Year: 2018

The trees that survived this year

I had little hope for any tree survival this year. Ground squirrels had pretty much killed my oldest apple tree last year. I planted daffodils around it and hoped. This spring the ground squirrels are around my oldest plum tree. It apparently didn’t have enough daffodils or we are breeding super squirrels. Either way, I was worried.

The wind is also up around here and by up I mean I’ve been concerned about the house breaking up several times already. I’ve begun thinking to myself, why do we live here? We should move. Yet, here we remain.

The specialty trees were in our fenced yard. I figured it was guaranteed to be bunny proof with our massive bunny chasing dogs in it. What I didn’t count on was a giant sized puppy deciding to go out and chew the top off of EVERY SINGLE TREE. Forget the bunnies, I need puppy protection.

So the specialty trees were dug up and moved to a fenced off portion and I simply hoped that not all of them were dead. I’m happy to report that more than half survived, including my biggest almond tree.

Almond tree

They look rough but leaves are shooting out of their perfect little trunks and I’m happy, happy, happy!

So we have a medlar, 3 plum and an almond tree that survived puppygedon.

Bees- Take 2

Last years bees didn’t quite work out. Not to be deterred we are trying again. This time we bought a small langstroth hive. When they outgrow it we will move the established colony into the top bar hive I built.

We had a lot of debate about where to put the bees this year. Last year we discovered ants had taken over the bee feeder. I was concerned about that this year as well. I researched the ants, as I had no idea what kind they were, and found they are Formica ants.

This years feeder has the same cage on it, to keep the birds away, but I’ve moated it off from the ants. The bees have the benefit of food and water all in one place as well. I thought it quite brilliant.

I also thought placing the bees in our established tree line was brilliant. I was told by members of the Southeast Wyoming Beekeepers Association that the hive needed morning sun. The wind absolutely howls from the west here and our tree line blocks most of it. Placing the hive up against our thickest line of trees for wind protection was brilliant. Elevating it above the lilac bushes in front, even better. We screwed a nice pallet into the spool we placed so that we are able to strap the hive down, keeping the lid from blowing off and the whole hive from blowing over. It also left a nice space for the feed/water. I’m tall so getting into the hive isn’t a problem. I did prop a nice pallet up for stairs should I need to get all the way up there. All in all I am extremely pleased with the set up this year.

Installation went much smoother this year as well. The only issue I had was the marshmallow falling out the second I turned the queen box over. I just quickly dumped half the bees on top and closed the lid. It took a few hours for everyone to make their way inside but it has been several days and they are still there. I’d consider that a success.

We don’t have much food available for the bees at the moment. Just some dandelions that I haven’t seen a single bee on.

The lilac are close to blooming and all indications point to a bumper crop of sweet clover, so they’ll be overwhelmed with food options soon.

All in all, a hopeful start to this years bee keeping.

Pig breeding failure

Our sow came into season in November. I had been checking her so I could figure out when piglets were due. I have to tell you, I could not tell she was pregnant for a really long time, however, based on mucus excretion I saw in November I believed we had piglets expected mid March.

So I began the process of separating the pigs. Holes had to be cut into the barn and a wall build. Not a huge deal except the weather was gross.

Eventually Tu-Tu (sow) was undeniably pregnant and her teets were begining to hang. This should have been an indication I was off on my timing but I was still pretty sure mid March was it for us.

Well, I wasn’t completely wrong. We had piglets in March. March 1st. I wasn’t home. Not expecting piglets I was out pretty much the entire day. I went out around 5p.m. to feed the pigs and Tu-Tu met me at the gate, as per the usual. I didn’t notice anything different about her. It wasn’t until I got the hose to get her fresh water that I heard screaming from inside the barn. I went in and there was a piglet screaming it’s head off. There were 2 other piglets who appeared to get stuck in one of the boards on the wall and I’m guessing froze to death before I found them. The living piglet seemed ok. Tu-Tu was eating her food with 0 interest in her piglet. The piglet was cold so I decided to take it inside to warm up while I rigged up some extension chords to the barn for a heat lamp. (We were struck by lightening and the power stopped working in the barn. We MUST fix that!)

Once the heat lamp was rigged up I grabbed the piglet and took it back out to Mama. She came over and they laid down together near the heat. I thought all was going to be well.

Coming back after dinner it was clear to me that Tu-Tu wasn’t doing well. She was shivering, grunting and digging, digging, digging. I thought she must still be in labor. I had to move the piglet back inside as Tu-Tu was burying it in her digging.

I went inside and did some Googling. Decided I should reach in and see if a piglet was stuck or if her uterine horns were twisted. I got some gloves and lube and headed out. I must say that was something I hadn’t expected would ever happen. I didn’t feel anything. Tu-Tu was still distressed. I stayed with her most of the night. I tried milking her for her piglet at one point. She would let me for a bit and then she’d have to dig again and fill my cup with dirt. She started to get feverish.

Of course, I dropped the bottle of penicillin and it splattered all over my kitchen. I had to wait until morning.

The piglet did not survive the night. Horribly depressing. Tu-Tu was still ill. Still shuddering and digging and breathing heavily. I went to Murdoch’s and got more penicillin (which is a story in itself that involves losing both of my kids and dropping 3 buckets on my daughters face). Giving a pig a shot is hard. They have thick skin. I broke the first needle off in my attempt. She also didn’t exactly stand there and take it. She ran. I did manage to get her with persistence. We managed to get one other shot into her before she never let us near her again. Pigs are not stupid!

I was pretty sure she was going to die. She didn’t. She seems perfectly fine now. Joey, a week and a half after her farrowing began tearing down the fences. He wrecked several fences and 2 gates. Eventually I gave up trying to keep them apart. The damage was likely done anyway.

