Noel on the Farm

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

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

Veggienauts and Cattlegenerians

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

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

We should have one in Willsboro

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