more pictures

Authored by Beth on
Saturday, May 10, 2008

I try to walk with the dogs every day - this is one of our routes - a week or so ago, the redbud trees started blooming -

And yesterday, I saw that wasps can also help with pollination:

I've been very busy on the farm

Authored by Beth on
Saturday, May 10, 2008

And I've had no time to blog. So I thought I'd post some pictures of what's been going on around here.

As you know, we are in Kansas. This is the time of year of rather, umm, interesting weather. Sometimes, the sky is so beautiful, that I have to run and get the camera. Here is a nice example:

We have a new barn cat, DC (stands for "dumped cat"). He is just a lovely cat. He came to us full of ticks and his coat all matted up, so we took him to Dr. Nikki and she neutered him, gave him his shots and got rid of the ticks and matted hair. He recovered quite quickly, as you can see:

We have two new members of the Castle Argghhh! farm, so far they are nameless, but gosh darn cute:

Stay tuned for more updates - LOL!

Springtime means a lot of work for farmers

Authored by Beth on
Tuesday, April 29, 2008

I have a zillion things to do, and naturally, things stop working or deliveries are not made on time or there is a frost to kill the tomatoes I put out or something awful happens.

But good things happen, too. Hummingbirds are back, butterflies are back, beautiful wild violets are blooming. I discovered that we have literally hundreds of Redbud Trees in the woods. Beautiful!

Daffodils are blooming. I found that we have a couple of nice lilac bushes, nearly blooming, and peonies - they always remind me of Memorial Day.

And the birds are nesting. Turkeys are flirting with each other with lots of gobble gobble gobble heard around the creek and the ponds. I met a pair of the tiniest little wrens on my morning walk today. They were collecting items to make their next with.

I found that the variegated hostas growing really need to be divided, as well as a lot of so-far unidentified bulb-type plants with leaves, but so far, no flowers.

Plus, I have a lot of landscaping to do on our yard. But most of that can wait until I get the plants that will actually produce (I hope) something salable into the ground. The weather has been too cold at night up until now to get most stuff going.

Oh, and the little tiller broke, so John bought me a new, bigger, better, newer, more flexible tiller. Only it was missing a part, but John, the greatest husband on earth, went back to the store and got the part and set it all up for me and taught me how it works tonight.

Almost forgot, my load of dirt finally arrived. It seemed like so much dirt in the truck, but once it was dumped in a field that is probably a couple of acres, it seemed like nothing, but it should be find for my raised beds once I till in some compost and peat. And I'll get to go and use the tractor to move it around - neat!

We are having a work party this weekend - we are putting in fencing for the goatlings. Tomorrow, I'll measure and figure out what we need and consult with Major on the best choices for fencing - high tensile, barbed, field, whatever.

And if we have time, maybe I can get a new, simple coop for the chickens built - the 24 6 week old chickens who are currently living in what is going to be my tack room - and I'm sure glad I have a power washer, once they get moved!!!!

I did get the garage pretty well cleaned out - well, at least in comparison to what it was! I still have to install the stuff on the walls that we can use to hold stuff, like the ladders, tools, etc.

But the fencing is most important. Ideally, we will get two areas fenced - the field to the East of the barn and the field to the west of the house - but that is a lot of work, so we need any help we can get - we will provide hot dogs, hamburgers, potato salad and beer - if you are interested, please let us know soon, so we can buy accordingly!

Today was the most beautiful Spring day ever. Gorgeous. Cool. Not humid (most important!!!)

It's time to get off to bed now. G'night.

I hate to say this, but I think that MS Vista and Office 2007 are terrorist plots

Authored by Beth on
Saturday, April 26, 2008

This is my thought - after trying to save a document in Office 2007 as an RTF file and taking nearly 30 minutes to figure out how the hell to do it.

I wonder if Al Quaida operatives got themselves hired by Microsoft as engineers and wrote Vista and MS Office 2007. This is accomplishing the destruction of our economy better than any bombs because it takes 10 times longer to do ANYTHING because of these damned programs. I have to think that Bin Laden must be giddy about it.

Using these programs is like trying to read Arabic - everything is ass backwards!

I mean, look at our economy. Prices are going up like crazy - of course a lot of this is due to Al Gore's insistence that corn be used to fuel cars, therefore increasing the demand (and increasing the price) of corn - which Al Gore apparently did not realize feeds a lot of food animals, from chickens to goats to cows to turkeys to rabbits, as well as people. As a result of the skyrocketing price of corn, farmers, in an effort to make some money, are growing corn instead of wheat, rye, barley and other crops. So there are shortages of those crops and food prices go up like crazy.

I also think that the economy is being slowed down big time in the service sector because Microsoft really screwed up and put out the two most awful business programs ever.

The productivity of the American worker is going to hell in a handbasket because of these two pieces of software.

Typical morning on the farm

Authored by Beth on
Wednesday, April 23, 2008

For some reason, last night, I decided to wear pj's to bed. I must have had a premonition that I would need to run around outside in the morning.

I overslept. John had to make the coffee, usually my job. I woke up and remembered that Willy was in his stall in the barn and would want to get out, so I put my boots on and ran out to the barn, opened the door, and Willy bolted out - apparently he had once again pushed the gate to his stall open. I checked to be sure he had not managed to get into any grain, and he had been good - except for the bales of straw that had a box of stained glass on them that he knocked over.

