mary jane phifer

Four dairy does with a set of twins each- lovely!  Other than the first set of twins born during single digits, the others did very well, save for the last kid who had a front leg pointed the wrong way- Call the Midwife!

Grazing changes made, hay is moving out of the barn very slowly (for once!). Nice to have the grazing to carry the feed burden.

Blind Hog got two thumbs up from his cardiologist- good to go for another year. Acorn reports that "the sponsor" has their website up and working... All the small miracles!

Slow week on the farm- cold weather blew in and our farmers spent most of the time indoors.

Verdandi did kick off the kidding season with a set of twins- born at dawn when the temps were 0°F. Oy!  One kid was chilled so much that it would not stand, but an hour inside with some Lyle's Golden Syrup on her tongue and soon she was ready for milk and after that, her momma!

Calli, another dairy goat, has been doing a bunch of talking lately- she may go next. Acorn got all the dairy goats on the milling stand to give their hindquarters a trim- helps with kidding and milking.  Just in time for Verdandi's delivery!

A dozen 8 ounce jars of black syrup in the pantry- expect a bumper week coming up next week for sap. Temperatures will be perfect!

After another unusually warm week, Blind Hog and Acorn were not only able to work the goats and get them vaccinated, but also tap in 25 sap spiles into the black walnut trees, plus a sycamore.  

Acorn collected 19 gallons before the sap flow stopped- due to warm weather, but after the next 10 days the sap should flow again because it is going to get cold...  19 gallons boiled down to five 8-oz jars...  60:1 ratio...

Hay has been fed, woodpile loaded up.  Snow continues to fall...

Blind Hog and Acorn have to report that Winter is Back...  Fed out the first round bale of the season.  Cows and goats all tucked in for inclement weather, dairy barn prepped for upcoming kids. Of course- "Let's kid goats in January..."

Minor fence repair here, alleyway addition there.  Baking up goodies to keep the hungry farmers going.

Abbreviated history lesson from our sponsor to wrap up the show.

Just when you hoped 2021 would be the end of the Dumpster Fire that was 2020, we get to recycle that New Year wish for 2022!

Blind Hog and Acorn spent the past week finishing up farm projects and chores in the unusually warm weather.  Buck shelter has a floor AND bedding, goats have hay to nibble on, and the bunk feeders for goat grain treats are officially done. Phew!

Blind Hog and Acorn also have a sponsor this year!  Woo hoo!  Ok ok, so the sponsor is technically "in-house" but hey...  it is a start...

Black-eyed peas await!  Happy New Year!

 Blind Hog and Acorn are STILL taking advantage of the record warm temperatures- they built six new goat feeders from old ones.  Muy bueno!

Other than that, and rearranging a round pen that was inside the alleyway, that has kept our intrepid farmers out of trouble.

Time to sit back with something decadent and enjoy some Christmas Cheer!  Talk to you next year!

XXOO Blind Hog and Acorn 

Phew!  A busy and fun week for the intrepid farmers.  Blind Hog and Acorn completed a few more projects and even managed a day in KC!  The Kemper Museum! The Nelson Atkins! IKEA too!

Weather was sunny and nice for the trip and the next day? Almost 3" of glorious rain. The pastures (and livestock) are loving it.

Blind Hog and Acorn finally FINALLY got the goat barns mucked out, clean and ready for winter/January kidding.  Phew!

Only took one front tire repair on the Mahindra and removal of up-teen front end loaders of piled up "residue" raked up from the barns to get the job done.  Much better now, even though the pictures might not look that nice.

Cows are enjoying their new grazing paddock since we moved them over last Sunday.  Goats have a paddock all to themselves. Ruminant Heaven!

Phew!  Blind Hog and Acorn have been working like dogs...  Tearing down the Murphy bed that Blind Hog built super well, i.e he glued the joints, to working in the west field in preparation for winter grazing.  All the walking back and forth along the fence lines.

A bit of baking first thing this morning- bread and English muffins.

