Twister Yoga

It’s not a new kind of yoga, I’m sure people have been doing it for as long as strawberries have been grown.  Left Foot Brown… Right Foot Green … (Right or Left Foot Red is not desirable!) Right Hand Brown… and pick as many berries as you can with the other hand until you cannot hold any more.  I call it One Handed Downward Facing Dog.  I will not subject you to a photo of my back-end it the air, but you get the idea.  My strawberries grow in the southwest border of the garden and because of the fence they can only be accessed from one side.  I have to bend and stretch, lean and crouch.  The result is very worthwhile.

We have had warm weather and plenty of rain and everything is growing quickly. 

 

The peas are blooming!  Happy Dance!

I think this snake is growing too.... pregnant maybe?

The greenhouse gets very warm (hot) on sunny days and the lettuce was bolting.  Today I picked what I could and pulled the plants.  I then planted these tomatoes, and will see how they do.

The cups are there as labels... they came out of much bigger pots than that.

It’s haying time.  It’s a good thing we don’t need much for our few goats because there were a lot of breakdowns.  It’s a three generation project to put up hay here.  Rollie does the raking (no picture I’m sorry to say) and Kevin, Kurt, and Kori join forces to bale.  I wasn’t needed but will no doubt be helping unload and stack it in the shed later. 

In critter news, last week I mentioned that ForestRanger moved house.  Today they moved again.  They have a new moveable pen, now in two sections that will be moved around what used to be the horse pasture.

Kevin moved the Goat Garage first, then rearranged the fence

A view of the happy fellows from the roof of the Goat Garage

The Winter Coop Yard is occupied by the pigs so I fenced out the front of the coop with some very bright snow fence and the chicks finally get to go outside.

Yep, they are at the ugly dinosaur-looking stage.  They really will be beautiful shiny black birds soon.

Meanwhile, things are pretty much the same in the coop yard.  The pigs eat.  The pigs root.  The pigs nap.

 

So, that's it I think for this week.  I will wish you all a happy Independence Day in advance.  Be safe out there, and be well.

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all, and especially to these guys...

Rollie, Kent, Kevin

This is a very quick post again as it is Sunday evening, after 9PM (no matter what the time stamp on this blog says (someday I will have to figure out how to fix that!)) and I have a few more things to do before bed.  First, an obligatory cute critter picture:

I have to include this photo of Kori proudly smiling from her first "bought it myself" car:

Nice choice... Mom and Dad approve!  And that is her Aunt Carolyn in the backseat for a ride!

 The cats, dog, goats, and chickens are all just fine... the chicks are growing very quickly, and there has been no more wandering for Forest.  ForestRanger did move house this weekend but I didn't get a picture... maybe next week.


And a view of the garden... things have changed a bit since the last photo from the roof of the summer coop.
 

Kevin never runs out of things to do.  One of the things he did today was cultivate the sunflowers and sweetcorn.

And, that's all I have for now.   Thanks for stopping by.  Until next time, be well.

goats and garden

Yesterday, one of us suggested that since we were at home to supervise them, maybe we should put ForestRanger (what I call the lads when referring to them collectively) out in the horse pasture, which is now unoccupied.  The other one of us pointed out that the fence there is far from goat proof.  They'll be busy, the first one assured the second, there is lots for them to eat out there.  So, a leash lesson for Forest (he did pretty well) and the two were moved for the day. 

Ranger was please and content with the arrangement

Forest soon decided to wander and ducked under the fence.  There were so many places a little goat could explore!

And then he found the equivelent of a goat playground!

And enjoyed himself thoroughly!

The does are giving us lots of milk these days.  We drink quite a bit, sell some, and there is a fair bit of yogurt and cheese making going on.  The pigs really enjoy the whey that is a byproduct of the cheese making. 

Boypig is a very enthusiastic napper

Out in the garden, with everything planted I am spending my hours hoeing and mulching.  Things look pretty good, although the peppers and basil are a little sad.  They got a top dressing of compost today and hopefully that will perk them up.

Schlepping leafmulch.  Like that old-time wheelbarrow?  Another family heirloom I think.

The roses are blooming in the corners of the garden.  So far no bugs, and I do enjoy the fragrance

The strawberries are almost ready!  Just in time for a visit from Kori later this week... pretty convenient timing!

The greenhouse is still providing my lettuce.  I ran across this visitor while picking my lunch today!

Kevin did a lot of tilling yesterday; potatoes and the pumpkin/squash patch.  Today there was a lot of dirt moving from one place to another with the help of Bob(cat).  It sure seemed like he was having an enjoyable time!  Kevin and Bob also helped me clean out part of the winter coop.  The young Austrolorps will be moving into that room in a day or two. 

So, that is the Ole Lake Farm update for this weekend.  Thanks for stopping by, and as always... Be Well.

What's new at Ole Lake Farm

Another weekend almost gone!  June 7 and I was still planting garden today!  I know things will catch up but it still makes me a little crazy to be so behind. 

While out in the garden yesterday, I was thinking about this post and I was going to call it Baby Birds because not only are there baby chicks in the Winter Coop but remember those beautiful blue eggs I found in a nest in my beloved, but very dead clematis?  Well, yesterday there were tiny baby birds in the nest.  I tried to do my gardening tasks in a non-threatening manner, but of course mamma and papa bird were quite alarmed. 

This morning the nest was askew and empty.  I'm pretty sure I know who the culprit was...

This suspicious character was seen lurking around the scene of the crime

Back to the winter coop, we have in residence 20 Australorp chicks.  I met up with the chicken purveyor in the parking lot of the Aitkin Dairy Queen Thursday evening... it seemed a little like a shady deal except it wasn't.  She was picking up turkey eggs from someone else in the area and it saved me a drive to Carlton.

So, I want to include a couple of pictures of our new pigs too.  We have one barrow and one gilt (that's one boy and one girl for you non-porcine folks).  They are a cross of Red Wattle and Duroc.  He has wattles, she does not, but she does have charming spots.  They have settled in nicely.

The boy pig... see that wattles?

And the girl pig

It's really fun to have pigs again! 

In the goat world, we have one unhappy little wether.  Forest is the only kid left and we moved him in with his dad Ranger last week.  He has been complaining loudly ever since.  Ranger, on the other hand, is much quieter and seems content with the arrangement. 

Thanks for stopping by the blog folks.  We have another thunderstorm closing in (Ah Ha, first mention of weather today!) so I had better get off the computer.  Be Well!