Ben Wever Farm

Calving has begun

2011-04-16T11:39:00.000-07:00

As Big Daddy was leaving for Big D, little a, Double l ,little a, s (Dallas, TX) he mentioned I might want to keep an eye on his Highlands. He for got to mention that the Bonnie Lasses had been out with Pico a month ahead of the English Roses (Angus) and the new boy,Front Page, the Angus bull. Sure enough, before he even left Regina dropped her calf and the game was on. I don't make the best maternity nurse and I try to space out out the blessed events and May was reserved for calves -not April. April is lambs (see prior post- LOL) So we are having calves everyday it seems like.

And not to be outdone. It looks like the Angus first calf heifers and Front Page are ahead of expectations as well. We have angus calves being born as well. So far so good.

I had the nicest note from reader, Faith, about Lily. At the time I was writing her Obit, I couldn't bear to put a photo of her up. But I think it is important to see what beauty she was. This was her about 2 years ago with Peacefield Pico up in the old Apple Orchard. Her last calf was a Highland X Jersey and is very blond almost silver and a very quiet disposition. Pico's Daddy was silver. My other jersey's are Jasmine & Hyacinthe - I like flower names for the dairy girls - the beef cattle have numbers except Shaun' angus Twosday and his Highland, Regina (another old cow).

March In Like a Lion and Out Like a Lamb

2011-03-27T08:12:00.000-07:00

Yesterday at our 4H Ag Literacy Event, Tiffany asked when I would be shearing the sheep. Last year I did it the end of April because of a freak heat wave, of course this set the ewes into labor. I was expecting late May lambs and of course got late April lambs.

Early this morning Big Daddy asked when I was expecting the first lambs and of course my answer is Late April. I forgot to ask the ewes! So this frosty morning we have our first lamb on the ground from one of the French Girls. Late March - go figure. And its cold outside. No one seems to be bothered by it. Last night I was looking at Contessa the beautiful Shetland who was off by herself and not that interested in joining the feeding frenzy. I kept trying to look at her tail head but all she wanted was for her chest to be scratched and search me for treats. So I mistakenly thought," oh she will be the first to lamb". See I still have lots to learn in the "Shepherd" world.

But this is a farm and where there is joy there can be great sadness. Its that circle of Life. My very favorite and most ancient Jersey cow, Lily the house cow passed away quietly in the barn this morning. This was "my" first dairy cow and she amused me to no end. I set all Jersey standards of beauty and disposition by her. She was at least in her high teens and produced a calf every year without a fuss. And her milk supply never dried up. Other calves would steal a nip and tuck from her when their own mothers turned them away. I never chased the cows because I could call her and she would come very very slowly for her bucket of grain. The beef cows figured out that Lily got grain and they didn't and would run to barn to beat her to the bucket. But she was clever. By the time she made it up to the barn the other cows would be shut in and she could enjoy her grain in peace and quiet in the side yard. I think she had a good life most commercial dairy cows last about 4 years. So for now I will keep her cowbell in the house I already miss her.

Kept in the Dark and fed lots of. . . compost?

2011-02-17T17:35:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is supposed to 50 degree F and rainy (possibility). This translates into frisky ponies, wayward hogs, and honeybees on cleansing flights. Woo-hoo! I'll have to check the hives tomorrow morning to make sure they have unblocked entrances and leave sugar syrup out for all the girls to enjoy. However the weekend is supposed to go back down to 25.
I guess I always knew the day would come when I would have to say goodbye to the "Bourbon". Yes, the beloved Mom Mobile, the 94 Chevy Suburban. I've been thinking about for awhile (5 years) but I just can't seem to hang a For Sale sign on it. It was my kids' childhood car. Cross country trips, soccer games, brownie troop, lacrosse tournaments, horse shows, ultimate pet mobile. It is the only vehicle I ever bought new. (And you know they issued them to every mom in Portland, Texas, hell every town in Texas for that matter.) That Kiss & Ride line would of been a whole lot shorter if we were all driving Subarus)
Back to my story. . .When Quentin was 2 or 3 and he would have a meltdown usually in some very public place, he would scream for his favorite things his "Bourbon" and "Purple Crack". At the risk of looking like a degenerate parent, I would try to hustle him out as fast a possible because I was usually wild eyed myself when he got to that point. Listening to him wailing, "I want my Crack, I want my Bourbon" at the top of his lungs usually made an entire store become deathly silent. I had to explain on more than one occasion that all he wanted was to take a nap in the Suburban and have his favorite snack, Raisin Bran cereal. The cereal came in a purple box. His other favorite was "dip dip", Italian salad dressing. So it would sound like my baby wanted to dip tobacco, drink bourbon, and snort crack at 2 years old. Gee those were some fun days! Thankfully, Quent 's command of the English language has improved since then.
Fast forward. I have a parking lot of vehicles that need to move on. Tractors have new homes, cars are being traded around and now someone just stopped to see if I might want to sell the "Burb". Not being too helpful I said they were welcome to look at it if the wanted to dig it out from under 3 feet of snow because I wasn't about to. Dang, if the guy didn't come back today and dig it out and give me a deposit for it. Oh no. I can't come up with anymore excuses why I can't sell it. I know all the Cowboys in Reber are tired of listening to me say I want to sell it but just can't. I guess I can.
Mushroom spawn arrived yesterday. I looked at the tracking from my phone because I wasn't home when it arrived. Said it was left on the porch. Well it wasn't it was left by the road about 500 feet away from my porch sitting on a snow bank. I was a tinch annoyed. I'll have to start it down in the basement since it will be April before I can put it in the mushroom beds outside. I got some oyster mushroom spawn for the 4-H kids to practice with. We will grow those in recycled clementine boxes in coffee grinds and shredded paper and some other composted stuff. It is a fun indoor project for next week.

