| Lighthouse Farm |
Diggin' For Gold!!Squeals of delight, utter amazement, and disbelief pealed out as we dug for gold!! Yes, gold right here in Minnesota on the family farm! Our family couldn't believe the number of gold nuggets! Each shovel-full was loaded with gold! With each nugget we plucked from the soil, we dreamed of what we would do with it. We were nearly drueling by the time we called it quits for the day. Wow, Grandpa and Grandma didn't tell us the conditions were ripe for gold up on that thar hill!That same night we first dicovered it, we put the gold on the grill along with roasted garlic from our harvest. Then we smothered it in butter and let the gold melt in our mouths with each delicious mouthful. Our oldest was six years old when she informed a gentleman that Gold was her favorite variety. Yes, Gold has got to be the family favorite, although we do like Purple Viking and Red ones as well. Mmmm-mmmm! The first taste of our own Yukon Gold potatoes fresh from our first garden on the farm was far from disappointing! The Farmer's Wife :) 09:03 - 2006-Jul-28 - comments {2} - post commentRain - a Blessing or a Curse?I remember about 25 years ago, our part of the country was experiencing a drought. The whole community was concerned for they knew it was devastating for the farmers. When some folks' wells began to dry up it became even more concerning. Our little church held a prayer meeting to ask the Lord to send much-needed rain. I was a teenager then and remember it vividly. We had a hobby farm at that time and did not depend on it for a living, yet there were farmers around us who did. When the rain came and soaked the parched earth a week later, I remember running out into the rain and allowing it to soak my hair and clothes. looking up and thanking the Good Lord for His pleasant, replenishing, refreshing rain. Rain was God's gracious provision and it was a blessing.I'm not sure if anyone has noticed, but North Dakota is experiencing a drought. Some farmers are selling their livestock because they can't feed them. The pastures are dry, some are dusty. Here in Minnesota some of us are quite concerned as well. Things are becoming quite crunchy around here. Half of our sweet corn is ruined. Good Farmer John is considering turning the animals out into our field corn before it completely dries up. The pastures are not as green as they once were. Parts of it are brown and crunchy. Our family is praying the Lord would send much-needed rain. The farmers' livelihood in the Dakota's and Minnesota, the community's food is dependent upon that rain. However, recently at a church we visited, we heard testimony from a young man who labeled rain as something sent by the enemy. It was viewed as an attack of satan. His part of the state received a rain shower and since it soaked this young man as he ran from his vehicle to his church function, he viewed it as an attack from the enemy in order to discourage him from ministering. So, which is true - is rain a curse sent by satan, or is it a blessing sent from God? If God sends rain and you get soaked when you are heading toward a church function, while at the same time farmers in the area missed that rain and are concerned, is that rain a curse or a blessing? When we are less and less in touch with our food and where it comes from and how it grows and our utter dependence upon it, we might view anything, including a rain shower, that might be a little inconvenient to us at the moment as an attack from the enemy. When we realize that our food will not grow without water and we will go hungry without food, when we are concerned about the farmers' livelihood and we are dependent upon the meat they provide, the crops they grow, we will be on our knees beseeching the Lord. Certainly, flooding may be viewed as an attack of the enemy, or a judgement from the Lord, but we're talking about drought conditions in this case. Please remember the farmers in the drought areas in your prayers and ask the Lord if He would be so gracious as to send us some rain. Trusting the Provider of rain, The Farmer's Wife 09:35 - 2006-Jul-27 - comments {2} - post commentMy Sheep Know My Voice - er - Chain Saw...When the farmer calls for our sheep, they respond, usually with "baa's" and a few will meander over to him. But what brings them running, and I mean RUNNING, is when he rev's up his chain saw. Seriously. He rev's that loud thing up and no matter where they are, no matter how far out in the pasture they are, no matter how hot it is, they come running toward him.Why? You ask. Well, they know he is cutting down some trees in the lot next to the barn for them. They love to eat the leaves. Even while he's still buzzin' away, they are right there starting to munch on the leaves. It usually takes them less than an hour to devour them. Whenever we need to check the sheep for anything and we don't have much time, Good Farmer John gets the chain saw out. Not sure what we're going to do when we run out of trees... The Farmer's Wife 10:58 - 2006-Jul-26 - comments {4} - post commentThe Old Farm DogThe old farm dog has gone to her grave. We obtained her over 12 years ago when we lived on an acre of land, a Golden Retriever. I trained her to know the boundaries of our first property which she followed for the most part. Many times I would find her right on the property line watching the neighbor boy play outside.She was a natural hunter. We allowed her to go into a field once when we were taking a walk and she weaved back and forth to scare up pheasant for us to shoot. She actually did scare one up and looked back at us, waiting for us to do our part. We didn't even own a gun back then. And we never di get around to hunting with her. She was a natural retriever as well. One walk brought us to a pond filled with pond lilies. She immediately jumped in and began to retrieve the lilies one by one, dropping them at our feet. We had to literally drag her away from that pond to get her to stop or she would have cleared out that whole pond. We lived in the city for about 4 years with her. Not a good place for a dog, atleast this dog. She's a farm dog although she managed. She had two litters of 11 puppies each and proved to be an excellent mother. The neighborhood children were enthralled with the puppies. That was the closest any of them had ever come to a farm, visiting a farm dog (misplaced in the city temorarily) with pups. We finally