Winter is my least favorite time of year. I do not care for snow but the cold weather is the real kicker. This has not been a good winter here either. Carbon monoxide filled the house from the woodburners. That ended up with me taking a trip to the hospital.
We are out of wood already. The wood we received was green and wet so I have a huge mess in the office to clean up where the creosote leaked on the pipes. Needless to say the woodburner is down.
The plants in my greenhouse, many of which I had babied for years, froze without any heat. That makes me real unhappy. All my tropical plants, gone. I doubt I will replace them with shipping costs being so much. I don’t even want to walk back there. I just feel like crying when I do.
We lost a few chickens this year. It seems some did not go into the chicken house and froze. Every year we seem to lose a few that get out and don’t make it back, but for the most part all the poultry are doing well.
The sheep, goats, rabbits and Beauty the horse are doing just fine. It is warm in the barn, but I am sure, like the rest of us, they can’t wait to get out and run. Our pasture is very soft and muddy so keeping them up right now is the only way to make sure they do not get hurt. Beauty likes to run full force and she has fallen several times in the past due to the pasture being like it is.
I have a few seedlings started in the house, but not many. I am just so heartbroken over the greenhouse plants it is hard to think about growing anything right now. I am sure, in time, this will pass.
I did make some artisan yarn last night. I used a maroon chenille that I bought at a second hand store, a pretty brown wool I spun and some cashmere/silk that I spun. The three different yarns were spun together to make one and I am quite pleased with the outcome.
Filed under Homestead Happenings by on Jan 14th, 2010. 3 Comments. 
There is a lot in bloom already. Phlox, tulips – some looking taller than ever before, Magnolia, bleeding heart, jack-in-the-pulpit, azalea and other spring blooming beauties. The forsythia and narcissus have long faded. Some of the lilac are already blooming and some are just forming buds. The night air is fragrant and wildlife is stirring.
The farm animals seem to know spring is here too. The chickens are laying a ton of eggs and of course the roosters are constantly going after the hens. Last night we butchered four chickens with the help of a friend. They took two and we put two in our freezer. This time we chose to butcher four Rhode Island Reds. They seem the most agressive of all the breeds we have and also are harder to keep in the chicken area. They want to roam the entire yard which would be fine if they were not inclined to go across the street and eat or dig any flower that was emerging.
The goats escaped the fence the other day and trashed several of my trees. Darn goats! Jerry has to try again to fix the fence so it will hold them. I am hoping the trees survive. At this rate I am never going to have mature plants!
Beauty the horse is much calmer this year. I still cannot get to her tail to brush it but when the vet comes out I am going to ask her to sedate Beauty so I can get those cockerburls out. She is letting me brush her butt some – but only briefly.
Having a cashmere goat is a bit different. Tulip is still quite shy and has to be lifted onto the milking stand. She does not like being brushed but tolerates it. I trimmed all of their hooves this week. Darla was the real pain. First she jumped on the milk stand, then jumped off behind it, tipped a shelf over and finally ended back up in her stall. I did get her hooves trimmed but made her wait until last. She didn’t like watching the other goats get ginger snap cookies when they were done so after I finished all of them I called Darla and she jumped right up on the milk stand!
The vegetable garden is growing too. I have tiny plants of carrots, kale, sugar snap peas, spinach, turnips, brussels sprouts, sugar beets, cabbage and we are already harvesting radish and lettuce. Some of the lettuce we planted the year before has sprouted on its own. I will be digging and moving those plants once we get ready to till that area. Adding the compost has done wonders for the ground! There are still many plants to get into the ground that are in the greenhouse as well as more corn and green beans to plant.
I am debating growing flax this year for fiber. I already have small cotton plants growing.
The bunnies have not had babies and I am wondering if maybe one of them cannot breed. They have been together for several months now but my female has not shown a single sign of being pregnant.
If you are in the area I invite you to come spend some time at our farm and wildlife habitat. Please email or phone ahead for reservations.
Sheri
Filed under Homestead Happenings by on Dec 20th, 2009. Comment.
