This Is What We're Made For!

Jamie has had an overload of cuteness on her blog with her new baby birds. I thought I'd share yesterday's cuteness overload here at Little Creek Farm.

The lucky ducks had their first swimming excursion in their new "pond". Here are Black, White, Black Two and Buffy. I'm not giving them names until I know if they are boys or girls. Buffy has started quacking (a lot!), so I'm going to assume she's a girl. Ah, the bliss of being a duck.

I'm off in about an hour to pick up Dudley's girls, so be prepared for some caprine cuteness to follow.

Toil, Toil, Toil

I've spent the last several days planting, weeding and trying to get the goat pen ready for the girl's arrival on Saturday. Big Daddy is out of town, so that leaves lots of construction and perfecting to me. I've finally started staining the chicken coop - a lovely blue/grey. I've converted the new east wing into a feed room. The turkeys will just have to live with the chickens. Once I removed the chicken feed cans from the coop, there was plenty of room for all our avian charges. The little goat shed is full of nice straw bedding and I've cleaned out lots of little trees and overhanging branches around the pen, so they'll have more light.

I went to the feed store this morning and stocked up on goat chow, alfalfa hay and mineral salts. I need to find another source for my alfalfa because the feed store charges $9 a bale (it is close to 89 pounds, but still). Growing up in the midwest definitely spoiled me on my feed costs. I need to go buy some baking soda. I was hoping the feed store would have livestock grade, but no. Goats need baking soda to keep their rumens happy, so I'm off to the grocery store later.

My blog has been acting funny. I'm only able to see my last post with comments - odd. Let's hope it works itself out soon.

Keep those goat names coming!

Goats Ahoy!

I crossed the Eastern Continental Divide this morning and went to look at goats. I'll be bringing two of them home on Saturday morning. They are two sweet little girls and at least one seems to have a good milking potential. I was wrong in my first mention of them. Their daddy is a rather handsome cream colored Nigerian Dwarf named Dudley and their mommas are La Manchas.




The first looks a lot like her daddy, Dudley. She just didn't want to pose for the camera, but did enjoy a good ear rub and back scratch before she wandered off. Trust me she is quite adorable and reminds me of the goats I had in Africa. The picture doesn't do her light golden coat justice.



The second looks more like her mother, Cow Girl, but with ears (La Manchas have very short or almost non-existant ears; for those of you who didn't check the link above). She's all sleek and svelte. Her udders are very nice and I think based on her mother's and father's records will be a good milker. As you can tell, she likes to pose.

It was fun to visit the farm today. One of Monkey's classmate's mother manages the farm. We chatted and she showed me the milking operation and the new soon-to-open creamery. All the little babies were so cute (I swear baby goats are cuter than labrador puppies!). It gave me courage to try this new venture. All the does just come up and want to be petted and have their ears scratched. The bucks were all friendly now that breeding is done and recieved a fair amount of fawning over. They are smart enough to spot a sucker (that would be me...). Along with the goats, there were chickens and emus. The emus were interesting, but not something I want. The male was growling. I don't need any birds that can growl.

Both of these does are being sold because they will be too small to fit in the owner's new milking stanchions. And she is setting up her new creamery for Grade A status, which means everything is pretty uniform. But they should be good for us. We just have to find a nice small (preferably for the first breeding, Nigerian) buck to breed them to this fall, so they can have kids and freshen for next year. Then it's cheese for everyone!

Now here's the rub. They don't have names (They've both been known as Dudley's girls). I have to come up with names. If we leave it up to Monkey they'll both have princess names or be called Gigi. So that's where you come in. Send me your suggestions. We here at Little Creek Farm will choose the winners. Your prize will be the satisfaction of naming a cute little goat and a jar of Big Daddy's Now Famous Strawberry Jelly Jam! Entries will be taken until Sunday 8:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. Enter as often as you like.

Let the naming begin!

Damn the Luck

Or the lack of it. I have no luck with waterfowl. None at all. I was gone last evening for a couple of hours. The ducklings and goslings were in their new pen, where they had happily played all day. I came home and asked Big Daddy if he had put them up. No. When he went down to put them up, he could only find five. Seven ducks and four geese had vanished. We've found several bodies - not all, in the woods. B.D. swears our dogs were inside. It's a mystery. If it were one or two I would have thought a fox did it. If the little carcasses were laying around their yard, I would have blamed the dogs. It's like they were whisked away by something, all ELEVEN of them. I have no clue what. I'm once again left with this ache and this loss. Last night I was pretty much inconsolable. Today I'm remorseful, mournful and exhausted.