Tomorrow's just another birthday

2011-02-13T12:03:00.000-08:00

Well. there he is Cletus the boar. He enjoys digging himself a very deep nest under the hay and straw. He also enjoys dumping out his food and water. So I am not really certain how much he is eating but he is still growing and doesn't look ribby so I'll leave it at that.

We have lots of snow on the ground and we are still digging out from last week. Lots of barns have collasped in the area under the weight of it. A North Country "handy" item to have is a Snow Rake, that you use to pull the snow off the roof. When we first came up here and folks would mention a snow rake I thought it was like going on a snipe hunt. You know something you tell newbies to waste their time looking for and you get a good chuckle out of it.

But signs on spring are pressing onward. I had chicks delivered last Sunday, the day before we had another foot of snow. But they are as cute as can be and are doing just fine. I got an assortment of Buff Orpingtons, New Hamshires and Delawares, and the exotic freebie is a Polish Crested.

I placed my order for package bees and a few extra Carniolan Queens for spring arrival. I hope to requeen a few hives or make some splits. There were quite a few swarms last year so I thought I might try to use the pheromone and capture one or two o start Nucs. I've been reading the Honey Bee Democracy so I thought I might use some of this knowledge before I forget it. But if the spring weather is bad it won't matter anyway. Last year was an excellent bee year.

Noel on the Farm

2010-12-27T07:06:00.000-08:00

Now that everyone is of a "certain age", there doesn't seem to be a frenetic rush to compress every holiday must-do or must-have into the 24 hour period that we did when the kids were younger. We finally got smart and spread the calorie-dense, HUGE meals out over a few days.
Christmas Eve was spent at the in-laws who have a traditional oyster stew fest. We supplied venison chili and cornbread as a counterpoint. Yes, if you were wondering, the buck was farm harvested . Anyways, friends and neighbors stopped by before heading off to midnight services. The best part is most of these folks sing in their respective choirs so they all can carry a tune and the piano can set them off into Christmas carols at the tinkling of an ivory key.
Christmas sees Gillillands all over the world enjoy the same breakfast of Susie Eggs, which some child 100 years ago changed the name from Eggs a la Suisse. When I got married my grandmother-in-law Ginny handed me the recipe and shared the family story, and I've been preparing them for 30 years myself. Eggs, cream, gruyere cheese, bacon, breads and grapefruit - you can see why we are comatose once it's all been consumed. Our bodies are stunned by calories, and a nap is the required remedy.
Pacing ourselves, we finally get to the day-after-Christmas feast of the Massive Bounty of Free Range Turkey: forty pounds of whole turkey with all the trimmings. And there you have it! Now with that mission complete, we are into my favorite, leftovers mode. Yeah!
My mother, Pat, worries that the animals are having a rough time in the snow and cold. I assure her that the heat is tougher on them. The can all go in or out of shelter and they prefer to stand in the wind and snow. They all have access to plenty of hay and water that is kept ice free with de-icers. Ponies with a snow pack covering them means that there is a layer of insulation between them and the weather. If they didn't have it, they would be blanketed or kept in the barn.

first fire in the fireplace

2010-10-03T18:41:00.000-07:00

Here it is October and I am finally ready to put a match to the fireplace to warm things up around here. Last year I went down to Cobleskill and it was snowing so I guess I should be thankful it is just cold.
Chauntel was supposed to keep this blog updated but I think she found out there are way too many other things to get done on farm before you can sit on your butt and type in a few words. She is very thankful to be back at St. Lawrence. She did find out that she will be heading off to the UK in January for semester abroad, good for her.
Quentin returned for his 18 hours of summer. He flew back from Ft. Knox boot camp to return to Norwich University just in time to start studying. However it seems like the VT. Nat. Guard has always got him doing something on the weekends. They just finished FEMA training and a good thing because we had about 5 inches of rain. So much for my babies.
I have increased my sheep flock. Just yesterday I picked up a "starter flock" of registered purebred Katahdins. It has taken me over a year to purchase such a thing. They are hard to come by. My "practice sheep" are the darling Shetlands and then I added on the French Girls otherwise known Ile de France again not so easy to find. They are nice and friendly and love to be petted. These Katahdins are about 4 times the size and they seem a bit jumpy (as they were up, up & away when we were picking them up at their previous farm) The thought "Danger Will Robinson" did cross my mind especially when we were picking out a ram. The other farmer had a hotshot hanging on the wall (now there is an electrical note to self) Ben Wever has us zen-trained when dealing with animals so that was an eye opener to Shaun & I. The Lady said that she had had an unpleasant incident (this is North Country code for multiple broken bones or some such 9-1-1 event) and wasn't about to let that happen again. Uh huh! You can bet I won't be taking me eyes off the ram and he is small. Maybe I should of stuck with those tiny Shetlands.
Anyone have a suggestion for the ram lamb' name? His Daddy was Southern Gentleman from Louisiana. Maybe Reber Rhett?

