The water in the swimming pool is freezing. I know this has nothing to do with anything but I like the image!
Yesterday was a little warmer so it was a good day to get back to basics, go on the walkabout and bring you all up to date on the complete lack of events on the farmy. The fields are empty. This is John on our little tractor reclaiming another three acres from the high fructose corn syrup corn field, this will go into good grass, clover and alfalfa. Some we will make into hay with the old/new haybaler. The world is taking on that early winter sepia look, which will slowly morph into the late winter sepia look. 
Most of you know that we are all about the simple life. Growing our own food. Raising our own animals for meat, milk and manure. Living a simple frugal farming life out here on the prairies. It is a lot easier than you think. Using then reusing everything that comes onto the property. Very little is wasted or thrown away. In the long run we should be able to feed all the animals, and ourselves, with what we grow. Daisy’s milk is a very important part of all this. So shopping off the property will be brought down to the absolute minimum.
This is called sustainable. We are also aiming for self sufficient. But as you all know I prefer the words ‘old fashioned’. I really do not like labels at all! There are too many rules when you accept a label and I hate stupid rules.
We heat the house with a wood-stove that we also use for cooking. If it is really cold we just wear an extra item of clothing or three.
Here is Daisy the naughtiest cow on the prairies. She is an Ayrshire and very tall even for that breed. She is pregnant and her calf is due in late May. A cows gestation period is nine months and one week. Then (all going well) she will be the milk cow. She is getting fatter so she has not jumped any fences lately. John and I are buying each other a milking machine for Christmas.
All the manure and dirty straw from the barn is hauled out and spread on the fields and gardens to fertilise them and build them up. Yesterday being a warm day, I mucked out earlier, and laid fresh straw in Daisy’s quarters. So naturally she came outside and had a sleep in the filthy corner of the field on all the manure. Such a cow. Sigh. 
Behind Daisy is Queenie, my little Hereford Heifer. She will be the mother of my beef herd one day. She is about eight months old but I think she is a midget. Herefords are low to the ground but sweet good Queenie is frankly the shortest cow I have ever seen. I have sheep bigger than her. She is so tiny and so good natured. 
You will remember that Houdini hatched sixteen chickens not long ago at the wrong end of the season, well there are not many left now. We had hawks out here for a bit. I know there is a hawk if the guineas make a big row. They literally stand below the hawk, who will be perched on a fence post, or in a tree and they scream at it. But they were too late to save the chickens. That and an early week of terrible cold and we only have a few left. You will remember that Houdini will not stay in the coop so she and the rest of her flock are free range and sleep in the rafters of the barn. But the farm life has life and death, it is part of the cycle.
The laying chickens are in their own coop quietly moulting. I shall not show you, as they look quite quite dreadful with their feathers dropping out. In anticipation of the Big Freeze their big door is closed now, and their little coop doors have been opened to the run and they come out into the fields in the afternoons to mooch about.
Here is Mama the policeman. She is the boss sheep. She is probably pregnant (hard to tell with a sheep until she is closer to her date). She has been hanging out with Hairy McLairy the ram for a few months now. Sheep are pregnant for five months so I think we can look for lambs sometime from February on. Last time she had four lambs (quads) which was a bit of a surprise. I am rather hoping she will not do this again. But whatever she does I will make sure you hear all about it, when it happens.
There. Today I shall muck out the calves quarters. I only do this on days that are above freezing. You see (ahem) the manure freezes solid when it is really cold. Then it is not an easy procedure. Plus I get terribly cold when I work out there for too long and it hurts when you get that cold. So today is poopy scooping day! The chickens get more straw today as well, they need a good deep litter in the winter.
You all have a great day. Bring your gumboots if you are dropping in, it is murky!
c
The Kitchen's Garden 
110 responses to “Let’s Walkabout on the Farmy today!!”
Jen needs to muck up our yard too, but my poo doesn’t make for good fertilizer, so we donate it to ‘keeping the garbage collectors employed’ campaign.
I am sure the garbage collectors are grateful!! (smiley face).. c
Great pix – I do love the almost sepia field and green tractor 😉
Talking of cold swimming pools, I went waterskiing in Cornwall (Mounts Bay), on Christmas Eve, when I was about 17 – it was a beautiful sunny day, but the water was so cold that I had to wear 2 wet suits!
you wouldn’t need any help standing up in two wet suits!! ha ha ha c
I really enjoyed the walkabout round your farmy Celi, felt like I was right there with you! It must be a very satisfying life, in spite of all the hard work involved. It’s a shame about losing all those baby chicks, but I guess that’s part and parcel of life on a farm.
