I’m always amazed by the sheer volume of raw food it takes to make sauce of any kind. Our Yellow Transparent apples finally started to ripen. I didn’t get them thinned (like I ever do) so they are small to medium, and plentiful. Usually I like to make chunky applesauce, but I don’t like to peel [...]
Archive for the ‘family cow’ Category
Apples and milk
Posted in agriculture, cattle, family cow, farm as desired, farm life, food preservation, heirloom fruit, milk cow, winter stores, zero mile foodshed, tagged food preservation, family cow, homeopathy, farm life on August 26, 2008 | 3 Comments »
Baa Damn You
Posted in agriculture, cattle, family cow, farm as desired, farm life, lost skills, tagged agriculture, cattle, farm life, lost skills on August 20, 2008 | 14 Comments »
Have you seen the movie, Babe? When the sheep tell Rex, the gruff Border Collie their password, they say Baa-Ram-Ewe, and our daughter who was small at the time, thought the sheep were saying BAA-DAMN-YOU! Now we aren’t really sure why she would think such a thing ;) - but it was quite comical at the [...]
Ding Dong, the witch is dead
Posted in agriculture, cattle, family cow, farm life, personal, tagged cattle, family cow, farm life, personal on August 18, 2008 | 12 Comments »
No I didn’t mean me, but Jetta. Here is another one of those posts that will either cause readers to shake their heads in disgust or in agreement.
I would venture a guess, if you have owned any kind of livestock for more than 5 years, you might know where I’m coming from. Less, than that - [...]
I promise not to post until…
Posted in agriculture, cattle, family cow, farm as desired, farm life, milk cow, wildlife, tagged family cow, cattle, farm life, agriculture, poultry on July 29, 2008 | 8 Comments »
I properly answer all my comments for the last few days. I’m canning apricot jam tonight and probably tomorrow. It’s actually raining. Yeah! Those cigarette butts the tourists toss out are making me nervous.
I have plenty to say about the garden etc, but that can wait. Here are a few pics until then.
Napping turkeys - [...]
The bounty of blogging
Posted in agriculture, biodynamic farming, cattle, family cow, farm as desired, farm life, lost skills, personal, recipes, vegetable gardening, winter stores, zero mile foodshed, tagged family cow, vegetable gardening, zero mile foodshed, cattle, farm life, early farm life, daily farm life on June 25, 2008 | 11 Comments »
If I have a dismal season in the garden or hay department this year, maybe I can eat my words!
Blogging makes me feel even more accountable about what I say and do, here are some examples of things I’ve said of late that fit in the category of “DO AS I SAY, NOT AS I DO…”
♣ [...]
When the simple life isn’t so simple
Posted in Belly Acres (rant), agriculture, cattle, family cow, farm as desired, farm life, personal, zero mile foodshed, tagged agriculture, Belly Acres (rant), farm life, real farm life, zero mile foodshed on June 10, 2008 | 21 Comments »
I haven’t posted since last week because everytime I sit down at the computer - I’m torn. Do I say what I really need to say, does it even need saying? Or do I not say anything here and get myself into trouble by commenting on other blogs. Say too much, you’re bragging, not enough [...]
Grass
Posted in agriculture, cattle, electric fencing, family cow, frugal living, rotational grazing, sustainability, zero mile foodshed, tagged agriculture, cattle, family cow, farm life, rotational grazing on June 4, 2008 | 10 Comments »
Since the pictures of the milk cows in tall grass prompted several comments, I thought maybe I should show a couple more pictures. Let me be clear, that area grows good grass! About half our pasture looks acceptable to me, as far as growth is concerned, and the other half is fair, down to poor. But, [...]
Garden like you can’t go to the store…
Posted in early days, family cow, farm as desired, farm dogs, farm life, food preservation, frugal living, lost skills, milk cow, vegetable gardening, vegetables, winter stores, zero mile foodshed, tagged family cow, farm dogs, farm life, locavore, victory garden, zero mile foodshed on June 2, 2008 | 14 Comments »
I know I can still go to the store, but I can’t buy heirloom seeds that were handed down to me, or even high quality seeds, for that matter. I try to conduct my gardening like the store may not always be there, that way I won’t be in for such a shock. Plant a [...]
