ND Homekeeper

Coyote (and a Whole Lot More) Country

2012-02-20T08:44:00.000-08:00

This winter we've seen a lot more coyote activity than in previous years. It seems they are becoming a lot more bold.

Late last week, Jonathan spotted a lone coyote halfway up the hill to what we call our big field. He grabbed his gun, positioned himself and waited until he could get off a good shot. I was curious myself, so I stood almost next to him and watched the drama unfold. That was a dumb thing to do, as the shot was hard on the ears.

I thought Jonathan had hit the coyote, as it jumped just about straight up, jerked around and ran into the woods. David ran up to where it had stood to check for blood -- and sure enough, there was something there.

Now this morning we spotted another coyote. The interesting thing to me is that sunrise is coming sooner each day, and these coyotes are out near the farm in the daylight. Today Andrew spotted the coyote because he was jumping up and down as they do when trying to catch mice. We also have some very good sentries down in the barnyard. David's Morgan horse, Darla, stands very erect, with her head pointing in the direction of the intruder. The cows had also stopped eating and were looking intently in the same direction, so we couldn't miss the telltake signs of something amiss.

Jonathan, hoping for a clear view of the varmint

Here are our sentries: Sandy the cow, and Darla the horse

Jonathan, David and Andrew just outside the basement door. The photos were taken through the window, since Jim was on the phone and I now know better than to stand close to where a gun is about to be fired!.

There are other things happening in the area, too.

Below is an excerpt from a news story found in last week's Courant, which is Bottineau's weekly newspaper. The account is believeable, as we know the couple involved.

WOLF SIGHTED UP IN THE TURTLE MOUNTAINS, by Scott Wagar, Bottineau Courant

When Reno and Marilynn Strand awoke on Sunday morning, January 22 and looked out their front windows they probably thought they were looking at the PBS show "Nature" up close and personal, because what they saw out their window left them in amazement and with great concern
"At 7:15 that morning, Reno got up and let the dogs out," Marilynn said. "I came into the kitchen about 7:30 and began making coffee when I noticed our Border Collie standing in his pointing position. I thought that was odd that our dog was in that position. So, I looked out the window to see what he was pointing at and there was a big animal 30 feet from our house going back and forth and back and forth. As the animal was pacing I realized it was a wolf. So, I called out for Reno and told him what I was looking at and he came running wtih his field glasses and confirmed it was a wolf. From there, I ran to the door and opened it, and our dogs were very happy to come inside."

Once the Strands' dogs were in the house, Reno and Marilynn kept a close eye on the wolf, which eventually left their property and went toward their neighbor's house. "We called over to our neighbor, Wayne Olson, who also has a dog and warned him about what we saw," Marilynn said.
With the wolf gone, the Strands went back to their Sunday morning routine, but seeing such an animal, with such a vicious reputation, they continued to look out into their yard.

"We watched imtermittently for some time and about a half an hour later a deer ran into our yard and stopped about 20 feet from our house. What we saw was terrible because the deer's neck had been slashed open and the whole back end had been eaten off," Marilynn said. "Then, out of nowhere, we saw a coyote come into the yard from the north, then another coyote came in from the south and one more from another direction."

As the three coyotes began circling the deer, the Strands called the local sheriff department to see if they could shoot the deer and take it out of its misery, which local law enforcement agreed they could do. They also asked if they could shoot the wolf if it came back, which the sheriff's department told them they could, but only if it threatened their livestock.

With the phone call complete, Reno brought out his rifle and made an attempt to shoot the deer. However, the animal was positioned in such a way that Reno couldn't fire off a shot because he would be shooting toward his neighbor's home.

As Reno stood there considering what he could do next, a police vehicle drove into the yard, chasing the deer and coyotes off the Strands' property.

"After that we never did see the animals again, but we did hear them for a couple nights after that, but we haven't heard them since," Marilynn said.

The Strands feel the wolf was in their yard because it was attempting to get their dogs. Since that time, they have been careful when letting their two dogs and cat out of the house, because they fear losing them..

"I now go out with our animals and keep a close eye on them," Marilynn said.

It's Warming Up!

2012-01-19T10:19:00.000-08:00

This is our balmy forecast for today:

Rest Of Today ...Mostly sunny. Highs around 10 below. West winds 10 to 15 mph. Wind chills around 40 below.

Tonight...Increasing clouds. Lows around 20 below. West winds around 10 mph. Wind chills around 35 below.

Friday...Mostly sunny. Highs around 5 below. West winds 5 to 10 mph. Lowest wind chills around 40 below in the morning.

------------------------------------------
Well, I could give you some jokes that start with, "It was so cold that ... " but it's no joke. I rushed out of bed this morning because I overslept, a result of wearing a hat to bed and didn't hear my alarm through the knit material. I now understand why in former days people would wear nightcaps. They sure would come in handy! I help Peter every morning and evening with milk chores, and was a half hour late getting into the milk room.

I'll have to post a photo of what we've been using my future main floor kitchen for, and it hasn't been to wash dishes. Today it was 21 degrees up there.

And then I discovered there was standing water in the laundry tub -- when there was no plug in the drain. FROZEN PIPES!! Hopefully it will warm up enough today and the guys can figure out how to thaw the pipe. In the meantime, I'm learning one more lesson in how to be flexible and figure out alternate ways to dispose of water. Thankfully the septic drain field is still operational. I have worried about that, because there's no real snow cover for insulation and we didn't have enough straw scrounged from area farmers to insulate the ground above the drain field. Last spring was so wet that crops weren't planted, so not much straw was harvested.

I'm also in the market for a pattern to create udder covers for our 3 dairy cows. So far so good, but we don't want to take any chances.

The weather should moderate soon, and hopefully we'll adjust to a real winter instead of the mild temperatures we've had up until this week.

Tomorrow we'll start butchering pigs! Hopefully I can take some photos to share in another post.

Brrrr!

2012-01-17T06:19:00.000-08:00

Looks like winter finally caught up with us. After mild temperatures in the 30's and even 40's, we are now in for some bitterly cold days.

EXTREME COLD WATCH IN EFFECT FROM LATE TONIGHT THROUGH

THURSDAY MORNING.

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BISMARCK HAS ISSUED AN EXTREME

COLD WATCH, WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM LATE TONIGHT [TUESDAY] THROUGH

THURSDAY MORNING.

* TEMPS ARE FORECAST TO FALL TO SUB ZERO READINGS LATE

TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY MORNING. BRISK NORTHWEST WINDS

POSSIBLY TO 25 MPH MAY CREATE WIND CHILL TEMPS BETWEEN 30

BELOW & 45 BELOW ZERO.

Time to spend the day making animals comfortable and as warm as possible. Time for us to increase our wood pile, too.

Simply Amazing Weather

2012-01-05T06:46:00.000-08:00

I guess you could call this our "January Thaw," although we haven't had enough cold weather yet to give it that title:

Today ...Mostly sunny. Windy. Highs in the lower 50s. West winds 10 to 15 mph with gusts to around 30 mph increasing to 25 to 30 mph with gusts to around 60 mph in the afternoon.

Tonight...Partly cloudy. Breezy. Lows in the mid 20s. West winds 20 to 25 mph.

Friday...Partly sunny. Colder. Highs in the lower 30s. West winds 15 to 20 mph.

Friday Night...Mostly cloudy. Lows 15 to 20. Northwest winds 10 to 15 mph.

Saturday...Partly sunny. Highs in the mid 20s. Northwest winds 5 to 10 mph.

Saturday Night And Sunday...Partly cloudy. Lows around 15. Highs in the lower 30s.

Sunday Night...Mostly cloudy. Lows in the lower 20s.

This balmy weather is not the best for the animals. They are shedding some of the thicker hair they grew for winter. I hope we have a gradual cool down instead of a shockingly cold Alberta Clipper or something else.

We've taken advantage of the warm temps to do a lot of butchering ... Not only chickens, but also our steer. More about that next time.

Bartlett Production's Newest Installment

2011-12-31T14:59:00.000-08:00

Start of Winter?

2011-12-21T07:12:00.000-08:00

According to the newspaper:

Astronomical start of winter to arrive with no snow in forecast

FARGO – You wouldn’t know if by looking at the brown ground outside, but the astronomical start of winter arrives tonight.

By: Forum staff reports, INFORUM

You wouldn’t know if by looking at the brown ground outside, but the astronomical start of winter arrives tonight.

The winter solstice will occur at 11:30 p.m., marking the shortest daylight period of the year for locations in the northern hemisphere, the National Weather Service says.

After today, the daylight period will increase each day until reaching its maximum again at the summer solstice in June.

Usually this time of year we are moaning about all the snow and cold, but so far it's been very pleasant and we've accomplished a lot that we couldn't have done during a normal winter.

We'll see what happens in January.

A Tour of the Big Lake

2011-12-19T18:58:00.000-08:00

Someone in the area uses an Ultralight to take photos and videos of the Lake Metigoshe area. It's so enjoyable to see what he sees from the sky.

Makes me look forward to summer!

Humiliation

2011-11-30T12:33:00.000-08:00

Samson is a very good dog, but even a good dog can only take so much! He doesn't bother the cats. However, if they bother him he will put their head into his mouth and get them slobbery wet.

There are occasional times when Samson decides to stalk a cat and try his best to scare it. Makes for a great opportunity to give a yell and spoil his plans.

Sunset

2011-11-16T16:35:00.000-08:00

Sunset comes quickly these days ... And yes, we have snow -- and cold. The low tonight is supposed to be zero degrees. I guess it's time to bring out the long underwear.

What's Ahead for the Week

2011-11-13T19:45:00.000-08:00

From what I hear, we'll be butchering turkeys this week. A few weeks ago we butchered a bunch -- someone will be baking a 27.6 pound tom for Thanksgiving! It was quite a challenge to fit that turkey into a bag that was intended to hold up to a 25 pound turkey.

More to follow soon (hopefully!).

Big Blessing

2011-10-19T07:05:00.000-07:00

Yesterday the boys helped a family clean out the husband's mother's basement. They ended up bringing home a truckload of treasures that otherwise would have been destined for the landfill.

Look at all those jars! The man explained that his mom was a hoarder, and we should dump all the contents because the canned goods dated back to the 1980's. I am thrilled to have more canning jars.

Not only did they bring home the canning jars but we were also given a combination electric/wood cook stove. The electric side no longer works, but with a little elbow grease we could make the wood side usable. The stove would be a welcome addition to the main floor of the house. It's a bit cool up there since we have yet to finish insulating some of the walls.

I've intended on posting some of our recent activities, but canning has gotten in the way. More to come later.

Too Early

2011-09-11T20:24:00.000-07:00

Today the temperature was in the low 80's, and here's what's next:

Monday, 12th: 58 high/43 low; 10% chance of precipitation.

Tuesday, 13th: 54 high/29 low; 20% chance of precipitation.

Wednesday, 14th: 49 high/29 low; 10% chance of precipitation

Thursday, 15th: 58 high/45 low; 0% chance of precipitation.

This means on Monday and Tuesday we'll have to harvest eveything that can be harvested. It means we have to pick green tomatoes from 250 tomato plants!

Calliope

2011-09-06T18:20:00.000-07:00

It's been slightly crazy around here with fall activities. On top of everything, David went down to the barn and discovered that his pony, Calliope was down. She was laying in the field on her side, too weak to get up.

Calliope has been a worry for me all summer. Ever since her winter coat came out she has been very thin. David purchased some horse feed for older horses, the type that is mixed with water to make it easy to eat. She seemed to like it a lot, and started gaining weight.

And then 2 days ago she no longer wanted to eat.

I should mention Calliope is 30 years old.

She has been a wonderful starter horse for David, just the right size and good disposition. Calliope was a bit difficult to catch, but once she was caught she submitted to bridle and saddle and seemed to enjoy getting out of the pasture and off for a ride. Sometimes David rode her bareback before getting a saddle, and when he'd fall off she would stop and patiently wait for him to get back on.

Peter and David checked on her frequently during the day and helped her to drink water from a bucket. I was very surprised when they came in later morning to report she was once again on her feet. She hasn't done much all day, but I consider it progress to see that she is getting around and working on eating grass in the pasture.

I know there will come a day when we will find her gone, and I'll be very sad. We are just thankful for the days we've had her, and for the wonderful memories she has given us.

I Need Help!

2011-08-31T13:03:00.000-07:00

Last spring a friend brought over some plants she was given and offered them to me for our garden. Sure!

Well, some of the plants grew jalapenos, and now I don't know what to do with them! I have a big steel bowl brimming full of jalapenos.

Please let me know if you have any good ideas on how to use them up. My family is not big on spicey food, so I need to be careful on how I serve them.

Thanks!

EXCELSIOR: Ever Higher - Official Trailer

2011-08-15T07:26:00.000-07:00

Friends of ours spent 5 days with us over Memorial Day weekend. We had wonderful food and fellowship, but the main reason they came was for their children to work with ours in producing a movie that will be submitted to the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival.

What a huge task -- and it's only a 15 minute movie! I can't imagine what it takes to produce a full length movie. We'll know in 6 months or so if the movie makes it into the festival's competition.

And now for your viewing pleasure:

If you want to check out Excelsior's website, please go to http://www.excelsiorthemovie.com/.

And the Winner Is ...

2011-08-11T09:01:00.000-07:00

No one!

Thanks for all the guesses as to how many beans were sitting on my kitchen table.

The guys helped wash, snap and place the beans into jars -- and I did the actual pressure canning.

The beans gave us 86 quarts to process.

I am very thankful for each and every bean. We all enjoy them, and many times it takes 2 quarts at a meal to fill everyone up. Besides, it's prudent to can as much as possible during good years, since every year isn't always great for a particular garden vegetable. Last year wasn't good for beans.

We'll see what happens if the bushes produce another bunch to pick!

It's That Time of Year

2011-08-08T19:56:00.000-07:00

I walked in the house after picking raspberries, and this is what greeted me from our kitchen table:

You can guess what I did all afternoon and into the evening! There are lots more to do tomorrow as well. I am very thankful for all of these green beans, since we have almost depleted our supply from previous years.

I'll let you know how many quarts came out of this pile of beans. Any guesses?

Great Farm Post

2011-07-31T08:58:00.000-07:00

I say AMEN to this post by Vaughnshire Farm.

Chicken Butchering Time

2011-07-23T15:37:00.000-07:00

I'm taking a break while waiting for more chicken to be brought in.

David and I are quality control, which involves doing the final cleaning and inspection, bagging, weighing and getting into the freezer.

Jim, Jonathan, Peter and Andrew are outside in a small alcove in the woods, doing the actual butchering.

Jonathan tried some new things this year, and our days seem to be going much smoother than other years.

New this year is a modified Whizbang chicken scalder, which is made out of an old water heater the guys picked up at the landfill. Andrew also made a holder for chickens, so after they are cleaned up the chickens sit on PVC pipe pegs and allowed to drip dry. Makes my work so much easier.

Photos will follow after we are finished. Yesterday we managed to butcher close to 80 chickens, and today so far we've done 50. I think the guys said we have 40 to go before we call it a day. That means we'll be butchering again on Monday.