So Willy takes off, and I hear a meow. And the meow is at my feet. It's a beautiful full-grown cat, not feral. We can use a barn cat, but this kitty has probably been dumped, and I'm not sure how farm savvy it is. I gave him some kitty food, and he ate it like he had not eaten for some time. I'm not sure if it is a he or she cat - didn't want to look while I'm holding my morning coffee.

In the meantime, Willy has had a nice canter through the back yard, the front yard and is now over on the field to the west of the house. That is an area that I hope to fence in for Willy, Petey and the goats, so I was happy to see that he liked it.

I introduced the cat to Gunner and Kiki, the dogs, and tell them that this cat is family - not prey, but defending the cat from coyotes is their job.

I introduced the cat to chickens, and told the cat that the birds are family, not prey or sport, and to please leave them alone.

By this time, Willy is in the front yard, munching away. So I went into the barn to get a rope, and found that he had really done a number on his gate - it was knocked completely off its hinges. damn. But I got the rope, went out, and threw it over his neck and put him out in the pasture with the other horses. He was ready, he had his little adventure, and I have horse poop to remove from the barn floor, the backyard and the front yard.

I'm still in my pj's and boots, getting ready call Dr. Nikki Green, our vet, to see if dumped kitty can get in for shots, neutering (if needed) and shearing - its long hair is hopelessly matted, and will have to be shaved off.

Every day is an adventure, and I love it.

About our clay soil here in Eastern Kansas

Authored by Beth on
Friday, April 18, 2008

JimC asked in a comment if I was making any amendments to the soil as I plant my veggies and flowers and berries.

Actually, I'm testing out several different methods of planting. I have a couple of raised beds in the manner of Square Foot Gardening - but that requires using a professional soil mix which is way too expensive for everything, and because there is no organic material in it, a lot of fertilization is required, so I'm pretty sure, those two beds will be a one time only thing.

Then, I have several beds, also raised, that I made using the Lasagna gardening method. I think it is the easiest, but it is difficult to make it look orderly, so I suspect I'll plant the landscape stuff around the house with that method, and not so much the truck farm plants.

Lasagna gardening is clever - you put wet newspapers or cardboard over the sod where you want your bed. Then you put compost, peat moss, hay or grass clippings, leaves, more peat moss, etc, and you just push aside the layers and plop your plants in it, and it should grow like crazy - even if the compost is not cooked.

Then, I started looking closely at the soil in the area where I am planting things. It's not too bad - it has been both a cow and a horse pasture in the past, and there is some pretty loamy soil there - there is also a lot of clay soil, so I intend to till in the bedding and poop from the chicken run as well as horse manure and bedding.

Also, I have sprayed Earth Right all over the area - it is supposed to help clay soils drain better, etc., and it has micronutrients and stuff like that in it - ain't cheap, but Toby Tobin says it works, so it must!

Rocky and Satchmo

Authored by Beth on
Friday, April 18, 2008

I think Rocky has grown to be a very handsome rooster - what think you?

And Satchmo is quite the fashion plate:

Springtime is finally here

Authored by Beth on
Friday, April 18, 2008

I have a zillion things to do, and it's been raining for most of the week! That's okay, the ground needs lotsa water, just not all at once, and I would prefer that the rain waits until I get some plants in the ground!

Yesterday, I made about 40 deviled eggs using my chicken's eggs for a dinner. That is a whole lot of eggs to peel! But they were good. I think John ate what was left over.

It rained all day yesterday and all night long, so it is quite muddy. Willy is quite muddy, because he was in the paddock all night, so right now he is grazing the grass next to the barn - no fence. Willy doesn't go to far and he will come when I call him, so I think I'm pretty safe.

Last night, the guineas, chickens and ducks slept in each other's houses. Apparently it was agreed upon by all, because no one was upset.

The baby chicks are growing like crazy. They are almost ready to go outside, and I have not started the addition to the chicken coop for them. I would really like to buy a shed, or even better, somehow move the shed we built in the backyard of our old house to this house, but I don't think that is possible. A shed with a plastic floor would be so easy to keep clean!

John and I put one together before, we know how to do it now!

But, they ain't cheap.

Oh, I'm all muddy, too. In their exuberance to see me walking out this morning, Kiki and Gunner ran me down and knocked me over into the mud.

I'm beginning to think I need to just embrace the mud.

So, how is everyone doing?

Happy Birthday, Your Holiness!

Authored by Beth on
Wednesday, April 16, 2008

I'm very happy that Pope Benedict has come to visit our country. He's a smart guy, and I like him!

Barach Obama = fricking idjit!

Authored by Beth on
Monday, April 14, 2008

I'm one of those rural people that Obama says is bitter and that's why I have guns and believe in God.

Only, I'm not bitter. Guns are fun. God is good.

What does Obama know about rural people? Nothing! In fact, the only people he knows about are the ones that attend that church that he clings to - the one with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, you know, the bigoted preacher who hates white people.

Yeah, Obama knows all about us. He thinks we are bigoted - wrong.
He knows nothing.

I do, however, resent illegal immigrants. They are breaking the law and that in itself is enough to resent the fact that Democrats think it is okay for illegals to break the law.

Must be that religion thing - that I believe there is right and wrong.