Under 2.00 a Pound!

The steers, Salt (shown right) and Pepper(left) are both nestled snugly in my freezer, and hubby's taxidermy freezer, and my mom's freezer, and the neighbors freezer. Holy S%^&*(!!
2 Steers is a lot of little packages to try to fit even in a big chest freezer that's mostly cleaned out.

Next time hubby decides he wants to go play with his friends and it's "pick up the steers from the butcher" day, JUST SAY NO!!

Here's how I got to my "under 2 bucks a pound" figure.

500 bucks for processing, roughly 600 for grain, 200 for the calves themselves, 100 for the milk replacer, and 300 for miscellaneous expenses (fencing, salt blocks, baling twine for the hay, feeders, castration, gas for the tractors, beer, electricity for the fencers...) that figure is probably low.

I have in my possession 1280 lbs of meat. So I did a bit of simple division (yeah, ok, I used the calculator) and came up with somewhere around 1.32 a pound. Since the 300 for miscellaneous is likely quite low I rounded up.

Before you get all "but I pay 6 and 7.00 a pound in the store" on me, let me tell you, we grow our own grain and hay. All of our feed and hay is organic, and we do all the work ourselves. These little boys take 2 years to grow to butchering weight. If you had to pay for grain, hay and veterinary care as well as routine maintenance (they do like to have food and water on a daily basis) it adds up.

So that's done for the year.

Seems we got only about 5 roosters in this latest batch of chicks, cool! So we'll cook them up one at a time as we need them, through the winter. I'll keep one to hopefully have babies in the spring. That was my rationale when buying one breed, to keep the flock going so I wouldn't have to buy them every year. Hopefully that little investment will pay off. I got Buff Orphingtons, a nice size bird, definitely large enough to provide a nice dinner, good layers and hardy through the winter.

More tomatoes to do. A neighbor says he's got all he wants from his garden and the rest are mine. YAY!! Soup, sauce, salsa, or just stewed tomatoes, don't know what they will end up as yet. I was going to freeze these ones to save myself a bit of time, but the freezers appear to be a bit... um... full of steers.

Plan B - can tomatoes instead of freezing them.

My baby sweaters are coming along - got a new granddaughter due mid November and another nephew about the same time. A few months ago I started to notice that my arms were hurting quite a lot. I'm a farmer. This isn't acceptable. Went to the doctor. Went to the specialist. Did all the tests. Tendinitis, likely brought on by too much knitting. Wait! What???? Too much knitting? A knitting injury? Really???

So now I either have to live with the pain, not knit or try to remember to knit "the new way" that doesn't move my arms a lot and cause too many problems. Seems to be the only solution. The only problem with that is that it's a bit cumbersome. Kind of like trying to type with my toes (I'm guessing, really, I haven't tried it). I begged the doctor to give me some mysterious diagnosis just for the respect thing. I mean if I told people I couldn't knit because I had a knitting injury, well, lets just say I've been the recipient of the "sideways look" before. But the best she could come up with was tendinitis due to too much knitting.

Also trying to get myself back into my groove. My Dad was sick for a long time. My mom, daughter and I took care of him until he died at home, just 2 short weeks ago. While that didn't throw me quite as much as I expected, it did throw me that it didn't throw me. Go figure, that's me, give me something to over analyze and I'll go to town!

Well, now I find myself with more time on my hands. Trying to get moved back into my house (the last couple of weeks of his life, I pretty much lived over at his and my mom's house), trying to clean between the edges... stuff like that. Hubby was awesome in keeping up with laundry and dishes.. even swept the floor, it kind of scared me.

And now I have time to decorate for holidays again!

Along that line I had youngest son bring up 2 or 3 bales of hay from the barn to put on the front porch for my "autumn display". They're still in the yard. Seems like when you're blessed with a batch of extra time, there's a whole lotta stuff just waiting in the wings to fill that void. Oh well, I will get them on the porch, get my scarecrows and pumpkins (to be displayed for awhile, then canned for pies in the winter) out, and Halloween and thanksgiving decorations put up. Likely just in time to take them down for Christmas.

Life is Good, and on the farm, it's never boring!!

Tomatoes

Ugh. If I ever see another tomato.

Yesterday afternoon, I canned tomatoes. And then I canned tomatoes, and then, you guessed it, I canned tomatoes.

I'll love this in January, but right now? Not so much.

It's not that I don't enjoy the canning process, I really do, but it's work, and I'm kinda against manual labor of any kind.