The Joke's on Us

2011-07-18T14:53:00.000-07:00

Remember all those times during the winter when I've blogged about how cold it is, or how much snow we've had during a blizzard?

Well, the National Weather Service just sent the following warning out to us. What a switch!

AN EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR PARTS OF

CENTRAL & SOUTHEASTERN NO. DAKOTA THROUGH TUES EVENING.

A HEAT ADVISORY IS NOW IN EFFECT FOR FAR WESTERN & NORTHERN

ND THROUGH TUESDAY EVENING.

TEMPS IN THE 90S TO AROUND 100, COMBINED WITH VERY HIGH

HUMIDITIES, WILL PRODUCE HEAT INDEX VALUES REACHING 105 TO AS

HIGH AS 120 DEGREES IN THE AFTERNOON & EARLY EVENING HOURS

THROUGH TUESDAY.

LOCATIONS OUTSIDE OF THIS CURRENT WARNING OVER FAR WEST & FAR

NORTH CNTL NORTH DAKOTA WILL SEE EXCESSIVE HEAT OF 100 TO

105.

AVOID OUTDOOR ACTIVITY IF POSSIBLE DURING THE AFTERNOON & EARLY

EVENING. IF YOU ARE OUTSIDE, DRINK PLENTY OF FLUIDS & STAY OUT

OF THE SUN AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE.

And, this is specific for our area:

HEAT ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM CDT /9 PM MDT/ TUESDAY.

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BISMARCK HAS ISSUED A HEAT

ADVISORY, WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM CDT /9 PM MDT/ TUESDAY.

* HEAT-RELATED ILLNESSES SUCH AS HEAT STROKE & HEAT EXHAUSTION

CAN OCCUR IF THE PROPER PRECAUTIONS ARE NOT TAKEN.

A HEAT ADVISORY MEANS THAT A PERIOD OF HOT TEMPS IS

EXPECTED. THE COMBINATION OF HOT TEMPS & HIGH HUMIDITY

WILL COMBINE TO CREATE A SITUATION IN WHICH HEAT ILLNESSES ARE

POSSIBLE.

---------------------------

This is serious business for our animals, and we'll be doing all we can to keep them comfortable and out of the sun.

Strawberry Season

2011-07-17T20:24:00.000-07:00

It's strawberry time again ...

Jim decided to try a new method for our plants this year instead of having the traditional strawberry patch that is very hard to weed and maintain.

Our farm has been keeping Pepsi in business by purchasing quite a few of their white 55-gallon barrels. We order them from the local Pepsi plant, at a cost of $5.00 each. The barrels have a pop (soda for some of you) residue in them, so we scrub them clean and have used them for pig feeders, Whizbang chicken plucker barrel, holders for water, and now strawberry plants.

Jim placed the barrels on some old carpeting to keep the weeds from coming up around the barrels. The barrels are sitting on their tops that were cut off so they can be rotated and keep the plants evenly exposed to the sun.

Andrew and Jim used an acetylene torch to melt the plastic, then a knife to cut the side and a wedge to pull out the softened plastic and create a cup to hold soil and the strawberry plant.

Jim placed rocks on the bottom of the barrel, then filled it up with garden soil mixed with compost. The tube in the middle extends all the way to the bottom and is filled with sand. The tube is what's used for drain tile, so the holes allow water to reach all the way through the barrel.

The strawberries are easier to pick, and much cleaner.

We are enjoying our bounty! And our raspberries will hopefully be ready in a week or so.

Minot is Still Having Struggles

2011-07-11T06:32:00.000-07:00

I spent the weekend helping out in the kitchen at a family camp near our farm. There were quite a few families there that had stories to tell about the flooding in Minot. I heard of some that will have to have their home razed, due to being flooded by the Souris River. One man said the water actually was up to the rafters of his house. Apparently the structure of the house is then compromised, so it will have to be destroyed. I think the weekend's festivities were a welcome distraction for the families that attended.

Below is an article from Fargo's InForum about the State Fair. We don't usually attend, but for rural North Dakota families, this has been a big event.

Published July 11, 2011, 12:00 AM

North Dakota State Fair canceled due to flooding

First time event not held since Minot became fair’s home in 1965

MINOT, N.D. – Saturday night was a tough one for Ranae Korslien. The manager of the North Dakota State Fair said she was “worn out from the tears” after the state fair board decided this year’s event would have to be canceled.

By: Tammy Swift, INFORUM

MINOT, N.D. – Saturday night was a tough one for Ranae Korslien.

The manager of the North Dakota State Fair said she was “worn out from the tears” after the state fair board decided this year’s event would have to be canceled. This is the first time a state fair has been canceled since Minot began hosting it in 1965.

“It’s tough on the heart and tough on the checkbook,” Korslien told The Forum on Sunday. “We did everything we could to make this year’s fair a reality. Sadly, the circumstances have changed. We are left with no choice.”

Officials made their decision based on a revised hydrograph from the National Weather Service, which showed waters from the flooding Souris (Mouse) River weren’t receding as quickly as anticipated.

The latest culprit was a Friday night downpour, which dumped about an inch of rain in Minot and 5 inches of rain north of town. “And of course, all that rain dumps into the Mouse River,” Korslien said.

Water remains on the fairgrounds; in fact, when Korslien and another employee drove toward the Midway area this weekend, water leaked into the doors and ran over the floorboards of the pickup.

Minot Mayor Curt Zimbelman said the cancellation was a sad but necessary step.

“I feel disappointment in that we’re not going to have a fair but also a little relief for the pressure it would have put on the community,” Zimbelman said.

The mayor said the city would have struggled to host the fair this year because of problems like lack of housing.

“It’s very disappointing, but I think the people of North Dakota will understand,” he said.

The cancellation will also place another financial strain on the flood-ravaged community. Although Korslien didn’t have exact numbers, she said fairgoers typically pump “millions” annually into the Magic City. The grandstand shows alone generate “a couple of million,” she added.

Officials will have to refund any tickets already purchased for fair shows, and Korslien says she’s glad her staff had just installed a new system, which should expedite that process. People who paid with credit cards should see credits on their statements by July 31, she added.

In spite of this latest disappointment, Korslien was already searching for silver linings. She told of fair employees who worked days on end monitoring dikes and pumps to successfully keep the $75 million State Fair Center and just-built, $15 million Fair Grandstand dry.

She also raved about the dedication of her 30 employees – 13 of whom were flooded out of their own homes.

And she spoke optimistically of next year’s fair being the best yet. “We just have to pull our bootstraps back up and figure out what we’re going to do, and we’ll be OK,” she said. “So come out next year and see how nice it’ll be.”

Summer

2011-07-03T16:56:00.000-07:00

It's been hard to accept the fact that it's already July. We've had some very busy days, as well as having not so nice weather.

Our muddy areas are drying out, and there have been fewer rainy days. We've also had some temperatures in the 80's -- a first for this season.

I am still concerned and continue to pray for the families in Minot, ND, who have lost their homes due to flooding. Minot is our closest larger city, which is 100 miles away from us. The river crested but there's a lot of clean up to do after it completely goes back within its banks.

I have lots to catch up when it comes to this blog, but for now will tell you a bit about recent happenings.

Rick is one of our weed eaters ... No need for a gas powered one when you have goats around! Rick is our Boer goat, and so far has fathered 2 kids that are half dairy/half Boer. He has a very even temperament, but tends to be more than a bit whiny when he isn't happy with his surroundings.

The guys have been staking him in areas that needs the brush taken out. I walked down to the barn this afternoon and was amazed at how completely he cleans out everything! Not a leaf was left in where he resided yesterday.

Yesterday was also this season's maiden voyage of Andrew's raft. Earlier in the week Jonathan and David walked over to our neighbor's house to retrieve the raft; last fall the tether had broken and it floated out into the lake. Since we don't have a canoe or boat we had to let it float around until it touched shore. The raft spent the winter stuck in the ice, but after it melted the raft ended up close to our neighbor's shore. They poled it back to our bay and did a better job of tying it up.

David talked Andrew and Jim into taking the raft out for a swim. Due to the immense amount of rainfall this spring the shoreline is closer to the barn and more stumps, etc. are submerged, so navigation is quite difficult. The guys worked and worked, but never did get the raft out of the area where it was docked.

This afternoon David managed to talk all the guys into trying once again -- and they successfully got the raft poled out into the bay. A good time was had by all.

While waiting for the raft to take off I noticed a little procession out in the field. We've kept the 2 Jersey calves in the same area as the goats, and where one goes -- so goes the rest. I guess the calves think the are goats! This time it looks like Milcah was leading the pack.

If you look up the hill you will see a white tent looking thing. Peter decided to invest in a portable car port to use for milking the cows in the field. He hasn't figured out all the details yet, but it should work quite well. This will save a lot of time, and can be moved closer to the cows as they are moved in paddocks in the big field.

Darla and Calliope are enjoying being out in the field as well. Darla isn't all that keen on cows, and they are kept separate from them. Every evening when I'm upstairs washing and sterilizing milk bottles I look out the window and see Darla trotting up and around the side of the hill. She gets her exercise, and I'm sure it helps to keep the flies and mosquitoes at bay. Calliope is almost 30 years old, and is content to stand under a tree and relax.

We actually have a herd of cows! To the right are Della and Sandy, Peter's Jerseys, and to the left are our beef cows. I had never seen Red Angus before we acquired these 2 yearling steers. We've had Cal for a year now, and he's enjoying his new friends.

Jonathan also has his chickens up in the big field. The broilers are in the chicken tractors, and Jonathan's laying hens and future layers (hatched last March) have shelters inside of electrified poultry netting. Moving pens keeps Jonathan very busy. The tractors are moved twice daily and the hens moved every other day.

The broilers will be ready for butchering in a couple of weeks.

This is a photo of Jonathan's laying hens. Last fall he purchased some layers from a lady that didn't want to winter them (those are the white ones), but most of his layers are Rhode Island Reds.

Jonathan has been smiling a lot lately -- he had his braces removed last week!

Last week our second sow delivered 13 piglets. They are all doing fine! It was so much easier to have this bunch than the ones born the end of March (for us, but maybe the sow would say differently). Pigs have a gestation of 3 months, 3 weeks, 3 days, and she was right on target.

The first bunch of piglets currently numbers 11, since we ended up losing 2. They are 3-1/2 months old and growing larger every day.

Maybe you remember Wilbur, the piglet we had in the house for a couple of weeks. Well, he didn't make it. We got him to the point where he could rejoin his siblings in the barn, but he never really fit back in with them because he had a leg that didn't work quite like it should and was easily jostled around. He took to feed like a pro, but ended up having a prolapse and the guys worked unsuccessfully to keep his intestines in. He was the little pig that wasn't afraid but always greeted us when we went into the barn.

It's Wet Up Here

2011-06-20T17:56:00.000-07:00

Well, this area of the garden was our corn. This area was also our beets and rutabagas. This isn't just inches deep of water, but at least 6 inches deep. I should have known better when I planted this field in the mud. You might say I'm a bit discouraged about our gardens.

Peter heard today that last night we received 3 inches of rain. That was on top of a bunch more we've received since Memorial Day weekend.

I do know the Lord is in charge. We do what we can, but the outcome is up to Him. I'm sure glad it's not up to me.

Turkeys

2011-06-19T07:07:00.000-07:00

Turkeys 2011 from Bartlett Farm on Vimeo.

Jonathan ordered his turkeys a bit later than last year so we can butcher them closer to Thanksgiving. Hopefully the weather won't be too cold when they are ready.

I'm always amazed that turkeys are so curious, and have better personalities than chickens. It's so much fun to get them to gobble! I think the poults were a week old when Andrew took the video.

Stormy Weather

2011-06-16T08:14:00.000-07:00

Storm from Bartlett Productions on Vimeo.

Peter caught the end of one of the storms we've been having lately. The ground doesn't seem to get a chance to dry out before we receive another rain.

Yesterday we were continuing our efforts to finish up planting in the garden areas. This is an unusual year, because normally everything is in by Memorial Day weekend.

Today is one of our first warm, humid, sunny days. The crops should start growing now, but then so will the weeds and mosquitoes! We have our work cut out for us.

Pigs and Fences

2011-06-11T06:17:00.000-07:00

Last night I about 10:30 I heard the sound of a bucket being tipped over. I thought it must be our dog Samson, who is characterized by pushing an old sled from in front of the cat house (which is Samson's dog house that was taken over by the cats) to get to the cat food. It was a bit surprising to find Zorro -- our boar -- eating Samson's dog food.

I'm very thankful that Zorro is a friendly pig, but at approximately 500 pounds he doesn't like to be pushed around. I got Peter up and he brought a bucket of milk to entice Zorro back to his place down the hill and into his electric fence. It wasn't quite as easy as that, but eventually Zorro was back in his home.

The next hour was spent trying to determine why Zorro's fence wasn't receiving a charge. I think we finally fell into bed about midnight.

And then Zorro was out again this morning. Hopefully we can get to the bottom of this and keep him happy where we want him to be.

Old Faithful

2011-05-22T19:24:00.000-07:00

In December of 2007 the boys received this 1984 Ford F-150 truck from one of my brothers. My parents' neighbor had purchased the truck, and gave it the best of care. After the neighbor passed away it was given to one of his son-in-laws, but was never used. A year or so later my brother made an offer on the truck, and then gifted it to our sons.

We sure found all kinds of jobs for the truck, and the 4-wheel drive came in handy when our road turned to mud or we had a snowstorm and someone needed to get out of the driveway. The truck was Jim's mascot when he campaigned for state senate back in 2008.

The longer we had the truck the bigger the holes grew in the floor and bed, too. It was all those wonderful Minnesota winters complete with lots of road salt that did a good job of deteriorating the body of the truck.

Last December Jim, Jonathan and I took a trip to Minot, and returned home in a very bad ice storm. I was sitting in the middle, with Jim driving and Jonathan reading a book to my right. I could glance down at the bottom of the door on Jim's side and see the yellow lines in the middle of the road. You'd better not wear good clothes during mud season or rainy weather, since you would end up getting splashed! Jim always told us to keep everything off the floor -- or it would be gone.

Well, yesterday the guys took a trip to Minot with the old truck. They didn't even get to Bottineau when the drive shaft disconnected and they had to pull over. Someone stopped and Jim used their cell phone to call us; Peter took the car down and Jim used it to get parts in town. They were able to repair the truck for less than $5.00, and once again they were off.

The guys completed some of their errands in Minot when someone noticed the trailer had a flat tire ... Always something. Thankfully they were close to Home of Economy and drove over there for a new tire.

And then they were able to arrive at their final destination to receive a very special gift.

It's a 1994 Ford F-250! We are so blessed, and thrilled! The other truck will definitely be used around the farm, but we'll use this one when we need to go on the road.

There's been a lot going on lately, and I will try to post more often.

Spring

2011-04-29T20:12:00.000-07:00

Does this sound like a SPRING FORECAST to you?

A BLIZZARD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 1 PM CDT /NOON MDT/

SATURDAY TO 1 AM CDT /MIDNIGHT MDT/ SUNDAY.

* RAIN WILL BECOME ALL SNOW BY MIDNIGHT TONIGHT.