Harvest Time

2010-09-15T18:55:00.001-07:00

Veggienauts and Cattlegenerians

2010-07-12T19:12:00.000-07:00

Tonight for date night Big Daddy & I rushed over to Wadhams to go visit Juniper Hill Farm. Amy Ivy from Cornell Coooperative Extension asked Adam and Melody to host an IPM class and field tour of what was growing in their garden. It is a beautiful farm that has been in Adam's family for generations and he has done his ancestors' proud. There were about 15 of us gathered there to "spy" on what the young organic farmers were up. Several local farms were represented, such Fledging Crow, Harvest Hill, Huestis Farm, and quite a few others. So everyone was in good company. Since we primarily raise meat proteins and we are a "tiny" bit older than the "sprouts" who are fast and furiously running their CSA farms we came up with the nicknames in the title. I think they are amazing farmers with they have accomplished in such a few short years with their hard work and determination.
Funny thing is during the warm months we rarely see another farmer unless its an emergency. And on this past Saturday we saw most of these folks up at Lake Clear for Adirondack Council's Conservationist of the Year award luncheon and ceremony. Adirondack Harvest received the Loon Award as conservationist of the year, so all of us farmers went to cheer Laurie Davis & Tom Both on. Of course, we probably would not of been there if the weather had been prime for haying!
And that brings us to Sunday evening's fun (ring, ring, ring 911). Shaun comes back in from watering cattle & swine and announces that #37 was calving. So we should go over and check on her in about 20 minutes. When we get there , it was uh oh, oh no time. The calf was coming out back legs first. Backwards and not progressing. So we need to catch her up to help her out. Now moving a cow with her calf's legs sticking out of her in hot, humid weather, uneven terrain, & with Big Daddy's mental telepathy on the fritz (I WAS NOT RECEIVING his instructions by brain wave, can you believe it?) does not equal fun. Alas a cranky #37 did not get that memo either and did not appreciate the help. I even tried using Jasmin & Lily as decoy cows. Mama to be #37 was onto to us and the fight was on.
Our Village Chieftain came over to save the day & assist with pulling chains (and possibly from Shaun & I killing each other with nasty glares). And of course, the cow at this point walked quietly to the barnyard and into the squeeze chute like that was where she was headed the whole time. After all the drama, I felt for sure that calf would be stillborn. But the gods were smiling upon us and the bull calf was born, but not looking to good. Lee picked that baby up shook him upside down and his poor lungs that had been filled with fluid came rushing out. The bull blinked and looked around for his mama -I'm sure he was hoping it wasn't Lee after that rough treatment that saved his life. Mom #37 mooed & got right to work, cleaning up and drying off her baby boy.

Swarm of Bees is July , Isn't worth a Fly

2010-07-02T10:58:00.000-07:00

Well it was happy morning for a young beekeeper in the Adirondacks. . .
After spending the week at Cornell University with over five hundred 4-H teens learning all kinds of new and exciting career opportunities. Yours Truly took the focus for Teens track of "Youth Grow" where we thought great thoughts about our Food System with Garden-based Learning. . . but that is another story. Lazarus, your boots are on their way to NYC as soon as our Postmistress returns from lunch.
Stay focused-back to the honeybees. My "mentee" (is that a word?) Caleb from Perennial Pursuits Farm called to report a problem with his bees. He said he was headed out to knock down a chunk of hay when he noticed a tornado like cloud of bees. Now he has been following my advice (the first person to do so) and his new hives are humming along as expected. But he insisted that this dark cloud of bees were hovering over his #1 hive. But the bees in his hive only seemed mildly agitated. Hmm.
By the time I got over Willsboro Mountain the bees had collected up about 10 ft off the ground in a maple sapling. The weather is gorgeous and everyone is excited to help even the Black Lab pup, Mavis. If we had written a text book chapter the capture of his new bees, this would of been it! Here is how we did it.
We laid out the white sheet (so we could find the Queen easily). I pulled the sapling over and Caleb knocked the bees onto the sheet. We put a super with frames over the bees. Then onto Queen Search, once the beautiful young queen was found she and her sisters marched happily in their new hive. Then the box was placed in its new location, a hive top feeder was filled and placed on top to welcome them and done. And Caleb's mom, Master Gardener Liz, captured it all on film. So I think the old adage may not be correct - if you are new at beekeeping it is a great experience.
Caleb & Liz laughed when I asked if they had reviewed the chapter on Swarms in Beekeeping for Dummies. I have several copies and each are tattered from use. And of all the beekeeping books I have, I use and loan them the most because it goes for the essence of a situation and you can get right down to business.

Rain is a good thing

2010-06-08T10:39:00.000-07:00

We should have one in Willsboro

2010-06-01T07:40:00.000-07:00

Kickin' it old school: local butchershops. Also, I like this super-simple recipe for grilled chicken. You've got the grill, we've got the chicken. And arugula, if I can find those seeds...

Oh, and the boys say hi.

Chauntel

Mysterious happenings

2010-05-31T08:49:00.000-07:00

Well, I thought I would post at least once a week, and I see that I'm a bit behind. But who isn't? Our garden is especially on the late end, we've just started planting. As of now, it would appear that we only grow tomatoes, peppers, tomatoes, eggplants, onions, and tomatoes. Did I mention tomatoes? So many tomatoes. I love the smell of tomato plants, but it's a bit overwhelming.

Some strange things have been happening on the farm lately. This past week we had a few calves, all of which were born healthy and happy. All pretty normal, lovely little black Angus calves. Except...

Yep. Did I mention we breed BLACK Angus? Or that his mama is entirely BLACK? That last summer we used a top-notch BLACK Angus bull? That there is no way this little boy could be anything but BLACK? I digress. But we have our theories. Perhaps a lonely wayward dairy bull might have wandered over without us noticing. Or maybe this is just one of those crazy one-in-a-gazillion genetic flukes. I mean, he's not even black and white. He's red and white. That's just insulting.

Then there's the raccoons. There have been no less than four raccoon encounters this week, and we know there are more prowling around. Is it raccoon mating season or something? Because they've been out full force and grabbing our chickens like we're a fast food drive-through. We're missing four turkeys and one little piglet. I'm not sure if raccoons are the most likely culprit, but the disappearances have happened smackdab in the middle of the raccoon invasion. Raccoons have always creeped me out a little bit, anyways. They look at like they're reading your mind, like they know all your secrets. And their hands - so slender yet tactile, kind of the way I imagine Professor Snape's hands in Harry Potter. They give me the shivers.

Chill out. I just made an HP reference, the world isn't ending. Yes, I am fully aware that I am a nerd, and an immature one at that.

Okay, anyways - here's the weirdest thing to top it off. After a fitful night of raccoon chasing, I woke up at 4 am to the smell of woodsmoke, like from a campfire. Of course, my first thought was that the barn was on fire. So, naturally, my first action was to reach over, grab my phone, text my dad (who was downstairs) "hey dad, it smells like smoke up here", and then roll over and go back to sleep. I don't think I'm much of a candidate for firefighting.

