This guy....

Meet my brother's dog, Marlin.  He's named after the firearm, not the fish!

He is absolutely the sweetest pit bull I've ever met.  But, bless his heart, he doesn't have the best luck in the world.  Let me explain.....

About a month ago we had some very much needed rain.  It came in the form of what I would swear was a mini hurricane.  We lost giant limbs out of two pecan trees, and lightening hit our biggest.  My in-laws (The People Across the Pond) had a live oak completely uprooted.  It hailed, it set the woods on fire and it knocked the power out for hours.

Back to Marlin.  My brother works second shift and came home shortly after everything simmered down.  He knew about the bad storm, so he went to check on his pup.  Marlin wasn't in his pen.... his pen wasn't even there!  It was laying on the ground about 50 feet from where it had originally been, dismantled and nearly destroyed.  He still hasn't found the dog house that was inside of it.  Sure that Marlin had gone to safety with our dogs in the in-laws shed, he went inside and to bed.  The next morning, our pups were home, but Marlin still had not shown up.  That afternoon when he and his wife rode around the ponds surveying the damage.  That's when he heard it.... a tiny, distant yelp.  "That sounds like a dog in a dam," he thought.  Sure enough, there he was, in the damn dam overflow of the middle pond.  (If you look at the header picture, their house is now in the opening on the far right.  The middle pond is behind where the picture was taken, about the same distance away.  It's FAR.)  He was alive, but barely.  Will had to crawl in with Marlin to be able to pull him out.  Poor thing had tried and tried to climb his way out, filing down his nails to the quick and turning his pads into hamburger meat.  He recovered surprisingly fast!

Fast forward about three weeks. 

While at work, I got a text from my brother.  "How many wasp stings does it take to kill a 75 pound dog??"  Dear Lord.....

Jami and I frantically searched the internet.  Not surprisingly, we could only find something on how to treat one or two stings... not what Marlin was facing.  The best thing?  Benadryl and baking soda.  And lots of it!!

 I wouldn't think twice about saying that homeboy had a good 100+ stings all over his body.  His ears and under his chin were the worst.  I don't have a picture of it (I really didn't want to take one), but I'm sure you can imagine.  I didn't think it was wasps, though.  Will hadn't actually seen what stung Marlin, and I had a better guess.  Bees!  The farmers have bee hives scattered through the fields around here.  There's a huge pile of them right across the road from our house.  My sister-in-law and I drove over to check them out and, sure enough, one of them looked to be slightly tipped over.  We didn't get too close to really check it out, but I'm sure that's where they came from. 

The swelling didn't last long, but he's got polka dot skin!  He almost looks like something out of a circus show.  Not really funny, but we have to smile about it now.  :)

Less than a week later, Marlin went missing again, still sporting his polka dot, mange-looking skin.  The doggie police got him!  He's back at home now.  I can only imagine what they were thinking was wrong with him!  On top of the stings, he was covered in fleas when he got home!  Poor fella! 

Maybe this time he's learned his lesson.  I kinda doubt it!

So, the next time you think you've got it bad.... remember sweet 'ole Marlin.  It could be worse!

Hen Nest Box Giveway at Life on a Southern Farm!

We've been busy building a chicken coop from used materials we've found in our yard, our parents, and the old paintball field!  Just in time, too, because yesterday I came home to find one of my biddies piddling around my spare room!!  They're only about 4 weeks old, but already they're trying to fly around and this little one was able to get out of the cardboard box I've been using as the brooder!  The only things we lack on the coop is building the door for the run and putting in some nest boxes. 

For the boxes, we have some blue, plastic Pepsi crates (the ones the truck brings the 20oz. bottles to the jiffy stores in) that will be screwed into the interior walls of the hen house.  Not pretty, but free and practical!  BUT, a favorite blog of mine is having a giveaway for a two hole, metal hen box that they make on their farm!!  I would love to win this myself, but I also want to tell you about it so that you can get in the running as well!!  Head over to Life on a Southern Farm (Yes! They're in Georgia, too!!!) and enter to win one of these gorgeous boxes!  If you're into farm living at all, I suggest you follow their wonderful blog, too!

Happy Easter... Lilies!

Every year as the end of March rolls around, a beautiful sight begins to unfold in the ditches along these Southern roads.....

The Easter Lilies, as we've always called them, are a sure sign that the Earth has awakened and Spring is finally here!  According to information I've found, the common name for Zephyranthes atamasca is Rain Lily, but that's not what we call them, nor have I ever heard someone refer to them as such.

