Well here it is Monday, and not a WWOOFer in sight. This is our third day alone and all is quiet. A very strange feeling. We have had the opportunity and wonderful experience of sharing the ranch with many WWOOFers since the spring. There was always a new experience every day and loads of fun most days. Laughs, sighs, smiles and willing helping hands prevailed. We started the program during January and are looking forward to more visitors as the year closes out. We weren't sure how this would work out, but now know that it was the best thing we have done in years. We know that we will be remembering the experiences for many years to come. We only hope that our WWOOFers feel the same.
Even though all our help is gone, life goes on as do the chores on all 40 acres. We are always looking for ways to make work easier. Well, I found one that I think is the best I have thought of for a long long time !. The sheep eat a lot and as we all know what goes in has to come out. When grass is dry," out come" from sheep looks like licorice jelly beans. Hard to collect and even harder to clean up. Light bulb sparked and out came the leaf blower. Not just any leaf blower, but a MAN sized blower with a tropical storm force wind! Those beans just took wings...... Man this is easier then the broom ! There is an art to cleaning pooh quickly and cleanly and this one does a double job. Even the dust disappears in a blink...even Maureens OCD couldn't complain! Then out comes the shovel to finish the job. can I patent this one!??
On a more pleasant note, this looks like this is going to be a good year for pears. The heat and irrigation has been helping the pears look very tasty this year. We only hope that the yellow jackets and wasps leave them alone. Over the past few years, at least half the crop has always been destroyed by the pesky insects. What the yellow jackets and wasps didn't get, the fruit flies infiltrated. So far so good.
This has not been a good year for the grapes though. There are some bunches, but nothing to write home to mom about. What there is, with these weather conditions,..( hot and very dry !) will make for a good batch of wine to start in the fall. I would say just in time to harvest for the KP Farm Tour 2011, October 1.
We are looking forward to the farm tour again this year. Last year we officially had well over 500 visitors, unofficially about 650, phew! We hope the weather will be the same for this year and bring lots of smiling faces. The past three years have been great and we will have lots of animals to pet and view again. Hol-ley, Molly Moo's calf will most likely be the star attraction along with Lady and Quest the friendly gentle giant shires. There will be many other activites as well to include a free hay ride and 4-H dog training group. Don't forget to mark the date on your calendar if you live close by, we'd love to visit with you.
Speaking of Hol-ley the calf, we have been trying to teach her to eat her calf manna. The urge to drink milk is much stronger and at the moment she does not have other pen mates for her to watch and mimic their eating habits. So we have to be the emulative models. Well I can tell you one thing, I am not going to get on all fours to pretend I am eating.... so Hol-ley can give it a try! There are limits to what I will go through to help the calf. So I'll stick with our tried and proven approach of hand feeding as the pictures show. Much easier and less embarassing as a neighbor passes by. After the feeding session there is always the ecstacy of the neck stratch. Like Daisy Mae and Molly, Hol-ley just loves her throat scratched. She just can't get her head high enough to get the skin stretched and tight for the stratch. Humm... I think I know the feeling, I LOVE my back scratch.
Well its time to go. The clock approaches the magic hour and since we are on our own until Wednesday when two more WWOOFers arrive, We need to get a move on and start the usual day and see what new experience awaits us in the barn. Hope eveyone has a safe and relazing Labor Day. GREG ( proof read by M, take care, keep safe
Even though all our help is gone, life goes on as do the chores on all 40 acres. We are always looking for ways to make work easier. Well, I found one that I think is the best I have thought of for a long long time !. The sheep eat a lot and as we all know what goes in has to come out. When grass is dry," out come" from sheep looks like licorice jelly beans. Hard to collect and even harder to clean up. Light bulb sparked and out came the leaf blower. Not just any leaf blower, but a MAN sized blower with a tropical storm force wind! Those beans just took wings...... Man this is easier then the broom ! There is an art to cleaning pooh quickly and cleanly and this one does a double job. Even the dust disappears in a blink...even Maureens OCD couldn't complain! Then out comes the shovel to finish the job. can I patent this one!??
On a more pleasant note, this looks like this is going to be a good year for pears. The heat and irrigation has been helping the pears look very tasty this year. We only hope that the yellow jackets and wasps leave them alone. Over the past few years, at least half the crop has always been destroyed by the pesky insects. What the yellow jackets and wasps didn't get, the fruit flies infiltrated. So far so good.
This has not been a good year for the grapes though. There are some bunches, but nothing to write home to mom about. What there is, with these weather conditions,..( hot and very dry !) will make for a good batch of wine to start in the fall. I would say just in time to harvest for the KP Farm Tour 2011, October 1.
We are looking forward to the farm tour again this year. Last year we officially had well over 500 visitors, unofficially about 650, phew! We hope the weather will be the same for this year and bring lots of smiling faces. The past three years have been great and we will have lots of animals to pet and view again. Hol-ley, Molly Moo's calf will most likely be the star attraction along with Lady and Quest the friendly gentle giant shires. There will be many other activites as well to include a free hay ride and 4-H dog training group. Don't forget to mark the date on your calendar if you live close by, we'd love to visit with you.
Speaking of Hol-ley the calf, we have been trying to teach her to eat her calf manna. The urge to drink milk is much stronger and at the moment she does not have other pen mates for her to watch and mimic their eating habits. So we have to be the emulative models. Well I can tell you one thing, I am not going to get on all fours to pretend I am eating.... so Hol-ley can give it a try! There are limits to what I will go through to help the calf. So I'll stick with our tried and proven approach of hand feeding as the pictures show. Much easier and less embarassing as a neighbor passes by. After the feeding session there is always the ecstacy of the neck stratch. Like Daisy Mae and Molly, Hol-ley just loves her throat scratched. She just can't get her head high enough to get the skin stretched and tight for the stratch. Humm... I think I know the feeling, I LOVE my back scratch.
Well its time to go. The clock approaches the magic hour and since we are on our own until Wednesday when two more WWOOFers arrive, We need to get a move on and start the usual day and see what new experience awaits us in the barn. Hope eveyone has a safe and relazing Labor Day. GREG ( proof read by M, take care, keep safe
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