I got up at again at five to go riding and it still smelled like smoke, and there was a thick, smoky haze covering the sunrise. And the horses were a little on the nervous side, snorting and looking around like something was going to pop out at them. When I got back to the house for breakfast I found out that all this haze is smoke, blown down from forest fires in Quebec. The horses must have thought it was headed straight towards us. And the other animals are ansty as well.
The cows are restless, and the bees are piling up and honey in defense mode. When we work with beehives, we actually use smoke to make them cluster in the hive for easier transport and handling, because they start "packing up" in case a forest fire were to reach the hive. So today is a perfect day to work bees - they're already settled! The downside is they might think the forest fire really is on its way, in which case they'll pack up and then move out. But the wind is blowing the smoke away, so hopefully we don't need to worry. I took the above photo of Mom in the beehives this morning. All that haze is smoke. Insane.

'Til next time, lovies.
Chauntel

P.S. We just slaughtered a batch of chickens this weekend. Pick 'em up at the farmstand - they go fast! ...and save one for me. I'm thinking some fresh fennel chicken...yummy.

College is a two-semester vacation

2010-05-18T12:02:00.000-07:00

Hi, everyone. For those of you who don't know, I am the full-time farmhand for the summer. When this was initially dreamed up, my first thought was this is great - I can make my own hours.

Oh, silly, naive little me.

I'd totally make my own hours if I had any. They're all consumed by precariously pregnant cows, the bottomless appetites of piglets and meat chickens, and, of course, the cannibalistic batch of turkey chicks. And my garden! It's not even planted and I already weed like I'm committing mass herbicide. I get up at six (read: I attempt to arise at six, and fail miserably) and don't hit the sack until around eleven. I try to go to bed around 9:30, but my parents are full-on partiers and sucker me into watching The Closer. To top that off, my dog wakes me up around 4 or 5 times to go out, and the turkey chicks I managed to rescue are in my bathroom and peep rather loudly and consistently thorughout the night.

Fortunately enough, I love it, so I'll happily suffer. As for farm updates...it's calving season, but there seems to be a lull in the "they're popping left and right!" hysteria. There are a gazillion chicks in the nursery wing of the barn. Well, not a gazillion. But fairly close. I can't wait until they feather out and can go outside. There are piglets in the barn too, and they need to be out enjoying the fresh grass and sunshine. I just have to find them a shady spot because they're mostly pink skinned, and I, of all people, can thoroughly appreciate shelter from the sun.

I'll be putting out flyers fairly soon. Also, please come by the farmstand and pick up some eggs. I think I wash and pack a gazillion eggs a day. Well, not a gazillion. But fairly close.

Chauntel

Weeding strawberries requires donning a suitably intense facial expression, so that persistent non-strawberry species may be frightened away from your zealously guarded raised beds.

This time of year, everyone's a spring chicken

2010-05-05T10:07:00.001-07:00

Pedro posing for the camera. In just a few weeks, the grass popped green with grass - it must have been that very last snowfall.

Some brand new Jumbo Cornish cross chicks. They grow very quickly, and will be ready to slaughter at about 6-10 weeks of age. Our chickens go fast, so stop by the farmstand and get 'em while you can!

Fast growing mallard ducklings - they fill the barnyard & ponds with what we like to call a "joyful noise"!

Newton, Veronica, Contessa, and their lambs Violette and Cecelia.

Ma mère magnifique and a very vivacious Violette!

Chauntel + Linda

A mini-album for everyone

2010-05-01T12:56:00.000-07:00

These are pictures Quint and I took last summer of the back forty. They give some hope that summer will be here...eventually. It did, after all, snow two inches on Tuesday.

Oh, and one more thing - Mom sent this picture to my e-mail, it looks like one of the first calves of the year? I'm not sure. She can fill you in. All I can say is that it looks like either the fuzzy one is a hefty baby or Dad wasn't expecting his picture being taken.

Enjoy!
Chauntel

Agricurious, Starmers, and other trendy Farm terms February 2010

2010-02-27T09:13:00.000-08:00

Thanks! Again Jackie in Wisconsin brought to my attention that December is the last time we posted. Lots going on here that is for sure. I turned 50 on Valentine's Day and it wasn't painful. Chauntel came home from St.Lawrence University and helped Big Daddy with all the preparations. Quentin was unable to attend the festivities here in the Adirondacks but he did manage celebrate Chinese New Year (Tiger) with his Chinese Club at Norwich University.
To get me out of the way, I attended a small animal clinic on poultry and rabbits with a group of 4-H members. When I came home I was suspicious because my farm work clothes were hung up and Big Daddy wanted to take me out for a "drink" when I was in the middle of my chores. Now if you know me, going out for a "drink" would not be on my top gazillion things to do especially when I was in the middle of a farm stomp.
Getting back to the poultry thing, I learned some pretty neat stuff at the clinic especially about Russian Ortloff bantams. I actually connected with someone who wanted to go in and buy Call Ducklings. Call Ducks are minature but quite vocal. I have heard that ducks hunters bred them to be small enough to be put in their pocket and noisy enough to call wild ducks to a pond. They are difficult to come by. These little birds go in the pet/show category as I officially become a "poultry fancier"
Lily and Jasmine the Jerseys are due to freshen in March. They will have Half Scottish Highland calves. Shaun talked me into this. I wanted to AI with a Jersey sire but Pico looked lonely in the Bull Run and so. . . anyway with us being Empty Nesters, 2 family milk cows are 1 too many. Jasmine will be "farmed" out to a farm family down the road to be spoiled. I will keep old Lil here and use my new EZ Milker on her. I think the EZ milkers are dreadfully expensive but I am willing to skip the hand milking and definitely don't want the maintenance of machine milking. I will keep you posted on my product review. I've heard folks either love them or hate them. I would like to use it on the sheep herd of 3 as well just in case.
The chickens and ducks are laying like crazy again. Ponies are fatter than they were 2 months ago except for Palma who always remain Throughbred Thin (runway models of the horse world). Spring is just around the corner.
I recently attempted a roundup of farm cats & dogs to bring to the vets for shots. I thought I was up for the challenge. But someone forgot to give the farm cats the memo and they had other ideas. Dogs enjoyed the whole idea of an outing except Rueben the Cattle Dog. I'm afraid he is an agoraphobic. He hates to leave the farm. But the cats did not enjoy the event so much. . . So if you can imagine the Great Kitty Cat Round Up of 2010. I can tell you herding cats is an exercise in futility. I still have 4 that have to be wrangled.
For the Agricurious, I dread every fall when summer people throw their pet cats out at the farm thinking the cats will love it before the people go back to the city. I can tell you pet cats last about 48 hours before being hit by a car or eaten or beaten up by the half feral cat colony. Its cruel. The cats that tend to survive are "wild" with skills. Hence the cat herding fun I recently enjoyed.

