Devonviolet Acres

[frustratedearthmother]

Iwonder if the snake didn't know about her nest or if it went for the easier meal.

I think he hadn't made it over to that barn. They were in a different area altogether.

 

[Devonviolet]

Last Winter friends (from down the road about 5 miles) stopped by, for a visit. While we were chatting, I mentioned we were going to rent a rototiller, for the weekend, for about $120+, so we could finally get a garden in. They told us we could borrow their tiller, when we were ready to get started.

We have had a few false starts, with picking up the tiller. But, finally, yesterday morning, we hooked the trailer up and headed over to their house. By that time, it was already hot out, so we waited until this morning to put it to work.

It took a while to get the hang of that huge tiller. It was the biggest one I have ever used! But it was a WORKHORSE!!! I started at 5” depth, the 1st pass. For the 2nd pass I set it down to 7”. Don’t get me wrong, it was a lot of work - especially when I turned corners. I learned there was a knack to doing that. I think I had the whole 18x24’ area done in about 45 minutes.

So, here is the final product. I am SO excited at how well it turned out!!! To do the same thing with a digging fork would have taken at least a week, of BOTH of us digging, for hours on end!!!

We still have other areas, of the side yard, that we want tilled (like a separate area for squashes (Winter and Zucchini and pumpkins). But, that will have to wait for another day. We are supposed to get about 1-1/2 to 2” of rain in the next two days, so it’s all on hold for now.

After the animals were fed, we let Angelica and Calendula loose in the goat yard. We’ve done it before, for 10 minutes or so, to give everyone a chance to get comfortable with each other again. There was a lot of pushing, especially of the does against Calendula, who took it all in stride, and ran away. Today, Rosemary and Faith did a little pushing against Calendula, but quickly lost interest. YAY!

This morning, the pushing seemed a lot tamer, so I decided to leave them. However, Danny Boy, was a bit too interested in Angelica, so we put him in the pen, with the calf hut. Not that I thought he could get her pregnant, just that I didn’t want him to harass her.

There was quite a bit of challenging between Angelica and Faith, and occasionally Rosemary (rearing up, in the below pic). After a while, Rosemary lost interest. Faith and Angelica (on the left, in the pic below) kept it up for a while. However, before they lost interest, Angelica lost the cap to her horn bud, and Faith got blood on her head, but there wasn’t a lot of blood.

All things considered, the transition went well, and everyone is peacefully co-existing. Although, I must admit I’m not sure who won.

Here is everyone congregating around Danny Boy, who got his own treat of cut weeds. He was thrilled. After his snack, he went into the calf hut and laid down for a nap.

On my way into the house, I stopped to check the fig tree, for figs. DH had told me he saw baby figs yesterday. Last year we didn’t get one fig, and I was really disappointed. However, today I found LOTS of baby figs. I’m SOOOO excited! I LOVE figs!

Many years ago, when we lived in Lake Worth, TX, our next door neighbor had a fig tree that hung over our 4’ chainlink fence. I asked if I could pick some figs. She told me, that I could pick anything I could reach from my side of the fence. So, I got our six foot ladder and reached a LOT of figs. YUM!! I ate figs like crazy and made LOTS of fig jam. I am SO looking forward to those figs!!!

 

[Mike CHS]

I'm looking forward to watching that garden grow.

 

[Mini Horses]

She is fearless and fierce and I have a wound on my leg to prove it, lol. Love a mean-a$$ broody!

Don't try to pick up a chick... Arm cuts hurt!!


Oh-- I also love figs!!! Friend who started 3 bushes for me lets me have all of those on her huge bushes. They don't like them much and may only eat one or two from the tree when first ripening. Hey, she even picks them for me to keep the bugs down -- LOL --what a friend!!! Most of mine I dehydrate. Then, what's left, I make into preserves, etc. Seems they do better some years. Last year, little fruit, this year loaded. YUM. Mine won't produce for a couple years but hers are mine.

ALSO -- email from Mother Earth News has a lot about Kefir, kefir grains, etc. They say you can use the grains to begin cheeses as they have both types of bacteria used. Have you tried this? Some natural cheese maker guy...has a book. Pretty much all the starters bought are actually already available in the kefir grains for hard & soft cheeses. Plus butter, sour cream, etc. Guess it's a matter of knowing "how".

 

[Baymule]

That is some purdy dirt! I know you are excited to get that done. And FIGS! It can only get better from here!

 

[CntryBoy777]

I sure Love fig perserves.........

 

[Devonviolet]

email from Mother Earth News has a lot about Kefir, kefir grains, etc. They say you can use the grains to begin cheeses as they have both types of bacteria used. Have you tried this? Some natural cheese maker guy...has a book. Pretty much all the starters bought are actually already available in the kefir grains for hard & soft cheeses. Plus butter, sour cream, etc. Guess it's a matter of knowing "how".

No, I've never heard of that. Can you give me the link to that MEN article? I would love to check it out!!

 

[Bruce]

I sure Love fig perserves.........

Hint, hint

 

[Devonviolet]

 

[Baymule]

I learned how to make strawberry fig preserves from my Grandmother, using strawberry jello. Nobody ever guessed that it was figs and not strawberries