tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58853989253075445502024-02-20T08:36:19.878-05:00Life and Times at O'Hara's Corner FarmRyan and Sarah O'Harahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196408363480438080noreply@blogger.comBlogger107125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5885398925307544550.post-16858608587469062732016-01-28T19:04:00.001-05:002016-01-28T19:06:25.296-05:00We've Moved!<p dir="ltr">Find us at our new location: <a href="http://www.oharascornerfarm.WordPress.com">www.oharascornerfarm.WordPress.com</a></p>
Ryan and Sarah O'Harahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196408363480438080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5885398925307544550.post-6753690568046380672012-11-11T19:08:00.000-05:002012-11-11T19:08:24.342-05:00It's Been A While . . .So . . . it's been a while since I've posted anything about our life here on the farm. Actually more than just a while; it's been a really long time. We weathered a hot, droughty May, June, and July; a slightly cooler and wetter August and September, and now have enjoyed fairly normal fall weather through October into November.<br />
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Today we are enjoying the last of a warm front, that's blowing through as I write, to be followed closely behind by cold weather, with the possibly of that four-letter s-word: snow! Though it is the second week of November, and a completely normal possibility for this time of year.<br />
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Out the window things are the same, but different:<br />
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The trees are all still there, and the grass is greener than it was in June. The weigela bush got cut back; the drought did a number on it, and a great deal of it had died. We cut it back to the stems that still had green leaves, in hopes that it will spring back next spring. Sorry to the birds that like to use it as a wind shelter during the winter.<br />
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The meat chickens went to the butcher in early October. They turned out pretty well, but weren't as big as some we've had. A little later start and lots of heat seems to have stunted their weight gain a little bit. I'm sure they'll still taste good.<br />
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The meat turkeys are a week out from their date with the butcher. Which is not a bit too soon. We managed to get a lucky draw with poults this year, and ended up with all toms for our meat turkeys. They have been growing quite well, and I wouldn't be surprised if they're some of the biggest we've raised. But with their size and maturity, the hormones have kicked in pretty well, and we've got lots of displaying and aggressive moves going on in the turkey pen. Luckily not towards me, but I'm sure if we gave them a few more weeks, things would head that way.<br />
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The garden has been put to bed for the winter; mowed down, dug up, and sporadically covered with compost, poultry poo, and leaves.</div>
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We kept back 9 hens out of the chickens we raised from incubated eggs this year. So far they are one of my favorite chicken flocks ever. Apparently not afraid of people they actually will come up to me if I stand still in the pasture, and curiously peck at my green garden clogs and any loose piece of clothing that may be on my person. They've learned that I bring the treats (kitchen scraps), and now come running to the fence when they see me. Their fearless leader is a recently acquired Ameraucana cross rooster, who is delightfully non-combative, and while keeping his ladies in order, does not think that I'm a predator that needs to be attacked. Here are some picture of the lovely ladies and their fearless leader:</div>
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Because of them not being afraid, I can get fun up close photos like this:</div>
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Moving into the colder months of the year, our focus moves inside. Especially this year. We have a lot to prepare our house for. <br />
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February will find us welcoming a Baby O'Hara to the farm. So now that most of our outdoor tasks are finished, and I'm through the tiredness of early pregnancy, most of our time is being spent making the attic a finished room, continuing our efforts to reduce clutter and organize, turning one of our bedrooms into a nursery, and just generally preparing for one of the biggest changes in our life.<br />
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I imagine future posts may be a little sparse for awhile, but I will try to keep you updated on all the household projects, and general outdoor loveliness that we will see this winter.<br />
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Happy fall!<br />
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Ryan and Sarah O'Harahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196408363480438080noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5885398925307544550.post-27680516776627034882012-08-21T19:57:00.000-04:002012-08-21T19:57:10.992-04:00Drought . . .<em>An old post from sometime in July that never got posted for some reason. I plan to start getting back in a more regular posting schedule in a couple of weeks. We have a good explanation for the lack of posts this summer; I'll fill you in soon!</em><br />
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With all this heat and dryness, I'm trying to focus on the positives, because staring at the thermometer when it reads like this just makes me grumpy:<br />
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Due to Ryan's diligent watering schedule, we're preparing to harvest sweet corn in the next few days. We don't have the height on our plants, but they're doing a decent job producing . . . maybe not the bumper crop we were thinking of when we planted those crazy long rows, but still, enough.</div>
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I can not say the same for the sunflowers, from all those seeds we saved and then planted . . .</div>
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The germination and then survival rate was rather low. Not sure what the story was . . . the seeds, the weather, or hungry critters raiding our seed bed.</div>
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Our green bean plants look lovely, especially with all the mulching to hold back the weeds, but seem to be in a state of perpetual blooming. Flowers for over a week, but can't seem to find any baby green beans.</div>
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Plants that love hot weather are the super stars of the garden this year. Here are the sweet potatoes and cantaloupe. Can you tell where one row ends and the other begins? Me neither!</div>
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Marigolds and zinnias are doing pretty well too . . .</div>
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Ryan and Sarah O'Harahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196408363480438080noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5885398925307544550.post-9281154802915736552012-06-02T19:09:00.001-04:002012-06-02T19:09:19.791-04:00R.I.P. Essie<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTAs7C8hKW0sDv-BwlXi2qkQcRousoIKSpF6XkP8Zcc69y_DEZvbmCQo2GausVhK7OeAme2VjlMq3pwj2KNJWd5q03HSqfHkcA9rMF81KrN1DHI6p6eaMFlUfpZyJa5NvopbVpfQPIoy4/s1600/Image0209.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" rba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTAs7C8hKW0sDv-BwlXi2qkQcRousoIKSpF6XkP8Zcc69y_DEZvbmCQo2GausVhK7OeAme2VjlMq3pwj2KNJWd5q03HSqfHkcA9rMF81KrN1DHI6p6eaMFlUfpZyJa5NvopbVpfQPIoy4/s320/Image0209.jpg" width="240" /></a>Our 4 year old turkey hen, Esmerelda (Essie) died last Monday from wounds inflicted by a racoon in the middle of the night th e previous Friday.We buried her in one of our wildflower patches; Ryan found an old horseshoe while he was digging. We hung it on a stake as a marker. Here on the farm we are of course a bit saddened. Essie was one of the first turkeys we raised. Thomas and her were from the 4 we bought the spring before our wedding. So we have a significantly greater attachment to them then to the ones that we raise each year for meat.</div>
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Essie was desparate to become a mother. She laid countless eggs, and built countless nests. But never hatched <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR_zYA6f6gzMT2zfA4mr03M-7cehDzmTlWLUAvNzbG03jxA5qzdCtSwhc9Hq3AQx1rCROgX_oXWY7RrBaPTUS4r3HdZSZc5xTTcu5A31TnedtLd9tEmMSuqrfpKeCDB8cT3VO7u9ufVKc/s1600/P1010374.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" rba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR_zYA6f6gzMT2zfA4mr03M-7cehDzmTlWLUAvNzbG03jxA5qzdCtSwhc9Hq3AQx1rCROgX_oXWY7RrBaPTUS4r3HdZSZc5xTTcu5A31TnedtLd9tEmMSuqrfpKeCDB8cT3VO7u9ufVKc/s320/P1010374.JPG" width="259" /></a>any baby turkeys. She did hatch some baby chicks her 1st egg-laying year; after she broke all her own eggs, we gave her some chicken eggs because she was so determinedly broody. Those chicks were the only eggs we have hatched so far (hopefully this streak is broken by the chicken eggs in the incubator right now!).<br />
