Dirty Harvest

My husband and I met late 2007, my first harvest with him was 2008.  I drove my tractor and grain cart like I'd been doing it my whole life.  :)  I didn't give up my tractor and grain cart, full time, for ememrgencys only, until 2010, when we had our son, and I got demoted?/Promoted? to crew cook.  But I've been around every day, since 2008's harvest, and I've learned a few things.

1.  They like to say, "In a Normal Year, we finish combining about the first week of November", I've yet to see  a normal year.  The first year, we finished two days before Thanksgiving.  The second year (the year I was pregnant, and didn't want to stay out late, or spend all day bouncing around in my tractor), I packed a blanket with me, lots of music with me, and many snacks, because we were out there until December 7.  Two nights of Snow Combining, and very, very long days.  Since then, we have finished before Halloween.

2.  The directions they give you are sketchy.  "Turn left, where that old barn was that burned down 15 years ago."  What?

3.  They don't like vegetables, but what they don't know, won't kill them.

4.  My son will ditch me in a heartbeat to go ride with Daddy, Grandpa, Grandma, or Christy, in a combine or tractor.  And he is much better behaved for them, than he is for me, when I'm driving a tractor.

That said, today is the first day of harvest ( a month early, and we are starting with Corn, when we usually start with beans), and it is GROSS out there!  I've never seen black dirt cover our combines.  Sure, they get dusty, but not like this, and not within the first hour.  Here are some pictures:

Orange and Rhubarb Jam

Round two of our Rhubarb patch has arrived, in full force. (When it was time for my husband and I to move to the farm, his parents had said the rhubarb patch was "bad", I took that as toxic or poisionous, and was disappointed. It didn't mean toxic or poisionous, it really meant "Unproductive", and with in the first year of us living out at the farm, we took down a huge cotton wood tree, that grew just to the west of the "bad" rhubarb patch, which then made the patch EXCELLENT!). So, I was flipping through some books, trying to figure out what to do with this abundance of rhubarb. I came across this recipe. It was for "Rhubarb and Orange Jam". Mine tastes more like Oranges, so I switched the name. It's sticky, and delicious, it has no pectin added, one less ingredient is nice, and it was hot hot hot to make. Standing barefoot in the kitchen, like I should be :), it said, cook for fifteen minutes at medium high heat, stiring frequently. I whimped out, lowered the temp, cooked it longer, and it's delicious. Seriously.By the way, I have no idea how that got underlined, but it won't un-underline for me :(    Here's a picture of Rhubarb,  pre sugar.

Sugar mixed in

Starting to cook with the orange zest and lemon juice

lemon skins, and ornage "Membrane" (Sounds creepy)

Cooking down.  As scarey as it looks, it really is good :)

Seed Starting, Mice, and Chickens

Let me start by saying, Chickens are NOT vegetarians!!! They eat bugs, mice, lizards, and tiny snakes.

Today, I decided to start my seeds, that I got from Baker Creek Heirlooms (www.rareseeds.com), in the seed starting trays that I got from Peaceful Valley (www.groworganic.com). I post where they came from, because I wouldn't have known about them without a friend telling me about them. I'm passing that on. So, like I said, I was starting my seeds. I needed just a bit more potting soil to cover the seeds, so I pulled on my rain boots. My rain boots make me feel like an alligator hunter, like on "Swamp People", because they're white. I trecked across our very muddy yard, over to my potting shed, pulled an open bag from the shelf, and saw some mouse holes in it, darn. I peeked in the bag, and saw a mouse nest, made from some stuff momma mouse must have found in the yard. I didn't want a mouse nest, so I decided to dump the bag of potting soil outside. Momma mouse took off at a dead run, good for her, she escaped the chickens I'd been talking to on my way into the potting shed. Three little tiny baby mice fell out with the nest. Yuck! I can't crush them, I can't stand the feel of that under my foot. So, I called my chickens, they ignored me, I called Crespo, but there was a semi unloading seed beans in the yard, and she couldn't hear me. So, I wished the baby mice the best, grabbed a different bag of potting soil, checked for a mouse nest, and left.

