Around The Farm In December

Much of my focus is on hay these days, and it's fair to say that ALL of the herd's attention is on hay. How fresh it is (or is not), how much ice coats the bales, how much is left, when we will run out, is every animal getting what they need - plus storing it, moving it, unwrapping it - it's an all consuming subject these days (pun intended):

The sheep farmers up the road have been hauling the hay stems which their sheep ignored out to their field and dumping it, so this time they brought me a load to see if my animals would eat it:

The cows and Blue were afraid of the big, noisy truck and unknown people, but Remy got right in the way of everything:

The hay stuck in the bed and we had to move it with a pitch fork, but it turned out to be a considerable quantity. The next morning I went out to fork it into the bale feeder, only to discover it had mostly been consumed during the night. I guess my animals liked it:

I go out to do the chores when it is light out, but the sun is not yet risen over the horizon. The skies are beautiful and the sun is up by the time I'm finished:

The little hens seem happy and healthy:

They don't have much room, but they do have roosts and nest boxes - plus two screened windows which I open on mild days:

One of the elderly pigeons died yesterday, one of only three which have died since I began my flock years ago. I'd say they are long lived, healthy birds:

They eat the same layer pellets as the chickens. Now, if I could just keep the English Sparrows from getting in and eating it too:

I worry that the English Sparrows will spread diseases and parasites to my fantail pigeons, but so far they are looking healthy - and I am working hard to block the sparrows' entrances and to chase them out when I find the inside:

One day was devoted to spreading liquid manure on the corn field across the road from me. A giant tanker brought a big load and transferred it to two smaller tank trailers, pulled by tractors. It took many loads and all day to finish. You can see the darker colored swath which the first tanker load spread. Curiously, it didn't stink - probably because it was so cold:

Each new snow reveals fox tracks, so I know they come visit every night and circle my car, climb the stairs up to my porch, enter the barn and check out the hay bales. I think they are after the Cottontail Rabbits, whose tracks I also see each morning:

Around The Farm, The All Botanical Version

The fence line is a jumble of wild plants and, in some places, quite beautiful. At this spot, the Wild Cucumber vines were in full bloom and Goldenrod added color to the jumble of wildflowers. The gravel road and north field were in the background:

A few of the Tall Garden Phlox, which I thought had all died, have sprung up and bloomed after all:

The wild Day Lilies bloomed:

And so did the new red Hydrangea:

The Mandarin Honeysuckle I planted last year died, so I planted another one this spring. It has taken off and is growing happily, the secret being to keep it well watered:

Though apples aren't abundant this year, there are still more than I know what to do with. I occasionally pick up a windfall and bite into it:

But I have learned never to do so after first eating the super-sweet plums. The apples are not sweet enough to follow the plums:

The Tree Hydrangea is putting on quite a show this year:

And so it the brand new Morden Sunrise rose bush:

The pink Rose Mallows began to bloom in late summer and were just getting started when I took this picture. You can see the abundance of buds:

The pink variety blooms earlier and has bigger flowers than the red variety:

I have a problem with English Sparrows in my hay loft. They are breeding in there and causing quite a disturbance. They were also gobbling up all the Elderberries, so I quickly snapped a photo before there were none left at all:

F-F-F-F-F-F-F-Frozen F-F-F-F-F-Farm

As I wrote yesterday, our winter has been rugged thus far, both frigid and snowy. The animals seem to handle it well, or at least better than I do:

I snapped this picture through my window one brutally cold day, showing the view outside and across the county road. I didn't want to go out there:

Doing the morning chores, I saw these fox tracks leading from the barn. I've also seen fox tracks inside the barn. I'm not happy about that but haven't been able to stop it. I've tried live traps but they are not fooled by them:

The fantail pigeons are well and protected from the worst of winter:

The same is true for the bantam hens, though their room is smaller and is building up a lot of poop:

One of these two brown Easter Egger bantams is laying a pinkish egg every few days, just right for my needs:


But one day our temperatures dropped to nearly -20 and we received 2 to 3 feet of snow:

I'd intended to stop feeding the birds, but they were obviously so hungry that I relented. The small birds cluster in the nearby Lilac bush and wait for a moment when the bully birds, Cowbirds and Bluejays, are not at the feeders. In this picture are a Chickadee (top right), a Chipping Sparrow (bottom right) and an unknown bird (left), most likely a House Sparrow. I finally got a pair of Cardinals, but they are afraid of the Bluejays so I don't see them often:


The apple grove during the blizzard:

About 30" of snow atop the trash bins:

My car, with snow piled to within about 8" of the door handles. Our last few winters have been relatively mild and I came to expect that. This winter has been a trial, and I often wonder why I'm not sipping a mint julep in Florida somewhere like so many retired people:

Tis The Season For Snow

We've been snow covered much of the time for many weeks now, though it is all melted this morning.. These Canada and Snow Geese were in a corn field just north of my house. The dark colored birds are Canada Geese, the white ones are adult Snow Geese and the gray ones are immature Snow Geese. There is also a blue color phase in Snow Geese, but they have white heads, which is why I identified these gray birds as immature Snow Geese:

 When snow is covering everything, the farm is as pretty as a Christmas card:

 English Sparrows mobbed my porch one morning, leaving tiny footprints everywhere. Alas, they also left lots of tiny poops, which appeared when the snow melted. Both Daphne and Clover think they are dog treats:

 More troublesome are the fox footprints I continue to find using my tire tracks in the driveway as a highway to the barn. I will continue to keep the chickens locked indoors:

 Big Blue Jays also use my tire tracks while they raid the sunflower seed feeder:

 Inside the barn, the white fantail pigeons seem content and healthy:

 The nest on the floor is doing well with its two babies:

 The nest up on a shelf was doing well:

 Until I found one baby dead. Now there is only one, but it is growing at an astounding rate:

 One warm day melted our snow, but the very next morning it began again:

 I walked out into the field to give grain to Jasmine, and I was fascinated to see the pasture grasses and weeds covered with snow, creating a simple beauty:

 The dark patches beneath the snow covered pasture foliage were water. It made the white grass stand out even more: