Not to be out done by Tractor Thief, who hinted to Clarence that if I change my attitude he might come out to finish cutting my wood, I built a rocket stove instead. With only 3 cords of the 20 cut and stacked, I had to act quickly. Snow had already fallen. The rest of the wood may be a waste now from the weather but I'll do what I can. I'm getting quite good at chopping but bought a manual wood splitter to cut smaller pieces for the new stove.
Had no time to blog, had to deal with winter at my heels and no tractor to do the necessaries. I loaned out my tractor which took 2 months to get it back. My hand forced, I had to call the police after lie after lie from, I'll call him, Tractor Thief.
He hid the tractor from view on his property, which meant that police would have to obtain a search warrant and that takes time. He screwed himself in the end though and accidentally called 911 while he had it out. The officer that took the call, by law, has to check it out anyway and it turned out to be the same officer that I reported the tractor stolen to. HA!!! He called Clarence right away, asking him to bring a 5 gallon can of gas and to drive the wrecked bucket to Tractor Thief's town home to fix it right quick. Instead, Clarence called the garage to pick it up and get it fixed proper. I was going to get a cop costume and meet the boys there but they had already picked it up. Would have made for some great pictures for the blog. The next day was Halloween and we had our first major snow storm. Still it was nice to have my tractor back on the farm. Damages were over $1000 and still counting. Split bucket, blown hoses, he continued to drive it without hydrolic fluid and I'm still working on getting a bent rod fixed as a result. It was already serviced last spring and in perfect running order. Another payment, along with all he helped himself to here that I couldn't afford... from the goodness of his heart. He has a history, from what I was told by everyone who felt bad for me, of scamming people. Poor Clarence lost his new chain saw too, on a promise of payment, part in cash, part in help to ready him for the winter...neither happened. What a greedy bastid. Looking into getting a heated cab and the fenders put back on with it's lights that Tractor Thief removed. Your tractor is like your spouse. NEVER lend it out and those who rape it, should be castrated. A big shout out to Joey Peron and Roger Laporte for bringing gravel to re-build a bank against the house and fill the pot holes. This was not something I could afford. God Bless them BOTH! This also means, fun time on the tractor with the loader for Gilles when he visits next week from Ottawa, Ontario. Yee Haw! After inspecting the culvert/bridge that I had built last year, Roger decided it could hold his truck. Man, was I nervous he'd fall through! "Come on, girls, get out of the way! A nail biting moment but the bridge was solid. I won't forget to shake Charlie's hand next time I see him for building it from old railroad ties that were already here. Job Well Done, Charlie! This was a great sight to see. When Roger finished, he got out of his truck again and told me about the history of this homestead. At least nine children were raised here at Brentwood farm, originally, a hundred years ago and some of the offspring are still around. Their family name was/is, Deuchenes (not sure if I spelled that right and yes, it's French...I think). He told me how the homesteads around here, including this one, used to spend three to four weeks in the Fall going to each others' farm to help thrash. The four foot nothing matron here, cooked a big meal for the boys and Roger himself shared in one of them at a long table outside the summer kitchen. He said, all farmers agreed, she made the best food of all the farmers wives and her name was...wait for it...Julia. We finished with his questions about what I was doing here. "Your goats are so friendly, I can't get over it!" he kept saying. How many do you have?" Even man-hater, Greta was showing good manners. "Thank you, they sure are, ten," I answered, looking proudly at Greta, "six kids and four adult females." I stumble under the correct terminology. "And you're alone? You did all this by yourself?" He was referring to how the log house farm looked now by swinging his arm out. "No, angels like you drop