Get along little doggie....

My brother-in-law came by this morning and took all but one of the calves to auction. He told us that he would only take one {to test the waters} but it seems he has changed his mind. He left one small {short and stout} bull that he has named Bones. My brother-in-law has these grandiose visions of him riding Bones through the fields as one would ride a horse. The thing is, this is the same man that couldn't tame a donkey and ended up giving the poor thing to someone else to break. I really don't see him breaking a bull.

The calves taught me a bit {how to avoid stepping in manure} but not enough to help me decide if I want one on a permanent basis. They were not here long enough for that. I have no idea how long Bones will be with us, or if some of the calves won't sell at auction, and be back with us. If we do decide on taking on a cow or two, I want it to be a milking cow. We spend more money on milk than we do beef in this house. I know it will be more work for me, but in the long run it will save us money. My boys can easily go through 3 gallons of milk in a week, more if I allowed it. And at $3.00USD a gallon, I can't afford to keep this up. A milk cow sounds better and better.

We are discussed the mulch issue. We have decide to go the way of a winter harvest and sweet clover next year. Let's see how that works.

The organic Garden

This morning I must take the time to reflect on why I chose to have an organic garden. And not the USDA's version of organic. I am talking no stimulants, no pesticides, no herbicides. This weekend we took on the much needed weeding. My melon patch {actually it should be called a gourd patch, I have watermelon, lumina and big max pumpkin, butternut and spaghetti squash, zucchini and cantaloupe} has been invaded by tall tree like weeds. I need to find out what they are called {The enemy must have a name} Weeded the 28 tomato plants and found six volunteers, and two volunteer watermelon vines. We fenced and started to trellis the tomato plants, last year I was literally crawling on the ground to pick the fruit. My lettuce and cabbage have been surrounded by field grass and wheat. So today my hands are sore and gnarled. I fear the brown and green stains will never come off my hands.

We sweated in the 98f degree weather, was attacked by flying ants while bumblebees thumped us on the forehead. The sun found a way to burn us through our sun screen. Caterpillars have found their nirvana on our veggies, and I have grown us to the stink of squashing certain beetles with my fingers every morning. But on the bright side, we had fresh carrots, lettuce, radishes, cucumber and peas to eat with dinner. The corn looks strong, the radish have started to seed, the pok choi is delicious, and the peppers have flowered. It will be only a matter of time before we get to fully enjoy the benefits of our garden.

Now to figure out this mulch thing.

pictured above is a varity of fresh loose leaf lettuce