Tuesday, May 20, 2008

springtime is not for sissys

It's been crazy busy around here hence the lack of blogging...

Brian got the entire left hillside mowed no more scotch broom !!! the goats did about 3 acres and Brian finished the remaining 4 or so with the tractor!! you can actually see the tractor vs the goats where it's clear of brush but green that the pasture that thanks to the goats is nitrogen rich and very green ... so while the tractor isn't as "green" in how it leaves the cleared area sometimes you just have to get the job DONE!! and as brian says finished is perfect... so we are one tiny step closer to starting planning for planting!! yippie!



I got the garden in and am very excited to have things in the ground and growing and even flowering... and had a really great gift from my dad of a small tiller that works along side of the tractor's 5 foot tiller to get those small spaces and hopefully will also help me with year-round maintenance... thanks dad!!! ...

















our fruit trees have set fruit and I can wait for another year of apples and pears!! and now cherries too!! thanks to the new trees I planted last year...






Brian has also done it again and the pigs are happily out on pasture full time thanks to the latest mobile farm house ... the "pig-stream"... or maybe the "winnapigo" anhoo the pigs have a new mobile house and are now being rotationally grazed and this lot of pigs are just great and so fun and playful I really like them... : ) I think I will get this breed again .. excited to see how they finish and taste : )






the hitch for pulling the pig palace around with the gator






.... speaking of taste the new broilers are growing so fast it's like the are growing in front of my eyes! crazy...




Chief is home again after a few months of training he's defiantly more composed... but he is still for sale... I've been very picky with who buys him and it's made a little slow in that area... but I'm still hopfull we will find him the perfect home till then he's back out munching away...

















some bounty from a trip to Ca yummie!! : )

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Hey, thanks for the wonderful pictures, Clare! What is in the upside down fruit jars next to each corn plant? what is the first fruit pictured?
Millions of peaches on the tree, I'm thinning as high as I can reach, but I'm not getting on a ladder, no sirree!
Jack and Heidi say Hi!
lq

Clare Carver said...

ahhh LQ nice to hear from you... yeah ladders can be dangerous : ) that fruit that I think you are referring is an artichoke : ) it's it's first flower I started a bunhc of those from seed last year and they just sat but this year looks like I will get some chokes : ) the jars... now that's a careful eye... those had blood in them from the last pig slaughter that I saved when we bleed them I kept it in jars in a cool dry place and then as a bit of an experiment added it to about 3/4 of my corn ... kin of like blood meal I'm thinking... I'll keep you posted... I did plant fava beens inspired by you : )

ferenge mama said...

wow - you guys are ON FIRE! that hillside looks amazing.

and so exciting to see all the baby plants in your garden.

I LOVE the pig palace!

Anonymous said...

Fava beans make a great cover crop, and if you have lots of folks to help prepare, they sure are good! what a great idea to use the pig blood next to the corn - don't forget to let me know how they do. Did we talk about the oak tree I had planted in front? It's growing like a weed, looks happy, and Inks is the reason. I saved her for over a year, and the planters were so stoked when I told them I had something to add before they put in the tree. So Inks lives on!
lq

Joseph said...

WOW - I just can't get over that hillside. It is so wonderful to envision the larger plan... love to you both home soon

Joseph

Anonymous said...

Actually, I'm talking about the close up of the fruit, the picture right above the apple flowers (or maybe cherry flowers). I recognized the 'choke. The fruit doesn't appear to 'break' from the long stem attaching it to the tree, so just curious.
Lois