in, to visit and help me out." *** I sent you to reap that whereon ye have not laboured: others have laboured, and ye are entered into their labour. John 4:38 I shook Roger's hand in gratitude, more maybe, for the story of this homestead's hundred year old history than the gravel he brought. Here's some free advertising for him. If you need gravel and live up this way, (near North Bay Ontario), call Roger LaPorte. He deserves your business! Thank You So Much, All Of You! Last but not least, I made my first pot scrubber out of the baling twine piling up from the barn. That's not where I keep my pot scrubbers... I just didn't know how else to pose it for a decent picture. My sisters are better at decorating than I am. Jacob and Samuel
These were my first two goats, Alemy and daughter, Mary who arrived in June of 2013. Then one day, Greta showed up on my doorstep, looking for a home. And finally, Bella needed a new home. She was doing poorly when she came here and struggled through the winter, so she was not going to be a nanny. I decided, I wouldn't ever let her have kids because of her weak back legs. She improved drastically through the summer with fresh greens, colloidal silver treatments, (How to make colloidal silver here; http://brentwoodfarm.weebly.com/blog/how-to-make-your-own-colloidal-silver ) and I put apple cider vinegar in her water. I kept her separate from the others until she was stronger but she was very lonely. She's such a gentle goat. The most gentle of them all. I'm thankful too that she has the longest horns. With a fence that separated them all, she stayed as close to it as she could. When the others tried to bully her, she held her ground well. She doesn't go after anyone and likes to just be in their company. As they all escaped the fence anyway, in the end, they all ended up grazing contentedly, together. The three expecting mothers, early May. This old fence was useless. By the end of May, Greta was laying down in the field to rest while she ate. Greta was the first to have her kids, May 26th and the first kid born at Brentwood Farm was Samuel. I was in the barn, building their birthing pens, (from pallets of course) when she went into labor in the main area. I led her into her new pen and sat with her. I didn't know what to do. Sit with her or leave her alone. She definitely didn't want to be alone. She bawled every time I stepped out. So I stayed beside her to comfort and encourage her. Welcome Princess Ella, Greta's second kid. And then there were three. I knew nothing about goats and what I learned from experience was, if they suckle from their mother, leave them with their mother but I left Greta with one and bottle fed Samuel and the smallest that I named, Emma; on the advise of online farmers that I later learned, knew about as much as I did. Two days later, I came out to the barn to feed everyone and found Mary with her single kid in the back shed with all the junk that was yet to be cleaned out. She was named, Rose Bud. Alemy, I was most worried for, even though she was experienced and the mother of Mary, who had Rose Bud. Three weeks later, she finally had her two kids and again, the chosen spot was in the back shed where all the junk was. These goats were all bred by a Lamancha buck, they being Saanan and up until now, the kids all had lamancha ears. Alemy had a boy, Jacob and this little girl, Rachel, who ended up with Saanan ears and looked more like a donkey than a goat. Alemy was the only one who had kids with Lamancha colors and these were a chocolate brown, with white markings the rest were all white. These next few pictures are of Rachel getting used to her legs and finding her mother's teat, with a little coaxing from Mamma. Ten days later. One month later. Jacob and donkey girl, Rachel. And then there were ten goats on Brentwood Farm. Bottle feeding Emma and Samuel's big sucky kiss. Samuel, 2 days old. Aren't I handsome? Greta, taking Princess Ella out to meet the sun. Alemy in the background hadn't had hers yet but she was very motherly towards Mary's baby, Rose Bud. Social time. 2 weeks old. Jacob and Rachel weren't born yet. I stuck a board there to seerrrrrrrrrggfffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff if they would be curious enough to climb. Sammy was the first to go near it. Aha! I think I can climb this. And run down sideways. Princess, prancing My bottle babies, Samuel and Emma can hear me calling them but haven't quite seen me yet. Here they come! We see you Mama! Got some milk? After Jacob and Rachel joined the rest of the herd, things were pretty smooth...until,