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I know it's hard to imagine that a turkeys have personalities, but they do. Essie was a determined little turkey. During her life she suffered numerous injuries, most of them from defending her nest against predators, or from Thomas being a little too agressive with his courting. She always perservered and bounced back; except these last injuries were too much.<br />
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Even though we had to separate her from the other birds at the end, so they wouldn't bother her, Thomas stayed right by her on the other side of the fence. Essie was his main hen, even with having Ginny around. Essie was the one that would help Thomas preen, and just generally more likely to hang out with him. It's hard to tell if he misses her or not, but I would imagine that he at least notices that his flock is one hen short.<br />
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All that's left of her struggle are piles of her downy underfeathers in the corner where the coon cornered her. I keep hoping it will get windy and blow them away.</div>
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We picked up some turkey poults last week, and one seems quite a bit smaller, which is probably a good indication that it is a hen. We're hoping so. She can be Essie's replacement, already christened "Jojo" by our 3 year old niece.</div>Ryan and Sarah O'Harahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196408363480438080noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5885398925307544550.post-82237058232678111182012-05-02T18:02:00.000-04:002012-05-02T18:02:24.570-04:00It's All About the Eggs<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Around here, it's all about the eggs. Chicken eggs, turkey eggs, chickens and turkeys making eggs, and incubating and hatching eggs.<br />
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The eggs in the photo to the left are just the ones we have collected in the last 3 or 4 days. With 7 young (a year old or less) chickens, egg production is in full swing. If everybody lays an egg, everyday for a week . . . that's 49 eggs!<br />
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Which explains why our refrigerator looks like this:<br />
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We can't seem to eat or sell them fast enough. We have eggs for breakfast on the weekends, hard boiled eggs for snacks, and omlets for supper, and there are egg whites, egg noodles, and part of angel food cake in the freezer. Besides deliveries to regular customers and family. We are most certainly blessed with eggs!</div>
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And then there are the eggs we don't eat. Turkey eggs. We tried them one time. They're strong tasting, and I about gagged, just trying to break the shell of one. . . they have a thick inner membrane that's just not appetizing. But really we want turkey eggs so that we can get more turkeys.</div>
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This year we have 2 strategies to accomplish trying to get turkeys from turkey eggs. The main one is:</div>
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Incubating turkey eggs in an incubator. We purchased this nifty, heavy-duty Styrofoam set-up this winter. It has a thermostat and automatic egg turner, so it takes a lot of the guess work out of it. Right now we are on day 25 of 28 incubation days. It's "lock-down" time, which means we don't open the incubator now until we see baby poults emerging from the eggs.</div>
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Our other strategy to get turkeys from turkey eggs is the regular good old fashion way . . . let the turkey hens make a nest, and try to incubate. Thus you'll find this out in our pasture:</div>
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A nest of turkey eggs hidden in a pocket of tall grass. If she's really good, you'll hardly be able to see the hen sitting on it when she sets. The only problem with this is that it leaves her and the eggs exposed to weather and predators when she sets for 28 days, but it works for wild turkeys, so you would think it would work for her too.</div>
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If we didn't see the turkey eggs around, we would still be reminded that it is the season for them by the constant turkey strutting and courtship displays occurring in the barnyard. Here is Thomas and one of his girls in full display:</div>
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Since egg laying in chickens is not really too seasonal . . . they lay pretty much year round except the dead of winter, a picture of chicken eggs in the hay feeder is not an unusual sight, but even in its common-ness, it's still a pretty picture.</div>
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One last egg picture, and then I promise I'm done. For the first time this year we made colored Easter eggs with our homegrown brown eggs, and were delighted to discover that instead of being blah, they turned out lovely, muted "country colors" as my sister termed it. So, the picture below is not from a chicken who lays green eggs, but is just one of our neat "country" colored Easter eggs. Happy Spring!</div>
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<br /></div>Ryan and Sarah O'Harahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196408363480438080noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5885398925307544550.post-38827632150267658972012-03-11T17:32:00.000-04:002012-03-11T17:32:53.302-04:00Playing CameraWhen I was right out of college working as a naturalist, one of the activities I learned to do with kids on a nature hike was called "Camera". I would have the group split into pairs, and then out of each pair, one kid would be the "photographer", and one kid would be the "camera". The job of the "photographer" was to carefully lead the "camera," who had their eyes closed, to a spot where there was something that the "photographer" thought was neat. The "photographer" then tapped the "camera" on the shoulder, and the "camera" opened their eyes until the "photographer" tapped them again to shut their eyes. The "photograper" got to take 3 or 4 "pictures" doing this, and then the kids would trade roles and take 3 or 4 more "pictures". Then everybody came back together as a group, and told about the pictures they took. It was a cool activity to get kids using their observation skills, and sometimes it ended up being funny if the camera didn't take the picture the photographer thought it was taking. Sometimes we discovered something really neat and unexpected on these "photography" expeditions.<br />
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Today, I went on a walk along our road looking for signs of spring. My pictures don't really tell a story, they're just what I saw today. I'm going to play camera with you, and show you what I saw that I thought was kinda neat. I'm not going to label or describe . . . just enjoy the views.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNakOr28EHA_KTs9AhTa7UTg7UDKMh14iIGkSuMv_Jqo9Q9cCUVh3LircYNLdshJUaaO-rwD-uzpolbsH8B_EHkEHEz5xO7O-WOIrvWJsVbRRDlKmOHQwSomllILR-KO1OitLly34YeJc/s1600/P1010292.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNakOr28EHA_KTs9AhTa7UTg7UDKMh14iIGkSuMv_Jqo9Q9cCUVh3LircYNLdshJUaaO-rwD-uzpolbsH8B_EHkEHEz5xO7O-WOIrvWJsVbRRDlKmOHQwSomllILR-KO1OitLly34YeJc/s320/P1010292.JPG" width="320" yda="true" /></a></div>Ryan and Sarah O'Harahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196408363480438080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5885398925307544550.post-46144778361887717302012-02-17T15:32:00.000-05:002012-02-17T15:32:13.669-05:00Drip ... drip ...dripIt's that time of year again:<br />
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This past Sunday, we tapped trees; on a cold, overcast day when the sap was most definitely not dripping. But the past few days, it has warmed up, and lo and behold, buckets are filling. Over the last two days we've gathered about 15 gallons of sap. I emptied the buckets early this afternoon, in hopes of preventing bucket overflow. With the nice 40s temps and sunshine; it's sure to be a drip, drop, fill the bucket kind of day. Soon the sap kettle will be boiling, and the air will be filled with its warm, moist sweetness. Happy Sugar Season!Ryan and Sarah O'Harahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196408363480438080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5885398925307544550.post-59424814540232312912012-02-05T16:08:00.000-05:002012-02-05T16:08:20.663-05:00It's not time for this yet . . .My calendar and the current weather are not coinciding. My calendar says its February 5, which from looking at past farm journals for the first part of February tends to be a cold, snowy time of year. Not so much this year. <br />
