It has been 8 months, since Mr. Bootsie retired. He received the telephone call a few weeks past I had dreaded. I was not sure if he was called and asked to return to his old profession what his answer would be. Much to my surprise he said, no, when asked to return for a while. I had been very concerned, if the opportunity was offered, what he would do. I had often thought about how this could affect my feelings about being on the farm if he left me to handle it all again. It seems now I can left any of those thoughts leave my mind. I know he really enjoyed his job and was proud of what he did. I was not sure doing the routine of running our little farm would be the challenge he had experienced during his professional days and may not reward him like it does me. Maybe my city boy is becoming a country box at heart.
IN THE KITCHEN
I am trying to correct the bread shortage. I have baked garlic cottage bread, sourdough sub rolls and made sourdough English muffins. Of course, some have been eaten but a few have been put in the freezer. Pizza crust is starting to become a staple, with the fresh veggies from the garden add some different types of cheese and you have a quick meal. Dehydrator is going this week drying green onions.
ON THR FARM
It amazes me how different everything is starting to look, the clean up Mr. Bootsie is doing is really making a difference. We feel this needs to be done because of the number of critters we have around here. There is now an 8 to 12 foot border around the garden on the outside. I was working the in garden and looked up to see two poplar trees which are dying. More wood for the wood pile.
IN THE COOP
Tuesday, Mr. Bootsie found an egg in the brooder side of the coop. Aurora, one of the mother hens has laid an egg. Time to move her back to the big girl side of the coop. I found both of the mother hens setting together, side by side as if they were the best of friends. Only yesterday, grabbing their little ones and going in different directions as if they did not want the other momma chick near their babies.. It is so interesting to watch Mother Nature doing her job. We have put the two hatching together as there was only 1 day difference in their being hatched. The little ones are getting along, with no problems. I was very concerned about this as I have never put hatching together before.
IN THE GARDEN
I am having to remove a number of walking onions because they will be in the potato bed next spring. These will be put to good use in the kitchen. I am moving things around in the garden and making a few permanent beds. If I can establish some of the garden with permanent beds it will reduce the amount of work I have to do each season. It always looks good when I draw it out but often when going into the garden I see the sun is not going to cooperate the way I thought it would. The beds I am working on need some shade during the heat of the day. When clearing for the garden the old farmer who was bringing down trees had no idea what I was trying to do and all he wanted to was open up everything like a 40 acre field with sun coming in all day. I kept saying I need afternoon shade and he kept telling me I did not what I was talking about. Because he had the chain saw and big equipment he won that round and I am trying to correct the problem.
IN CLOSING
As I have been posting the corn crop was ruined by raccoons, we have caught more than our share in traps. I decided to clean the corn beds this week, I was cutting the corn stalks into manageable sizes as everyone was broken. Moving down the row, much to my surprise, I found one ear of dried corn. This amazed me. I do have an ear of corn for seeds for next years crop. I had to stop in the garden, and be very thankful that I have seeds from my crop and I know these seeds are good. Once again my greatest desire was taken care of. Do I thank the raccoons for leaving one? I really do not think they would have left one. No, there is always someone looking out for you and once again it is shown to me in a very simple way.
Another week is put to bed, we will be moving forward with other tasks. My friends, I enjoy sharing with you what has happened on the little farm. I hope many of you understand this is my record of activities where I look back to see how to improve on what we are doing. May this week be wonderful for all of you, and I look forward to seeing you again real soon.
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