* WINDS WILL INCREASE TO 50 MPH SAT AFTERNOON. THE

COMBINATION OF HIGH WINDS & HEAVY SNOW WILL CREATE BLIZZARD

CONDITIONS SAT AFTERNOON & EVENING.

* TRAVEL WILL BE HAZARDOUS DUE TO SNOW COVERED ROADS & BLOWING

SNOW SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCING VISIBILITIES.

* STORM TOTAL SNOWFALL AMOUNTS SHOULD RANGE FROM 6 TO 9 INCHES IN

GARRISON, MINOT & BOTTINEAU.

Hard to imagine. We had a couple of nice days, complete with mosquitoes and woodticks. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Living on an Island

2011-04-23T08:59:00.000-07:00

Check out Andrew's blog to see why we just about need a boat to get off our land!

Our road also goes back up onto a state highway in another direction, but there is water over the road in 2 spots and another culvert that is sinking. We've had so much precipitation this year that many roads in the county are deteriorating. Overland flooding has been a major problem in the state.

Today is a sunny day, but the day before yesterday we had more snow. Yesterday was cold and cloudy.

This photo was taken on Thursday the 21st.

I should have planted some spring flowers last fall ... We sure could use some color around here!

This Week's Happenings

2011-04-17T20:38:00.000-07:00

Well, the above photo is what our driveway looked like this week. On Monday Peter was able to head down the driveway with our car, but on the way home ended up parking it about midway up so we could still use it if we walked down to where it was sitting.

The top of the driveway is the worst. Needless to say, wearing rubber boots is a must.

Our little pig friend has done very well. I was thankful when he was brought back to the barn to his mom and siblings, since I no longer had to be up twice a night to feed him a bottle.

As you can see, the piglet's left front knee is enlarged. I guess he isn't walking on it much, but sure keeps up with the rest of the crew. Jim said he is the best eater when it comes to the feed they are giving them in the weaning process.

And no, we didn't let him out of his box in the house on a regular basis, it was done only to see how well he could walk before getting him back to the barn.

I think the above photo was taken on Friday. Yes, we still have quite a bit of snow. The latest forecast is for another storm to hit Monday night and could last until some time Wednesday. May can't come soon enough for me!

The area surrounding Jonathan's chicken hoop house is fairly clear of snow, and the laying hens enjoyed getting outside once again. However, the chickens drifted closer and closer to the house, so Jonathan set up his electric poultry netting around the opening of the hoop house so they could be out but away from the house.

We are in a flyway of sorts, and it is always enjoyable to watch the Canadian geese returning.

One day last week David came running up to the house to let us know that Ebony had just had triplets! We knew she was huge, and suspected she would have a bunch. Last year she also had a set of triplets, but one died.

Jonathan and Peter held Ebony while the triplets had their first taste of colostrum. The last 2 born were on the weak side, so the day involved helping them to nurse every 4 hours. Everybody was doing very well by the end of the day. Goats only have 2 teats but all 3 seem to be getting enough milk.

While all the hoopla was happening, Samson was checking out Leah's kids.

Leah's kids were born almost 2 weeks ago, but they are the same size as the newly born triplets. We think Leah had her twins prematurely. Thankfully, all went well.

Jonathan's Rhode Island Red chicks are doing very well in the brooder. Every day he lowers the temperature so they will be acclimated to cooler weather when they go out of the brooder. I think Jonathan is scheduled to receive his first batch of broilers around May 1.

This is Milkah, Della's heifer calf. She sure is cute! We have her in with the goats. A lady we know from the area came over one day to burn off Milkah's horns, and showed Jim and Peter how to do it.

David needed something to help him climb onto Darla's back, so he and Peter constructed a stand to do the job. Darla is doing very well during her daily training sessions by Peter and David.

Doesn't this look wonderful? We had snow again yesterday! Thankfully most of what came down melted today. We'll see what we receive during the next storm tomorrow night.

And Now a Word from My Sponsors

2011-04-14T06:54:00.000-07:00

Below is our latest ad for Bartlett Farm products. Make sure you check out the video of our farm!

Dear friends of Bartlett Farm,

We hope you are enjoying spring as much as we are! The farm has seen quite a population growth, having already hosted the birth of 13 baby pigs, five goat kids, a milk cow heifer calf, and the brooding of 100 layer chicks. More of everything is on the way…

In this email we are reminding everyone that the best time to order meat is in the spring. Many people buy their meat in bulk at this time to save money and to stock up enough food to feed their family for an entire year.

If you order with a deposit before May 1st, 2011, we can ensure that prices stay at the current rate when picking up the meat this fall. The reason we can do this is because we would purchase more feed and supplies early in the year before costs increase.
Call us for more detail at 701-263-4574 or simply send in your order using the form at: http://bartlettfarm.us/documents/BFOrderFormPDF.pdf

Thank you for your business!

Sincerely,

The Bartlett Family (Jim, Lynn, Jonathan, Peter, Andrew & David)

The 2011 farm video.

P.S. Our new farm video will give you a glimpse into our farm activities. It is embedded on the website at http://bartlettfarm.us/.

____________________

IN CASE YOU ARE INTERESTED

1. There is a pdf copy of the spring “order meat now” 2011 reminder handout on our website at: http://bartlettfarm.us/spring2011reminder.pdf

2. If you are wondering what is different about our home grown pastured meats and the value of these farming processes, here is a quick review:

WHAT IS THE BEST METHOD OF RAISING MEAT ANIMALS?

To produce the highest quality, pure, healthy, and tasty food it is necessary to: (1) maintain the highest degree of animal sanitation, (2) ensure an adequate supply of green pasture, sunshine and fresh air, (3) use small natural animal group sizes, (3) minimize animal stress, (4) process the food in the cleanest, most efficient way, (5) avoid vaccinations, antibiotics and growth hormones, and (6) use organic hay and grains.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE WITH HOMEGROWN PASTURED MEATS?

Meat, eggs, and dairy products from home grown pastured animals, compared to commercial products: (1) are more tender, juicier and taste better, (2) contain more “good” fats, and fewer “bad” fats, (3) are richer in antioxidants; (4) contain more vitamin E, beta-carotene, and vitamin C, and (5) do not contain hormones, antibiotics or other drugs.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS?

More nutritious and safer food, well cared for animals and environment biodiversity, pleasant family farm working conditions, and local economic development.

Gourmet restaurants buy pastured meats because these differences and benefits are proven!

As Shannon Hayes writes in her 2004 “Grassfed Gourmet Cookbook,” “Your decision to purchase grass-fed foods is an important one. The production of grass-fed meats and dairy products helps heal our environment, it ensures the welfare of the livestock…And grass-fed meats are healthier. But the benefits don’t stop there. Grass-fed meats and dairy products taste better than their conventionally raised counterparts. Grass-fed pork and lamb have a particularly rich and savory flavor. Grass-fed beef tends to be lean and juicy, with a rich, robust flavor. Pasture-raised chickens have a firm texture and the type of flavor that older generations remember from their youth. Once you’ve experienced these superior foods, you’ll never want to purchase conventionally raised meat or dairy products again.”

“Those who do what is right take good care of their animals.”

Proverbs 12:10

Another Tune by Peter

2011-04-11T20:35:00.000-07:00

Please check out Peter's blog. He was thrilled to purchase a new guitar and Andrew helped him to record a new tune. It's one of my favorites.

Farm Tour

2011-04-10T13:03:00.000-07:00

A while ago a homeschool mom about 1-1/2 hours away asked Jonathan if he could provide her with 2 dozen fertilized chicken eggs. He agreed, and when the time was close to pick up the eggs she sent an email and asked if she could bring along some friends to tour the farm.

Last Thursday 59 people drove over for a farm tour!

The weekend before we had a storm that dumped about 10 inches of very wet snow on top of very muddy conditions. The tour day was very warm -- probably in the 50's (we still don't have an outside thermometer!), and created very sloppy road conditions.

All the vehicles parked on the gravel road and Jim drove them up in the back of the pickup truck which was filled with straw.

At least the children enjoyed the sloppy, slippery ride! Some people opted instead to walk up the quarter mile driveway.

Jonathan converted the front of our old semi trailer to a brooder for his 100 Rhode Island Red chicks which arrived by mail a week earlier, and that was everyone's first stop.

It took a while to get the tour going, since the younger children thought it great fun to play in the snow and mud! I guess I've forgotten what it's like to live with concrete sidewalks and paved roadways and no mud to be found.

I've never seen lines forming on our farm to check out the animals!

The chicks would have had too many temperature fluctuations if the actual door to the brooder was opened, so everyone had a look from the window in its door.

The chicken coop was another stop. Peter picked up a hen and let anyone that wanted to give it a pat. I don't think the chicken was too thrilled.

Down in the main barn the children (have to be careful not to call them kids, since we have some of those as well!) were introduced to Sandy and Della, our dairy cows. Milkah the calf got her bottle while some of them were checking out the cows.

It was great fun to hold one of our new goat kids.

After everyone had sloshed through the mud and seen all the animals (forgot to take a photo of the tour meeting our pigs) the Bartlett Farm provided refreshments.

Hopefully a good time was had by all and their moms were successful in getting the mud stains out of their clothes.

Some people elected to take our very muddy driveway back down on foot.

Thanks to Karin for organizing the tour and enabling us to meet a bunch of very special families. Thanks as well for some of these photos. I was also thrilled they took 2 of our kittens!

Party Animals

2011-04-07T15:28:00.000-07:00

I'll direct you to Andrew's blog to find out where the party is at the Bartlett Farm.

No Joke from the Weather Service

2011-04-01T20:18:00.000-07:00

How wonderful ... The Weather Channel has declared Fargo, ND as America's Toughest Weather City Champion. You can read all about it here

Fargo is where we lived before moving to the Turtle Mountains, which is even farther north. So far north that we could walk or swim into Canada if the Border Patrol would allow us to do it.

And of course, we now are in a winter storm watch for late Saturday night through Monday morning.

It's been relatively mild outside, and the driveway is mudding up quite nicely. Tonight Jim and I traveled to town to pick up the first baby bottles we've ever purchased (more on that later), and I felt as if I was riding in a race car as it careened through patches of heavy mud. So much for having a clean car. And now they tell us it's going to snow -- and even snow heavily at times. The only thing to keep in mind in times like this is the fact that the snow can't last long when it's April.

A MIX OF RAIN & SNOW IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP OVER THE WEST

SATURDAY NIGHT, THEN SPREAD EAST & CHANGE TO SNOW SUNDAY.

THE SNOW MAY BE HEAVY AT TIMES WITH SIGNIFICANT SNOW AMOUNTS

POSSIBLE. IN ADDITION, GUSTY WINDS MAY CAUSE SIGNIFICANT BLOWING

AND DRIFTING OF SNOW & LOW VISIBILITIES, SIGNIFICANTLY

IMPACTING TRAVEL.

THE LATEST MODEL DATA HAS SHOWN AN NORTHWARD SHIFT IN THE TRACK OF

THE STORM, WHICH WOULD PUT THE HEAVIEST PRECIPITATION OVER THE

NORTHERN HALF OF WESTERN & CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA. HOWEVER,

UNCERTAINTY STILL REMAINS REGARDING THE EVENTUAL TRACK OF THIS

STORM & THE AMOUNT OF PRECIPITATION IT COULD PRODUCE.

Marci at Down on the Farm keeps telling me we're crazy for living up here, but when it's almost all I've known since birth it is just something you get used to. Usually. I must admit I am very, very ready for a real spring.

The Ultimate Pet

2011-03-28T20:25:00.000-07:00

I've had kittens in the house, and I've had puppies ... I've had goat kids and a calf; but this is the first time I've ever had a piglet!

The poor little guy is two weeks old. He must have been stepped on by his mom, because he was limping. His 12 siblings saw that he was struggling, and thought nothing of shoving him out of the way to take the best teat. So, this morning we found he had been shoved away from mom and away from the heat lamps, and was very, very cold.

Andrew brought him into the house, and we used a small syringe to give him some cow's milk. We placed him on a blanket on top of our wood stove to try to gradually warm him up. It was about mid afternoon that he started perking up, and is actually taking milk from a lamb's nipple on an old pancake syrup bottle (whatever works -- we didn't have a pop bottle).

He isn't out of the woods yet. Hopefully he will be more perky by morning.

Maybe we should name him Wilbur, and maybe some day he will have a tiny friend named Charlotte ...

Spring in North Dakota

2011-03-22T18:25:00.000-07:00

No one is going anywhere in the state tonight. The solid red lines show where roads are closed or blocked, and the broken red lines show where no travel is advised. Even the two interstates in ND are closed.

This storm is supposed to bring us up to 18 inches of snow!

It's a Girl!

2011-03-17T05:19:00.000-07:00

I guess I should really say, It's a Heifer!

She was born about 4:15 this morning. It was kind of a long night, but we are very thankful for a healthy calf this time around. We lost our other cow's first calf last year.

Della the mom is doing very well. Peter did great in handling the evening's activities, and Della acted like a pro at milking, even though she is a first time mom. The yet to be named calf is resting comfortably in the barn.

Della is pure Jersey, but before Peter purchased her she was bred to a Red Danish.

More news later.

Chow Time

2011-03-16T11:38:00.000-07:00

Introducing Bartlett Farm's 13 little pigs, who are half Hampshire and half Berkshire:

Long Night, But Good News

2011-03-15T07:59:00.000-07:00

Our sow delivered 14 piglets. One hadn't fully developed, so it was dead on arrival.

Since this was our first time with pigs we had someone stay with them through the night, in the event the sow would accidentally crush any of her babies. It worked well, but everyone is very draggy today.

I had to get Jim up and running at 4:15 a.m. in order for him to drive to Bismarck to see what he could do to sway the opinion of legislators who voted unanimously in committee to send SB 2150 for a vote. This terrible bill would lower compulsory school age to 6 and raise mandatory school age to 17. The change may not sound like a big deal, but it certainly is. North Dakota has some of the strictest laws in the nation concerning homeschooling, and our legislature seems bent on giving us laws that are even more intrusive. It's been a rough legislative session for the homeschooling community.

Jim took our camera loaded with piglet photos to Bismarck, so it may take a while before I can post any of them.

Babies Everywhere!

2011-03-14T18:31:00.000-07:00

Seven and counting ... Our sow has delivered 9 very cute piglets. I'm sure there will be more. Photos will follow shortly.

Let's see: Five kittens, 9 + piglets, a Jersey soon to freshen, goats in April, along with another Jersey -- life is booming on the Bartlett Farm!

The ND Home School Convention is History

2011-03-07T06:50:00.000-08:00

Jim, Peter and Jonathan headed to Jamestown, ND on Thursday for the state's home school convention. That left Andrew, David and I to hold down the fort. Della, our newest Jersey heifer cow is due to calve in just 2 weeks, and was showing signs of an early delivery. That story for another blog entry.

Friday evening of the convention was a family sharing night and Jonathan and Peter decided to participate. Their friend Andrew Bornemann filmed their songs:

Introducing Our Newest Family Member

2011-02-16T13:27:00.000-08:00

Her name is Darla. She's a 10-year-old purebred Morgan horse. David saved his pennies, and worked very hard last summer doing lawn jobs with his brothers and also shoveled snow from roofs this winter.

