mary jane phifer

 Ahh yes, the agony of the late summer swarm.  NOW Acorn knows where the bees came from when she saw them in the bee tree behind the mailbox a few weeks ago... Oh well, it happens.

Blind Hog has had good luck with the tractors- Mahindra had a minor issue but neighbor Fred found the shorted out wire off the starter.  Massey Fergus in running like a champ with the new carburetor.

Goats are moved back in with the cows, fields ready for Fall rains. Garden is cycling around and the geese have been granted "yard privileges..."  They just LOVE hanging out with Blind Hog and Acorn...  Seriously- they are like right there whenever outdoor chores are going on.
Who knew geese would be so curious?

Acorn made up a new batch of sourdough starter from her own apples but since that was not ready, she opted for spelt pancakes.  No milk?  Why, use cocoa mix for chocolate waffles.  11/10- highly recommend. 

Acorn is getting ready to get on a plane, again, and go visit her Mum and Rumi in Houston.  Blind Hog and Sam once again will mind the conn.

The past week has been full of the usual chores- laundry, gardening, canning and mowing.  Blind Hog clipped the "south field" so the goats can see where they are- not too fond of venturing into a field with grass above their heads!

Goat breeding is on schedule- looking forward to the kids next year.

A delightful week- very "uneventful" which is fine for the two farmers.

Phew!  Whatta week!  Acorn returned back from a fun weekend in Florida with Dad and Joyce- hot winds, cool pool and  much relaxation for a tired farmer.  She had to jog between terminals to catch a connecting flight but hey- she and her luggage both made it!

One day to 'catch up" on chores, as in replace the carburetor on the Massey Ferguson 35 tractor, and then a whole day spent behind the wheel- driving 3 hrs to Arkansas to see  the Big Boy locomotive in action AND for a 45 min stop.  Blind Hog and Acorn left after 30 minutes of train pictures, videos, etc and drove an hour north to a little crossroad town along the tracks.  Set up, took a video of the train blasting through, then back in the car.  6 miles up the road to Poplar Bluff where the locomotive was to spend the night.  After almost 2 hrs of standing in line for a spot on a shuttle bus, they made it to the rail-yard for 20 minutes of yet more pictures and videos.

Finally, it was time to leave and head back to the farm- a 2.5 hr drive.  Bona fide railfans, Acorn cannot wait to chase the locomotive again.

Yes- Acorn is leaving for the weekend for family visit- boarding pass in one hand and a negative 'rona test result in the other.  Blind Ho and Sam will take care of things, and stay out of trouble...  Hopefully.

Past week has been spent cleaning house, tidying up, cooking-canning-baking. Garden and yard are groomed, livestock moved to new grazing.  Should be easy sailing. Why does it seem there is so much work to get a house in shape before even just one person goes on a trip?

When Acorn returns, the farmers will try to "catch the train" and be "railfans" for an afternoon.  The largest steam engine in the world is passing by within a 2.5 hr drive of the farm.  Acorn is beyond excited.

Hay is in the barn!  Acorn can relax now!  was a wild time getting the hay to the barn, but nothing is as easy as it seems.  Blind Hog thrives on excitement.

Last of the market goats to the salebarn. Garden continues to put forth.

Tenor ukulele got new "low-g strings" which Acorn just loves.  Can you tell the difference?

Broilers all processed and shrink bagged. New Goat Plan underway. Mechanic work completed on the F350 (still needs work) and the 17 yr old riding mower.  Garden, cows, goats; yada yada yada...

Selling goats and buying hay. What comes in, must go out.

Acorn finally picked a watermelon that was truly ripe.  Ratatouille, carrots and pickled beets in jars. Dairy goat milking is being throttled back so Acorn can dry off the girls. Daily yield is being reduced each day- now back 2/3 already.

Yes, Acorn made a list of most of the things accomplished to talk about for the podcast. She did leave off filling 350 lbs of mineral mix into all the livestock feeders.  They had the mill put the mix in 25 lb bags instead of the 50 lb. bags Blind Hog was carrying when the tore his calf muscle.  Blind Hog said Acorn was handling those 25 lb bags quite nicely, while he sat in the truck with this foot on the brake.  Yes- we do not trust the parking break on the F3509.  That is Acorn's task tomorrow...

First eight of the Cornish Cross chickens are processed, along with the three cockerels who were twice their age but half their size.  The remaining "piggie chickens" will be processed when they run out of feed.  75 lbs of feed remain...

