BABY TURKEYS
FARMER IN THE DELL
FRUIT ORCHARD
SOLAR OVEN
CALLA LILY
Our morning got off to an early start. At 6:30am we milked the four goats with Dave, our host. He currently has nine goats, four mamas and five babies. If you do the math correctly, you'll notice two babies are twins. They were born in February and are still milking, which means if separated at night, there is milk for us to collect each morning. About a gallon is collected each morning and after three gallons are racked up, goat cheese can be made. We're excited to take part in this fun activity this week.
Later this morning we moved three baby turkeys from their cage inside to the field. They've been living under lamplight and shelter indoors in the mud room until now. As they are getting bigger and tougher, they will be able to handle the elements and switch to an outside lifestyle. Dave has named them accordingly: Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's. Apparently he usually only raises two turkeys annually, but this year there were only three left so he decided New Year's this year will be a feast. Picking them up wasn't too bad, since we conquered our fear of picking up chickens in Alabama. However, these young little turkeys are quite strong and struggled against our hold to escape. They were much more determined to break free compared to chickens who are more relaxed in your hands. After a bit of adjusting time, they were quite content in their new outside digs.
We spent a good part of the day weeding the ornamental gardens that encompass the perimeter of Dave's house. The landscaping is beautiful but the weeds have recently taken over...as they always do. Our biggest enemy was buttercup, a nice little yellow flower, which sits atop a viney, heavily leafed root system which overtakes the plants it surrounds. We managed to get most of the buttercup out without too much damage to its neighbors. With the sun and clouds battling for reign of the sky, the momentary splashes of sunshine lit the gardens and shone.
Hi Jen & Aaron,
ReplyDeleteI finally caught up on all your travels since I last saw you and loved every passage. (School nursing at a NYC public High School has been its own adventure.) I have to tell you that when you are done you have to talk to a publisher about writing a book/ travel journal. I can see you both now, at the community bookstore in Park Slope signing autographs and telling stories!There might be another angle, what do you think about community living/organic farming for retired senior citizens? Ofcourse the farm would have to have some young people too. Have you seen or heard of anything like that on the west coast? Most of the farmers you have met seem to be in late 30's early 40's. I walked home from the Brooklyn Bridge yesterday, one of those perfect days, feels like rain, cool breeze & 72 degrees anyway..I passed by several new shops, green dry cleaners, organic restaurants, organic take-out with only locally grown food, and a hair salon which advertises only natural products. Also, many Brooklyn/Queens bee keepers are selling their honey in local stores. I read an interesting article by a doctor, who believes if you eat local honey, your allergies will approve greatly because you are being naturally sensitized by eating the locally grown honey. It makes so much sense!
Enjoy, learn and work hard. xoxooxnancy