What did you eat for dinner?

I just watched an amazing movie. If you've seen it, you know where I am coming from. If you haven't, then you should. The name of the movie is Food, Inc. It was a rude awakening, and a slap in the face to what exactly I put in my mouth everyday. Now on some level, I knew it was bad. And that's why P and I are starting our farm, and next year our gardens. To have more control over what we eat. And to provide the opportunity for others to have more control over what they eat, and what they feed their children.
I am not a vegetarian...never have been, and probably never will be. But I can make the conscious choice every day of where my food comes from. Now, my small scale farm will not be built to keep up with demand of any product. All of my animals are, and will be treated with the utmost respect, and if anything are a tadbit too spoiled. But I can honestly say that if I couldn't get my food from my own farm, I would be seeking out another local farm. The following came from the end of Food, Inc.
“You can vote to change this system….three times a day.
Buy from companies that treat workers, animals, and the environment with respect.
When you go to the supermarket, choose foods that are in season. Buy foods that are organic. Know what’s in your food. Read labels. Know what you buy.
The average meal travels 1500 miles from the farm to the supermarket. Buy foods that are grown locally. Shop at farmer’s markets. Plant a garden. (Even a small one.)
Cook a meal with your family and eat together.
Everyone has a right to healthy food. Make sure your farmer’s market takes food stamps. Ask your school board to provide healthy school lunches.
The FDA and USDA are supposed to protect you and your family. Tell Congress to enforce food safety standards and re-introduce Kevin’s Law.
If you say grace, ask for food that will keep us, and the planet healthy.
You can change the world with every bite.
Hungry for change? Go to: takepart.com/foodinc"
Please take the time to go check it out. It's not too late.

The Love Machine and the Feathered Floozies

SIGH...I knew this would happen...and P is absolutely disgusted. Jun is trying to mount the girls. He pecks their heads (karma), until they submit, and then he climbs on them and flaps his wings. Fortunately that's it for now.
Last time we were down there, Patty called me over and told me Jun was being a jackass and attacking the girls. I explained to her what he was doing, and she couldn't believe it was such a violent act. I asked her what she was expecting...a moonlit walk on the beach? Dinner and a movie?
When I went down to see them today, some of the girls were squatting down and waving their butts in the air at him...sluts.
Today I collected 3 eggs. Not one of them was in a nest box. :/ Better luck tomorrow.

Is there an exterminator in the house???

I hate bugs....I'm sure on some deep level that is way over my head, all bugs have a purpose. But I'm tired of them...The biting flies, the yellow jackets, the mosquitos etc...
So last week I was pulling weeds and scotch broom along the dirt road... I went to take down a 4 foot Christmas tree, and I noticed the branches were moving. I looked closer, and it was ants. Big ones, all over the damn tree. They were even making little chains from branch to branch with their bodies. I followed the path on the ground, across the dirt road to the other side. About 6 feet off the road is a huge ant hill! It's probably 2 feet wide, and 2 feet high and it's made of pine needles. I took a close look at the ants so I could look them up online. They are red with black butts, and are similar to carpenter ants. They are "formica obscuripes". I went to the hardware store, and they recommended a liquid and a powder. I put a couple ounces to a gallon of water in our sprayer, and went to save the world...
Well the stupid sprayer didn't work right...and the ants were laughing at me and flipping me off...so I did the only thing that came to mind. I unscrewed the top off of the sprayer, and poured the whole thing out on top of the anthill. Laugh at that you little bastards!!! I then poured the white powder around the base of the hill, and all over the dirt road.
When P and I went down to the barn the next day, I saw one of the little beasts carrying a dead one across the road. Good...at least I knocked out one of them! P threw a rock at the ant hill, and HUNDREDS of them swarmed to the top of the hill. I guess next is PLAN B....

