heal

Darn these knees! The swelling wont go away. I have so much to do. I have 3 trays of  72 tomato plants, plus another tray with 16 plants. I have squash plants, more broccoli, and green peppers. I have more beans to plant... That is not counting my herb garden!
.
Heal knees... HEAL!

organic tomatoes

plant us

I have finished the romaine lettuce planting, It was planted in waves. We are eating delicious green crispy lettuce every day. It is fabulous. My duckies love it as well. I highly suggest you plant this type of lettuce with your cold crops. It doesn't do well in the heat of the summer, but what an awesome spring harvest, Best part is, we harvest it and eat it within 30 minutes. My labor of love has been fruitful thus far. I even have more romaine seeds germinating! What a giver those seeds are. I have a couple of bowls, filled with dirt and poof, salad. Easy to plant, even if you grow it in containers and even if you thumbs are not green. I promise.

I hobbled up the hill and pulled some garlic for tonight's dinner. Penne pasta and some salad.

baby garlic and romaine

in the garlic patch

garlic freshly pulled up

My poor Deer has an udder giving her trouble. Rusty and I got her flowing last night. She was so cute, licking me while I milked her. The milk looks white, so she should be ok. Today I went in and stripped all the milk on that side again. My goodness she is a good milk producer! Oprah, her kid, is definitely not having feeding problems. Every time I pick her up she does a golden yellow stinky baby turd. Not unlike a human newborn's poo. I then immediately put her down, and out comes the pee. A good sign that she is getting milk. Just like a human baby. My kids gave me plenty of experience for dealing Deer's kids. I am not going to say anything about my udders. Nope, not going there.

My duckling are getting so big! They spend their days now outside in a duck-shangra-la. Swimming pool, shade tent, water, clover and grasses, and fresh greens. They have been upgraded from chick food to flock grower food. Big duckies.

The President Day chicks hang out with the ducks when it is time to eat. But certainly birds of a feather really do flock together. Both flocks are not really interested in the other.

free roaming chickens

that is washington, the cockerel, with his head up

pekin and indian runner ducklings

storm, a runner duck

cloud, a runner duck

duck pretending to be a swan

Evidently, Tractor Supply got some chicks mixed up. I bought 4 Brahma straight run chicks. They grew up and, well, have a look...

2 brahma chicks

2 brahma chicks with some mixed chicks

2 brahmas, and 1 not a brahma

I am not brahma. I am a cornish rock.

So. yes, this chicken was bought with the other brahmas chicks. It is a cornish rock, a chicken bred to be a meat chicken. It will eventually die from it's sheer size. The mortality rate is high, even for their short projected life span. They eat and grow rapidly. This particular chicken can barely walk it is so big. So you are looking at an organic meal. There is one already in the freezer, it was killed by meany pants the Rhode Island Red Roo, or a hawk, but if it was a hawk, why was it left for dead? I have to come out of denial and put the blame where it belongs...

murderer!

If my knees don't heal, I will have to break it to Earl that he will have to be my riding pony. 

Earl

Although, I am not too sure he would want to be a pony or have anybody ride him. I can tell by his body language. :-)  He is such a good boy. I adore him. How about a donkey cart Earl? We can get matching hats.

Well, I guess you might want to take a look at the bunnies, now that I am showing everybody. Here they are with their Momma, Tahoe. They are sweet little puff-balls! It is almost time for them to move out of Mom's house. They are all eating bunny food. Good job Tahoe. I know motherhood is not easy. But we do our best.

That is the farm update. Stay tuned for more... and there is more coming! Just wait and see.

aromatherapy

late spring garlic and wildflowers

wild wonderful ~crow

grounded

 

 ~crow

blogger flogger

I have been working in the barn all day. I had to clean out a stall for Deer because she is definitely with a kid. I have to keep her in the stall  in case she kids at night. Her milk bag is getting big and she s getting wide.  I am hoping for a doe-ling, as I want another milker and lord knows, one buck is enough. At least for me.

I cleaned up the mucky mess Sling Blade makes. Mud everywhere. He likes to tip over the water buckets. By the way, his stub, or what used to be his tail is getting better. I still think that Earl the Donkey bit it off. Earl is super gentle with us, so I am guessing Sling was being a pain. He was being a pain today while I was trying to work. Shovel up a bucket, he comes and knocks it over. After awhile I gave hm a swat on the butt to get him to move. He didn't flinch. His butt, after all, is like two big ole hams. We may eat him. Organic pork with love.

My chickens are doing great. The new free roamers (my president day chickens) are doing well. Only once in a while I have to go out and remind my Rhode Island Red rooster to chill out. I think he is trying to mate with them, but he is definitely not a romantic. Plus, I am pretty sure they think they are being attacked. If you have seen a rooster jump on a hen, then you know it is very much like an attack. Also, if you have been flogged by a rooster, you know by the wounds he inflicts that it is definitely an assault. Roosters have spurs which grow like knobby knives and are actually a part of the leg bone. Old Meany Pants has gotten me plenty, once when I was bent over with my head in the rabbit hutch checking on the baby rabbits. Whop! I was so mad at him and told hm so. Sophia, now arms herself with a stick. She used to run from him, and he would chase her. Now she stands her ground ready for battle. Rusty however, can grab the rooster in one swoop. He then puts it's head under it's wing and holds the rooster gently as he moves it in a circular motion. He then slowly sets the rooster on the ground and the rooster stays that way for maybe 15 seconds. Long enough. We call it putting the rooster asleep. It works, but not n front of company for some reason.

