Weekend Escape

Hey all! I got myself invited to work in the test barn for the horse races at the State Fair this weekend. It will be a nice change of pace for me to hang out with the winning race horse instead of the one that came home 5th... I'll see you all on Monday......

Thinking about beans

Yes, I know I already posted this picture but my Mom and I were just talking about it and I realized what a truly great little snapshot it is(thanks Mom!). It's getting harder and harder to ignore the hard truth about the direction this country is headed. Our economy is in the tank, we're bleeding jobs by the hundreds of thousands, the middle class is all but sank to the new working poor. Folks are starting to accept the horrible truth that we are not in a recession but a full blown working depression and things are NOT getting better. Price increases over the past several months on all basic necessities have driven some people to pass on paying their mortgage and other bills to maintain their dietary habits. Food prices are not going down, drought, fire, floods all affecting the bottom line. Electricity rates keep going up and I even read a report just this morning that says the amount of people "paying" for television services is at the lowest level in history. Well, that's good, we all need to turn the dang thing off anyway, LOL.

There is nothing wrong with having a good supply of healthy food stored up in your pantry, cabinets, closet, someplace. Everyone should have a good food supply, it just makes sense. You just never know when you will find yourself out of work or be in some sort of other financial disaster. You have to eat so why not have a little insurance policy to make sure you keep on eating well?

Growing yourself a little food should not be an idea that makes you cringe, it's really not all that difficult. Look at that picture, there is probably just 30 bean plants piled in that truck bed. Beans are prolific plants, the bush varieties will produce a huge amount of beans, all at once and require just a small bit of attention. Beans like soil temperatures to be at least 70F, prefer a loose, moist soil and a pH slightly below neutral. The seeds like to be 1-2 inches deep, 5-7" apart and like to be watered regularly until sprouting which usually takes 8 to 10 days in full sun. Beans like to have some compost or well seasoned manure about half way thru the growing season. Mulching also benefits them as their roots are shallow and helps to retain moisture. Bush varieties grow well almost anywhere, including containers, raised beds and tire gardens. Vine type beans need some sort of support like a trellis or teepee that should be set up before starting the plants to eliminate disturbing the roots. The vine types have a longer production period but as just are good as the bush types, just more work.

Don't be afraid to grow yourself some food, if you don't believe me, just think about how much food gets grown on that tiny lot in California.......

Thoughts on 'dirty" food

You know, I was just thinking about chickens and eggs. Not a big leap since the huge egg recall is all over the news. 3 of the brand names on the recall list are popular brands sold almost at every grocery around here. Salmonella is a nasty bacteria. It can give you all sorts of nasty sickness. I actually know a little bit about this particular bacteria. When I first introduced chickens to this farm, all my horses suffered from a bout of Salmonella from eating the chicken droppings.

There is no fresher, healthier for you egg than the one just laid right here on the farm in a clean straw nest by a free ranging chicken. No chicken poop in the nest or stuck to the backside of the chicken to spread Salmonella, the egg shell is spotless so there is no reason to "dip" it in some dirty bucket of antibacterial solution 10,000 other eggs got dipped into first.

Our government via the FDA and the USDA is now calling for "stricter" food safety laws. Of course they are! Let's have stricter measures in place so no one but large corporations with tons of bribe money can produce food. Wake up folks, commercially produced food is poisoning us and the amount of antibiotics being pumped into those poor critters is making us immune to medications we'd need to cure what ails us from eating commercially produced food.

Hmmm, that food co-op is looking better and better, eh? Time to find a farmer and make friends. Or, better yet, produce that food for yourself!

late summer running

Here's the view I've been seeing about every day for the last week. I've been up and down this road at least 20 times going back and forth to the neighbors' place trying to help 2 of my neighbors out. As a result, I haven't gotten much done around my own farm. Ah, I shouldn't say that really, maybe just nothing majorly constructive got done. I still feed the critters every day, grind feed, pick up eggs and clean up after my house full of hogs etc.

We finally got a break in the heat, today is a beautiful day, medium humidity and at least 10 degrees cooler than it was yesterday. Rain must be coming, LOL.

The egg recall happening right now has turned out kind of good for me, for the first time this year I have sold every single egg I have and still have folks looking for some. For once a government agency has done well for me, LOL.

I've been reading the news paper quite a bit lately. Not having internet at home is kind of a drag. I have decided that reading the news paper is more for the distraction than it is for any real news. I find it very hard to find anything pertinent in the paper anymore. I think I'll just roll them into fire starters and forget about it, LOL.

The cow is still not here yet. I've changed my approach on it a little. Since the feller that keeps promising to get me the cow has not done it yet, I am working on getting directions to the farm and I'll just go get the darn thing myself. Getting the directions will probably take at least a week the way this boy is operating so it will give me time to come up with fuel money and a trailer to haul it with, LOL. Always something, isn't it? I am sooo ready to get milking!

Goat breeding season is in full swing and Johnny Boy is driving me crazy! He never shuts up and you can smell him from 50 yards away. Why do I keep a billy goat???

I'm thinking about starting another round of tire taters. I know it's almost September but the tires keep so much heat and I can always build a plastic tent over the tops. I think I'm going to try it......