Acorn picked chanterelle mushrooms, sauteed them in butter and put them in the freezer for future feasting.  Bees are doing super, two hive splits are thriving.  Momma cows are ready to be bred for spring calves.  They will get back with the bull Fintan once the last of the 2021 kids go to market, in a week and a half.

Fields are doing super, best grass out there in several years.

SteelMeadow Farm has a new goat plan- going with registered Savanna bucks which means the current unregistered Savanna bucks have to go.  Fred has already found a new home.  George is yet to find his.  Not only were they were both unregistered but they also had more than two teats.  Acorn says no to supernumerary teats of goats.  Period!

Rain to move in and a cold front with it.  Hot damn!  Drunk Uncle ukulele provided the podcast's noodling in the background.  Play it loud and play it proud!

Starting to sort through and "work" goats at 10 am was about 3 hrs too late...  Blind Hog and Acorn both had to have a sit down before the task was completed.  It was the high, high humidity that was the culprit.  Nonetheless, the intrepid farmers soldiered on and goats got worked.  Ten adult goats went on the trailer the next day and the herd production average is thus improved. Twenty-one kids are now finishing out- on their own field and will receive sweet feed to keep them growing.

Cabbages cut, kraut fermentation in the process. Three half-gallon jars will be repacked into several 12 oz. tall jelly jars- the perfect size for us.  No further processing, will keep it in the fridge and keep the microbes alive.

Blondies.  With English walnuts and craisins.  Double the ACV (apple cider vinegar).  Just like eating chess pie or buttermilk pie in little bites.

Blind Hog and Acorn forgot to mention the chanterelle mushroom bonanza, as well as the great news about the bee hives..  Going to have to wait till next week for that!

 

Blind Hog and Acorn got the wall sculpture delivered and installed.  A bit of unusual farm work to say the least! Good news is that Glen and Becky are happy and the piece looks great in its new home. Now Acorn just needs to figure out the next chapter in the Great Farm Plan...

Rains continue to surprise, and the garden and fields are taking full advantage.  I know there are at least 3 watermelons in the patch. Blackberries are ripening, tiny zucchini appearing- watch the zucchini go from tiny to huge in just a day!

Eating well on the farm- lots of veggies and it is hard to beat a tart with patisserie cream and rhubarb compote, with homemade honey vanilla ice cream of course...

Blind Hog saw an ortho dude and it is all good news- torn calf muscle and he is already doing "all the right rehab things."  Tincture of Time , as my old MD boss would say.  In the meantime, he does what he can, puts his leg up, wears one of my stylish hiking compression socks and is his usual happy-go-lucky self.

Grass is taking off after the rain last week, fields looking good.  Garden will need to be watered soon.  Blackberries are beginning to ripen!  Yay!  Cows and goats have all been moved about to new paddocks.

The piggie chickies (Cornish cross broilers) are growing like weeds- between 2.25 and 2.5 lbs now.. Letting them out and about supposedly will slow their growth down, and they also do not get chicken feed at night.  They are a bit behind their growth chart, but as long as they don't fall over from heart attacks (common) then that is good.

Delivering the wall sculpture tomorrow!  Very excited!

Blind Hog seems intent on injuring himself, this week it was a torn calf muscle. Oh well, "we see this..."  Good news is that he is able to move about the cabin freely, albeit a bit slower than his usual.  Swelling has gone down and he can bear weight on the injured leg.  Tincture of Time now for it to heal on up.

Acorn has sold goats and has two heifers under contract- a very productive week.

Broiler chick experiment continues- the little hybrids are growing exponentially.  Almost a bit scary...  Garden is producing and a break in hot weather is upon us.

July is here!

Blind Hog and Acorn capped off a fun-filled week by getting up early today to milk goats, pick 4 gallons of blueberries at a nearby berry farm, and then sort-load-and drive goats to today's livestock sale about 16 miles away.

On top of that, the high heat,humidity, and intermittent rain showers made for a lovely work environment.

Good news is the broiler chicks are outside- they love their pen and can run around and flap their pudgy wings.  Blind Hog has a pan of brownies calling his name and Acorn does not want to say how many of the blueberry muffins she baked are already "missing..."

Check out the pictures for Acorn's goat butter process. Is it somewhat messy but the results are delicious!

Triple digit heat indices, Blind Hog and Acorn have been sweatin' fools.  

Calves got "worked", goat kids separated from their mommas. Garden is string trimmed, wild black raspberries picked. Elderflowers have been plucked and stuffed into gallon jars to make "St. Germaine" cordial- recipe on website.