The dump

It was time again....Dixie had been parked on the side of the barn for so long that the vines had started to grow up inside her door. (It has only really been about 6-8weeks, but weeds are one of those things I'm freakishly good at growing.) We filled Dixie up with our junk from our various projects and headed out. On the way down the back dirt road I felt something cold and wet on my hand. I flung it toward Patty, (reflex I swear) and she screamed and slammed on the breaks. It was then that I saw she had a green tree frog on her knee, and I started yelling, "It's a frog!" over and over so she didn't think it was a tarantula or something. Poor thing had probably been living in the truck. So she caught it and let it go out the window, and we continued on our way.
We stopped at Starbucks, (duh) and went to the dump. It smelled quite ripe when we pulled into our spot. I started to pull the tarp off the truck when the guy next to me got out of his Chester Molester van and said, "Wow! If I had one of those camera phone things, I would take your picture! I have never seen a woman at the dump before, and my wife won't come with me, and she won't let me bring my sister..." (I didn't ask...the whole thing was too weird for me.) So P and I kept unloading the truck. One of the bags was huge, and when I threw it, it splashed me in the face. I about gagged. I wiped my face with my sleeve and tried not to think about what just hit me in the face. We kept goin and when we were done we went to get the oil changed. It had been 2 years, but Dixie was still within the 3000 miles! The guys at Oil Can Henry's said she was quite the farm truck. Everything in her was top of the line. We looked at each other and shrugged. P asked if they would check her belts...she screeched all the time turning and starting. It didn't bother me...and old truck is an old truck. P said it was embarrasing....I figured she (Dixie) thought she was on Dukes of Hazzard....
After the oil change we headed home...

A little help...

Well, instead of paying to fix the lawn mower, P had faith we could take it on ourselves. We ordered new blades, and last Saturday when I was working, she called me and told me that she had taken the deck off the lawn mower. (She knew better than to take that on when she was home alone, but she never listens!!!) She couldn't get the blades off...no matter what she tried. My friend from work Arnie offered to come help. He tends to feel a little fatherly, and since I had given him 3 huge bags of chicken poop the weekend before, I think he figured it was a nice way to pay me back.
So he came over and brought my other old friend Howie to help! Howie retired from the shipyard over a year ago, and it was so good to see them!! So they swapped out the blades, and then Arnie beat the crap out of the deck with a sledge hammer to get out the dent Mariah had put into it when she drove it into the creek bed... :/
It was quite a production to put the deck back on...and at the end there was an extra cotter pin. We looked at the manual and found a spot that was missing one.
Patty then gave it a test drive, (I figured the safest place to be would probably be riding it...) Considering it had old gas in it...it kept dying. Every time it died Patty would yell at the top of her lungs, "*$!@ JOHN DEERE!!!" Howie and Arnie thought it was quite funny...Me, well I'm used to it. :) We came to the conclusion that with a little gas treatment, the lawn mower will be as good as new. I hope to be able to mow this weekend!!! Thanks Arnie and Howie!!! and Patty Lou too!!!

In the palm of our hands...

WE GOT OUR FIRST EGGS TODAY!!!! 2 OF THEM!!! On our way home, Patty said, "I think today is the day we get our first egg! I wasn't feeling as certain. In fact, I was becoming a little worried because they hadn't started laying yet....
But when we went down there to fill the waterers, I peeked inside of the 6 nest boxes, and sure enough, in two of them the little wooden egg I had placed in there (to show them where to lay), had been pushed aside and there was a little egg in the middle. So I gently picked them up, and carried them out to P in my cupped hands. Her mouth fell open, and we both got a little teary....all our hard work was paying off! They weren't as small as I expected them to be...and they weren't misshapen at all! One is a slightly darker shade of brown than the other, and they are perfectly beautiful!
I let P carry them up to the house, and we took several pics of them. We've already discussed blowing out the insides so we can keep them forever....Kind of like bronzing baby shoes. :) Besides...soon...there will be more eggs than we know what to do with!!!