moved to the country once again, 8 acres. She marked the whole territory and patrolled it daily. She was great at keeping animals away. Stray, diseased cats didn't dare venture onto our property. Rabbits and chipmunks were her meals. Raccoons were not a problem around the house. Moles were dug up and killed. Never had a stray dog problem. When we began to aquire farm animals, she learned her place. Her "birdiness" showed as she stalked our chickens. A couple of scoldings was all it took for her to know they are not to be touched. It wasn't long before she allowed them to congregate around her, as she napped and they scratched up the ground around her. She even warmed up to the cats we accumulated to keep down the mice. She allowed them to keep themselves warm next to her and occasionally cleaned them as she used to clean her pups. Moving out to the country convinced us of the importance of a farm dog. She barked at any one and every one who drove into our driveway. Some folks were too scared to get out of their cars and would honk their horns to get our attention. We never had a robber or any vandalizing, although our neighbor did. She was our doorbell before the doorbell. When we were in the milking parlor or out in the garden and heard her barking, we knew we had guests. She was showing her age about a year ago. Although she was as energetic as a puppy, she was quite grey around her face, and a bit stiff in the mornings, especially when she slept on concrete. John bought a puppy in preparation to replace her. We've known the older dogs are effective in training the younger ones. The old dog had some good qualities we wanted to see in her replacement. She taught the pup to bark at any one and every one that pulled into our drive. She taught the pup how to dig up moles. She subdued the pup and taught it to mind us by her example. She tried to teach the pup that cats were no big deal, but never seemed to perfect that lesson. She sustained a back injury prior to our move to Minnesota which aged her considerably. Now, she was no longer energetic and was a bit tempered with the pup. We're not sure if the injury was due to some rough playing with the pup or if she sprained it when she chased (and nearly caught) the huge stray dog that ventured onto our little homestead. Our daughters prayed she would live until our move. They were hoping she would be able to help clear out the wild animals and teach the pup to do so before she passed on. We loaded her onto the back of our pick-up for the big move. She and the pup found a spot somewhere in the piles of stuff that were crammed in there. We made the trip in 15 hours with minimal stops. It was dark once we arrived. We opened the back of the truck and called for the dogs. The pup scrambled out eagerly. We waited for the old farm dog. Nothing. We called her again. Nothing. Just when we thought it was the end of the line for her, we heard some movement and slowly the farm dog emerged, looking very old and stiff. Looks like the Lord agreed with the girls' prayers. She managed to be effective in getting rid of the raccoons around our immediate living area. However, she gradually was growing stiffer and less energetic. Instead of getting up to bark at folks who ventured up our driveway, she barked from her lying-down position. Nearly every night when the coyotes howled and yipped from our south woods, she barked louder in return which silenced them and they never ventured near our living area. In her younger days she would have wandered out to that woods to mark her territory during the day and would have taken the whole pack on when they came at night. But her bark must have been effective for we haven't heard the coyotes these past few weeks. On occasion in the middle of the night, she barked unlike anything we have ever heard. Very ferocious and aggressive. We often wonder if on those nights she was barking away the black bear that has been spotted by a couple of folks in our area. The pup is now 6 months old and is close to full-grown size. She hasn't learned all that she needs to defend our property, but she is on the right track. This past month she has not rough-housed with the old farm dog. The old farm dog rarely got up anymore. Her last night with us, she managed to bark at some predator unkown to us. Her last effort in defending the place. The old farm dog is no longer with us. She's served her purpose now and it's time for the young pup to take over. And such is the way of life. The Farmer's Wife 11:00 - 2006-Jul-24 - comments {3} - post commentAn Alarming Nightime VisitorA black bear has been sited in our immediate area by 2 different people. Almost every night we hear the yip-yipping and howls of coyotees from the south woods area on our farm (until our old dog and pup raise their barks in protest). We have sited a skunk on the farm, raccoon, as well as the chicken-slaughtering mink.These past few nights have been extremely sauna-like hot. The climate is quite sultry up here in the northern country (?). One night we left the back door open and put up a make-shift screen in order to let some kind of relief of cooler air in. We lay on top of our covers to go to sleep. Sometime in the middle of the night, my dear husband jerked and jumped atleast a foot off the bed. I rolled over, looked at him. He lay asleep (I learned later he was awake and laying still trying to figure out what just happened). I thought it surely must have been a dream. (Much later he told me it felt as if someone was sticking needles in his leg...) Not much later, it was my turn to jump about a foot off the bed in fear out of a deep sleep for it seemed as if something of significant size was moving the mattress on my side of the bed... I was so sleepy and disoriented, I pulled a sheet over me thinking that would protect me from whatever "it" was. In the meantime, my dear husband jolted upright in response to my jolting jump. I mumbled that it felt like something was moving the mattress. He immediately went into protective mode, turned on the light and looked around the bed... He gasped and jumped back a little. With that I gasped and my heart skipped a beat. My dear husband never gets scared. What could it be??? In a split second, my thoughts covered the possibilites. Sleep left me quickly as I thought of the black bear, the coyotees, the skunk that could have easily and quietly broken through our screen.... He sighed, "The