So I guess we will see if we have more piglets and if any of them survive. I’d rather eat her, as I believe she’s a bad genetic candidate for motherhood, but the hubs thinks we’ve invested a lot in her and might as well give her another attempt.

The best roast you’ll ever make!

I’ve cooked a lot of beef roasts and there weren’t that many of them I was proud to claim, until now. This recipe has never, ever turned out poorly. I have essentially dumbed down a beef bourguignon recipe. This recipe has a few less steps and way less active cooking time required. You can vary the recipe with the variety of wine you use and how much of each ingredient you use as well.

Start by thinly slicing a large yellow onion into a dutch oven with some olive oil in the bottom. Add salt and cook until golden in color.

Next add mushrooms, carrots and cut bacon. Cook until the mushrooms start to brown. I don’t have an exact on any of these ingredients. It’s whatever I have and feel like cutting. I only had 2 carrots when I made this roast. The roast before it I used 5. Completely up to you.

Remove everything from the dutch oven, season the meat and brown on all sides.

I use a Hudson Bay Beef Spice mix from Savory Spice Shop.

Make sure you flip the meat. You may add butter at this time if the pan is dry.

Perfection! Add the onion/mushroom/carrot/bacon mixture back to the pan with the meat.

Now add the wine. Whatever red variety you have on hand. I have used Malbec, Merlot, Cabernet, etc. Red wine and beef, you pretty much can’t go wrong here. I add wine until there is about a 1/2 inch in the bottom of the pan.

Cook the wine until slightly reduced and add beef broth until the roast is covered.

Bring to a boil.

Cook in a 275 degree oven for about 6 hours. You can do longer or less time. I’ve never had it turn out badly.

Bon Appetit!

Kitchen Cupboards as Chick Brooders

As with most small holdings, chicks seem to be a never ending job. In the fall we killed every single bird we had, chicken, duck and turkey. The turkeys were fated for the table anyway. The ducks and chickens got themselves into that situation on their own. You see, the chickens were eating their eggs. We couldn’t figure out who was doing it so they all were culled. The ducks were laying their eggs in the pond and only the pond. I’d see them float to the top after they’d rotted. Not what I was keeping ducks for so they were also culled. At the moment we have pigs and peacocks and that’s it. Well that was it until yesterday.

I decided we needed to be more practical. No more random chick purchases and no more allowing the hens to hatch eggs (we had one hen that could hatch out 2 nests a year). We really only need 6 chickens for our personal egg consumption. I did not want to waste money getting a rooster either. So off to the feed store to pick up 6 red sex linked chicks.

I’d been checking the feed store for them so you would think I’d have prepped the brooder beforehand. I did not. Everything was a bit dusty and needed a rinse but it took only a few minutes to prep the old kitchen island for it’s newest chicks.

The chicks seem happy!

The island is large enough that even though the heat lamp is pretty close to them they can get away from it when they are hot.

View of the outside of the island here. I removed the drawers on the top and one of the doors for ventilation. I just used molding I already had to keep everything in place. Unfortunately the kids are always pulling the top screening down so they can peak in.

 

The following pics are of the nonworking brooder in the barn (nonworking as the power is out).

I just modified an over the fridge cabinet by extending half of it (again with things I already had hanging around). The extension is where I put the food and water. The bottom is hardwire cloth so everything just falls through to the barn floor.

I mounted the cabinet but had to use a bit of a prop for the extension I made.

 

So, if you don’t have any stock tanks or other containers around, old kitchen cupboards can find new life as chick brooders.

 

 

Adapting plans and what I have been up to

I have not given up on having a permaculture orchard here in Wyoming. I planted several experimental trees this year I have much hope for. I have not planted as much as usual though. Part of that is I really need to adapt my strategy to fit my reality.

A percentage of my trees do survive through the first rough year after being planted. I have been happy with this survival rate as it is better than what most people would expect from this area anyway. However, the growth rate is as low as the water they receive and they are so susceptible to animal death. My favorite and oldest apple tree was attacked by ground animals this year. I did go plant a ring of daffodils around it and it is not completely dead. Still, To see years of growth abolished so quickly is quite depressing. I believe with minor irrigation in the starting years I can really change the growth and survivability of my trees.

Now, I have limits on what I can water with my well. As such watering is going to be a scientific endeavor. We will be drip irrigating only the newest trees and only for the first few years. As such I will have time to execute and cover crop my earthworks while I wait for irrigation to become available to a new line of trees. We plan to start this in the spring and I will keep you updated on whether it makes a noticeable difference or not.

I have planted some experimental trees this year. We have 3 paw paw trees planted in the pig run next to the pond. I planted 2 almond trees, 2 hazelnut and 2 medlar trees in the yard. Those I have been watering. I’ve had some almond problems. Mostly that our dog appears to be convinced he is required to dig one of them up. We shall see if that tree survives to the spring.

As far as animals go this year we killed nearly everything in the fall. We no longer have any chickens or ducks. The simple reason being that I wasn’t getting any eggs anyway. The ducks were laying all of theirs directly into the pond and the chickens were eating theirs. The turkey, of course, went to Thanksgiving heaven. All we currently have is the two pigs and two peacocks (male and female). Hopefully we will have babies soon, from both.

I do intend to get more chickens in the spring but I am going to keep things under control now. No more babies, no more roosters. Just six sex-linked hens that will be replaced every other year. It was getting a bit ridiculous the other way. Who needs 25 chickens anyway?

Things are slowly marching on here. Spring should be interesting for me, discovering what has made it and what has not.