And the greenhouse? Well, I finally got hubby on board, but it's gonna be a bit different than I had envisioned. That's ok, sometimes you gotta give up some floor space to get hubby interested in helping with this.

That's all I'm gonna say at this point, I don't want to jinx it, he's seriously interested, even busted out the tape measure and started tape measuring and all. Got a board out and put it in place "just to see".

So, that's the update on that little project.

Sunrise Circle Jacket is done. Well, the knitting is done. Still have to block it, sew it together, wash it and then sew on the buttons.

I'll take a picture when it's all done, other wise you wouldn't believe it.

My next project, a kind of "free form" wrap/cardigan I'm knitting in "colors of the forest". From dark browns to dark greens and sages (moss) with a hint of oranges, yellows and even some blues. So far I LOVE it.

We'll see. All I'm really using is measurements for this project, not really a pattern, and it's really gotten me thinking about opening up the knitting process.

Yesterday, hubby and I went on a road trip, scored some serious knitting time. And serious "alone" time. With a hurricane and her 2 year old tropical storm living with us, we don't get a lot of time to just talk. It was very nice. Saw some of the colors that are Autumn in Michigan, a lot of road kill, some deer, and even a few possums. Gotta get some of that to spin into yarn!

What's next? Still picking tomatoes, so is everyone else, and by now everyone is getting tired of them, so I'll take all I can get, and I'll put them into jars for spaghetti sauces, chili's and gouloshes in the winter.

Deer carrots are out in full force, you know the 50 lb or so bags you can get for little to nothing, and the only reason they didn't make the food grade cut is because they're bent or twisted? Yeah, I'll put them into jars too.

Sigh, then it's time to start hauling firewood up to the deck, cause any day now.........

Frost!

My brother from Southern California (where they really don't have any idea at all what frost in Sept. is all about) texts me yesterday and told me we were in for a frost.

Ahem. Excuse Me? Frost? I'm in denial. It's only mid-Sept. And you're in So. Cal!

Oh, yeah. It's mid-Sept. actually could happen any time.

But come on! I just put the garden in yesterday!

Ok, whatever you say, baby bro.

And I'm watching the news and weather and knitting last night (really cool pattern in blues, teals, greens, purples - caribbean colors...) and what do I see? Frost advisory! Geez! A girl can't catch a break.

So I scrambled outside, where it was actually starting to feel a bit "frosty" and covered up all of the tomatoes, peppers and lettuces I could get to and went inside feeling all good about myself. The baby snakes that I found under the tarps weren't feeling so good about themselves. Probably wishing they'd found something else to burrow under.

Here's the magic question:

Did it actually frost?

Remember Murphy?

Here's the answer:

Of course not. I covered everything. If I hadn't, then it would have frosted and possibly frozen, but it's all good. We were apparantly at dew point, so even a fraction of a temperature would have resulted in a smattering of the white stuff. But we're good now for another couple of days anyway.

Got BUNCHES of tomatoes picked and into the dehydrator. I put salt and basil or oregano on them, they are just yummy in the winter. And others with just salt. They're just as good, reconstituted in spaghetti sauce.. and they don't take up as much room as the canned variety does.

Not much hope for getting a lot done tonight, gotta work late, but maybe I'll finally get the greenhouse plans done and roped off. Also have to convince hubby to bring the bobcat/skidder (happy li'l bro?) over and while we're cleaning out the calf pen, he can scrape a few layers of soil and sod out of where I plan to pour cement.

This project just might happen!

Transporting a Cow Via An Egg!

Went to the butcher to pick up the cow yesterday and he had the nerve to laugh at my "truck" (which is really a geo metro). Since I was picking up a whole cow, sans skin and bones, it turned into quite a feat for my little egg. The back was sitting on the tires.

Egg not happy.

Egg not like to go up hills loaded down like that, but while it moaned and groaned and whined about it, we did make it home.

Bu-Dawgh happy, he got a few new bones, with meat attached.

Ter happy, lots of meat in the freezer

Freezer happy. Totally full, doesn't have to work as hard.

Kids happy. Too much meat to put in the freezer, have to weed out all of the old meat (which goes to the kids).

Hubby happy, he got a slow cooked sirloin tip roast with mashed potatoes and gravy and home grown asparagus for dinner. Also, homemade bread.

Chickens happy, they got left over asparagus and potato peelings, they even gave me a few eggs for my efforts!

Ter happy, we like farm fresh eggs.

Ter happy, got left over sirloin roast and gravy for lunch today.

Hubby happy, he got left over sirloin roast and gravy for lunch today.