cat." Yes, our cat made it in. We don't allow animals in the house, but she made it in through our "screen". John put her outside with her purring quite loudly the whole time. As he returned, I lay in bed replaying what must have happened. I pictured this cat squeezing in through the screen, massaging her claws on John's leg with John jolting and jumping and later the cat coming on over to my side rubbing along the mattress very aggressively (you just gotta know this cat for that's her way of doing things) while we are being half-scared to death. That's when I laughed and laughed and snorted and laughed and cried and laughed. Couldn't stop. Nose dripping, tears running down my face. Dear husband so tired and trying to sleep while the bed vibrates with my laughter. We're just a bit tired today. Can't seem to handle all that comedy in the middle of the night. The Farmer's Wife 11:00 - 2006-Jul-17 - comments {1} - post commentFarming MagazineThe most recent edition includes an article by Farmer John himself who was invited to write about some folks in Indiana. These folks returned to the family farm and are making it raising and selling grass-fed beef and lamb, chicken and eggs, as well as milk from their cow share program. The article focuses primarily on their experience with sheep and contains some excellent marketing advice.Farming Magazine is a magazine that is worthy of reading. Some of the regular contributors include Wendall Berry and Gene Logsdon, to give you and idea of the type of writing that can be found in the magazine. If you are famliar with thesse gentlemen, you can assume accurately that one would not find any encouragement (even along the lines of advertising) to embrace any tupe of the big industrial ag mindset in regards to farming in this publication. They very much support small family farms that are sustainable. If you're interested you may view the magazine and article at http://www.farmingmagazine.net/articles.htm Regards, The Farmer's Wife 10:07 - 2006-Jul-13 - comments {3} - post commentA Pig's NestA pig's nest will put Big Bird's nest to shame. Prior to birthing her piglets, Miss Bacon built quite a nest out of hay - two and three feet high on the sides. Grandpa, Grandma and John told us they built quite a nest. It sure is one thing to hear about it and quite another to actually witness it. Grandpa also correctly predicted when those piglets would be born. We were told by the previous owners they would come the end of May. Grandpa took one look at the sow and told us it wouldn't be until the first of June. He knows his pigs for that is when Good Farmer John came into the house one morning to announce the birthing of our first piglets. We all ran outside just in time to witness the birth of the last one. Fourteen piglets. Wow.The girls and I were told to keep an eye on them throughout the day. We were told it is not unusual for a sow to inadvertantly lay on a piglet and suffocate it. After breakfast, we took at look at the bunch and could only count thirteen. We counted again. Thirteen. Oh no. I felt around underneath the mass of piglets that were snuggled against their mother to make sure we had counted correctly. One piglet bit my finger. For a moment I wondered if a rat had bit me. No, it was a piglet. I was surprised at the sharpness of their teeth. I moved some piglets over to get a better look. Sure enough little piglet hooves were sticking out from underneath Miss Bacon. I pulled the dead one out. Miss Bacon was oblivious to it all. Sound asleep. Snoring, in fact. Labor wore her out. We put the piglet in a bucket to be buried later. It wasn't long before the piglets learned to get out of the way when big mama moved (got up, left the nest, came back to the nest). She would grunt to let them know the barge of her body was on the move and they would part ways. Kind of reminded us of the parting of the Red Sea only it was a parting of grunting mass of piglets, right down the middle. She didn't suffocate any more of her bunch. And now we have quite a few little grunting hams running around here. The Farmer's Wife 09:27 - 2006-Jul-9 - comments {0} - post commentMeager chicken harvestLast night we butchered our remaining 8 meat chicks. We started with 100, the rest were fed to the wildlife (mink to be exact - not our intentions, by any means!). In the middle of butchering our meager harvest of chickens, our neighbor stopped by. Apparently, the mink slaughtered his chickens as well. Can't find anyone that is too fond of mink these days. Oh, well, such is life.One great thing that came out of our meager harvest was that our 10 year old daughter had expressed determination to learn how to eviscerate the chickens. Last year she and our youngest were put to work at final inspection (which meant they picked the pin feathers off of the butchered chickens). They also taught other children how to do this when we hosted our chicken butchering workshops. This year our oldest wanted to do more. So, John walked her through the first one, assisted her with the second one and she took off! She was soooo thrilled that she could do it! It wasn't long before our youngest began to express a desire to learn how to separate the "food tube and air tube" from the dead chicken in preparation for eviscerating. Then she asked if she could remove the heart and studied it after she pulled it out. After hearing stories of the noble women of the past and how they butchered their own chickens for dinner, the girls were inspired to take a step and learn how to do it as well. Some children get a kick out of kicking a ball around a field, some children get a kick out of putting food on the table. My hat is off to the latter! The Farmer's Wife 10:24 - 2006-Jul-7 - comments {4} - post commentBacon + Garlic = Piglets?Over two months ago, we brought home a pregnant sow. The girls decided to name her Miss Bacon for we told them we might butcher her after she has her piglets. Therefore, the name was their way of having the right perspective on this hog so as to not become too attached. We even did a meat science study using her as the model as we visualized her ham parts, bacon area, tenderlins, pork chops, rib roast, rump roast and her many sources of lard. It is not unusual to find us commenting on what big hams she has.Shortly after Miss Bacon's arrival, I decided she needed a little bit of extra care. She actually looked very healthy despite