Spring is a time of renewal and change. Most of the people I know have already had goat kids. Here at Exotic Gardening Farms however we are still waiting – and waiting – and darn it goats, I want some milk, so have some babies!
I cannot believe not one of my does have udders. Not one. I have been running Leonardo the angora buck with them since August. I thought I would have had goat kids (and milk) by now. Alice says the goats are too fat to get pregnant. Who ever heard of a goat being too fat?
I am not expecting lambs until June, if at all this year. Johnny the ram was just born last June so he may have been too young to breed Pearl. Since I don’t intend to do anything other than make a bit of sheep milk soap and some sheep cheese it doesn’t really matter if she kids or not this year.
In the garden, change is abound. I moved lilacs today. I never realized how much they multiply. Wow. Once you have one, you will have some starts to sell before too long. My dad helped me dig them up and replant them. Then he suggested I take some of the privet hedge starts and put them in front of my picket fence for privacy. What a great idea! I am sure thinking about it.
Two days ago strong winds came through the area and trashed one of my coldframes so my dad helped put it back together and put self tapping screws into the metal frame so at least I won’t be searching the farm for pieces of the frame anymore. We did not get the plastic on but hopefully soon.
I bought some conduit at Lowe’s which I intend to use this weekend to make hoops for coldframes. Most of the garden is tilled and I am getting anxious to plant. The greenhosue is filled to overflowing and seedlings are taking over my office, laundry room and kitchen. You would think since this happens every year either I would quit growing so much or end up with a greenhouse large enough to hold all the seedlings I grow.
Filed under Homestead Happenings by on Dec 20th, 2009. Comment.
It has been a busy spring here at Exotic Gardening Farms and Wildlife Habitat. New gardens were tilled to make more room for planting vegetables. The need for Plant-A-Row for the Hungry gardens is great this year and we want to contribute as much food as possible to our local food bank. The goal is still 1,600 pounds from our farm. So far we have been able to donate close to 800 pounds. Hopefully this year we will come closer to the goal.
Cutting gardens were installed this year to help boost the farm income. The Zinnia are just beginning to flower. The Sunflowers are not far behind. In addition to these two mainstays we will offer roses, delphinium, aster, old fashion sweet william and an array of other specialty cut flowers.
The tomatoes I planted in hoop houses the beginning of April are blooming and beginning to set fruit. It will be nice to have early tomatoes this year. Now that we know this method will work we will get busy sooner next year and plan to plant more under hoops.
The roses are doing great this year. I cannot believe how beautiful and fragrant they are. In fact the entire garden looks really great compared to previous years. Currently in bloom is the zinnias, oak leaf hydrangea, pussy toes, buddelia (butterfly bush), poppies, catnip, flax, allium, dame’s rocket, marigold, gaillardia, hosta, roses, geraniums, sweet william, dianthus, lilies, daylilies, clematis, red hot poker, delphinium, daisies, cornflower, salvia, veronica, honeysuckle, coreopsis, verbena, yarrow, petunia, malva, meconopsis, larkspur, hydrangea, milkweed, astrantia, penstemon, heuchera, begonia, St. John’s Wort, alyssum, lobelia, campanula, lamb’s ear, hedyotis, astilbe, foxglove, liatris, Russian sage, grasses, snapdragon, silene, bee balm, cupflower, twinspur, evening primrose (pink and yellow), thailicum, bleeding heart, codonopsis, comfrey, laminum and amorphophallus.
The animals are being born now. Ginger and Gizmo had two baby bunnies in April. I have a black male and a white albino female. The female looks just like Gizmo and they both look like they took the fiber gene. Time will tell.
This morning Jerry went to the chicken coop and found five baby chicks sitting with a momma hen. I had to go out and check. They are doing fine. I moved them to a better nest box and added fresh water and chicken starter. The momma hen had the babies sitting in the feed dish and they were eating. The other eleven baby chicks that I hatched are doing fine. I have one Polish crested, an auraucana, and some unknowns. The two white breasted turkeys are also doing fine so far.
