ozarks living

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.

Blind Hog was walking down to get the mail and guess what???  He found a morel!  All on his own!  Wooooooot!

Goslings are hatching, flooding rain in the forecast. "Its raining geese, hallelujah it's raining geese..."

Garden survived the hard freeze and even the apple blossoms look good.  Just one stalk of asparagus fizzled.

Back to chores!

What is that racket you ask? PEEPS!!! Chicks have begun to hatch; geese, fingers crossed, should begin pipping next week.

Blind Hog spent time on the Massey Ferguson, clipping yet another paddock. He even went to the East Field and cut up that dead tree that had fallen on the fenceline.  Brought it home in three loads, and already has it cut to length, ready for the woodsplitter.

Acorn has been gardening; plants set out, water lines flushed, drip tape laid and floating row covers stretched out over PVC conduit hoops over the beds.  Looks nice!

Morels are popping, asparagus too.  Blind Hog even hoisted Acorn up into the front end loader and the purple martin gourds are all ready for their occupants.  They forgot to mention this on the podcast. Maybe Acorn needs to make a list of topics, you know, like she used to do...

Blind Hog and Acorn have been busy busy- composting, gardening, lighting, welding ... Even if it means eating a big lunch then falling promptly to sleep for 90 minutes...

Garden is in the process of being planted, kidding has about ended. Had to make a run for conduit so acorn could have hoops to support the floating row covers for the bed she planted today.  

Morels have begun to pop out, Sam the Farm Dog has a new backpack.  Listen in and see what else has been going on...

Of course, when you check the air in one tire you automatically want to check the air in ALL the tires, right?  Well, maybe wrong- especially if you are checking air in fluid-filled tires and the valve has corroded.  Acorn found this out the hard way and long story short, a tractor tire valve had to be replaced, STAT!

Good news is that all went fine, except for the 38 miles out and back but it was a lovely late afternoon.

Busy week on the farm; selling goats, stringing out grazing areas in the paddocks, checking eggs for progress in the incubator, baking cookies.

Happy Easter from the Farm!

Acorn is incubating all sorts of ideas to make farm dollars, literally and figuratively.  14 goose eggs are in an incubator, and 2 doz chicken eggs to go into the other. Pending goat and heifer sales, let the good times roll!

Blind Hog continues progress working on the wall sculpture commission, so that is also most excellent.

Lacking only 5 more goats to kid, "piss or get off the pot!"  Acorn is getting a bit tired of waiting on the stragglers, but stragglers they are.  These girls must have just gone out of heat when the bucks went in, so you can figure 4 weeks after the first kids hit the ground, so there you go.

Has been a lovely first week of Spring, but wait- snow and subfreezing temps in the forecast in a few days. Always something...

First day of spring on the farm and how cold was it???  23F!!! Crazy!  Good news is that it will be warmer next couple weeks, so that will be helpful for the new baby goats- up to 41 total now- is a field of popping white kidlets out in the field.

Blind Hog and Acorn have been doing the usual chores, setting out hay, counting the kids.  Even started back on that sculpture friends Glen and Becky desire.  Acorn could not help giving Blind Hog a hard time about "studio help..."

Pasture rotation will be more of a priority in 2021, keep the herds moving and make the most of the available forage.  The more you move, the better it is.  If you have the time of course and time is what we have plenty of.

Acorn has been dusting off her caprine midwifery skills, Blind Hog has been Master Electrician.  As of now, 21 kids on the ground!

Bottle kids are cute, but not desired. They wrap around your ankles worse than cats.  A set of 3 lb twins born- will see if they will pull on through. Is almost time to give them another bit of colostrum- they cannot stand yet to nurse, so any assistance now will help them down the road.

Ethel the Goose has begun to lay- using her older eggs for baked goods.  Eventually she will go broody and hopefully hatch out some, but for now she lays lays lays...  20-40 perhaps!

Been working to repair a pickup we will be selling to our neighbors.  Only drove it 190 miles last year- I suppose it is good to sell.  Time to go give the new kids a bit of bottle!

Let the pigeons fly! 2021 Kidding, Round 2 has begun! Old Fawn, 10 yrs old popped out twins.

What more did Blind Hog and Acorn get up to this week?  The usual chores, plus plumbing and electric repairs.

Weather is nice, but it turned out all the crazies in the Big City.  Lawdy- all the wrecks, all the people. Shopping is not a delight but something to be done in the early weekday mornings- not on a Sunny Saturday afternoon!

The sap run was short and sweet!  Acorn figures it was actually a false run, brought on by the Polar Vortex.  Two weeks of below freezing temps forced the sap back down, and when the temps warmed up, up came the sap.  Good enough for two quarts total of finished syrup.  Impressive, especially if you think of the 40:1 sap to syrup ratio!

Goats in the dairy barn are all kidded out, now is kidding time for the commercial and Spanish goats.  The old goat barn has been prepped, all good to go.

Acorn had to get out of bed at 10:30 pm to eliminate a varmint in the hen house that killed another hen.  Sam got skunk sprayed.  Blind Hog got his first Fauchi Ouchie.  All in all, a typical week on the farm!

The Polar Vortex is winding down, cold air receding and temps actually creeping above freezing. Hot Damn!

Blind Hog and Acorn have continued to soldier on- feeding the livestock, waiting for baby goats- expected and unexpected.

Fortunate for running water and electricity, however plans are in the works for "yet more farm improvements..." There is always room to make things run better, smoother, and to be prepared for outages of one sort or another.

Good news about the increased temperatures is that trees were tapped today for syrup, and Acorn saw sap collecting in the jugs!  Amazing!  Boiling it down will only yield a few ounces, but OH!  What a treat it will be!

The polar vortex is upon the farm.  Single digit highs, minus "whatevers"at night.  And snow...  And gusting north winds...   And yes, dairy kids being born!

Blind Hog and Acorn have been trying their best to deal with electrical resistance, amperage, wattage calculations. Working on electric lines from the house to the dairy barn, at midnight, in the 5F cold is a great way to kick off Valentine's Day...

Good news is that (knock wood) they have everything under control.  (knock wood louder...)

Acorn baked more brownies.  Why the hell not? Calories are being burned and two farmers need refueling!

Verdandi had twin bucklings, both weighing in over 10lbs each- which is pretty darn  impressive.  They need that size to help them get through the cold in the dairy barn.  Acorn made Verdandi an insulated "goat fort."  Verdandi is pleased.

Intrepid farmers will be tapping walnut trees by the end of the week- black walnut syrup is the goal. Spiles and tubing purchased, just need a day above freezing to drill the trees.
Check out the website for pictures from this episode!