First steps

After 4 years of thinking about it, Nora finally forced me to make a decision and take action.  We’re getting sheep. 

I placed my order with Adirondack Storage Barns (they also built our gazebo and garage) for a 12’ x 30’ stable (with one 10’x12’ stall and one 20’ x 12’ stall) last week.  It will have a 10’ x 30’ covered “run-in” in the front for shade and wind protection.  The stable should be ready by the beginning of June.

On Saturday, Jim and I took a trip down the road to Norfolk and picked up 42 cedar posts from a local seller.  Despite his 81 years and portable oxygen tank, when I asked if he had anyway of delivering the posts (they weren’t going to fit in the back of the Lexus), he said “if you load ‘em in my truck, I’ll deliver ‘em.”  Which he did, at 15 miles an hour with a very patient Jim in the passenger seat.  But we now have our stack of posts sitting in the pasture waiting for installation later this week.  The plan is to run a line of new fencing down the middle of the pasture, effectively dividing the existing pasture in half; the half closest to the house is now dedicated to fruit trees, berries and vegetable gardens, and the far side will house the sheep.

This morning I sent a deposit out to a farm in central New York, the Olde Homestead, that breeds registered Old English Miniature Southdowns (called “Baby Dolls”).  I’m buying 2 white ewes from her.  They will be ready to travel in early June, which works out perfectly with the timing on the shelter. They are not the best fiber sheep (traditionally, they were raised for meat), but they are some of the cutest – and everyone knows looks are more important than function.

 Seriously, they have a lot of positive attributes (in addition to those pinchable bums): they are small (not much taller than 24”), docile, not fence challengers, and weighing heavily in their favor, they will weed your orchard and berry areas without eating the fruit or girdling the trees.  Thanks to Nora and her pushy personality, this is all coming together, and I’m pretty excited J

Pink sky in the morning

Sailors take warning. Or in my case, a picture.

Peeping Tom

Okay, I don't know for sure if his name is Tom. He was, however, looking into our kitchen window this morning. Naughty frog. And looking at this photo, it is obvious that we need to replace the window screen, thanks to Wilma and her non verbal attempts to get our attention.

I would like a juicy earth worm

a big pile of seeds, and some really good hay to make a great nest. I promise not to eat more than my share, and I will treat my bird friends nicely.

What? A bird can't pray?

Get it? It's a play on words. prey/pray. LOL, I really just crack myself up here.

Earth Night

Last night we gathered with friends to watch the movie "Do the Math" created by the folks at www.350.org. Lynn blogged about it earlier in the month (theres-new-movement-afoot). While the movie was informative and shared some compelling information about climate change, I believe it fell short in providing a more comprehensive view of the causes with respect to our diminishing quality of life on planet Earth. In fact, I have found this to be the case with most of the documentaries or articles I have come across. They tend to hone in one one or two main ideas or causes, such as energy consumption or the pursuit of obtaining fossil fuels. I compiled a list earlier this morning that I emailed to our friends who watched the video last night. I have decided to share it here. It is not a full list but you will get the idea nonetheless.

Contributing factors in the decline of our livable planet:

• Diminishing water supply due to weather changes and poorly planned development. i.e. California as an agricultural state despite lack of natural water supply. Palm Springs as a desert houses numerous golf courses as does Arizona. Too many of these situations to list. Simply areas that cannot sustain
• Overpopulation especially in areas that are not conducive to humans. Cannot grow food, no water, no natural resources locally.
• Mass production of food - Big energy hog as well as water drain. Also contributing to change in climate. Not even getting into the negative impacts to the human body or cruelty to animals.
• Developing nations utilizing old school infrastructure. i.e. China and its numerous coal plants(contributing to CO2 probs) instead of renewable energy methods. People in China have been wearing masks for years to protect against pollution. Imagine the environmental problems there that we don't see!
• The obsession with accumulating goods. Started in the western countries, US in front of the line, now spreading to the super highly populated areas like China. The demand for a Gucci bag, Mercedes, etc. has increased the need to produce, thereby utilizing more resources to produce.
• In turn, creating more and more waste. Garbage, factory, etc. Waste has a huge impact on the environment. Oceans, land, air.

I am sure there are more examples. That is how I see it. It would take a huge cultural shift to get people to change their behaviors. And what's more, some of these folks are experiencing modernization for the first time. I hardly think they would be agreeable to having it taken from them. It's obvious that we must sharply reduce the demand for all resources, just not sure how we do that globally.

I am not a doomsayer by any stretch of the imagination. Rather, just an observer of the changes going on around me. I appreciate the time and energy people have put into educating us on our food, energy, climate changes, etc. It's just that I believe that there is a lot more to the story. The interconnections exist and are pervasive. Nuff said. :)

If we knew you were coming we would have

baked a bundt. The chickens are checking out an unexpected visitor. I wonder if they think anything like a human hen when faced with a drop in guest? "Oh I wish I had cleaned up." "What can I defrost quickly?" "Do we have any vodka left?" "Ugh, is that my bra hanging on that doorknob?" I guess we will never know.