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Today, during our afternoon walk we saw this:<br />
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Skunk cabbage spikes coming up in the local wetland. If you look close you can see the dark purple flowers buds.<br />
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This is one of our sugar maple trees, which had a road facing limb cut off by the highway dept. this past fall. Notice the sap drops in the middle of the picture. We tasted it; the sugar's there. Three weeks earlier that we usually tap trees. <br />
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We have no idea when we're going to tap trees. This winter has been a constant shuffle of sugaring weather. We had a nice frosty freeze last night, with a nice warm sunny day today. Days like that are perfect sugaring weather; but you never know that winter could show up any day now.Ryan and Sarah O'Harahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196408363480438080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5885398925307544550.post-36160833993460475672012-01-23T16:18:00.001-05:002012-01-23T16:20:41.431-05:00Oh, Just Count Out About 200 . . ."Oh, just count out about 200," suggests my husband as I stare at this pile on the kitchen table, on the very snowy, stay home day that was last Saturday morning:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtxvEPU4fCQDZ4k-Y2nwyV-8fn12Ui2y4oYsY3ofTs-jV1GAIL0lfUKZGfR565EbmwNes2gDv3cs7ppObH7vWM7I1st1BaaQT_d5sEVOsRQVZXvivWL9rL6r-0uTQUqK8mGu-X6VM8nts/s1600/P1010170.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="233" nfa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtxvEPU4fCQDZ4k-Y2nwyV-8fn12Ui2y4oYsY3ofTs-jV1GAIL0lfUKZGfR565EbmwNes2gDv3cs7ppObH7vWM7I1st1BaaQT_d5sEVOsRQVZXvivWL9rL6r-0uTQUqK8mGu-X6VM8nts/s320/P1010170.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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We have entered a new phase of gardening. With this pile of sunflower seeds, I think we've officially become seed savers. Which means that instead of buying seed from the store, catalog, whatever . . . we just save some of the seed from last year's crops to plant the coming year. I know this is not a new idea at all; in fact I think that people a hundred years ago would find it odd that you wouldn't do this. But for us crazy people, its a new adventure.<br />
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It all started last summer when one of the mammoth sunflowers we grew from seed turned out to be truly mammoth. I'm talking a seed head that was 18 to 24 inches across. I looked at that flower, and then looked at my husband and said that "that one is not going for turkey food. With those kind of genetics, we ought to try some of those seeds out." So when it dried out, we raked all the seeds out it and a couple of other nice looking sunflower seed heads, and put them in vented ziplocs, in our chilly upstairs bedroom.<br />
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With all the snow that has showed up over the past couple of days, we were feeling kinda bad that we didn't have any seed to put out in the bird feeders. Oh wait, we have bags of sunflower seeds upstairs, and we surely are not going to need 1000's of seeds for planting; let's just count out a couple of hundred of the best looking ones and feed the rest to the birds. This is how I ended up with the pile of sunflower seeds on my kitchen table.<br />
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I was literally counting them out ten at a time into a container to get 200. Up close they look like this:<br />
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Going for solid seeds, no borer holes, and little to no mildew on the outside. The bigger the better, as long as they are solid and not hollow feeling or cracked. <br />
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Turns out 200 in the container looks like this:<br />
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Which according to Ryan didn't seem like enough, so then he joined in the sorting, and we just sorted until we filled up the container. Not that we will plant even half of those, but you know, we'd rather have too many than not enough.<br />
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The rest went into the bird feeder, which our neighborhood cardinals and juncos seemed to enjoy; judging by the amount of sunflower seed hulls on the snow.Ryan and Sarah O'Harahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196408363480438080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5885398925307544550.post-15438944562089431342012-01-21T19:53:00.000-05:002012-01-21T19:53:42.007-05:00Winter WonderlandIt snowed!<br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">And for a couple of days at least, we're blanketed in white. It is lovely. As it was falling while we were out doing chores last evening, it was like cold, fine sand. It made an eerie rushing sound as it blew against the dried, dormant late blooming clematis . . .</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Overnight the wind blew even more, and settled the snow in to drifts here and there. Which meant that Ryan got to use the snowblower to move this snow:</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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And now the driveway is cleared, and there are nice paths out to the barnyard and the chicken house. And the mail person didn't have to worry about getting stuck delivering mail to our house. Yay for a husband that likes to use the snowblower. It helps that it was a Saturday morning, and there was nowhere to go and the sun was shining. <br />
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A view out the upstairs window looked like this . . .<br />
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And tonight there was that lovely golden quality to the sun on the snow. I kept seeing it while we were doing chores, but it went away before I got a chance to get my camera. And also a picture I didn't get taken today, the wind marks on the snow, which looks like the little tiny waves on the edge of a lake, frozen in place. Beautiful and wonderous!Ryan and Sarah O'Harahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196408363480438080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5885398925307544550.post-26733638306684649612012-01-13T18:39:00.000-05:002012-01-13T18:39:08.920-05:00Checking In From SiberiaSo . . . winter has finally decided to show up. With a vengeance. But's that's ok. It is January after all. High of 19 today . . . snow . . . wind. Lots of fun little drifts all over the yard. I have no clue how much snow we actually have gotten. It is light and fluffy and the wind has tossed it hither and yon. <br />
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It is the first day all winter that I think the chickens have stayed inside the whole time, except to deposit eggs in the hay feeder. Which they did an amazing job of, all eight of them put one out today. This only happens maybe once every 2 weeks.<br />
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If you really want to know the general consensus of the weather here on the farm, I think Shadow's yowl from the porch bench might have expressed it best:<br />
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If only I had thought to video record him, you could have had the sound to go with it. If you notice, he is pathetically holding up his front paw, which he has been limping on all week, even though we can't find anything wrong with him. I told Ryan I think he's faking it, and is just trying to get extra attention.Ryan and Sarah O'Harahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196408363480438080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5885398925307544550.post-26319086766958913382012-01-05T15:41:00.001-05:002012-01-05T15:47:43.070-05:00Making Peace with a Mild Winter . . . so farThe past month or two, we've really been struggling here on the farm, to make our peace with winter being mild this year. I'll explain why.<br />
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Instead of the lovely inches of snow, solid ground underfoot, and sparkling clear mornings . . . we've got a mud hole for a barnyard, squishy molehills on the path to the barn, and gray, rainy mornings. <br />
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We're really big fans of 4 distinct seasons, and when you get one that starts to look a lot like another . . . well it's just not fun. And don't just ask us . . . if I were to share a picture of our steers in all their muddiness, you'd understand that they agree. <br />
