Out in the garden, and down on the farm
Apr. 26th, 2009 02:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nonelvisIt's been a busy weekend outdoors. Today I planted the peas, pruned the rosebushes, and started weeding the front garden, and yesterday, ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
columbina and I drove up to New Hampshire to visit our friends lisanh and Frank at their farm.
When we first met Frank and Lisa, they were avid gardeners and were thinking about buying a few sheep to help clear some of the woods on the property, among other reasons. Now they're up to a flock of Icelandic sheep, a cow (currently off being bred), Tamworth pigs, Toulouse geese, midget white turkeys, Icelandic chickens, Pekin ducks, two Percherons, and a couple of adorable Icelandic sheepdogs to help ride herd on everything.
Randy and Dandy, the two tom turkeys, followed us wherever we went. They kept up a steady stream of chatter as long as we were talking, as if they were trying to join in the conversation. Mostly, though, they walk around preening, trying to make sure everyone admires how gorgeous they are. (And they do have really lovely feathers.)
More than anything, though, there are sheep. We have known some of these sheep for a long time, and have even helped shear some of them. (Not something I recommend doing by hand, but the electric clippers broke.) They're all due for a shearing this week, which they will clearly appreciate, given the way they were trying to shelter themselves from Saturday's heat wave.
Look at these horns. Just gorgeous. And the sheep are friendly; the rams all wanted us to scratch their itchy noses. (Well, they really wanted to be fed, but were willing to settle for a skritch.)
Some of these lambs were apparently a surprise due to an unexpected ram break-in some time ago. Any extras will undoubtedly find a home at "freezer camp."
Bjärki the dog, resting after yet another dip in the water.
Pearl the Percheron. She and Prince, the other Percheron, could be a little pushy about wanting their backs scratched ... and when you are about 5'2", as I am, a horse this size can really push you around. At one point, I was petting Prince's forehead and felt something large bonking me right in the back, over and over. I got the message: two hands, two horse foreheads.
After hanging out with the animals for a while, we headed in to chat and eat some of Lisa's shepherd's pie, made with lamb and veggies they'd raised on the farm, as well as potato rolls, maple ice cream (their maple syrup, sheep's milk, and duck eggs) and maple cookies (more syrup and duck eggs). Everything was delicious and tasted absolutely fresh, as it should have.
We drove home with a 5-gallon bucket of Minnie's Magic compost tea, made from barnyard waste and named after the lovely Minnie the pig; frozen turkey, duck, pork, and ground lamb; a dozen duck eggs; and four goose eggs. Some of the compost tea is already fertilizing the peas I planted this morning, and a few duck eggs are earmarked for challah as soon as the weather cools down this week. The goose eggs will be hard-boiled and turned into deviled eggs once I find good instructions on how long to boil them.
Anyway, that's the weekend so far. More photos starting here in my Flickr photostream, or you can look at Lisa's many wonderful photos of the farm and its inhabitants in her Flickr "Farm Life" collection.
columbina and I drove up to New Hampshire to visit our friends lisanh and Frank at their farm.When we first met Frank and Lisa, they were avid gardeners and were thinking about buying a few sheep to help clear some of the woods on the property, among other reasons. Now they're up to a flock of Icelandic sheep, a cow (currently off being bred), Tamworth pigs, Toulouse geese, midget white turkeys, Icelandic chickens, Pekin ducks, two Percherons, and a couple of adorable Icelandic sheepdogs to help ride herd on everything.
Randy and Dandy, the two tom turkeys, followed us wherever we went. They kept up a steady stream of chatter as long as we were talking, as if they were trying to join in the conversation. Mostly, though, they walk around preening, trying to make sure everyone admires how gorgeous they are. (And they do have really lovely feathers.)
More than anything, though, there are sheep. We have known some of these sheep for a long time, and have even helped shear some of them. (Not something I recommend doing by hand, but the electric clippers broke.) They're all due for a shearing this week, which they will clearly appreciate, given the way they were trying to shelter themselves from Saturday's heat wave.
Look at these horns. Just gorgeous. And the sheep are friendly; the rams all wanted us to scratch their itchy noses. (Well, they really wanted to be fed, but were willing to settle for a skritch.)
Some of these lambs were apparently a surprise due to an unexpected ram break-in some time ago. Any extras will undoubtedly find a home at "freezer camp."
Bjärki the dog, resting after yet another dip in the water.
Pearl the Percheron. She and Prince, the other Percheron, could be a little pushy about wanting their backs scratched ... and when you are about 5'2", as I am, a horse this size can really push you around. At one point, I was petting Prince's forehead and felt something large bonking me right in the back, over and over. I got the message: two hands, two horse foreheads.
After hanging out with the animals for a while, we headed in to chat and eat some of Lisa's shepherd's pie, made with lamb and veggies they'd raised on the farm, as well as potato rolls, maple ice cream (their maple syrup, sheep's milk, and duck eggs) and maple cookies (more syrup and duck eggs). Everything was delicious and tasted absolutely fresh, as it should have.
We drove home with a 5-gallon bucket of Minnie's Magic compost tea, made from barnyard waste and named after the lovely Minnie the pig; frozen turkey, duck, pork, and ground lamb; a dozen duck eggs; and four goose eggs. Some of the compost tea is already fertilizing the peas I planted this morning, and a few duck eggs are earmarked for challah as soon as the weather cools down this week. The goose eggs will be hard-boiled and turned into deviled eggs once I find good instructions on how long to boil them.
Anyway, that's the weekend so far. More photos starting here in my Flickr photostream, or you can look at Lisa's many wonderful photos of the farm and its inhabitants in her Flickr "Farm Life" collection.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
on 2009-04-27 01:02 am (UTC)no subject
on 2009-04-27 02:36 am (UTC)no subject
on 2009-04-27 01:55 am (UTC)no subject
on 2009-04-27 02:34 am (UTC)Critter picspam! \o/
on 2009-04-27 02:43 am (UTC)Re: Critter picspam! \o/
on 2009-04-27 01:16 pm (UTC)Re: Critter picspam! \o/
on 2009-04-28 10:23 am (UTC)Now, though, I won't keep any critter who isn't REALLY friendly. I can now tell from the very beginning who is going to go off to freezer camp and who gets to stay. It's amazing how much temperament is genetic.