the fact that she had been raised in a barn on a bed of sawdust and had never been outside or rooted up dirt the way the Good Lord intends pigs to be raised. The previous owners did handfeed her plenty of good vegetable scraps which we think contributed to her healthy appearance. After Miss Bacon had settled into her new home and enjoyed sunshine and was allowed to root up soil outside for the first time in her life, I thought it would be a good idea to give her some garlic. I love garlic, especially for medicinal purposes. All of our animals have had garlic at one time or another. It is so good for a number of things. Mostly I use it as a preventative. Even though Miss Bacon did not look wormy, since she was pregnant, I thought it would be good to give her garlic just as a precaution anyway. She ate it like a pig for a few days. Then one day one of our daughters ran inside to inform me that she thought Miss Bacon was in labor. She was lying on her side and grunting in the barn. Sure enough, it looked convincing. She did not get up and greet us or beg for scraps which told me something was definitely up. We brought in an old towel and waited and waited and waited. Eventually, we wandered outside to get some other things done and checked on her occasionally. A few times I checked on her, I heard Miss Bacon leak some gaseous emissions from her hindquarters and noticed an odd, quite pungent odor lingering in the barn. Still, she lay on her side grunting away. At that point I began to question the legitimacy, or should I say cause, of her labor. Perhaps she was not laboring to emit piglets, perhaps it was a labor of a different sort, a labor of emissions of a different kind, emissions of impurities of which garlic tends to draw out. Naturopaths call it a "colon cleansing". The next day, Miss Bacon was on her feet again, with no little piglets in tow. However, she acted as if she had been through labor for she was not her usual "bouncy", rooty self. She was not at all interested in any scraps I fed her. Of course, I was merciful and quit feeding garlic to her. After a long labor of colon cleansin', I'm sure the appetite would be affected to a certain degree. It was a few days before she recovered and began to eat like a pig again and a couple of weeks before she went into the bringing-forth-piglets-type of labor (more on that later). The Farmer's Wife 10:37 - 2006-Jul-6 - comments {4} - post commentA Rare July 4th Tribute to FarmersToward the end of a 4th of July celebration in town, cannons fired and a man commented to Mr. Wilder, ******************************************************************** "'That's the noise that made the Redcoats run!' Mr Paddock said to Father. "'Maybe,' said Father, tugging his beard. 'But it was muskets that won the Revolution. And don't forget it was axes and plows that made this country.' "'That's so, come to think of it,' Mr. Paddock said... "That night when they were going to the house with the milk, Almanzo asked Father, 'Father, how was it axes and plows that made this country? Didn't we fight England for it?' "'We fought for Independence, son,' Father said. 'But all the land our forefathers had was a little strip of country, here between the mountains and the ocean. All the way from here west was Indian country, and Spanish and French and English country. It was farmers that took all that country and made it America.' "'How?' Almanzo asked. "'Well, son, the Spaniards were soldiers, and high-and-mighty gentlemen that only wanted gold. And the French were fur-traders, wanting to make quick money. And England was busy fighting wars. But we were farmers, son; we wanted the land. It was farmers that went over the mountains, and cleared the land, and settled it, and farmed it, and hung on to their farms. "'This country goes three thousand miles west, now. It goes "way out beyond Kansas, and beyond the Great American Desert, over mountians bigger than these mountains, and down to the Pacific Ocean. It's the biggest country in the world, and it was farmers who took all that country and made it America, son. Don't you ever forget that.'" --from "Farmer Boy" by Laura Ingalls Wilder (our family's favorite book on sustainable agriculture) ****************************************************************** With only 2-3% of the population farming now, we are rapidly loosing those freedoms these farmers fought so fearcely for. We are even on the brink of losing our rights to farm our own land and raise our own food. We are purchasing more and more of our food from China as more and more farms in the United States are driven out of business. This is very grievous and concerning. Our salute goes to the farmers of the past who didn't sell out to another country, who fought for their families, land and country, who settled and tamed the wilderness and who met basic needs by feeding their families and communities from their sustainable farms. They were independent, self-sufficient, common-sense, knowledgeable, family-oriented, strong, tough, hardy, leaders of their communities, respectable, Bible-believing, discerning, non-gullible folks who are rare breeds in this day and age and who we could benefit greatly from by studying them. Grateful for our agriculture heritage, The Farmer's Wife 11:43 - 2006-Jul-4 - comments {2} - post commentDiggin' For Gold!!Squeals of delight, utter amazement, and disbelief pealed out as we dug for gold!! Yes, gold right here in Minnesota on the family farm! Our family couldn't believe the number of gold nuggets! Each shovel-full was loaded with gold! With each nugget we plucked from the soil, we dreamed of what we would do with it. We were nearly drueling by the time we called it quits for the day. Wow, Grandpa and Grandma didn't tell us the conditions were ripe for gold up on that thar hill!That same night we first dicovered it, we put the gold on the grill along with roasted garlic from our harvest. Then we smothered it in butter and let the gold melt in our mouths with each delicious mouthful. Our oldest was six years old when she informed a gentleman that Gold was her favorite variety. Yes, Gold has got to be the family favorite, although we do like Purple Viking and Red ones as well. Mmmm-mmmm! The first taste of our own Yukon Gold potatoes fresh from our first garden on the farm was far from disappointing! The Farmer's Wife :) 09:03 - 2006-Jul-28 - post comment
