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I was kind of running out of steam when it came to writing this blog a few weeks ago. I was starting to feel like on worn out Debbie Downer record: "not enough interns, super tired, poor me." But a few things have changed, my energy is back, and life on the farm is exciting again! Well, maybe not exciting to read about, but it feels pretty action-packed when you live here. Trust me.

First, I went on vacation, which was great. We went to Vegas and tried to go to the Grand Canyon. March is apparently not the best time of year to do that. Oh well. Vegas was odd and fascinating and a lot of fun. Everything there is such a spectacle. Its like walking through a seedy, drunk circus being performed in a sumptuous palace, but with more neon and gambling and old people. There is just no good way to describe it. We ate a lot, drove around, walked the strip and through all the themed and fancy hotels, drank a bit, saw the lights, played pinball at the Pinball Museum, saw the Freemont light show... The highlights for me were the amazing burlesque show we saw at the MGM Grand, the fountain show in front of the Bellagio, and the drive-in with the best frozen custard in the world.

After returning from Vegas, I got to spend a few days in Portland. That was really nice, too. Visiting made me want to move back there, despite the inconvenience of living in the big city. Of course, I have no job and no money and no rental there... so I came back to the farm. And what a strange contrast that was. Vegas is the polar opposite of farming, I think.

Since my return to the farm it has been constant go, go, go. The newest intern, Steve, has a lot of drive and ambition and tons of energy, so it has been a little easier to get things done lately. Also, the weather has been improving and the days lengthening, which makes all the outside tasks easier. Marcia and John are still not making things easier, of course, but we are bringing them around.

I finally got the greenhouse cleaned. Its all set up with tomato seedlings and grow lights now. Looks pretty awesome, even with all the broken crap John insists on storing in there. The herbs will be sprouting in their trays soon, then the other veggie seeds, so the greenhouse will be packed with cute little plantlings wanting their share of the shelving. That will be fun to see. Then, in a couple of weeks, we can start hardening them off and thinking about where we want them to go in the gardens. Hmm. Better get the garden beds finished soon.

Just today we finished seeding the pasture. We planted it with a rye, alfalfa, and some other range-y, browse-y type grasses. We then covered it with compost mixed with lime, humates, and boraxo soap for fertilization. I am hoping that it is not too early or too late to have planted- any earlier and it might have been too cold and the grass seeds would freeze, but any later and there won't be time enough for the pasture to actually grow before the goats are trampling on it again.

We also built some awesome potato beds. Instead of using half the garden to grow potatoes, I thought we should grow them vertically. So we chopped up some pallets that were just sitting around and made two three foot by four foot-ish vertical beds for the potatoes. I have never grown potatoes like this (or at all), but I have seen them grown in old tires stacked in a similar way, so hopefully it all works out. It was pretty quick and easy, but best of all, it was entirely FREE. Now we just need some dirt to throw in there as the potatoes sprout.

A few days ago, we moved the bucks to a new barn. Oh my gosh! Another barn! Its a small barn on the south end of the property, and it has always been there. Obviously we'd seen it, but we didn't know, however, that there is a stall there that they use to store the boy goats, not just rusty tools and musty straw. It is a tidy little stall now, and the boys are settled cozily in. Its easier to clean then their old stall in the large barn, and has a small pasture attached. It is perfect, and moving the bucks there will not only help us keep the big barn so much cleaner, but will free up space for the new moms and baby goats. We still need to figure out a good system for feeding and watering the bucks now that they have been taken off the beaten path, but overall, it is very exciting.

But when it comes to exciting news, nothing beats this: COMPOST IS UNDER CONTROL! Ok, mostly. Steve has spent two full days on the tractor rearranging compost. Soon, we will be able drive the tractor past the barn where there was once a mountain of compost. Unfortunately, it has merely been relocated, not broken down. But it is progress! In its new location, we will be able to turn it more often and it will break down, and then we'll be able to move it. It has been my fondest dream since coming to the farm that compost NOT take over everything like a stinky, oozing beast of the armageddon. And now my dreams are being realized.

We are also planning a worm business. If all goes according to plan, five pounds of worms will be delivered in the next week or so. They will move into the new worm condo we are designing, and will promptly begin to deal with our kitchen waste. Then, hopefully, they will continue to be fruitful and multpily, and we will use them to break down not only kitchen scraps, but also goat poo and hay, and they will make us many piles of castings for our garden. Steve thinks he can breed enough worms to sell castings as a side business. I am more realistic- call it pessimistic if you like- and think that we will be lucky if they survive the inconsistent attention and the deluge of poo we heap upon them. But maybe they will thrive and selling their byproduct will raise some money. Its a business I've been wanting to get into anyway, and this is certainly an easier location to run it from than the carport at my rental in Portland.

Tomorrow, I am going to begin construction on the hoop house for the garden... if we make it to the Home Depot tonight. We will be growing tomatoes and melons inside of it. Here is a photo of what I hope it will look like when completed:

If all goes well, it will be a 10' x 21' greenhouse with an aisle down the middle of the two four foot beds. I am not sure how well it will hold up in a strong wind, but it should work well enough if this mild weather continues. Of course, the weather has been so pleasant, that by the time the hoop house is ready, it may be unnecessary. But won't building it be fun!

Whew. We have been doing so many more projects in the last few weeks than we were able to achieve all winter that this blog entry could go on and on. But I am stopping here, because its my day off and I want to work on the garden before it gets dark. Also, maybe I need to bake something, just to satisfy my urge to play in the kitchen- I tried making kimchi yesterday but I am not confident in the results, so I will make something foolproof this time, like brownies.

