Just some pictures around the farm

Too hot to do much around the farm today so I jumped out long enough to take a few pictures. The cows taking it easy. I think Chief, our Billy Goat, is trying to tell me that the cows have drank all the water. I'll be right back Chief with a good cool drink.
I found a few green beans on the plants today. These guys must have grown over night. I can't wait to pick a mess.
Cherry tomatoes are doing well, just another day or two and I can get a few.

Brussell sprouts starting to form a few heads. This is the first time I have grown them and I hope they do good. I love 'em.

Cucumbers are starting to bloom. Man these things grow fast once the bloom sets.

Acorn squash is on the move. They just sat there for weeks with no growth and then just all of a sudden, BAM !!!

Zuccinni spreading it's way around the place.


This little guy popped up the other day in the compost pile, not sure what it is. I'll just leave it and see what we get.

Tater Bug, just before he met his maker.


More maters waiting their turn to hit the ground running. Some came from the compost pile while others I started from seed. This way I get late maters after my others have run their course.

Here is one of the tubs I mentioned in an earlier post. These things are 24 inches across and 18 inches deep. This one I put the water from the air conditioner. I can get 3 to 4 gallons a day this way for free, well not really free but it beats letting it just run on the ground.

Firewood from one White Oak tree that my buddy down the road is letting me have. There's another row behind this one only not quite as large.

Being the Scavenger that I am, I found these panes of glass at the recycling center. I ask one of the workers there and he said to help myself to them. They will be used to rework the greenhouse this fall.

Forge Picture

Some of my blogger friends are having a hard time watching the video, with dial-up this can be a pain. Sorry to all. Here is a picture of something close to what I hope to end up with. Click here for a few more pics. http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://home.flash.net/~dwwilson/ntba/forge.JPG&imgrefurl=http://home.flash.net/~dwwilson/ntba/coalforge.html&h=396&w=337&sz=39&hl=en&start=34&sig2=AxnnQje4H-w4yWQ5ywyfHg&um=1&tbnid=Tu91smitLS9_3M:&tbnh=124&tbnw=106&ei=HilVSOm1LpiuiAH2w6mYAw&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dforge%2Bpics%26start%3D18%26ndsp%3D18%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1T4GWYE_enUS276US276%26sa%3DN

Forge and Anvil

Been thinking a lot about building a Forge here on the farm. From what I have read so far, I think this would be a great hobby and a very useful skill to have. I can think of a ton of things that I need to make for myself, and maybe others. Check out the video below for a little info on just how these things work. My plan is to build on similar to the one shown in the video. I want something that I am able to move around and cheap and easy to build. I have never done any steel or iron work but I know that I have enough other skills that I can pick this one up too. I am more than willing to put in the practice required to learn. I will be posting more on the forge project in the near future.

Spent the morning with my Arch Enemy

I woke this morning with the thoughts of my first task at hand, those %#$# potato bugs. I killed one early on in the season and 10,000 have come daily to pay their respect. (And never leave) I pick those vine eating monsters off by the 100's each and every day. We are really trying to raise an organic garden with NO pestisides but man those tater bugs are about to get my goat as the saying goes. I have sprayed them many times with a dish liquid and water solution and they seem to love it. I can almost hear them laughing as they float along in the suds of the spray. If I had any hair I would be pulling it out by the handfuls. Not really, if I had a head full of hair I would rule the world. Anyhow that is how my day starts, planning my attack on my Arch Enemy, thoses &%#$%#$ tater bugs. Any suggestions on how to get rid of these MONSTERS?? Help me, PLEASE.

Home Alone

The wife and kids left on Thursday for West Virginia for a few days visiting family. Man it sure is quiet here. I love them dearly but a little time Home Alone is good for everyone. I spent the day that they left cutting firewood. A friend has some white oak trees that he wants to get out of his pasture and he said I could have them all. I am very greatful. There is more than enough for this years needs and then some. After that a cool shower much needed and then a peaceful stroll through the garden. Finished up the day sitting on the back deck just looking up at the night sky. This morning Olivia's uncle Howard came by, he has a backhoe, and dug a nice little pond in the area we are keeping the cow and goats. When I ask what I owed him he said I could help him for a few hours in return for the work he had done. I'm up for some bartering anytime. So I helped him use a pressure washer to clean a rental trailer that he owns just down the road. Oh yea, I rode over to get the pressure washer with him at his son-in-laws house. He owns a HUGE cattle farm, and I saw these plastic tubs sitting there. These are about a 25 to 30 gal plastic tubs that a mineral lick comes in for the cattle. There were 5 of them just sitting there by the barn. I ask Howard if Mark had a lot of those? By the hundreds, he said, those things are everywhere around here, take all that you need. Are you sure it's ok ? It's more than ok he said, Mark will be glad to get those things out of the way, truck drivers that haul the cows in and out run over them in the field. So I was happy to Scavenge them. They will be used to catch rain water and maybe container planting aswell. The best part is there seems to be an endless supply of them. Howard said they buy those tubs of mineral by the pallet every few weeks. COOL !!!
I'll post pics in a day or two, Olivia took the only digital camera that I know how to use with her to WV . haha

This is the "GOOD LIFE"

After a long day in the garden watering, hoeing, adding a little cow manure tea and just standing and looking at the sky, I sat on an old stump that I use to set firewood on to split and admired the days work. The potatos need my constant attention removing potato bugs, the maters need my water bucket and all the plants need my hoe but, as I discovered today, not nearly as much as I need them. My garden and the work involved with it are my purpose these days and it feels great to have such a purpose regardless of the time I spend and effort invovled. These hands were made for dirt and dirt I give them daily. I love the hot sun beating down on me and the earth that I work, the smell of the tomatoe plants as I pull weeds from around their base, the smell of the cucumbers as I work close to them. The sites, sounds and smells of the farm simply fuel my entire spirit. As I rose from my humble seat I knew for sure that this is the "GOOD LIFE" and I am very thankful for it.

I'm Back, Finally

Sorry, to all, I have been very busy the last few days and have not had time to post. But anyway here are a few pics around the farm.
Birdhouse gourds are doing great now that we have had some rain and warm days and nights.
This is a rustic chair that I was working on late one evening and didn't get finished. Made a good run for the gourds. When people ask what it is I tell them it's one of those composting toliets. When I need to go I just sit on the chair and it feeds the gourd vines. haha I get some funny looks. Some probably think that I really do. If they don't ask I don't tell. he he
Zucinni popping up through the ground.

Miss Daisy taking a closer look.
Katie Bug, Bear and Olivia after a long day on the farm.
Taters are doing well. I have them growing everywhere. In tires, in totes, in the ground, in a pile of old pine needles and what I had left over I just stuck in a few rows of old compost that you see here.
These are the duck eggs that one of our female ducks, Shiver, has been setting on for the last few weeks. Been checking on them daily for any signs of life. Should be soon I think. 14 eggs I think I didn't want to bother them too much.
WOW !!!! Look how big that corn is now. haha!! I got down to ground level for this picture hoping that the corn would look taller. It's about 8 inches now and I hope to plant beans and squash very soon.