Still, there are five ducks left - two Pekins, two Cayugas and one Buff. And while they are a little skittish today, they seem no worse for the wear. I've left them inside. They are sharing digs with one little Wyandotte chick. I gave some eggs to a neighbor's son to hatch for his class project. One out of three hatched. Pikachu has come back to our house to live, only he's too young to go in with the other chickens yet and I really wanted my studio to be bird-free again. He's got a swank dog crate under a light with his food and water well out of reach of the piglets, er, I mean ducklings. We're down to five - let's hope four are girls and one is a boy. Keep those fingers crossed.

Back On Schedule

My mother left this morning. We are trying to get back to the daily ebb and flow of life up here on the mountain. So far, so good.

Monkey's birthday was yesterday. She is now four and had proclaimed that she is a big girl now and we should all treat her as such. Jeesh. Her birthday party was Saturday and she and seven little girlfriends (no boys allowed!) enjoyed a tea party and her new play set/fort/castle/pirate ship. They were all well behaved and finished off the morning with this...

That's strawberry cream cheese filling wedged between three layers of decadently rich chocolate cake coated in strawberry buttercream and topped with pink fondant cherry blossoms. Just thinking about it now makes my teeth ache and my arteries collapse, but it sure tasted fabulous, if I may say so myself. Hey, you are only four once, right?

In other news, we are trying to purchase a piece of land next to ours. It has gone into foreclosure and the bank says we have first dibs, but we have to wait a month (or more) while they finalize details and so many things can happen in a month and I tend to be a worrier, and I really want that land... you get the picture. So keep your fingers crossed for us, will you?

I have located two young Alpine/Nigerian dairy goat does. Big Daddy just finished the goat shed, so I may be getting them. They aren't freshened, but will be ready to breed in the fall - so we can have babies and milk next spring. They were sort of a mistake (wrong daddy) last year, but they are supposed to be very sweet and have a good milking lineage on both sides, so they may be just perfect for us.

How My Mother and I Chose to Spend Our Afternoon

Is there any other way to spend a lovely spring afternoon after the rain storms have passed and the weeding is done?

A Beautiful Spring Day and Everyone is Outside

"O.K. Which one of us wants to try to get past Maggie and have a go at the ducks???" "What's a duck?" "Taste like goose."









"O.K Which one of us want to try to get past Maggie and have a go at the dogs???" "What's a dog?" "I think we should send the geese."


*No animals were hurt in the process of making this post. All are fine and dandy.

Arrival Pending

My mother touches down at the Asheville Airport in approximately 45 minutes. I just noticed that there are short red dog hairs all over the black couch in the guest room. eek.

duck, duck, GOOSE!

I haven't really mentioned the new batch of ducklings and goslings. They are now three weeks old and are quite precocious. I was waiting for a formal portrait outside on the lovely spring grass, but the weather has not been cooperating. They are quite vocal, the whole lot of them. I've yet to name the ducks. The geese, however, quickly acquired names. The two Brown Chinese with their elegant long necks are Mulan (it's Monkey's doing - everything Disney...) and General Tso. The Toulouse are Lucinda and Marcel.

You really can't do anything near their brooder pen without the geese telling you how to do it correctly. And the ducks all move in blustery herd of peeping from one end of the pen to the other anytime I approach.

So I give you the first glimpse of the water fowl. That would be General Tso demanding more baby spinach in his diet.

Talking Turkey

Our turkey poults are interesting creatures. They are more tender in constitution than the chickens. We've lost two to unknown reasons. I found one of the bronze poults laying on her side yesterday morning when I went to open the hen house door. She was still alive, but barely. The poor little thing died in my arms.

I think the turkeys suspect that they most of them may not make it past late fall. Each one vies for my attention and tries to get on my good side. One little white one has taken to flying into my arms every time I enter the run. I like to take a 5 gallon bucket into the run and sit on it among the young chicks. That way they can get used to me. They particularly like it when I bring treats. Watermelon is one of their favorites. This same turkey and one other like to come and sit on my lap. Then they take on the persona of a house cat and nuzzle and want to be petted. I will have to put an end to this soon. One reason is that a grown turkey flying up into my arms will probably not be so cute. The other reason would be that I really can't be petting my dinner, now can I?