I'm sure David will be posting lots about his adventures with Darla.

Brr .................................

2011-01-31T15:10:00.000-08:00

I think it's time to go out and add more bedding for the animals:

THE NATL WEATHER SVC IN BISMARCK HAS ISSUED A WIND CHILL

WARNING, WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON CST /11 AM MST/ TUESDAY.

THE WIND CHILL ADVISORY IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT.

* WIND CHILL VALUES WILL DROP TO 35 TO NEAR 50 BELOW ZERO AT

TIMES.

* SCATTERED FLURRIES WILL CONTINUE INTO THIS EVENING.WITH ONLY

ADDITIONAL LIGHT ACCUMULATIONS EXPECTED.

A WIND CHILL WARNING MEANS THE COMBINATION OF WIND & VERY COLD

AIR WILL CREATE DANGEROUSLY LOW WIND CHILL VALUES. THIS WILL

RESULT IN FROST BITE & LEAD TO HYPOTHERMIA OR DEATH IF

PRECAUTIONS ARE NOT TAKEN.

Winter Recreation -- North Dakota Style

2011-01-24T12:00:00.000-08:00

Click HERE To see what the boys have come up with for fun in the snow ...

What's Been Happening

2011-01-16T20:40:00.000-08:00

I went through our photos to see what I haven't written about yet. Turns out there's a lot to tell.

Peter has been doing well with his cow share program, and decided he would look for another cow.

It wasn't easy to find a purebred Jersey, but with the help of friends he was able to locate a bred heifer at a dairy farm about 3 hours from home. She arrived with her name on her tag: Introducing Della.

Our horse Calliope has not been the nicest since Della arrived, dominating the barnyard. She hasn't allowed our cows to eat until she is finished herself, which is not good. Our solution has been to keep her in the stall David built for her in the barn until the cows have gotten what they needed in the morning, and then allowing her out to eat. She has plenty to eat in her stall, but of course now she doesn't have the pleasure of bullying the cows.

Della will freshen the end of March.

Jim has been working on a new project. This involves turning barley into barley grass. I guess the name for it is fodder.

I'm not sure where Jim first read about fodder, but there were some articles on the Internet from someone down in Australia. After emailing the author they actually talked on the phone, and Jim received some valuable information.

One of our front windows has been turned into a mini greenhouse. Jim has to be careful and not place too much grain in a pan or it spoils and smells terrible.

The fodder can actually be pulled out of a tray all in one piece and rolled up just like a bale.

So far everyone but Sandy the cow enjoys the new source of nutrients. In order for Sandy to be willing to eat it, Peter has to cut the sprout portion away and then she's willing to eat the greens.

If this works we will save a lot of money since not as much grain has to be purchased. We would also have to figure a better place to grow fodder, since our front windows can only produce a limited amount.

We've had lots of snow this winter -- and that's an understatement! The first winter we lived up here we were wondering how we would ever get out of our 1/4 mile driveway once winter hit, since we didn't have anything to use for plowing.

Thankfully the county plows do more than clean off county roads. They also come into our driveways.

It was just before sunrise when the plow came in the day we needed to be out to head for Bismarck.

As you can see, we have quite the piles of snow.

Late last summer our cat named Funny Face had a litter of five kittens. We were so busy we didn't take time to tame them, so they were afraid of us and made quite a show whenever someone caught one of them. We managed to give two away to someone heading back home to Montana and one died in an accident with the car.

One day we noticed one of the remaining two kittens had disappeared. We wondered if something like a coyote had gotten it, since about that time we had trouble with them near the house. The remaining kitten stayed close to Henry, our barn cat.

Just recently Andrew discovered the lost kitten sitting on a board near the entry to our shop. We have no idea where it had gone or why it left, but it's been hanging around ever since. One night last week our dog Samson woke me up in the middle of the night wanting to go outside, and as I looked out the window in the door I saw this kitten walking away from the dog house (which should now be called the cat house) and heading down toward the barn. David feeds the cats in the dog house, so it must have eaten and then headed back to wherever it is staying.

David, Andrew and I are determined that next time we'll make sure the kittens are tamed. They are much easier to give away that way!

Below is a photo of our grain stealer ... One morning Andrew went down to the pigs to give them some hay and heard a noise but didn't see anything out of the ordinary.

When it finally was light he discovered that deer were jumping into the pig pens to eat up the grain which has been spilled by the pigs! They kind of quit for a while, but lately it's been happening again.

We have very deep snow and the deer are getting desperate for something to eat. So far Zorro and the two sows don't seem to mind.

Last fall Jonathan decided to construct a hoop structure to be used as a chicken coop. He could have purchased one from Farm Tek, but after finding a source for some type of tool to bend pipe in Farm Show magazine he decided to purchase the materials and build it himself -- with a little help from his family.

There are 2 layers of plastic on the structure, and Jonathan has a fan that continually blows air in between the layers for insulating purposes.

The chickens seem to enjoy being in there, especially on sunny days. It's always enjoyable to go in and listen to them contentedly clucking away.

On two sides there is a way to roll up the sides to provide ventilation as well as keep the temperature inside the structure more in line with what's going on outside. At first on a sunny day the temperature inside was about 78 degrees while the outside temperature was much colder. At night it can get pretty chilly in there, so the key is to keep the chickens at a more even temperature.

Jonathan's Rhode Island Reds were hatched last spring, and just as they were placed in this coop they started laying. The number of eggs fluctuates, but lately he's been getting about 5 dozen per day.

This very bumpy terrain is actually our hay bales under a cover of snow.

We had some trouble with our hay this year, since our neighbor was unable to get the hay up when it was ready. The boys have been finding moldy hay, which is not good for anything. So, they have to dig out a bale and check it before feeding it to the animals.

Another project that probably should have been done before the snow flew was putting up firewood for the winter. We have plenty, but it still needs to be split.

In the background is a big metal culvert -- that was given to us by our friend Steve Schadler, and it makes an excellent place to stack fire wood. Peter has been busy cutting up wood.

David has also been working with our fire wood. They had trouble last week getting Steve's wood splitter to fire up, and David has been trying his hand at using a maul to split wood. He will soon have big muscles like his older brothers.

Sandy is our Jersey that is currently being milked. She was bred last summer and will freshen the end of April. We will really miss having milk for the time she is dry. Thankfully Della will freshen a month before Sandy, so we won't be without milk for as long as it could have been.

Below is a photo of our milkman -- Peter. I'm thankful the hours of sunlight is lengthening now, because Peter has been milking both mornings and evenings in the dark. One of our future projects is to bring electricity down to the barn.

In the meantime, it's been working well for him to use a head lamp.

Peter has been diligently working on what will be his milk room. It is our future main floor bathroom, but we have a long ways to go before we move up there and it will work well for him to process his milk in that area. Peter has installed all the insulation, dry wall, taping, mudding, paint and tile. The ceiling needs to be finished and plumbing installed, and then he will be in business up there.

I'm constantly amazed at the varied interests of our four sons. David has his horse Calliope and has done well with her, but now he's excited at the prospect of purchasing another horse. He has his sights on a Morgan. I guess they are considered work horses as well as for riding.

There is a lady in the Turtle Mountains who is the head of the state Morgan Horse Association, and one day she invited Jim and David to take a look at her horses.

In the near future Jim will take David to a ranch a ways from here to check out a Morgan that is for sale. I don't think it's the horse for him, but it will be good to learn more about the breed by seeing more of them and talking to the owner. It will also be a good incentive for David to save up a bit more money to purchase the right horse for him.

If you look at the top of the house you will see something sticking up over the top of the roof line.

We finally extended our chimney pipe to above the house! No more exhaust backing up into the house, no more problems with getting a fire started -- there is wonderful draft to the wood stove. I am very thankful.

Jim also brought the sewer exhaust pipe through the top of the house. So far we've not had the septic system problems we've had in the past, and that is a wonderful blessing as well.

We have one more newcomer to our farm since last summer.

This is Rick, our new Boer goat. Half of our goats were bred to him, and half to our dairy goat buck named John. Some people have said they like having a goat that's good for meat as well as milking, and I guess we will find that out for ourselves. I can't say I have overly enjoyed goat meat, but we'll soon butcher some males that were born last spring (we're a bit behind in getting things done around here). I better pull up some good recipes for goat meat!

Small Town Traditions

2011-01-15T20:12:00.000-08:00

I should have posted this before Christmas ...

We went through town on our way to Jonathan's surgery, and I was finally able to take a photo of the city's Christmas tree.

Every year a big evergreen is set up in the middle of one of the city's intersections. As long as the tree is up, there's no left turns at this intersection. You kind of have to swoop around it when you drive down Main Street. Some day I hope to see it at night, with the lights all lit up.

I need to ask someone how many years they've carried on this tradition.

Whenever there's something going on in the surrounding area there's a sign to announce the event stuck into a tire and placed in the middle of the intersection where the tree stands during the Christmas season. You can't miss it.

Only in a small town would you see things like these. I kind of like it.

A Jonathan Update

2011-01-13T19:45:00.000-08:00

This post is long overdue. I was a bit overwhelmed with what I needed to get done after we were home from Jonathan's surgery, and blogging moved to the back burner.

Jim, Jonathan and I traveled to Bismarck the day before the surgery. I was thankful we did that, since we were in the midst of a cold snap and it would have been foolish to try to drive 3-1/2 hours to make a 7:00 a.m. appointment. That also gave me time to set up what I thought we would need for Jonathan's recovery after we got him back to the hotel room.

Jonathan was in surgery by 8:00 a.m., into recovery about 10:30, and we were brought to his recovery area at 1:00 p.m. Shortly after that we took him back to the hotel.

I thought for sure Jonathan would want to sleep the day away, but he surprised me by getting right to work in writing an entry for his blog. He wasn't able to talk very well, but managed to read all afternoon and into the evening. His appetite hadn't been quenched by surgery, either, and I was thankful for the soups I had cooked up ahead of time and blended into a soothing liquid for him to drink. We spent the day using ice -- 20 minutes on, 10 minutes off -- until midnight, when Jonathan was ready to sleep. He was amazing.

In the morning we went back to the surgeon's office for a check before leaving for home.

The surgeon said how surprised he was at how dense Jonathan's bone was. I guess normally bone in that area is rather thin, but not in Jonathan's case. That was a real blessing.

Another CT scan was done of Jonathan's head ... It was very interesting to take a look at his "before" and "after" scans, and see what the surgeons had done. The 2nd scan showed the cuts in his bone and the titanium plates that were used to reposition the jaw.

We had been told ahead of time they no longer wire jaws shut after surgery. Well, Jonathan's jaws weren't wired shut -- they were rubber banded shut! Tiny little bands were placed from top to bottom to hold things in place while things are healing. It was quite a challenge for Jonathan to try to get the tip of a spoon into the 1/4 inch space the bands allowed between his jaws. He became quite good at it though, and when we went back to see the doctor 5 days later he was told he could remove the front bands for eating, then replace them after he cleaned his teeth. The bands will stay in place for at least 6 weeks.

During the follow-up 5 days after surgery both surgeons came in to check on Jonathan. It was interesting to hear them talk about how strong Jonathan's bone structure was; Jonathan proceeded to tell them he has been drinking raw milk for over a year, and attributes his wealth of calcium in his bones to that fact. Of course, that was not something they wanted to hear. We appreciate them just the same.

One thing that has amazed me is the fact that there has been no bruising, and swelling was limited. We are so thankful for everyone's prayers. Everything has gone so smoothly.

The Sunday before Jonathan's scheduled surgery date the boys decided we needed a family photo. And yes, it was VERY cold outside. Andrew set up the camera on a tripod, we ran outside and did what we had to, and then ran back inside. I think at that point I decided wearing long underwear was a wise thing to do.

The photo: Andrew (14), Peter (17), Lynn, Jim, David (11), and Jonathan (19).

An Update on Blizzard Conditions

2010-12-31T08:30:00.000-08:00

Here is an update on what happened yesterday near Fargo, ND, courtesy of the Fargo InForum online newspaper, found at: http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/303453/

Published December 31 2010

Authorities continue to rescue stranded motorists overnight, still checking roads this morning

FARGO – After a night of dramatic rescues in a blinding blizzard, authorities in Cass and Clay counties took to the highways this morning to continue to check stranded cars for motorists. Visibility had improved, but temperatures dropped below zero as round two of the storm approached.
By: Mike Nowatzki, INFORUM

     Interstate 94 remained closed this morning from Fargo to Jamestown, N.D., and from Moorhead to Alexandria, Minn. Interstate 29 was still closed from Grand Forks, N.D., to the South Dakota border.
Highway 10 between Moorhead and Detroit Lakes, Minn., also is closed until further notice.
     Cass County Chief Deputy Jim Thoreson said three motorists were rescued overnight from County     Road 10 west of West Fargo, which became the alternate route after I-94 closed following a pileup Thursday involving at least 25 vehicles.
     The last person to be rescued from County Road 10 was a semi driver who told authorities at midnight he wanted to stay with his truck but then called about 4 a.m. for authorities to come get him, Thoreson said.
     Deputies and state troopers following snowplows in four-wheel-drive vehicles were out this morning looking for stranded motorists.
     They rescued four people from two vehicles on I-29 near Argusville shortly after 5 a.m., Thoreson said.
     A family of four and a person in a separate vehicle were picked up on I-29 south of Fargo near the Kindred exit, he said, noting it took rescuers three hours to make the roughly 30-mile round trip.
     As of 7:30 a.m., the tactical operations center set up in Fargo for the storm wasn’t aware of any motorists still stranded, Thoreson said.
     “That’s our biggest worry is we haven’t heard from somebody who’s stranded,” he said.
     Thoreson said “dozens and dozens” of vehicles that have crashed or gotten stuck are being left on or along the roadways.
     “I don’t know that any of the major roadways will open today,” he said. “And once they do decide, it’s going to take a long time to clean these cars out before they can open up these roads again.”
     Since the blizzard hit, authorities in Cass County – with help Thursday night from the Clay County Sheriff’s Office on snowmobiles – have escorted about 30 people back to safety, Thoreson said.
     Clay County Sheriff Bill Bergquist also dispatched his deputies early today to start checking for stranded motorists as visibility improved and plows started to open up roads.
     Deputies weren’t called to rescue any stranded motorists overnight, but emergency personnel needed a snowplow to clear a path to a medical assist in Sabin, he said.
     Bergquist asked people to stay home until crews can clear the roads.
     With a second blizzard expected to start moving into the Fargo-Moorhead area mid-afternoon, Bergquist said he’s “a little nervous with it being New Year’s Eve.” Authorities are asking revelers to use common sense and forgo partying if it means having to travel, he said.
     “They’ll just have to celebrate another night,” he said.
     A blizzard warning is in effect from 6 p.m. today to noon Saturday. The National Weather Service says new snow accumulations of 6 to 9 inches can be expected, with the heaviest snowfall likely near a line from Fargo to Bemidji, Minn.
     So far, no life-threatening injuries or deaths related to the blizzard have been reported in Cass or Clay counties, officials said.