Sam is enjoying his new dog bed- the memory foam mattress topper off the double-size mattress that went to the landfill.  Cut it up into 4 sections, stacked it, and voila- Dog Bed from Heaven.

Goats are all now in one big group- the girls should all be bred by now.  If Lil' frank did not fulfill his duties, then Goat Man Special has 10 new does to cover.

Blind Hog and Acorn had a full house the past week, and seven at the table for Thanksgiving!  Visitors from Alberta, Canada and Texas, along with Badger and her beau for the holiday feasting.

Trips to see a couple goat ranches as well as a trip to Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.

Acorn is happy with a clean house and fridge full of leftovers. Blind Hog already planning the next projects. Weather is going to be mild so that cannot be beat. End of November already- this is just crazy!

Now that the 200' underground electric project is competed and 220v is surging from the power pole to the new breaker box in the old goat barn, Blind Hog and Acorn have put their attention to domestic chores- cleaning the house in anticipation of out of state/country guests!

Yes, Old Frank is returning and this time Brain and Kate from Alberta, Canada will be with him. House needs to be tidied up, and that is all that is going to be said here about that.

Acorn is planning a simple Thanksgiving dinner- "just the facts, Ma'am..."  Cranberry sauce was made ahead of time and canned into pint jars. Acorn will continue this trend, prepping as much ahead of time as possible.

Blind Hog has been Mr. Helpful and things should be all ready to roll when guest arrive Monday afternoon.  Yeee haw!

A very busy week on the farm and nothing will stop the busy farmers...  Not even sinus colds or 80th birthdays...

Blind Hog has the deed done; electric is in the conduit and in the nice trench, already hooked up to the main power box as well as the new breaker box in the old goat barn.  Acorn has been a snotty thing, but has also been quite busy.  Almost 40 new trees planted all around the yard- long leaf pine, Norway spruce, witch hazels and bald cypress.

Now to fill in the trench, complete the transition from 110V power supple to 220V but the farmers can do it.  Gallons of chicken soup, full of "vit-ah-minns" and loaded with garlic, jalapenos and everything else from the fridge have been consumed and Acorn stewed those two roosters today- more soup to be made for tomorrow!

All the fun trenching in yet another new underground line, but this time a 220V from the power pole to the old goat barn. Blind Hog is more than halfway there. Good weather ahead too!

Four mornings of starting temps in the low to mid 20's. Will be pushing 70° by mid week they say, just ti n time for Blind Hog's birthday.

Acorn found another good iron bit on walkies this morning.  Guess you can call that "Antiques Road Show..."  In a literal sense...

Blind Hog and Acorn have been doing all the usuals- moving the herd, got the last pasture clipped after grazing. Even picking up 8.44" of rain for the month of October!  Crazy!

Bees have been getting a bit of thick syrup to top their stores off for the winter.  Garden has been cleaned of all eggplants, peppers, and tomatoes.  Hard frost is on the way next week.

Acorn skewered one of those Cornish Cross chickens on the rotisserie for lunch...  Delicious. Thanksgiving around the corner and the farmers are going to be having company- goat folk on a vagabond route.  Frank, Brian and Kate will land at the farm for a week of f-u-n...  Looking forward to it!

Will Blind Hog and Acorn see the Northern Lights tonight?  They will certainly give it a shot, even if it means walking out to the hay barn at 11pm...

Hard-workin' farmers do get to go to town and have fun every now and then, right? 

After mucking about with the walnuts, tending the livestock, feeding the new kitties, Blind Hog and Acorn headed to the Big City to see David Sedaris, live and in person.  3 Words?  "It was awesome!"  Acorn picked up a copy of his latest book, "A Carnival of Snackery" and had him sign it.  He did so while asking questions "Did you grow up on a farm?  Have you ever eaten horse?"

Even snagged a pint at a local micro-brewery beforehand. Like a real "date night!"

Acorn has future outings planned that involve new theatrical releases...  Dune, The French Dispatch...

A section of piss-poor fencing got replaced. Always fencing work to be done. 