The goats teats are rapidly growing. We should have goat kids any day now. I can’t wait. We have the video up and running so we can see and hear everything that happens.
We put the hummingbird houses up this past weekend and are waiting on new arrivals. I have only seen two Monarch butterflies so far this year. I hope to see more. I did see a Baltimore Oriole at a hummingbird feeder earlier in the year. There seems to be a flurry of bee activity here which is great. I have also seen some grey squirrels with white tails and a few toads.
Life on the farm is one adventure after another – from unexpected wildlife to new arrivals. I wouldn’t trade it for anything, even though it is a lot of hard work! Knowing the produce you grow keeps you supplied in food most of the year is very satisfying. Knowing you can grow enough to share with others who may be less fortunate makes it all worthwhile.
Filed under Homestead Happenings, Miscellanous by on Dec 12th, 2009. Comment.
It has been a busy past few weeks on the homestead. The baby goats are growing like weeds. We are still milking so even though breeding season is here, it isn’t happening just yet.
The goat milk is being turned into cheese, soap, butter, ice cream and of course, some is being frozen for winter use.
The chest freezer finally was moved into the kitchen, a task I had wanted done for several years. The hoops are in place in the garden and seedlings are started. It will simply be a matter of covering the hoops with plastic when the time comes then walking outside to harvest fresh lettuce, carrots, radish, broccoli and cabbage during the winter months.
The past few weeks have been spent dehydrating tomatoes, peppers, garlic, herbs and whatever else I have come across. I have been canning, mostly tomato products such as sauces and soups.
Last year I canned lots of grape juice with the intention of making wine. The year came and went without that happening. However I am happy to report that the grape juice has finally been turned into wine. I have four gallons of grape wine in the carboy fermenting now. It is a beautiful burgundy color.
Speaking of making things to drink, I made four gallons of cola as well. I chose to sweeten it with half clover honey and half regular sugar. Although it was flat when I bottled it, it did taste good. In a few weeks the carbonation will be complete and we will open our first bottles of homemade cola.
Besides making lye soap recently, I have been making hydrosols, essential oils and spinning wool into yarn. Winter is certainly not far off and whatever is not used up of summers bounty will be lost. I have produced a number of hydrosols and essential oils. To date I have distilled chocolate mint, orange mint, spearmint and black stem peppermint.
I have some new lye soap creations I am excited about. I milled the soap so I could add spearmint hydrosol and goat milk to it. The new scents are Snowman Soap, a rich blend of spearmint, juniper berry and pine; Lavender Bliss, a relaxing and invigorating aroma made up of spearmint and lavender; Nature Soap, a mix of clove bud, spearmint and rose geranium and Peachy Dreams, a cool soap scented with lemongrass, clary sage and vanilla.
If that were not enough, I am finally finding some time to spin. I started with Johnny’s lamb’s wool. Johnny is white, so on the spinning wheel I have almost a full bobbin of white yarn, single strand. I decided a little color wouldn’t hurt, so tonight I dyed some of his wool neon purple. It is a gorgeous color. Of course I will not know what the finished color will look like until it dries and I wash it, card it and spin it into yarn. Besides spinning wool alone I have been coming up with other pleasing combinations of fiber. I have rolags made of a black alpaca/llama fiber; rolags of black wool from Pearl, silk noir and white angora from Gizmo; rolags of mohair dyed with walnut shells, silk noir and white angora from Gizmo and rolags of alpaca and cashmere from Tulip. These mixes of fiber should make some pretty interesting yarn.
Other current projects include making homemade noodles to put into the freezer for winter use and making beef jerkey to snack on. I also have plans to make some corn chips to keep on hand for late night snack binges. There are pears on the tree, the last batch, that need picked. Then it will just be a matter of waiting on the first frost to pick the persimmons.
Winter is indeed just around the corner, but our little homestead will be ready.
Filed under Homestead Happenings by on Oct 30th, 2009. Comment.
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