Weather Related Article

2010-12-30T20:36:00.000-08:00

We are having some serious weather in the state. Thankfully we didn't receive the 9 inches of snow that was predicted, but did end up with about three inches and lots of wind and blowing snow. I walked down to the mailbox later in the afternoon and just about froze.

Here is a story from the Fargo, ND online newspaper called the InForum, and can be found at
http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/303410/

Published December 30, 2010

Full-blown rescue mode: 'Right now, we're just trying to get people out'

FARGO -- An emergency operation was under way Thursday night to rescue motorists stranded by a 100-vehicle chain-reaction accident on Interstate 94.
By: Wendy Reuer, INFORUM

     FARGO -- An emergency operation was under way Thursday night to rescue motorists stranded by a 100-vehicle chain-reaction accident on Interstate 94.
     The accident, caused by high winds and snow resulting in zero-visibility conditions, was reported about noon Thursday 10 miles west of Fargo between Mapleton and Raymond.
     The rescue operation involved Cass County, the state Highway Patrol and the state Department of Transportation.
     Capt. Eldon Meher, with the North Dakota Highway Patrol, said the accident was a domino effect, with at least 25 vehicles crashing into each other. Dozens of other vehicles were left stranded for hours between wrecks blocking the highway.
     It reportedly began when a pickup ran into a jack-knifed semi and became stuck. A second semi then jack-knifed when it tried to avoid the first accident.
     Meher said motorists could not see in front of them and continued to drive into other vehicles or into the ditch.
     The accident scene was about a quarter-mile long, said state Highway Patrol Sgt. Dave Wolf.
     Angie Kamin was on her way back home to Kindred, N.D., from Fargo when she heard news of the accident on the radio.
     Although she and her husband weren’t driving more than 10 mph, she said they could barely see past the hood of their Jeep.
     They slowed down, knowing they would come upon the scene. When they did, Kamin said she was horrified by the number of vehicles involved.
     “It was horrible. I’m a North Dakota, Minnesota resident all my life – I’ve driven in everything – and I’ve never seen anything like that before,” she said.
     Near dark, officials still did not know how many motorists remained trapped in their vehicles.
     A tactical operations center was set up at 2:30 p.m. Thursday at the Cass County Jail. A staging for snowmobile rescue operations was set up at the Cass County Highway Department building in West Fargo.
     By 7 p.m., Cass County Sheriff Paul Laney’s office and the Highway Patrol were in full rescue mode.
     “We’re just doing full blown rescue out of the vehicles,” Laney said. “Right now we’re just trying to get people out.”
     Two teams made of snowmobile patrols and snow plows were heading to the scene for rescue operations as of 8 p.m. Laney said he had no idea how many vehicles still had occupants left in them at the time, but the rescue would continue as needed.
     “The rescue operations will keep going all night until we feel comfortable everyone is out,” Laney said.
     Essentia Hospital representatives in Fargo said two people were brought in by ambulance from the accident and one walk-in injury was reported. One person was treated from injuries at Sanford Hospital also.
     Check back to inforum.com for updates to this story.

For Your Listening Pleasure ...

2010-12-26T07:13:00.000-08:00

While Jim, Jonathan and I were in Bismarck, the other boys decided to do a music video. Andrew usually plays mandolin, but took up the upright bass and Peter is on guitar. David was the camera man. The title of the tune is "Angelina Baker."

In Jonathan's Own Words ...

2010-12-20T06:33:00.000-08:00

I want to update you on what will be happening this week in the Bartlett family. Jonathan has shared some very personal things, and I would now like to share them with you. Please check it out here.

We certainly would covet your prayers.

How to Remove a Sparkplug the Hard Way

2010-12-12T12:14:00.000-08:00

I could never explain the saga of removing rusted sparkplugs as well as our son Andrew. You can read all about it on his blog . Farm life just seems to have a lot of these types of situations.

A friend who grew up on a farm told us one time that typically it takes at least half your time looking for what you need, the other half actually getting the work done. Around here it takes more than half your time just figuring out how to get the job done!

An Early Morning Encounter

2010-12-02T18:35:00.000-08:00

About 4:00 this morning our dog Samson placed his front paws on our bed and wanted attention. I scratched his ears and told him to get down. He then proceeded to make some soft barking noises deep in his throat. I was glad when he quit, because then I didn't have to get up to let him out. It's been very cold at night and I've spoiled him by letting him stay inside on those types of nights. Besides, the cats have taken over his dog house. I wouldn't want to stick my head into a dog house filled with cats ready to scratch and bite, either.

All of a sudden I heard the yipping of coyotes -- just on the other side of the wall! I woke up Jim, who hadn't heard anything, and jumped out of bed. At the same time, Jonathan came running out of the bedroom area with a gun in his hands. By this time, everyone but Andrew was up. I guess he too was awake, but his bed felt too cozy to climb out.

Jonathan quickly threw on his boots and placed a head lamp on his head, and went outdoors to see what he could see.

The next thing we heard was a shot.

By then we were all anxiously waiting at the door to hear about what he saw.

Jonathan came back in and explained that apparently Samson had dragged a deer hide by the side of the house and that was what the coyotes were feasting on. As he walked out of the house the coyotes ran to a trail leading into the woods. He managed to get off one shot but missed them as they took off. Jonathan said he could see the glow from their eyes as they would turn to look back at him as they ran away.

We all went back to bed, but I never did go back to sleep. Peter was up at his usual 5:15 to get ready to milk, and we all got up to do our usual chores.

At daylight the guys checked the area and found coyote tracks all over the place in the snow -- near the pigs, by the barn, and even right in front of the door to the basement. The cats must have been terrified, since the coyotes were also right by the dog house as well. I suppose if I would have had Samson outside he could have deterred them from coming this close to the house, but I sure would have hated to have had him tangle with those mangy creatures.

I sure hope we don't have another visit tonight.

WE-Ding

2010-12-01T20:27:00.000-08:00

Maybe someone should really start an agrarian social networking system like this!

Get it??

Thanksgiving Gift

2010-11-25T20:01:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday I received a surprise box in the mail. David helped me open it up, and we discovered beautifully decorated cookies from my cousin, Peggy. She should start a business creating cookies, don't you think?

Thanks for blessing us, Peggy!

Sundogs Explained

2010-11-24T18:17:00.000-08:00

I found this sketch of sundogs in today's Fargo Forum online newspaper. Before reading the chart below, I didn't have a good explanation regarding what causes them.

In our area, sundogs seem to occur most often during the winter months, but we saw them as well just outside of Bismarck on a fall day the end of September.

Sunrise

2010-11-20T20:23:00.000-08:00

This was the view from my kitchen window yesterday morning.

This time of year the sundogs mean one thing: It's going to be very cold. And it was very cold. And it's still very cold. The windchill factor brought the temperature down to 20 degrees below zero.

And tonight it's snowing, with a prediction of approximately 6 inches of snow. The local newspaper stated we've already had close to 30 inches, so winter is off to a roaring start.

How to Move Hay Bales: Improvising

2010-11-10T17:21:00.000-08:00

Our family has been living in the country for 6 years, but we still lack some equipment most farms consider essential for a successful operation.

Andrew includes a video of how we picked up our hay bales this week. Check it out here.

For quite a while we didn't even have a truck, so we used our station wagon to pull a small utility trailer and took only a couple of bales at a time. This proves you CAN make do if you have to.

It's certainly a good thing our neighbor's equipment creates the smaller round bales, or we might have had a problem.

Samson loves it when the guys move bales ... Lunch is just underneath. He loves mice.

Pushing On

2010-11-01T20:10:00.000-07:00

Looks like our guest cabin is hosting alfalfa bales ...

This past summer our neighbor was 6 weeks late in baling our hay, so the alfalfa was way past its prime. Peter had to resort to purchasing alfalfa hay bales from someone in the area to supplement what is missing in our hay. Hopefully it will help. Sandy our milk cow dropped quite dramatically in her milk supply after Peter was forced to switch from having the cows grazing in the field to being in the barnyard eating our hay.

The guys didn't want to keep the bales in the barn since they would be easy prey to wandering goats. Instead, they are being stored for the time being in the guest cabin.

Peter, Andrew and Jonathan have all had their hands in constructing this hay feeder which will go into the barnyard for the winter. This one will keep the goats and anything else off the hay and reduce spillage. They plan to get it down to the barnyard tomorrow. It's heavy, and with the snow and mucky conditions it will have to be manually carried down there.

Andrew took some end of the day photos, and you can see that in spite of the warm weather today we still have lots of snow to melt.

Our friend Steve came over yesterday and used his Bobcat to dig us out. The snow plow still hasn't come in to finish what he started the day after the storm, so this was a great blessing to us. David has been busy trying to convince his older brothers to have a snowball fight. The large piles of snow are great for hiding behind!

Another beautiful sunset over the lake.

I'm having all kinds of trouble with Blogger tonight, so I will post this before I lose it!

Storm Photos

2010-10-27T21:16:00.000-07:00

This afternoon I stepped outside to take a few photos. The wind was still blowing, but had calmed down a bit from what it had been doing.

Looks like the car won't be going anywhere for a while -- at least until the snowplow comes through.

The hoop house area looks like a real mess. I need to cut down the leftovers of my elecampane plants and also another bush. We finally located a farmer who is willing to sell us straw bales. It was much nicer when we could get them closer to home, but the weather was so rainy this spring that almost no one in the Turtle Mountains was able to plant any crops. We need to cover our drain field area and my herb beds with straw before the real cold weather begins.

There's a big drift by our old van.

I saw the long range forecast, and supposedly a week from now we are to have temperatures in the 50's. Maybe that will give us more time to get ready for winter.

Jonathan needs to do his egg route tomorrow, and someone is supposed to pick up some other items, but nothing will happen until the snowplow comes through. I'm thankful we never lost electricity; it's one item I'm very attached to.

It's Here

2010-10-26T20:57:00.000-07:00

It seems strange that once the snow starts it's as if it never left.

By the end of the week we are supposed to have temperatures in the lower 40's, so it could melt again.

Winter's Coming

2010-10-25T15:10:00.000-07:00

It rained most of the day today, and by tomorrow our Indian Summer will be over ... I've heard we could get as much as 4 to 6 inches of snow in the next couple of days.

(Photo from March 2010)

HIGH WIND WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 10 AM TO 7 PM CDT TUESDAY.

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BISMARCK HAS ISSUED A HIGH WIND
WARNING.WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 10 AM TO 7 PM CDT TUESDAY.

* NW WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO INCREASE TO 25 TO 35 MPH WITH
GUSTS TO 40 MPH TUES MORNING.THEN STRENGTHEN TUESDAY
AFTERNOON; EVENING TO 35 TO 45 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 55 MPH AT
TIMES.

* RAIN SHOWERS CHANGING TO SNOW SHOWERS TUES NIGHT WITH
CONTINUED VERY STRONG WINDS WED WITH SNOW SHOWERS WILL
HAMPER TRAVEL ACROSS WESTERN & CENTRAL NO. DAKOTA.

Last Week's Activities

2010-10-24T16:56:00.000-07:00

Last Monday Jim, Jonathan and I traveled to Bismarck for an appointment, and also visited with some new friends south of the city. They did their first year of a CSA, and it went well for them.

The family just finished putting up a high tunnel, and it was quite the structure. It was hot in there! They had just planted carrots, and I can't remember what else they will grow in there over the winter. Quite impressive.

It's a good thing the sides roll up from the bottom. On a warm winter day it could become quite toasty in there for the plants.

The family also has smaller hoop structures, which will help to stretch the growing season for what was planted this spring. I think they said there were 50 members involved in their summer CSA, and now they are doing a fall/winter one. I didn't hear how many members they have so far.

We believe in making do -- notice the balloons. They are remnants from Jim's run for state senate!

I turned 54 on Friday, and the boys make it quite a festive occasion. I felt very loved.

Finally each family has a King James Version Bible. Mine happens to be a large print one!

Jonathan's hoop structure for his laying hens is progressing nicely. The door frames are also in place, and he's waiting for the company to send the felt needed to cushion the plastic resting on the pipes before installing the 2 layers. Thankfully it was the company's mistake so Jonathan doesn't have to pay further postage.

Zoro finally arrived yesterday, via the Stegman family. He is quite the bruiser. Hopefully next spring we'll have piglets from 2 of our sows.

As soon as they got him into his pen, he touched the electric fence which is inside the panels. After being shocked a couple of times they shut off the fence, in favor of allowing him to get used to his surroundings before using electricity to keep him in.

It's a bit hard to see, but Zoro made quite a dent in one of the panels. That was the first order of business -- toughening up the walls. Hopefully he will enjoy his pen and not make moves to get out. I'm not sure how we would get him back in!

Andrew and Jonathan working on the panels.

Funny Face had 5 kittens over the summer. We were so busy we really didn't take time to tame the kittens, so they are quite afraid of us. I took one photo of this kitten, and then it zoomed away into the woods. Hopefully we can get them fairly tame, since a friend in November wants to take 2 of them back to her home in Montana.

Coyotes in Action

2010-10-14T18:26:00.000-07:00

Andrew has a video of coyotes he heard a couple of mornings ago. The one was very close, considering he could capture its voice on his camcorder. You could check it out here .

You might also be interested in another of his videos, of how we North Dakotans break the bead on a truck tire. You can find that video here. We do things in a very professional manner around here!

Turkey Butchering

2010-10-12T20:27:00.000-07:00

We were supposed to have had a 60% chance of rain overnight. Nothing happened. And, the day dawned cloudless but with mist rising from the low areas of our farm. It was a good day for turkey butchering.

It took a while for the mist to clear, but we all had chores to do, anyway.

Cowboy David was just returning from feeding the pigs.

Twenty of Jonathan's turkeys went from this:

To this:

We spent all morning doing turkeys, then the guys rushed to do something else all afternoon. I'll have to report that activity tomorrow.

And, we had a very nice sunset as well.

Turkey Day

2010-10-11T15:07:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow we are butchering Jonathan's 33 turkeys. I'm thankful the weather will be around 60 degrees, instead of the 50 degree weather we had the last time we butchered chickens.

I've been concerned lately with how the coyotes have been acting around here. One night last week it sounded like there was at least one coyote near the laying hen and turkey pens (they are shut up for the night in enclosed pens, which are in turn surrounded by electrified poultry netting). Jim and Jonathan drove out there but it was gone before they arrived at the pens.

Even in broad daylight the coyotes have been very active. I don't know if the beautiful Indian summer we are having has caused them to be so bold, but I'll be glad to have the turkeys in the freezer and the laying hens closer to home in a shelter Jonathan is constructing.

Our Lake Will Never Be the Same

2010-10-07T19:22:00.000-07:00

Yesterday a friend of ours called to tell me to look out our front basement windows. There he was, talking to me with his cell phone in his speed boat on our lake! He had put his boat in at our neighbor's place. Our two families are the only homes on this lake.
As far as we know, there has never been a motorized boat on the lake. We borrowed a canoe and used that one summer, the boys have used a little twelve foot wooden boat they built while we were still in the city, and two summers ago Andrew built a raft and that has been poled out to a deeper spot on the lake -- but no speed boats.

You never know what's going to happen around here!

