Stone Baerm Adventures

Cam Haslehurst wrote:Today was nice and busy. It started with chores as usual, then I got the scythe out and cleared a bunch of stinging nettle out of the horse paddock. I think I might take some of the fallen nettle and give it to the horses and goats tomorrow for a nutritious snack.

After that I watched a farrier work on Snoopy and Midnight, two dwarf horses. It is a neat trade and it sounds like there is a shortage of good workers so any of you who like horses, this could be an option for you!

Following that I helped build a bit of road. We took the excess sand that I dug out from my hugel beds, and moved it over to another spot and put it all there. There are no little tractors around here, so it was a serious workout. I took a break afterwards, then headed back out to watch the fire that was started to fry up some burgers. We got the fire burning nice and hot, then moved the coals into a mini barbecue to cook the burgers. So tonight we're having a nice dinner of burgers, followed by some cake (I turned 23 yesterday, I know I am getting up there).

Finally I did a bit more scything. Now I am pooped for the rest of the day I think.  

Oh and this morning I officially milked over a quart of milk, and got the badge bit! I also finished up a mallet for one of the roundwood badges. So overall this was a busy day and I am tired, but it is a very satisfying kind of tired.

Cam Haslehurst wrote:Another busy day today. My big project was dismantling an old trellis that was starting to fall apart. We're going to put another one up in its place, but a little less 'busy' I think. I took photos and made a gif but the angle isn't the greatest. Oh well. The structure was screwed together and tied together with wire. So lots of unscrewing and (careful) untwisting of rusty wire. I didn't burn but I definitely got some sun out there.

Following that we started to get the fence up! We took the panels from the inside of the pillars, then attached them to the outside. See the second photo to see what I mean. We're getting there, and we're getting closer to the goats being allowed to roam free once again

On the subject of goats still being fenced in, I gave them a treat tonight. I brought them some of the stinging nettle I scythed yesterday, along with some fresh stuff I cut today. Needless to say they enjoyed it. I felt like that cool cafeteria supervisor who would help pay for a student's lunch if the student forgot their lunch money. You know, the one everyone liked. I think the goats are going to like me more now - I'll be the guy who brings nettle. At least until they're out roaming free, then I'll go back to just being the new guy.

I also brought some to the three horses and they all munched on it too. I don't know if they're just seriously tough or what but I sure as hell am not going to start snacking on some raw stinging nettle.

Cam Haslehurst wrote:Today was seriously toasty. We got up to 29C (84F for the americans reading). That paired with some high humidity made everyone sluggish. For you folks further south this probably sounds like nothing, but after 6 months of chilly stuff it takes some getting used to. I still got stuff done, just at half my usual pace. I gathered up all the wood from the old trellis first. I peeled the fiberglass off some pieces, because they were originally blank rejects from a nearby hockey stick manufacturer (very canadian form of reusing). Once it was off I broke everything into smaller pieces, then tied the pieces into little bundles for the rocketstove in the outdoor kitchen.

Following that I helped build some more box frames to go around the last post. We are getting very close to the goats running free! I brought them some nore snacks today, to cheer them up in this heat. I gave them more nettle, some motherwort, some grass, and some other grassy flowers. It was fun to watch them eat. The more experienced older ones ran straight over to me and munched away, but the little ones hesitated more. It was good to see how cautious they were. They'd watch their mom eat it right up, then they'd start slowly nibbling away.

Oh and almost forgot. We did some chicken processing this morning. The other guy living here has a good set up with a local small food mart. He collects the scraps that would other wise be tossed, and they get put to use here on the farm. There was a lot of chicken he picked up recently that was past due. So he boiled it on the fire box yesterday, and we all picked the meat from the bones this morning. The meat will be food for Remi, the great pyrenees who lives here. The bones were boiled again, and will be crushed then put into the garden. Now I really gotta get going on the bone crusher tool.

Oooh I like the look of the green smoke for the mosquitoes!

Lorianne Haslehurst wrote:
Hey I'm curious about the goat milk. Do you guys drink it as well as having it in yogourt?

Lorianne Haslehurst wrote:
Oooh I like the look of the green smoke for the mosquitoes!

Lorianne Haslehurst wrote:
I'll have to look into this stinging nettle. It sounds kind of nasty.  I have no idea what it is right now but your animals sure seem to like it!

Cam Haslehurst wrote:Today was a big day! The fence is offically done - and that means the goats were released! They were actually very relaxed and leisurely when they walked out of the barn. It was neat to see them all out roaming. The babies got to work smacking their heads together. For Daisy's two daughters it was their first time outdoors as they were born in December of last year. At first they ate like everyone else, but then they started to run around, clearly just having a blast. Jumping over logs, bumping into other goats trying to eat, and smacking heads.