Back home

Back home and all tuckered out already...

No energy to write tonight, but wanted to share a few photos from the last week, then I'm back off to bed.

Oh, yes, and last one is the Grand Canyon photo- I think I really captured the majestic, snowy beauty of the Canyon in March.... in the WHITE OUT FOG AND SNOW!

Many hands make light work

Well, I am super pleased and relieved to announce that Steve is working out marvelously! He is energetic, hardworking, and interested in learning absolutely every single thing about farming or homesteading. He also laughs loudly and suddenly at odd times with inappropriate enthusiasm, leading me to believe his delight with this place is drug induced, or possibly the result of insanity. Whatever it is, I like it!

In addition to Steve, another intern showed up to stay for a few weeks. She has worked here before (its Laura, who was my roommate shortly after I first arrived) so she already knows what to do. She is staying through the fifteenth, which is perfect, since I will be going on a vacation the fifth through the twelfth. Now I can vacation guilt-free!

The increase in interns has already made a huge difference. Yesterday we plowed and re-fenced the north vegetable garden. I dosed all the baby goats with their coccidia medicine. Poor little goaties have all been infected because we didn't get the barn clean enough. Then we gave copper and selenium and wormer to all forty bucks. It was awesome. It was pretty entertaining watching Steve and Carolyn "rassle" the skittish and bouncier goats. Some of them never hold still anyway, always playing and hopping and fighting and scrapping among themselves. Then when you chase them, they get nervous, though they still feel tempted to play with you. In addition to those tasks around the farm, I milked in the morning and made dinner for everyone in the evening, and read some of my book. I felt so efficient! I love days when there are lots of tasks to do, and enough people to actually make a dent in the to-do list.

Speaking of to-do lists, I acidentally aid down the law around here. I got sick of not having a plan, so in my frustration, I bullied Marcia into making a schedule then I hung an enormous to-do list on the wall for the interns. I think bossiness is one of my worst habits, and getting worse all the time. I wanted learn, not direct, but apparently I am an out-of-control control freak. But I try to be a benevolent dictator, keeping the iron fist hidden behind a witless smile and a curtain of manipulation! I am mostly kidding. There is no way I can compel the other interns to do what I want. But even if they don't follow the list, at least it will be a good way to keep me on track. Today I have no milking shifts, so its a project day today. I will have to consult my list to see what I told myself to work on!

I think I will work on clearing out the greenhouse. The greenhouse is a kit greenhouse that looks like a plastic shed and is currently being used for storage of a bunch of odds and ends- broken bicycles, wire fencing, old cardboard boxes, and dirty buckets. It is sitting on the driveway in one of the least sunny areas on the land. I'd love to se it moved but unfortunately its a bit of a beast. For a structure made of hollow plastic pieces, its surprisingly heavy. No matter where it sits, though, the interior needs a thorough cleaning. Of course, there is really no where to organize the contents of the greenhouse to. I'd like to put them in the garage, but it has been compromised by the chickens. They seem to think it is their coop. There are chicken droppings and eggs everywhere. Thats a big project all on its own. Of course, the seedlings might not get enough sun in the greenhouse anyway, so perhaps I'll start elsewhere...

I might do some repairs instead. We have a fence down in the north pasture. I could go try to fix it today, but its tough to do alone. The fence panels are 16' long and weight four thousand million pounds each. Well, almost. So I can't do it unless I can figure out how to get the panels out there on the tractor, or harass another intern into helping. Unfortunately, the pasture has a "creek" running through it that turns the exact area I need to do repairs into a total swamp when it rains. Hmm.

Maybe instead I'll muck the barn. If we do it now, after the boys were paid to clean it, it won't turn into such a nightmarish chore by next week. Then maybe we can prevent more babies from getting sick. I don't know, though. I am a little wary of going in the barn as I spent this morning researching all the zoonotic diseases- meaning viruses and sicknesses that pass form livestock or animals to humans. Ew. Now I am scared of the barn due to the rat population AND the pathogen population. Great. That is the problem with online research. Sure, you may find the info you need, but along the way you may turn yourself into a total hypochondriac! So if I just avoid the barn 'til I forget how it will probably make me catch Q fever, I could instead....

Trim hooves? Don't know how.

Plow the field? Too rainy.

Cook lunch? Too early.

Butcher a chicken? Too icky.

Feed the bees? Too scary.

Build a greenhouse? Too expensive.

Prune the apple tree? Too high.

Clean the driveway? Plant tomatoes? Feed the dogs? Weed the garden? Turn the compost? Check the mail? Muck the run? Fix the feeders? Make some tinctures? Brew some beer? Start some sauerkraut? Build a picnic table? Fill the troughs? Bake some cookies? Grind some herbal medicines? Plant the pasture? Fertilize the soil? Build some worm bins? Bake some bread? Walk the dogs? Exercise the founderers? Check on the pregos? Rotate the pastures?

Gosh, if only I could think of something to do with my day....

Maybe all the help is making me lazy. Social loafing, I think its called. Just the other day I was bemoaning the lack of organization and berating myself for lazing about in my few hours of spare time, while feeling understaffed, overworked, and self-pitying. Now we have plenty of troops to accomplish some big stuff, a whole list of big stuff that need doing, and here I am not doing any stuff at all. Alright, Erin, stop internetting around and go get something done!