Rain - a Blessing or a Curse?I remember about 25 years ago, our part of the country was experiencing a drought. The whole community was concerned for they knew it was devastating for the farmers. When some folks' wells began to dry up it became even more concerning. Our little church held a prayer meeting to ask the Lord to send much-needed rain. I was a teenager then and remember it vividly. We had a hobby farm at that time and did not depend on it for a living, yet there were farmers around us who did. When the rain came and soaked the parched earth a week later, I remember running out into the rain and allowing it to soak my hair and clothes. looking up and thanking the Good Lord for His pleasant, replenishing, refreshing rain. Rain was God's gracious provision and it was a blessing.I'm not sure if anyone has noticed, but North Dakota is experiencing a drought. Some farmers are selling their livestock because they can't feed them. The pastures are dry, some are dusty. Here in Minnesota some of us are quite concerned as well. Things are becoming quite crunchy around here. Half of our sweet corn is ruined. Good Farmer John is considering turning the animals out into our field corn before it completely dries up. The pastures are not as green as they once were. Parts of it are brown and crunchy. Our family is praying the Lord would send much-needed rain. The farmers' livelihood in the Dakota's and Minnesota, the community's food is dependent upon that rain. However, recently at a church we visited, we heard testimony from a young man who labeled rain as something sent by the enemy. It was viewed as an attack of satan. His part of the state received a rain shower and since it soaked this young man as he ran from his vehicle to his church function, he viewed it as an attack from the enemy in order to discourage him from ministering. So, which is true - is rain a curse sent by satan, or is it a blessing sent from God? If God sends rain and you get soaked when you are heading toward a church function, while at the same time farmers in the area missed that rain and are concerned, is that rain a curse or a blessing? When we are less and less in touch with our food and where it comes from and how it grows and our utter dependence upon it, we might view anything, including a rain shower, that might be a little inconvenient to us at the moment as an attack from the enemy. When we realize that our food will not grow without water and we will go hungry without food, when we are concerned about the farmers' livelihood and we are dependent upon the meat they provide, the crops they grow, we will be on our knees beseeching the Lord. Certainly, flooding may be viewed as an attack of the enemy, or a judgement from the Lord, but we're talking about drought conditions in this case. Please remember the farmers in the drought areas in your prayers and ask the Lord if He would be so gracious as to send us some rain. Trusting the Provider of rain, The Farmer's Wife 09:35 - 2006-Jul-27 - post comment
My Sheep Know My Voice - er - Chain Saw...When the farmer calls for our sheep, they respond, usually with "baa's" and a few will meander over to him. But what brings them running, and I mean RUNNING, is when he rev's up his chain saw. Seriously. He rev's that loud thing up and no matter where they are, no matter how far out in the pasture they are, no matter how hot it is, they come running toward him.Why? You ask. Well, they know he is cutting down some trees in the lot next to the barn for them. They love to eat the leaves. Even while he's still buzzin' away, they are right there starting to munch on the leaves. It usually takes them less than an hour to devour them. Whenever we need to check the sheep for anything and we don't have much time, Good Farmer John gets the chain saw out. Not sure what we're going to do when we run out of trees... The Farmer's Wife 10:58 - 2006-Jul-26 - post comment
The Old Farm DogThe old farm dog has gone to her grave. We obtained her over 12 years ago when we lived on an acre of land, a Golden Retriever. I trained her to know the boundaries of our first property which she followed for the most part. Many times I would find her right on the property line watching the neighbor boy play outside.She was a natural hunter. We allowed her to go into a field once when we were taking a walk and she weaved back and forth to scare up pheasant for us to shoot. She actually did scare one up and looked back at us, waiting for us to do our part. We didn't even own a gun back then. And we never di get around to hunting with her. She was a natural retriever as well. One walk brought us to a pond filled with pond lilies. She immediately jumped in and began to retrieve the lilies one by one, dropping them at our feet. We had to literally drag her away from that pond to get her to stop or she would have cleared out that whole pond. We lived in the city for about 4 years with her. Not a good place for a dog, atleast this dog. She's a farm dog although she managed. She had two litters of 11 puppies each and proved to be an excellent mother. The neighborhood children were enthralled with the puppies. That was the closest any of them had ever come to a farm, visiting a farm dog (misplaced in the city temorarily) with pups. We finally moved to the country once again, 8 acres. She marked the whole territory and patrolled it daily. She was great at keeping animals away. Stray, diseased cats didn't dare venture onto our property. Rabbits and chipmunks were her meals. Raccoons were not a problem around the house. Moles were dug up and killed. Never had a stray dog problem. When we began to aquire farm animals, she learned her place. Her "birdiness" showed as she stalked our chickens. A couple of scoldings was all it took for her to know they are not to be touched. It wasn't long before she allowed them to congregate around her, as she napped and they scratched up the ground around her. She even warmed up to the cats we accumulated to keep down the mice. She allowed them to keep themselves warm next to her and occasionally cleaned them as she used to clean her pups. Moving out to the country convinced us of the importance of a farm dog. She barked at any one and every one who drove into our driveway. Some folks were too scared to get out of their cars and would honk their horns to get our attention. We never had a robber or any vandalizing, although our neighbor did. She was our doorbell