Our wee fella, the tiniest of the little orphans, bless his little heart, rose up yesterday afternoon and very, very slowly – took himself for a tiny walk. He is trying to suck on the bottle now. I am calling this an improvement. He might make it yet.
We have gone FIVE whole days without a piggie break out. A success! I completely changed the electric fence set up, putting the lower wire very, very low, so they cannot go under it. And it is working. Finally I can strip graze the pigs across the field with a little confidence.
I am trying here to show you how much grass the field chickens eat. They cut a swathe through the pasture. If I do not shift them four times a day they will eat the pasture down to the ground which would be bad. I love the grass in my fields. Sometimes I hate to share it. But that is fine, because with the light grazing and the chicken manure they leave behind (very generously scratching it in), then add the frequent small rains we have been having, the fertiliser from the chicks has resulted in this.
Fantastic growth. The clover is shooting up in a long strip in the wake of the ark and the bees are working again.
This has been a stunning experiment.
Sheila was fooling around too close to the chook house yesterday and busted a hole in the side. On purpose? Well, we have to ask ourselves. I will repair it as best I can but like the drains in the kitchen and laundry -( the washing machine has been pumping grey water into the garden all summer through a hose out the window and I have been washing the dishes in a bucket and emptying the bucket in the garden 0 the gardens are loving this) because the under ground drains have collapsed and are blocked – and the gates which are not hung, and the doors in the barn that are broken, and the gutters that are down (I could go on and on), and the plastic house that is waiting and the other work that I do not have time or cleverness for – it will have to wait until Our John has a day off. It will have to get in line! And winter is coming. I know that sentence made very little sense but I am sure you get the jist. 
Naughty Sheila. Tired Celi.
Good morning – here is something really exciting. My black walnut tree has grown some walnuts. It is only 6 years old. I am very impressed. The black walnut is a native around here, (I have only just discovered.) So I am going to grow some of these trees for the Fellowship of the Farmy Forest! It makes perfect sense. Shade for the cows and feed for the pigs. Got your name written all over it.
Wonderful.
Have a lovely day.
your friend, celi
ps early this morning after the 4am feed (kittens) I added a few more star images to the Star Challenge. Stars move!! Or is it us?
This top image with a little light catching the gable of the house, I am going to work on that one. I need a little more light on the structure, just a whisper, I might extend that idea into the image I am looking for. The next image of the The Orion? is not sharp. I need to work with these moving stars.
I merrily attach my camera to my new tripod to keep everything still but the stars are moving, I am moving, everything is moving. We think we are just sitting in our little lives but we are in perpetual motion hurtling around in space unsecurely strapped into our little lives. Buckle up.
c
The Kitchen's Garden 
74 responses to “Tentative First Steps”
My grandparents had black walnut trees over the schoolyard fence east of their property. No one in our family was fond of black walnuts. The squirrels got all the black walnuts they wanted.
my pigs will too! morning terri.. c
I am a grass junkie too – that’s what comes from growing up in Taranaki, the land of dairy cows, and having friends a relatives who lived on farms. I love the chicken experiment – that’s true permaculture, when everything works together and the flow-on effect is so beneficial.
I’m excited about seeing Orion (upside down) in your northern sky, because he’s taken big strides away from us in the southern hemisphere and I like to know he’s safe and well. Look after him until he’s ready to return (and then he will change his name to Tautoru the bird hunter, but that’s another story).
and a wonderful story it is.. thank you Juliet.. you are a tremendously important like for me.. to my home.. c
Lucky you, black walnuts, they don’t grow here, too tropical, but they’re great for dyeing with. Happy to see little puss on her feet.
Hmm.. dyeing.. there is a thought.. thank you nanette. c
🙂
Looks like the little kitty is going to make it – he is walking at last, and bawling for food is a sure sign of improvement! We are all happy!
Morning barb.. and yes, slight relaxing of the tension.. c
That kitten looks like a lamb :-0
Hmm.. what am I like… c
Darned if I can find her comment now, but someone here asked about Black Walnut being good for intestinal parasites? Found this great page (plus, the site has TONS more information: )
http://www.kitchendoctor.com/herbs/black_walnut.php
Also, not sure why ’cause I did “fill in the blanks”, but keep coming up as “Anonymous”. Any ideas?
Oh, I would very much like to be associated with that black walnut tree, old nut that I am, hard and surly and tough to crack … all those things that other people suppose of me. As for the undone things, they’ll get done when their urgency demands it. Until then, relax. Happy morning to the farmy and to you, too, c.
I had a chuckle when I saw your CHICKEN DAMAGE lol sorry my wild turkies went nuts as I spread all the Apple peeling from making crisp up on the hill and they devoured it all and left a swarth of torn up scrub grass and losts of waste behind for next years lawn 🙂 Hope you orphaned kitty makes it and yes WINTER IS COMING you can’t be washing dishes in a buck all winter 😦 if you have equipment the piping in not expensive but maybe you have a bad leech field out here were I am they frown on grey though in the old days we had many who did just that I wish I had one but by the river so many regulations for me to follow just not for our state to follow 😦
Nice dog, how come he knows, how to take care of the kittens!
Glad to see the wee kitty is doing better; must be all the love from you and Boo.
We had an old black walnut tree on the farm. It had been through tough years and was scraggly – my mom hated it, but dad said when he was a child he had an old black walnut tree. It stayed – it was a great tree. Glad yours is nutty!
Those piggies slowed down the breakouts because they knew the kittens needed your spare time.
You know how as a child you spun around in a circle until it was all a blur? That’s the last paragraph.
Do you ever feel like that little girl in the fairy tale about the red dancing shoes? Sometimes I think you are she. Snag some rest when you can
Holding thumbs for weeniest.
Tell those stars to hold still for a second!
Boo is really willing that kitten to live. She has bonded so well to the task.
So much to take in, am late and catching up – what happens next?! Am off to see 🙂
Fabulous star pics!!!