sick cow

so there was a bump on "the situation" about the size of a marble on his side. For a bit I thought it was an infected spot where he got caught up in the barbed wire. But through research I discovered it was a cattle grub! The feed store guy had advised me to squirt hydrogen peroxide in the hole, and the bubbles would pop it out. Well that did not work. But the grub did come up for air when I did that, which allowed me to see that there was really one in there. Ewwww totally gross!! So I tried to squeeze it out. That did not work either. So I ended up reaching in the hole with tweezers and was able to grab it to pull it out. That thing was huge and one of the nastiest things I have done to date!!!! I'm not sure if the grub has caused "the situation" to be sick, or if there is something else wrong with him. But he is very weak and can't stand right now. So I gave him a bottle last night, and expected to have a dead cow on my hands this morning. As of now he is still in the same spot, but is hanging on so far. I have a farmer coming over this morning to help me give both calves vaccines, hopefully that will kick whatever is ailing him and make "guido" even stronger. We'll see how it turns out, I really hope he pulls through!!!

wormer time

I've been a little concerned lately about the animals having "worms". Which is very common in free ranging and grass fed animals because they are haphazardly eating whatever is on the ground with their grass. So I have found a homemade natural recipe for worming animals. This will be my first time using this method, i have real high hopes this will work!!!

So for like a goat to calf sized animal

1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon molasses
1 to 2 tablespoons of warm water (just enough to dissolve everything together)


i used a kitchen injector syringe to squirt it in their mouths (just the plastic part). I seriously didn't think the calves would take it, but they actually LOVED it. I bet the would drink a whole bottle of that stuff!!

fall leaves

we have many large oak trees on the property, and I had imagined huge piles of leaves everywhere. I'm not sure if the goats are eating the fallen ones, or the trees have many more leaves to shed.

wrapping up my second season garden

well it's almost the end of my second season garden. My okra is going strong. Actually I have so much picked that I need to figure out what I'm going to do with it, either freeze or pickle. My peppers finally have little babies and should be coming on heavy in about a week. I'm still getting a few squash, but that's about all my garden left. I have to get my winter stuff in before it gets too late, I need to make it my project for the week, we'll see how that goes.

cowboy up

the donkey had breached the fence last night, so we awoke to all the horses loose in the front yard. Rounding up 7 horses that can run super fast, was harder than I had originally thought! I'm sure we looked pretty funny running after them with a rope. Since the only thing we had successfully roped is a kids bike....lol good news though, we got them all in safe and sound. We did a great job!

sustainable meal

we ate our first 100% farm meal. Roasted veggies, fried okra, and our very first fried chicken. (plus some chicken stock for the freezer. ) What a wonderful feeling of accomplishment!

horses on the farm

we are lending our pasture to 7 beautiful horses. I've always had a fear of horses, mainly because of their sheer size and cunning mental capabilities. So this morning we went out and fed them some carrots and treats to start to make friends. They were actually very sweet and took the food very gently. A good start in overcoming my fears.

harvest time

we harvest all the pumpkins, all the butternut squash, the remainder of the corn, a bag full of okra, and 6 large watermelon! The corn was full of earworms, so I had been letting it dry on the stock, it will be perfect to feed the animals during the winter months. And we will have plenty of husks to make a corn husk doll craft with my daughters scout troop. What a night! I can't believe how much we have gotten in just a few short months.

glad the chicken's enjoyed

caught the chickens in the garden today, they had pecked into several melons. Little stinkers... I wanted those melons!!!

birthday fun

now that we have some land, it's nice to be able to utilize it all for our get togethers. We placed pirate flags all along our trails, and hid goodies at each flag. It was perfect for the youngsters that couldn't read, and allowed them to get some cake energy out. Fun times!