They will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit.
Everything is homeschool. Even a muddy former driveway that the pigs rooted through for a couple of months. This becomes a vehicle for talking about healthy and unhealthy soil with the kids. Think of it as a "before" picture. The "after" picture won't be for a couple of years, but ideally that same former driveway… Continue reading Spring Buds
Got to the farm for chores about 5 AM on Monday, and a little surprise was waiting. Eunice had her lambs! That's right lambs. Twins. There is a little black ewe lamb and a little white ewe lamb. And Eunice is being a great mom, nuzzling and licking and feeding and herding them here and… Continue reading Eunice’s Twins
It's getting that time of year again! Time to plant the garden. We planted a dozen or so rutabaga last week, and this week we are starting the peas. On the crop rotation plan (yes, there is one) they are going to be in row four this year, so the first task was: Cleanup on… Continue reading Cleanup on Row Four
We have decided to move our compost bin from it current location at the back of the garden, to a new location in the chicken yard. The current location is convenient to the garden, for moving finished compost, but it is not convenient for building the stack with raw materials, or soaking it, because there… Continue reading New Compost Bin
The lamb legs that were set down in salt last Saturday and the Saturday before (that is, February 21 and 28) were supposed to be rinsed and either hung or re-salted on March 7, but, alas, the National Guard continues to ruin everything. It was a drill weekend. So we didn't get to that project… Continue reading Salt Cured Lamb, continued.
Last week during lamb butchering I did something a little different. I harvested both kidneys with their fat caps. Not sure why, other than everything was going so smoothly, it seemed a pity to waste anything. (Don't worry, we still haven't attempted making haggis). But then, as often happens around here, we found ourselves with… Continue reading Steak and Kidney Pie
The last lamb we slaughtered was a difficult and frustrating process. The kill was quick and humane, but a single slip of the knife early in the dressing process resulted in slicing the achilles tendon and dropping the carcass, then a difficult skinning, which in turn delayed evisceration, resulting in the stomach falling and rupturing.… Continue reading Lamb slaughter and butchering, take 2
Monday morning, harvested 6 stalks of brussels sprouts. These have been let go a month too long, and some of the larger buds are starting to open. When that happens they lose some of the sweetness and become a bit tough, and they don't hold together for cooking or pickling anymore. So it was time… Continue reading Brussels Sprouts
Little Farm in the Big City 