before the doorbell. When we were in the milking parlor or out in the garden and heard her barking, we knew we had guests. She was showing her age about a year ago. Although she was as energetic as a puppy, she was quite grey around her face, and a bit stiff in the mornings, especially when she slept on concrete. John bought a puppy in preparation to replace her. We've known the older dogs are effective in training the younger ones. The old dog had some good qualities we wanted to see in her replacement. She taught the pup to bark at any one and every one that pulled into our drive. She taught the pup how to dig up moles. She subdued the pup and taught it to mind us by her example. She tried to teach the pup that cats were no big deal, but never seemed to perfect that lesson. She sustained a back injury prior to our move to Minnesota which aged her considerably. Now, she was no longer energetic and was a bit tempered with the pup. We're not sure if the injury was due to some rough playing with the pup or if she sprained it when she chased (and nearly caught) the huge stray dog that ventured onto our little homestead. Our daughters prayed she would live until our move. They were hoping she would be able to help clear out the wild animals and teach the pup to do so before she passed on. We loaded her onto the back of our pick-up for the big move. She and the pup found a spot somewhere in the piles of stuff that were crammed in there. We made the trip in 15 hours with minimal stops. It was dark once we arrived. We opened the back of the truck and called for the dogs. The pup scrambled out eagerly. We waited for the old farm dog. Nothing. We called her again. Nothing. Just when we thought it was the end of the line for her, we heard some movement and slowly the farm dog emerged, looking very old and stiff. Looks like the Lord agreed with the girls' prayers. She managed to be effective in getting rid of the raccoons around our immediate living area. However, she gradually was growing stiffer and less energetic. Instead of getting up to bark at folks who ventured up our driveway, she barked from her lying-down position. Nearly every night when the coyotes howled and yipped from our south woods, she barked louder in return which silenced them and they never ventured near our living area. In her younger days she would have wandered out to that woods to mark her territory during the day and would have taken the whole pack on when they came at night. But her bark must have been effective for we haven't heard the coyotes these past few weeks. On occasion in the middle of the night, she barked unlike anything we have ever heard. Very ferocious and aggressive. We often wonder if on those nights she was barking away the black bear that has been spotted by a couple of folks in our area. The pup is now 6 months old and is close to full-grown size. She hasn't learned all that she needs to defend our property, but she is on the right track. This past month she has not rough-housed with the old farm dog. The old farm dog rarely got up anymore. Her last night with us, she managed to bark at some predator unkown to us. Her last effort in defending the place. The old farm dog is no longer with us. She's served her purpose now and it's time for the young pup to take over. And such is the way of life. The Farmer's Wife 11:00 - 2006-Jul-24 - post comment
An Alarming Nightime VisitorA black bear has been sited in our immediate area by 2 different people. Almost every night we hear the yip-yipping and howls of coyotees from the south woods area on our farm (until our old dog and pup raise their barks in protest). We have sited a skunk on the farm, raccoon, as well as the chicken-slaughtering mink.These past few nights have been extremely sauna-like hot. The climate is quite sultry up here in the northern country (?). One night we left the back door open and put up a make-shift screen in order to let some kind of relief of cooler air in. We lay on top of our covers to go to sleep. Sometime in the middle of the night, my dear husband jerked and jumped atleast a foot off the bed. I rolled over, looked at him. He lay asleep (I learned later he was awake and laying still trying to figure out what just happened). I thought it surely must have been a dream. (Much later he told me it felt as if someone was sticking needles in his leg...) Not much later, it was my turn to jump about a foot off the bed in fear out of a deep sleep for it seemed as if something of significant size was moving the mattress on my side of the bed... I was so sleepy and disoriented, I pulled a sheet over me thinking that would protect me from whatever "it" was. In the meantime, my dear husband jolted upright in response to my jolting jump. I mumbled that it felt like something was moving the mattress. He immediately went into protective mode, turned on the light and looked around the bed... He gasped and jumped back a little. With that I gasped and my heart skipped a beat. My dear husband never gets scared. What could it be??? In a split second, my thoughts covered the possibilites. Sleep left me quickly as I thought of the black bear, the coyotees, the skunk that could have easily and quietly broken through our screen.... He sighed, "The cat." Yes, our cat made it in. We don't allow animals in the house, but she made it in through our "screen". John put her outside with her purring quite loudly the whole time. As he returned, I lay in bed replaying what must have happened. I pictured this cat squeezing in through the screen, massaging her claws on John's leg with John jolting and jumping and later the cat coming on over to my side rubbing along the mattress very aggressively (you just gotta know this cat for that's her way of doing things) while we are being half-scared to death. That's when I laughed and laughed and snorted and laughed and cried and laughed. Couldn't stop. Nose dripping, tears running down my face. Dear husband so tired and trying to sleep while the bed vibrates with my laughter. We're just a bit tired today. Can't seem to handle all that comedy in the middle of the night. The Farmer's Wife 11:00 - 2006-Jul-17 - post comment