Not all who wander are lost...

I am so incredibly lucky...The other day I walked down my dirt road down into the field. My workboots kicked at the gravel and I took in a deep breath (probably activating my allergies). The 4 foot tall grass gently waved in the breeze, and the busy bees hovered from clover to clover and occasionally swarmed around my head. I heard the crow of Jun, acknowledging my arrival. I looked to the tops of the pine trees toward the puffy clouds, feeling the rare Washington sun on my face. After tossing the corn to the girls (and Jun), I braved my way through the tall grass and headed toward the orchard. I watched a mama quail and her brood run through the grass and saw other birds dart in and out of the trees...(hopefully eating all the damn mosquitos). I checked each fruit tree over...looking for any sign of fruit or disease. I crossed the field and checked my walnut trees, and the little silver maple my grandpa sent me that is now two feet tall. Sometimes I feel so overwhelmed out here...I don't know if I feel like I am 5 again, on the coolest adventure of my life, or if I feel 33 and all grown up...on the coolest adventure of my life...
The thought crossed my mind of laying in the grass...hiding from the world, and watching the clouds go by...but then again, ever since the whole tick event, I am not going to make access for them any easier than it has to be!
I realize every day that not everyone gets to live this way. I know it isn't "normal" that someone can step outside their back door, and pluck a blueberry off their own bush and pop it in their mouth. Or be able to look out their living room window and see a mama bird feed her chirping babies in a bird house I put up last year.
I've decided I want to make this available for everyone...I don't want all of you camping in my backyard...but I would love people to come visit...Someday I want elementary school classes to come visit and pet farm animals they've never seen before...for them to pick their own apples and sample some juice made from them. I want families to come pick out their pumpkins every year, and make my farm one of their family traditions.
I could die tomorrow...and I would be so satisfied that I have lived and have had what I always wanted....except for the new kitchen...and to make my own cider and trail mix...to have one of my own turkeys for thanksgiving....oh and to fix up my old truck...and to publish that damn novel...ok...maybe I'm not ready to die tomorrow... ;)
And I am so lucky to have P and my family to share it with...there is nothing better than having a hand to hold on my way back up that dirt road...

Chicken Fried and Sic 'em on a chicken

Two of my favorite songs lately are by the Zac Brown Band. I try to listen to this first song as often as I can. It makes me tap my toe, sing at the top of my lungs, and it rejuvinates me for whatever may come my way. It's a simple summary of how life should be. The second song is just funny. We don't play either song in front of the girls though. We don't want them to get the wrong idea, and we think if they did hear it, it may affect their "raised humane" certification. Besides...raised anxiety may cause their eggs to taste funny. Hope you check out these songs and enjoy them as much as I do....

CHICKEN FRIED
You know I like my chicken fried
Cold beer on a Friday night
A pair of jeans that fit just right
And the radio up
I like to see the sunrise
see the love in my woman's eyes
feel the touch of a precious child
know a mother's love.

Well I was raised up beneath the shade of a Georgia pine
And that`s home you know
Sweet tea pecan pie and homemade wine
Where the peaches grow
In my house it`s not much to talk about
But it`s filled with love that`s grown in southern ground
And a little bit of chicken fried

Cold beer on a Friday night
A pair of jeans that fit just right
And the radio up
Well I`ve seen the sunrise
See the love in my woman`s eyes
Feel the touch of a precious child
And know a mother`s love

Well its funny how it`s the little things in life that mean the most
Not where you live, the car you drive, or the price tag on your clothes
There`s no dollar sign on a piece of mind this I`ve come to know
So if you agree have a drink with me
Raise your glasses for a toast
To a little bit of chicken fried

Cold beer on a Friday night
A pair of jeans that fit just right
And the radio up
Well I`ve seen the sunrise
See the love in my woman`s eyes
Feel the touch of a precious child
And know a mother`s love

I thank god for my life
And for the stars and stripes
May freedom forever fly, let it ring.
Salute the ones who died
The ones that give their lives so we don`t have to sacrifice
All the things we love
Like our chicken fried

Cold beer on a Friday night
A pair of jeans that fit just right
And the radio up
Well I`ve seen the sunrise
See the love in my woman`s eyes
Feel the touch of a precious child
And know a mother`s love


SIC 'EM ON A CHICKEN
Sic 'em on a chicken.