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With that preface . . . you will understand why I was overjoyed to be able to spend several minutes staring out the window at this:<br />
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Yay for snow falling! And for this:<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">Below freezing temperatures during the day, that allowed the barnyard to freeze up for a couple of days. </div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">And no matter what, a five alarm winter sunset to fall back on isn't too shabby.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">On the day the snow was falling, if I had feathers like a bird, I would have probably been out reveling as it seems this cardinal was:</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">I watched him for a couple of minutes, and he was never sitting on a branch. It was almost as if he was dust bathing in snow. Or maybe he was just happy that the mud was covered too!</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">For now we just take what we get, and pray that all our critters continue to stay healthy through the crazy up and down temperatures, and hope that come the end of February when its time to haul the steers out, that we can have a good hard freeze to allow easy maneuvering of truck and trailer. </div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"></div>Ryan and Sarah O'Harahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196408363480438080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5885398925307544550.post-8687934685766362852012-01-01T15:08:00.000-05:002012-01-01T15:08:22.220-05:00From 2011 to 2012The year of 2011 was full of new experiences here on the farm. It was the first year we raised cattle in every season from the below zero temps of February to the 90's of August. It was our first time raising pigs, and boy did we learn a lot, but thankfully we had good natured charges in Runt and Hamball, and lots of good advice from family and friends. It was the first time we have had to purchase green beans to can, and I learned that you never brag on your garden plants in front of them. <br />
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As we finish out the year, we find ourselves in the midst of a mild winter, or at least its starting that way. Every time it has snowed, it has mostly melted off before I got around to photos. This is our out the window picture from a few days ago:<br />
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We've been amused by the fact of a chicken that lays double yolks, we thought maybe this one was a triple, but was only a double:<br />
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Potatoes have been canned, in preparation for those late spring days when all the potatoes in the basement are used up, but there aren't any ready in the garden:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibcYjVyc3Yo1ddI3PEFFoDV2v69-pg1frZNLfFIuQKgWbHqiA9Pzj2G1nTZfcnmIsKsrkW88gPBSHAR_LAe-hd_ecS-rpet6QsQb_U2s7WE9-ZnUUfK3PsQ36TDbInQCrCViSGONse_ek/s1600/P1010065.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibcYjVyc3Yo1ddI3PEFFoDV2v69-pg1frZNLfFIuQKgWbHqiA9Pzj2G1nTZfcnmIsKsrkW88gPBSHAR_LAe-hd_ecS-rpet6QsQb_U2s7WE9-ZnUUfK3PsQ36TDbInQCrCViSGONse_ek/s320/P1010065.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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And for now, the garden is asleep. The strawberries and garlic hang out under their blankets of straw. Hard to believe just a couple of months ago this was a crazy mess of green and bugs.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1JkhxsMSBgxjxdbQ3xv0tUiTox69zUd_w6wH9lYZ_KbdmSCVTAMjAX5l0_6jUodrpHPLgJL3x8o9AiTm1S0hMRjJx21h_Zz1QdSKzR9s7Rw2Ky8soJ7AxDrTfToZzq3cC0neO4zUKtQ0/s1600/P1010084.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1JkhxsMSBgxjxdbQ3xv0tUiTox69zUd_w6wH9lYZ_KbdmSCVTAMjAX5l0_6jUodrpHPLgJL3x8o9AiTm1S0hMRjJx21h_Zz1QdSKzR9s7Rw2Ky8soJ7AxDrTfToZzq3cC0neO4zUKtQ0/s320/P1010084.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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For now, we'll be in these cool, still winter days. Stare at the Christmas tree for a couple of more days, and embrace the new year. Blessings to you and yours!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJfyVjAxIjJKpoa5iVnQXvZLbjclx5UJRmFhe1HD0oGdjJGZv9tpigDExaycy-ytO7L2W3ah3P9nea6cuk81bUC_sN3svA2EqGYDzx9OoAHoOWS0IcWuyAudKy2XJAw3hbtQZM07cxErE/s1600/P1010064.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="308" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJfyVjAxIjJKpoa5iVnQXvZLbjclx5UJRmFhe1HD0oGdjJGZv9tpigDExaycy-ytO7L2W3ah3P9nea6cuk81bUC_sN3svA2EqGYDzx9OoAHoOWS0IcWuyAudKy2XJAw3hbtQZM07cxErE/s320/P1010064.JPG" width="320" /></a>Ryan and Sarah O'Harahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196408363480438080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5885398925307544550.post-34853284170991115732011-12-01T16:42:00.000-05:002011-12-01T16:42:20.580-05:00Welcome Back Winter!<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY71kXzET6ymMNEaY1S4P-ULZv2xaSJnwKmOgF_EQBQvpOOE0IVhmO3r1TnX3nV3XWFfB_jCblDMVkQ51epR1SUdizdkf6Cy57CjnxnE_T9f30rgq7EfRnEQMzdVb5pHHypzz7sTZT9YM/s1600/100_2826.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="241px" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY71kXzET6ymMNEaY1S4P-ULZv2xaSJnwKmOgF_EQBQvpOOE0IVhmO3r1TnX3nV3XWFfB_jCblDMVkQ51epR1SUdizdkf6Cy57CjnxnE_T9f30rgq7EfRnEQMzdVb5pHHypzz7sTZT9YM/s320/100_2826.JPG" width="320px" /></a></div><br />
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That's the first winter picture of the season. Looking out over the garden, the morning after the small snowstorm of Nov. 29. Everything was coated in heavy, wet snow that froze to a thick crust overnight. Still a thick crust today, with afternoon temperatures barely warm enough to start melting the top layer. Hard to believe it's time for this already, but it is. <br />
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This storm was an odd combination of a lot of rain followed by a lot of snow. The Eel River is flooding into fields filled with snow, which looks interesting. Our pasture is a muddy mess. Hamburger tried to put his front feet up in the feed trough this morning while he was eating; I suppose to get them out of the cold mud. I hope it warms up and dries out for a little bit, or its going to be a messy winter.Ryan and Sarah O'Harahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196408363480438080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5885398925307544550.post-9162971671155657822011-11-11T17:00:00.000-05:002011-11-11T17:00:38.503-05:00Bits of Beauty<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdAaia8hIbjcpBGIHqSimzML3Rc8TszL6qBp73Q2OMpQSIT8dGSsB26ISVnRzZV-vp_ofi5jx99qrS5qFTcvhNN5Y90OhDgbuvDSc6v1hyphenhyphen3R23RvaL8KRZoaCAg7tlFPnj2d7-0e1yxv8/s1600/Image0182.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320px" nda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdAaia8hIbjcpBGIHqSimzML3Rc8TszL6qBp73Q2OMpQSIT8dGSsB26ISVnRzZV-vp_ofi5jx99qrS5qFTcvhNN5Y90OhDgbuvDSc6v1hyphenhyphen3R23RvaL8KRZoaCAg7tlFPnj2d7-0e1yxv8/s320/Image0182.jpg" width="240px" /></a></div><br />
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Flowers and shrubs here on the farm are putting forth the last bits of their beauty before winter kicks in. I thought my 55 cent mums had quit blooming, until I noticed the gorgeousness pictured above. I think it is almost prettier than the original blooms.<br />
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In the <strike>weed patch</strike> landscaping beside the front porch, self-seeding snapdragons have managed to keep coming back year after year, even though I haven't actually planted snapdragons in at least 2 maybe 3 years. Depending on the year, they will get some blooms in during the summer, most definitely before frost. This summer I saw several snapdragon starts, no blooms. Until this week . . . quite a ways past the first frost:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdCA270H1VX053wlsAFc-XjC4lAldXFZjkmL7zc-7dW5T5uj7pCNAvMiCyza43o-2I1-4GR-MLlIMIqrjDhW4AX3JfpWgJQy806E1RPHByeMRa2WV44sWyr0faAhk0bYuMvu32hYlXzOk/s1600/Image0183.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320px" nda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdCA270H1VX053wlsAFc-XjC4lAldXFZjkmL7zc-7dW5T5uj7pCNAvMiCyza43o-2I1-4GR-MLlIMIqrjDhW4AX3JfpWgJQy806E1RPHByeMRa2WV44sWyr0faAhk0bYuMvu32hYlXzOk/s320/Image0183.jpg" width="260px" /></a></div><br />
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I have half a mind to mulch that area with leaves and see if I can't overwinter a few snapdragons. I've done that before (by accident), and ended up with the best looking flowers off of them the next summer. We'll see.<br />
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The rest of the color you'll find around here besides the dull green yard and our poultry is fruits and leaves.<br />