Farming MagazineThe most recent edition includes an article by Farmer John himself who was invited to write about some folks in Indiana. These folks returned to the family farm and are making it raising and selling grass-fed beef and lamb, chicken and eggs, as well as milk from their cow share program. The article focuses primarily on their experience with sheep and contains some excellent marketing advice.Farming Magazine is a magazine that is worthy of reading. Some of the regular contributors include Wendall Berry and Gene Logsdon, to give you and idea of the type of writing that can be found in the magazine. If you are famliar with thesse gentlemen, you can assume accurately that one would not find any encouragement (even along the lines of advertising) to embrace any tupe of the big industrial ag mindset in regards to farming in this publication. They very much support small family farms that are sustainable. If you're interested you may view the magazine and article at http://www.farmingmagazine.net/articles.htm Regards, The Farmer's Wife 10:07 - 2006-Jul-13 - post comment
A Pig's NestA pig's nest will put Big Bird's nest to shame. Prior to birthing her piglets, Miss Bacon built quite a nest out of hay - two and three feet high on the sides. Grandpa, Grandma and John told us they built quite a nest. It sure is one thing to hear about it and quite another to actually witness it. Grandpa also correctly predicted when those piglets would be born. We were told by the previous owners they would come the end of May. Grandpa took one look at the sow and told us it wouldn't be until the first of June. He knows his pigs for that is when Good Farmer John came into the house one morning to announce the birthing of our first piglets. We all ran outside just in time to witness the birth of the last one. Fourteen piglets. Wow.The girls and I were told to keep an eye on them throughout the day. We were told it is not unusual for a sow to inadvertantly lay on a piglet and suffocate it. After breakfast, we took at look at the bunch and could only count thirteen. We counted again. Thirteen. Oh no. I felt around underneath the mass of piglets that were snuggled against their mother to make sure we had counted correctly. One piglet bit my finger. For a moment I wondered if a rat had bit me. No, it was a piglet. I was surprised at the sharpness of their teeth. I moved some piglets over to get a better look. Sure enough little piglet hooves were sticking out from underneath Miss Bacon. I pulled the dead one out. Miss Bacon was oblivious to it all. Sound asleep. Snoring, in fact. Labor wore her out. We put the piglet in a bucket to be buried later. It wasn't long before the piglets learned to get out of the way when big mama moved (got up, left the nest, came back to the nest). She would grunt to let them know the barge of her body was on the move and they would part ways. Kind of reminded us of the parting of the Red Sea only it was a parting of grunting mass of piglets, right down the middle. She didn't suffocate any more of her bunch. And now we have quite a few little grunting hams running around here. The Farmer's Wife 09:27 - 2006-Jul-9 - post commentMeager chicken harvestLast night we butchered our remaining 8 meat chicks. We started with 100, the rest were fed to the wildlife (mink to be exact - not our intentions, by any means!). In the middle of butchering our meager harvest of chickens, our neighbor stopped by. Apparently, the mink slaughtered his chickens as well. Can't find anyone that is too fond of mink these days. Oh, well, such is life.One great thing that came out of our meager harvest was that our 10 year old daughter had expressed determination to learn how to eviscerate the chickens. Last year she and our youngest were put to work at final inspection (which meant they picked the pin feathers off of the butchered chickens). They also taught other children how to do this when we hosted our chicken butchering workshops. This year our oldest wanted to do more. So, John walked her through the first one, assisted her with the second one and she took off! She was soooo thrilled that she could do it! It wasn't long before our youngest began to express a desire to learn how to separate the "food tube and air tube" from the dead chicken in preparation for eviscerating. Then she asked if she could remove the heart and studied it after she pulled it out. After hearing stories of the noble women of the past and how they butchered their own chickens for dinner, the girls were inspired to take a step and learn how to do it as well. Some children get a kick out of kicking a ball around a field, some children get a kick out of putting food on the table. My hat is off to the latter! The Farmer's Wife 10:24 - 2006-Jul-7 - post comment
Bacon + Garlic = Piglets?Over two months ago, we brought home a pregnant sow. The girls decided to name her Miss Bacon for we told them we might butcher her after she has her piglets. Therefore, the name was their way of having the right perspective on this hog so as to not become too attached. We even did a meat science study using her as the model as we visualized her ham parts, bacon area, tenderlins, pork chops, rib roast, rump roast and her many sources of lard. It is not unusual to find us commenting on what big hams she has.Shortly after Miss Bacon's arrival, I decided she needed a little bit of extra care. She actually looked very healthy despite the fact that she had been raised in a barn on a bed of sawdust and had never been outside or rooted up dirt the way the Good Lord intends pigs to be raised. The previous owners did handfeed her plenty of good vegetable scraps which we think contributed to her healthy appearance. After Miss Bacon had settled into her new home and enjoyed sunshine and was allowed to root up soil outside for the first time in her life, I thought it would be a good idea to give her some garlic. I love garlic, especially for medicinal purposes. All of our animals have had garlic at one time or another. It is so good for a number of things. Mostly I use it as a preventative. Even though Miss Bacon did not look wormy, since she was pregnant, I thought it would be good to give her garlic just as a precaution anyway. She ate it like a pig for a few days. Then one day one of our daughters ran inside to inform me that she thought Miss Bacon was in labor. She was lying on her side and grunting in the barn. Sure enough, it looked convincing. She did not get up and greet us or beg for scraps which told me something was definitely up. We brought in an old towel and waited and waited and waited. Eventually, we wandered outside to get some other things done