Now that they're out I want to see if I can get a picture of the babies about to butt heads in midair. I've got my DSLR here so I can mess with shutter speeds and all the rest and have fun. I've got very willing subjects, especially since I made all the deliveries while they were still in the barn. They actually approach when they see me coming now, which will make it a whole lot easier to get good photos.

I am also just about done my hugel beds! I put a good layer of the fully composted barn mix on both beds, then I went to down on the nettle and grass to put together a mulch layer. For the first time I actually cut myself with the sickle. Just doing the grab and slice and movement I've been doing for a bit now, but got my pinky. It's a minor cut because I had gloves on, but it's still a reminder to be careful. If I wasn't wearing the gloves I think it would have been worse, as I just sharpened the sickle today. That aside, Hugh and Gill are (just about) ready for planting! Just a couple more handfuls of mulch and I can put some squash seeds in there. So two big projects done today. This will open things up for some new projects to get going.

Oh, and I made a post about how kids these days are not willing to work anymore - that discussion is here.

Cam Haslehurst wrote:

Lorianne Haslehurst wrote:
Hey I'm curious about the goat milk. Do you guys drink it as well as having it in yogourt?

Yes you can drink it as milk but I actually don't too much. It's not that I don't like it, I just tend to eat yogurt when I'm hungry and have cold water for a drink. She makes all soft cheese, hard cheese, yogurt, and cream is skimmed off the top of the milk too. Lots of goat dairy around here.

Lorianne Haslehurst wrote:
Oooh I like the look of the green smoke for the mosquitoes!

It works pretty darn well, as long as you've got at least a slight breeze. I know why the bugs don't like it though - it is unpleasant. Most smoke is, but I accidentally took a whole lung's worth of it when I was blowing on the coals and it was nasty. Don't breathe in green smoke if you can avoid it.

Lorianne Haslehurst wrote:
I'll have to look into this stinging nettle. It sounds kind of nasty.  I have no idea what it is right now but your animals sure seem to like it!

I've rubbed my wrists on it a couple times by accident now and it's not pleasant. It's not excruciating by any means, but it's a stinging sensation that sits with you for a little while. I got little white spots where I rubbed it and they stayed there a couple hours. I'm still mysitified as to whether the goats and horses are just badasses or if they have something in their saliva that neutralizes the sting.

I know next to nothing about it but I've heard it has good medicinal properties when made into teas and whatnot, so that's something to look into.

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It was cooler today! 18C (64F) was the high today and boy was it refreshing. I only worked up a sweat once, when I was scything out in the sun.

We got the potatoes in today. The process was fairly simple, and it sounds like it's very low maintenance from here on out. We got a bag of seed potatoes from last year, then brought them to the mulched area. We started in the middle and worked our way out at first, but then transitioned to kind of doing row planting. Someone who likes order and organization might have had a fit, but we got them in! For each potato we dug into the hay down to the more composted stuff. Then we put a handful of well-composted barn mix, then potatoes, then more mix, then the hay lightly covered everything. Last year they didn't water the potatoes once, and they still got a great yield.

Yesterday after my midday post I went for a long bike ride around the area, and this place is just beautiful. There's a road that goes right alongside the lake, and with the blue sky blotted with fluffy white clouds it was a sight to see.

Later today I did some more work on the hugel beds. I put a layer of goat manure/hay mix, then scythed a bigger plot and dropped the cuts in as well. I still had extra afterwards so the goats got a bonus snack.

Lorianne Haslehurst wrote:
Hey Cam!  That is so exciting that your hugel beds are almost done.  I've made another sheet mulch in the front yard.  You probably remember how dry it is up there.  So far I've put about 3 hours into it and I'm using leaves from the neighbours yards.  They have been very happy to hand over their big paper bags of leaves to me so I can run them over with the lawn mower and then put them in the mulch.  The paper bags will be able to be reused as well to make more sheet mulches.  Dad and Jamie think I'm a bit nuts but I'm having a ball.  Getting my exercise after school building healthy soil in the front yard.  I'm not sure what we will grow there but my vision is to have all kinds of plants up there (maybe transplant some trees from the backyard, perennial flowers, ferns, and Dad wants to add more berries too.)

Lorianne Haslehurst wrote:
The potatoes sound interesting Cam.  Auntie Lisa said she loves to grow them.  It has been getting crazy cold up here so I've not put any veggies in the garden yet.  Maybe this weekend.  I'm still not sure what we're putting in there.  I'll let you know!