Chatting Up Dexters

This past Monday I had a visit by some nice people from Barry's Bay.  They said they have passed by numerous times on the way to Ottawa and saw someone home (I was feeding the chicks out front) so they stopped in.  They had seen the 'little cows' in the field and wanted to know more.  So we had a nice little chat about Dexters!!  I find I like talking about them, which is odd as I never before liked talking about cattle.  I have definitely fallen for the breed that's for sure.  We have 3 Registered Dexters, Whisper, Willow and Xander.  I hope they learned something new that day!

Xander in new pasture this in May

I got to chat more about my Dexters and the breed the next day too!  I had a local farmer stop by and asked if my bull was forsale or if he could lease him.  I know there are not many Dexter owners around these parts and thought it was kind of odd for a local beef farmer asking about my bull.  I must of had a bit of a confused look and he ask if I was all right.  At this point I had to ask him if he realized that my bull was not a black angus but a Dexter.  Well was he kind of surprised and said he thought he was just a small angus bull as he was looking for something that would give low birth weight calves but have good growth.  Well Xander would definitely give low birth weight calves!  We had a good chat about the breed though.  I think he was just being nice.

Garden is Finally Done!!

Making the hills with a homemade hiller

Well almost.  I still have my succession plantings to do but that will come.  We were finally able to get out on the garden to plant and I have been doing so since the beginning of June.  I will hopefully be at the Renfrew Farmer's Market June 25 with lettuce, swiss chard, radishes, maybe strawberries if there is extra for market, rhubarb and hopefully some other stuff!!  Now I am just working on market set up.  I had some issues with my bunching onions so that will be a little later. The chickens are growing well and will be processed at the end of June beginning of July.

Row covered in plastic mulch

Making the holes using a propane torch

Chickens and Strawbery Rhubarb Crunch!

I am currently taking orders for meat chicken.  I have a limited number this year so call to reserve.

Also the Rhubarb is ready!!  $2.00 per bunch (approx 5 stocks).
Eggs for farm pick up available $3.50 per dozen.  Tueday and Friday pick up 12 - 6pm or by appointment.

I have also posted a recipe for Strawberry Rhubarb Crunh if you don't know what to do with Rhubarb!  I have used this recipe with mixed berries as an alternative!  Supper yummy served with ice cream :)

Rain, Rain, and more Rain

No I'm not going to complain about the rain (as much as I want to) as there are places that are worse off than we are.  I just can't get into my gardens, unfortunately.  We get nice weather for couple of days and as soon as it dries out enough to get on with the machinery...it rains again.  We are on clay loam soil with old drainage that is starting to fail so when it is time to go we have to get going.  So today (as it is raining) I thought I would bring you all up to speed as to the goings on around here.  We finally made a mini greenhouse to get the indoor seedlings outside and I have had to start more in pots so they will be along far enough to plant when I can get into the gardens.

My 4 yr old broke his collarbone at the beginning of May and that has been quite an adventure for us and him.  For us it is a new experience as we have never had to deal with broken bones till now!  For the 4 yr old, learning how to manage with something that is so painful but there is little they can do for you.  It's like breaking your toe...not much they can do.  He is in a light brace to keep everything aligned while it heals and that's it.  He is almost back to normal and giving his mom, me, and dad constant anxiety.  We go next week to see the doctor and x-rays and hopefully get the brace off!

The Dexters out on a newly opened pasture enjoying the fresh grass.

I'm thinking Xander, our Dexter bull, did he job as Willow and Whisper haven't shown being in heat lately, so hopefully they are bred and will have our first calves next spring.  I can't wait!!  I hope everything goes well and we have some happy health calves!

Hey any bugs on here!! One of the layers checking out the newly planted  Red Pines.

We have gotten our meat chickens for the year.  We are doing the White Rock Broiler and Bonnie's Meaty Reds (I think that's what they are called).  We are using Bonnie's Hatchery this year to give them a try!  The chicks are doing well and the Reds have moved to the outside run to get the fresh grass and bugs.  Once they get a little bigger they will be let out to graze freely for a couple hours each day.  We were disappointed in the weights of our meat birds last year and we are thinking that they were allowed to free range a little too much thus getting too much exercise!  So this year we are going to try controlled free range.  The Chicken Tractors get moved daily and near the end of the day they will be let out to go about freely but not walk miles and miles like they did last year!  The White Rocks are about a week behind the Reds but they should finish at the same time by the end of June!!

