Rain, Rain, Glorious Rain

We actually had an amazing rainfall a few days ago. Really, really helped to relieve my stress level. It even penetrated the ground about 2". We are supposed to get more rain today and tomorrow, and even though almost everyone else is complaining about it, I am ecstatic! If we get one more good rain, I won't have to water for at least a week or more. My tomatoes and pumpkins at the back will be soooo happy. Because I haven't had to water for a few days, I got so much work done. I planted about 400 pepper plants, and almost all my tomatoes. Out of 1200 tomatoes, I only have another 80 to plant, and those should get done today. Yay!!!!! I love it when I get stuff done!

Something important to note: this is the first June in three years that we have a decent rainfall. The last two summers, we've had a drought for over 3 months... June, July, Aug. This will be such a nice change! I am trying to get as much planted as I can before the rain starts. I am just blogging while I wait for a dog to arrive;-)

New Arrivals

About 2 weeks ago now, one of my Muscovy ducks had six little fuzzy babies. They were so adorable! MamaDuck was doing a terrific job of caring for them, off they would waddle around the field, foraging and exploring.
Each morning after they were born, I would hear a bunch of ravens over by the field at about 5 am. I am getting really, really PISSED at these ravens lately! The first morning I heard them, I was so afraid they would eat my babies, that I went running outside in my ginch and a t-shirt, screaming and waving my arms at the darned birds. Thank goodness I don't have any close neighbours... I can't even imagine how insane I must of looked! They flew away, but came back the next day. And the next. After the babies were about 5 or 6 days old, one disappeared. I just KNOW it was a raven! So, I ended up scooping all the babies into a bucket and put them into the brooder in my bathroom. MamaDuck was so sad! I felt so bad for her. If I had the room, I would've put her with them, too.

The babies seem to be healthy. They are eating well, and growing. They are still fuzzy and adorable. I do wish they could've grown up on the pasture, though... I just keep thinking it would have been sooooo much healthier for them. I am going to build another enclosure for them in the field soon, so they can go outside, and be safe from the ravens. Like I need another project!

The good news is that I have completed quite a few of my projects for this year, so my list is actually getting a bit smaller for once. My next project is to finish my farmgate stand. I had originally wanted it done by June 1st, but that didn't happen... I just didn't have the funds to get it done. I have been slowly collecting materials, though, and now have everything I need to get working on the gates and fencing. All I need after that is a fridge, and I am done! Hopefully by the time the tomatoes and cuc's are ready, I will have it open.

OUT with the hose!

Well, watering season has officially begun. We haven't had any significant rain for almost a month now. We really could use a good downpour! My two water holding tanks (they each hold 250 gallons) were full several weeks ago. Now, one is completely empty, and the other is half way empty. Already. I really expected them to last at least until July. I use the water mostly for watering livestock and dogs. Amazing how fast it goes! Really puts into perspective how much water we go through on a daily basis.

I dragged all my hoses out last week, and took them down to my new garden by the storage shed, wayyyyy down at the end of the driveway. Hooked everything up, crawled under the house and turned the water to the field on.  My plants were desperately needing some moisture. When I made my way back down to the hose, almost no water was coming out. CRAP! I think there is a leak or something down the pipe somewhere. It is buried in the ground, so almost impossible to figure out where it might be. Just in case I did something wrong, I crawled back under the house, to see if maybe I had turned the wrong tap or something. I had done it right.
I proceeded to have a minor meltdown about then. I burst into tears. I have been working literally 16 hours a day, planting and making gardens, and trying to get everything done. Having no water for the 150 tomato plants, the 50 sunflowers, and the 30 Snackjack pumpkins I have planted in the back bed just all of a sudden seemed like too much to bear. I screamed at the universe for a bit, then said some very bad swear words, then crawled back from under the house, and got busy again. There is not a lot of time to sit around feeling sorry for yourself on a farm. No matter how hard things seem at the time, you just have to pick yourself up and deal with it.

So, now my ritual is this: everytime I have to go open or close the gate, I fill up my watering cans and lug them down the driveway, and water a few plants each time. I really need to find a better plan, as this won't do when it gets really hot. I've covered everything with hay to help hold in the moisture, but pumpkins and tomatoes and sunflowers are all really water hungry plants. It will be easier next year, as the hay and mulch I put on this year will start to compost, and hold in the moisture better. It only sucks the big one this year, as the bed is brand new, and there isn't enough organic material in it yet.