No Idle Hands Here

The mountains are finally green. Well, the lower elevations are green at least. It seemed to happen overnight. It's amazing what a week of wet weather will do. We've had some cooler weather and I've been cautious about putting things out in the garden. Yesterday I did plant some filet beans and wax beans. The corn went in on Sunday and the potatoes are coming up. I think I'll wait until near Mother's Day to plant the tomatoes and cucumber seeds. That seemed to work quite well last year. Black-eyed peas may go into the ground this weekend, if all goes well.

Yesterday was the start of the Eat Local Challenge. I had a school board meeting (how I got talked into being on Monkey's school's board I don't know...). So dinner was sort of a free for all. I had leftover Bath County Steak on top of fresh greens from the garden. I think Monkey ate South Carolina Strawberries and something involving cheese. Big Daddy skipped dinner all together as he was busy making his contribution to the local food chain...

Behold! South Carolina Strawberry Jam. 24 half pints of yumminess. Monkey started off her day this morning with a healthy spread of "Big Daddy's Strawberry Jelly Jam" on a homemade biscuit. She then demanded two jars to take to her teacher and teacher's aide. I complied with her wishes as we should share the wealth when we can.

My big challenge today will be to come up with dinner. I have a meeting tonight. Normally on Tuesdays Big Daddy and Monkey eat out. B.D. generally takes her to a locally owned restaurant, so I may just leave it at that tonight. For me, there's always fresh lettuce and morrells when I get home...

No Rest For The Weary

The rain finally let up yesterday afternoon. Today I prepped the tomato rows, although it will be a few more weeks before I can put them in the ground. I'm planning on Mother's Day. We've been pulling radishes out of the ground and I harvested a bowl of baby lettuce and spinach today. The rather warm weather is pushing up the asparagus before I was prepared to eat it, but I'm not complaining. If this rather warm weather continues, it will be time to plant beans, corn and squash soon.

A Little Barnyard Tragedy

There is a dark cloud over the henhouse tonight. Although they could be celebrating for all we know - who really understands the avian brain? We were all down by the henhouse this afternoon - Big Daddy was working on the Turkey Extension, I was cleaning the coop, and Monkey was picking flowers. All was sweet and country heaven-like. The chicks were outside enjoying the sunshine. The grownup birds were free-ranging. Biscuit was laying on the sprouting carrots, Chelsea was soaking up sun in the middle of the yard, Gigi was whining because I was in the henhouse and she couldn't see me...

Mooney the Rooster made a fatal mistake. He attacked the Monkey. We're not talking a slight peck. He flew at her, scratched her arm, her neck, her nose and cut her lip. There was terrified screaming. It was not a sound I (or probably any mother) want to hear. Ever.

When Big Daddy rushed to get him off of her, he flew at B.D. I took Monkey to comfort her and told B.D. to catch the rooster and I would end it right then and there. (Big Daddy can be a little sqeamish about the whole killing thing... Well, B.D. threw his hammer and hit the foul bird in the head. It was the end of Mooney. Rest In Peace. (I have to add that while Mooney frequently was aggressive to others, he hadn't attacked Monkey before and never attacked me.) Like I said, who understands the avian mind? I don't know why Mooney would attack and continue to attack one small little girl picking flowers. I felt some remorse, but nobody messes with my Monkey. Nobody.

We weren't feeling that practical nor farmerly (I know it's not a word, but I'm using it anyway). No one wanted to stop what they were doing to clean and process the dead wacko rooster, so B.D. took him into the woods to bury him. That's when he discovered these...














Morrel mushrooms. Springtime Woodland's heavenly treat. I'm so excited. I'm just upset that for two years, they've been there and we didn't know it. Lost a rooster, gained some mushrooms. I'll call it a fair trade. And I'll be spending a lot of time in the woods for the next several days.

Drip, Drip, Drop Little April Showers...

