Everyday Farming Problems

It has been a busy week here. The planting is done.. The garden is in. But we haven't had any rain. Things are dry. So I've been watering like crazy. The new fruit trees, the garden, the animals.

Moon Gold Apricot Tree

Yellow Transparent Apple Tree

If you have been following my blog you might remember that a few weeks ago (or maybe longer) we lost a few chickens and ducks. I was confused because it didnt' seem like  coyote behavior. Well, we caught the predator red handed. Our neighbor's dog. We really like our neighbors and the dog has visited before and we speculated the loss of a few other birds might have been him but for some reason it never occured to me that he was the cause this time. But then a few days later, I caught him red handed. Our neighbors have cooperated in efforts to keep this from happening again and  reimbursed me for the  loss. Its good to have wonderful neighbors.

This is what I woke up too yesterday morning. "Georgy Porgy pudding and pie, kissed the girls and made them cry when the boys came out to play Georgy Porgy ran away."

You should have run away Georgy.

 Poor Georgy. He fared better then I did. Things like this stress me out. I have such a small flock of sheep I dont' keep a lot of medications on hand. After I panicked, I made a trip to the vet and after I got him doctored up, I felt much better. It was just the shell he broke off. He was so good letting me take care of him.

Last night we finally caught our nightly visitor, or at least one of them. The cat food was disappearing at an alarming rate and duck eggs were being eaten by the dozen. I found this in the barn when I got up this morning.

I set the trap, and now I am trying to play the girl card and get the farmer to take it from here. Poor thing looks terrified.

He will be relocated.

Our son got his ATV this week so we took a ride through the pasture and around the farm the other night. It was really windy and if you didn't keep your mouth closed you ended up with a mouth full of insects.

We saw deer, coyotes and a pair of pheasants. All running to fast for me to get any pictures.

These are new food plots for the wild life.

black raspberry plant, but they need rain

So happy to see he always wears his safety goggles and helmet.

Fishing pond #1.

These were everywhere. Any idea what kind of flower they are?

Old barn which houses the rams and ponies.

Pond #2. It had lots of catfish in it at one time. Not sure if they are still there or not.

But there are dozen and dozens of frogs.

Hoping all of you have a blessed weekend and please pray for rain.

The princess makes a request for a

Tire Swing

Well, she originally asked for a pony, but when she asked for a tire swing too- I think Dad figured the tire swing would be easier. (I would have got her the pony! HA!)

The "prince" is enjoying it too! Although at 10, he probably would prefer I not refer to him as the prince.

92 degrees already at 9am but there is a nice breeze and its bearable in the shade.

I lost a chicken yesterday due to the heat so I turned the hens out to have the run of the yard. They managed to find their way back to their favorite hang out from last year. Hopefully they will be able to seek out cooler shelter then their coop to survive this heat.

The garden continues to thrive. We haven't had rain in weeks. We did get a quick shower last night but it didn't amount to anything substantial.

Zucchini is taking over.

Thanking God for his many blessings!

Praying for a bountiful harvest.

~Kathy

New Bread - Golden Squash Braid

I was trying to decide what breads to make for the market last week besides Hallelujah and Glory Bread.

My sister's motivation for making breads has always been to make bread with whatever

 her garden is producing an abundance of at that time.
I agree with that thought and decided after picking 25 Butternut squash

(and still have plenty left in the garden) That it only seemed fitting to make bread with it.

I found several recipes but one was a little more time intensive then I would like and the other was just to plain.

The result was a combination of the two recipes . A very tender and light bread- rich in a golden color

and quite delicious. Not overly sweet or strong in flavor.

I made 4 braids - 2 with golden raisins and 2 without.

We ate one and the others were snatched up quite quickly at the Market.

Golden Squash Braid

1 package active dry yeast (or 1 scant TBSP)       3 TBSP brown sugar

2TBSP warm water                                              1/4 teas. salt

1 Cup mashed cooked butternut squash                3 cups all purpose flour

1/3 cup warm milk                                                1/2 cup golden raisins (optional)

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 egg

Directions: in a small bowl, dissolve yeast in water. In a mixing bowl, combine squash, milk, butter, egg, brown sugar and salt; mix well. Add yeast mixture and 1-1/2 cups flour;mix well. Add enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8m. Place in a  greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. Punch dough down. (gently knead in golder raisin at this time if desired) Divide into thirds; roll each third into a 18in rope. place on a greased baking sheet. Braid ropes together; pinch ends. cover and let rise until doubled.  beat -1egg and 1TBSP water and brush on top of loafs. Back at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

ENJOY!