Sic 'em on a chicken.

Sic 'em on a chicken and watch them feathers fly


Sic 'em on a chicken.

Sic 'em on a chicken.

Bring out the butter and the flour we're ready to fry.


My dog Pete is the smallest dog of all the dogs in my yard

He's a mean son' bitch

Drinks Beam and water from a broken mason jar


Sic 'em on a chicken.

Sic 'em on a chicken.

Sic 'em on a chicken and watch them feathers fly


Sic 'em on a chicken.

Sic 'em on a chicken.


Bring out the butter and the flour we're ready to fry.


I heard this awful noise coming outta the woods

I heard chicken screams and

Know it ain't gonna be good


Well I think we lost the chicken

Think we lost the chicken

Think we lost the chicken because I just heard a cry


Think we lost the chicken

Think we lost the chicken

but you can get another one for a dollar 79


In a couple of years his spurs have grown

He wasn't safe to keep around the house

When he almost took an eyeball from Lonny's son

Now I was sitting at home making fig preserves

And I'd heard that youngen get kicked in the face

And I knew that that was the day that chicken was going to get what he deserved


So I chased the chicken

I chased the chicken

I chased the chicken and Pete hit 'em from the side


I chased the chicken

I chased the chicken

me and Pete suppered on a home made chicken pot pie


Sic 'em on a chicken.

Sic 'em on a chicken.

Sic 'em on a chicken and watch them feathers fly


Sic 'em on a chicken

Sic 'em on a chicken

I can smell the kitchen and it's almost supper time.

The Wiley Coyote...

The little jackass...who the hell did he think he was messing with?! Does he not know whose farm he trotted on to?! I mean, I understand where he could have made the mistake...because the lawn mower is broken, the field does look like the outback...or the African planes....with the grass and bushes being 4 feet tall in some parts...but there was no way I was going to let that dingo eat my babies!!!
Last week I was at the sink, and looked down toward the barn and saw a coyote about 50 ft from the coop. It was about 6pm, and he was staring in their general direction. I called for Patty, and she ran for her camera. He must have heard a little coyote voice in his little coyote head that told him to keep trottin', because he turned in the opposite direction and started trotting toward the other end of the property.
Well, Jun being a little delayed, started crowing at that moment...when the danger was over. So we headed down to the barn to make sure they were all ok. Everyone was ok! Our first predator avoided! Bring it! (I shouldn't say that...next it may be a damn bear...)

The crow heard round the whole damn neighborhood...

Well...he won't shutup now. Most mornings he starts at 5:45 in the morning...and then he crows...for about 15 minutes...and then he stops for about ten minutes, and crows for about another 10. It's like hitting the snooze button.
We don't mind it...we can't hear it if the windows are closed. My only concern was my neighbors Bruce and Chris. They have been so good to us...and we look out for them...and they look out for us...and I would have hated it if Jun was keeping them up all day and night. So this past week I invited them over to see the girls and the coop. They knew we were getting chickens a long time ago, but when you have acres between you and your neighbor, you don't always see them. So I brought them over, and they fell in love with the girls right away. And they LOVE Jun. They love listening to him all day long.
I have to admit some days when he doesn't stop, I hope he will get little rooster laryngitis. But I think he does it when he is happy, and when he sees or hears a potential predator. AND he is walking perfectly now. Completely back to normal. But his head is still completely hen-pecked. We got a new treatment for his head that is suppose to taste bad. If that doesn't work...he is going to need to join a little feather club for roosters.