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Though I know burning bush is not native, and can spread quite well given the chance. I still admire it's fiery display in the fall. I wanted to show you ours in it's full, bright pink glory, but the wind got to it before my camera did. So here's a picture of what's left . . . burning bush fruit:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivyZmtImFeS6GrmkS1DDbIPyeeq9OOwYeU0wwiC_HtJvTMez-OGZR5OpIP3x4ZGHxU8oMnJwbAPpl5JvzC1mMEumzPim0meGIZizyRL5bOJrSfVzRfWSthf0VvBpVM_D0w_OGL2K63rMw/s1600/Image0185.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240px" nda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivyZmtImFeS6GrmkS1DDbIPyeeq9OOwYeU0wwiC_HtJvTMez-OGZR5OpIP3x4ZGHxU8oMnJwbAPpl5JvzC1mMEumzPim0meGIZizyRL5bOJrSfVzRfWSthf0VvBpVM_D0w_OGL2K63rMw/s320/Image0185.jpg" width="320px" /></a></div><br />
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When Ryan first moved to this property, he was big on planting any kind of bush, shrub, or perennial he could get his hands on. This included a pair of bittersweet plants, of which there are male and female plants, and you have to have a male and a female plant to get the beautiful bitterweet fruit of autumn wreath fame. <br />
After 4 years of being in the ground, and no fruit to speak of we were beginning to think we got jipped, and that we had 2 female or 2 male plants, instead of the promised male/female pair.<br />
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That is until this year, during which the bittersweet vine took over it's arbor, and tried to take off into the yard. And this fall, as it's leaves fell off, we found this:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF1nJcNZjsjaTjWMriAxQytFiN0MTcPQaZs1Z7Pp-WVQhhlGWrG8PHeLS1ieLGonY7ZyUC8c7w_UFx9rcSvN3w0ZRnttMhdHg0Vn1zLhFz0_2azTM9-nM_sYHAStJCIV8VRP2LxRGiwTo/s1600/Image0186.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="206px" nda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF1nJcNZjsjaTjWMriAxQytFiN0MTcPQaZs1Z7Pp-WVQhhlGWrG8PHeLS1ieLGonY7ZyUC8c7w_UFx9rcSvN3w0ZRnttMhdHg0Vn1zLhFz0_2azTM9-nM_sYHAStJCIV8VRP2LxRGiwTo/s320/Image0186.jpg" width="320px" /></a></div><br />
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Evidentally, like many things, bittersweet seems to have to reach a certain age before it will produce fruit (i.e. reproduce). What you're seeing in the picture is pretty much it's total produce this year, which is hardly enought to cut and make a wreath with. I don't know if I'll even cut it. I kinda enjoy being able to see it in my walks in the yard.<br />
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Having this growing in my yard seems odd, considering the time I can remember spending with family cruising country roads looking for this stuff growing in the fence rows. All for some color to hang on the door, going into a season of drabness.<br />
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Speaking of . . . it snow flurried here yesterday. Best be getting my windows cleaned in preparation for out the window, winter blog photos. Which is a really sad motivation for washing the windows, but hey at least they're getting cleaned.Ryan and Sarah O'Harahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196408363480438080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5885398925307544550.post-73205704003062140602011-10-12T17:17:00.000-04:002011-10-12T17:17:08.148-04:00Hurry Up and Slow Down<span id="goog_1273858063"></span><span id="goog_1273858064"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">Back in college, me and one of my friends made up a term for the kind of lovely fall weather we've been having the last few days. We called them "be a cat days", because it they make you want to curl up in a lovely spot in the dry, crunchy leaves like a cat, and absorb the loveliness . . . just like it seems that Henry and Shadow were doing yesterday afternoon. </div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">If you're a young turkey jake, for some reason the fall weather has seemed to induce a lot of strutting behavior. I was beginning to think that one of our young-uns was trying to either court me or viewed me as competition (for what I don't know, no females in his line of sight). He started out here:</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">And came closer:</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">And closer:</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">After the following picture, I pulled my hand with camera back from the pen, as I wasn't sure what was next on his agenda, and didn't want to find out if it involved beak or claws:</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">I came back to the pen a little later, and there was not strutting to be found. Though he started up again when I went in to the pen to feed them; makes me a little nervous when I have to turn my back on male poultry . . . I've had too many negative experiences with our rooster I guess.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">The calves have really started to seem to flourish this fall, we've upped their rations to start finishing them for their end purpose . . . beef in the freezer. The flies have started to diminish, so there's less tail swishing and kicking going on (they freaked out when we tried to spray or pour anything on them to get rid of bugs, etc, so we just gave up, and told them they'd have to deal with the flies, and we would find other ways to get wormer in them). Though their favorite part of fall, the fact there is an apple tree that hangs over the pasture fence, and when there aren't any apples on their side of the fence, there are nice humans around that will pick some up and feed them to them for a treat.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">Probably not traditional beef calf rations, but neither are stale tortillas, and they are big suckers for those too. Though they get those as treats only occasionally, usually about 2 weeks after we've had tacos and I can't find anything to do with the last 2 or 3 tortillas in the pack. Really we've found that most of our livestock are pretty good at cleaning up leftovers, and would probably throw more into the pasture if it didn't cause such a ruckus between the calves and the poultry. I miss the pigs in that respect, because with them around I never had waste food, unless it was really gross and moldy; in which case, it doesn't get fed to anything except the compost pile.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">It's getting to be that time of year where we hurry up, so we can slow down. We know that the weather is only going to hold out for a little while longer, so we best hurry up our outside chores so that we can slow down when winter hits.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div align="left" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Ryan and Sarah O'Harahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196408363480438080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5885398925307544550.post-54895234437270630692011-09-15T15:50:00.000-04:002011-09-15T15:50:09.666-04:00Grandma's Grape JuiceSo . . . over Labor Day weekend (which was forever ago) we made the 12 pounds of grapes I picked on that Friday morning into 21 quart jars of Grandma's Grape Juice drink.<br />
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Note: the following recipe is for story only, I am not advocating that you go out and do this with your 40 pounds of grapes and you will have perfect juice. This is my first time using it, and I have not got to drink the stuff yet as it hasn't set long enough, so I can't even tell you if I got it right yet.<br />
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</div>It started out like this:<br />
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After a couple of hours of picking them off the stems, and getting rid of any bugs and ugly grapes, we ended up with this (the 12 pounds of grapes in a big bag for weighing with our hanging scale):<br />
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Then we washed them, and picked over them again; you don't want any of the ugly, shriveled up, smooshed ones for making this stuff.<br />
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Then you dump a cup of grapes in each jar, which has been washed and sterilized, and is still hot from being sterilized (i.e. just out of a dishwasher where you set all the wash and dry cycles to hot!), and then add 3/4 cup of sugar, and fill the rest of the jar up with boiling water. The rest of Grandma's recipe is kinda vague to those of us used to modern canning techniques. It went something like this: seal the jars, and let cool; then invert for several hours, and then store upright. Will be ready to use in 6 weeks. No mention of what canning method to use to process these babies, and no way was I going to do the old invert to seal thing. We did that with some maple syrup the first year we made it, and ended up with mold. Ugh!<br />