"Who the hell is that." I hope you enjoyed the story. I didn't think it would work but in the first summer on Brentwood Farm, my no tilling, no weeding, no watering, Jhinn Garden was sprouting...then the goats ate it. My harvest that year were a few turnip. Goats are escape artists and after too much energy spent in trying to keep the goats fenced in their field, I gave up and put up a pallet fence around the garden. what they didn't see, didn't peak their curiosity . Having a garden made from hay, holds moisture in and feeds the plants you're allowing to grow, while choking out the weeds that were once there. In my case, I had a lot of burdock and as their roots are deep, this method rotted large cavities that let new roots from the garden stretch. Before I even began to plant, I was harvesting mushrooms. It's inviting for worms and I can't imagine doing my garden any other way. These are the double pallet gates between the corn and sunflowers. This is Lance. He and his boys came out to help around the farm in return to hunt on the property this fall. He built the first side of the garden fence while the boys hauled out the lawn mower and weed wacker. I cleaned out pens, lugging wheel barrows of goat litter to lay in rows. It doesn't have to be used hay, it can be unused as well, it all goes to compost to feed the plants. Make sure you let it sit for a couple of weeks before planting, to give it a chance to decompose and begin to settle. Matching pallets for an attractive fence. Not that it mattered, my wee fat beagle, Chloey could slip out to hunt porcupine and I ended up having to add boards to close up the spaces anyway. Spring rains sped up the decomposition of the hay but it was still cold in Northern Ontario. I used a mixture of clay and soil to make small, wet dirt balls with a corn seed in the middle of each and set it in the hay. Then I leaned old windows over them to keep them warm. The fence that is already up was for the dogs. The plan was that in the winter, the Jhinn Garden would be open to them to have a bigger area to run but eventually, a run path will be put around the garden for them to patrol around the house. Oops...a crooked row. I used the lawn mower between the rows but eventually, it all got filled in with hay during the course of the summer. Corn and sunflowers are up and windows were transferred over the tomatoes that were ready to go in. Beans were planted after this to climb the corn stalks. Kale at the far left, then tomatoes and two different kinds of squash and zucchini. The beauty of veggies sitting on top of the hay. Not rotting vegetables. They keep dry while moisture is held below. A peek into the Jhinn Garden. Maybe not a pretty picture but the garden is harvested and the frost is upon us every night now. The Kale is still doing well but tastes better with a little frost. In the upper left and along the back is apple tree cuttings, under fresh hay to protect them. In the spring, the survivors that rooted will be transplanted to create, Omen Orchard. This was taken September 20th, 2014. See you next year, Jhinn Garden. A big thank you, to Shelia from North Carolina for the wool and down filled comforter. Here's my first seat cover to dress up an old chair. Thank you, Shelia.
I came here on my quest with just the clothes on my back and my dogs but people kept sending me furniture to the point I had to ask them to stop before it got too cluttered. Regardless, I am grateful I don't have to sleep on the floor anymore or ask people to pull up a stump from the wood pile to sit on to drink their coffee or tea. The down filled comforter Shelia sent was one of the most precious gifts I was given for these cold northern winters. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Big, big hug. xo Use colloidal silver for antibiotics and health maintenance and cedar tea for asthma and chest colds. I have a 75 yr old man living here who no longer needs his puffers. I was reminded also of the potent properties of oregano for the chest so it won't hurt for you to add oregano too to your cooking, if you're ailing.
