We are supposed to get a quarter inch of rain tomorrow, so needed to do something to protect the hay that we just bought. So we climb a ladder that’s barely long enough and stand on the edge of an unstable mow. And voilà!
Author: Ryan Kraeger
"I only remember the very first part of the book where he described the man of steel and velvet and I remember the deep chord that phrase struck. I remember the image I had of a hand of living steel wearing a velvet glove, a hand that could crush or caress, strike a killing blow or wipe away tears, lift mountains or cradle an infant. The rest of the book was an afterthought."
From an essay about Aubrey Andelin's "Man of Steel and Velvet".
Man Work!
"Daddy, do you need any help?" Little Miss "I'm-Almost-Two-I-Don't-Need-To-Nap!" Of course I do!
Now that’s what I call a pork chop
Since we harvested the pigs last year, we have been working on our cooking skills, that is, learning how to cook pasture raised meat. We are almost out of pork chops now, and since that is one of the favorites and easiest to cook, here is Ryan’s way of doing it. (Kathleen does it quite… Continue reading Now that’s what I call a pork chop
Younger Berries
We pruned our elderberries back to the stumps earlier this year, (along with the mature cherries, which, incidentally, produced a much better crop this year than they did last year). Look at that majestic shrub! And the two purple-leaf varieties are doing quite well too. What we have learned from this is that the Elderberry… Continue reading Younger Berries
Found it!
Uncle Adam got time to do some digging yesterday. And... He found our water line! Only about 20" down or so, which is not typical for water lines around this place. It also makes me feel a bit ridiculous for having dug four feet down for part of the trench. We will leave that little… Continue reading Found it!
Bringing in the Wheat
I was originally planning on harvesting the wheat on Monday, but it is supposed to rain on Monday, and Saturday is looking like it’s going to be a busy day, so I took a couple hours to cut it and get it into the shop on Thursday. 140 ft.² of Fife red wheat planted last… Continue reading Bringing in the Wheat
Bird-Mobile
The pigs have less than a week remaining before they go off to the butcher, and the meat birds are now four weeks old, halfway through their brief lives. It is time to get them out on grass, but we don't fancy the attrition rate we had last year with the chickshaw only. We would… Continue reading Bird-Mobile
Just keep digging
Another hour and a half of digging, still no water line.
Taters and Brassicas.
Let's check on the garden, shall we? A bee on the buckwheat. It has become time to plant our winter brassicas. We have a row dedicated to broccoli, cabbage, kale, brussel sprouts and rutabagas that we hope to harvest all winter long. However, it is also the row in which all of our volunteer potatoes… Continue reading Taters and Brassicas.
Nothing Like a Time Crunch
Well, we have been digging diligently, trying to extend the trench from the rain catchment tank out to the driveway to intersect with the water-line that extends out to the pasture. By Tuesday morning we were more or less in line with where we had templated the water line to run, based on a straight… Continue reading Nothing Like a Time Crunch
Little Farm in the Big City 