The year of the gradual garden
Posted in agriculture, cattle, family cow, farm as desired, farm dogs, farm life, food preservation, frugal living, greenhouse, heirloom fruit, milk cow, vegetable gardening, winter stores, zero mile foodshed, tagged Australian Shepherds, family cow, farm dogs, farm life, greenhouse, grow your own food, heirloom fruit, locavore, vegetable gardening, zero mile foodshed on May 31, 2008 | 9 Comments »
After the big letdown with Jetta’s calving, I was kind of glad that it rained most of the week. I just didn’t feel like planting any garden. We let Jetta lick and clean her calf, and eat the placenta. The amniotic fluid on the calf, contains natural pain inhibitors, and eating the placenta helps prolong colostrum [...]
The hard part of farming
Posted in agriculture, family cow, farm life, milk cow, personal, zero mile foodshed, tagged agriculture, family cow, farm life, personal, self-sufficiency on May 27, 2008 | 16 Comments »
Jetta’s calf was stillborn.
Sometimes, I think really hard about something and I think I may be jinxing it. Then I come to my senses and realize, even if I think about something, or worse yet, write about it, the outcome will be the same whether I had done either of those things.
I could make [...]
One more promise
Posted in agriculture, cattle, easily amused, family cow, farm as desired, farm life, personal, zero mile foodshed, tagged agriculture, easily amused, family cow, farm life, personal on May 26, 2008 | No Comments »
Jetta told me this morning if I didn’t wear this to the barn, she would try to have her calf tonight.
I guess since I don’t wear much jewelry anyway, I can promise this.
While waiting
Posted in agriculture, cattle, family cow, farm life, frugal living, milk cow, recipes, sustainability, winter stores, tagged family cow, farm life, recipes, frugal living, lost skills, self-sufficiency, herbal medicine on May 25, 2008 | 7 Comments »
Cajoling Jetta has become a weekly chore. I have tried new lead ropes, made by DH especially for her in her favorite color. New bridge washers on her cross ties, so she won’t hurt me herself fighting me as I try to milk her for the first time, etc. Nothing has worked. News today from [...]
Jetta is going into therapy
Posted in agriculture, cattle, easily amused, family cow, farm as desired, farm dogs, farm life, frugal living, greenhouse, milk cow, sustainability, vegetable gardening, vegetables, wildlife, zero mile foodshed, tagged Australian Shepherds, family cow, farm dogs, farm life, greenhouse, pastured poultry, vegetable gardening, wildlife, zero mile foodshed on May 23, 2008 | 6 Comments »
She has to - she can’t deal with her owner anymore! I broke down and called the vet yesterday, and he gave me several reasons that I shouldn’t worry about the calf.
• The first baby can come at anytime.
• The bull, (whom we only know as Willy) may throw late calves.
• The owner can’t [...]
Sputnik - finally
Posted in cattle, easily amused, family cow, farm as desired, farm dogs, farm life, milk cow, tagged cattle, family cow, farm dogs, farm life on May 20, 2008 | 3 Comments »
Jetta is keeping her hocks together still, but her bag is starting to look like it can’t get any bigger. But it will - this is mostly congestion, but her udder looks nice.
Realizing I’m low on groceries, it’s raining, and library books are due today, we are going to town. Our co-op that we buy [...]
Insurance for when you assume…
Posted in cattle, family cow, farm as desired, farm life, frugal living, milk cow, wildlife, tagged cattle, family cow, farm life, frugal living, homeopathy, sustainability on May 18, 2008 | 9 Comments »
Calf story - but nothing to do with Jetta. Sorry…
Remember that frozen colostrum I showed last week? I have frozen colostrum every year since getting my first milk cow, and have rarely needed it. After calving season, it becomes part of the pig treats that we find in the freezer. We have loaned colostrum to neighbors [...]