Easy to make your own colloidal silver. It kills over 600 different bacterium and parasites. Reverses tooth decay too and I've saved many animals on the brink of death with it. Back in the early 1900's it was sold for $100 an ounce until it was noticeable how well it worked. The demonization of it went into full throttle and articles and pictures were circulated of people with blue/silver skin. (You'd have to drink gallons a day to achieve this affect). Swish it under your tongue before swallowing, as it will reach the blood quicker than just swallowing. A tsp a day is all you need. 1 tbsp of it added to 5 gallons of water will keep your water pure and bacteria free. Homemade Colloidal silver You'll need 4 x 9 volt batteries 4 alligator clips/wired together, 2 clips per end. 2 silver coins or silver rope or spoons or high grade silver jewelry. You'll know it's right if it developes bubbles on one side and it goes black during the process. Distilled water. Snap the batteries together, positive to negative Attach aligator clips to batteries, positive to positive/negative to negative. Attach the other 2 clips to the 2 silver coins or silver rope or silver spoons. Don't let them touch each other. (I use a chip bag clip. Submerge in Distilled water without getting the clips wet. For 2 cups of distilled water, allow it to sit for 45 minutes. Adjust time according to ammounts. After the time is up, remove the silver and stir. Let sit 15 minutes before bottling. Use dark glass bottles as sunlight weakens it. Should be the palest yellow in color. I swish an ounce in my mouth everyday. Kills bacteria and heals cavities, plus, under your tongue, it reaches the blood much faster. Cedar tea Use the green, picked off the branches, steep it in a kettle of water on the stove. If you have a wood stove, even better. Leave some on all the time. The moisture in the air will keep your throat protected. You can call it rocket science without the brains if you like but here's the method I use for making apple cider vinegar. It's basically making apple wine or cider and letting it age to vinegar before bottling, the homesteading way.
You'll need a 5 gallon bucket, apples, sugar, yeast and water. (And a towel to keep fruit flies out). Mash about 20 cups worth of apples and add to a 5 gallon bucket. (Cooked in a little water, if you're doing it on your own muscle). Fill the rest of the bucket with warm water. Add 2 kg sugar (approximately 2 pounds) 1 tsp yeast (you can get fancy and get special wine yeast but my bread yeast works just fine) Stir Cover with a towel. I loosely placed lids on top of the towel to keep the cats from jumping in. It will start working right away. You can taste test it once a week until the yeast eats all the sugar and turns from wine/cider, to vinegar. Bottle with the mother (gunk) or strained. I these four buckets to add a half cup to the goat's water for the winter, to keep them healthy. Enjoy! Thanks to the folks for their advise, I pulled my coveralls back on over my clean pajamas and headed back out to the barn for a bale of hay, to cover the tree cuttings that were planted the day before. We had a heavy frost, as expected with frost warnings still in effect as of 7:30 AM. You can still see the frost in this picture, between the rows with a patch or two on top of the trees cuttings. Picture taken at 8:00 AM.
Whether they root and survive the winter is anyone's guess but I dug up two of each kind and put them in pots in the house. Crossing fingers that some make it through the winter, indoors or out. Another suggestion I will follow through on, was to build wooden long houses, tee pee'd over them and to fill them with hay. As pallets are my best friends, that's what I'll use. Thank you everyone, for your help. Weather warnings are out for flash flooding and lots of rain today but for now, it's still sunny. Before 8:30 AM, I had the apple tree cuttings planted in a bed made of hay, then horse manure, then topsoil. Before winter, they'll be blanketed in hay. Although it looks crowded, this is a temporary home to start these tree cuttings, nabbed from very old heirloom trees from North Bay that were being destroyed. I watched this happen in Ottawa, (tree annihilation) when I lived in the big city but this time, I could save a few. This is going up the south side of Jhinn Garden. If only 3 or 4 trees survive here for the winter, Brentwood Farm will have an orchard. If not, I'll try again. Still waiting for the plum and pear tree cuttings and Deb said she found pin cherry trees she can cut from. The pallet fence was put together, four pallets at a time, with a 90 degree crossed pallet between to keep it upright and sturdy. The concord grape vines were planted at the north side of the fence. Oh Lordy, I hope some of them take. Time to get the next batch of apple pies done up for the freezer and more apples are coming before the trees in North Bay are taken down. Somewhere between all of this, I want to get started on the Oatmeal, Goat's Milk Soap. The new kittens, Frick and Frack are doing well but I don't think Frick is quite right in the head.
Lord, please grant me a peaceful night's sleep. What's today, Monday? Wow, the last two days felt like a week's worth of work and there's so much more to do. Wood splitter's here, a donation. What a beast huh? Needs a little work but they told me, it'll cut anything. Apple pie baking day again tomorrow. That ought to hit the spot for the hole diggers planting apple trees, if they make it.
|