A Successful Chicken Season

2010-10-03T19:19:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago Jonathan announced to us we needed to butcher his last batch of chickens. So, we spent that day preparing for the big event. The biggest number we had butchered in one day was 104, and this time we would do a whole batch -- approximately 170 chickens -- all in one day.

We started with a little bit of rain, and a high of 50 degrees. That is a bit chilly when you are placing your hands in cold water all day long. At least there were no problems with flies.

This past summer we utilized 5 days for butchering Jonathan's broilers, as well as doing one day to take care of some older hens that were no longer laying eggs. We had some VERY LONG DAYS. I think this particular day we started about 9:30 a.m. and finished up the last of the packaging at 10:30 p.m. And then came the clean up.

Peter looked pretty chipper, in spite of being cold.

David was a bit on the cold side, but did a good job anyway.

Jim was in charge of our newly constructed Whizbang Chicken Plucker. Doing 3 chickens at a time in approximately 20 seconds was a wonderful way to speed up the process. At least it sped up the outside work. Inside, we had our work cut out for us!

Andrew and I were in the house working; Andrew would check the chickens over for pin feathers (he had the tweezers to pull them out), etc. and I finished them off by washing them one final time, drying, bagging, weighing and recording the weights. The Whizbang Chicken Plucker is so great at getting rid of the feathers that this time there were hardly any of the small black pin feathers to pull out.

Andrew and I took turns getting more chickens from the outside barrels filled with very cold water and also bringing the finished chickens upstairs to the big freezers.

I guess Andrew forgot to take a photo of Jonathan doing what he was doing over at the killing cones. But then, maybe that was good!

Samson was very attentive, but stayed out of the chicken guts unless someone tossed something to him. I'm sure he was very full by the time were were done.

Last Friday we were glad to see those chickens being driven away. I am very thankful to have my freezer available for the rest of our garden harvest.

North Dakota's Best Kept Secret

2010-09-27T17:17:00.000-07:00

Today friends of ours came for a visit, flying over in their family's airplane. Jim, Andrew and David met them at the town airport, and Jim and David went up for a quick flight over our farm.

This is what the Turtle Mountains of ND look like by air on a beautiful fall day.

The bright green area in the middle is what we call our "big field." This is where Jonathan has his chickens and turkeys.

The above photo is our farm.

I never knew this area of ND existed until we started looking for land in the country.

Thanks, Roberts, for a special day of fellowship and fun!

Tomato Culprit?

2010-09-24T14:14:00.000-07:00

Today the guys were changing our electric fencing for the pigs so they could be directed into one of our cornfields. Hopefully they will clean it up for us. It took some doing, but they managed to get all 6 pigs into the field. We just can't drive into the yard because for the time being the electric fencing goes across the driveway.

While this was happening, David saw something run near the house, and got everybody's attention. It was a mink!

Too bad he wasn't spotted earlier in the season -- it may have saved my ripe tomatoes. I don't really know if that is what took a bite out of my nice ones, but the size of the teeth may correspond to the size of the bite in the tomatoes.

I had forgotten how big those creatures are. I was thinking they were more like weasels, but not so.

Life is never dull around here!

Frost Warnings

2010-09-15T20:40:00.000-07:00

The guys spent most of the day picking green tomatoes -- lots of them! We planted over 200 plants, and hardly any of the tomatoes have ripened. We did plant some in the hoop house, but when I went into the area to pick the ripe ones I discovered most had a bite taken out of them. Would a skunk do that? I was plenty discouraged, since I love tomato sandwiches. Hopefully some of these tomatoes will do a good job of maturing upstairs in our unfinished dining room area.

Tomorrow night is supposed to dip into the lower 30's.

By Saturday we are supposed to have a high in the low 50's. Fall came early this year.

One of Those Days

2010-09-13T19:04:00.000-07:00

We had a beautiful sunrise this morning ...

After the sun was up the clouds created very unusual patterns in the sky.

David woke up this morning with cold symptoms, and was pretty miserable.

At 7:30 someone called to let us know that an elderly neighbor had passed away yesterday while in church. It's a comfort to know this godly man is now in Heaven, but I feel sad for his wife, who is unable to live alone due to health reasons.

Temperatures lately have been in the lower 60's during the day, and the talk is of snow by October 1. Tonight the temperature will dip down to 36 or so, which is getting dangerously close to freezing. We've already witnessed 2 mornings of frost on the chicken coop. Good thing the frost only hit in the valley, or our garden produce would not have made it.

I have a feeling we'll be picking green tomatoes tomorrow, since predictions are of nighttime temperatures in the lower 30's by Thursday night.

Yesterday our family picked our finally ready field of sweet corn. We had hoped to have sold it over Labor Day weekend, but the weather had not cooperated to give us the mature corn we needed. After a few hours Jim and Jonathan returned home with almost as much corn as they left with earlier in the day. So, we got to work and processed corn, corn, and more corn.

I think I gave up cooking corn about 11:30 last night, and needed to finish up today. So, I spent the afternoon canning and cooking up what was left. And to think we still have more corn to pick that wasn't quite ready!

While I was processing corn, the guys were outside grinding field peas for the animals. It takes one to grind, one to move buckets and pans around, and one to man the accelerator of the truck. The only problem was the grinder broke. Jim will have to find someone that can do some welding for us since we can't weld cast iron.

Oh yes, something else happened.

Our bathroom area also contains the laundry and items such as water heater, water softener and pump tank. We've had some very humid days lately, and there's been the problem of sweating tanks. Our well water is extremely cold when it comes into the basement, and the water softener seems to be a constant source of condensation which drips all around its tank. I've resorted to placing towels on the cement floor around that area to soak up the water.

I decided to do a load of towels, so I grabbed the one that was placed in front of the water softener and had quite a surprise:

And yes, it was one of the bigger ones, and yes, I yelled! At least I didn't scream! Andrew took one look and ran to get the camera; Jonathan grabbed a newspaper and one of my stock pots and got the thing into the pot and out of the house.

I'm not sure what they are called, but we call them salamanders. The size of this thing (including its tail) was about a foot long. We have no idea how it ever got into the house -- if it came in through the front door when someone had it open it would have had to slither all the way to the back of the house! I shudder just to think about it! I would have preferred to have a mouse (which we've never had) over this!

These creatures actually go on the defense when they feel threatened, with the swinging of their tail. They will also emit a milky, stinky substance, so the object is not to get them too riled up.

I remember back to when we were going to butcher chickens a few years ago. Everyone but me was outside getting set up. I walked into the kitchen and discovered one of those salamanders positioned right in front of my stove. Our screen door (which we don't have any more) didn't fit the entry area correctly, and it must have crawled in when no one was looking.

I had no one to rescue me and was afraid it would crawl under my stove, so I picked up a newspaper, grabbed the salamander, and ran out the door with it, throwing it into the bushes. And then I yelled!

My New Stock Pot

2010-09-10T11:55:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago I visited my friend Marci's blog called Down on the Farm. She was having a drawing for $60.00 worth of product from CSN Stores -- and I won! My new 16 quart Farberware stock pot arrived a couple of days ago. It will be perfect for making cheese. Now I need to find the time to try it out!

I see Marci has had another drawing for $60.00 towards something from CSN Stores since I won. Maybe if you keep checking she will have still another one!

Thanks, Marci!

Where Did the Summer Go?

2010-09-06T17:29:00.000-07:00

I am having a hard time believing it's September already. It just didn't seem like we had much of a summer.

We started out with a very mild spring, but then it turned colder and the rains kept coming. I think we only had a handful of days when the temperature hit 90 degrees.

The boys didn't advertise for work, but were approached by people needing work done on their yards and buildings. It was enough to keep them actually too busy, so by July 1 they cut back to only doing yard work for 2 widows and some odds and ends for the association that takes care of the bike path around Lake Metigoshe. It was quite strange to have 2 or more of the boys gone during the day, returning home in time to get their evening chores done. Whoever was home took up the slack.

In early July, Jonathan and Peter attended an Appleseed Project Rifleman Boot Camp and then a weekend Appleseed shoot that took place close to an hour from home. The rest of us scrambled to keep up with what was happening on the farm. Thankfully they were home in time to do the milking and chicken chores every evening of the 8 days they participated in the Appleseed events and up early to do the same. As soon as Peter finished milking he would hand the milk can to me and I would process the milk and clean up everything afterwards. I gained a real appreciation for all the work he does.

During the week of Appleseed both Jonathan and Peter received their "red hats" -- which means they are now instructors for the organization. Jonathan is also state coordinator for the Appleseed Project in ND.

This strange photo is what we viewed this summer during one of our many thunderstorms. The rains just kept coming and coming -- and most of the time they were accompanied with lots of thunder and lightning. One afternoon the rain was so intense that in just a 4 hour period we received 3 inches of rain.

Our neighbor is the one who cuts our hay; he told us back in mid June he would be over to cut hay by the end of the month. Well, due to some family illness and with all the rains he didn't make it over until the middle of August. This meant our alfalfa was already drying out by the time it was cut.

We were waiting to see what our raspberries would do this year. Well, they didn't do much.

The summer of 2009 we harvested and sold raspberries for 3 weeks, but this year we only had enough to sell on 2 different days. It was a disappointment for us, but turned out to be God's Providence, since we had so many things going on that we probably couldn't have handled an abundant harvest. Thankfully I still had frozen berries in the freezer from last year, and we were able to make some raspberry sauce and jam for ourselves with what we were able to harvest before selling what we did sell.

It was just too wet of a season for us to grow a lot of raspberries. Jim said the bushes will be ready for a good crop next year.

One day while we were picking raspberries we heard our dog Samson barking excitedly over by the hoop house. Peter walked over to take a look, and discovered a skunk in the trench we had dug to store our potatoes and carrots over the winter! Peter took care of the problem, but the odor of skunk lingered for quite a while.

A couple of nights before this skunk was discovered we smelled its odor outside, and thought Samson had tangled with his second skunk of the season. It turned out to be our tomcat, Henry, that had tangled for the first time with a skunk!

Skunks were in abundant supply this summer. Shortly after Jonathan had placed his young Rhode Island Red chickens in poultry netting up in what we call our "big field," there was quite a thunderstorm, and Peter had shut off the power to the electric fencing. The next morning Jonathan went up to get the chickens fed and discovered something had figured out it was a good night to get some delicious chicken, killing at least 15 of them. He thought it had been a skunk, due to the conditions the carcasses were left.

Even earlier in the season the boys had taken out the raft Andrew made last year to go swimming; Samson chose that time to find a skunk and chased it into a hole in the ground. Of course Samson got too close and received a good dose of its spray! Peter said he could actually see the mist of the skunk spray from his position in the lake.

In August, our 5-year-old cat David named Funny Face had another batch of kittens. There are 5 of them, and we have people standing in line to take them home. Funny Face has the nicest kittens, and they usually turn out to be good mousers.

Jim has been diligently working to prepare our bees for winter. One day when we were picking raspberries we heard quite a commotion, and it turned out to be one hive that was swarming. Jim managed to capture the bees and their queen and get them into another bee box. So far so good this season. I'm not sure if we'll be able to harvest any honey this fall or not.

We have 6 pigs this year, and most of them have already been spoken for. Jim decided to keep 2 females and plans to winter them, as the end of Sept. we will be purchasing a boar named Zorro from friends. Zorro is a Berkshire, so we'll see how he does with our Hampshires. They have the run of a field and into the woods along the driveway, so every time I walk down to get the mail they come running to see if I have any scraps for them. It's amazing to me that they have learned to respect an electric fence and have never gotten out.

Unfortunately all the rain caused problems with our gardens. We lost half our potato plants, all of our cucumber plants as well as our kidney and navy bean plants. The green beans weren't as plentiful as in years past, and I am grateful for the crop we had last year because we are still enjoying the surplus. I should have a few more beans out in the garden since the plants were still flowering. Everything is late this year; my tall zinnias didn't bloom until a week ago.

These little Cornish Cross chickens are all Jonathan has left of his 600 meat chickens. We've spent lots of together time as a family butchering chickens! It's amazing to me that the first 2 batches are all sold, and this batch is all spoken for. We even have a waiting list for people wanting more. I'm thankful for the ones that ended up with a broken wing or some scratches, because those are mine to keep.

Jonathan has had a lot of success with selling eggs as well. Earlier in August I found myself begging our neighbor to sell me some of her eggs since Jonathan was selling all of his! I will be thankful when his Rhode Island Reds start laying so there is a surplus and we can have egg meals once again.

I think my favorite animal on the farm this year has been Jonathan's turkeys. They have so much personality! They, too, live in poultry netting up in the big field. I didn't realize how much they like eating grass and whatever else they manage to get their beaks on. Jonathan has had to go out every night and get them off the top of their hoop house style shelter and inside for safety.

Turkeys are the ultimate when it comes to curiosity!

We have a new addition to our chicken butchering -- a Whizbang Chicken Plucker! Jonathan ordered the kit after his first batch of chickens, so we tried it out on the second batch. He probably should have given it a test run before starting on the 104 chickens we had to butcher that day, as there were a few glitches.

Last Wednesday they decided to butcher 20 of Jonathan's oldest laying hens, and the Whizbang worked like a dream! Now I need to figure out how I can possibly improve my system of quality control, bagging and weighing in order to keep up with the production line!

A couple of years ago someone gave Andrew a 3-wheeler that didn't work. Well, now it works! Andrew and David have had lots of fun with it. However, Andrew said it is very temperamental, since it doesn't always start when they want it to. Andrew is our resident motor/engine maintenance man, and does a good job of diagnosing problems. It's still amazing to me how each of our 4 sons has a different interest -- and Andrew's is in engines.

Our hay fields are finally hayed, and all that is left is to take the ones that are ours and haul them down to the barn area.

Some of my flowers did very well this year.

My herb garden wasn't in a very good spot. We didn't take time to get rid of all the weeds and do a good tilling job before jumping in and planting a bunch of things, so this spring Jim made me two raised beds. I transplanted the herbs that wintered well into those areas, and they did very well. I still need to move my lavender plant into a raised bed, but Jim needs to make one more for me before I am completely done with the old herb garden area. I'm hoping we can get it all cleaned out and use it for lettuce, spinach, and other things like that. My comfrey plant is still in there as well.

David was thrilled to find a saddle for purchase at a garage sale in the area. Even Calliope seems to enjoy riding, now that David isn't riding bareback. She makes it tough for him to catch her, but once she is caught she enjoys galloping in the field.

I am amazed at how much David has picked up on his own when it comes to horseback riding. Today he was figuring out how he will talk Jim into taking him to a rodeo that will take place in a couple of weeks.

One of our sources of apples is no longer a source for us, since the couple sold their home and moved out of the area. There is another home we pass every time we head down to town that has 2 apple trees in their front yard. Our friend Steve happened to mention one time that someone should approach the owners about picking the apples and cleaning up what had fallen, so Jim took the idea and we've been picking those apples ever since.

In May the boys surprised me with their gift to me of a Champion Juicer! We've been waiting to give it a try, and found ourselves actually enjoying making applesauce this year. The sauce is much nicer with the apple skins juiced in with the rest of the apple. I've also been using the Champion Juicer to process tomatoes, and it is a real time saver!