Butcher happy, probably still laughing at my "truck".

Girls at work happy, when Ter gets a new cow, girls at work get a food fest!

Seems like everyone's happy except the egg!

This afternoon..... more canning of the tomatoes shall ensue. Tomorrow, I go back to 12-14 hrs at work, ugh.

Houdini Chickens

Last night I made another futile attempt to confine my chickens. I've seen other people with chicken coops, and chicken yards, and their chickens are IN the coops and yards. But not mine. Nope! Mine have discovered how to morph themselves from medium sized feathered birds into jello-ey slime so they can slip through the smallest hole in the wire.

I took left over chicken wire (this is chicken wire, chickens, chicken wire! It's supposed to hold you in!) and patched up every hole and space I could find where they might be getting out. I've clipped their wings. I've only fed them in the coop.

Oh, sure, they all go in at night, to roost, and I snicker and giggle that now I've really got them confined. But when I get up in the morning, they're all out in the yard again.

This seriously has me stumped!

Seriously.

Stumped!

I've been outmaneuvered by horses and cattle before, but they're a bit bigger than I am, but chicken? Come on!!

Pigs have gotten the better of me, but not chickens. That's just wrong.

Now I'm on a mission. I MUST find where they are escaping. Either that or forfeit the tomato crop I've worked so hard to weed and unearth.

They do love them their tomatoes!

So, tonight, again, I will put them away, clip all previously unclipped wings (of which there can't really be too many) and hope again, that tomorrow morning there will not be chickens running rampant in my garden.

I guess I can look at it one of two ways.

1. The chickens are going to ruin the garden, there's no getting around it, or

2. At least I don't have to spend money on a lot of feed for them, and whether it be through meat or eggs, I will eat my tomatoes one way or another!

But regardless of how they're doing it, I need to set up my camera so I can catch them in their morphing or houdini act, seriously, that's really not a bad idea! I'll talk to hubby about it tonight, he loves a challenge!

Gardening With Chickens, Chewing Gum and the Ultimate Red Neck Night Out!

Yesterday, I promised before and after pics of my garden. The first is "before. The buckets hanging are my "upside down tomatoes" experiment, definitely a success!
The next picture is after, I at least cleared a path, and got to the end of a few rows of tomatoes and peppers.
I need major amounts of more sticks to hike these things off the ground though.

And this is what promptly happened after I weeded.
I think all I really did was make it easier for the chickens to find the tomatoes.
Tonight... gotta get that hen house secured!!


Last night Hubby and I had the ultimate "Redneck Night Out"! We loaded up a couple of head of cattle into the stock trailer, took them for a little drive down the road to the slaughter house, and unloaded them. Sure makes for a fun evening! Actually we did have fun, but we usually do. After that we enjoyed the cuisine of Mickey D's Golden Arches and promptly laughed at how little it takes to entertain us.

That's OK, someone has to enjoy this stuff!
So 2 of our cattle have been delivered to a neighboring slaughter house, and another 2 will be killed this morning, here. It depends on who buys them and who wants them butchered and where.
Still gotta call the butcher, I should do that...

Oh, and while I'm at it... I have some advice for you.
Never chew gum and attempt to blow a bubble whilst riding a motorcycle. It's not pretty. Ask me how I know!

Oh, and another thing, remember yesterday when I said it was "a bit nippy" on my ride to work? Yeah! 35 degrees was the official reading! Good grief! I guess if I'm gonna keep riding, I'm gonna have to get out my long johns and woolen helmet liner!

Upside Down Tomatoes!

So did I walk to work this morning? No, I didn't. Mostly because of the Mizzle. Yup, it's all the Mizzle's fault. Mizzle is an interesting thing. (technical term meaning mist+drizzle). It makes everything wet, yet, not so wet that you have to have an umbrella or raincoat or anything, but wet enough so that you get wet if you're out in it at all. Between the 1 mile of woods and fields that I'd hike through to get to the 2 miles of roads, I'd be rather soaked. Plus we're expecting thunderstorms this afternoon, the severity of which always depends on what the Big Lakes do to the air masses as they pass through. And, in the spring, with thunderstorms, there are tornado possibilities. All depends on the Big Lakes.
Up here, most of our weather depends on the Big Lakes. Our meteorologists also depend on the Big Lakes to bail them out of inaccurate weather reports. Hey, I'm all about whatever works!