You can read more about these beautiful flowers here.

PS.

  Have you ever looked at the new growth on pine trees around this time of year?  Way up at the top, the new growth forms a cross all over the tops of the trees.  Do they know Easter is right around the corner?

PPS.
  Happy Earth Day!!!

3rd Annual North Florida & South Georgia Farm Tour

Tomorrow Jami and I are going to the 3rd Annual North Florida & South Georgia Farm Tour!  I can't believe we've never heard of this until now and to be honest, I can't even remember how I found out about it.  I'm extremely excited!

The farm tour is being hosted by the New Leaf Market, a cooperatively owned grocery store in Tallahassee, FL.  I've only been there once, about a year ago, as it's a good 2 hour drive from my home.  It's a wonderful place, chock full of organic and natural grocery items, bulk goods, and herbal supplements.  I wish there was a place like this near home!  The Farm Tour consists of 36 local farms opening their doors, sharing their knowledge and offering their goods for sale.  This is an ultra exciting opportunity to see how these farms work and to pick the brains of those who run them!  There are also several workshops you can attend for free or a small price (the highest I've seen was a whopping $5!).

Our main focus on this trip is to visit O'Tooles Organic Herb Farm in Madison, FL.  There we will enjoy their vegetable, butterfly and secret gardens, have the opportunity to purchase fall plants, organic gardening supplies and herbal products, and most excitingly visit their two greenhouses and a shade house!!!  The greenhouses will be showing the entire process of propagation from plating seeds and making cuttings to mature plants ready to go!  There is also a labyrinth the owner built in memory of her husband.  How sweet is that?!?  It is said to "bring peace and harmony to all who walk its healing path."  Oh yea, I'll be walking it a few times!

Time permitting, we'd also like to visit a few other farms in the area....
Deep Roots Meats in Greenville, Fl is an all grass fed, antibiotic/grain/hormone-free angus beef farm.  They will be selling their beef products.
Kurtz & Sons Dairy, LLC in Live Oak, Fl is "an all pasture family dairy farm that harvests fresh Florida sunshine as fresh milk, meat and eggs."  I love the way these people think.   "In cooperation with Mother Nature” is the most healthful, safe and rewarding way to grow any crop, whether it is livestock, wildlife or children. We always believe that the way we produce food makes a difference in us, our livestock, our soil and our environment. Here we celebrate each season of the year as each brings its own changes to our practices and our products. With our farm tours we intend to share these ideas and give our visitors an experience that cannot be found at the theme parks and zoos."

If you are in the area, know someone who is, or just want to check out all the different farms, check it out go here!

I plan on soaking up lots of yummy information, taking lots of pictures, and hopefully I'll be able to video some of the grounds and lectures.  If I can talk a sweet friend into uploading them for me I'll share next week!  Either way I'm sure I'll have lots to tell  :)

Are there any exciting things going on in your area this weekend? 

Trying my hand at garlic

Late last fall I came across an article on growing garlic that really peaked my interest.  When I started looking for bulbs it was late October and everyone was sold out!  The Northern folks probably already had their garlic in the ground for weeks before I even though about ordering.  Generally speaking, garlic grows better in cooler areas as the bulbs should be planted in the Fall when soil temperature is at least down to 60*.  The bulbs need plenty of chilling hours before Spring to be able to form. We don't have a whole lot of cold weather and that makes me a little worried!  I have found several local farmers who are growing garlic with great success, though, so I do have hope!

This year I was a little more prepared and started looking through seed catalogs.  The garlic you get from the grocery store is usually sprayed with an anti-sprouting chemical and is probably grown with nasty pesticides!!   My first choice was to order from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange because I was planning on getting other seeds along with the garlic bulbs.  I decided to to nix the seeds to be able to focus more on the garlic and began searching for individuals offering bulbs for sale.  I hopped on one of my favorite websites, Local Harvest and found Bobbette's Naturally Grown Produce, a certified naturally grown small farm out of Liberty, KY.   I purchased  a softneck artichoke variety called Inchelium Red and Heirloom Cherokee, a hardneck variety.  I'm looking forward to seeing which will do the best for me!

For the bed I tilled up a 6 1/2' x 6 1/2' bed in a sunny spot and used old fence posts for the edges.  I added in top soil and mushroom compost, then tilled again to incorporate the different soils together.  Our soil is pretty sandy and drains well, but I wanted to add more organic matter.   My garlic has already made it in (I ordered on Tuesday and got it on Friday!!) but I am waiting for cooler weather to put it in the ground... it's been in the mid 80's all week.  After planting I will add a heavy coat of mulch to keep the weeds at bay and then fish emulsion for fertilizer in the Spring.  Wish me luck!!!  :)

New addition to the Family!

