Moving animals

I often post on the blog "we moved the chickens, cows etc today" but I never really post the blow by blow of what that means!! - in case you thought I was getting way to hearts and flowers about this farming thing : )

For one thing we spent all weekend moving animals and we moved the chickens, horses and cows (the pigs got moved last week which was good they needed a new spot)



so it's a LOT of work it's a little less in the summer but in the winter the cows and horses are all the way at the top of the #&$@%##!@# hill so it take a good bit of time and a bit more schlepping now that the gator is dead (thanks a lot Michael) ahh well my butt is better off for it...

sooo here's goes...



Chicken moving
a. take down old fence this is a two person job - if you try to do it by yourself you are most likley to fall down in a heap of netting cursing and roling down hill
b. pick up all the bits -- stakes, chalks for wheels, ramp note these items are usually a little bit slimy with chicken poo!!
c. hike around and get into a sometimes heated discussion with hubs about best spot to move the chickens to next
d. hitch up bus on tractor raise legs and drag to new spot - this parts pretty low stress..



e. schlep posts, ramp and fence etc to new site this is my job while brian drives the tractor to the new site - I want his part of the job

f. level bus with jack and lowering legs (this usually evokes some pretty fine expletives from brain as we need a new jack) and also where he tells me about his new design and how much better it's gonna be (which it will I KNOW)- this is after his 100 other projects of course...

g. put up fence again - by this time we are typically so glad to be almost done and not talking all that much - except for Brian saying we need to charge more for these eggs!
z. let out the birds!! our favorite part they all pile out and go every which way with great enthusiasm! chickens moved now it's time for bacon and eggs!! (and today a bloody mary which may explain brian's hay stack interlude see below)



ok so now onto the cows and horses!!



a. Hook up trailer to tracter buck hay into it with a couple paletts to stack hay on up at new site and tarp it - this is for winter time supliment when they need a little extra to stay warm...
b. Fill up water tank - after you rinse it out which is always a fun job in winter - drive that up the hill too - I'm planing this blog post while brian does this part : )
c. Move animals houses this involves pulling stakes and lifting a 500# house onto the tractor hitch (I LOVE this part - I bend my knees for sure!!) then brian drives it to where it needs to go and I walk along side with a guide rope trying to both not fall on my face as I tromp through the scotch broom along side trying to spot this crazy thing and keep it balanced as we bump along... (i had given up my spotting position to take this photo )



d. something always goes wrong this time the track came off the crawler... that's always fun too... thank goodness brian knows how to fix just about anything...



e. now after all that brian needs a nap!! - josephine thinks this is a fine idea..







f. now moving the actual fence! - take down all the hot tape pace it out in new spot!! my favorite part of this is as you are dragging around about 50#'s of long loose coils of tape it get's wraped around something and you trip and fall on your face -- LOVE that part!

g. pull up all the old t-posts and the white step in posts - schlep them to new fence line straigt up hill stopping like every 20 feet so you don't' have a freggin heart attack!...

h. puond in new posts note ear plugs prevent you hearing your husband asking "why we are doing this anyway?" as he weed wacks behind you under the new fence line...




i - move water troughs to new spots - today I honed my rolling a stock tank uphill technique!! (due to the fact that the gator is done broke we couldn't use that like we usually do thanks michael )
j- move animals to new site which typically not bad as they like a new spot to graze - today this was thankfully uneventful!! ahh it's the little things that make us smile!



The goats are next up for a pasture move... in the mean time they aren't complaining too much as they are getting hay till we get them in a new spot!



So yup we're crazy - and thank goodness I have a short memory so I will keep doing this...

officially 'working the land' and fozzy the bear

So every time I look at my cow Josephine (especially in winter) I think of Fozzy the bear - she's a VERY friendly cow and her ears just make me think of that particular fuzzy Muppet... see what you think - any comparison to you??





speaking of hair! sometimes I wonder how this guy sees ...





sooo in other farm news - Duane (once again) has hooked me up!! He found me the exact harrow for my place and a great deal on it to boot! that's the benefit of having done this farming thing for generations - Thanks Duane!... It's a pasture harrow which is perfectly suited to the type of work we are doing with rotational grazing --it's used for working up ground that 's been grazed, aerating as just spreading manure around to fertilize and work in it (which is what we did today) it's pretty wet so we didn't work a lot just experimented with a small piece - I have a few adjustments to make to the chain length etc but as usual the boys where super stars!! So we are starting to get them working around here in useful ways perhaps the hubs will stop calling them 'the stinks' and say "hey can we use your horses".. that will be when I KNOW we've arrived ...





my friend Laura has been coming over and working the horses with me as there is safety and more fun in numbers - she also has been taking hummer for short rides after we work which is great for him!





