Saturday, July 29, 2006

Pheasant Update...


At 9 weeks, the pheasants are starting to get their adult feathers, so we can begin to guess who's who. It looks like we have 4 males, and 9 females. (For anyone who has been keeping track, that's 2 less than what we started with) There's been a few "escapes"...keeping these guys penned in a large enough are for them is harder than it looks. Once, we didn't replace the flap where we feed and water them. Four got out, and we caught three. The last one flew (yes, flew) away over our heads and was never seen again. Then they found a way to bounce themselves up and through a gap in the chicken wire roof. Four escaped, three were re-captured. The fourth escapee still hangs around though, and can usually be found every morning running up and down just outside the fence with its herd-mates. Catching it is another issue. It usually manages to squeeze into the goats pen and run away to the higher brush before anyone can get their hands on her. The goats, of course, are no help; they just watch with a droll smirk on their faces as the hen runs through their pen to safety. Not a thought about walking over and checking out the situation which might frighten the hen into staying put or squeezing back through the hole so we can catch her...I'm sure the goats have already figured out there's nothing in it for them...so why bother? All that's left is the entertainment of watching the humans chase the little hen around in frustration...(sigh)

Monday, July 24, 2006

CSA


CSA-Community Supported Agriculture is a growing trend in small farming in America. It's an idea that started several decades ago in Japan, and the idea is to bring the consumer closer to the source of their food and connect them with the farm and farmer that produce it. We operate a very small CSA here at Petersburgh Manor and this is one of our baskets being put together for delivery tomorrow...

It is the goal of our garden to keep our family and our customers (obviously) in supply with what the garden offers in its own seasonal order. And the learning curve is around not only how to grow this stuff organically with the most pleasing result, but also to learn what amount of each herb and vegetable is right for what we need...

Each Monday we harvest the week's order and put it together for delivery on Tuesday morning. Here we're picking green beans from the first of the plants to fruit. We've got successive plantings of beans (hopefully!) to keep us going for a few weeks. And what we can't eat, we freeze for the winter. Seeing just how much we can produce, what lasts, and what can be preserved is all a part of figuring out just what would it take to support oneself by your own labor. Could it be done for a year? What would that look like? (And taste like?)

Madison is also about to get ready for her vegetable enterprise - delivery to the local produce market (her tomatoes are turning, and the pickling cukes are ready)

Here she is amongst her cherry tomato plants, searching for the first red ones of the season...

And who's that weeding? Seems he's confused...he seems to be weeding OUTSIDE the vegetable garden! Hmmm.....

Saturday, July 22, 2006

Yarn to Dye For...



Or at least that's what we're shooting for...it's dyeing day again on the farm. We've got an order to fill, and a website to prepare (Allison is discovering the meaning of the mantra: It's harder than it looks...)

Hand-dyeing/painting custom sock yarns was an idea born in a hurry one winter weekend afternoon, and we're trying to make a go of it. I have found another kindred spirit who does not want to spend the rest of her life working in an office for someone else...

Dye-namics Yarn features individually dyed 100% merino washable sock yarn in two weights. So far the feedback has been very positive, so we're dyeing as fast as we can find the time, and coming up with new colorways all the time.

Sunday, July 16, 2006

Northeast Shetland Sheepbreeders Get Together


Shetland Sheep breeders of the Northeastern United States got together on Saturday for an annual meeting/pot luck/sheep day in Vermont at Maple Ridge Farm. We met under the trees (no, that's not us in the picture...) for the meeting and sharing, then retired to a great pot luck.

Here was the roundup of ewes and lambs we managed from the back pasture in our afternoon lesson/session for markings and colors. We also looking at horn growth, tails, and fleece. Linda's flock has an amazing array of colors and markings.

Everyone helped get the ewes out, so we could examine the lambs and start the weaning process...


Here are the ewes, half-heartedly trudging back to the pasture without their little ones...


Alas, no parting gifts for the "participants"; we all had favorite lambs we could have hidden in our vehicles!

Saturday, July 15, 2006

Lawn mowing on the hoof...


With the arrival of the electronet, we've been able to pasture the sheep on sections of the lower lot, and they've been taking care of the quickly growing grass. Each day, usually twice a day, we move a section of the amoeba-shaped paddock, and the sheep do their thing.







The lambs have learned that when I am moving the fence, the electricity is off, and any low/weak spot in the fence is a good chance to jump over... Secret says, "Who, me?"

Garden Update


Boy, it's time I updated everyone...but where does the time go? We've been deluged with company from all corners of the country, and that leaves very little time for the farming thing...

Here are the onions, lettuce, arugula and cilantro. All of these have already found their way into our CSA baskets. Hey- What's this? A gardener? What is he doing on the outside? Weeding the flowers, don't you know?