Farm Wifing

Once you no longer spend every day from dawn to o'dark-thirty....supper was often at nine or ten PM back in the day....juggling a dozen different jobs, then you are no longer a real farm wife, right? 

More like a shadow of something leftover right?

Maybe...

But today I caught myself farm wifing like crazy. (And grumbling like a harried farm wife too.) Liz's boss gave her some corn and we had some zucchini ready to freeze. Since she is very busy, I offered to do all the processing but the husking if she would share the result.

That plan was in full swing and the corn in full boil when the boss decided to fix the faucet in the bath tub. Good deal. It's been leaking so hard for so long that we took to using the water accumulated in a bucket in the tub...waste no, want not....to flush the other facility that resides in the same room.

However, as the corn boiled merrily on the stove, the absence of packing putty needed for the job was discovered. Guess who knew where to look for it. Ditto for other tools and substances needed for the job.

Guess how deeply it was buried....

Guess how inopportune the pinging of timer was. Then, since he was going down cellar to turn the water on and off anyhow, he reset the ground fault interrupter down there, since the garden pond pump isn't working. He had to take a fan outdoors to test the wire to the pond....while the corn and zucchini continued exuberantly bubbling. (Alas the problem is the pump, which seems to have died completely.)

This drama went on as long as all jobs were operative. Somehow everything got done just the same....although the faucet is still leaking. Time for a new gasket I guess.

Farm wifing....It's multi-tasking like a boss. Still got it. Kinda. Sorta.

Hate to tell you This

It may only be the 16th of August, but it is unofficially Fall, no matter what the calendar says.

Harvest season.

Freezer filling time.

Yup, the putting up food gene has kicked in. We've been begrudgingly harvesting and processing snap beans and freezing blueberries for the upcoming season of silver and slate, and then, suddenly, today, it became an urgent matter to blanch some corn and cut it off the cob and freeze it.

Plans are being made to travel down south to buy up a pick-up full of garden goodies for later.

Maybe the Greyzini will get done today too......

Sorry about that and all....but the time is coming, all too soon....

Sumbunny ate my Watermelon

Or at least I thought so. There was one out there yesterday when we headed up to the Dacks to buy chainsaw chains. There's a place up there that sells them for very reasonable prices....and Mappy, they say they can match any chain you bring in, as they make them up right there. Ralph remembered to ask...

It was so cute!

When we returned after a quick excursion over Batchellerville Bridge and down that side of the mighty Sacandaga, it was gone. No matter how I looked I couldn't find it anywhere. I blamed the bunnies.

Snuggling her favorite chicken. Photo by her mom

Then, late in the afternoon I spotted it again.

Turns out it is so small...about the size of a shooter marble...that I missed it under a leaf.

I am so excited to have a watermelon growing right in the backyard!

Thank you Linda.

I had all kinds of good help picking beans yesterday

Foiled

Failure has been the name of the game in catching the amazing colors of a Cedar Waxwing...at least for me.

However, I kinda like this one. Looks as if it were made of colored foil or something.

Same bird but just not quite as intense as the top one is

Homework

Perhaps the only place to find answers...

Farm Side research for the week has had me reading blogs and news stories from far-ranging sources. Australian news seems to offer more balanced coverage than other sources.

I would love to know what you think about the issue of farm expropriation in South Africa...

Really....you could be quoted if you like. This is an incredibly complicated issue, rife with political posturing and shocking violence. Such takings have a long history of failure, but the allure of something for nothing coupled with the possibility of redressing wrongs, both real and imagined has great appeal.

Here is some of what I have read so far...only 620 of a thousand words written at this point.

One of the better ones.

Unfavorable

About the same

Without compensation

Violence

More violence from last year, horrifically graphic!

Statistics, might not be the best ones though.

I am kind of queasy after reading some of these. You may want to skip the one labeled graphic and just read the others. I have a lot more reading...and thinking... to do myself, but I am going to put it aside until tomorrow and go out and plant some flowers....

Go (with a) Pro

Look, a scope!

There was a bird walk in Amsterdam this morning, over the Gateway Bridge with a birding pro. It was lead by area environmental educator, George Steele, who is a terrific birder. He leads walks on Saturday mornings in this area, but this is the first one we have made since last year....such a busy summer. 