Hola muchachos

2009-12-28T17:09:00.000-08:00

Chauntel, back again. Let's see - it's December in the North Country, prime season for the natives. This week the locals were able to peddle around in our shorts and tee-shirts, blow up a bridge, AND got thick powder snow, which, as you know, is the best kind of snow. Unless you're on snowshoes. Or cross-country skis. But that's besides the point.

Christmas was pretty fantastic. My friends dropped me texts about the sweet iPods and snowboarding paraphenalia and pearl necklaces their parents gave them. What did I get for Christmas? The 1,022-page tome Lameness: Recognizing and Treating the Horse's Most Common Ailment from Daddy (to add to my already voluminous collection of equine science manuals) and a semi-automatic rifle from Domina (to start my own personal arsenal of freedom). The sad thing is that I was actually overjoyed and delighted to recieve such presents. You can take the girl out of the North Country...you can finish that sentence, it's a little painful for me.

The cattle are missing their grass, but dutifully eat everything put in front of them. Twosday is cold and grumpy and lets me know it whenever I'm around. It's funny how much the cows love Dad. They love him more in the summer when they know it's about time to be rotated into the next pasture, but they're still pretty excited to see his tractor rolling down the hill with a big fat round bale on the back. Dad also has a trio of bulls on the hill - Pico, his black Highland son, and a robust red Angus. Whenever I'm riding my horse Isidor around them, he gets all snorty and tries to challenge them while I'm reining him back and praying the bulls won't take up the offer and charge (Isidor's a little guy, and Pico and son are horned). But they always just stand there, chew their cud, and give me a look like "Hey, lady, your donkey there is an idiot". Thanks, guys. So much for the "noble steed".

Chickens are cold and are holding back on the eggs. I'm sure we'll be back in full swing soon enough. Our three Shetland sheep - Newton, Veronica and Contessa - refuse to learn how to be pets like I was hoping. I just can't wait 'til we can shear them and I somehow find time to learn how to knit. They're due to have lambs, as well.

Hm. That's about all. Mom can give you the full scoop later. Paix!

Chauntel

Veteran's Day

2009-11-11T05:06:00.000-08:00

We plan on taking this day to give thanks to our friends and neighbors who served their Country. We are blessed to know quite a few unsung heroes. We will celebrate the service and sacrifice of our veterans the Willsboro Methodist Church. This is a small town affair at its finest.
Shaun is in the process of weaning this year's calf crop. We try to plan this "event" when his Mom & Dad leave the farm for a few days. If you have never experienced this drama fest - try not to!
Here's how it goes. We wave bye-bye to Tommy & Cory, as they head on down to New York City. Then Shaun calls the mamas and their babies to the barn yard. The mamas are turned back out to pasture. And the calves remain in the barnyard. Presto, job done!
But wait there's more. After a couple of hours the calves realize that the cows are not coming back to them. And the cacophony begins. The noise they make is incredible and deafening. Of course they can be heard for literally miles.
Frantic and sleep deprived Neighbors call here at the farm and at the 4-H office. They are concerned that we have "gone on vacation" (huh! what's that!) or that we forgot to milk the cows (they are beef -we don't milk) or coyotes, wolves, or panthers are killing the cows. As a side note: Everyone here still remembers the Ice Storm 10 years ago when dairy farmers couldn't get to their cows to milk and it was a horrible disaster. Do you see everyone with in 5 miles is affected but its the in laws we worry about. They like a pastoral farm not the true nitty gritty farm.
Back to the story - Moms and babies can see each other but the babies can't nurse. This isn't such a big issue for the moms because at this point the babies can physically lift their moms off their feet when they try to suckle. Some cows are already dried off (no more milk) and their babies go to another cow to nurse. Its amazing to see three 600 pound calves fixed to some poor cow's udders. As you can imagine this is stressful for the few cows that have milk.
When the calves are born they weigh about 85 pounds but by fall they weigh between 400-800 pounds. The moms have bred back so they need their calorie intake to fatten themselves for the winter and provide nourishment for next Spring's baby. So the crying goes on for 3 days and then stops like someone turned a switch.
We have one baby left to wean. This is going to be the hardest for the dad. Yes, I have talked Shaun into letting His Baby join the other calves and learn to be a cow. "Twosday" have been in my front yard to greet all visitors since she was born. But it is time. This her opportunity to learn with the other youngsters and form bonds. There may be crying and not from Twosday.

October...Already!!

2009-10-11T16:23:00.000-07:00

Tonight we will likely have a hard frost. Definitely the signal to shift out of Summer mode. Need to put up all the hay equipment, figure out the best strategy to graze off the remaining pastures and extend the grazing season, send steers to the Vermont Beef Producers sale (this weekend), get ready to provide our customers with delicious free range turkeys, butcher off a couple of hogs, and post the land against the hunters that don't bother to ask.
We are experiencing the empty nest farm this Fall. Chauntel comes home now and again to give riding lessons to her students. Quentin rarely gets out off campus from Norwich. Actually Linda and I are enjoying the new "nest" farm..... seems easier now. At least when a gate or door is left open we know who did it.

