My husband went on his first hunting trip this past Sunday. He came back empty handed but very happy. He got a whole day to himself in nature, what can be better than that? We would very much like to get one, hopefully two, deers for the freezer by the end of hunting season. I …
Can you freeze onions? A friend asked me. Yes! You certainly can, and it’s extremely simple. Our onions weren’t huge this year. I simply lost the weed war, and the onions had too much competition. It was also very wet, so some of them rot in the ground before it was time for picking. However, …
Spring is definitely in the air. We already had a couple of very warm days. Everything is starting to grow and before long we will be battling weeds, and wishing for a cool day. It is hard to believe only two weeks ago the farm was covered in snow. Or should I say ‘Southern snow’ …
First Year of Farming For Profit – Picking Up the Ruins Read More »
This is the first year I am growing yellow onion in my garden. Last week was time to harvest and store my yellow onion. In Spring of 2013, I planted onion seeds in my garden. They didn’t grow so well, and at the end of the season I harvested little, baby onions. Basically, I had onion …
Cleaning and storing dry garlic is super easy. Many of you guys liked my previous garlic post: Harvesting and Curing Garlic so I thought I’ll show you the final step of cleaning and storing the garlic harvest. To remind you, I planted my garlic cloves last Fall. For us here in the South, November is the …
Last November, right before the first frost, in the middle of the month, I planted garlic in one of my garden beds. It was very easy to do, you take a garlic clove and stick it in the soil, root side down about 6 inches from the next one. And that all there is to it.
The garlic sprouted only a few days after I planted it, but then overwintered in the ground all Winter long. It didn’t grow at all but it didn’t die either. Once the weather started to warm a bit in the beginning of Spring, the garlic started growing again.
My garlic share the bed with peas and the soil is covered with leaf mulch. I have to note here that this worked really well, both the garlic and the peas were happy and the mulch (which is basically dry Fall leaves) made it a no-work bed. I didn’t have any weeds and I didn’t have to water at all.
Yeah, you read right. But don’t go vomit just yet, it is a serious topic.
You see, motherhood is not always pink and shiny. Even when the subject is a cute little girl in a cute purple skirt.
We went for a walk a few days ago. We were on our way home when I noticed that it was kind of quiet. I was enjoying the warm sun when I realized Maya wasn’t talking up a storm next to me. That meant something was wrong.
I looked behind me. She was standing still about 20 feet away with a weird expression on he face.
“Come on Maya, what’s wrong?” I asked.
“I am just eating my boogers mommy,” she replied.
“You WHAT??? Yuck Maya! Disgusting! Awful! Don’t do that!” I said while fighting a gag reflex.
“But why?” She asked innocently.
We had an extremely busy couple of weeks around here. I am not even sure I can put my finger on what made us so busy…. The new locksmith store? The kids? Planing the trip to Israel? I guess a little bit of everything. We reached the weekend with our tongues out, ready to be together and relax.
I was also looking forward to the sheep herding class I signed up for a few weeks ago. I know nothing about sheep or sheep herding. I didn’t even know if I want sheep, but when I saw the class offered, I thought a trip to the country and a visit to a local farm will be just what I’ll need for a little me-time.
Well, now I want sheep and to learn how to herd them!
I had so much fun and was amazed at what I learned. I thought we will be going for a walk in the field, gathering sheep and moving them from here to there, learning “their” language. But I was wrong.
Here is what I’ve learned:
These are St. Croix and Katahdin hair sheep. They are a heritage breed raised for their meat and not wool. They do very well in NC and this is why Samantha, the owner of Bull City Farm chose them. The rams will be sold for meat at about 10 months and the ewes will be bred around 13 months. They are 100% grass fed with a bit of alfalfa and hay to supplement during the winter months.
This beautiful donkey is their protector. She lives with the sheep and will attack predators by kicking them with her front hooves (lamas will do the same). She is also very loud. It is very important to make sure the donkey is vaccinated against rabies since they may come in contact with raccoon, wolves or other wild animals.
