Cheese Press Pics

I Still haven't put up a post about my cheese making adventure with my Valley friend....

but here at least are some pictures of her homemade cheese press.....

She adds encyclopedias one by one....as she needs the weight.

Ending up with four encyclopedias.....at some point, when things slow down a bit, I'll get the cheese process pictures up. I think by this time I will need my friend to read over what I write, so she can make sure it is correct!

I took lots of notes, but that was at least a month ago, maybe even more!

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Rhubarb - Round Two

I'll tell ya....I am getting sick sick sick of dealing with Rhubarb!

Here's the first batch of Rhubarb Wine - now racked into a carboy.

We got this carboy (5 gallons) full, plus a 1 gallon jug, plus a 1 1/2 litre bottle.

Sigh....and here is Round 1 of Batch 2 of Rhubarb Wine....since there has to be enough water in the primary to completely cover the rhubarb, I ended up putting 6 gallons of water in there....

And....here is what is left of one of our three Rhubarb plants. It doesn't look like much now, does it?

If you want your plant to keep producing next year, it is important to leave some stalks behind!

Don't pick it clean...and don't forget to cut off the seed head as soon as you see it!!

Gardeners who do things in a timely consistent fashion would have given this bed a thorough weeding....THEN gone in and twisted off the rhubarb stalks, throwing the leaves down on the bed to use as a mulch.

Me? Not so consistent ha! Oh I threw them down as mulch all right, I just didn't get around to giving the bed a good weeding first!

On the bright side, I am now finished starting Rhubarb wine for the year...does that make sense?

And also, anyday now, my Tiger Lilies are going to start blooming....the buds are huge!

I Love Tiger Lilies!!!!

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AWESOME! Going to Bryan Adams!!!

Oh wow!!! I just got on Ticketmaster and scooped 2 tickets to see Bryan Adams!!! And the Beach Boys are opening for him!!!!

Sweet.....looks like we are going to the PNE. We Luv Luv Luv Bryan Adams, local Burnaby boy......which teenager in the late 70's and early 80's did not rock out to Bryan?????

And the Beach Boys? Ahhhh, memories of a certain basement dancing to these guys is coming into my mind....that was a few years ago, lol....more like the mid 70's! Sphere: Related Content

Making Pickled Eggs

I am getting overrun with eggs around here! My 12 new girls are doing a pretty darn good job of laying at least 10 days everyday. They are a little smaller, cuz they have just started laying. But soon they will be dropping nice big eggs and I can sell those.

I scrambled up a dozen and fed them to the meat birds. At first they didn't know what to do with them but soon enuf, one took a little peck and then the others start following along. Eggs are good for chickens!!

Yesterday I got 2 dozen eggs pickled up and put in the fridge. You can check out the recipe and process over here. Nothin beats a pickled egg, according to the Gman! Sphere: Related Content

Monsanto Wins Supreme Court Case: Genetically Modified Alfalfa Ban Lifted

Linda over at Lindercroft posted this today on her blog....it's worthy of posting over here too, as I have been following the company Monsanto for awhile now.

Originally found at Huffington, here's a link to the article.


WASHINGTON (AP)-- The Supreme Court on Monday lifted a nationwide ban on the planting of genetically engineered alfalfa seeds, despite claims they might harm the environment.

In a 7-1 vote Monday, the court reversed a federal appeals court ruling that had prohibited Monsanto Co. from selling alfalfa seeds because they are resistant to the popular weed killer Roundup.
The U.S. Agriculture Department must now decide whether to allow the genetically-modified seeds to be planted. It had earlier approved the seeds, but courts in California and Oregon said the USDA did not look hard enough at whether the seeds would eventually share their genes with other crops.
"This Supreme Court ruling is important for every American farmer, not just alfalfa growers," said David F. Snively, Monsanto's senior vice president and general counsel. "All growers can rely on the expertise of USDA, and trust that future challenges to biotech approvals must now be based on scientific facts, not speculation."
A federal judge in San Francisco had barred the planting of genetically engineered alfalfa nationwide until the government could adequately study the crop's potential impact on organic and conventional varieties.
St. Louis-based Monsanto argued that the ban was too broad and was based on the assumption that their products were harmful. Opponents of the use of genetically engineered seeds say they can contaminate conventional crops, but Monsanto says such cross-pollination is unlikely.
"We agree that the District Court's injunction against planting went too far," said Justice Samuel Alito, who wrote the majority opinion.

Justice John Paul Stevens was the only justice to dissent. "It was reasonable for the court to conclude that planting could not go forward until more complete study ... showed that the known problem of gene flow could in reality be prevented," he said.
Alfalfa, which is used for livestock feed and can be planted in spring or fall, is a major crop grown on about 22 million acres in the U.S., Monsanto said in court papers. Monsanto's alfalfa is made from genetic material from bacteria that makes the crop resistant to Roundup.
Justice Stephen Breyer took no part in the case because his brother, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco, issued the initial ruling against Monsanto.