2009-10-11T10:15:00.000-07:00

Porcine Plowboy: this hog and others like him are used around the farm to uncover metal or sharp objects that cattle may ingest or our horses decide to injure themselves on. The pigs will clear the areas that all others fear to tread, including farmers due to poison ivy, nettles, burdocks, et al.

September 2009 Hay there

2009-09-03T18:58:00.000-07:00

Well, after an extremely wet and cool summer. The weather is providing some great hay weather. Of course the hay crew is whittled down to 2 or 4 depending how useful I am. The kids have "R- u- n -n- o -f -t" run off to college.

Thank the good Lord for Tommy & Tommy. They came over to help Shaun take down a huge chunk and knock the hay out over the labor Day weekend. We feel much more comfortable going into winter now. And thanks to Wayne for coming on over with the splitter and taking care of the fallen oak tree. Ben thought he would split it and stack it by hand. At 85, he's tough but come on now!

Now that was some excitement. A great big ole tree came down and pulled out the power to "my" barn". The chicks and the ducklings are in the house because no electricity equals no heat lamps . The chicks are extremely noisy. Its a wonder anyone comes through the front door.

The horses and ponies are back from their summer of work. We miss them when they are gone. But they seem to be very quiet. I don't think their heads have come up from the grass yet. We got a few more ponies - very small ponies than I was expecting. I may have to lower fences.

We have sold just about all the piglets. Two more leave next week - we will switch out 2 piglets for 2 college students. Its amazing what you can fit in a Subaru. Now if we can just fix a new tedder to the back of it.

Next week is Adirondack Harvest Farm Tours on Saturday the 12th. I think there will be riding lessons going on, the farrier will be here, and a guy is coming to set traps for raccoons. He has been tasked to catch, sedate, blood test, and (oh Joy) release them where he caught them. I guess the Rabies Bait Drop just ended just a tiny bit farther North. And the DEC/ Public Health/some agency is trying to track sick raccoons. Anyway I haven't even thought about planning a "fun" farm activity.

My garden tanked so I have just put up a few pickles. I have made a ton of jelly & jams. The farm fruits did great! I think Shaun joined http://www.eatwild.com/ and it looks like we are the farm this far north in directory.

Well, gotta make hay while the sun shines and butcher off a few chickens.

Summer 2009

2009-07-14T19:10:00.000-07:00

So its July already. We had a farm visitor from Alaska who mentioned this blog and said I hadn't updated it since April. By golly, he was right. No one ever comments so its exciting to note that we have actual blog-stalkers out there that are reading this. I just feel bad, he had to travel all this way to tell me things were getting stale!

It has been so cool here that it is very hard to believe that summer is half way over - it doesn't even feel as if it started. We had a very busy calving season. It was a big heifer year, last year mostly bulls.

We did end up with a set of Angus heifer twins in June. The mama tried very hard to get her second baby up and going but it just wouldn't. Late in the afternoon, I carried her 85 lb. body from the field (popping over the electric wire was a little dicey), and the Garvey farm provided colostrum. She is big and strong and living by the house. She has attached herself to "Baby Girl". Her name is Twosday - get it second twin born on Tuesday. I guess she will be the "ambassador bovine" for the farm. Chauntel wants her to wear a bell like our milk cows.

Just when I was feeling smug. . . We are having predator problems. They were doing "the great circle of life" across the river but the coyotes are now pulling down poultry at 10 am in plain sight of people without a care. The foxes have been a tinch more subtle. The raccoons and skunks are just out at night. This can add up to serious losses in short order. So far this year, our cattle are safe but area farmers have not been so lucky.

On another farm the coyotes are pulling down cows (this is usually a gruesome discovery - when it has happened to us it was a few bits and pieces & a leg left) just a few miles down river from us. Trying to be neighborly, they informed the local folk on their plans to curb the predator problem. This has just turned into a public relations nightmare for the farmers. They have received lots of unasked for expert advice from everyone (stakeholders to bystander). These local experts are not burying what remains of their dead the livestock nor are they willing to make up for the loss of income these hardworking farmers have to suffer. I think all these helpful folks need to walk in the farmers boots.

We did have piglets born last week out in the pasture. This was after a thunderstorm - as soon as the barometric pressure dropped, it occurred to me to check her condition. Sure enough they were being delivered. Very cute. Mama Grettle is quite protective. If a wild thing looking for dinner, got near her babies - put your money on the hog!

My small patch of strawberries look nice even though I planted them late. The Extension Ladies were planting a variety call Seascape and I swore I wasn't going to plant any this year but I got caught up in the frenzy and there you have it.

My other vegetables are there. . . nothing to write about. Too cool, too wet, etc. I only planted some raised beds with basics. The weather has been great for peas, greens, and what not. Farmers Almanac said warm fall is predicted so I'm counting on it.

I've decided to concentrate on being the Protein Queen, you know beef, pork, chicken, eggs, honey and leave those vine ripened tomatoes and sweet corn to others who do such a fantastic job.

I have started the jam season. The first batch was currant followed by mulberry. Neighbor Mary picked and juiced the berries for me and braved the bears that are lingering about. Not to worry she had her guard dog, Lily, a West Highland White Terrier with her to serve and protect. The dog is a fashionista, lots of Rhinestones. I do believe she would blind a bear by her dazzle.

