Farm Blog

Dolly had her "What the heck are you humans thinking" look after a hard day's work cultivating onions in the rain. That red tool next to her has springy teeth to yank weeds out of the ground. Chiara nimbly handled the tool while I tried to steer Dolly right down the center of each onion row. Casualties were minimal. I rented 1 acre last year, and expanded to 3 acres this year. Last year I spread lime and trace minerals on the single acre. Can you see the boundary between

When someone gave us 4 teenage roosters, we turned the birds loose on the farm. That couldn't be a worse fate than becoming cat food, could it? A Cooper's Hawk got one the first day. Raccoons got two more a day later. We kept an eye out for the survivor. Someone called him Lucky, and the name stuck. He spent his days around the horse paddock. Then I heard a chirping in the night, the sounds of a dozing chicken. The chirping moved around. Lucky? He was perched on Dolly'

I never understood the term "eye candy." Until the crimson clover bloomed at the squash patch. Jenn and I spread handfuls of crimson clover seed last fall, hoping the plants would protect soil over the winter and add nutrients. But now I think the real reason to plant this crop is to feast my eyes on it. Now I have to mow it before it goes to seed. I feel a pang of sadness to remove such beauty from the world, but it was also my decision that brought it here in the first

When I go to milk the goats, sometimes one teat is emptier than the other. It's rarely the same side on the same goat. I'm suspicious. Especially because two years ago I was hanging out in the goat pen when I saw Freya stroll over to her sister Pumpkin and take a drink of milk from Pumpkin's udder. Is Freya drinking from other goats? Then I need to vote her off the island. Have the goats learned to drink their own milk? Then I need to invest in goat-resistant brassieres

The ponies tolerated my attempt at plowing the front yard. It was a big pull through tough sod in tight quarters. Chiara handled the plow while I steered, and no one's feet got run over by the plow and its sharp blades.