Sigh.

A Perfect Day!

Today was the best day. Even though I had to take a trip up to Nanaimo, mow part of the lawn, and go pick up hay, I still got craploads done. I only have 2 boarding dogs at the moment, and both are regulars, with whom I've done 'garden training' with, so they can come out and play with my dogs while I am working in the gardens. They have been trained to not go zooming through and over everything. I managed to plant over 200 tomatoes (only 1000 to go...), some cuc's and some zucchini's. I did a bunch of weeding and slug picking as well. Even though it was supposed to rain today, it ended up being sunny and gorgeous out. I feel energized. I just kept doing 'one more thing' all day. For the first day this year, I had the energy I had last year. Not sure if it was because the weather was nice, and it is finally warming up, or what, but it felt GOOD!!
It also gave me a good taste of what life might be like if I made enough money from the farm that I didn't have to do dog boarding anymore. Even though I worked super hard, the day was calm and relaxing. I was able to take a few breaks and do some training with my dogs, and have a play session with them. Sometimes, I just get too busy with everyone else's dogs to do even that. I had the little goats out eating grass, and my dogs out with them for about an hour in the middle of the day. My dogs completely ignored them. They were so good! It was funny, though... Maggie was sniffing around them, looking for goat candy, and she came up next to Trouble. Trouble thought this was too close for comfort, and butted her in the side. Did she ever jump! She gave him a bit more room after that! This is the kind of thing I envision for my future here on the farm. Having my dogs out with me while the goats eat the grass and weeds, and the ducks eat slugs in the garden, and I can just do what I have to do without having to worry about waiting for people to drop off their dogs, or pick them up, or having the dogs zoom through the garden and smoosh everything. It's such a nice, peaceful, calm picture. I am now reenergized to work even harder to make this picture happen sooner rather than later.

Next week, I get my CSA payments. I have planned what to do with each penny I get. I have an appointment to get a hitch on my car, so I can use my utility trailer, get another load of soil, go pick up more cardboard, get a side of pasture raised pork for the freezer, take the dogs for a long-awaited vet visit, and finish my farmgate stand. To name but a few things listed! Nice to get a bunch of this stuff done. Next year is going to be so much easier! I will be so far ahead by then, and not so many projects to have to do. Can't wait!

Falling Behind....

Argh!! I'm falling behind in everything lately. My blogging, my advertising, my planting, definitely my housework;-) Dog boarding has been insanely busy again, just slowing down now. When I have lots of dogs, they take up so much of my time and attention, I just can't seem to get anything else done around here. I am barely keeping up with the daily chores - feeding and watering the chickens, goats, turkeys, mowing the lawn, etc. I am just so tired. I don't seem to have the same energy I did last year. There have been moments when even I think I've taken on too much. (I get lectured about that all the time by my friends). Then, I think.... if I didn't do any dog boarding, and was just able to spend 8 or 10 hours a day in the gardens, would I be able to make enough money to pay the mortgage and the bills? I'd like to think I could, but I'm not willing to just forget about the dogs to take the plunge... yet. I have set a few more lofty goals for this coming year, and if I can accomplish them, I think I will be able to just live off what I make from the farm. My first goal is to finish getting the gardens built. I still have about 3/4 of an acre of land that I need to cover in cardboard, then make my lasagna beds. The second goal is to make enough money from my veggies (outside of my CSA shares) that I can get a nice big greenhouse installed. I want one that is about 20' by 100'. Then, I will be able to grow mesculin and spinach and whatnot all winter long. I think then I can grow enough to pay the mortgage. And maybe even take a day off now and then. I think I am just burning out at the moment.

I got my meat chickens and turkeys in at the beginning of May. I have had terrible luck with my turkeys this year. You always expect to lose a few, but out of 20 'regular' turkeys, I only have about 12 left, and out of 12 heritage turkeys, I only have 5. The heritage I am super sad about, as I was planning on keeping some to breed for next year, so I don't have to keep buying them. They are not cheap! The 5 I have remaining are looking good now, though. Hopefully whatever got them has passed. The chickens look good so far, though. I've already had orders for a few, and I haven't even advertised that I have them yet. I do have to raise my price a bit, though, as the cost of feed has gone up. Substantially. Sigh.