The thunder woke me at 5:00 this morning. We had a nice long rain, which was much needed. I've been hand-watering the garden everyday. I hate watering, although it does give me time to stand and ponder what to stick in the ground next. This week I've transplanted lettuce, planted potatoes, english peas, snow peas, carrots and shallots. I spent a lot of time lining the aisles with layers of newspaper (which I've been hoarding all winter) and then adding a layer of mulch. The corn area is primed and waiting, as is the first row for green beans and Jacob's Cattle beans. My next chore is prepping the tomato beds. I don't yet trust the weather with those little babies. They are hanging out in the garage under lights and have all been transplanted into larger pots (styrofoam cups!)

EAT LOCAL CHALLENGE

The Eat Local Challenge is in May. Jamie got me hooked last year. May is a little early in the mountains to find all our usual favorites, but we are game to try. Big Daddy and I decided we would aim for one meal a day to be totally local and try to search out other local fare as our schedules allow. This will be a wonderful challenge to find things in their season to munch on. Luckily, the farmers' and tailgate markets are all starting up and we will be able to locate lots of goodies. We are lucky that Asheville and the surrounding areas have some wonderful growers. Last year the Challenge really encouraged me to locate food grown in my area. It also inspired me to grow even more varied produce, can and store more of my own food. I've met some fascinating people that I probably wouldn't have had the chance to meet, had I not been looking for local farmers and food artisans.

We will mainly be focusing on Western North Carolina, but will get some things from the rest of the state and South Carolina. We are also including Bath County, Virginia. Big Daddy is working on a rather large project up there and has been spending at least half of the week up there. He's located some really good sources for locally grown foods and for us it's semi-local. I was thinking awfully hard about coffee. I am addicted to caffeine and need that morning cup. Big Daddy saved the day. He's also working on a project in Cherokee, NC with the Eastern Band of the Cherokee and he came across Tribal Grounds Coffee. There's another reason to love the man...

The sun has come out and I must get back into the garden for awhile. I just finished baking a lovely blueberry/blackberry cobbler made with the last of last summer's berries and two loaves of Oatmeal Porter Bread to take to dinner with the Bishop tonight. "Dinner with the Bishop" sounds so hoity toity, but it's not...trust me. Oh and I have to go keep Monkey under control as it is spring break and she's itching to get into trouble...

At Last!

Here it is - ta da! The first spear of the year. There are three more. Should I be patient and wait for Big Daddy to come home on Friday to share, or should I keep this our little secret and gobble them up myself? Decisions, decisions....







And on another note. I picked up these two girls yesterday. They are Partridge Cochins. They are nine weeks old. By the time they mature they will weigh close to 10 pounds. Now that's a big chicken! Look at the feathers on their feet. Odd. But they are rather sweet and quiet. They don't seem as haughty as the Uppity Chickens. Today they had a brief visit (in the photo they are in a dog ex-pen) with the Uppity Chickens. The Uppity Chickens were not so pleased. Mean old biddies...

Monkey named them Belle and Chicken. Belle is the one on the left in case you were wondering.

Blooming

Tulips and one naughty duck-eating dog.

What's That Smell?

I found ramps at the Asheville Farmer's Market this morning. I was only going to buy one bunch to experiment with. However, we asked the vendor if you could plant these and she said, "yes." She said that's what she does with the ones that don't sell. She even told us what sort of location they thrive in and how to plant them. I bought 3 bunches! So one bunch will be cleaned and cooked tomorrow and the other two will go in my top secret woodland patch along with the ginseng and goldenseal. Sshhh... it's very top secret...

For those of you unfamiliar with ramps(and it is easy to be unfamiliar with this member of the lily family), it is a relative of onions and garlic and is native only to Southern Appalachia. It has been a local favorite for longer than those of us of European descent have been around. It is only available for a short time each spring because after it blooms the leaves die back down and there's nothing again until the following spring. Lately its fame has spread far from its native soil, which has lead to overharvesting in some areas. Some people, like the woman at the Farmer's Market, have started to cultivate it and protect it. It is rather strong in odor, tastes great fried, in grits (this is the south!), sauteed with potatoes, and if you are really brave - raw. However, I think it is at its most noble stuffed into a freshly caught brook trout and cooked over coals. Trout season opened last weekend and I am slightly bummed that we missed the trout and ramp festival down in Cherokee. I'm going to have to find some trout. I'm sure Big Daddy won't mind if I send him fishing...

If you are lucky enough to find ramps, go easy - If you eat too many of them, your skin will smell of them for days. The smell in the kitchen was so great, I had to move them to the back porch. The only other delicacy I've had to do that with is Morbier cheese.