The case is Monsanto v. Geerston Seed Farms, 09-475. Sphere: Related Content

Planet Whizbang Wheel Hoe

Have you ever seen this? This is Herrick's invention...The Deliberate Agrarian...these are the cat's meow!!!

How cool is this?

If you want more information, click on over here....order one of these to make weeding your garden a LOT more efficient!

I'll be putting up the pic and the link over on the right sidebar.....if you want to order one, please make sure you let Herrick know who referred you!

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It's The Farming Life for Me!

We are starting to have poppage on the left side of the garden. What a difference a couple days of heat makes!

One thing about gardening up North....I know you can't plant as early as folks farther South but....

when the veggies start growing, it's amazing how fast they shoot up!

Ha! Look at this guy...he has it all! Sitting on his porch, cold beer in hand, dirty jeans from working the soil.....using his Wolf as a footrest, gun in hand for pesky varmints....what more could a Country Guy ask for?

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The Garden is Popping!

First, one of the flower beds.....the tiger lilies are budding up nicely! Irises are in bloom...the goutweed is threatening an invasion as usual and the sedum is going to bloom yellow soon!

Our Highbush Cranberries are flowering this year, it will be their first time since we planted them 4 years ago! We're hoping for even just a few cranberries this season.

After we moved up here, we discovered there are Wild Cranberry bushes in the woods here...

The greens are coming along nicely...except the Arugala which is already going to flower! I pulled them all this morning.....and I'll be planting more lettuces tomorrow.

The spinach is Awesome! We're eating a lot of it...I LOVE it raw...cooked not so much.

Spinach salad - Yummy!!!

I HAVE to get out there and pull more rhubarb...and look at those raspberry bushes! Can't wait for the berries to ripen.....

We got a lot of work done this weekend, I think we spent pretty much the whole two days outside. Mowing, weeding, clean up....all that work helped me to feel more caught up with my "to do" list around here!

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Garden Pictures

Main Veggie Garden - still waiting for the veggies on the left hand side to really start popping...

Flowers now on the Strawberries!

Potatoes in the background, strawberries in front.....I have hilled 3 rows of taters so far....many more to go!

Garlic so healthy looking....scapes should be forming any day now!

The first tomato!!!

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My New Hair

Chatting with my friend from the Boston area this morning, I was mentioning how much my hair has changed. She wants to see pictures, so I thought I'd put them up on the blog....

Most of you know I was diagnosed with breast cancer last year. This coming Monday will be the one year anniversary.....what a lot has happened in these last 12 months!

But I'm still here and for that I am glad.....

So here's what the hair used to look like.....mostly blonde and straight. BTW, I don't colour my hair and never have.....my roots have always been dark, then my hair lightens as it gets longer....

And....now....

It's brown and has a LOT of waves in it!

I haven't curled it at all....all I did was brush it after having my shower.

It's OK, I don't mind it....but it is just so different looking! I laugh when I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror!

Apparently, this happens to a lot of people who lose their hair due to chemotherapy. I'm just glad I have hair again!

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An Outdoor Run for the Meat Birds

Soooooo....yesterday I was able to get started on the run for the meat birds, down at the barn. First I had to move a bunch of milled lumber we had stacked along the outside wall....trying to keep the wood out of the weather.

Got that all moved, then got the run as level as I could rake it. Then I spread out a bale of hay and started gathering T posts.

Gotta luv the Tposts! They make fencing pretty easy. I used 2inch chicken wire and threaded the posts thru the wire. Found the small sledgehammer to pound the posts in.

Then I moved the feeders and waterers outside in an attempt to entice the meat birds out into the fresh air....and you can see it worked! Those birds will Walk for Food, that is for sure.....

So, another major job on the To Do List that has now been crossed off....YEAH!!!!!! As long as the weather is good, the birds can go out during the day. We have two doors on that side of the room, for easy out and in's......

A tip: If you can, place your feeders and waterers close to the building. If it rains, they will be under the eaves so the feed doesn't get all wet and clumpy!

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Hanging Greens, Flowering Peppers and a Visitor

Here's one of my hanging Salad Baskets....the greens are doing very well in there! We'll keep these on the porch, which will make it handy when we want a salad with dinner.

The other day, I got all the feeders and waterers from the meat birds scrubbed out....here they are drying in the sun. Sunshine is a great disifectant!

The peppers are doing really well, they are all flowering and I have found one little pepper on there.

Every day for about the last week, this doe has been out in our pasture.

