Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Pheasant Herd



Say Hello! to our little "herd" - if that's what you call a bunch of ring-necked pheasants. These are the current farm "babies"; part of a "raise & release" program of 4-H. We have 15, and they're about 5 weeks old. Just about ready to go outdoors into the range pen we must yet build. For now, we have to start sprinkling them with water occasionally, (not to make them grow), but to get them used to rain and the process of grooming their feathers. We don't yet know who's a male or female, that comes with their adult feathers. We'll keep you posted...

Sunday, June 18, 2006

Aqua Farming?


No, it's the first half of the annual "Clean the pond" project. If we have any hopes of keeping a farm pond, (and not a farm marshland) we have to try and keep the cattail reeds in check. So I don the sexy hip high boots and off I go.

And this is only about half of what I pulled out today. Seems there's always something to do...

Monday, June 12, 2006

Garden beginnings...

This is one view of the vegetable garden, looking out onto the lower lot. It seems so meager, compared to the expanse of vegetation on the other side of the fence, but it has been a hard month for starting a garden. I never thought there could be too much rain, but it has been so cold and wet, seeds have literally rotted in the ground. It really brings into focus how much of a struggle it must have been in the days before Wal-mart and McDonalds to actually feed oneself on the fruits of your labor. It is my hope one day to experiment with living off only what I can grow or raise for myself for the period of one year. That would really force me to understand what eating with the seasons would mean, give new intensity to planning the garden with year-round production and storage in mind, not to mention one hell of a diet - what with no cookies...

May Company

April is supposed to be the month of showers, but nobody told May. It seems like it's been non-stop rain for weeks now...we even had to endure company in the rain. The Camachos were visiting from California and we got only enough break in the rain to show them the farm, and then we were back to soggy. Here, the girls, Josefina and Madison, make their way from the car museum in Bennington. It is Carlos' beautiful photography that makes it anything but dismal...