tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53491447497949734492011-07-08T02:46:21.951-07:00A farmgirl journals her trials and tribulations of life on a hobby farm.Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06027862831421242012noreply@blogger.comBlogger211100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5349144749794973449.post-77599040410414772732011-05-25T13:01:00.000-07:002011-05-25T13:01:25.805-07:00

Calamity Farm is awash in colour.  Awash I tell ya.  Most of the blossoms are in shades of pink and purple but there are a few splashes of yellow and peach.  There are plants blooming now that haven't done a thing in 6 yrs.  It is amazing. In other news...Hubby tilled most of the garden on Sunday and we promptly covered the tilled dirt with plastic.  Good thing too as it has poured rain ever

Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06027862831421242012noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5349144749794973449.post-90799870541497300262011-04-21T06:27:00.000-07:002011-04-21T07:20:33.348-07:00

So....its been nearly a month since I journaled anything remotely farm related.  Have I been busy with mounds of farmishness you ask?  I have not.  I have been wallowing in my own depression over the sky swallowing up the sun. I am trying not to be dramatic over the loss of the sun but its not working.  It has been months...well only one day but who's counting, since we had sunshine.   I have

Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06027862831421242012noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5349144749794973449.post-61568080192991427102011-03-22T16:34:00.001-07:002011-03-22T16:41:21.134-07:00

They came. They came! The rest of the seed order that is. I am beside myself with excitement. Must get busy and get them planted. The asparagus starts also made it in so my neighbor farm chick and I trucked ourselves to town to pick up our treasured little sprouts. She has hers in the ground, while mine are languishing in the cozy brown paper bag.  Can't you hear them chanting "Plant us. Plant us

Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06027862831421242012noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5349144749794973449.post-55189539832459240142011-03-14T08:02:00.001-07:002011-04-20T21:59:34.186-07:00

Yesterday we had the most amazing, unpredicted, storm.  The wind whipped. The rain fell...in bucket loads. The thunder rolled (Garth Brooks anyone?). The lightening crashed.  The branches fell.  And I huddled on the couch wondering what I would do if one of those branches drove itself right through the giant paned windows of the living or dining room.  I obsessed about it. I was home alone what

Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06027862831421242012noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5349144749794973449.post-13106006731374567992011-03-12T11:17:00.000-08:002011-03-12T11:17:22.443-08:00

They came! The seeds that is. Well part of them anyway. No explanation as to why only part of them came.  The remaining seeds should arrive by Sunday we are told.  In other words they better  be in the post today or I will cry.  I can't wait to get my seeds started.  The only seeds I received that can be started right away were a few of the tomatoes.  I will get those started later today,

Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06027862831421242012noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5349144749794973449.post-73591479471603701492011-03-09T13:10:00.000-08:002011-03-09T13:10:28.957-08:00

My seeds are ordered. Some of my planting beds are prepared and ready to plant.  Things seem to be coming together. Somewhat. The greenhouse is in serious dissary. It has become the winter dumping ground for all those things that no one knows where to stash.  At present it is also home to 12 Ameracauna chicks, a few dying pepper plants from last year and some pea sprouts that have been sorely

Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06027862831421242012noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5349144749794973449.post-68746718081943440632009-09-28T09:55:00.000-07:002009-09-28T09:55:53.245-07:00

I have to say I was shocked to see how long it has been since I posted here.  It was my intent to keep a detailed journal of my farm life here for referencing purposes.  Ah well, "the best laid plans..." I have been canning.  NON-stop.  This brings me an amazing sense of joy and stress.  I have never canned on my own before.  I have read and re-read books and checked web sites till I thought

Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06027862831421242012noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5349144749794973449.post-11061352398348209022009-04-14T21:20:00.000-07:002009-04-14T21:51:39.424-07:00

Things are really starting to green up around the farm. Every day some new leaf or bud catches my attention. The pea's so tenderly planted, have begun to unfurl. The rhubarb, nursed through 2 transplants, has decided to grace the farm with it's wonderful sour fruit. Even the children have grown a couple of inches already this spring.Today we had the strangest weather. A front that brought

Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06027862831421242012noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5349144749794973449.post-17220366759733514842009-03-16T07:53:00.000-07:002009-03-16T08:03:40.751-07:00

Toward the end of last week and part of the weekend, we had the most amazing weather; crisp Spring air, bright cloudless blue skies. With the promise of sunny days we set to work about the farm. For the past two weeks though, we have all been nursing this flu/cold bug. Needless to say, we slowly worked about the farm. We took naps in between planting and trimming. We sat in the sun sipping

Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06027862831421242012noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5349144749794973449.post-78598669752449722009-03-12T14:03:00.000-07:002009-03-12T14:09:21.849-07:00

No, seriously. What is that big orange thing sliding slowly across the sky? It's a bird! It's a plane!NO! It's SUNSHINE!Whodathunk?Last year at this time we were having 80 degree weather. My kids were playing in the sprinkler for crying out loud! Then, the first of April came in like a lion, freezing the apple blossoms and dumping snow on the day lilies.We are predicted to have a sunny few

Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06027862831421242012noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5349144749794973449.post-41829744908788035542009-03-09T09:34:00.000-07:002009-03-09T09:48:36.968-07:00