She's keeping busy eating willow!

And...this is how the skies look almost every afternoon. We've had thunderstorms with lightning this last week. I'm happy when I hear the rain start falling as the forests here Really Need it. We are already in fire season here....

The lightning we can do without!!!

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IMPORTANT HEALTH ADVICE FOR WOMEN - A Funny

Got this in a email from a fellow red wine drinking girlfriend.....

IMPORTANT HEALTH ADVICE FOR WOMEN







Do you have feelings of inadequacy?
Do you suffer from shyness?
Do you sometimes wish you were more assertive?


If you answered yes to any of these questions, ask your doctor or


pharmacist about Cabernet Sauvignon.


Cabernet Sauvignon is the safe, natural way to feel better and more


confident about yourself and your actions. It can help ease you out of


your shyness and let you tell the world that you're ready and willing to


do just about anything.
You will notice the benefits of Cabernet Sauvignon almost immediately and,


with a regimen of regular doses, you can overcome any obstacles that


prevent you from living the life you want to live. Shyness and


awkwardness will be a thing of the past and you will discover many talents


you never knew you had.
Stop hiding and start living.
Cabernet Sauvignon may not be right for everyone. Women who are pregnant


or nursing should not use it. However, women who wouldn't mind nursing or


becoming pregnant are encouraged to try it.
Side effects may include: dizziness, nausea, vomiting, incarceration,


loss of motor control, loss of clothing, loss of money, loss of


virginity, delusions of grandeur, table dancing, headache, Poker,


dehydration, dry mouth, and a desire to sing Karaoke and play all-night


rounds of Strip Truth Or Dare, and Naked Twister.


WARNINGS:


* The consumption of Cabernet Sauvignon may make you think you are


whispering when you are not.
* The consumption of Cabernet Sauvignon may cause you to tell your friends


over and over again that you love them.
*The consumption of Cabernet Sauvignon may cause you to think you can sing.
* The consumption of Cabernet Sauvignon may make you think you


can converse enthusiastically with members of the opposite sex without


spitting.


* The consumption of Cabernet Sauvignon may create the illusion that you


are tougher, smarter, faster and better looking than most people.


Please feel free to share this important information with as many women as


you feel may benefit!


Now just imagine what you could achieve with a good Shiraz..............


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Busy Weekend!

It was a very productive weekend here in the Valley! I'm tired...but glad so much got done....this time of year, it is so easy to feel overwhelmed with all the chores that need doing.

I was able to get one batch of Rhubarb Wine started....bop over here if you want the recipe and process. We're hoping this year's batch doesn't have quite as much "kick" to it...last year's was a little strong for our liking.

This time, I put in 10 pounds of sugar and there is probably 6 gallons of juice in the primary fermenter.

Uggghhhhh....the main Veggie Garden is FULL of weeds. I was finally able to get in there this weekend and get some weeding done. This is the Before pic...the After pic will just have to wait!

Horses in the neighbouring fields....it's so nice to watch them run!

Our manure piles are in the foreground...finished compost on the right hand side. I'll keep using this up as side and top dressing for the garden veggies.

Fresher pile on the left....you can see all the bedding from the meat bird brooder added to the pile. That stuff makes Excellent compost! It's simply wonderful!

And I mowed...and mowed....and mowed the lawn. Today I am hoping to get back in the Veggie Garden to keep weeding!

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Moved the Meat Birds

Yesterday, I managed to get the meat birds moved down to the barn. It took a few trips with them in one of those plastic totes to get them all down there. We don't like stressing our birds if we can help it, so I don't mind carrying them down instead of using the lil John Deere. I think the machinery noise would freak them out!

We've got 2 brooder lights and 3 large feeders down there, plus 2 large waterers....ample for every one of them to gather around.

You can see the homemade feeder that the Gman made.....if you want to know how he did it, come on over here....there is no point buying a feeder (up here they want $60 for the big ones!). Instead he made one for less than $10. Works great too!!

I've now got to get to work putting up the temporary fencing for their outdoor run!

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Ginger Snaps

Well, well, well.....things are steadily progressing in the friendship between da Wolf and Ginger....last nite I watched her playing with his tail! He's so patient with her!

(It wasn't until after I got the picture that I realized my camera shutter wasn't open all the way...hence those black lines around the photo.)

Yesterday afternoon, I managed to catch a picture of this!

Here's one specially for JP, who let me know she NEEDED more Ginger snaps!!!

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Question about Bedding for the Meat Birds

Mattias brought up a good question, which I neglected to mention in the original posts about the meat birds.

He asks:  Annie, do you keep adding wood chips after moving your birds to the shed, or do you muck out and replace wood chip bedding?

I figured I would do a post about the bedding...so here's what we do...

