Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Jasmines Injury

Jasmine relaxing
If you have come out here to Novellas Farm   I feel certain you met Jasmine. Our dear little
dachsund.

Yesterday we had a terrible accident. Jasmine jumped out of my son's arms and fell the wrong way, she cried and well.... long story short she appeared paralyzed from the waist down.

 I had a dachsund years ago in a former life. His name was Pork Chop,( that probably tells you a bit about him.)
His very favorite part of the day was dinner preparation time. He would sit right beside my legs watching
me with that expectant expression that only dachsunds possess, waiting for bits of food to fall to the ground.
Maaggie and Jasmine
 I still remember his favorite streets in my old neighborhood to walk down and chase cats.
 
Oh my goodness how I loved that little dog! Even now when remember  him I feel a stab of pain. Because of Pork Chop I became a fan of these loving little sausages, I will always have one as a companion.

Pork Chop was given to me by my sister, he was a found dog and I never knew his past story... but he
must have had some injuries because eventually he lost the use of his hind legs and after many difficult weeks of trying to deal with it, I eventually put
him to sleep.

Any one who has loved a pet,  will know of the pain I write about. It is no less powerful than the loss of any loved one. I admit it, I cried for months afterwards and even now I recall the pain with clarity.

So when Jasmine fell, I was terrified, and the kids know about Pork Chop so they too were expecting the worst. I called the vet, ( we use Sunset Canyon, and I must say they are wonderful!) and he was there
(lucky in the most unfortunate way) he said come in..... I had already told him I expected she would need to be put down.

We drove to the vets in silence, Tommy, Juliette and I  expecting to bring Jasmine home to bury.

The vet checked her out and discovered she still had feeling in her legs! We were given a severe talking to
and told to kennel her for a month along with a supply of steroids.

I know it is hard on the dog, but we are so happy, at least there is a chance!

So when you come out here, be sure to ask to see Jasmine and give her a pep talk. Tell her what a good dog
she is.....
and please, tell your own pets how much you love them, tell your kids and your whole family.
Man and beast alike. You just never know what may happen.


Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Slow Farm Morning

Visitor getting ready to try milking, I'll hold that tail
 We just finished up our second week of Farm Mornings. We have had a morning all about the bees where we looked in the hive, made candles and learned all about their social structure... and just this week we learned about the cows, milked and made ice cream.

Next week we will learning about the worms, so don't forget your jars! we'll be learning about the chickens and turkeys.

Spoiling Scout
I like these Farm Mornings, they are relaxed....

Sometimes we can just try to fit in too much and we miss a lot by trying to do everything!

Today after I milked Novella, instead of just letting her out and putting Mattie in for her milking I stopped and really talked to Novella. I told her how pretty she is and gave her a nice long rub down. She looked at me with those big eyes and
seemed to say " I missed you...".

When I first got Novella I spent tons of time with her. I had to, there was so much to learn, and I really had to get her used to me. I would drink coffee outside with her, brush her, bathe her....

Novellas turn
Then we both got busy, maybe too busy.

I started having Farm Days where I wanted to show kids everything in one day... and sometimes I  feel like it is too much for one day.

I found myself apologizing last week because the milking was taking so long, I was afraid the visitors were getting bored, but the mom  said, "that's why we are here, to experience what it is really like".

And honestly most of the time it is quiet and slow.... but actually very nice..... and real.




Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Duck Weather!

walking.. waddling to the creek
Well, ....it's raining again.

I know we need the rain... but honestly I am kind of getting tired of it! And really it is OK to talk this way ....because I don't really believe I can control the weather so it is OK to say it. This rain is getting to be a drag.

almost there!
The poor cows are living in mud... the chicken coop stinks. The rabbits are soggy,  the garden is actually wilting from too much water... but the ducks are in heaven!

They have been having a wonderful time waddling around foraging, dashing here and there. They love the puddles, the rain falling and all the soggy food.

Did you know we have a creek here? Well we do.
Of course it is one of those they refer to as a wet weather creek ( a real estate term) but this does qualify as wet weather... so we have a creek.
at last
Any way the ducks are thrilled about this new development.

And you know what? I have decided to enjoy the rain too.  No worrying about the mud, the mess.... the fact I had to cancel some visitors.

I will try to be  like the ducks (not too much like them)  I will look for some thing wonderful in the rainy weather... green plants, cool weather, great napping weather..... I think I will read a book! I have nothing else I can do!

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Tea for the Garden

The primary player in casting tea
I have been working in the garden a lot lately.
Just trying to get everything squared away before it get so, so hot!!

I have this aversion to buying things for the garden, I like to make do with what I have on hand.
I use a lot of food grade Diatomacous Earth for pest control, seeing how I have it around for the animals any way.
And for feeding my garden plants and soil I use  cow manure and earthworm castings.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          mmmm.....   garden soo happy...! 
castings, molasses and an aquarium aerator
Worm castings are basically worm poop. My worms exclusively eat cow manure. The castings are great to add to the soil when planting and also to use to make a tea to feed the plants when watering
.
put the castings in the sock to make the "tea bag"
What one needs to brew casting tea are the following things: worm castings, molasses, an aerator ( good but not a deal breaker), a sock and a bucket of water left to stand overnight.

 So here we go.... take some castings and fill a small sock to make the tea bag for your tea. Knot it closed and put it in the bucket of water that you left overnight ( this supposedly allows the chlorine to leave the water) you want the water to be as chlorine free as possible. You see, chlorine acts as a bacterial killer in our water, but what we are trying to do is create a tea of beneficial bacteria for the soil and plant.

add molasses to feed the micro organisms
Ok, so you put the tea bag in to steep. Then put the aerator into the bucket of water to add oxygen to the water ( we do not want anaerobic bacteria to grow in the tea)

Next thing add some molasses, you are supposed to measure this but I actually hate to measure things, so I just pour some in, probably a few tablespoons. Those micro organisms need to eat to stay healthy so feed them with the molasses.

watering with the tea
When the tea looks like, well, tea... then serve it to your plants. Use it as a foliage  feeder as well as just  for watering.

Oh yeah, and by the way I am going to be selling worms, castings and manure any day now, so if you are interested.......