and checked on her occasionally. A few times I checked on her, I heard Miss Bacon leak some gaseous emissions from her hindquarters and noticed an odd, quite pungent odor lingering in the barn. Still, she lay on her side grunting away. At that point I began to question the legitimacy, or should I say cause, of her labor. Perhaps she was not laboring to emit piglets, perhaps it was a labor of a different sort, a labor of emissions of a different kind, emissions of impurities of which garlic tends to draw out. Naturopaths call it a "colon cleansing". The next day, Miss Bacon was on her feet again, with no little piglets in tow. However, she acted as if she had been through labor for she was not her usual "bouncy", rooty self. She was not at all interested in any scraps I fed her. Of course, I was merciful and quit feeding garlic to her. After a long labor of colon cleansin', I'm sure the appetite would be affected to a certain degree. It was a few days before she recovered and began to eat like a pig again and a couple of weeks before she went into the bringing-forth-piglets-type of labor (more on that later). The Farmer's Wife 10:37 - 2006-Jul-6 - post comment
A Rare July 4th Tribute to FarmersToward the end of a 4th of July celebration in town, cannons fired and a man commented to Mr. Wilder, ******************************************************************** "'That's the noise that made the Redcoats run!' Mr Paddock said to Father. "'Maybe,' said Father, tugging his beard. 'But it was muskets that won the Revolution. And don't forget it was axes and plows that made this country.' "'That's so, come to think of it,' Mr. Paddock said... "That night when they were going to the house with the milk, Almanzo asked Father, 'Father, how was it axes and plows that made this country? Didn't we fight England for it?' "'We fought for Independence, son,' Father said. 'But all the land our forefathers had was a little strip of country, here between the mountains and the ocean. All the way from here west was Indian country, and Spanish and French and English country. It was farmers that took all that country and made it America.' "'How?' Almanzo asked. "'Well, son, the Spaniards were soldiers, and high-and-mighty gentlemen that only wanted gold. And the French were fur-traders, wanting to make quick money. And England was busy fighting wars. But we were farmers, son; we wanted the land. It was farmers that went over the mountains, and cleared the land, and settled it, and farmed it, and hung on to their farms. "'This country goes three thousand miles west, now. It goes "way out beyond Kansas, and beyond the Great American Desert, over mountians bigger than these mountains, and down to the Pacific Ocean. It's the biggest country in the world, and it was farmers who took all that country and made it America, son. Don't you ever forget that.'" --from "Farmer Boy" by Laura Ingalls Wilder (our family's favorite book on sustainable agriculture) ****************************************************************** With only 2-3% of the population farming now, we are rapidly loosing those freedoms these farmers fought so fearcely for. We are even on the brink of losing our rights to farm our own land and raise our own food. We are purchasing more and more of our food from China as more and more farms in the United States are driven out of business. This is very grievous and concerning. Our salute goes to the farmers of the past who didn't sell out to another country, who fought for their families, land and country, who settled and tamed the wilderness and who met basic needs by feeding their families and communities from their sustainable farms. They were independent, self-sufficient, common-sense, knowledgeable, family-oriented, strong, tough, hardy, leaders of their communities, respectable, Bible-believing, discerning, non-gullible folks who are rare breeds in this day and age and who we could benefit greatly from by studying them. Grateful for our agriculture heritage, The Farmer's Wife 11:43 - 2006-Jul-4 - post comment
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Description Sharing our thoughts, events, ups and downs, as we restore a once profitable farm to its former greatness as a Christian agrarian family. Home User Profile Archives Friends Lighthouse Farm Our DVD's for homesteader's Homestead Series e-books Lighthouse Farm Podcasts No NAIS Recent Entries - Pig-headed or chicken-hearted???? - Health care - the way it used to be - The Egg Hog - Back in blogdom after chasing sheep - Ode to Winter 2007 - Chicken and Hog DVD's are now finished!! - Video clip of the birth of a piglet - News about Haitian friends!!!!! - Authentic AgricultureTM - Welcome! - A Peaceful Night in the Pasture - Big Sale at The Old Schoolhouse!! - Rendering Lard - Hog Butchering Time - John Ray - Founder of Biology - A Breath-taking Field Trip - Fat and Sassy - Real Men Eat Quiche - Green Tomato Recipes - Harvest - Two Cents Worth on Pinching Pennies... - Cockle burrs and stinging nettle a blessing? - Gourmet Meals At The Farm Table - Seeds Worth Saving - Sweet cartoon - Commercial rice supply has been contaminated - Spermicidal Corn - Agricultural Science Fiction Horror Flick or Truth? - SImple Entertainment - "Gardening is like a treasure hunt!" - Pigs don't stink - Diggin' For Gold!! - Rain - a Blessing or a Curse? - My Sheep Know My Voice - er - Chain Saw... - The Old Farm Dog - An Alarming Nightime Visitor - Farming Magazine - A Pig's Nest - Meager chicken harvest - Bacon + Garlic = Piglets? - A Rare July 4th Tribute to Farmers - Fencing in more pasture - Three months on our new place.... - Blood suckers in Minnesota :( - Miss Bacon and Rocky Mountain Oysters - Sheep without a shepherd - Haying with my man! - Mink solutions, anyone? - Goat meets pig... - I Smell a Skunk... - URGENT!! Please forward!!!! - Did Adam Smell Like That? - Minnesota!!!!! - Problem solved - God is good - The Rat Trap and One Happy Girl - New Podcast - Farm Restoration - The Beginning - An Honorable Gentleman Has Died - Why teach our children about agriculture? - Cheap, Safe Food??? - New NAIS links worth reading - Old Tractors Never Die - A Lawyer comments on Constitutional Rights and NAIS - Teaching an Old Dog New Tricks - Big Bellies and Big Bags - Hosting Haitians on the Homestead - Minnesota, Here We Come (after we sell our house) and "the Chip" - And God saw that it was good - Greetings |