Sophia has come up with a fun game of chicken racing. Everybody gets a chicken and stands up on the hill. When the race starts everybody lets go of their chicken and off the chickens run. First chicken past the big rock wins. In the last race Sophia's chicken went the wrong way! We cracked up and Sophia mentioned wanting to have a party. So, inspired by the great chicken race, I am thinking of a Summer Solstice party. I can't think of a better time

Tahoe's baby bunnies are doing well. They are now eating their mama's food and drink water. They are so sweet. I like to take breaks to hold the bunnies. Blue Topaz is bred, and in about a week I will set her nest. She bit me hard in the hand the other day. Bella the beagle now watches over the bunnies. She wont let another animal near them, including Earl and Sling! The other day I was stuffing paper towel tubes with hay and had left the door ajar at Blue Topaz's hutch. I went to put the roll in and Bella was in the hutch with her! Just hanging out sniffing around. She is a funny dog. Make no mistake, she owns the bunnies.

The ducks are growing so quickly! I heard a couple of quacks today. I now have eleven ducklings. Which is a good odd number. I always do odd numbers when it comes to my animals. With the ducks, I had 13 hatching, but one died in the egg, add that to Liitle Blackie and I am back to an odd number. Not that I am happy about that. I just notice signs. I think I learned it from my Chinese brother-in-law long ago when discussing how many fish to have in a tank. It also occurs to me now that I am thinking about it that odd numbers happen quite often in the natural world.  It is also a home decor rule. An artist rule as well. The eye sits better on three objects, instead of being conflicted by an even amount of objects. Maybe that is it. Just a little quirk I have.

Rusty went harvesting herbs today, while I did the barn work. He came home with a good bunch of blood root and some black cohosh. It is a good time of the moon phase for harvesting. We believe in responsible harvesting. Taking some and leaving some. We never strip out an area. We love the earth too much. I am glad he came back with the roots. I am going to try some blood root on some areas that I think are borderline skin cancers. Not like melanomas! No worries. Black cohosh is a great natural remedy for joint problems. I am plagued with them. I mostly ignore them, but sometimes when I stop, I get back in my body and feel the pain. So I will give these remedies a try. I will let you know if I see improvement.

I just noticed don't discuss certain things in here. One being my health. Except for the above mention. I may talk about some things in the future. Mostly, I would like to discuss the benefits of living life in the middle of nature and how, the land, the animals, the house, the area, all, in their own way, have healed me. Both within and out. "That which is above is the same as that which is below" that is the basis to regaining my health. People throw around the words, Body Mind and Spirit, so much it has almost become a catch phrase. But really. take them slowly first individualized, then together as a unified methodology to health. For example, you can't just eat all the right things and exercise, but still be spiritually or mentally fractured. You must stir all the pots. I need more spoons! :-)

The murder of crows are still near. 

Good night from a wonderfully sore and wildly tired...
~crow

blogger flogger

peeing in the pool

Mother's Day Pool Party

pool party with peas

warm day, warm water

play time

time to dry off

and eat

and poo

~crow

mental health

  After the market today, I fed the animals, hung out two loads of laundry and sat down at my computer to download some rabbit photos. After awhile, I heard Rusty knock on the window and tell Sophia to tell me to come outside. I walk out the door, and look what I see...

Earl the Donkey

I could not believe my eyes. First, because we had just bought a shop vac (lol) and that I assumed was my present. I wanted it for my angoras. I also bought a couple cute things at the market and was happy as could be. Well, I was so shocked to say the least. I did not hear the people pull up. I did not hear Earl let out a HEE-HAW at the dogs while they lead him down. (I was told later.) I sensed nothing, until I walked out the door and saw what I have been asking for, since we moved in to the farmhouse. I even asked Santa. The real one.

Earl is a four year old miniature donkey.

He is a "Jack" because he is a boy.

He is sweet and gentle.

Sophia and Earl. She loves him too.

Earl likes us too, even though his ears are back.

Earl has come to his forever home.

Earl (he came with the name and I kinda like it) is from Alabama. He has been a "pet" since he was born. He recently moved to WV. Where he was living before, there was another Jack and Earl did not get along with him, at all. So the other Jack had seniority (he was 24 years old).And my Earl was advertised. He came from the Flat Top Mountain area.

Earl is more than a gift. He is the manifestation of a dream. He is the manifestation of hope. We are here to stay, here nestled in the mountains of West Virginia. Here, in our home.

After playing with Earl, I had a pink rose, home decor magazine, and chocolate chaser. Compliments of Brittany when she got home after work. I asked Brittany if she wanted to lead Earl around and she said yes. She instantly loved Earl as well. He followed her, gently and I saw my 20 year old working, stressed out college student, melt back to a carefree 10 year old girl. Brittany (practical, practical Brittany) asked me what purpose a donkey was to the farm. Everybody has a purpose here after all.. I thought for a minute, and answered her. I said he was here for, mental health.

So wild, so frickin' wonderful, I can barely contain myself.
~crow