There’s a new movement afoot…

Called the Fossil Fuel Resistance.  It has no one leader, but is rather a growing, global grassroots movement to address climate change.  I think almost everyone with even a fraction of a working brain now acknowledges that the planet is in the midst of a climate shift; a shift that will likely result in a planet that is significantly less hospitable to humans and most of the animals and plants we currently take for granted.

I’m not going to get preachy here because we’re all guilty of enjoying lives made more convenient and comfortable by the extensive use of fossil fuels; there really is no facet of our existence that remains untouched by fossil fuels – our food system, our clothing, our heat sources, our electricity, our transportation systems, etc. all use fossil fuels on some level.  We would live in a vastly different world if we had never harnessed that power.

But we are reaching (some would say “have reached”) a turning point.  The generations that come after us will be the ones who pay the price for our ubiquitous use of fossil fuel; and, not surprisingly, the movement is really gaining momentum among those younger generations. 

The organization, 350.org, founded by Bill McKibben (author of several books about climate change), is spearheading this grassroots movement to stop the pervasive use of fossil fuels in an attempt to slow down climate change.  350.org is encouraging groups of people to watch a new movie it has released called “Do the Math” on April 21^st at 7:00pm.  If you’re interested in sponsoring a group in your area and watching the trailer, click here.  We'll be hosting a gathering at our home if you want to make the trek up here!

What's wrong with this picture?

I'm about to lose my shazam. Ice covered window this morning. Cheese and crackers Mother Nature!!! Enough.

Have you ever wondered what a chipmunk

uses for nesting material? Apparently, the stuffing in our outdoor seat cushions. :O

Once again we have been bested. One of the winterization tasks that we have recently added to the list is to store cushions in some sort of air tight container. When you live in a four season environment, you have a list of prep tasks for the incoming season. Add having a flower, fruit, and vegetable garden and the list grows. Throw in some livestock for gits and shiggles just for that extra amount of work. ;) It's all good though.

Another item recently added to the winter list is removal of the horizontal bars on one of the split rail fences. The snow stack created from snow removal of the driveway put a lot of strain on the fence. As a result, some of the support bars split. Thankfully we have Jim and plenty of cedar for replacement.

Life here, as I have mentioned previously, is one continuous lesson. But I guess you could say that about life anywhere. I just never thought I would be outwitted by a chipmunk. Such is life.

Tip from Magnolia

Take naps during the day. She always looks like she is in the height of comfort. It is hard to walk by her and not drop for a nap.

Hello from Louie

One of the inhabitants of our house is a ferret named Louie. He is a curious and adventurous little fellow. For those of you who are not familiar with this species, they are quite entertaining. And incredibly bright. In a battle of the wits, my money is on him. And one other point, they are mammals, not rodents. They are related to weasels.
So anyway, I snapped a pic of him sleeping this morning, and of course stirred him so there is an awake shot as well. He is too damn cute.

April's Chores

I’m trying not to panic, but my April chore list has grown to leviathan size.  And yet, when I woke up yesterday morning, the ground was covered with snow again and a cold wind kept temperatures hovering in the 20s.  Where is my spring-like weather?  Where is the sun that should be slowly warming the frozen depths of my soil so I can get my bare-root plants in the ground?  As I write this, I have two Midwinter Fire dogwoods sitting in pots of soil in my mudroom because the soil was too frozen to get them in the ground, and 9 winterberry bushes and 10 yellow potentilla waiting for pickup at St. Lawrence Nurseries this weekend.  I’m trying not to think about the roses, potatoes and onion sets that will be arriving shortly as well… 

So deep breaths…remaining calm in the face of such a daunting list is crucial.  I must face this like triage; deal with the critical to-dos first and work my way, with Nora’s assistance, down the list until the last item is crossed off.  What should be happening in April, even in our Arctic-like zone 4?  For starters… 

Early April

• Mid-March/early April – sow certain veggie and flower seeds inside
• Put remaining dahlia tubers in pots
• Buy bags of compost (ours is not ready yet)
• prune fruit trees
• prune lilacs
• cutback perennials / tidy flower beds
• fertilize bulbs (incl garlic)
• add liquid natural fertilizer & 1-2” compost on all beds
• uncover strawberries and garlic (keep old hay for mulch btw garden rows)
• rake out old mulch from blueberries
• cut down middle bed of raspberries; prune out dead or pencil thin branches of others to thin out; shorten remaining canes by 6-8”
• till new 3’ bed for new blueberry plants
• plant midwinter fire dogwoods
• put bare-root plants in ground as they arrive
• relocate:
•  red osier dogwood
• snowball viburnum to front yard, left of gate
• Buy drip-hoses for vegetable garden (need to measure garden space)
• Lawn mower to wood chop shop for maintenance (note to self: do this in the fall next year)

Mid-April

• Start other seedlings inside  (tomatoes, peppers and some flowers)
• prep rows / plant cold crops (peas, lettuces) outside / put under hoop covers
• request mulch delivery for early May (weather depending)
• till garden area when soil is dry enough / add amendments as needed
• till new flower beds (always expanding!)
• prune roses when forsythia blooms
• fertilize shrubs & roses (after all danger of frost)