A week ago we did our first farmers market. The man that owns a golf course at Lake Metigoshe asked if he could buy corn from us for a corn feed, and also requested that we set up our produce and baked goods for sale -- along with some bluegrass music by the boys. I don't think we'll do it over there again, since we figured we would have sold more where we usually set up shop at a local convenience store.

This past Friday we sold out our load of corn at the corner, and then Saturday morning we all were up and outside by 6 to pick corn by flashlight. Jim took Andrew and David to Bottineau for the farmers market that opened at 8, and sold everything we had picked.

We have another field of sweet corn, but it is just on the verge of being mature. The temperatures this week may not climb above 60, so we are patiently waiting to get it picked, sold and processed. Nothing like having corn off the cob in the middle of winter!

We also have a field of tomatoes that are yet to ripen. Since the temperature tomorrow night could plunge into the mid 30's we may be forced to haul them into our guest cabin to ripen on newspaper. I hope it won't come to that, as maturing on the vine is the absolute best.

Well, this is just a touch of what we have been doing. I'm hoping to get back into regular posting and reading our friends' blogs. I've missed it a lot.

Chicken Processing

2010-08-18T07:52:00.000-07:00

We're all a bit glassy eyed this morning. Yesterday we butchered and processed 104 Cornish Cross chickens. Approximately 400 chickens down, approximately 200 more to go. And then we will take care of 35 turkeys closer to Thanksgiving.

What a Way to Start a Morning

2010-08-06T06:44:00.000-07:00

Our morning started in a very thick mist ... Andrew went outside to start his chores and discovered our horse, Calliope walking around not too far from the house. That meant the cows were out somewhere as well.

Needless to say, milking was a bit late today.

Just a Note

2010-07-28T22:30:00.000-07:00

We've been pretty busy lately, and at night I've been too tired to post.

Andrew has done a good job of keeping up with some of our activities, so if you want to know what we've been up to, check out his blog.

I'll try to get a post in soon. Thanks!

Our Newest Crop

2010-06-30T10:41:00.000-07:00

We haven't quite succeeded in keeping the weeds down in our strawberry patch, so you have to look very carefully to find the berries. Little by little we are moving the beds to a new location and first laying down a type of plastic and then planting the strawberry plants through the covering.

They are delicious!

Oh yes, we also have a new crop of babies as well. Andrew took this photo of some baby birds in a nest near our workshop door.

Cows, Chickens, and Other Things

2010-06-25T20:04:00.000-07:00

David has been given the responsibility of caring for Cal, our little steer. He loves to be with people, and is very curious about the big outdoors. The boys let him out regularly to walk around and check things out. However, he spends most of his time out of the fence closely following David around.

Samson finds Cal very interesting as well; especially when he has milk on his face. Cal is just a little bit bigger than Samson.

It certainly doesn't take long for Cal to down a bottle!

Today was a test to see how well we would do with butchering chickens. Jonathan chose the largest broilers in the pens to butcher and see what the end result would weigh. There was a lady that asked for some chickens for tomorrow, and we were happy to oblige since we needed to check them out anyway.

Jonathan had purchased Herrick Kimball's book, Anyone Can Build a Tub-Style Mechanical Chicken Plucker, and it also gave detailed instructions on how to construct cones for what we need to do with the chickens. They worked a whole lot better than last year's cones made from wire.

Last year Jonathan bartered (I think it was) raspberries for this chicken plucker.

Today they used a garbage can to heat the water for scalding the chickens, but when we do the actual job we'll borrow our neighbor's turkey fryer to see how that works. It we are happy with it we'll try to find one of our own. Eventually Jonathan would like to construct a Whizbang chicken scalder.

Cleaning up after butchering.

My delphiniums are monsters this year, and I should have transplanted some of them to another area. As you can see, the flowers in the rest of the garden have a long ways to go.

Here's another photo of my sweet williams that are growing along my rock wall.

This year the guys created raised beds for my herbs. I pulled what I could out of my old herb garden, and hopefully the plants will thrive in here. I may have squeezed too many things in the 2 beds, and maybe by next year I can have some more made and spread out the plants.

Jim has been experimenting for a couple of years with blueberry plants. Last year they died over the winter. Jim contacted the company where we got them and asked what he could do to get them to live through our winters, and instead of replying we received 2 more boxes of plants!

I decided not to pull these pink daisies out of my old herb garden. They are tending to take over that garden area.

I need to start harvesting my comfrey.

The corn in the hoop house is getting quite tall. After I took this photo, Jim took off the hoop house plastic covering. Hopefully everything in there will continue to do well.

My flowers are pretty, but I sure have a lot of weeding to do!

PS: While some of the boys were out in the lake our dog Samson was sprayed by a skunk! Peter and I were in the house and heard Samson barking and barking, so Peter went down the hill to see what was going on. He witnessed Samson chasing a skunk into a hole, and the next thing he saw was Samson getting sprayed -- and a mist of the spray floating away in the sunlight. Needless to say, Samson is not visiting us in the house tonight! I hear a mixture of hydrogen peroxide, baking soda and dish soap works wonders.

Farm Photos

2010-06-23T14:01:00.000-07:00

Things are still growing, in spite of all the rain we've had.
Andrew took some photos of my flowers. Above is a photo of sweet williams.

More sweet williams. This year I lined our rock wall with this type of flower instead of petunias.

Over by the cabins we moved in last year is a row of lilac and rose bushes. The flowers are very pretty right now.

Jim planted more strawberry plants, and is trying a new type of cover to keep down the weeds. We'll see how they do.

Our horse and cows have become a herd; where one goes the others follow.

Sandy is the leader of the pack.

The photo is kind of dark, but it shows where Jonathan has placed the chicken's movable pens up to the field where he has been keeping his younger layers.

The layers seem to really enjoy the lush, fresh grass.

I think the turkeys have become some of my favorite animals on the farm. They have so much personality, and love visiting with me when I walk up to where they are being kept. They are very curious and love checking things out. They are also quite the talkers.

Special Day

2010-06-21T14:13:00.000-07:00

Yesterday dawned sunny and clear. It was still very muddy, though, since we've had such rainy weather. Good thing the weather was nice, since we were heading to a wedding.

Jonathan, David and I planned to make the 4 hour trip to the Dagley farm for the celebration. We ended up taking the old pick-up truck, which meant only 3 of us could go. Our friend Paulette was also driving down, so I hopped a ride with her so I could keep clean until the wedding. We took our 2 way radios so we could communicate between vehicles. Paulette was staying in the area overnight, and I rode back home with the boys.

The wedding was the day after Prairie Days, an annual family event held at the Dagley's. Quite a few families stayed for the event. The ceremony was outdoors, and the weather was perfect.

The above photo is of Hannah the bride, and Ron Stover, her dad. The wedding had a western theme.

The extended families were the wedding party, and the 2 dads performed the ceremony. I was sitting off to the side and a ways away from the front, so I didn't get as many photos as I should have.

We've been friends with the Stovers and Dagleys for quite a few years, and it was such a blessing to see Benjamin and Hannah bringing the families together.

Oh, and the reason we ended up taking the truck was because we picked up the newest addition to our farm:

A yet unnamed 1-1/2 month old calf, who we are now bottle feeding. He was so good on the way home -- just laid down and took it easy. Hopefully he will adjust soon to the Bartlett Farm.

Floating Garden

2010-06-19T16:18:00.000-07:00

This is what part of our garden looked like after the deluge was over. I can't imagine living through something like a hurricane. We sustained some water in the basement as well.

Tomato plant ...

Onions ...

Celery ...

And green beans.

Later yesterday and again this morning, Andrew and David set up the generator and pump to get rid of the water.

Today was a very beautiful day, with lots of sunshine. Now it's clouding over and we may have a bit more rain. This has certainly been an unusual start to summer.

Gardening in Between Raindrops

2010-06-17T19:34:00.000-07:00

More rain today. My parents called tonight; apparently our area even made the news back in northern Minnesota. According to the water I poured out of the dog dish we must have had at least a couple of inches in less than an hour -- and then some.

Yesterday was a lull in between storms, so I pushed myself outside to plant the remaining herbs and flowers.

I encountered one big pest: Henry the cat. He made up his mind he was going to sleep underneath the delphiniums, so I finally gave in and left him alone. I sure hope he leaves my newly planted flowers alone.

Our garden items are coming along nicely in spite of all the rain. However, we have lots of weeding to do. I neglected our asparagus patch, so we probably had only one meal out of them. Our friend Steve told us they are heavy feeders and we should have given them nutrients, so that information will be stored for next year's growing season and chalk it up to another case of learning things the hard way.

Yesterday Andrew took some great photos of the farm, and here is one of raspberries in the formation stage.

Our peas are climbing up the chicken wire. Now to get it hot enough to take off the hoop house plastic.

We are also growing a bumper crop of mosquitoes.

Rain

2010-06-13T19:44:00.000-07:00

We've had lots of rain lately. One neighbor told us she talked with another neighbor, and the week before Memorial Day he poured 9 inches of water out of his rain gauge! Everything has been very soggy.

We were thankful that a friend made a start to improve our driveway. During all the rain we continued to be able to travel in and out without getting stuck. The man was waiting for road restrictions to be over before finishing the work that needs to be done. The restrictions were lifted recently, so hopefully the driveway will be scraped and gravel added in the near future.

The pigs seemed very happy with all the rain -- made it easier for them to dig up the area inside their pen. I don't know why, but all 6 of them insisted on rooting up the path we take to get to their feeder, so it makes for a slippery, mucky walk in there. They haven't rooted up all of their available area, so I wonder why this particular spot was their favorite.

Peter strung electric wire around an area near where our semi trailer is temporarily parked. As soon as the pigs are brave enough they will discover how much room they have to move around in and dig up.

We've not had warm enough temperatures to take off the hoop house plastic. Night time temperatures are still in the 40's, and daytime temps seem to hover in the 60's. I think I read one day this week we may actually hit the mid 70's.

Our corn is knee high in the hoop house, so hopefully we'll have some to eat on David's 11th birthday the end of July.

The tomato plants are looking pretty good in there as well. The plants in the field aren't half as nice, but hopefully things will perk up soon.

Tomorrow I need to finally get some flowers planted.

Update on the Farmstead

2010-06-05T20:00:00.000-07:00

We've had some very busy days lately, and here are a few photos to show some of what we've been doing.
Jonathan has his second batch of broilers for the season in the coop. His first batch are out in the field in movable pens. It's amazing how quickly they grow. We will butcher the first 200 at the end of this month.

We also have 39 turkeys running around in another section of the coop. Thankfully Jonathan has only lost one of the batch. We haven't had turkeys for about 3 years, and all I remember about them is how tough it was to keep them alive for the first 6 weeks or so. After that they were tough!

The Rhode Island Red hens that Jonathan purchased for egg laying are now out in the big field surrounded by poultry netting. At the time the photo was taken they must have been in their coop.

One night we had a lot of thunder and lightening, so Peter shut off the electric fence. I'm not sure what can happen to the fence during a storm, but apparently it can sustain damage. In the morning Jonathan discovered something had gotten through the netting and killed 14 chickens, with another 4 unaccounted for. We suspect it was a skunk, since some dead chickens had blood on their necks but others were eaten and the carcasses left behind. We won't do that again! Thankfully nothing else has happened to the rest.

This is Jefferson Davis -- Jeff for short. He caused quite a bit of problems last night during milking time for Sandy, our Jersey cow. This was Sandy's first cycle when Jeff was around and she was in heat, so she was very crabby when Peter brought her into the barn for milking. She wouldn't stand still, and kicked over the milk bucket, dousing our dog Samson. He didn't seem to mind, though, and proceeded to lick up what milk he could reach.

And finally -- progress is being made with the installation of our siding. It's looking pretty good.

There's lots more to tell about what's been happening!

It's Windy

2010-05-24T12:47:00.000-07:00

It seems like it's been windy forever, and the forecast is for more:

Rest Of Today...Thunderstorms. Some thunderstorms may produce heavy rainfall. Breezy. Highs in the upper 50s. Northeast winds 20 to 25 mph with gusts to around 40 mph.

Tonight...Thunderstorms in the evening...then rain showers likely after midnight. Some thunderstorms may be severe with heavy rainfall. Windy. Lows in the upper 40s. East winds 15 to 30 mph with gusts to around 45 mph.

Tuesday...Mostly sunny. Windy. Highs in the mid 60s. South winds 20 to 30 mph with gusts to around 45 mph shifting to the southwest 30 to 35 mph with gusts to around 55 mph in the afternoon.

Tuesday Night...Decreasing clouds. Windy. Lows in the mid 40s. Southwest winds 15 to 30 mph becoming west 10 to 15 mph after midnight.

Our clothes lately have been drying in the horizontal position on the clotheslines!

I'll try to write more soon. As usual, life has been very busy.

Potato/Carrot Storage

2010-05-09T14:07:00.000-07:00

Last fall we had an abundant harvest of carrots and potatoes. We don't have a root cellar, so Plan B had to be activated in order to store them over the winter.

Last month I read about the clamp that Herrick Kimball of The Deliberate Agrarian made to store his carrots. Well, we too had quite a few vegetables to take care of last fall, so we created a different type of storage for them.

Our friend Steve was helping us clean out corn stalks, etc. and Jim asked him if he would dig a trench for us.

The trench was four feet deep and approximately 2-1/2 feet wide -- just high and wide enough to fit 55 gallon plastic barrels.

David finished cleaning out the loose dirt, and we were ready to roll.

We didn't finish the job until our Indian summer was over, so the actual digging and placing of the vegetables into the barrels took place under a bit different circumstances -- after a snow!

This time Andrew was down in the hole, placing layers of vegetables and a mix of straw and wood chips in between. The sides of the barrel were also lined with straw in order to help with air circulation.

After the potatoes and carrots were in place, Peter rolled hay bales on top of the barrels in the trench and the whole area was covered with a tarp. The guys also placed loose straw on all sides to help prevent any cold air from filtering into the hole.

Not too long ago I was completely out of the potatoes, so Jim had David and Andrew uncover some of the barrels.

At first check the carrots didn't seem to fare as well as the potatoes, since they were mushy. We have yet to dig down further and see if the whole barrel's contents are also soft.

However, after discarding some potatoes that had been nibbled on by mice and some that were mushy, they discovered most of the rest of the potatoes were just as fresh and firm as when they were placed into the barrels. They are great -- even better than the ones we had wintering in the basement. The ones in here were soft and kept sprouting. Some of the potatoes we brought into the house have also begun to sprout, but nothing like the ones that were already in here.

We can enjoy baked potatoes once again!

Can it Really Be May?

2010-05-05T20:54:00.000-07:00

This was our landscape today:

Thankfully by late afternoon all the snow had melted, but there could be more on the way.

Time to Visit Family

2010-05-02T13:19:00.000-07:00

Jonathan, David and I left April 2 on a trip to visit my family in northern Minnesota. Our farm has gotten to the point where it isn't possible for just Jim to handle all the chores, so Andrew and Peter had to stay behind to help out. Hopefully they can make a trip with me in the fall to visit Grandpa and Grandma W and the rest of my family.

