Polyphemus

Noah and I were hiking through the woods last fall when we came across a khaki colored cocoon like thing about the size of the end of my thumb. We picked it up and decided to take it home and see if it would hatch out. Well today was the day. We had put it in a cricket bucket with some leaves (we found it in the leaves) and put a tin foil lid on it. Melissa was the first one to see it hanging from the top. When they crawl out of their cocoon they have to hang upside down so the fluid will fill out their wings and they will be able to fly. We took the top off and set him out on the deck and by the time we checked after supper he was gone. He was a beautiful specimen and I'm sure he is off in search of a female as he will only live for a couple of weeks.

Turkey Hunt

God blessed me and Noah with being able to harvest a mature gobbler this morning. Good Friday sure is starting off good! I would just like to take a moment to thank my good friend Tommy Hite for introducing me to Turkey hunting. He put up with my terrible calling and rookie mistakes for years which now has allowed me to begin to pass on this great outdoor activity to my son. So thanks Tommy...this one's for you.

To Organic or not to Organic

We are researching what it would take to make our farm "Certified Organic." I met with a guy from the Soil and Water Conservation Office today who gave me some paperwork to look over and so that is where we are right now. I really don't think we are that far off from Organic but I know there would have to be some changes and I'm not sure I want the government deciding how I run my farm. I guess it will boil down to how much it will cost (over $500 just for the initial certification) and would it ever work out to be a "budget neutral" item on our small farm. Would we be better off just staying "all natural" and not going the extra mile to Organic city? We'll see!

Snow on the 2811!!!

In a rare appearance ......we have snow! Or as a friend of mine put it, "a precipitation accumulation sensation!" The kids, of course, had to get out and play in it but I was content to sit by the fire and eat home made oatmeal raisin cookies. It is now 7:00pm and it is still coming down pretty good. The low for tonight is 26 so maybe we'll have some more play time in the morning.

Blackberries

Here is the beginning of our thornless blackberry trellis. It is 30 feet long and a little over 7 feet tall. So far all we have are the main posts up, but I thought it would be good to document the building of it in stages. When you can't farm full time you have to do things in stages as time, funds, and the weather allow. I got these posts up this morning before the rain came (again). As you can see the chickens were looking on with their usual curiosity.

Winter

Winter is definitely here! The pond froze completely over this week which has not happened in years. The high for today is 34!

We have a pig now. I made a great trade for her. I traded our horse for her. I figured trading an animal that does nothing but eat for one that we can eat was the best horse trade (pun intended) I have ever made. She is now big enough to process, so she won't be with us much longer. She has an appointment on the 19th. I really wanted to butcher her myself but in all my research it just appeared that I didn't have the proper set up for the scalding part to get the hair off and I also found out that skinning a pig is very difficult as well. Combine this with the fact that she weighs about 300 pounds and I just decided that I am not going to be able to process this one. We may "finish" another pig next fall and maybe I will be ready by then. I am going to cure the bacon and hams myself...that part looks pretty easy.

Fall in the South

Fall in the South is a beautiful thing. The cooler temperatures are like a breath of fresh air and the trees get all dressed up for the big event before shutting down for Winter. The sunrise this morning was one of those Clemson sunrises with the purples and oranges. The kids have been begging for a fire in the fireplace but Mamma has put the quiesce on that so far. She wants it to be really cold before we get the fire going. Get outside during this beautiful time of the year. Jack frost will be here before you know it!