Calving Season has begun

2009-04-07T14:27:00.000-07:00

With Easter only 4 days away - winter does not want to let go of its grip. Yes, we have a spitting snowstorm going on and 37 degree weather. I did see some rhubarb poking its way out of the ground before the snow covered it.
Chauntel was right about the straight run chicks. I think when I ordered them in November I was tossing around the idea of "cornish game hens". Now that the mistake has been made I am committed to it. You know - lemonade from lemons. Contrary to what you might think, these small chickens you purchase at the grocery are not cornish, game, or hens. It seems that the USDA description is any sex chicken harvested at 6 weeks of age that weigh under 2 pounds, so there goes all those young roosters.
Also it seems that I have decided to do an embryology/ incubation project for 4-H, several of the clubs and schools are joining in this crazy fun. And since I certainly don't need anymore chickens, we will try cortunix quail. I'll keep you posted on that venture. We are going to get the eggs from Cornell's poultry farm. I understand that this is the last year they will supply the eggs- due to program cut back.
Besides the little king Carlos, Yellow number 8 Angus had a heifer a couple of days ago. Mom and calf are doing well. It looks like #17 will go next. Our official start is April 9th for calving season but we forgot to tell the cows that important information. We have our yearlings separated and last weekend , we made the hard decision of who was staying and who was going to a new home.
All the Charolais are going except for the last steer. A neighboring beef rancher is "beefing" up his herd. I think a group of 10 angus are being brought to Vermont Beeef Producers sale on May 2nd. We try to attend or participate in at least one sale/ event across the lake each year. Our New York beef Producers have their functions to far south or west for us to travel. Of course, we do a lot of cattle trading with the Essex County Cattlemen's Club. This is an informal group at best and is very fluid in its membership (beer drinkers, I think).
I did find out some very exciting news. Chauntel will be in a book titled "Young Americans". Young Adirondack agriculturalists 18-21 years old are featured in photos by Ben Stechschulte that is to be released May 15, I imagine the book is something like those "A Day in the Life. . ." of Hawaii is an example. This book is filled with different segments of the youth of the U.S. from coast to coast like the future business or political leaders, sports, native fishermen, etc. I know the photos will spectacular! Ben spent several days on farm getting a feel for the crazy and hectic lifestyle we all lead up here.
Well I have a few more critters to check and feed before I wrap it up for the evening. I was waiting for Quentin to get home from school. I know it must be fairly slick and slippery on the mountain. He has his one foot out the door anticipating graduation from high school. We visited his college of choice on Saturday -Norwich University in Northfield, Vermont. It was snowing there, too and their daffodils were blooming! One of the parents shared that their son left for school weighing 210 pounds and when he came home at Thanksgiving he weighed 170. Our Q is a mean lean fighting machine and he has absolutely no extra weight to discard. So I am imagining a skeleton. I think it will be a good fit. The class sizes are small so I don't think he will get lost in the crowd and the soldier students certainly seem to be kept busy.

Chauntel's on spring break...watch your backs.

2009-03-16T14:35:00.001-07:00

Here is our first calf of the season, King Juan Carlos! (As you can tell, I named him.) His mama is Orange 4, who tends to have calves unusually early. She's also quite gentle - even with Reuben, our Aussie Cattledog, snapping at her heels and me practically crawling over King Juan Carlos, she was willing to flash her ginger locks and stately horns for the camera.

I'm home for my spring break, and the weather's really gone to my head so far. Dad and I went up on the hill and cut cedars for fence posts, which hopefully will materialize into my riding ring/holding pen for horses and cattle. Hold up - what I mean by "Dad and I" is "Dad cut the posts and loaded them into the truck while Jack and I wandered through the woods and took rather breathtaking photographs". And of course by "Jack and I" I mean "I" took pictures, which you can judge for yourself as to their breathtaking qualities.

Okay, okay. I'm nearly done with my blabbering. The horses and cows are pretty happy under the warm sun, and they've been busying themselves with catching up on some Z's. So far I've been working on cleaning up the horses after the long hard winter. I've worked on shedding out their coats, trimming their manes, applying hoof oil...only for them to turn around and roll in the mud.

We'v even got chicks! Except that Mom made a grave error in accidentally ordering straight-run chicks. That means it's 50-50 male-female, pulled straight from the hatchings and not sexed. So we have a hundred chicks, right? Probability means fifty roosters. You heard me. Fifty roosters. At least for now they're all just really cute.

So, in short, I've got a long and yet far too short week ahead. It's been a smidgen harder getting up than I expected, since now I'm expected to rise with the sun (fail) and my sleeping habits have become lax at school. (oh, look, it's 10 in the morning. I don't have class for another hour. Sleep? Win.) Tommorrow I'm giving baths, so the horses have yet another excuse to roll in the mud. And maybe, for the first time in a few months, I'll get to ride my own horses!

Chauntel

Spring Forward Sunday

2009-03-08T11:17:00.000-07:00

Again I was reminded about this blog-o-roo. Well, it certainly seems like spring outside. Sunny, warm, 50 degrees. Horses are running about in the mud, cows are lounging in the sunshine, the chickens and ducks are like Visa cards- they are every where they wanna be ( and every where I don't)!
Checked the honey bees, everything seems good to go. Moved around some hives and put some stored honey to start with the spring build up. I am trying to scale back to 10 hives. I only ordered 2 replacement packages of bees with an Italian Queen because I thought I would try my hand at Nucs. I ordered to Carniolian Queens for those. Something different this year.
I'll do a hiving demonstration for the Essex County 4-H the end of April. And I think we will make beeswax lip balm as well, something for the kids to go home with. So it should be a fun afternoon. I have an ancient beekeeper's suit that I think would be fun to stuff with straw for a scarecrow. We will see how the time goes and how many families show up. I try to do a bee/honey craft, eat an early picnic supper at the pond or river and then hive the bees at sunset.
Jasmine the Jersey is due to freshen around the 24th of March. She is a "first calf" heifer and she is just perking along in the barn being pampered. She just like to be brushed and watch the commotion outside.
My old milk cow, Lily, is out with beef crowd. She has Shaun well trained when the other cows go to the hay feedings in the field- Lily slowly moves at a turtle's pace off in the opposite direction -to the barn. Where Shaun meets her with her special grain and her own hay and sometimes she lets a heifer or 2 join her. She moves very slowly so as not to attract attention of the big bossy beef cows. She is ancient for a Jersey milk cow, we figure she is somewhere around 18-20 years old. She comes when called, leads on a rope, freshens every year and will nurse any calf on her 3 quarters.
I have the first order of chicks arriving this week. I ordered 75 for the first go round. I ordered black stars, red stars, and ameracaunas. You can't beat those sex link hens for eggs. Leghorns are supposed to be the heaviest layers but they are just pains. They are not friendly, they try to never lay in a nest box, so its always a game of egg hide and seek. Its that old 80%-20% rule. I waste most of my time of birds that I don't like. I thought the white eggs would be nice to have with the brown, blue. and green. Next chicks to arrive will be meat birds.
Ducks are doing just great of course. These easy going creatures just want to make a joyful noise all day long. Pardon Me, the blue slate turkey, is still looking for a turkey friend. We have a huge wild flock that passes through but she doesn't seem interested in joining them.
The horse are just full of themselves. We almost had Solara put down. One morning she was in the field and couldn't walk. She was a 3 legged horse. It turned out to be a strep infection. The was going to require a hospital stay, surgery, trailer ride several hours away to get her there, etc. And of course no guarantee on the recovery.
Long Story short but we had her joint fluid removed, pumped her full of "fluid gold" antibiotic, prayed, repeated it , and prayed some more. Well, with the outcome not looking good, we brought Baby Girl home from college to say "goodbye" to the equine Barbie doll. Maybe Solara just missed Baby Girl but she perked up and has recovered. So it was good news at the farm.

