Wild Things Farm

According to the NWS records, April 2011 in Tennessee was the wettest on record.  Yes, on record.  I can vouch for that--the irrigation pond ignored its boundaries and tadpoles moved into the grassy areas.   Last week, Monday and Tuesday, the thermometer read 41 degrees.  The eggplant, tomatoes, peppers, and sweet potatoes were shocked!  Now this week the thermometer has been above 80 degrees every day and there's only been .04 inches of rain for the past 10 days.  This makes for very challenging gardening conditions!

In spite of the weather, the tiller was dropped into the soil.......

two crops of corn have been planted with the handy-dandy (but needy) antique John Deere planter.......

and awesome hardwood flooring was installed in the farmhouse livingroom .......

and diningroom

This is the earliest that a lettuce crop has ever had to be pulled and replanted, but the first two lettuce plantings have already been turned into eggs by the Happy Hens. 

Just a quick update.....off to work with me now; my hoe awaits!

Everyone knows (well maybe everyone) that fresh eggs don't peel really well when boiled.  Well, I just collected eggs from the Happy Hens, boiled a few of them for 10 minutes, then put them in water with ice cubes, and voila!  They peeled like a banana.  So there's your wisdom for today!

Ahh, the bluebells are blooming........

The trout lilies are too........

bloodroot is shining snowy white.......

and speaking of snow........

it's doing that too!!!!!!!

I've never quite had this problem before, but since I've moved into the house I've been working on for 4 years, each winter I'm accompanied by lots of ladybugs.  I mean LOTS of ladybugs.  I don't have aphids in the house, so the ladybugs aren't welcome, and they bite, too!  I believe they are coming in around the area that's been left "sideless" for a chimney.  The insulation showing is shiny foil (hey, it's still a construction project, you know).  Anyway, the bugs are attracted to shiny, light surfaces so I have a major ladybug magnet out there.  Hopefully the chimney will get built this summer :)

Back to the ladybugs........

This past winter I rigged up a long extension for  my shop vac with a piece of conduit.  It was heavy and awkward, but I could reach the two windows in the gable end of the living room (cathedral ceiling) where the bugs like to gather. 

During a brainstorming session of the problem with my boyfriend, we decided to try one of his bug zappers in the living room (although I personally detest bug zappers).  After I jumped a few times as one was being fried, I kinda got used to the noise and it's much easier to vacuum them off the floor underneath than chase them around a window with a really awkward piece of pipe.  I call

it my "redneck ladybug killer".  Thank goodness they only invade during the winter--I'm having trouble working it into the decor of the house!

This past January I introduced 15 eight-week old girls to the Happy Hens.  The introduction was kind of a smuggling operation though--during darkness.  The older hens are supposed to wake up and think "oh, you've always been here".  Well, seems that is what happened because I've not witnessed any adverse pecking or gang-related activities so all is well in the Happy Hen house.

Today, I went to freshen water, top off the feeder, throw in a few tidbits and munchies, then gather eggs.  Look what I found.......

The CUTEST teeny tiny little perfect egg!  Awwwww, my babies are growing up :)

Late this afternoon--make that "greatly sunny" afternoon I took a break in a porch swing on the west side of the house.  The 4 resident dogs decided to join me.  Me, Hattie and Reuben (the Catahoulas), Angus (the Boxer) and Cooper (the Bad-Haired Terrier) were soaking up some rays when Angus noticed a ball of stuffing (from a comforter someone shredded earlier this winter) about 3 feet from the edge of the porch.  There was a dead leaf barely caught in it so the leaf was waving back and forth in the breeze.  Angus stared at it, cocking his head from side to side when he suddenly decided to attack it. 

His jump sent the whole pack into "attack mode" and everyone jumped up and over the porch rail (it's only about a foot off the ground) and tumbled over each other because Angus was right there tending to the polyester invader.  I had to chuckle. 

Little episodes like this around the farm are better than buying tickets to a movie :)

Here in Tennessee this winter has become one of the nastiest and coldest that I remember and much of the winter has been spent working inside.   Several projects have been completed inside the house, namely flooring and stair railing.