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So I go searching the grand old Internet, and come across a <a href="http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles/kelley41.html">magazine article</a> for the same recipe, but with lo and behold, water bath canning directions. Yea!!! So we water bath canned these guys for the time suggested, and ended up with these:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEcaOYCY9GjhG8kFp9xnVsRaOdb_VffIHAWpRBoL80X5hq2r9dLMk7b72k6o044hT-3xtO3Q8TczhnsxEp3oSOWnYtSNfdwQ5pKpPhRAlPy3YIhmiewaXRouzGkJvsxM6Lps9ewLgzw6E/s1600/Image0143.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="208px" rba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEcaOYCY9GjhG8kFp9xnVsRaOdb_VffIHAWpRBoL80X5hq2r9dLMk7b72k6o044hT-3xtO3Q8TczhnsxEp3oSOWnYtSNfdwQ5pKpPhRAlPy3YIhmiewaXRouzGkJvsxM6Lps9ewLgzw6E/s320/Image0143.jpg" width="320px" /></a><br />
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I have more picture of the actual process somewhere. I think I must have took them with Ryan's phone instead of mine, and I didn't send them to my e-mail yet. When I find them, I'll try to update this post. <br />
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In about a month we'll have to crack one of these puppies open and see what it's like.Ryan and Sarah O'Harahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196408363480438080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5885398925307544550.post-61510732137090814992011-09-01T15:25:00.000-04:002011-09-01T15:25:51.634-04:00Where September 1 Finds Us . . .I find that August ramblings have taken us far from the blog posting world (has it really been since Aug. 3?). So I'll do a quick run through of August in pictures:<br />
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One of the 4 batches of pickles we made. These are my Grandma's bread and butter pickle recipe. We made three recipes of dill pickles (from a mix) for the dill pickle eating machine who lives at my house (i.e. Ryan). Needless to say that's like 20 - 30 jars of pickles ( I've processed so many other vegetables since then I've forgotten the actual number).<br />
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Quite frequently during the last few weeks our kitchen table and counters have been covered with boxes that look like this:<br />
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As the days have went on, there have been less and less squash and cucumbers, and more tomatoes. Today all my boxes are filled with red, except for the occasional green of a pepper. I don't know how in the world we've ended up with all the tomatoes we have (and they just keep coming), but I'm not going to complain. Can anyone say salsa, spaghetti sauce, tomatoes for soup, ketchup, and did I say salsa? Yum!<br />
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Besides storing them away, we've been eating tomatoes too. My favorite? A good ol' BLT with a big chunk of fresh Black Krim. I really don't think there is a better tasting slicing tomato. Though I know that it may be hard to get past the purplish, reddish, blackish color for some. (This picture doesn't do justice to the rich color of these tomatoes!)<br />
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Sunflowers have come into season, blooming and ripening seed. Our birds are too big of fans of them to let us dry them before serving, so as soon as the seeds are ripe, you will find a mob scene like this:<br />
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Other stories . . . the last cantaloupe out of our garden . . .<br />
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This picture isn't much for scale, but it was quite possibly the largest one I had ever seen. Eight pounds, my friends! I only eat cantaloupe out of the garden. The ones from the grocery store don't taste the same. Needless to say we ate our fill off this one, and still had more for the next couple of days.<br />
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Pullet eggs:<br />
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We have some new hens, they are pretty, and they have started to lay these lovely little eggs. I will share their story another day.<br />
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Yet other stories . . . the pigs went to the butcher last week. We were ready for them to go, they were not. Which made loading them out quite the experience. I'll just say we know what not to do next year, and leave it at that. Sounds like we will have quite a bit of pork in our freezer. One had a hanging weight of 190 and the other was 210. We pick up everything next week after the hams and bacon have been smoked.<br />
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We hope to get a fall planting into the garden. There are broccoli and cabbage plants growing in the upstairs bedroom, and bags of garlic dispersed among the boxes on my kitchen table. Now if we could just get a nice soaking rain to soften up the ground so we could till it under and ready for planting. <br />
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We finished digging potatoes last week . . . I have never seen our ground so hard; Ryan could barely get the potato fork stuck in the soil deep enough to turn it over. At least we were rewarded for our efforts with some nice potatoes. Though it appears that there is a critter around that likes Yukon Golds as much as I do, at least half of our crop had little (or big) gnawed spots on them.<br />
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That's enough rambling for now. Soon I will introduce you to our new flock of laying hens, update you on the meat turkeys, show you my experiment making grape juice using my Grandma's 1930's recipe, and other fun stuff.Ryan and Sarah O'Harahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196408363480438080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5885398925307544550.post-4257392381923881702011-08-03T15:37:00.000-04:002011-08-03T15:37:12.837-04:00Wishing Away the SummerThe other day my mom said something pretty profound to me, when we were sitting around having a normal everyday conversation. "We have to be careful that we don't wish the summer away." So, so true. When it seems we have day, after day of heat wave, and everything is dying for a drink, it is so easy to wish for cooler days and another season. But summer only comes once a year, and no two are ever just a like. Another way to think about it, we have heat for maybe 4 months of the year. The other 8 months are either just plain cold, or a variation of cool, wet, and blah. If you're lucky May and October turn out to beautiful, but some years they're not. <br />
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In no other season can we grow food to fill the pantry, have daylight until 9:00 p.m., and be guaranteed that most local bodies of water will be warm enough to swim in. I can't get a garden ripe tomato in January, and look out the window see my flowers blooming in November. The conclusion . . . even though it's hot and humid, and kind of miserable, and spending more than an hour working outside in daylight hours leaves us sweat-drenched; it's time to savor summer. It will be gone before we know it, and next thing you know it will be 14 degrees at noon, and I'll be wishing for August.<br />
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In celebration of summer savoring here's a few peeks of summer life around the farm this week:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiACg-DzHqXO8gib9n4VroKUCAsApYROE7U60Isej3jvNY_zJLZkm5UpUD1ZIuI9oaqz3yJHkgqJJJTF8Q1jbo0-F3wu9OeuXj1XXS1CBw5sI1tLiGuhwyNO55AcKWDAuLLUveN9STt5pM/s1600/Image0104.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320px" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiACg-DzHqXO8gib9n4VroKUCAsApYROE7U60Isej3jvNY_zJLZkm5UpUD1ZIuI9oaqz3yJHkgqJJJTF8Q1jbo0-F3wu9OeuXj1XXS1CBw5sI1tLiGuhwyNO55AcKWDAuLLUveN9STt5pM/s320/Image0104.jpg" t$="true" width="240px" /></a></div><br />
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Black Krim tomato with the blush of ripeness. Can anyone say BLT or tomato and mozerella salad?<br />
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<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgZBNv9ztdhqHk1k-sYIKAfUNrNTwzVnpGpY2xkamqEb7Xvbp0A6fAQFS7jYjG9L9QEld8N1RYs0pKCDhCcNMkIP0k8d0Q6Y5t4Kqlw-OZZs08eRPAhCCafWhVHhOgJy6pZdbyu-1FOBw/s1600/Image0106.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320px" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgZBNv9ztdhqHk1k-sYIKAfUNrNTwzVnpGpY2xkamqEb7Xvbp0A6fAQFS7jYjG9L9QEld8N1RYs0pKCDhCcNMkIP0k8d0Q6Y5t4Kqlw-OZZs08eRPAhCCafWhVHhOgJy6pZdbyu-1FOBw/s320/Image0106.jpg" t$="true" width="240px" /></a></div><br />
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Yet another male animal around here declaring that he's the king of the world. We some how managed to get all toms for our meat turkeys this year, which is good because they grow bigger than hens, so more meat, but unlikely odds yet the same. Plus that means there's a whole lot of gobbling going on around here.<br />