Rain has been falling, 6.07" for the month so far!  Hot damn and pass them cookies!

Wood stove is prepped for the upcoming season- flue pipe cleaned, stove vacuumed out, glass windows washed.  Blind Hog rolled in a couple loads of firewood and Acorn will lay the first logs.

Blind Hog could talk for a whole show about how much he loves that Hearthstone wood stove- Acorn is surprised he passed up the opportunity.  Must be because of that tooth extraction he had the other day...

39F at  the farm this morning. Livestock are all fine, barn kitties hanging in there.  The calico who disappeared the first day has been sighted.  her name is now "Nessie," because, you know..

David Sedaris is coming to Springfield next week.  Blind Hog and Acorn snagged free tickets, which BTW, were gone in 10 minutes.  Even Badger nabbed herself a pair!  Springfield Library must have got a grant or something to bring him here...  Show has been delayed/rescheduled 3x due to the pandemic. Fingers crossed that the stars will stay in alignment for Thursday night. The venue is small and he will stay at his signing table until the cows come home.

1. Garlic is popping up after a couple weeks post-planting
2. A couple heifers are on their way to Kentucky.  
3. Log splitter quit but was easily repaired by neighbor mechanic Fred (float needle was fouled) and Blind Hog was able to get back into action. 
4. A bit of rain fell as well,  2 -1/2" so far this month.
5. Sam got skunked but at least THIS time he killed the varmint.  Good boy, Sam.  One less polecat to spray  you!
   
   It has been a pretty good week!

Has it truly just been a week since Blind Hog and Acorn went to the art museum?   Sheesh!

Since then, the eight felines have arrived on the farm.  Kittens and cats in three barns.  Grow kitties grow, and take care of the rodents!

Blind Hog has been clipping fields, splitting firewood.  Even hoisted Acorn up in the front-end loader to assist in harvesting the oyster mushroom bonanza that appears along the driveway.

Rain has fallen, an inch so far.  Will take all that falls! Rain may help distract the three calves being weaned.  Was a loud couple of nights, but they are already getting better.

Goat boys will get new goat girls tomorrow.  Spreading that love around...

After a busy week of YET MORE FARM CHORES, Blind Hog and Acorn picked up the Badger in Springfield fora 2 hr drive to Arkansas- destination?  the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art!

The podcast was recorded prior to the excursion, but the website will have pictures.

Blind Hog took down three large dead trees that were on the side of the hill along the driveway.  They are all chunked into 6' lengths for him to cut further and split.  Mr Woodchuck keeps chucking that wood! Blind Hog tried out the hot tub after the repair guy did his magic and lo!  It still relaxes after 15 years!

Acorn has been at the grounds with her string trimmer as her shoulders can attest.  She is also working on continuing education credits for her super secret project- a new business she hopes will be ready to go live at the first of the year.

The delivery of the eight new barn cats/kittens has been delayed till next week. Just in case you have been wondering...

Lots of loose ends getting done around the farm- hot tub was repaired, drained and cleaned. Purple martin gourds removed and put away for the winter.  Corner fence post reset and fence wire affixed. Hay feeders are now in the yard awaiting new tarp covers which Acorn will make out of used billboard fabric.

Blind Hog fired up the burn pile then later he and Acorn also mounted the 10 yr old gas grill onto a nice, smooth,  level platform.  Nor more wobbly grill!  Acorn gave it a good cleaning and new sear plates are on their way- will have it cooking like new!

Barn kitties are also forthcoming- friend Judy wanted to do a steep reduction in her numbers- we are taking 4 teens and a momma with 3 kittens. They will be divided between three barns.  Looking forward to "rodent control" make no mistake!

Acorn has begun new classes online for healthcare professionals- she desires to start her own "thing," more about that will be disclosed later on.  She did however go ahead and secure a catchy web domain. "If you build it, they will come..."

Finally from the SteelMeadow Kitchen- Homemade English Muffins are easy!  Do not be intimidated!