My little goats are doing fantastic. I LOVE my little goats! They are super friendly now, and love to visit anyone who comes over. I take them out on the leashes as much as I can to eat grass and weeds, but it's never enough with the dogs around. My dogs accidently met them when they were tied out. I forgot they were up by the fruit trees, and let my kids out... they barked for a bit, then settled into it, and all got along great. Kybosh was the biggest pain, as all she wanted to do was herd them. Poor Ky... I have to find a way to afford herding lessons for her! She needs an outlet. OH!! I have also got an order for my first two baby goats for next year already!! I am going to breed them in December, so the kids will be born next May. Two of them will be going as pets to a friend of mine. Yay!! I honestly don't think I'm ready to sell any for meat yet. They are just too cute for that!

Ravens are still giving me trouble. I also had an eagle kill my Cochin rooster, so the dream of breeding them is done. I am going to stick to chicken breeds that have the instinct to run away when a bird of prey comes. No more stupid birds! My muscovy ducks have been trying to brood nests, but the ravens keep stealing their eggs, too. Yesterday, I built a shelter for them out of pallets. I THINK it is raven-proof. I got my white female in there, with my second-pick drake. My first pick drake was too slow, and didn't get in this time! No sex for you, buddy. You snooze, you loose. So, my hope is that she will start laying again and get broody, and hopefully have some muscovy babies. My other female is brooding a nest out in the field. I just found it this morning, and there are at least 6 eggs in there that haven't been stolen yet, so I am just leaving her... maybe she'll be lucky, and the ravens won't find this nest.

The gardens are looking good, what there is. It has still been too chilly at night to plant any warm weather stuff yet. I planted a few tomatoes, and a few lemon cuc's, but that's about it. I check the weather about 50 times a day, to see if it has changed and is going to get warmer. This morning, it did change! At the moment, it looks like tonight may be our last chilly night, then tomorrow night will be up to 9 c. So, tomorrow, I start planting. This climate change thing sucks. Our summers may be hotter, but they are getting shorter and shorter. I've never had to wait this long to plant tomatoes before. The good news is that everything I grew in the greenhouse looks fantastic, so hopefully I can get it planted super soon!
Other than that, my mesculin, arugula, kale, etc is looking amazing. I have started selling the odd bag of it. I am still planting more, though. You can never have too much mesculin! I am hoping to have my farmgate stand ready to go in the next 2 or 3 weeks, so I will be able to sell more of it then.

The Power of Positive Reinforcement

I have the greatest news ever! Over the last two and a half years, every time a chicken has escaped, Reckless has killed it. Sometimes before I even know there is a chicken out there. It was always a quick death, however. He is a very skilled predator! He has probably killed about 10 or 15 chickens during that time.

I have been working with him using positive reinforcement techniques. The more I use these techniques, the more I see the value in them. Anytime we were out in the yard and a chicken got loose, I would call Reckless to me, and give him a yummy treat reward (of which I pretty much always have in my pocket!). It gradually got easier and easier to do. This actually gives the dog a CHOICE of whether to go kill the chicken, or come to mommy. A couple of weeks ago, I had not one, not two, but THREE chickens escape all at the same time. Reckless saw them before I did. He stood there, and shook like a leaf. He wanted to go get that chicken so bad! He turned to look at me for direction, and I told him he was such a good boy, and gave him a jackpot reward (about 5 treats in a row). That was it! He then and there decided that killing chickens wasn't so worth it after all, and I can now let him in the field with all the ducks and other fowl, and he just sniffs around. I am so proud of my boy! For those of you who know Reckless, you will probably get what an accomplishment this is. He is a high-drive dog made up of whippet, border collie, and 3 separate terriers. All high prey-drive breeds.

Which brings me to the farming part of the story.