Yesterday was a late winter "blues gift" of blue skies and a beautiful day where one could get outside and do a few cleanup chores.

Protecting the chickens' domain are two huge sycamore trees.  Anyone who has had the opportunity of sharing the same piece of ground with a sycamore tree knows how messy they are.  I renamed them "Stick-a-more" trees because I picked up a pile of sticks that was about 4 feet wide and 6 feet tall in no time at all.  I burned them on top of a stump I'm trying to get rid of that is in an area where I want to plant basil this season. 

I spent a while in the high tunnel cleaning out crops that just didn't enjoy being in there over the winter.  Broccoli didn't appreciate the cold temperatures so I put them out of their misery and into the chicken pen.  There was also one last bed of spinach in one of the outside gardens that the chickens enjoyed immensely.  I folded endless numbers of frost blanket and stacked them to be ready for unexpected frosts and finished pulling all the wire hoops, posts, and stakes out of the gardens in preparation for that day when suddenly the ground is dry enough to till.  That day seems like an eternity away right now because if you step off the pathways you just might lose your shoe!

The greenhouse is also getting busy.  Seeds have been started on propagation mats for a mesclun mix, lettuce, lots of onions, swiss chard, kale, and arugula.  I've also started seeds for an early tomato to be planted in the high tunnel just to see how early one can get a tomato here in this area.

Yesterday's case of the "wintertime blues" was much welcome--I hope everyone else within shot of it got to enjoy the day as much as I did. 

Any farmer knows that to make ends meet, you've got to get creative!  I'd like to share with you some of the ways items find new uses around this farm. 

The chicken coop is framed out of pallets that metal roofing is shipped on.  They are 9 feet long x 3-1/2 feet wide, they are very sturdy, and a few straight ones and a little imagination go a long way.  The house is now covered with board and batten siding salvaged from a dead tree.   Inside the chicken coop are a kitchen cabinet with 4 nest boxes in it and a chest of drawers with 6 boxes in it.  You could say the Happy Hens have a "furnished house", complete with floor covering made of rubber roofing salvaged from a roofing job. 

The shop attached to the greenhouse is also framed from pallets and the windows are from an old house.   The greenhouse was salvaged for the price of hauling it off on a trailer behind a pickup truck, but the real cost was in figuring out just how all the buckets of gasket materials, different size glass panes and different channels would all work out to make a greenhouse to attach to the shop (without instructions).  It leaks here and there but it's great!

An old laundry tub serves as a washing station down at the gardens.

The 3/4" solid oak paneling in the farmhouse was salvaged from a local restaurant being demolished.  The oak covers the bottom half of all the walls in the house, plus made some very usable kitchen cabinets.  The glass doors on the upper cabinets were salvaged from a bookcase that had been discarded.

The floor in the foyer is made of rosewood, salvaged from---you'll never guess---pallets made to ship copper coils.  It hasn't been sanded and finished yet, but it's really unique. 

One of the bathroom doors came from the same restaurant

and the other one came from an old house in town.  The kitchen sink (temporary) is an old service bar.  It has a really nice big tub and two side drain boards, but the hole is rather small for a kitchen sink.  I've got my eyes open........

The door under the stairs is a door from one of the Homestead Houses built about 75 years ago.  The backside is a "z" bar.  The wooden latch is handmade and the knob was found at an old house site in nearby Knoxville.   The hinges have been in a box for years and the entire ensemble was provided and orchestrated by my awesome significant other :)

Feed bags are utilized for trash, and mountains of leaves from a nearby community are recycled on the gardens each season. 

The chickens are the major recyclers of kitchen scraps and garden waste. 

It takes lots of imagination, storage space, and treasure piles here and there to hang on to items that "I'll use that someday".  You never know, that day just might be today!

