August Events at Novellas Farm

Scout and Coco

Novellas Farm is a small Farm in Dripping Springs

We have dairy cows, bees, chickens, turkeys, giant rabbits, worms,
and lots of gardening and other projects going on.
We offer the opportunity for people in the city to come
out for the day and experience hands on what it is like to be on a farm!

  In August we are offering the following dates and events.

Saturday Farm Days: August 4 and 18 from 9 to 1
The Saturday Farm Days are nice for working parents or families
that would like to bring Dad along for the fun.
We will milk the cows and make ice cream.
Learn about the bees, look at the hive and open the hive to see
what the bees are doing.
Talk about chickens, learn about their digestive system and their role
here on the farm. We will learn the parts of the egg ( more to it than you
think)
Finally we will learn about the earth worms and their importance to us
all.
Each child can take home a worm farm if they like.

Adults are free! Kids are 30 for one, 45 for 2 and a family price of 55 for
3 or more, (3 and under are free)


Farm Day: August 2, 7,27
Pretty much just like the Saturday one!


End of Summer Days: August 10, 21
9 to 10:30
Very short days where we will have a fast run through, I will demonstrate
milking , look at the bees, and briefly talk about the worms and poultry.
These days are for the folks who are about to melt. We are done before
it gets too hot.
Adults are free, kids are 10 per. under 3 free.
Please contact me to save a space or if you have any questions.
Amy

Datura

Datura opening up in the evening

      When I first moved to Dripping Springs from Austin, a neighbor welcomed me and invited me to her house to see her place. It was very pretty, but she had fences around all her plants. Even the "deer resistant" plants I had seen at the garden center.

Can you see the bees?

I asked her why she had the plants fenced in, "it would be so much prettier open", I said.

She gave me a "you stupid city slicker" smile and said  "they just say they are deer resistant, the deer eat everything" 

Oh you poor ignorant bumpkin, I thought... I'll show you how it's done.You just have to put out soap, or blood meal or urine or something........ 

Guess what? I found out she was right! I would plant something and sure enough the next day it would be fine, but second or third night it would have just disappeared.

Those beautiful, angelic looking creatures were monsters who would eat anything that didn't  kill them.

There! you can see them now.

Then one day I saw these Datura growing wild along the side of the road, hmm.

I took some seed pods home and scattered them around.

Guess what! The deer don't eat them! No!

 True they are very, very poisonous, so don't feed them to your kids... but they are so pretty

and the fragrance, is wonderful.  They open in the evening and bloom through the night. And the bees love them, so do the giant moths.

One of the best things about this plant is that it is very, drought resistant and it reseeds every year. 

It is also known as Jameson Weed. Either the colonist in James Town enjoyed the high from smoking the leaves or it killed them.

Any way, it just goes to show what I will put up with for a few flowers in my life. 

                                                                     

Novellas Farm School for Girls

helping in the garden

So today I was talking with a friend about next year.

My daughter's next year to be precise. She has always been
schooled at home, but I feel like she needs more.

More friends, academics, routine.... you understand. She is becoming a young woman and she needs to be around other girls her own age.

I did what most of us would do, I began looking at alternative
options, because public school is my very last option for middle
school.

The first place I looked  is a small ,private Christian School here in my town, and while it looks sweet, for some reason. I have reservations about sending her to a place that may instill guilt, I am not really looking for  strangers to determine who she is... just a school..... and friends.

A while back we put on a play with some kids around here, and she was asked point blank- " are you a Christian?". She asked me in the car what that mattered? ( She knows about other religions and we think of
it as a sort of food choice. No one wrong or right). So while I think it seems like a very wonderful place it
is probably not a place she would be fully comfortable with,.... so.

 I looked at a private school in Austin, just for girls.
It looked great, until I saw the tuition Yikes.... 1500.00 just to register! 10,000 a year!
I am sure it is wonderful but unless I want to live in my car it is not going to happen.

Novella and friend

 So.... I started thinking.. why not start a girls school
here! Just one or two days a week?
I mean heck! I already was instrumental in starting
two other schools in town, and I really, really need this for my daughter. Is there any greater motivation?

I look at these photos and I remember how much these older girls enjoyed the farm. Really they are just the right age. They can actually do things on their own. They can actually grasp the science of what is happening here.

So how does this sound? 'Novellas School for Girls' a place to learn gardening, farming, cheesemaking
art and academics too ( and it won't break the bank)

I am going to add it to the Calendar and if any one is interested or if you know of any one interested
please, please ask them to contact me.

A Girls Farm School.

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.

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.

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!

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.......