best of both worlds . . .

Love so many things happening on the farm, and elsewhere! Asher, and a new FOUTFOLK FARM friend spent a few hours butchering a goat the other day. It was a great experience for him to process another animal and help create a business here at the farm.

 And last week I took a few of my people to the BEST amusement park in the world! Cedar Point. Since they had not been to a park like that before, it was hard to get used to the crazy rides.

 Nolan, Cail and I spent most of the day riding the LARGE, FAST rides like this one.

Even though it is nice to go to the city, and do the park things once in awhile, it is still great to come home to the quite, peaceful farm. It's like we have the best of both worlds.

spring garden . . .

I am right in the midst of the whole 2014 garden thing again!  And it seems like spring comes, and then I am suddenly thrusted into the larger picture and find myself wanting to just till a small garden spot, and throw the plants in it.

Instead, I am going to stay focused, and continue to remind myself that I am doing the work for the future of the soil.  That I am not going to sell out and just "plant a garden" knowing that I am tearing away the life from the soil.  That I am actually trying to do something that BRINGS life back to this hard, clay ground.

These are the permanent rows that are going in the third garden spot. They appear diagonal but they are actually curved in an "S" shape.  We lay a two foot wide path of manure down and then space them with a two foot walking path that is covered with mulch.  This week I am in the process of covering the beds so that the grass and weeds won't have a chance to get any larger than they already are.

 The greenhouse is finished with the seed trays now.  I experimented with heat/temperature control in there and have now the ground mulched and electricity out to it.  I bought an electric blanket off of Ebay and am using it at a seed tray heater to keep the soil at an even 80 degrees.

 At night, when I have the lights on, it looks like a beacon for gardeners! It's about 300 feet from the house and it's pretty to see all lit up at night.  The beams of light shoot up to the sky refracting through the glass.

 And behind the greenhouse Gresham and I have made a wood sculptural obstacle course.  The disks of wood were dropped off by the tree company that gave me all the mulch. We arranged them so we could jump from one to another, and play follow the leader on them

Did I mention that I LOVE spring on the farm?

10 years later . . .

MANY years ago, Miss Leisa came on one of her many visits to the US.  That year was 2004.  And since she is here now, EXACTLY 10 years later, it was only appropriate to take another photo just like the one back then.  This photo is the one now, with some of the children grown, some a lot older, and a new addition to the family.  

ice skating . . .

Over the Christmas break this year I took the children ice skating. This is the seven year old at it!

Let it snow. . .

The weekend has brought another surprise, snow! Actually not a surprise at all, being that we have had PLENTY of snow these past couple weeks. Nevertheless, the aftereffect of the latest snowfall was BEAUTIFUL . . .

Our beautiful foal. . .

We now have an official "flock" of sheep!

These past couple days have been those of enjoying the snow, from the comfort of right next to the stove :)

Post by MacyAnne

Christmas break 2013 . . .

Christmas 2013 has come and gone . . . even though I am STILL on Christmas break!  The weather has been so cold here that school has been cancelled for now the THIRD day in a row.  Certainly no complaints from me.  In fact, it has given me a few days to do all the projects I have wanted to do over the break, but didn't do because I spent WAY TOO MUCH TIME watching online television shows.  :)

This past break started out with all of us sick for two to three days.  And then just about a day or two before Christmas we all got our "sorts" back and started watching the television series of ALIAS.  Three to four episodes a day, with some food and chores intermingled, made up most of the days.  We did do a couple of outings, like ice skating, and visiting friends, but most of the time was spent watching shows.  (now we are on the first series of LOST)

For Christmas this year I got the children the types of things they wanted/needed.  It seems the older they get, the harder it is to find things that they will enjoy and use.  I spend most of the year listening to the types of things they talk about, then try to use the information I gather to get them items the really want.  It is always a guessing game for parents, and I am glad that I have the type of children that are content with whatever I give them.  And this year was no different.  It seemed that they all were elated with what I got for them, and what they got/made for each other.

And we also made some newer updates to the house this season as well.  Since our oven went out several months ago, (we do have a basement kitchen with an oven/and a wood cook oven as well) I replaced the old oven with a new scratch/dent buy that I got a GREAT deal on.  And it was the EXACT same size as the hole in the cabinet.

 And since I replaced the oven with stainless steel, I sold the fairly new white refrigerator to a friend, and got the matching Frigidaire side by side refrigerator.  Something that I had originally wanted anyway.

 And then there was the white dish washer that we never used.  We always hand wash the dishes, so I removed the unit and replaced it with a storage barrel and our old style ice cream maker.  I plan to have a cabinet built in it that matches the rest of the kitchen.

 And since the children were young, we always had the same chairs/love seat that we used in the music room.  They are all older now and often spend time in that room playing music with friends.  I wanted to create a more comfortable place for them to "be," so I replaced the older pieces with a couple of gently used items.  A friend from town that owns a used furniture store gave me a great deal on some used Ashley Furniture pieces that now complete the music/living room.