One of the highlights of Wild Things Farm are the Happy Hens.  They scratch and jabber and do chickeny things all day, every day.  Last week there was a breech in security....aka the fence came loose from the chicken house....so about 9 chickens decided to go for it.  I've actually let all the hens out this time of year to scratch around and "fly the coop" so to speak, just to break the winter boredom.  Well, this day a hawk decided he would also check out the chickens.    I arrived at the pen just in time to persuade the hawk to fly back up into the tree where he came from, but the chickens were all spooked and one buff orpington was "hiding" somewhat under the edge of the coop, but I picked her up and put her back in the house. 

The next day was "wing clipping" day.  One of my jobs as a chicken momma is to keep them safe and you know, EVERYTHING likes chicken.  So, early in the morning, just at daybreak (brrrrr) each chicken was caught and one wing clipped then moved to the pen outside.  When all were done I left the door open and no one offered to come back in---imagine that!

Now, every time I get near the pen to feed, water, collect eggs, or just say "hi" they all run like haints to the other side of the pen.  Maybe they'll get over it soon.

On Monday another group of lucky girls was brought to the farm to be part of the Happy Hens at Wild Things Farm.  They are called Production Reds and they are 8 weeks old.  They spent the first night in a big cardboard box in the shop, the second night in their box in the henhouse, and last night they stayed in the chicken house with the big girls and Mr. Rooster sir.

The coop was originally constructed to house more birds than were occupying it, so now we're up to capacity----except a few more nest boxes need to be built--that's a project for a warmer day.

Here we are, "knee deep" into winter.  December around here was as cold as I remember it being for such an extended spell.  At least the temperature has gotten into the double digits now, although still quite cold. 

Back in the fall someone from the NOAA contacted the farm to see if being a daily "weather observer" was something of interest.  The duties include reading and reporting the temperature maximum and minimums and temperature at observation time,  every day, which is all done with this handy-dandy inside unit:

The temperatures are detected by this strange-looking thermometer on a stick in the back yard:  (the blocks are part of the future fireplace/chimney project)

 and when it rains or snows, the rain gauge, a fiberglass snow board, and a measuring stick come into play.

The rain gauge is pretty cool though, because you can measure down to the hundredths-of-an-inch of rain.  A plexiglass "cutting board" is utilized to measure the snowfall depth.

The weather service utilizes observers to more completely get a picture of weather and climate in an area.  It's also interesting to see how many degrees difference there are between Wild Things Farm and the local airport.  Airport you say?  Why certainly---the Crossville International Airport-----just kidding.

The summer season is way too busy to work on house-building projects, so each winter there's a list of things to do during the funky weather.  One of the projects is flooring. 

A friend of a friend had oak tongue and groove flooring left over from a project and he wanted it out of his storage so I was so kind to take it off his hands :)  I measured and calculated and "oh my goodness" it was enough to do the bedroom and maybe the closet.  He even loaned me the nailer and gave me nails. 

I've helped on two hardwood flooring projects, did the upstairs floor out of 2x6 pine on my own, but never have I had to actually hit that monster nailer thingee by myself.  I got the first two rows down by drilling and nailing with finish nails and then it was time to drag out the yellow monster (nailer thingee that is). 

After about 15 rows of boards I've gotten just a teeny bit better.  I'm still having to pull nails out that didn't go in far enough and drive others in all the way with a hammer and a nail set.  I hate to admit it, but these manual floor nailers are a guy tool.  I'll get through the floor but I'm not calling for an inspector!

After the nailer from you-know-where comes the floor sanders from you-know-where.  I think I'll ask for help with them.  Stay warm!

Sun

Has anyone else noticed that the angle of the sun is really changing?  After several days of cloud cover the sun came out bright and cheery yesterday afternoon, but the angle is definitely changing. The shadows around the gardens are getting longer, and fall is my very favorite time of year so this is exciting to me!   The glass prisms in the south gable-end windows of the house are making rainbows in the livingroom again.  This only happens when the sun is at it's "not-the-middle-of-the-summer" angle.

Moon

I've read all my life about planting "by the moon", in a nutshell that would be above ground crops when the moon is getting full and below ground crops as the moon is going back down.  I've tried planting by the moon, but it's just too darn dark!

