often need in the middle of the afternoon. 

When your facing THIS...a warm cup of comfy is ALL RIGHT!

Looking for Llama's

Sometimes my job is so hard!  All the folks who think they'd love this job probably picture all the cuteness I'm exposed to.  They are right!  From wee ones to grown ups, they have personalities and faces you just cannot help but adore!  Llama's are just one of the employee benefits here at Stoney Mountain Farm!

Lucy, our guard llama

See the tree line to the right?  Way over there is where the new fence will be!  Our house is off to the left

Our farm is shaped like a rectangle.  We occupy and have fenced one half of the length of the rectangle.  We have a whole other half to go!  My husband jokes he'll be fencing the rest of his life.  He does build a pretty fence though.

Regardless of how 'purdy' our fence is we're about to extend to areas of the farm not visible to the house and separated from primary areas of activity.  That makes me mighty nervous.


What makes me nervous you might ask?  As sheep farmers, our big concern is predators.  The number one predator of sheep is the domestic dog.  Sad, right?  My husbands father's sheep business was wiped out by roaming dogs in the '60's.  Some say it is the very reason  sheep farms have declined.   Besides that, coyotes are said to be everywhere.  We haven't seen or heard them yet but others swear they have.  The call of a coyote is said to be so shrill and specific.   I've spent many an evening outside listening for them and haven't heard anything.  Mind you I'm not a coyote expert, in fact I can't say that I've ever heard one.  They say there is no howl like it so you will know when you hear it.  Whether our threat is real or perceived the risk is such that guard animals become necessary.

Guard animals are widely discussed in any predator prone livestock farming.  Not so much with cattle folks cause cattle are large enough they don't have many predators.  For us raising sheep we have to consider our farm perimeter as our number one defense. That 'purdy' fence turns in to an impenetrable fortress, we hope.  We spend a lot of money getting the right fence and feed husband well so we get the fence right!  After all the fencing,  predators can still be a worry so guard animals act as our second line of defense.  Folks use dogs, donkeys, and llamas.  We've chosen llamas for our pastures.  Our dogs watch over the exterior fence lines but on their own schedules, rarely after the sun goes down.

Our Woven wire fence.  3" spacing from the bottom, graduated to 5" spacing

I'm posting today to share one of my many "irresistible" moments on the farm. Opening more pastures creates a need for more llamas.  Hence,we went llama shopping!

Your right to ask, where do you shop for llamas?  Llama farmers are not in the business to support those of us looking for guard llamas.  Llamas can be quite beautiful and therefore demand a lot of money.  Our needs do not require decedents of llama royalty.  We have met many a lady and lord llama along our journey.  No, we'll happily take an outcast or a family disappointment.  All we ask is they watch over our flock and scare off any unwanted trouble makers.

As I said in the beginning, no matter the price tag attached, every single one has personality.  They have a job here on the farm but they also become part of the family!  The search continues.  My difficult job will soon result in more on farm llama cuteness.  I don't get paid much but the rewards are incredible!

Winter Garden

Garlic in the Snow

Winter gardening, it's kind of an oxymoron isn't it?  Planting and harvesting fresh green vegi's in the winter months, really?  Now I'm convinced everyone should try it!  If I didn't have my prepared garden beds I'd have pots and beds on my patio and small containers of started seeds all over my kitchen window sill awaiting their place outside.   As much as my hubby and I eat lettuce and the like, I plant seeds a few at a time so I have an extended harvest, or in plain English....lettuce all the time!

Have you noticed the price of fresh foods lately?  It's crazy!  If you really pay attention to the quality of those fresh  foods it's even crazier!  In our house we eat a lot of fresh vegetables so anything I grow rather then buy really makes a difference to our bottom line.  Heck, just keeping me out of the store is worthwhile.  Farm life keeps me a bit secluded some weeks and the grocery store becomes an outing I look forward to (sad but true) and that is not the formula for walking out with only 1-2 items!  So, when I don't have to make that quick trip to the store for the perishable things we seem to always need most, it saves money and time.  Let's not forget the increased health benefits from the garden freshness too.  The vitamins are at their peak when picked. For me, knowing exactly how the food is grown and handled adds that much more satisfaction!