 And today was the day to take all the decorations down.  :(  I LOVE having Christmas decor for the holiday time.  Down came the tree, and the snowflakes that the children cut and taped to the door.

I am jazzed that I have another day of this break time tomorrow.  I'll probably spend the time shoveling so I can drive the car down the lane for school on Thursday.  That's IF we have it!

just a farmer . . .

So today I am taking in some of the scrap metal that we have in our woods.  It has been three years that I have wanted to get it out, and this summer is the time.

As I am on the way to the metal recycle plant, the phone company men that are working on the new poles slow me down and have me drive on the side of the road so as not to get hit by a loose pole, or their truck.  I recognized the guy who was waving me to the side because he had been to the farm to buy eggs a few weeks earlier.  He lives in Toledo, Ohio, a large city on the north part of the state.  To him, I am just a guy that sold him eggs from my farm.  He has no idea that I spent most of my life in a large city.  In fact, several times larger than the one he now lives in.

So as I pass slowly by, I lean a little out of the window and say "hey boss" and wave a little.  He responds with a nod and a "hey" back.  And after passing, I look in the rear view mirror and hear him say "hey, you are that farmer guy . . ." as he remembered that he had bought eggs at my farm.  To him, I am a farmer.  I am not a teacher.  Not a professional in any way.  To him, just a plain farmer.

And I drove on down the road a little honored.  :)

hot days . . .

Since it has been really hot the past several days, I moved the cooking to the basement kitchen.  A few nights ago we had deep fried zucchini, onion rings, and bass fish.  It was great to be in a somewhat cool room while the deep fryer was on.

And deep fried zucchini is one of my ALL TIME favorite fried foods.  I sliced them in a french fry cutter and used a light batter of flour, milk, garlic, salt and pepper.  I fried them crispy (because we all like them that way) in a deep fryer full of peanut oil.  Dipped in a little ranch style dressing . . . OOH they are good!

And to break the evening heat, a couple of days ago I sat out front with some great neighbors/friends enjoying some Redd's Apple Ale.  Dar and Darlene live a few miles down the road and have been a wonderful couple that have made all of us feel welcome in our home in NW Ohio.  They are not only kind/welcoming people, but they are also very giving people.  That evening they brought over some extra zucchini and cucumbers from their garden to share with us.

in the wind . . .

 Call me crazy, but I love doing laundry.  Especially the line drying part.  There is something wonderful about air-fresh smelling sheets, towels, and clothes.  And I enjoy the stiffness that comes with it as well.

 Last year in July,  I taught Maine and Asher how to sort clothes, and how to use the washer.  The older three had already learned how to wash their own clothes.  The next step on the country venture was to make use of the natural dryer.

We had two makeshift clothes lines and I required all of the children (except Gresham) to line dry their clothes.  I was hoping to transfer my laundry passion and they too would be hooked on clothes that smelled and felt FRESH.  We were using natural Charlie's Soap for all the washing and trying to use as many natural products in the house as possible.  And as of two days ago, it has been a year since we have used the basement dryer (minus a couple of emergency situations).

I had the poles made three years ago our first summer here.  They just sat in the machine barn until a month ago.  Each of the children spent a little time digging holes for me and Asher and I set the poles in concrete.  It took me so long to get them in the ground because I wanted to make sure the line was put in an efficient, assessable place.  It had to be running north and south, and somewhat close to the basement door.  And it looks like I found a great spot for it!  The clothes WHIP in the wind, and when it is warm out, they dry in minutes.

In addition, Macy and I started on the second pergola last weekend.  I had her help me erect the uprights and attach one of the cross beams.  I had the wood purchased from the first one I built and so it was a matter of just putting it together.  Once I am finished I will be able to plant some trumpet vines along the bottom of it like I did the other.  My goal is to have the vines take over the structure so it creates a shady spot to rest in while working in the garden areas.

only on a farm . . .

Butterscotch has a new little baby to tend to now.  One that does not look like the rest!  But certainly has joined the rest in getting some of mother's milk.

Our retriever is an avid hunter.  She captures and brings back all sorts of animals for us to see.  Most of the time she just plays with them.  If she is hungry, she eats them.  The other day she brought up a little baby bunny for us to check out.  Gresham noticed that she had brought her up to the house, and brought the little animal in the house to show me.  WHILE I WAS STILL IN BED.  :)

The children decided to let the cat mother her since she was so small.  So far so good.  She licks her, nurses her, and carries her around like she does all the other kittens.  Fascinating how all that works.

So now all we are waiting on here on the farm is our milk cow Janey to calve.  She is due any time now.  And it will be nice to be back in milk at the house.

This spring we have had:  10 puppies, 5 kittens, 2 sheep, 1 foal, and our soon-to-be calf.  Yeah for farm life.