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The other guys, they haven't got the whole crowing thing down yet. They still sound like they're making their morning calls through a kazoo.<br />
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And will constantly tell you that no matter what yummy treats you throw in their corral; the grass is always better on the other side of the fence:<br />
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Otherwise, it's just hot. Occassional storm blow things down, or knock branches lose to hang down out of the tree tops, like this walnut branch, heavy with unripe nuts.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFL2xTN8Kwa4rnDHZhI9PULv-yqTnBgso3W74nUa1PlmZqblnoAU37S_HEEhwd8m_S0jpWhhTdTYkPByzdKZwXhAjgzfZX4nAvutHnucOxrl0VAB8pSSUib3pYLWXsrRGiq7Nqp_ofiS8/s1600/Image0107.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320px" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFL2xTN8Kwa4rnDHZhI9PULv-yqTnBgso3W74nUa1PlmZqblnoAU37S_HEEhwd8m_S0jpWhhTdTYkPByzdKZwXhAjgzfZX4nAvutHnucOxrl0VAB8pSSUib3pYLWXsrRGiq7Nqp_ofiS8/s320/Image0107.jpg" t$="true" width="240px" /></a></div>Ryan and Sarah O'Harahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196408363480438080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5885398925307544550.post-78343229582683508372011-07-31T18:47:00.000-04:002011-07-31T18:47:21.591-04:00Right Now . . .<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcy4z5ONH3F4zk_p9I9WaKuEhl7cCeRPXL911DK-JX6UNsUq0ZUeUBfh-nMfhILCHHUD_Q0Kb7HwhXFmSczYjFcZpCC7RchpW-4dxLN5AO4FwKTHfrp5zvMMWZyiu_809HDNzI6zjZRQQ/s1600/Image0098.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="319px" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcy4z5ONH3F4zk_p9I9WaKuEhl7cCeRPXL911DK-JX6UNsUq0ZUeUBfh-nMfhILCHHUD_Q0Kb7HwhXFmSczYjFcZpCC7RchpW-4dxLN5AO4FwKTHfrp5zvMMWZyiu_809HDNzI6zjZRQQ/s320/Image0098.jpg" t$="true" width="320px" /></a></div><br />
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Flowers that say "August" to me, like this Black-Eyed Susan, are starting to bloom around the yard.<br />
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We have hit the tipping point where harvesting has begun to far outweight time allotted for garden maintenance. And the weeds . . . they appear to be winning. But that's only when you're looking at the garden from a distance, if you peek between the weeds, you will find great big onions seemingly pushing themselves out of the ground, tomatoes that are at the point of super pale green, getting ready to blush to red any day now. And the sweet corn; the sweet corn makes up for the pitful showing of the green beans. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVgByyZwzYXDVCDKTdUBfhTuu8L-4NwtEboqTpTkj7mMs9BKpXoZGtJ2E-s-9Ye6mqZTCTnnj5KDP-0M4KEcPKjQOr3XTa5R6QkR2_gaPI5Dmfh-aTKEPA6rcOH6QS5zo-5ezV2_PAhvM/s1600/Image0092.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240px" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVgByyZwzYXDVCDKTdUBfhTuu8L-4NwtEboqTpTkj7mMs9BKpXoZGtJ2E-s-9Ye6mqZTCTnnj5KDP-0M4KEcPKjQOr3XTa5R6QkR2_gaPI5Dmfh-aTKEPA6rcOH6QS5zo-5ezV2_PAhvM/s320/Image0092.jpg" t$="true" width="320px" /></a></div><br />
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I haven't done a good job of counting how many dozen ears we have picked, but we know that we have frozen about 25 pint bags of it, eaten a dozen or so fresh, and given a few ears away. And there is still a lot more to pick. So I may be finding new recipes to use corn in this winter, and go more sparingly on the green beans.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_Pr3qN2A3rc-D85qZBGA5UWPfGQgLhOKcEtr-CYQ61qWR7_7IjiFD8GMst1mNpdLs8QL3wmh3fKPi2zK51Co21DMZrRtcEiZ1PRCese3iHOz5222PO5pU3K6-g78K8ykzlTjezx4K4Gc/s1600/Image0091.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320px" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_Pr3qN2A3rc-D85qZBGA5UWPfGQgLhOKcEtr-CYQ61qWR7_7IjiFD8GMst1mNpdLs8QL3wmh3fKPi2zK51Co21DMZrRtcEiZ1PRCese3iHOz5222PO5pU3K6-g78K8ykzlTjezx4K4Gc/s320/Image0091.jpg" t$="true" width="240px" /></a></div><br />
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The ears may not win any prizes at the county fair, but they're good-sized and sweet, and to us that's all that really matters. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0mosRhGo45hwJNxxyMZbHkTF_xTYKWufCGFJNOeMy5r3qtBHojCSueFKppdLlgt7BOtdgJZedisUmibKKNqX3J0aG7Xv6CeQCX2WYWJsNL7TSVJznHDfIjyJxqIR89GSGSdN3Sm3K87c/s1600/Image0095.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="271px" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0mosRhGo45hwJNxxyMZbHkTF_xTYKWufCGFJNOeMy5r3qtBHojCSueFKppdLlgt7BOtdgJZedisUmibKKNqX3J0aG7Xv6CeQCX2WYWJsNL7TSVJznHDfIjyJxqIR89GSGSdN3Sm3K87c/s320/Image0095.jpg" t$="true" width="320px" /></a></div><br />
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All this preserving seems time consuming, and some days I would like to pretend that there aren't dozens of ears of sweet corn to freeze or pounds of green beans to snap and can, or cucumbers to pickle. To feel footloose and fancy free in July and August, in this household . . . not going to happen. But it all pays off later, when instead of going to the grocery store I just hit up the freezer or shelves in the basement, and have all the ingredients I need to make a nourishing, satisfying meal.Ryan and Sarah O'Harahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196408363480438080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5885398925307544550.post-18688607429994679512011-07-17T16:09:00.000-04:002011-07-17T16:09:35.590-04:00Kitchen InvasionWe've entered the season here on the farm where horizontal space to set something down on in the kitchen is at a premium. This is because pretty much all available space is <strike>invaded </strike>occupied by produce waiting to be or in some step of being processed or preserved. At the moment we have: a sink full of snapped green beans waiting for the dishwasher to finish sterilizing jars for canning, 6 cabbages waiting to be made into freezer slaw, cole slaw, or whatever other recipes we can find to use it. Yellow squash and zucchini waiting to be frozen, eaten or sold. You get the picture. And we haven't even hit tomato season yet :)<br />
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(This big one was a 6 pounder! We got two meals out of it. Yum!!!)<br />
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Outside . . . the sweet corn is getting tall, trying to compete with the neighbors field corn.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">The calves search for shade, and good stuff to eat. Here they're enjoying the shade of the apple tree, on a pile of loose hay/grass cuttings we picked up from Ryan's sister's field.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">As always, the cherry tomatoes are getting ready to over produce . . . I learned my lesson, and we only planted one of these super stars this year:</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">While this abundance can be overwhelming when it comes to cooking and preserving . . . in the long run it's worth it. Healthy, homegrown food, just waiting for its turn at our table. So very, very blessed.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div>Ryan and Sarah O'Harahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196408363480438080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5885398925307544550.post-73945693732489288342011-07-06T13:25:00.000-04:002011-07-06T13:25:23.713-04:00In the Growing BusinessHere in our corner of the world, we've got some serious growing going on. As in vegetables, weeds, berries, and poultry. <br />
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After a slow start, our Cole crops and peas have taken off, and as they are wont to do, are all producing copious amounts at the same time. So there is a constant flow of some kind of vegetable in our fridge waiting to either be made into supper or cut up, blanched, and frozen for suppers later this year.<br />
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Our first couple years of gardening together, our broccoli wasn't much to get excited about. Even this year, we set almost 20 plants in the ground, and lost almost half of them. But the half that survived are going gangbusters, thank goodness! We eat a lot of broccoli around here:<br />
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Last week, I dug a few potatoes to have new potatoes for supper. Mostly just to see what was hiding out under all those hills in the garden:<br />
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The short row of early planted potatoes that these came from is already dying back this week. Which was kinda our intent, to have a red potato crop to dig and eat when green beans started coming on.<br />