When the chicks are in the brooder, we use wood shavings. Now, I've read all about deep litter and how you can just stir the bedding and then add to it. For whatever reason, that never works for me. Within a couple of days the litter smells too much of ammonia, which cais NOT good for the chicks.

So everyday, I add a new layer of shavings on top of the old. Then, every few days (maybe twice a week) I take out all the bedding and start anew. To get the old bedding out, I just use a dustpan and scrape it along the bottom of the brooder. easy peasy.

We just use old paper feed bags, both for the fresh bedding from the sawmill, and also for the spent bedding being taken out of the brooder. Then the bags make their way down to the manure pile, where it gets added on....

Once we move the birds down to the meat bird room at the barn, we use hay spread out on the floor. You can use straw or hay, whatever you can get for cheap or free (cheap ol me.....)

Every day I add another layer of hay to keep the top of the bedding dry. Maybe twice during the last 5 weeks, we remove the old bedding. Because we have an outside run right off this room, we can kick the chicks out (not literally!) into the run.

That gives us time to lift off the old bedding and open up the double doors to let the room air out even more.

Pick a nice day to do it and the birds can stay outside the whole time....

Two other points:

Before we lay hay down, we go to the local gravel pit and get a load of sand (it is free for us, we just have to shovel it, no heavy machinery allowed!) By doing this, it makes is SOOOO much easier when it comes time to clean out the room. The hay lifts up and separates from the sand....

Second point...once the birds go down to the barn, we feed them inside for maybe a week. Then we move the feeding outdoors in the runs.

This has a couple of benefits...the first is that the birds get used to going outside. Fresh air and sunshine are as good for the birds as they are for you and I. Another benefit of course is that they do a pretty good amount of their pooping outside, which saves work on our behalf in the actual room.

If it starts raining fairly hard, we do have to go down there and let the birds back in to the room. We have found if we leave the doors open, the majority will just sit inside, when we want them outside. But you can't leave birds out in the pouring rain...well, you shouldn't!

Does this info help Mattias? Any more questions, please anyone.... just ask....

There's work involved in having meat birds! Don't think you can just order in meat birds and leave them to their own devices. Meat birds have been bred to gain weight FAST....they poop a LOT.

But I'll take those 8 weeks of work for the wonderful benefit of knowing exactly how my meat birds have been raised....and of course they taste delicious! Sphere: Related Content

Pastured Pigs

Last week, we got the pigs moved...all Gman did was turn their house around the other way so that the door opens into the back pasture. He uses his excavator for that job...that machine sure is handy!

He had already checked and repaired the electric fenceline from last year (which we left in place). Once he determined all was well, we dropped the wire around the Animal Garden where they had been staying...and playing.

So now, they have a LOT more room and of course a LOT of grass and willows to run around in. We're hoping again this year they will work on uprooting some of the willows, as the pigs did last year for us. Makes it easier to work on pasture rejuvenation!

The left fenceline....two strands of electric will keep the pigs in, because they were already trained to electric in the Animal Garden.  Even now, every once in a while, I hear an awful squeal...and then say to myself "Yup, the fence is working"

Now the pigs can chow down on pasture...this will save on the feed bill...always a good Thing! And I can get the Animal Garden planted!

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The Meat Birds are Growing!

Here's a pic I took this morning of the meat birds....they are almost 3 weeks old.

They are actually kinda ugly at this point...but you can see how many feathers are coming in!

 In a couple of days, they will be feathered out enough that I will bring them down to the meat bird room at the barn. They'll stay there for the rest of their time here.....

In the next 5 weeks, they will grow and grow and grow and grow.....the average weight when finished should be about 7 pounds, dressed!

Hard to believe now by looking at them isn't it?

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Tilling

The Gman got the small Barn Garden tilled the other day....lots of weeds in there!

I'll have to work double time to make sure I get the garden hoed on a regular basis!

Barn Garden all ready for planting. I then planted sugar beets, mangels, regular beets and a row of lettuce in the area where it is more shaded.

I also planted 6 mangels that we grew last year. Over Winter they sat in our cold room in a bunch of dirt. This year, we are hoping they will start to grow again and then they will set seed. We tried it last year but weren't successful.

Then he moved on to the Animal Garden! We got the pigs moved out onto the large pasture, and the Gman brought his machine in the garden to rough up the soil.

Using his forks to loosen the compacted soil.

The pigs have been in this area for about a month now,

part of the garden have been rooted up by the piggers, but other parts were quite compacted.

Now, he's rototilling this garden. After he is done, it is time for me to start planting. In this garden will be lots of potatoes, onions, beets, mangels, sugar beets and other veggies too.

Aside from the onions, most of this garden will be feed for the pigs.

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