A few days ago, a neighbor, who has organic, free range chickens, came over, while dropping off some Grass Fed Beef, and we were talking about our chickens. She said she's been asked at farmers markets, if her chickens are vegan. She said, "I just say 'No', because how do you tell someone, who's never been around a farm, that chickens eat everything! They'll run past with a tail, of something smaller than they are, hanging out of their mouth. Sometimes, you can still hear "Squeak, Squeak," as they run past. I don't think they'd appreciate knowing that". And I laughed... :) Yeah, chickens, they aren't vegan.

Today, I learned that I won't over winter bags of potting soil... I can't take the baby mice. At the end of this year, I'll just dump any leftover potting soil on my garden beds, and look forward Bomgaars stocking it up, for me to pick up, mice free, in the spring.

Inez

She's going to get mentioned quite a bit, so she needs her own post, so you know who I'm talking about... Inez is my Australlian Shepard. I adopted her when she was about three and a half years old. She has no manners, and she likes to eat garbage, I actually think she prefers it. She loves people, she really loves me. When I'm outside, she gets really wiggley, and doesn't watch where her bum is going, or who it might run into, or knock over. She usually knocks Wesley over. She thinks she needs to give stinky (from trying to eat things she shouldn't) kisses to everyone who is short enough to have a face about the same height as hers. If she's off her lead, and I'm not outside, she leaves the farm. Headed towards town. She'll head to the park, or the ball field, if there are kids around. If it's during the week, and kids are in school, she heads to the bar/restaurant, to beg for scraps. She's how I met a friend, and she often shows up at another friend's house. My friend will return her to the farm, while Inez rides in the passenger seat of the car. She knows what she's doing when she heads to town.
If we're late eating dinner, it's often because I've had to head off to town, looking for Inez, because she suckered me into believing she'd stay home. We used to take Crespo, our other dog, with us, on our search for Inez. But Crespo loves to ride in the back of the pickup, and we think she might have been telling Nezzy to run off, so we'd go looking. Crespo would get to ride out and back, and Inez would get to ride back, a win-win. Now, Crespo has to stay while we search.
Spring is "Nezzy"s favorite time of year. The seed business keeps the farm busy, I'm outside a lot, she's free all day. It's not boring, she sticks around. Fall is also busy, and she's free quite a bit in the fall, but she chases bunnies that are running from the combine, and she doesn't pay attention, and she's almost been run over, twice. So, if there is a combine near, she's tied up.

Free Range Chickens Like Me Better Than Housed Chickens Do.

We got chickens in 2008, my husband framed off part of the barn, for their house. It's a big house, and since we have two dogs, we never turned our chickens out. We ordered new chicks last spring, they now share the house with the remaining first flock. They've never really taken to me, maybe they're still just a little high strung because they're young. Maybe it's because I had a 10 month old when they arrived, and didn't handle them a whole lot when they were little. Either way, they would move away when I'd come to the chicken house, and only come over if I offered up treats (Strawberry tops, and pea pods, or crusty old bread).

But, early last week, I decided I'd try to let them out, if they eat bugs, they'll get more protein. The weather has been so unusually warm, why not let them out. My better behaved dog is free to roam all day, my naughty dog, is tied up, unless I'm outside (she likes to head off towards town, and she's a great hunter). So, I let them out. They love it! The dogs tend to leave them alone, but I watched carefully for the first two days to make sure. They've found all kinds of dirt to roll around in, and things to scratch at. Loose corn to clean up, and freshly greened grass, to snack on. Now, when I come over, even empty handed, they flock to me. I don't know if they're just thanking me, or if I'm less intimidating, out in the open. But, they're happy, and our feed bill should drop some. I sure hope our egg customers like their eggs this way, because they'll be able to go outside until next winter.