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Speaking of . . . never mention in front of a vegetable plant how very dependable that plant is, and how you always have so much produce from that plant, etc. , etc. It will turn and laugh at you! Not literally, but a couple of weeks ago I was saying that about our green beans. Now three-quarters of our green beans are infected with some fungus or bacteria and are losing leaves. And while still showing that they will make a comeback, and even putting on flowers and pods. They will be behind, and less this year. Not matching the new potato harvesting plan I had thought, or my predictions about how you can always count on green beans to produce if nothing else.<br />
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I mourned the end of strawberry season, which seemed short, and not nearly bountiful enough. Though really can there ever be enough strawberries? Luckily black raspberry season was right on its tail, and the weather that didn't really work for strawberries seems to have done well by raspberries. We have picked several quarts over the last couple of weeks, and for the first time in a few years I made some black raspberry freezer jam:<br />
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Believe it or not I did sieve some of the seeds out of the pulp before I made it into jam; though you wouldn't guess by looking at those jars. There are still a lot of berries out there to be picked, but they are drying up fast with this hot weather and no rain.Ryan and Sarah O'Harahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196408363480438080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5885398925307544550.post-73925879540681928922011-06-23T15:20:00.000-04:002011-06-23T15:20:15.817-04:003rd Official Day of SummerThis post was really supposed to happen yesterday, but due to various camera/photo issues, I decided to quit and try again the next day. Hopefully my photography vibes are more in tune today.<br />
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We are to the last of our June roses; the pink climbing roses that wreath the kitchen porch trellis:<br />
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They are a bit past their prime in this photo. Most of them faded and a little bug eaten. When the blooms first open they are almost hot pink, fading to baby pink after a couple of days. And the bug eaten issue is just part of the general beetle plague that has descended upon our landscape. Not Japanese beetles, though they are just as voracious, these are little brown and black beetles that are about the same size as the Japanese, but not the right colors. And they won't be here for long. We had the same thing last year, and luckily it's only a couple of weeks and then they are gone. Until this time is over, Sevin dust is much more of a friend than we like it to be, and contact with beetle poop is an every time you go outside occurrence.<br />
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Pictures of the garden this time a year are always so pretty:<br />
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Everything is pretty well weeded. At least for the next day or so. Once the rain and cloudy skies let up, we're in trouble. It's easier to stay on top of weeding because right now harvesting and preserving time is at a minimum. That time will end soon. And then its a question of weed between the rows or do something now before these tomatoes turn to mush on the kitchen counter. You can guess what happens. Though we really, really want to work on reducing the weed seed load of our garden soil this year. Which means catching weeds before they go to seed. We've mulched in several areas, and are trying to work at running the hand plow between rows as often as possible, or hoeing and hand weeding where required. If it would dry out for 2 minutes, that would be helpful.<br />
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On the animal front, baby chicks and turkeys are growing well. Starting to become curious and aggressive. Ready to be in outside pens. We kicked the hen turkeys off the next because we found out they had broken all their eggs, and thus weren't incubating anything! They moped for about a day, and then got over it.<br />
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Calves and pigs are growing well. Getting ready to build up our hay supply to keep the calves on hay for a couple of weeks while we block off the pasture and let the grass grow back up tall. Which they hate, but it keeps our grass from getting ate down to the quick.<br />
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Other than that, we're just ready for a little bit more moderate weather pattern. With sunshine and warmth, and the occasional rain shower, appropriately timed, of course. The constant stream of rain and storms, thumbs down. <br />
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Or at least that's what this brocolli plant said. Broken off at the base by Tuesday night's gusty storm, just as it was getting ready to form a flower head . . . of course. <br />
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Time to go pick some berries, and get my daily dose of beetle poop.Ryan and Sarah O'Harahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196408363480438080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5885398925307544550.post-12223242082262641572011-06-10T13:21:00.001-04:002011-06-10T13:22:53.047-04:00A Little LostYesterday morning I was letting Checkers out on her tie out before I closed the house up and went to the grocery store. It is not unusual for her to go a little nuts if she catches the scent of one of our outdoors cats on the porch, steps, or landscaping. But she was going pretty crazy, as if the cat itself was hiding under the buttercup bush. The cats don't usually stick around and hide though, if a dog is in the picture. I glanced under the bush seeing what looked like an extra rock in the landscaping border, and thinking it was about the right size to be a baby bunny. <br />
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So I put Checkers in the house, bend down, and push the branches of the buttercup back to get a better look. Not a bunny, not a rock, not a cat, but a . . .<br />
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TURTLE! Friends, we live a half to three-quarters of a mile from the nearest creek, wetland or river. How and why did we end up with not a forest-loving box turtle, but a water-loving painted turtle hanging out by our front step? I have heard of female turtles walking quite a ways away from their home to lay their eggs, but really??? We don't have any water for babies when they would hatch. I think this turtle got a little lost.<br />
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So I put her in a bucket, and carried her down the road to the creek, and set her a little ways from the water's edge. Pointed away from the road, obviously. Hoping that if she felt the need to climb away from the water she would just go up the hill into the woods, and not turn around towards the road.<br />
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Checkers and I took a walk this morning. No smashed turtle on the road. So far, so good.Ryan and Sarah O'Harahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196408363480438080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5885398925307544550.post-28645748415057966052011-06-06T09:58:00.000-04:002011-06-06T09:58:51.993-04:00Strawberries and RosesRight now, the highlights of these early June days . . .<br />
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Strawberries:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO4AZmOJr6aTCop994BRIMw46hICgf8odzLW0Y97iDQhQXNZNofNlHUonRc650nh-GL0UDUsnxIrKta5KLa9rWZkD08SOZEWwMKAd86RLRAuNOXU4hGhLT8yrEvpL1ar4qii_9dYbyxEg/s1600/100_2779.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241px" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO4AZmOJr6aTCop994BRIMw46hICgf8odzLW0Y97iDQhQXNZNofNlHUonRc650nh-GL0UDUsnxIrKta5KLa9rWZkD08SOZEWwMKAd86RLRAuNOXU4hGhLT8yrEvpL1ar4qii_9dYbyxEg/s320/100_2779.JPG" t8="true" width="320px" /></a></div><br />
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and Roses . . .<br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmE4H-tadOZKpLEdlBtHpxYoN2Rq25M06jULidfBkrEn09GahIWUDvtQHRLYjrgqetYI4YU8QAvBEm0nQp8c2-ffWAoIY14i4QApS6N4IZzJLd8ofiQkvxqIqNhFUdMS7vEyuuLXxBTw8/s1600/100_2783.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241px" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmE4H-tadOZKpLEdlBtHpxYoN2Rq25M06jULidfBkrEn09GahIWUDvtQHRLYjrgqetYI4YU8QAvBEm0nQp8c2-ffWAoIY14i4QApS6N4IZzJLd8ofiQkvxqIqNhFUdMS7vEyuuLXxBTw8/s320/100_2783.JPG" t8="true" width="320px" /></a></div><br />
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They make the weed, mulch, mow cycle a little bit more enjoyable :)<br />
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What little joys are you finding in your early June days?Ryan and Sarah O'Harahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196408363480438080noreply@blogger.com0