Year's end...

Another artful presentation by Magnus. This cat knows how to relax! He also knows how to bring live mice inside the house via the cat door as it's been about 1/2 dozen in December alone [that we know about]. Why not bring the mouse inside where it is warm and dry to chase around the living room when the weather is bad? Or better yet the bedroom! But only when your people are sound asleep at night...

We apple tree wassailed on solstice eve this year... one of the few photos taken below. Apparently we were all too busy wassailing or hanging out by the bonfire to do much documenting this go around. Suffice it to say that judging by the empty cider-mead [cyser] bottles, the trees should grow well and bear well come spring/summer!

This is the bed of the truck filled with our steers, just back from the butchers. We hope to do some weighing as to what we got back meat wise, but Doug was 492 pounds hanging weight, Buddy 393 pounds. We sold 1/2 Buddy to family, and we'll hang on to the 1 1/2 beef for now. Our 2 chest freezers are full-up at this juncture! Tonight is sirloin tip steak for dinner... one from each steer and later we'll post our comparison.

This video might be a better display the quantity of beef... it's a lot!

For hibernation season, it has been one heck of a busy month. Not only were the steers taken care of, all of our seeds, and spuds for garden 2010 are ordered. We are also registered to attend the 2010 Country Living Expo and Cattlemen's Winter School <- click for more information.
We attended last year and it was really a terrific experience. As their website says... "the Country Living Expo and Cattlemen’s Winterschool is just for you. You can attend classes on a multitude of topics, network with other small farmers, enjoy a prime rib lunch and visit with local agricultural businesses offering you service..." There are a number of classes this year on business laws for small farms, incorporating, but also hands on courses like beekeeping, raising grains, butchering chickens, mud mitigation, you name it! It's an excellent program that we recommend any small or backyard farmer in the area try to attend.

We are also making arrangements to be at the 2010 Small Farmers Journal Auction in Madras, Oregon April 14-17, an auction of horse drawn equipment, carriages, harness and horses. Pony seriously needs some better harness, maybe even another cart/wagon, and we have been told this is the place to find both selection and good prices. Also should be an opportunity to network with some other people into pulling horses or ponies!

Looks like we'll be rolling into 2010 with all kinds of adventures to look forward to...

Meat with a name - Doug & Buddy

WARNING:

The following pictures are graphic, and a detailed record of how our two steers were turned from livestock into meat. If you keep reading, you will see blood and dead cows, and also learn where meat should come from (not factory farms).

Disclaimer: Anyone who prefers to eat meat 'without a name' should get to know the millions of nameless animals who are tortured and killed for the sole purpose of providing this country with abnormally cheap meat. Read this article and please go the extra mile to make sure you do eat meat with a face and a name.

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Here's the processing truck from Keizer Meats in Lynden, WA. They had slaughtered 2 steers before our turn, as you can see already hanging inside. The truck is equipped with its own running water and a generator to run the meat saw.

We don't have pictures of Doug (Douglas Fir of Seven Trees) and Buddy (RdoubleD Acres Buddy) actually being shot. To get a good clean kill, the fewer distractions the better. The boys were offered one last pan of grain and an apple, and both went down immediately thanks to the skill of the guys from Keizer. Below is Doug. He was shot in the forehead from a few feet away, and in this picture already has his throat cut.

And Buddy, also with his throat cut.

Buddy was more wild in life, and also in death. I'm sure everyone knows that chickens can flap around quite a bit after having their heads cut off. Well, cattle are no different. It took Buddy rather a long time to let go of this world, and for safety's sake we gave him a lot of room until he was done.

The steers were each rolled onto their backs and chocked into place like you do with a trailer or car you want to prevent from rolling.

Here are both steers partially dressed out. We found out it would cost nearly $500 to have Doug's hide tanned, so sadly we had to skip it. The knacker is taking Buddy's insides out in this picture, and Doug is to the right.

At this point, Buddy is nearly turned into quarters of beef, ready to go into the truck.

This is Doug. You can see how well he ate by all the abdominal fat hanging inside. At the very bottom left are his intestines, and to the right his lungs.

The Keizer employees did a wonderful job, from kill to quartering two steers in only 2 hours. Here is Doug being split into halves with a saw.

They hoist the halves up high enough so that the front quarters are able to be put on hooks hanging from the inside of the truck ceiling, then cut the front from the back quarters.

And here are Doug and Buddy, ready to head to Keizer Meats for 14-day ageing, then custom cut & wrapped for us to bring home.

This has been an incredible experience, not just today, but from the very beginning with bringing Stella (Doug's mom) home as a heifer calf back in November 2006. We will definitely do this again, but probably not with a steer that we bred, birthed and raised all on Seven Trees ground.

This is a clip of Buddy (already well-dead) being dragged across the barnyard to the gambrel hoist.

Slipping into summer.....

Another busy weekend, and the weather finally cooperated! Here's Doug & Buddy, lounging in all the grass they haven't eaten yet. Looks like they are both headed to 'freezer camp' in November, but we won't be cow-free for long....
The bees are doing great, but not ready for the honey super yet. This is one of the outer frames of the upper deep hive body we put on last week. No eggs in it yet, though they are drawing out comb and filling it with honey/nectar/pollen as fast as they can.

