Baymule
Herd Master
Glad ya'll are home, there's no place like home!
Teresa & Mike CHS - Our journal
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Mike CHS
Herd Master
I'm attaching a couple of just because pics of Maisy. They are 'just because' she is an awesome girl. This hot weather has her not eating as much as before so we are letting her eat what she wants.
We used today as a get everything caught up again day. I got the main garden beds weeded and harvested all of the ripe tomatoes. They got processed (actually still cooking) for tomato sauce and tomato paste. The sauce will get finished tomorrow when I set up the cook stove outside to keep the steam out there.
We cut up and are freezing three big trays of sweet peppers and will put them in vacuum bags tomorrow along with 4 quart bags of okra. Teresa spent quite a bit of time in the big freezer in the shed and brought everything left from last years veggies into the freezer on the porch. We need the room for the wether that is at the butchers now.
We used today as a get everything caught up again day. I got the main garden beds weeded and harvested all of the ripe tomatoes. They got processed (actually still cooking) for tomato sauce and tomato paste. The sauce will get finished tomorrow when I set up the cook stove outside to keep the steam out there.
We cut up and are freezing three big trays of sweet peppers and will put them in vacuum bags tomorrow along with 4 quart bags of okra. Teresa spent quite a bit of time in the big freezer in the shed and brought everything left from last years veggies into the freezer on the porch. We need the room for the wether that is at the butchers now.
Good chicken dog! 
So who's watching the sheep? 
So who's watching the sheep? - Thread starter
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Mike CHS
Herd Master
Good chicken dog!
I guess the hot wire is at that point.
We are looking for two more or possibly three more dogs and have gone to see some but no good fit at this point. She hasn't had a lot of time with the poultry but the main paddock that she watches goes around the poultry pen so in affect she has been guarding them for awhile. At first she lay down at the wire and just licked her lips dreaming about the taste but for the last couple of months she finds a spot where she can watch her sheep and the chickens as well as being able to see when her humans come out.
frustratedearthmother
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She has come so far! Good girl, Maisy!
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Mike CHS
Herd Master
She hasn't really come all that far since she was only doing what she thought was right but like to think that we have. It took us a long time to figure out that we had to see her doing something wrong to be able to let her know it was wrong. Now when we introduce something new we spend a lot (maybe excessive) time making sure she has an idea of what we want. She has always had the idea but we didn't see it.
Baymule
Herd Master
I have 10 gallon ziplock bags of tomatoes in the freezer that I need to process. Plus more on the table. I don't know if you do this, but as they start cooking, the water cooks out first. I keep pouring it off. I canned 10 quarts of sauce on my last cooking and I got almost 2 gallons of water. Sure beats standing over a hot stove, cooking all the water off to thicken the sauce. I also can some of the tomato water for cooking with, dry beans and such.
Maisy is such a blessing for your farm. You were so fortunate to find her. I am so glad that she is working out so well for ya'll.
Maisy is such a blessing for your farm. You were so fortunate to find her. I am so glad that she is working out so well for ya'll.
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Mike CHS
Herd Master
I do drain off much of the liquid but I always cook tomatoes before running them through the food mill for making sauce and paste and we let it cook down in crock pots. It's a lot faster than doing it by hand and this mornings batch was all turned into paste and rich, thick tomato soup.
We didn't process enough for a lot of paste since we only planted two of the Amish Paste Tomato plants. I wanted the seed as much as anything since I want to plant a bed with nothing but them in it next season.
I forgot to mention yesterday that we did our entire peach harvest yesterday - a grand total of 3 peaches. They tasted delicious but they are all that survived that freak late freeze earlier. We were really disappointed but we have talked to some commercial orchard folks and they lost a lot more value wise than we did.
I haven't posted much about the wild turkey baby that wound up back with us. The mama hen never did return and we had to bring it back and try our best to raise it so it can return to the wild if it wants to or can. It seems there are rescues for everything but not for wild turkeys or white tail deer. The DNR said release it as a chick or try to raise it but there was nothing they could do. So we finally felt we had to try to integrate it into our flock as it was cruel to keep it isolated. At first it didn't seem like it was going to work as the chickens immediately went for her. They soon gave up once they figured out they couldn't catch her since whenever they approached her she just flew to the other end of the pen (which is pretty good sized). The Bronze Turkeys seem to accept her and even seem protective so we are hoping for the best. She can easily fly out of the pen if she wants so it's her choice now where she goes.
We didn't process enough for a lot of paste since we only planted two of the Amish Paste Tomato plants. I wanted the seed as much as anything since I want to plant a bed with nothing but them in it next season.
I forgot to mention yesterday that we did our entire peach harvest yesterday - a grand total of 3 peaches. They tasted delicious but they are all that survived that freak late freeze earlier. We were really disappointed but we have talked to some commercial orchard folks and they lost a lot more value wise than we did.
I haven't posted much about the wild turkey baby that wound up back with us. The mama hen never did return and we had to bring it back and try our best to raise it so it can return to the wild if it wants to or can. It seems there are rescues for everything but not for wild turkeys or white tail deer. The DNR said release it as a chick or try to raise it but there was nothing they could do. So we finally felt we had to try to integrate it into our flock as it was cruel to keep it isolated. At first it didn't seem like it was going to work as the chickens immediately went for her. They soon gave up once they figured out they couldn't catch her since whenever they approached her she just flew to the other end of the pen (which is pretty good sized). The Bronze Turkeys seem to accept her and even seem protective so we are hoping for the best. She can easily fly out of the pen if she wants so it's her choice now where she goes.
CntryBoy777
Herd Master
I'd have to do the same thing....so, I think it will be a neat experience to see what happens.
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Mike CHS
Herd Master
We started picking Sugar Baby Watermelons and Cantaloupe today. The neighbors made out again since although we love those things you can only eat so many.
I was sitting here looking up the hill toward the neighbors house a few minutes ago and see there are 7 white tail deer - 5 does and 2 bucks there. They may not show well in the pic but I'll post it anyway.
I was sitting here looking up the hill toward the neighbors house a few minutes ago and see there are 7 white tail deer - 5 does and 2 bucks there. They may not show well in the pic but I'll post it anyway.