Over the last few weeks, I have had ravens coming in and stealing my eggs in the field. Then, my neighbour called me and told me he saw a raven come down and kill a chicken! I expected that of a hawk or osprey, but not a raven! Then, that week, ravens (or something) killed about 7 of my chickens, and ate ALL my eggs. This kind of thing can be really devastating. It makes you wonder why you ever wanted to be a farmer in the first place. It is so hard and harsh sometimes!
So, both Reckless and Kybosh observed me screaming and yelling and chasing a raven each time I saw one. They very, very quickly learned what I was upset about, and now all I have to do is say 'RAVEN', and off they go, zooming towards the bird of prey, and chasing it off! It is really cool and fun to watch, actually. And the best part, now that Reckless is no longer a chicken killer, I can open the gate to the field, they will go chase off the offending bird, not harm any of my livestock, and come zooming back to me. I now have four fully-fledged farm dogs, who are helping me make my living now. Gives me goosebumps, it is so wonderous!!

There was an osprey in my field also the other day. It was friggin' HUGE. It was down, harrassing my muscovy ducks. Another minute or two, and I'm sure he would have had one dead. So, I called my two awesome doggies, yelled 'RAVEN', and off they went chasing that osprey off. Then, I freaked out a bit, as Reckless is about the size of a duck, and that osprey could really drag him off, too, if it wanted. Luckily, nothing bad happened, but the bird sat in a tree, and watched me for hours, seeing if we would leave the scene so he could get one of my fowl. Bad bird! My only real defense is to be outside every minute possible, so I can send the dogs after the birds. Harder if I have to go out anywhere. Those birds are sneaky. So, I've been keeping my field chickens in their coop in the morning, as this is when they lay most of their eggs, and letting them out to forage in the afternoon and evening. Turns out they have been laying way more eggs than I have been giving them credit for. They were just laying them all over the field, and the ravens were picking them off. So with this new routine, I have been getting between two and a half and 3 doz eggs each day. Which is what I should have been getting all along! Maybe they will actually pay for themselves now.

Naughty Little Goats

Oh, dear. What did I get myself into this time??!!
The little goats are very, very proficient at escaping. First, the naughty pony let them out. I was able to herd them back in without too much trouble. That was their first day.
The second day, they escaped two times. The first time, I couldn't figure out how... then I discovered they could fit in behind their shelter... there is about 6" between the shelter and the fence. The little buggers were squeezing out there. So, I quickly piled a bunch of branches in there, thinking that would stop 'em.

Nope! They got out again. So, the next time I found an old pallet and shoved that in the gap. That stopped them!
Then, the next day, they pushed their door back open... I kind of have it blocked off, so they could run in their little play area. I guess they think their play area isn't good enough, so they just pushed the block open and ran willy-nilly around the field, bleating and kicking up their heels.

Two days later...

Ok, I think I have those babies licked now! It's been two whole days since they have escaped. Yay! They are becoming friendlier and friendlier. I make everyone who comes over visit the goats. Doesn't matter if they WANT to see the goats... it's kind of a rite of visiting the farm;-)
The girls, Lily and Star are by far the friendlest. They learned very quickly that I often have a bit of grain with me, and they come running when they see me. Trouble is getting there, too. I am slowly beginning to pet them when they are eating out of my hand, so they get used to touch. Larry is STILL the only one who hasn't eaten out of my hand.

Two days even later....

Had a GREAT goat day today! They haven't escaped in quite a while, and even Larry has eaten out of my hand today. I couldn't get down to flyball practice today due to a road closure, so I decided it was time to start leash training the goats.
I put a leash on both Lily and Star, and got a little dish of grain, and led them out and into the yard. The boys just followed leashless. As soon as they were out, I just dropped the leashes and let them go to it. They were so happy! They ate lots of grass, and a few leaves and brambles. I only kept them out for about 20 minutes, but I was very surprised at how much they could chow down during that time! I thought it would take me a while to get them back in, but all I had to do was grab the dish of grain and call 'Here, little goats', and they just followed me back into their house. I gave them a grain treat, so they would enjoy coming back in. It honestly took me less than a minute to get them back inside. Whoohoo!
They are so funny... they are being good and quiet out in their pen, and the second they see me anywhere in the yard, they start bleating and calling out. We are starving! Pay attention to us! I am actually starting to enjoy the little guys. I know I have a big learning curve ahead of me, but I think it's mostly going to be a fun learning curve!