Broiler chicks are something new- ready to process in just 10 weeks?  That is crazy! Call us unbelievers, but we will see.  The sooner we get the little buggers outside, the better. Give them room to grow grow grow!

Blind Hog's wall sculpture is 99% finished.  Date set in July to deliver and install.  Yay!

Weather has gone from "light jackets" to "turn on the a/c" in a matter of days...

Acorn has had some run-ins with local snakes, one of which had got the goose off her nest and was in the process of eating an egg- all when they might be starting to hatch! (well, if there are any that will hatch that is...)

A goatling had got herself trapped under the garden fence and died, Sam nabbed a groundhog and deposited it by the porch.  Blind Hog has been on "body removal" duty.

Farm website is undergoing a major platform shift and resulting webpage upgrade.  Acorn gets to complain complain complain.

However, chores are now done, time to have a sit down and relax, and at least one chicken eggs is hatching!

Busy week on the farm PLUS a Farm Guest!  Dr. Frank Pinkerton, nigh on 93 yrs old, drove himself to Missouri to visit a goat farm in the making, speak at a conference/show/sale in Sedalia, as well as spend a few "leisurely days" here at the farm,  and yes- he did make it back home safe and sound!

Listening to his chat with us you will learn all sorts of things you may and may not want to think about.  Apparently "Mannish Water" is the Jamaican version of Viagra... Frank will discuss the ingredients...

Had a great time with him this week and hope he will be back soon- he generally averages two or three visits to the farm a year and last year's Covid lock down put a big hurt on his traveling.

After his visit, Blind Hog and Acorn got back to chores- all the usual farmy things plus they  sold 5 of the 6 goslings.  Ethel is due to hatch her clutch this time next week,  IF she has any that will hatch that is.  Pilgrims are not the most efficient reproducers of the goose world.

Blind Hog has spent the last week on the Massey Ferguson, clipping seed heads off the fescue. Acorn has been in the garden, putting in the last of the vegetables and then went all crazy using the string trimmer.  Such fun!

She's also been working on her PowerPoint presentation for the goat talk in Sedalia in a few days.  You know, definitely not putting it off to the last minute or anything...

Grass is growing, goslings are packing it on, and all is well on the farm.  Acorn got a bit sidetracked playing along today- but what else is new?

Will see if a guest will be joining the podcast next week!

Blind Hog and Acorn have been busy- the goslings are growing too damn fast and they needed their own pen. It took a couple days, but as we speak, they are enjoying green grass and fresh air, and no competition with the nine chicken peeps!

Blackberry juice was made and jarred up- is very delicious. 18 or so quarts!

Garden still not set out 100%, hopefully Acorn will remedy that this week. Finally will get 2 days without rain.

Big Bee Questions are "will the two hive splits "take?" and did we make it to the semi-finals of the honey judging competition???

Diagnosis is in on the Outback- it is not good.  She has been deemed a total loss. However, Blind Hog and Acorn will replace her with the very same thing, so it will all work out. Thank you, State Farm.

Fun was had weeding the garden, moving a huge forsythia bush, playing with goslings and best yet- selling heifers.

Acorn will be juicing up blackberries from the freezer next week- so look forward to that!

Blind Hog and Acorn recorded their podcast a day early but did not realize that the computer was having technical issues- the recording had gaps, much like hiccups.  Acorn did not feel like doing a 2 hr edit on a 35 min podcast and promises this will not happen again.

Soldier though and try to ignore the gaps in conversation.  The pair could have re-recorded it, but it would not have been the same, as you will hear.

Cliffhangers!  No spoilers!

A roller coaster of a week for Blind Hog and the Acorn; ups, downs, ups, downs.  Good news is that they are both still here to bitch and complain, better than the alternative!

Morels are about done.  The last ones collected were dehydrated.  Works like a champ.  Acorn saw one in the woods today but is was as dark as a pine cone, "Let is seed out for next year."  

Blind Hog needed to mow the yard, but the mower front wheels won't be delivered until Monday.  Massey Ferguson and brush hog to the rescue.  Acorn also used the push mower and string trimmer.  Have to say, it looks not half bad.

Blind Hog and Acorn has "interesting times" with car buying on Monday.  90 minutes of joy on the way home and then a deer stopped the happy campers.

Heifer born this week, grass is growing, goslings and chicks co-mingling. Blind Hog and Acorn are still here, so all is good.