Belted Kingfisher

It was fun. We saw 41 species of birds, some as common as European Starlings, one a pretty special bird, a Peregrine Falcon.

This is what 39 Common Mergansers look like hurrying to get outta town

There were 39 Common Mergansers in one flock, Great Blue and Green Herons, a sprinkling of warblers and other woodland birds, and some city birds as well.

Darth Cormorant

Well, really a Double-crested Cormorant

Thanks George for teaching me something new every time, and thanks to the boss for getting up early to drive me down and then sitting patiently while birds were pursued.

Common Merganser

If you would like to experience this sort of birding there is another walk tomorrow morning at 6:30 AM at Yankee Hill Lock, which is one of my all-time favorite places to bird. The river is often graced with interesting waterfowl, and the woods surrounding the tow path and bike path are always good for some excitement.

Gettin outta Dodge

There are Times

When you get all grumpy and frustrated.

That is when you should take a good healthy dose of:

This

This

This one

Or maybe this

It works for me.

Farm Side Links

This week's research links:

The rural opioid crisis

NYCAMH John May Farm Safety Fund 
MOS

NYSERDA farm energy audit program

History of Empire Farm Days

Cover Crops at King Agriseeds

Dessert

Ring-billed Gull

Immature Bald Eagle

Rainy Caspian Tern

Double-crested Cormorant

Wood Duck

Northern Mockingbird

Sandhill Crane

Mallard

Or...the carrot on the stick....It began to rain, literally the moment we pulled into the visitor center parking lot, rendering me grumpy indeed after all that walking in the heat and humidity.

However, we still somehow managed to see some nice birds, although the resulting photos were pretty awful. Best birds were the Caspian Terns, a Pectoral Sandpiper, the Sandhill Cranes, and a Peregrine Falcon that gave us a wonderful flyby at Knox-Marcellus Marsh. We also met a pleasant park volunteer, who was surveying birds at the marsh. She gave us tips on Tundra vs. Trumpeter Swans, for which I thank her plentifully.

No Matter which way You Look

Empire Farm Days is quite a show. There are big machines to keep boys of all ages happy.

And oldies but goodies as well.

Happy Birthday, Jade

The Original Milk Mustache

Empire Farm Days

Sunrise yesterday...today we will be seeing it in the rear view mirror....

Because we are off to Empire Farm Days, perhaps the biggest farm show in NYS.....gonna to be a hot one but she's tough....she's a harbor chick.

As long as there is a wildlife refuge for dessert....

Meanwhile, here's an old Farm Side, if you need some reading material for the day.

Dessert....so to speak....

Fair Work

Dr. Lucas

It wouldn't be late summer without a visit from our trusted farm veterinarian,here to do the health work so the animals can go to the fair.

So far this year assorted poultry have already traveled to the fairgrounds to get their pullorum tests. Liz's show flock is tested under NPIP. I used to show chickens....back in the day...but the state vet came to the farm to test back then.

The steer

Today the little steer got his certification for the show. He received some vaccines and tests and a general looking-over to get him ready. 

This was Dr. Lucas DiFiores' first visit to the farm, but Midvale Veterinary Clinic has been taking care of our animals since before the boss and I even knew each other. I could tell you many stories of animal health care here on the farm and probably already have.

In fact, here are a couple from days gone by: If you are thirsty for more, just type the word "vet" in the search box at the top of the page and go.

Fair work

A Real Emergency

Herd Health

Another Herd Health

An old story about a now-retired Midvale Vet we loved to tease for years and years and a cow I came to really care for. Cows like "Dead", as she was called, were part of what made farming a lot of fun. If you read any of these, read this one first.

Another emergency

As you can see from these stories, we have had a long and positive history with Midvale, It's good to see the kids continuing the tradition. The doctors who work there have always shown compassion for both our animals and the people who own them, while offering competent, up-to-the-minute medical care and preventative planning as well. There are many aspects of dairy farming that I really miss, and our great doctor/client relationship is one of those. It was nice to say hi to Dr. Lucas and take a couple of photos down in the old heifer barn.

Checking out the sheep