Farming in the shade

With our youngest now old enough to drive, there isn't much use for a swingset. Over the years, it's gotten a bit loose in the joints. So we've gifted it to someone who will reconfigure it and give it new life. Saturday it was taken apart and hauled off. The Farmer made this with his brain and his hands. No plans, other than those sketched out on the back of an envelope. The kids had many hours of enjoyment on this so-much-more-than-just-a-swingset. Someone with small children will get good use from it. I will no longer worry about stray kids getting hurt during our shearing days and other events on the farm. We won't have to mow around it any more. Goodbye, old friend. Where has the time gone?

When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. --2 Chronicles 7:13-14

It's been a late, cold, wet spring. The grass has not grown as quickly as we might have wanted. But finally, last week, we felt like there was enough in certain parts of the pasture system that we could let the sheep out. First, we had to secure the fence . When that was done, it was time to let the sheep out. Stand back so you don't get run over! See this little guy looking down? It's almost like he doesn't quite know what to do with the grass... Eventually, they all figure it out. Letting them out on pasture saves money, as we're not feeding hay. It saves on work, as we don't have to throw hay (though we do have to keep working on fencing). And the sheep are oh so much happier outside. Let them eat grass!

I've been canning meat for all of my married life--mostly beef and pork. My mother taught me how. I love taking canned meat with us when we go on vacation--no need for refrigeration, as long as the jar is sealed. I love coming home on those days I've forgotten to plan, and being able to pop open a jar, knowing we can have something hot and nutritious in 30 minutes or so. I love the taste of home canned beef or pork, fried* in a cast iron skillet until it's on the edge of crispy. Nothing better. Granny Miller is a blog written by a down-to-earth libertarian who does great tutorial posts. She's just done a post on pressure canning meat that I would recommend. I notice she doesn't give instructions for how long to pressure can meat--trust me, it is a long process. Consult your pressure canner's instruction book for time and pressure settings specific to your canner. Oh, and if Granny's politics or rhetoric offend you, don't let me know about it. I'...

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Last week The Farmer and I spent an evening walking the perimeter of one of the pastures to see to the fences. A lot of grass and weeds had grown up around the bottom wire of the fence. Some of the insulators had come loose or broken. Here The Farmer is replacing an insulator. He'll hook the wire back into the new insulator after it's firmly attached to the steel t-post. The plastic insulators keep the t-posts from being an instant ground for the electric fence. One afternoon this week, we flipped the switch to turn the fence on, and tested to see the strength of the electricity flowing through the wires. You might be wondering if the fence hurts the sheep, and the answer is: Only if they touch it. They learn to stay away from it when it's working well. When it's not working well, we chase sheep. We set up some temporary fence (also electrified) leading out to the field that had corn in it last year. The pasture grass has been slow to grow this cold, wet spring. There i...

Help! I've fallen and I can't get up... Please pardon the bloggy silence while I try to right myself.