We left in the middle of a mini snowstorm, and didn't drive out of it until we crossed into Minnesota.
Andrew had to give us a push or two to get the car going, since the frost was already coming out of the ground and everything was wet and very muddy.

David and Jonathan challenged Grandpa W to quite a few games of Double Solitaire. This time my older brother Mike played along as well.

My younger brother Mark and my niece Sarah's husband Scott took the boys to the local gun club to shoot a few rounds.

I'm not sure of just what they were doing, but I know they had a great time.

On Easter Sunday we had a dinner with some of the family. This is a photo of my Mom with her great-granddaughter, Maddie.

Grandpa Mike holding my niece Katie's daughter, Norah. Maddie is Katie and Brandon's daughter as well.

Meanwhile, down in Mike's basement the boys were learning how to play Wii baseball. We've never seen the game before, and David especially enjoyed the challenge. They also attempted bowling.

David, Grandma and Jonathan enjoying some together time. It's tough to live so far away from family.

One day while we were in MN we took a trip over the border to Wisconsin. Our main goal was to pick up some construction items at Menard's, but we managed to find some other interesting stores to visit as well.

It was a very beautiful day, and I enjoyed taking in views of Lake Superior.

David took a photo of the evergreen trees across from my folks' house just as the sun was breaking through the clouds and getting ready to set for the night. That is one aspect of MN that I miss -- the evergreens.

This is a photo of the sun setting from the west side of my folks' house. When I was growing up this area was just a big field, and I remember playing lots of games of kickball with the other kids in the neighborhood. Now there are three rows of houses back there and then comes the town's elementary school.

Jonathan and Grandpa had lots of great talks together.

Time to finish packing ...

Saying goodbye is hard to do.

We love you, Grandpa and Grandma, and look forward to the next time we see you!

Wild Weather Day

2010-04-29T06:09:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was another one of those wild days.

Jonathan received an early call from the post office to let him know his chicks were in. I think there were 79 Rhode Island Red chicks waiting for him. So, he drove down to town and picked them up.

The boys were scheduled to work for someone in the area, so off they went, after Jonathan settled his chicks. Andrew stayed behind because he is still under the effects of a cold, and continues to do a lot of coughing.

The weather service forecasted heavy winds, but I wasn't quite prepared for what arrived. I now know what 50 mph winds feel like, and the damage they can do.

My first hint was watching Andrew and Jim trying to put up a ladder in front of the basement door. They were using our tallest ladder, and it reaches all the way to the peak of our roof on the lake side of the house. Ever try to hold on to a ladder that seems top heavy while winds are pushing against you? The house wrap had ripped and Jim wanted to attempt to nail more slats in the area to prevent more damage.

Jim managed to nail two more slats onto the ripping house wrap while Andrew and I were hanging onto the ladder. We then needed to move the ladder, but the winds were so strong we had all we could do to keep the thing upright. Thankfully the decision was made to wait until the winds subsided. Later on a big area of wood was exposed on the house, but that is easier to repair than having someone get hurt.

About that time the power went out. I let Jim know, and he directed Andrew to haul the generator to the chicken coop in an attempt to keep the brooding chicks warm. They got that all set up and we then made the rounds around the farm to make sure everything else was okay.

Jonathan keeps his older laying hens out in the field in chicken tractors, and one of the buckets on top of a tractor which holds water for the watering system had blown off and the cover to the tractor was sliding off the top. I ran back to the house to get more water to fill the bucket, but since the power was off I had to grab some of our stored water and drag it out to the field. Makes me more determined to have someone build me a Whizbang garden cart! The chickens were fine.

Jim made sure the hoop house plastic was holding up, Andrew checked the animals in the barnyard, and everything else was okay.

I'm very thankful we don't have winds like that every day. As I was sitting here at the computer I could hear the house creaking as we received big gusts of wind. I'm hoping some day we could construct some type of entryway at the basement door so there is protection from the winds that seem to be aimed in that direction whenever there is a storm.

Thankfully the power was only off for approximately an hour, and I didn't have to start considering what to do with my freezer items. I am also thankful Jonathan's chicks are doing fine. He will go down to town tomorrow to pick up 200 meat chickens, so we'll be swimming in chicks!

So Much to Tell, So Little Tme

2010-04-17T07:11:00.000-07:00

We were gone ... We got back ... We were gone ... We got back ... Now is an Appleseed Project weekend. I'll try to blog as soon as this weekend is over. Thanks for your patience.

Signs of Spring

2010-03-31T13:22:00.000-07:00

The sun has moved and at the moment is rising through this particular group of trees.

Calliope has shed most of her winter hair -- with the exception of her legs. The goat kids love playing with her tail.

Jonathan transplanted quite a few tomatoes into cell packs. My petunias are even starting to show up.

We had a massive amount of geese flying overhead today. I was so glad David called to have me come out to take a look. We must be in a flyway.

The geese just kept coming and coming.

Sunrise

2010-03-30T18:44:00.000-07:00

Sunrise over the Interstate. I took this photo from our hotel room in Fargo during the North Dakota Home School Convention a little over a week ago.

Sunrise over the hoop house ... Taken just a few days ago by Andrew.

Our Trip to Fargo

2010-03-29T18:12:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe it's been a little over a week since part of our family headed to Fargo to attend the North Dakota Home School convention.

We had a very busy time of preparation, and then the day we were to leave the Bartlett Family had to play for Bottineau's Marketplace for Kids at the local college. I recorded some of it, but the children talked through most of their playing so it didn't turn out very well.

The guys played for approximately 20 minutes, and then played the Star Spangled Banner. I thought they did a great job.

This was the scene that greeted us in Fargo ... Lots and lots of water. We drove around our old neighborhood and then checked out the Red River. I'm sad to say our old house has not been taken care of; someone must have driven into the garage door, and they cut down my beautiful rose bush!

The National Guard was very busy with traffic control and helping with the building of dikes.

The Salvation Army was doing a wonderful job of providing meals for people who were sandbagging.

We stayed with a very close friend of mine, and the next morning Jim and I had to be up at 4:00 a.m. in order to get Jim to the airport in time to check in and then fly to Washington, D.C. for a Home School Legal Defense legislative forum. I felt a bit glassy eyed as I drove back to our friend's house and my sleeping boys. David and Andrew made the trip to Fargo, but Jonathan and Peter stayed behind to care for the animals.

I was very thankful to have the opportunity to visit our old neighbor, Mrs. Nelson. She will turn 103 in April! She is an amazing woman. In spite of not seeing Andrew and David for 3 years, she called both of them by name and gave us all big hugs. What a special lady. Not quite 2 years ago she moved to assisted living.

Mrs. Nelson took us on a grand tour of the facility, and then treated us at the coffee shop. We had a great time visiting!

Mrs. Nelson has a computer in the lounge area on her floor, and the boys showed her our family's farm web site. She was very interested in learning how to use the computer to check us out. I wish we would have had more time to give her a better lesson. Hopefully someone else will show her how to find our website again.

Thanks, Mrs. Nelson, for such a special visit! It was the highlight of our trip to Fargo!

That evening our friend Bonnie and her faithful friend Dora took us to the Pizza Ranch for supper with Bonnie's parents. It was a lot of fun, and the pizza was great! After supper we went over to Bonnie's parent's apartment and learned to play Zion Check. We all enjoyed the evening.

Thursday night the opening event of the home school convention was the used book sale/small business sale. Andrew spent much of the fall and winter crafting various guns out of wood, and had neat display holders for them. He even created individual carrying boxes for each gun. He didn't sell as many as he would have liked, but was satisfied with his profits.

I neglected to get a photo of David's trucks and a ship he had made and was selling and had made out of wood.

Some of the larger items Andrew had made, and the boxes of handguns he created.

Thursday afternoon during setup I met with my friend Marie, and we talked farming, healthy eating and cheese making. She took me out to their van, where she gave me a dry run of how to make farmhouse cheddar cheese. She is a great teacher, and I hope to have an opportunity soon to try her recipe.

Marie is very ingenious, and created this cheese press.

Kevin Swanson was the keynote speaker for the convention. I was impressed with his topics, and was encouraged as well as challenged.

Buddy Davis from Answers in Genesis was also a speaker at the convention, and did workshops for the children and also had a concert for us on Friday evening. North Dakota encourages families to bring their children to convention.

We were anxious to get back home to relieve Peter and Jonathan from some of their duties. They did great, and Peter spent lots of time with many gallons of milk -- making Mozzarella cheese. He offers his recipe on his blog .

Happy 19th, Jonathan!

2010-03-26T18:43:00.000-07:00

There is a lot to write about, but first of all I wanted to tell my #1 son Jonathan -- Happy Birthday!

Birthday brownies for supper! The candles were arranged by David.

All of my earlier photos are still in a friend's closet in Fargo, so photos from our earliest times here in the Turtle Mountains will have to suffice.

In the above photo the boys are showing me how tall they grew just from walking through the mud! David (5), Jonathan (13) and Peter (10).

Jonathan became quite the carpenter, using our house as his first experience with building.

Yum! Grilled raccoon! We all took one bite, agreed it "tasted like chicken," and gave the rest to the dog.

Jonathan and Jim working on the skinning of a raccoon, back in the "good old days."

Jonathan advertising his new blog, "The Poultry Journal." By the way, we are now getting approximately 20 eggs per day!

Jonathan is from a Hebrew word meaning “God gave.” And God gave us a blessing. We love you lots!

Sun-Shiny Day!

2010-03-15T14:18:00.000-07:00

We finally had a sunny day today, with temperatures in the low 40's. Beautiful! At this rate, we won't have snow for much longer. Andrew took a stroll around the farmstead and took the photos below.

Our view from the basement door toward the barns -- and my clotheslines!

The path down to the barns is now a mini river. Hopefully it will dry up before we have another freeze or it will be a bit tricky to get to the animals.

Over the weekend we had 7 goat kids born to 4 mothers. One didn't make it, but the rest are doing very well. The weak one spent overnight last night in the house. It was amazing to me how her voice sounded just like a small child's voice.

It's a good thing it has been above freezing at night, since the mamas and their kids have taken over Sandy the cow's area in the barn.

I thought this one was especially cute! One of the mamas parked her kids right in front of the hay feeder, and fought off anyone else attempting to eat. So, the boys had to move things around a bit, and then things were fine.

Jonathan's laying hens enjoying some of the sun's rays.

All has not been rosy, however. This warm weather has greatly sped up the melting process down in the Fargo, ND area, and flooding is beginning to happen. I know of one family that already has a moat of water surrounding their house.

This is an article from today's Fargo newspaper, the Fargo Forum:

FARGO/CASS: Walaker: Tough week lies ahead

Fargo and Cass County officials rallied Sunday to speed up flood protection plans in light of a new forecasted Red River level of 38 feet by next weekend.

By: Mila Koumpilova, INFORUM

Fargo and Cass County officials rallied Sunday to speed up flood protection plans in light of a new forecasted Red River level of 38 feet by next weekend.

Some county residents south of Fargo spent the day immersed in flood preparations, to which the most recent forecast lent renewed momentum.

“We’re going to have a tough week,” Fargo Mayor Dennis Walaker said Sunday. “We’ll be going 24 hours a day for the next seven to 10 days.”

Officials worked Sunday on plans to start delivering sandbags to Fargo’s most vulnerable neighborhoods, deploy alternative flood protection equipment and ratchet up sandbag-making operations today.

Fargo, Cass and state officials will resume hosting daily 8 a.m. televised flood meetings today at Fargo City Hall. The meetings also can be heard on WDAY AM 970 and by clicking on the station’s radio stream on Inforum.com.

“In some ways, our attitude is similar to what happened last year,” Fargo City Administrator Pat Zavoral said Sunday. “We don’t have a really long time.”

The city will start delivering the roughly 750,000 sandbags already available to neighborhoods today, beginning with Harwood, Hackberry Drive South and River Vili. The city will need volunteers to construct sandbag dikes and continue filling sandbags at “Sandbag Central,” where hours will be extended from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. starting today. Volunteers should call (701) 476-4000 for directions.

The city will also ask the National Guard, area colleges and high schools for people to help build dikes.

“It’s going to be a scramble, no question about it,” Walaker said. “Trying to get ready for 38 feet is doable, but we were hoping to have a little more time.”

Cass County jumped into high gear Sunday as well.

“We have a lot to get done between now and the weekend,” said Sheriff Paul Laney. “It’s like last year all over again. But this time, we’re much better prepared.”

The county will work on erecting sandbag and clay levees this week. The Cass County Emergency Operation Center will start taking calls at 7 a.m. today at (701) 297-6000.
The county will also activate its emergency response teams starting Tuesday, including its boat response and rescue team on Wednesday.

“People need to realize it’s here,” Laney said. “It’s here. It’s here today. If you need to protect your home, the time is now.”

County inmates have filled 20,000 sandbags. The county has worked out an agreement with the city to use one of its sandbag-making machines today.

“It will be 24/7 until we’re done,” Laney said.

Halder Thompson was raring to get a head-start on this year’s flood fight long before Sunday.
A resident of Forest River Road south of Fargo, he checked with the county about lining up sandbag supplies three weeks ago. He moved most furniture to a rented storage unit. On Friday, he checked with the county again: Sandbags would be available today.

The new forecast made it especially hard to stay idle Sunday. Working on a dike would have kept anxious memories at bay: the three sleepless days at the height of last year’s flood fight, and the three weeks he missed from work.

“It’s building up, the tension,” he said. “You don’t sleep at night.”

South on Cossette Drive along a swollen Wild Rice River, Joe and Wanda Omodt decided against waiting for county-issued bags and sand. They bought their own and hosted a dozen friends and family over the weekend to build a 3,000-bag dike.

“You kind of have to work when you have help available,” Wanda said. “We feel like we’ve got a good start.”

“We hope our time has been wasted,” Joe added.

Please pray for the area, and especially for all the people affected by the flooding.

This weekend is also North Dakota's annual home school convention -- held in Fargo.

Foggy Days

2010-03-11T12:50:00.000-08:00

I've lost track of how many dreary, foggy days we've had lately.

Here's an article from today's Fargo, ND Forum newspaper:

BISMARCK (AP) — Fog is becoming commonplace in parts of North Dakota, and even meteorologists think it's strange.
Fog was reported in Bismarck on 54 of the first 68 days of the year. On 17 days the fog was considered "dense."
The National Weather Service doesn't keep records on fog, but meteorologist Nathan Heinert says officials think this year's fog is unusual.
Heinert says the constant gray curtain hanging over the area is the result of a stagnant air mass and constant melting, which puts moisture in low levels of the atmosphere.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.

We are all looking forward to a nice sunny day!

Mud Season

2010-03-10T20:36:00.001-08:00

MUD. We are already having mud season. I suppose things will cool down again, but that means a second mud season when it actually warms up for good this time. What a mess!

The boys have said the car may make it out of the driveway, but not back up. So, the truck will be our mode of transportation until things freeze again.

We have plans to change our driveway a bit, so the entrance begins at a higher spot of ground. Today the man who agreed to do the work stopped by (we were surprised at a knock on the door this afternoon, since we didn't think anyone would chance trying to get up the hill), and said it was too foggy to take measurements. He will come back another day.