For the last few weeks it has been raining sideways, day and night. And then out of the blue, it started snowing. It has been snowing/raining for the last few days. It has been bitter cold but the ground isn't cold enough for the snow to stick.Every one has been sick and I never got around to sowing my pea's or green's, now I'm glad I didn't. They all would have froze. With the weather all

Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06027862831421242012noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5349144749794973449.post-3138304870747742552009-02-19T08:07:00.000-08:002009-02-19T08:22:22.243-08:00

Man! It's time to plant pea's already! The weather has been amazing, my attitude has been chipper and determined, yet I have not been motivated to get off my tookus and ready the garden beds for the blasted pea's.Every time I say "pea's" I hear a sing-song child's voice twittering to the tune "Pea's porridge hot....pea's porridge cold".In the garden things are starting to green up quite nicely.

Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06027862831421242012noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5349144749794973449.post-81239685574330856702009-02-12T20:09:00.000-08:002009-02-12T20:23:07.049-08:00

Well to start the weather has been pretty amazing. We have had mostly sunny, 5o degree days now for over a month. It did turn a bit colder earlier this week and we actually has snow all day on Tuesday but none of it stuck.We have had no animal deaths for awhile now, knock wood. Feed prices are dropping a bit since gas has gone down. We got a new Golden Retriever pup. We are calling her Janey

Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06027862831421242012noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5349144749794973449.post-80820452702830446712009-01-29T11:22:00.000-08:002009-01-29T11:43:16.585-08:00

I really hate that this blog has become an obituary for my farm."Charo was a good bunny. Not timid in the least, she was prone to clawing the crap out of the hand that fed her....died in the night...unknown causes....""Shelly Mamma was a sweet chicken. She always came when called, she used her nest for laying and did not deserve to be eaten by a 'coon..."Since I last made an entry we have lost 3

Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06027862831421242012noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5349144749794973449.post-24898395874188469652008-12-13T17:20:00.000-08:002009-01-06T20:28:44.040-08:00

We did our first butchering on Thursday after Rick got home from work. It was dark, cold and neither he nor I had a clue what we were doing. Really. We had read some tutorials online and he has had experience with gutting deer, so we plunged ahead with our meager knowledge and a desire for fresh organic chicken.We rigged up our little butchering station with garbage cans, a kitchen sink, the

Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06027862831421242012noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5349144749794973449.post-59947201708889367862008-12-05T07:53:00.000-08:002008-12-05T08:01:31.570-08:00

....makes me HAAAAAAPPYYYY!The sun shone bright and fierce yesterday. I spent the afternoon behind the wheel of my Buick searching out a Museum on the U of O campus. I snapped a few pics of the kids in the fading light of day but man....was it a gorgeous day. Too bad I wasn't out in it. :(We finally (after driving around in circles for 4 hours) found the Museum and took a turbo tour, as it

Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06027862831421242012noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5349144749794973449.post-50123866698450050632008-12-03T11:37:00.000-08:002008-12-03T11:44:29.872-08:00

Well, this morning Fern found one of the Shelly Mamma Wyandottes dead in the chicken yard. This will mark the first predatory chicken death at our little farm.The yard was full of feathers and back in the corner was what was left of the Shelly Mamma. The predator took her head and attacked the chest cavity. All in all it was a pretty clean crime scene. T was really interested in the few parts

Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06027862831421242012noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5349144749794973449.post-31168445996837019942008-11-29T21:31:00.000-08:002008-11-29T21:36:03.230-08:00

My chicken's aren't happy.If the chicken's aren't happy, mama ain't happy.So, my loving man, (much against his better judgment) fenced what is left of my garden beds and set the chicks to free rangin'.In the last 2 days I have gotten 6 eggs. Two days before that? Not a single egg for weeks and weeks.I guess my girls are happy once again.

Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06027862831421242012noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5349144749794973449.post-90404769241667269402008-11-25T09:48:00.000-08:002008-12-03T11:47:25.749-08:00

This has been the most amazing fall I can remember having here in the Pac N.W. The sun has shone for days and days. And we have only had one teeny, tiny little week of rain.For some sad reason, unbeknown to me, I have not been outside enjoying the sunshine. I must be cracked. Hello: girl with SAD ignores multiple days of sun and hides inside dark house. What IS wrong with me!?Anywho, I have

Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06027862831421242012noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5349144749794973449.post-42964400738786617772008-11-22T09:41:00.000-08:002008-11-22T10:01:14.640-08:00

Well the death toll for the fryers is now four.We lost two on the first day. We had to kill one about a month ago due to who knows what. The poor thing just lay around for a week, getting stepped on and crusted in poop, so I made Rick kill her. Thursday morning we found another one dead in the yard. Not sure what went down. T said that he didn't check the yard when he shut them up the

Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06027862831421242012noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5349144749794973449.post-8423841167589736182008-11-19T14:18:00.000-08:002008-11-19T14:21:56.175-08:00

The smudge on your faceSpoke of beautyMore than skin deepIt spoke of caring and kindnessIt spoke of loveand hard workIt was Farm Girl Dirt.Greg Wilkinson

Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06027862831421242012noreply@blogger.com0