Hubby got most of the garden tilled up last night. This is huge! Plus.... what is even huger... or bigger, or more gi-normous is the fact that he fixed it so that it doesn't require an act of God and/or a Raindance to start it. (If you're married to a mechanic, you totally get the huge-ness of this concept!)So, barring any colorful lightening displays this weekend, the garden will totally get done! Tonight I'll let the horses into the area not tilled yet, so they can do some preliminary mowing for me. This is exciting for me, again, I have no life to speak of.

I'm doing a few gardening experiments this year, 2 of which have really been tried and tested. One, planting tomatoes upside down in a bucket. Plus, I'll plant peppers on top of the bucket, or in, or, well, you know. Hard to explain, I'll have to take a picture. But it totally takes care of bugs and weeds, plus it's supposed to yield greater crops. The results will be carefully documented!

Another is the 3 sisters method of crop production. Plant corn in hills, and after a week or so when the corn has started to peek above the ground, plant beans on the side of the hills. The cornstalks give the beans something to climb on, plus the beans will fix nitrogen into the soil for the corn. When the beans are up a bit, then in between the corn/bean mounds plant squash, or pumpkins... This keeps the weeds down in between the corn and beans, shades the roots (because up here in N. Mich it gets sooooooo hot) and also serves to keep little furry four footed creatures from climbing the cornstalks and helping themselves to my pantry-in-progress.
This also will be documented. And I need to move my asparagus, my bad, I planted it too close to the rhubarb. Imagine my surprise when the huge rhubarb leaves totally shaded the sun loving asparagus. Yeah, I didn't see that one coming!

And....... MY WINGS WON LAST NIGHT!! Let me say that again, in cause you just tuned in. MY WINGS SKATED AWAY WITH THE STANLEY CUP LAST NIGHT!!!
Major, Major, Major kudos to the Penguins fans, who even though their team did not win, still stood in respect and stayed for the ceremonies as celebrated by the Red Wings. A majorly classy group you all are! And I mean that sincerely. It was very very evident in the faces and postures of the Penguins after they lost that they were just heartbroken. Sick. Defeated. It hurt to see the looks on the faces of the brave warriors of the Pittsburg team who skated for all they were worth, took this major loss in stride, and still had the sportsmanship to respect the Wings for the job they did. Again... Major Kudos!!

Guess that's all today. There was no walking, there was tilling, and there was winning. 2 outta 3 ain't bad! (is that the correct way to spell "ain't"?)

Baby Bovines!

I got new babies! Hubby did a motor in exchange for a couple of bull calves. They are 5 weeks old. One is almost all white and we named him Pepper. The other is almost all black and we named him Salt. CUTE!!!! And, I was gonna take pictures but I couldn't find the Awesome Camera That I Bought Myself For My Birthday Last Year so you'll have to wait till tomorrow to see them. And.... instead of going fishing.... you might have to sit down here..... are you ready? Are you sure?

Instead of going fishing yesterday, Hubby build me a chicken coop!!!! Not just any chicken coop, this one has LOTS O Room! It's not done yet, but should be tonight and I'll get pics of that too.

He's feeling guilty I think. Next weekend is our anniversary and he's going up north to our cabin. My "Project For The Weekend When Hubby Is Away" is to put in my new sink and faucet. The countertop will have to wait, being as how I had to spend money on milk replacer and calf food. That's ok, I love new farm babies!

Didn't get much gardening in, we're still having frosts and freezes regularly, it's just not a good idea yet. I did have to go and buy a bunch of tomato and pepper plants, this was the weekend to do that and if it's not done now, they are pretty well picked over. So I'll just cover them and keep them well watered for another week or so.

Got the pool almost all cleaned out. After feeding calves and other chores, being in the cool water feels pretty good, plus pretty much eliminates the need for a shower, at least until morning. It works, get my water fix, get halfway clean, get my pool cleaned all in one fell swoop.

Life is good!

My brother and I had another Ride of a Lifetime on Sunday. He rides Hubby's bike when he's here. It was beautiful, about 70, bright sun and of course the scenery is beautiful. Any time of year, the scenery just rocks around here. And you always notice a lot more wildlife, scents, sounds... when you're on a bike. There's no beating it!

Almost got the baby booties done, just finishing up, so they'll be done for the baby shower this weekend. Got a lot of knitting done while my Red Wings tromped the Penguins again last night. Best 4 out of 7 series and we're so far 2 and 0. Tomorrow night is game three, this one is in Penguin territory, so there will be a home ice advantage for those boys. Will be another good game.

That's all for today, feeling very tired, like I tried to accomplish a lot this weekend.

Life Is Good! Life Is Great!! Life Rocks!! And, it's better than the alternative!!