Friday, July 30, 2010

How Much


Wood plastic could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck.....?

I was sitting here at my trusty computer yesterday when I heard a weird rattling sound from the front porch. There was a lusty breeze bending the sumacs so I thought it was just the plastic that was on the door in the winter rattling in it.

However it went on and on so I got up to go look. Elvis was staring out the door in his grab-the-robin pose, only different. Kind of hesitant and nervous-ish.

Well no wonder! In place of the robin was a fat young woodchuck gathering plastic in its mouth like a gerbil collecting tissue for a nest. It was perhaps six inches from his face. It was so darned bold that it let me take its picture. Then when I clapped and shouted to make it leave the region it ignored me.

The cat ran away but not the road rat. Dag nabbitted thing anyhow. It just looked over its shoulder in an irritable fashion and sauntered away.

A much better encounter of the wild thing kind came later on the other porch. I was watering the plants when I heard an unfamiliar bird call. I looked up and the speaker came right to my knees...right there a foot away from me a lovely little Carolina wren. It hopped all over the porch looking right at me, completely unconcerned, then flew down below the driveway. How cool is that?

Sold on Milking Shorthorns

If you've been reading here a while you know about Checkerboard Magnum's Promise, a milking shorthorn bull we bought to breed heifers for calving ease a few years back. We had used Angus, Hereford, Jersey etc. and had complaints about all. Mostly temperament but calving ease on the Herefords was no better than Holstein bulls. We don't have access to the kind of genetics you find on ranches....

I had hoped to sell some matched steers for oxen, an option which has not materialized. However, we were astonished at how typey the shorty calves are. I think that is partly that we were very lucky in the bull we got, but they are just so correct and sharp that you can't stop looking at them. Dense, strong bone, lots of dairy character and tough as nails. A little bit of attitude in every one of them, but it is not meanness, but a strong will to prosper.

We raised one shorty steer and the processor we took him to ruined the meat so we didn't get to find out how we liked it. Then this week we finally got a shorthorn beef back from a reputable place. When the boss picked it up our man said it was the best we ever brought in. I took that with a grain of salt, as he is quite the salesman....but....

It is! The ground beef is very lean like we like it, but tender and succulent....so good. And last night Becky broiled us some steaks. Flashback to Missouri where we ate at a really nice steak house. They have a lot better beef out there where they grow it and this was like that. Fork tender, juicy, very flavorful. I am delighted, partly that we have a freezer full and partly that we have a heifer all raised up that we can process at any time, plus two more steers of various ages. After a long winter of venison, goose, chicken and vegetables I am such a happy little camper.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Music



Stumbled upon some wonderful music on Facebook yesterday...real traditional country sound.
We are fans of the Texas singer, Todd Fritsch, and have him as a friend on FB. He "liked" RW Hampton, so I checked out his music on his page.
I liked it.

Even bought one song with part of the Amazon gift certificate brother and sis-in-law gave me for my birthday. (Thanks guys, my iPod is a much happier place because of you)




Here is
RW"s Facebook page....give the song, "Donny Catch a Horse" a listen...wish I could buy that one, but alas, it doesn't seem to be available on Amazon.


Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Nation's Oldest Farm for Sale

Read about it here.

According to the latest federal figures, more than 4 million acres of active farmland were developed between 2002 and 2007, an area roughly the size of Massachusetts. Since 1982, the nation has lost more than 41 million acres of rural land.

Massachusetts has lost 24 percent of its prime farmland since 1982, more than all but four states.

Wordless Wednesday

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

What's Up with The Milk Numbers


According to all those dairy situation reports you read in all the farm publications, production is up from last year despite the loss of so many farms. According to a source close to the industry (who shall remain unnamed) plants are scrambling for milk and taking loads they turned away a few months ago.....hmmmm......

Monday, July 26, 2010

While We Were Gone

Nothing daunts a border collie.
If there are no cows to herd, a lake will do nicely, thank you

The bull calf tide continued....very few heifer calves this summer. Alas Spruce had a really nice boy, tall and dairy, Balsam had a Silky Cousteau son of fine proportions, and Bonneville (Balsam's daughter) had a Keeneland Astre Pat son too (same sire as Spruce's).

No more calves expected for a few weeks...However, fair preparations are in full swing. The health work is finished on Lemonade, a Holstein veteran of the show ring of Becky's, Rose Magnolia, the milking shorthorn daughter of the Select Sire Power bull, Poker(pdf) and my Broadway cow, and Gypsy, the Roylane Jordan daughter of Lizzie's retired show cow, Mandy.

Lots of clipping and washing going to be going on, which may be a challenge as Liz has started her new milk inspector job and is at least half past busy. We also have to hustle up and get Rose Magnolia and her mother, Broadway, registered, not a small feat as we have never registered a milking shorthorn before. Liz will be taking the three of them to Altamont Fair this year while the rest of us hold down the fort here at home. Maybe you will see them there.


In the meanwhile, the garden is beginning to produce, I have more lawn cows to paint, we are getting a steer back from the processor and haying is continuing apace. Although I miss camp, as I always do, we came home to glorious weather, which makes it all seem fine.

Noticed

These stories might be of interest to North-viewers....I was thrilled to learn the results of Web Moo.O, an agricultural social media contest, (which I had incidentally forgotten that I entered) (although no one has contacted me yet). I discovered it through the stats on Site Meter and did some happy dancing etc.

Northview Diary is a lot of fun for me...I love getting to know all of you....and it is so nice that the folks at Nutridense liked it too.

That's Just Ducky





I am going to be putting more camp pics up here

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Sunday Stills....Rule of Thirds



For more Sunday Stills