Requiem

2008-11-22T07:11:00.000-08:00

This is a tribute to those loving, intelligent, and unfortunately only semi-flightless birds you eat every Thanksgiving.

They're delicious. And seriously, they spent their days gleefully terrorizing my mother's garden (see Exhibit A), so enjoy! There are so many other turkeys out there that never had so much fun.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Chauntel

(having temporarily commandeered her parents' blog, of which she is very proud of them for being so technologically advanced)

Thanksgiving- a time and a season

2008-11-22T05:45:00.000-08:00

I completely forgot about this blog! Until a neighbor mentioned it to me. What a hoot! We had our summer chores cutting hay in September and October. The outlook seemed so gloomy but then the sun came out . . . and all ended up good.
Tomorrow we finish up the final batch of turkeys. Always sad to see them go. In my limited experience turkeys are one of the nicest birds. But by the this time, they can eat their own body weight in feed everyday and ours are farm roaming! They come looking for you if you are late feeding.
The pastured pork have gone to their buyers. That is another chore off the list for the winter months. We did keep 2 heritage breeds and may breed them for spring piglets. We usually buy spring piglets to raise. Shaun would like to try raise his own pigs, he leaves books all over so I'll get the hint and get on board. Commercial bred hogs grow so much faster and they consume just as much time, effort and feed for the dollars spent. The heritage breeds have cache and a better temperment so he just might convince me.
The chickens are in vacation mode. We do not force our hens to lay this time of year by keeping them under lights. Many people do not realize that eggs are a seasonal item. The girls will snap right back into production around January 1st, after they have had a few weeks of scratching, pecking and generally being chickens.
There are so many different ways to do things. We have another organic farm in the area that keeps hens in a Taj Mahal hen house with the hens contained in a chicken yard and kept under lights. They are selling their eggs locally as organic (the feed is organic - the lifestyle is not) but what is the true cost of their eggs with the building and production costs and the carbon footprint left behind. . . I estimate the real cost of those eggs are about $300 a dozen. Sustainable, I think not.
Darkness falls very early so I feel we rush, rush, rush through all the things that need to be done. So it is nice that a few of the animal chores can be reduced. We are going to slow down for a week or two while the college girl is home. (This is a family joke - we are thinking about adding a small green house to the back yard with all the extra time we have on our hands. Maybe we'll go to the "city" (Plattsburgh) and catch a movie with her.
Our son, the Reluctant Farmer, was rotating pastures for the cattle last week and he found turnips growing randomly in the pasture. This field has only been used as pasture of hay for years and we didn't plant turnips anywhere on the farm. Interestingly, this week I went to an organic dairy class and one of the points of discussion was adding brassicas to the rotational pastures. Well, who knew that BEN WEVER FARM was so far ahead of the trend. I told Quent that he is now the designated pasture specialist. He swears he has NO interest in agriculture but the kid doesn't miss a thing.
We are thankful for those who lives have touched our past and present. And look forward to who and what the future brings. And to my lone responder from August, you have no idea very we are very thankful we are that we do not commute 3 hours a day for a 5 x 8 cubicle cage on the Joint Staff . My advice - the world is not flat so go ahead and jump!
I must now fight my morning commute to the duck pond and check how thick the ice is. I expect there to be a traffic jam. The dogs will be under my feet & will stall traffic until I throw sticks for them to fetch.

8/7/08 Thursday

2008-08-07T16:52:00.000-07:00

Its another rainy evening in the Adirondacks. The farm is just about underwater. I am just about ready to train the cattle on how to use snorkel tubes and swim fins. Everyone one is complaining that their vegetable crops are rotting in the field. Mine were slow to come about but ever the optimist. . . I think a few days of sun and time to get out and pick, pick, pick!
New York Ag & Markets stated that there has only been 6 "hay" days since June 1. We are getting ready to reduce our herd by 10 because we will not be able to feed the cows. No hay hurts. We have been able to put up about 20-25% of our annual farm consumption. In the last 3 years we were finished making hay by August 15. And if we are selling we have to market the animals before the sale barns are full with other farmers' cattle and prices bottom out.
Our grass fed herd looks great right now. The few head of dairy cows are looking good also but I have to decide now if I have time to milk cows now that I have an "off" farm job and the farmers' daughter is heading off to college in 2 weeks. I am trying to decide whether to sell them as well. Leisure time is non exsistent. The boy is not interested in anything agricultural (maybe someday he will cross back to the "dirt" side)!
The horses will be back from summer camp in two weeks. I can't believe the summer has shot by so quick. I worry about some of the older ones.
Next week is the County Fair. Always a lot of work and always worth the trouble.