I think there's somethin' going on between these two I saw this sappy lovey look in hummers eye today when Laura showed up- and he looks pretty happy when she on his back... and I know Laura loves hummer - I understand he's solid GOLD!



This is just a farm shot at the am feeding - I crack up almost every morning I show up with my bucket of grain for the girls they come all at once and they really make a lot of noise with there feet I swear I can feel the rumble as 100 chickens come running at me in the morning... it is about 500 to 600 #'s of chicken after all : )

wow - thanks!

Big Huge Thanks to the Oregonian and to Kathleen who writes a great NW food blog - for the food day feature of this blog - I was stunned and humbled!! now I better start posting things of value.. eshhh pressure is on... hummm well instead I'll just post this evenings activity-- most folks hang out and watch a netflix not us we spent our evening pealing lemons - why you ask -- 'the nector of the gods' lemoncello - : ) if you've had lemoncello and it's been harsh or bitter try another one - there's a LOT of room for error in making this sweet wonderful drink ...


tonight evening activity- you can see it takes a LOT of lemons to fill one jar


a past 'vintage' consumed of course : )

Santa Monica here we come

Brian and I have a work trip planned in a few weeks and I'm VERY excited!!! (big thanks to my brothers and Mary for volunteering to farm sit!!)

It's a wine festival were we will stand all day greeting people and pouring our wine so yes it's work BUT it's a trip together were we get on an airplane and go somewhere where I don't have to do chores and we sleep in a hotel room (see below)!! - it's only a day and a half BUT that's as close as I've gotten to a vacation with Brian in years so I'll take it!!


our hotel!!


(the pool I DO NOT plan on using with my white Oregon body)

So we fly Saturday the 16th do a staff tasting at Tin Roof Bistro who carries our wine and then stay for dinner which should be nice! -


Tin Roof Bistro

and then Sunday is the Pinot Days tasting event... so all you that live in LA come on out this is your chance to taste our wines (and 74 others at your disposal) !!

Cliche YES

so it's new years and I'm revisiting an old resolution that is well quite frankly pretty darn cliche...

I'd like to loose those extra inches I seem to have acquired which I largely blame on my husband for all his amazing cooking and wine -- do keep up the great work Brian and I'll try to control my self a tiny bit as well as adding back into my daily routine 'the slog up the big hill'

I'm bringing back the quarter jar for those of you who have been following this blog since the beginning... This was one of my very first posts...



I went to dinner just before new years at our friends kurt and natalie's house and quite frankly she has totally inspired me - she like I, is knee deep into food and wine... and she just ran a marathon last year and managed remake her body into the thing of beauty that it is... she spoke of wearing her bikini on her recent trip to Mexico... just the thought of one of those makes me cringe... so Natalie here's to you and the new me in 2010...

new years eve at Big Table

Our fiend John G. came in town from Napa and brought with him the lovely Chelsea - we where honored to have Padberg (of park kitchen) on a rare night off leading up the charge in the kitchen and generally had a great time... great crew and very memorable evening and next day ;)


ok - ready set cook!!


'sabered' or in this case 'macheted' the champagne


some BTF bacon what's a meal with out bacon in nearly everything...


john g whipped up some starters with praws


wine lots of amazing wine - I think it was 9 bottles to 7 people ... or something like that hard to remember... not counting lemoncello and bubbles


rabbit, chestnuts, Jerusalem artichokes and other loveliness


home grown blue potato gnocchi


makin' the gnocchi



umm with some kind of cream sauce dave whipped up for the gnocchi - 2010 start cardio for sure...






the home raised bird we roasted as if rabbit and chestnuts wasn't enough


Bill lead the charge with the pyrotechnics! : )


new years day Chelsea shot the last shell in the house...


Dave's rabbit creation!!


a few of the contenders - for the geeks out there brian threw down with a marcassin pinot and john with the lastest 100 pointer from schrader wowzers!


beet and kale dish - ummm yeah



and last but not least john and chelsea watch out my friend this girl means business...

here's to another year - may we continue to be blessed with amazing food and friends!! -
and may my quarter jar at the top of the hill get filled up...