This is for Jared....thought he'd appreciate a patriotic Hello Kitty! :)
And, as I looked at 'patriotic hello kitty' pictures online, don't know why, but I got a kick out of this one:
With what is all has come on our plates for this year, I made the tough decision to sell Nessa. Originally Dusty wasn't part of the original plan, but it just made things easier for her new Cow Mama to send him along, as she share-milks as well. I get updates on how things are going, so that is pretty cool.
Daisy is still in milk, and Fillet is growing very well. I made an appointment with the locker for June for Fillet. Making appointments is easy....but in reality what leads up to that day isn't always that easy. The names we chose for certain animals is on purpose, it reminds us of "where" they will go eventually. Lots of hard work, food/feed ($) and time go into the equitation. It takes approximately 18 months of what goes into the "equitation" before the locker trip is made, and then another 2-3 weeks before you get to bring said meat home.
Slow Food isn't just a fad, its what makes food good. Plants and animals take time to grow, and produce. Instant gratification is only after weeks or months of work before you get that first ripe tomato, strawberry or steak. But it makes one truly appreciate their food, because we know where it came from, how it was grown, and how much blood, sweat, tears and work it took to get it ready. Seasonal eating at its best--when it is ripe and ready.
People ask me over and over "do you still have horses?" My reply generally is: "No, now we either milk it or eat it." People may find it crude, but it's honest and real. I like horses, and at times miss riding. But much of it has to do with economics, plus the fact that I don't have lots of land to keep one on anymore. So whatever is out there eating hay needs to pay for itself one way or another.
Pat and I tried to fix my truck, thinking it was one issue, when he realized it was a major issue (the "new" slave cylinder--it's not that old!) so it needs taken in to the shop, we simply don't have the tools/resources to deal with dropping a transmission! As for the fridge, it takes a certain height/width so I haven't looked very hard for a new(er) one. Since it's cold out, it's easy keeping things cold in a cooler for now. There's also the factor of: there's only so much money to go around to fix things! (We must have Slow Money to go along with our Slow Food!) giggle
Kyle had Drills this weekend, and he and his GF were down a week or so ago. His cat always goes nuts when he's here, she misses him. Hopefully they can find a new apartment that takes cats, she'd be in kitty heaven! She IS entertaining.....but we get one or two of Jared and Chandra's kitties to "kitty-sit" for awhile anyhow. Litter box duty....oh joy...maybe I should take stock in cat food and litter?! HA
We call Jared and Chandra, and hear an occasional 'outburst' from Tracy in the background. I miss them. Chandra is good about posting stuff online with Tracy, so that helps--we all still get to "see" him and how much he's grown and what new he can accomplish. :)
Other than looking at seed catalogs, and the recent snows I haven't gotten much done. There is fence I want to work on, but the ground is still too frozen. I have had some time to catch up on some reading and research and talk to old friends. I know all too well Spring is coming, and my "downtime" is limited.
I know the Strawberry bed will need to be expanded.....they don't take long to go crazy growing, but it's a tasty problem! :) I know the Blackberry patch needs thinning (I haven't forgot Omaha Dave!) and the Asparagus bed needs some serious weeding, but again, the work is worth the rewards. I look forward to it all, even if I *think* I'm downsizing the garden this year. (Um, lets see how THAT turns out!) HA
Janene, sounds like farm life continues even though the winter is long and cold. It was -7 degrees here this morning and with high of only 15. Thank goodness the sun is shining brightly and there's no wind. The groundhog saw his shadow at Terra Nova Gardens so the winter will continue until the middle of March. My onions I started from seed about two weeks ago were transplanted into larger peat pots to encourage them to keep growing. I'm just learning about starting plants and this is my first time to grow onions from seeds so I'm trying different ways to see which works the best. I did plant 50 more peat pots directly with onion seeds and put the tray on the heat mat so hopefully in another week or so I'll have a few more seed starts. After the onions get started, the heat mat will be helping to germinate cabbage, parsnips, and turnips. I think I'm going to try some fermentation this year and all those vegetables are good for that. I did grow some really nice cabbage this year or so the rabbits thought. This next season I'll be caging them with a wire cage over the raised bed. If it was up to me, I'd just eat the rabbits during the winter months but alas city folk have made them pets and actually feed them in some cases. I would be on the neighborhood you know what list, if I was seen skinning one of their wild pets.
ReplyDeleteRaising animals for 18 months and then sending them off to freezer camp is one of those farm things that is difficult to do. The farm animals that Dad raised were herds without names so the touch wasn't so up close and personal.
I was wondering about the blackberry bushes. I just thought things got busy as they do on working farms and that eventually you would get around to thinning out the patch. It would be nice to come visit you and help with the thinning. Just let me know when a good day for that would be about a week ahead, if that's possible, and I'd be glad to make a trip out to the farm to help.
Have a great Winter remains but Spring is coming day.