Some of you may remember our sweet girl Maia

Maia, taken March 8, 2009   1 year 9 months old

She's been with us for a little over 3 years now! Our neighbors (the in-laws) had a little Wire Haired Dachshund named Lucky. He and Maia were the best, most unlikely friends ever. The mornings usually had Maia over at Lucky's house, then mid-day they would each go back to their own house for a nap. Lucky would come visit our side of the pond in the evenings. Then suddenly the visiting stopped. Lucky was missing. To this day no one has any idea what happened or where he ventured off to. He was an old soul. Not too terribly old for a typical Dachshund (we guessed somewhere around 8), but for a little outdoors man who'd been bit by a snake twice in his life, it probably was about his time to go. Jami and I used to (and still do) joke about his voice if he could talk- Clint Eastwood from Grand Torino! If you've seen the movie you should totally understand him! In the weeks to follow Maia moped around not really wanting to play, just mourn the loss of her beloved best friend.

Jami and I had casually talked about getting another dog so that Maia wouldn't be alone all day, but hadn't agreed on it yet. I was checking out Craigs List one afternoon and came across an add for a seven month old pure bred husky. For free. The awesome part is that she had already been fixed! It only took four hours of me begging Jami to agree for me to call and check it out. I figured that she would be gone for sure. Nope! The owners still had her and were ecstatic to know we had another husky. It was a young couple with a 4 year old daughter. The mom is a paramedic and the dad a firefighter, each working 24 hour shifts making no true time for puppy love. Bless their hearts... they were heart broken to have to give her up, but knew it was for the best. We picked her up two days later.... and man is she a big dog!!

Luna, take September 17, two months after she came home

We changed her name from Shasta to Luna, never calling her by her "old home" name. We didn't particularly like 'Shasta' and since she was brand new to us and our world she transitioned to her new name wonderfully.

It took Maia a little while to get used to having another dog actually living at her home and getting lovin' from her humans. Now they play, fight and share like sisters!

Maia (3) and Luna (10 months).  Taken the same day as the above photo.  Luna is already taller than Maia! Hopefully I'll have a better comparison picture, but with my limited uploading ability, this is all I've got for now!

Huskies are wonderful creatures for those who have the time and space for them. They are incredibly intelligent and loving. They're not, however, good for a guard dog unless you count the fear people get just from their wolf-like looks! The biggest reaction you'll probably get out of them is a little head roll or a request for a petting. You'll hardly ever hear one of them barking either. They do howl on occasion, but for my pups, that's almost as rare as the barking. That's good for me! If you hear one of them, you know something is going on!

Spring is Comming!

This beautiful Narcissus greeted me home Wednesday afternoon! It's the first bloom of Spring for us and there are several more about to come out.
You can see how the flower buds start in this picture. These are probably my favorite flowers! I love how big the trumpets are. They're bulbs and I've never had to move or mess with them since the day they were planted- very easy to grow.

The amaryllis' are starting to shows leaves again. You can see where the last frost got the tip of one leaf as it first came up! They'll start to grow the stems and bloom in about a month or so. These, too, are bulbs and again I do nothing to them. Ever. Well, I may push some mulch over the tops, but that's it. I don't have the time to mess with and store bulbs anyway!

The rose bushes are even starting to push out new leaves! This is probably due to the temperature reaching the 70's this weekend. They'll get a good trimming in the next weeks. The roses, narcissus and amaryllis are in the same bed.

My orchid that lives in the kitchen is also blooming!! I took this picture on Feb 24, just as it was starting to open. You can see the start of other flowers that will come out in the next few weeks.

This picture was taken four days later. The yellow really comes out after the flower opens. Treated right, the blooms will stay for a whopping four months!

A few weeks ago I took a walk around the yard and noticed some pretty interesting things!

This is a common cooter (yes, that's really what they're called) I found by the road in the front yard. He wasn't very timid at all and let me walk right up on him without tucking his head for cover!

The only draw back to having these little guys in the ponds is what they eat.... fish! While they are mostly vegetarian, they are known to eat a good deal of minnows and other small aquatic animals.