Arugula at 3 weeks

Tango Lettuce at 4 weeks

I'm going to make a huge leap and assume anyone reading this knows the basics of growing something.   If  you  think you don't know how to grow something I encourage you do get some dirt and try.  I am reminded of the many times in my life I avoided a challenge because I was convinced I couldn't do it.  Does anyone excel at anything until they've first made a few feeble attempts?  I didn't say until they got it right cause I don't believe that usually applies...my lettuce probably won't look like your lettuce  so where is the "right" in growing it?  Besides, as they say, we never know til we try, right?  Having a garden or just something growing from seed  is so easy and so rewarding and I think you'll find yourself successfully harvesting something on your very first try.  I cannot begin to tell you how cool it feels to pick those leaves and put them straight in your mouth!  Hints: keep it moist and give it sun...that's all you need to know. Whether from your window sill or your patio...it matters not.  To begin a winter gardening adventure all that is required of you is to pick something you'd like to grow.  Lettuce and arugula I've already mentioned., well how about spinach?  If space is an issue or you just want to start small;  lettuce, arugula and spinach are excellent choices.  A clay pot on your window sill would easily accommodate any of these choices.  If you have more space cabbage, fava beans, brussel sprouts just to name a few more.   Some of my very favorite resources for seeds are, Johnny's, Pinetree, and Territorial Seeds.  Each resource offers excellent quality seeds with a great variety of choices and customer service has been superb with each.  I find Pinetree offers smaller quantities on many of the items which better accommodates the home gardener.  So, pick that something that you want to grow, where your going to plant it and if it will be outdoors figure something to cover it when the temperatures are going to drop below freezing.   That's all it takes!

Onion that doubles as chive like herb

Some might say nothing is quite as pretty in a winter garden.  Although the winter garden always shows signs of harsh winter realities (or my forgetting to cover them up when temps drop below 30),  I say the color contrast from the browns and greens, sometimes capped with snow are really quite pretty.   There are certainly no bugs to contend with in a winter garden.  The leaves I see so many rake and pile by the road side...the best mulch ever.  If a small bed or pot is your choice the leaves crumble beautifully between your hands and are an excellent source of carbon for your soil too!
The winter garden is also stress free. Less yield for me gives me more flexibility for the when and how the food gets from the garden to our plates. In the prime growing months when the bounty is brimming I sometimes find getting out there to pick before things get over ripe haunts me.  Preparing that bounty before it goes to waste...I sometimes get stressed about that too.   Don't get me wrong, I love making preserves, canning tomatoes or just preparing that fabulous freshness from our garden. Let's face it, when those vines are spilling over and the branches weep from weight I often have plenty else to do.  So, winter gardening  reminds me how manageable it can be and when it is, I am more inclined to enjoy it.  It kind of re-exposes me to the  'root' of it all and I look forward to the bounty ahead.

I hope you will all find some seeds, whether you flip the pages of a catalogue or grab a pack as your standing in the check out of your favorite home improvement store, choose a vessel, and give it a try!  I promise it will brighten even the gloomiest of winter days.

The rams are back in their pasture

Each year in the fall the rams (boy sheep) get moved in with ewes (girls)...it's breeding time!  Since my background isn't in livestock or farming I am inclined to blush at the sites and thoughts of all the goings on around here.  I have an even greater imagination when it comes to the romancing I'm convinced takes place.

We have different pastures with different rams in each pasture.  We decide which ram goes with which ewes based on blood lines.  We just want to be sure there's no inbreeding.  Not too long ago I had someone jokingly say, "picking their beau's are you?"  Believe me, I did not laugh that off.  For a day or so I had to wrestle with the possibility that I might be involved in arranged marriages of sorts. Making the final decision for these girls, really!

 My justification rested in the fact that every ram on this farm is handsome and therefore these gals wouldn't mind.  I mean they don't have to rely on them for anything other then pretty babies and I hope a romantic evening, of sorts.

 So, the day approaches sometime in October each year.  We watch the calender.  For the sheep, the rams especially, they know.  This year Mi Sueno, our #1 ram, stood in the corner of his pasture for some 30 days before it was time.  Longingly staring at the ewes in the adjoining pastures.  They say the moon, stars and earths influences tell them it's that time of year again.

The other rams didn't show much interest but they haven't been around the block as many times as Mi Sueno so they're not quite as tuned in.  With very specific direction we send each ram strategically to they're perspective harem.  It is such a change in dynamics on the farm I stick around and feed my imagination.  I know when she bats those eyelashes...I saw it!     As I describe to anyone who wants to listen, each of our rams has a very different style.  Mi Sueno,  magnificent as he is, has one thing on his mind.  It is a job.  It's not work he'd trade for anything but that's all it is, his job.  He joins the gals one day, does his job, and regardless of the number of days past on the calender, he tells us when he is ready to get leave the mixed company!  Each year we know, when Mi Sueno starts getting rough with girls, he's had enough of whatever they were offering...he has forgotten again for another 12 months.

White Lightening is a handsome young ram with great promise just not enough years to build a reputation.  I know he is just discovering who he is but I still contend they each have their own style. He hasn't shown a single sign that he bred or was interested in such.  We won't really know until it's lambing time but I've seen his type before, he's just the private type. He nibbles on their ears and asks them if they'd like to dance.  I've actually heard cooing before.

Yesterday we moved the rams back to their pasture.  As we open the gate for them to join their fellow rams,  they look back toward the ewes, as if to say, "am I sure about this" then forward they move to the other rams calling, "come and get us".

Each ram being different in character, one looks back at the ewes again and then at me saying please can I stay with the girls while another doesn't give it a second thought, off he goes ramming rams! Once together they butt heads jump on each other and bully about.  They are boys, happy to be back together.

So you see some might say they're just animals and that I have too vivid an  imagination but I say, nope, not too far from our own stories of romance...sans the music and candlelight!