The photos are great!
i went to california for two weeks last month and they mostly went west during that period, John works all day so the barn flock was unguarded, which was a bit sad. But yes as you say that is part and parcel of farm life.. c
I want to come and live with you on the farm. I have experience mucking out pens. However, I will have nothing to do with the chickens. I promise, I can learn how to care for sheep.
Your photos, as always, are splendid. Love that one of Mama the policeman (ahem, “woman”) peeking through the door.
She was great this time round wasn’t she, usually her black eyes and black head are very hard to shoot, It is the eyes i am after in each shot, this time we got Mama for sure!! and yes of course police woman tho (just quietly) she looks like a police man here, don’t tell her I said so.. c
I feel a field trip to your farm coming on!
Bring the little ones in the spring!!! or at least when i have baby lambs to feed! I will email you.. c
We will all enjoy that! Looking forward to it.
Did you dream you would capture so much attention being a Farmerette? What you are doing is soooo valuable. It makes me proud to know you!
Oh that is such a lovely thing to say. Farmerette .. Yes that is ME! And no, I never imagined that people missed the land this much, and i am really honoured to have so many readers mucking in. it is a treat for me! c
Your chickens look almost benevolent today! Are they happier in the winter time? I had a bizarre brain flash of the flock of them eating popcorn and watching soap operas while the snow moves in. Anyway, my Spud is now defending his flock of happy chickens from swooping baboons with a blow-gun. (They may have been watching a bit too much Human Planet over the weekend.) Lovely pics, C. It’s always so wonderful to see this bits of your farm!
and wonderful of you to drop in! Bless Spud.. that Human Planet aye.. he will be quite the adventurer when he is older! c
Hope your weather today wasn’t as gray and drenching as we had. The animals seem to thoroughly enjoy it, though. I bet you did, too. Right?
we certainly had the drenching but they all stood inside and watched from their respective barn doorways! c
Just wanted to drop by to say HELLO b/c since I just started a work project, I don’t get around as much as I did.
thank you for dropping in then frank, we love to see you when you have time, no problems.. c
Outstanding pictures as always, darling; I suppose it helps to have such a stellar crew of beasties to show off for you. They’re all exquisitely beautiful, no-matter-how-impish-they-may-be-from-time-to-time,-not-to-mention-any-names-Daisy. Actually, who can blame Miss D for going out on her own when you’ve stolen her best sh**! And Mama sheep’s portrait is simply breathtaking. So happy to get a chance to tour the farmy again!
Ha ha stolen her best sh** indeed.. Thanks Kath, I suspect they are beginning to pose when i go walkabout with the camera.. everyone was looking suspiciously scrubbed up that day! c
I understand about the freezing.. but will now never complain about mucking out our dog run! I love Daisy.. a girl after my own heart, jumping fences and such, she is looking for greener pastures and then realizes they don’t exist and is content at home. My favorite photo is the one you took of Mama, standing in the doorway… beautiful!
thanks smidge, thank goodnes daisy is not jumping the fences anymore, though she is still doing the leaning and has knocked the top rail of two fences lately! c
Atta girl! She’s letting you know who’s boss;)
(laughter) , c
Yah! Two pictures of my cow. Please give her a little love from me. 🙂
I will Jed..she is lucky to be your favourite cow.. do you think she is getting bigger, I will get a better shot for you next time so you can decide! c
I remember my grandmother telling me they used to farm, grow everything they ate, heat the house with the wood stove, use the cast iron.. iron on the stove to straighten their clothes.. yes I remember all of these stories and I relive them here on your blog :). I love coming here
I would have liked to have met your grandmother, there is so much wonderful info going on in the brains of the oldies! c
Hi Cecilia. Enjoyed the tour today. Lovely photos.
Regards Florence x
Thanks Florence. have a great day!.. c
Takes me back! I’ll be 80 my next birthday, and still remember clearly the fun I had on my uncle’s dairy farm, watching my two boy cousins milk the cows (by hand in those days, squirting milk straight from the cow’s bag into the mouth of a waiting cat sitting at hand), riding in the back of the truck with the boys and the big milk cans, which were tied down under a tarp and then delivered to the Richmond Dairy–on and on. Those were indeed the days–of which I’m the last survivor, though the memories are very alive. Thanks so much for this. I’m deeply happy to know the life hasn’t been modernized out of existence!
I am desperate to train a cat to catch milk on the run like that. Such an image! I hope you drop in often Ann as there may be problems I encounter that you can solve with those memories of yours. I am not going to milk by hand, there is only me running the farmy until John retires and I just don’t think I will have the time. So we will get a second hand machine. Though it must be wonderfully simple to just skip the machines! c