Layer and Rooster enjoying the outdoors!  Yum Yum Bugs.

Also in May we had the 1rst Renfrew Scouting Troop out to plant 200 Red Pines.  The Beaver came here and Cubs and Scouts did another property.  It was a really good day!!  Although it pretty much rain the week prior it was an absolutely gorgeous day.  Bubble, one of the Beaver leaders, showed up in shorts!!  She was heckled a little bit in the morning as it was cloudy but 1/2 later was laughing at all us hecklers as the sun came out to stay!!  We hosted the lunch afterward and a good time had by all.  Most of the Beavers got to check out the new baby chicks and some got to check out the Dexters!

Our littlest beside one of the new plantings.

Well I see the clouds are starting to break up a little so maybe there will be a break in the rain and I can get the rest of the chores done!!

Spring Clean Up and Chickens

As we all know it is that time of year when we get our yards already by cleaning them up, raking, etc, etc.  Well today being colder but nice, I decided that I had to get some done before this next stretch of rain hits...they are calling for a weeks worth...yuck!  I am letting the chickens out in the afternoon after most of them have done with laying....saves me a lot of time trying to find them when they are free to lay where they want....the best of both worlds I think.  I get my eggs in one spot and they get to freely go about their business after.  So this afternoon after doing the egg collection I let them out and I grabbed my rake and proceeded to the work area...only to have a bunch of chickens follow me like they were going to get grain?? But it wasn't feed time??  So I had to ask " Do they remember me digging around in the dirt to get the potatoes and carrots?"   I always had a chicken or three right beside me when I was digging those root crops up, they were not after the crops but all the bugs and worms in the ground.  So I got to where I was going to rake and as I moved the rake past a spot...the hens would jump right in there looking for bugs!! I'm surprised some of them didn't get a good wallop as my job had to get done.  Well then I moved on to another section where some scrap wood had collected and I swear as soon as I had my hand on the wood, there were chicken heads waiting... I had to laugh and I am probably well known in the chicken world (mine anyway) as...the bug lady...just follow her and you will get bugs!  Amazing what they remember seeing as they have been in the barn the whole winter!  I'm sure we will have some very tasty eggs in the next couple days!

Cooking the Syrup

This past weekend was another work weekend mixed with boiling the sap down and not a finer weekend to do it till the rain hit!!.  Years back we stopped using the wood furnace due to safety issues but had held on to it for I don't know what reason.  Well last year it was decided that it was never going to be used to heat anything anymore but Carl had the idea that it might make a good boiler for the sap!  Well he was right...the only issue we had was that the chimney wasn't high enough but it worked good enough.  We tended the sap while finishing breaking up the old summer kitchen that had to be torn down last fall!  We were also doing some general clean up and finishing the last of the siding that we didn't get done last fall.

Carl is tending the new syrup cooker on a beautiful Saturday

Our old wood furnace is getting a second life as syrup boiler

Sap starting to boil

 

Carl's solution to the afternoon rain that came on Sunday.  Hopefully next year there will be a shack for the boiler :)

The aftermath of the storm that hit Sunday night !

Rhubarb is Emerging

Things are starting to happen as I walked the gardens today to see how they were doing.  I came across the rhubarb patch and noticed that it had started to poke through!  It won't be long before we will be getting fresh rhubarb!  The strawberry plants are looking good and I am hoping we didn't get too much kill from the early rain we got near the end of winter.  The ground is softening up and hopefully I can get some areas dug up that we couldn't get to in the fall due to other commitments.  In most places the snow has left...thanks to the rain we have been getting, the days are getting longer and warmer and you can start to smell the spring in the air.  The first seedlings are coming along and have turned to little plants and the new seeds have sprouted.  We are building a greenhouse this year so I have a place for the plants to go once they are out of seedling stage so we are going to have to get to that real soon!!