Our century plants have wintered over perfectly! We have these on the corners of our property lines as living markers. Let's just pretend that I've already cleaned up around this little guy.... They've even started throwing off babies! This plant has a total of five so far. They send shoots off through the roots.
Century plants got their name as they are said to only bloom once in 100 years. The mature plant sends up a shoot as tall as power lines with a bouquet of flowers at the very tip top. Once the plant flowers it's purpose is done and the plant dies. This is why it sends out many babies throughout its life. We found this century along the side of the road about a year back. By the way, I'm 5' tall!

This is our largest of six pecan trees we have in the yard. The girth of this thing is amazing! Did you know that, generally speaking, pecan trees produce pecans every other year? Sure they drop a few pecans every fall, but you'll get about five times as much on the good year. The gray stuff encompassing the tree is Spanish Moss. It's an air plant (in the bromilead family) that hangs from the limbs of trees. Since we're surrounded by water and have abundant wind, this stuff is everywhere! It seems to show no real preference to what kind of tree it's in around here- we have it in pecans, dogwoods, pines, oaks and any other tree it happens to blow into... even our fig! You can use this moss for all sorts of things from crafts to bedding. If you do happen to go moss collecting, I'd like to give you a warning first! When pulling it out of the trees, be careful for bats and snakes! If you just pull it off of the ground you should still be careful for those, but mostly you'll want to watch out for red bugs (chiggers)!! You won't really be able to see them, but give it a few minutes and you'll definitely be able to feel them!!

Even more things are beginning to come out now, so stick around for more adventures!

What do you having going on around you?

Outdoor Kindergarden

I just watched this video on outdoor schooling and I feel like I should watch it again. This is really one of the best ideas I have ever seen! One thing that scares me about having children is the public school system. When/if the time comes, I would love to be able to home school my little one(s). Even though I don't have children of my own I am just disgusted with how kids are treated and the methods that are used to teach. Did you know that a lot of schools are taking away P.E.?? Kids need to be outside. They should be outside. I would put my child in an outdoor school a thousand times over! We should really adopt this and make it the norm. I hope you enjoy watching this as much as I did!! It's really that wonderful.

The owner of the video has embedding disabled, so you will have to hop over to YouTube and watch it there.

Migrating Guests

I caught these two guys in our field on December 27, 2009. Sandhill cranes are large birds that live in open grasslands, meadows, and wetlands. Mating pairs stay together with their young in tow, so I'm guessing these guys are empty nesters! They feed mostly on seeds and grain but will occasionally indulge themselves in small insects.

We see them migrating in large flocks each year, but oddly enough we had never before seen them settling down in one of our ponds. The photo below, courtesy of Ohio.gov's Department of Natural Resources, shows the tracking of a female Sandhill Crane on her journey back to the North. The red line goes directly over our house. This must be a normal route for the cranes as we see thousands upon thousands passing through on any given day during the migrating season!

I took a video of their call on my digital camera. It's crappy visual quality (I was afraid they would be gone by the time I found our video camera) but the sound of their call is pure.

Have you seen Sandhill Cranes in your area?

Just what I've always wanted!

If I'm looking for a sure fire way to relax, piddling with plants works like a charm. My favorite job ever was working for a local plant nursery. I never dreaded having to get out of my cozy bed to work in the hot summer sun or to freeze my tushie off in the Winter. Never did I tire of waiting on customers with endless questions. "I don't know what it's called, but I saw it in the mall parking lot." "Can you tell me what this is growing on my beloved roses?" "I'm no good at this, could you make a list of things that would work in my yard?" No question ever went without a good answer. It felt good sharing plant knowledge with people. I'd have to say that I learned more at the nursery than I did at any other job, possibly all of them combined. If I'm riding with someone, my eyes are constantly darting from yard to yard naming off the plants in my head. This is an excellent way to keep everything fresh and even to learn new plants!

I would love nothing more than to be able to pack up my things at this job and run back to the nursery! The sad thing is, that unless something miraculous happens in the plant world, I would never be able to survive on the wages that they pay. So, thanks to my daddy (whom I'm pretty well convinced is the best dad in the entire world) I now have that favorite job right outside my backdoor!!

I somehow neglected to take a picture of the outside, so this is from the manufacturers website!