Burning and Blooming

Yesterday evening we were on alert as there was a forest fire in our valley. They finally stopped it last night about a quarter mile from our house. "Let's see, it's dry and it's very windy - what shall we do? Oh, I know! Let's burn some brush." Not to mention that there is a fire ban in the county... A total of 10 acres burned. Did you catch the quarter mile from my house???

Today the inbred, erh, irritating individuals down the hill (you'll remember them, I've mentioned them frequently - Confederate flags, pit bulls, Trans Am on blocks, old washers tossed into the woods...) decided that it was perfect weather to burn trash - tires, mattresses, t.v.s... I'm really not making this up. I decided it was my civic duty (and the fact that fire tends to move uphill is a little frightening!) to call the fire department. They sent someone out right away and the bonfire of the vanities was extinguished.

In between the flames and smoke Spring is happening here. And now a few shots of spring for your viewing pleasure.




A Promise Of Apples












Bloodroot











Sassafrass!

Gigi Recommends

Will you throw the ball already???

Positive dog training involves plenty of rewards. Training Gigi in a positive way takes lots of rewards. I do mean lots of rewards. Luckily for me, Gigi is fascinated with her ball on a rope. However, I can't always toss a ball. Since it seems I'm spending most of my budget on waterfowl, I decided to come up with some tasty treats for the dogs that wouldn't empty my pocketbook. These have passed the Gigi Taste Test and she even prefers them over other treats. Biscuit likes them as well. She says they taste "better than duck". (Did I just actually write that???)

Little Creek Tasty Treats

2 cups whole wheat flour
1/3 cup wheat germ
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup apple sauce
1/2 grated parmesan cheese
2 eggs
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 cup non-fat powdered milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl; mix well. Roll the dough out to about 1/4 inch thickness. Place on lightly greased cookie sheet. Using a sharp knife or pizza cutter (my choice), cut into desired sizes (for training purposes, smaller is better). Bake for 15 minutes until just golden brown. Turn off oven. If you want crispy treats allow cookie sheet to remain in oven as it cools for an hour or so. I prefer softer treats that I can break apart, so I leave the sheet in the oven for another 10-15 minutes. Break them apart and you're ready to treat the dog. I keep them in the freezer and thaw them before training sessions, as I've found they don't have a real long shelf-life.

Gobble Gobble Hey!

The turkeys have decided to make their first appearance to the world today. I hope this in no way places a jinx on them. The demise of their web-footed comrades seems to have had little to no effect on their tender young psyches. Baby turkeys are inquisitive critters. They greet me every morning. The little toms are already (!) puffing themselves up and strutting around the brooder cage.

I ordered more ducks and geese yesterday. This time I picked breeds (and spent more money). For the ducks - Buff Orpingtons, Cayugas and White Pekins; for the geese - one pair of Toulouse and one pair of Brown Chinese. They arrive the week after Easter. I will be training the geese in the art of dog intimidation.

Garden Update:

I planted two grapes yesterday - a Niagra and a Concord. There are now a hundred some onions (red and white) in the ground, as well as cabbage and broccoli. On Friday I planted some Black Seeded Simpson lettuce. I planned on planting more today, but we had a giant thunderstorm last night and the ground is a little too wet to play in today. Maybe tomorrow.

Devastated

Heart broken. Utterly, completely, incapacitatingly heart broken. Yesterday morning, under the inattentive watch of Big Daddy, Biscuit (who is now dead to me for at least a week) got into the ducklings' pen and slaughtered everyone in a matter of seconds. Eight ducklings and two goslings gone in the blink of an eye. I couldn't even write about it yesterday and now really can't say much. I haven't even been able to pet or look at the dog. She has always been trustworthy, but I think the fuzzy vulnerability of those little birds was too much for her terrier heart. She is on my shit list and she knows it. Big Daddy is as well. He knows it. He even tried to find me replacements locally yesterday...

I can't let this tragedy set me back and will be ordering more. The next batch will have a pen with full out defenses against marauding little mongrels.

Last night was Chickapalooza One. The party was a huge success and we had a moment of silence for our web-footed friends. Our friend, Father Brian blessed the birds and threw in something about them all being good laying hens. I was a little sad through it all. Over half of the chicks went to their new homes and it's much quieter in my studio. I need my ducks back...