Holy Cow, What a Day!

There is never a dull day on the Crazy Dog Farm! The day started out regular enough. Exercised the dogs, went for groceries. When I came back, I started letting dogs out and heard a cow mooing. Thought nothing of it, except that it sounded like my side neighbour may have gotten a cow...

Nope! It was me! Then, I discovered not one, but TWO cows wandering around my yard, munching and pooping away. The dogs were extremely well behaved. A couple barked at the cows, but came back no problem when I called them. Then, they just pretty much ignored the cows. I knew the cows came from my back neighbours yard, and found out they basically just pushed the fence over, and made themselves at home. They couldn't get back, because the fence was pushed the wrong way. Silly cows. I phoned the guy who owns them, and let him know they were over visiting. When he got here, it took him a good two hours to get the cows back in his own yard. The first one went in fine, but the second one was the most stubborn beast I have ever seen! She was just NOT going to go back! I guess there's so much more better grass here at the Crazy Dog Farm!!

From the looks of it, I will be spending most of the day tomorrow scooping up cow patties. Holy, moly, cows poop alot! At least it will make good compost!
I had so many other things I wanted to get done today, and couldn't get anything done because I was too busy mananging dogs and cows. The only thing I did was to dig 10 holes for some more hedging, this time at the front fence. Alot of deer come over there, and I want to get that part covered asap. Still have to clear a bunch of bush, and dig more holes, so I hope we have another nice day coming up soon! Today was gorgeous.

At least today taught me that it will be feasible in the future to have a cow of my own. Not for a year or two, but it can be done!! I just need stronger fences;-)

Other Happenings

About a week and a half ago, my chickens FINALLY started to give me eggs again. So far, I am only getting 1 or 2 a day, but at least I won't have to buy them anymore! They started laying just after one died. I have no idea why she died, and I was sorely disappointed. She didn't give any signs of being ill or anything. I took a day off, and when I came back, she was laying there, stiff as a board.

So much for taking a day off!!

We had our first hard frost last week. Then it warmed up again. I am hoping it will stay warm enough for my peas to develop... they are soooo close! If I had been able to plant when I wanted, they would have been ready just on time. Hopefully my water situation will improve next year.

I am starting to plant a Leylandi Cypress hedge on the west fenceline. In about 3 years, this will become deer control. Over the next 2 or 3 years, I will be planting a good portion of the fenceline, one step at a time. If the deer can't see in, they won't come in, and a hedge is much, much cheaper than a new fence. I planted 21 last week, and 36 today. I have 18 more to go for this year, unless I have a fit, and get more to plant... if it stays nice for a bit longer, I may do just that! The hardest part is clearing all the wild roses and brambles off the fenceline before I can even dig my holes. It's hard work, and my hot tub just died, so my recovery time may be a bit slower these days!

I have also been working on putting manure in all the garden beds, in preperation for spring. Already, I can't wait for spring... I have such big, big plans! I have decided to become a CSA farm. This stands for Community Supported Agriculture. People buy memberships into your farm, then get a nice big bag of fresh naturally grown produce each week of the growing season in return. It's nice, because the farmer gets paid in advance, so the possibilities of expanding the farm faster increase. I am only going to do 3-5 memberships the first year, just as a trial, and so I don't take on too much. This will give me an idea of how much to grow, and of which crops.

Discouraging Days

I haven't updated for a while. I got very discouraged a bit ago when a 'coon found my coops, and killed 2 chickens and a turkey. Since, I have been able to fix the chicken coop so the coons most likely can't get in anymore... at least, I hope. The turkeys are a whole other problem. They have never ever gone into their coop at night, they prefer to roost on top of it. I can't herd them in, I can't even entice them in. So, I can't make them safe. I really don't know what to do about it. They are getting big, too! There is one that looks especially tasty, and I hope I get the opportunity to try one of these heritage birds! I think the only reason they haven't gotten another turkey this week is the fact that the puppy can't seem to hold it for more than 2 hours, so I am up regularly with her, and go check on the turkeys every chance I get. At this point, I am just keeping my fingers crossed.