Stars

So you're thinking okay sun, moon, what about the stars?  This year a friend shared seed for an okra called "Star of David".  Around here, folks are accustomed to "Clemson Spineless" okra which is harvested around 2-1/2 to 3-1/2 inches long, and it's about 1/2 to 3/4 inches in diameter.  Any bigger than that and it's tough.  Star of David is about the same length, but gets much larger around, about 1-1/2 inches in diameter. 

A trip to the farmer's market revealed that people just don't believe you when you tell them that okra that big is still tender!  It's amazing how people get trapped in their little vegetable worlds and are afraid to try new things.   It's one of those vegetables that was kind of fun to try, but I won't waste my time on it again. 

Another twist on a traditional veggie that is being grown on the farm this year is "Fooled You" jalapenos.  I love jalapenos and the heat, but I know a lot of folks don't like or can't take the heat, so I just knew these would be a big hit.  Well, a trip to the farmer's market showed me that the folks who like jalapeno peppers like the heat so they didn't want any jalapenos that weren't hot, and the folks who don't like the heat don't know how delicious a jalapeno pepper really is, and they didn't want any, and frankly, they are afraid to eat something that looks just like its fiery cousin.  I will say that the CSA members were brave though, because they've given good reviews on the fooled you peppers--they make great salsa, are wonderful stuffed with cheese and baked, or just chopped up in a salad or stir fry.  It's one of those vegetables that I will probably grow again next year, just not as many plants. 

One more twist on a traditional crop is a single serving watermelon.  I always hate to cut a huge watermelon because it takes up an entire shelf in the fridge and by the time it's all gone I'm sick of it.  While perusing seed catalogs in the dead of winter (like going to the grocery store when you're hungry) I came across seeds for a single serve watermelon.  Well, they grew pretty good, but the drought held most of them back to softball size and they were full of seeds, so that's not something that will get space in the veggie gardens next year.  It's sure fun trying new things though!

It's been exceptionally hot and dry here this summer.  I've been able to irrigate most all the gardens except for the corn, sweet potatoes and assorted winter squash and melons, but even with regular irrigation, it "ain't like Mother Nature" did it. 

Yesterday, last night, and this morning we were fortunate enough to have showers in Crab Orchard.  The rain gauge this morning measured 2.1" of rain--Yippee!  Summer showers are welcome!!

There's another kind of summer shower that's welcome.  You know, when you've been out all day long, gotten drenched with sweat a few times and dried, then sprayed insect repellant, smeared sunscreen on at least 2 times, then sweated some more?  When I finally decide that I can't stand myself any longer, I head for the shower, and I use that as my excuse to "clock out" for the day :)

The farmhouse has big wide wrap-around porches which are great for sleeping dogs, porch swings, and the occasional break from gardening. 

To hide the empty space between the ground and the bottom of the porch, last year I planted native coral honeysuckle and am training it to climb up a wire fence that has been nailed in place.  The honeysuckle is doing great, is climbing up the wire fence and the porch rails, and there is an almost constant showing of hummers and butterflies visiting the everblooming honeysuckle.

Yesterday I noticed little black specks on the porch underneath the railing--technically speaking, I think it's called "frass", but to me, it's just bug poop.  I got to looking around and sure enough, there were telltale signs of leafless twigs and bites out of leaves, and I found the culprit.......(actually about 4 of them)

Being the inquisitive person that I am, I came in and "Googled" what I saw.  It's the caterpillar for a really cool bug called a Hummingbird Moth or a Clearwing Hummingbird Moth.  The first time I ever saw one I wondered if it was a bee, bird, or what.  They are really cool, and I'll let these guys munch on the honeysuckle until, well, they sprout wings and fly, of course!

This morning on the way to the garden I heard an unusual amount of tiny chirping noises that seemed like they were coming from all around.  I looked down and almost stepped on this:

It startled me because a couple of weeks ago Oliver the cat found a copperhead in that same area, and yesterday I stepped on some sort of snake that I never could see but it still gave me the willies. 

I looked around for mama bird and there she was up in the tree fussing away at me.  Too bad she doesn't have arms to carry her baby away to safety.