She's slightly used (about 6 months worth) by my cousin's ex-wife (another plant enthusiast!). My dad and I have been trying to get this off of him for somewhere around a year and dad finally scored with an extremely reasonable trade! It's bigger than this picture makes it look with it being 12' deep and 10' wide. I'm not too sure on the height of it, but I'm 5'0" and can barely reach to hang a pot from the rafters! The outside is made of fiberglass that will have to be replaced over the years. The frame itself is constructed of galvanized steel which, to put it in Jami's words, will be there longer than we want it to :)

This is the inside of the green house, taken standing just outside the door. You can see how well the frame was built and the old plant hanging gives you a little perspective of the height of the structure. The built in selves are about a foot deep and go around both sides and the back. They're covered with wood which is OK for now, but when they're reading to go I think I'll cover it with something like chicken wire to allow the water to flow from the pots easier. I can also add a fan in the little square on the top middle of the back wall for more air flow if needed during our hot summers. Jami's dad was nice enough to haul in some clay/dirt and level the ground underneath. Since it doesn't have a floor in it, he also brought some old conveyor belt to put down so I won't be in the mud. He's such a nice pa-in-law; he also plowed the garden for me!

Looking out of the door you can see the bed liners we repurposed as bottom shelves. The footers on this thing have it raised up about 5" from the ground so there's an air flow around the entire bottom of it. By placing the pieces of bed liner from tailgates it totally blocks the air and makes for some mighty fine shelving.... even if it doesn't look the prettiest. For the front and rear open spots, we've temporarily placed boards to block wind. Of course I've already been told about 5 times that they will rot away in no time, but they're from an old deck that a friend tore down so I really don't give a flip if they do or not! I've got plenty more stashed out back! You can also see where it's wired up (the horizontal line running from by the door to the window). It's got the switch for the heat lamp (you can see that in the previous picture) and an electrical socket with a water proof cover.

This is looking to the other side of the door. You can see the gap I was talking about very well. This side also has wood blocking the wind for now because I have my pots sitting in the corner and a shelving unit with cover for my fertilizers and such in front of them. The black hose is a soaker hose that will probably come down since it doesn't allow for optimum watering. I don't suggest watering your potted plants this way (putting down a soaker hose in a flower bed is great, though) because not all of your plants are going to need the same amount of water at the same time. It's best to get a watering wand and water your plants as needed.

We moved in the outdoor plants this past Saturday as our first real cold weather came in that night (yea, the first frost for us was in December this year and it got down to 32*.... very chilly for us!!). I checked the temperature around 10am and it was holding a steady 70* inside the building! I'll definitely be planting some seeds early this year!!

Garden Bounty

I decided to try a garden this year, one project that's been on the list of things to do for quite some time! My pa-in-law came over and plowed up about 3/4 of an acre - waaaay more than any noob needs. Needless to say, I didn't plant the whole thing. I did plant about 40 eggplants (they were leftovers from the farmers next door. Do you know they throw the extras away?!? Ridiculous!!), 20 okra, 16 baby lima beans, 30-something cow peas, 16 black eyed peas, and about 40 English peas. I started all but the eggplants and okra from seed. Since we have very very rich soil (old cow pasture) I decided to try it without putting any fertilizer down. Things are going pretty dang good considering, but I am definitely going to put down some organic chicken fertilizer next time to get those big bushy plants! Also, the only pesticides I've put on them is Safer Soap and when the little buggies wouldn't go down with thatTriple Action +. The Safer is good for organic gardening, though I don't think you can technically call it organic, and the Triple Action+ is a lot more gentle on Big Mamma than other products out there. TA+ is also excellent for when you're not real sure what the problem is as it is a fungicide, miticide and insecticide in one!! (The Safer Soap is for the bugs only) Don't have anything on hand but noticed you've got bugs? Break out the sprayer and a little of you kitchen dish soap! Add a smidge of the soap to the water and spray, spray, spray. It'll make the leafs slippery and taste bad. Of course when you can get something a little better to spray on them, this is just a quick fix. You can also add the soap to whatever you're spraying on them to make it stick better! We used that method a whole lot at the nursery.... with 17 acres and 3 giant greenhouses those critters'll give you a run for your money!

These pictures are from a few weeks ago, but I don't have any more recent ones on my computer! Ignore the grass that's everywhere... I just can not keep it out! I'm devising a plan for next time, so maybe it won't be so much of a problem.


These are the cow peas


Baby Lima Beans


Okra


Eggplant (these aren't quite ready for picking in this picture, but they sure are now!! My Granny's already came and raided my garden since she's not doing such a big one this year! LOL!!)


I picked this basket of goodies right after I took the pictures! Mmmmmmm!!!


And since we were on the topic of gardening, my mom started her first garden this year, too, so for Mother's Day I made her a gathering apron. Sorry, no action shots, but take my word, she loved it!!


Isn't this just the cutest fabric?