Check out the girl-next-door! Isn't she cute? This is a couple-week-old Shorthorn/Galloway cross heifer, who might just end up moving to Seven Trees when she's a bit older. This coloration is a newer one for the Galloway breed, but Shorthorns & Galloways are old Scottish cattle that do well in our climate, put on good weight on grass, and if you're lucky, still have some milking ability left in them (though they're mainly used for beef these days).

These precocious little bean plants are now planted outside and getting ready to tackle their bamboo pole teepees. The other pots are full of cuke, squash, melon, pepper, tomato & herb starts. It doesn't look like it in this pic, but in one warm sunny day, nearly everything sprouted at once. Hopefully all these plants will keep at it once they hit the dirt so we can have a bumper crop of good food.

Here's the genius himself, with his lack-legged sidekick. Nothing says love like a fresh tennis ball...

Gemini took us for a nice long drive this weekend. There were all kinds of 'scary' things going on, like motorcycles, pink flagging tape, hay trucks, tractors, kids, mailboxes, chickens, his own shadow....but most terrifying of all was the giant pig at the hog farm down the road. Who knew that pony-boy has hog-phobia. But we spent some quality time walking him close to all the spooky things, and he's really getting the hang of being a reliable cart pony no matter what is going on around him. After we got him home & cooled off, I just had to see if he'd hop in our utility trailer. No problem! He's pretty willing to try anything if you ask him nicely.

Last, but never least, Stewart demonstrates proper chewing technique on his tennis ball. We have to buy these by the case because it doesn't take him long to shred one with his monster grizzly-bear jaws.....

Spring project kick-off

At the Cattlemen's Winterschool last weekend, we got some info about the Western Washington Fruit Research Foundation. It was formed to fund tree fruit research at the WSU Northwest Research & Extension Center in Mount Vernon, WA. They are holding their annual winter field day on March 7th, with seminars on pruning, grafting, pests, and general fruit and berry growing. Looks like we won't be able to make it, but the websites of the 2 groups have some very helpful tips for fruit growing in the Pacific Northwest.

There were over 700 people attending the Winterschool. We took classes on barnyard drainage issues, beekeeping, cider-making, composting, and chicken processing. We took a lot of notes and got some great handouts from the teachers and exhibitors. Looks like we may be getting a beehive this spring after all! We're really looking forward to next year's workshops, since you can only take 5 classes, there were a lot more we missed out on. And we're hoping they add an intro to draft animals, so we can get some ideas on putting Gemini to work at Seven Trees.

Magnus is teaching his own winterschool in advanced sleeping techniques. I love his method of falling asleep in the rocking chair while doing his laundry. A real professional!

We got the spare coop moved this weekend. We need to paint it before we put it up on pier blocks, and start getting it ready for the new chickies in March. Sometime this summer we'll insulate it and add a layer of plywood inside, so it's as warm & cozy as the smaller coop.

It was quite a workout, walking it across the barnyard. The steers are happy to have a little more room for roughhousing, and now we can enclose both coops in a varmint-resistant run. We're getting ready to start the next project, which is running power to the coops and barn. What a treat to get rid of extension cords and have a real electric light to work by. We'll also add a security light near the end of the drive, since the front porch light doesn't really make it out that far.
We're still eating last season's onions, garlic, squash & potatoes fresh from the garden, but not much left. We'll be planting even more this year. Plenty of canned goods left, green beans, pears & applesauce especially. I'll be making jam out of the blackberries & strawberries left in the freezer, to make room for upcoming harvests. Always something tasty in season here, once we figure out what to grow when, and how much to preserve.

Here's Doug & Buddy showing how excited they are about the coop-moving project. Doug definitely takes after his mom when it comes to being bossy and yelling for food....

Winter weekend

It's been a quiet week at Seven Trees. Seeds are ordered, chicks are ordered, paint colors picked out. Now we just have to wait for spring. So we decided to make some bread. It's a great recipe that only takes a few minutes of work, and no kneading. Goes great as a loaf, especially with butter and homemade grape jelly. And it works as pizza crust too.
The recipe is from soon-to-be-gone Seattle PI - "Here's how to make artisan bread with just a few minutes of work".

Here we have Magnus Cat (who now has his own Facebook page), investigating the laundry.
Since it's been too dang cold to take Gemini out for a drive (and he may be too woolly for his harness anyway!) he got a workout on the lunge line. He doesn't care for being made to exercise ;)


Here he is, after blowing off a little steam, with a quick peek at Doug & Buddy, who were fascinated by the whole thing. What sounds like traffic in the background is the north wind which has been blowing steady for a long chilly time.


Almost forgot!
The big "demand" button in the upper right corner is to request Marc Gunn to play in the PNW. He's a very entertaining musician and podcaster, and we'd love to see him play at one of the Highland Games or a local pub. His home page with more information is at http://www.marcgunn.com/about.shtml
If you like cats, Irish music and drinking, then check out Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers
And if you want to hear a well-chosen mix of Celtic & Irish music, try Marc Gunn's Irish & Celtic Music Podcast

Today was Burns Night, the annivesary of poet Robert Burn's birthday. We didn't celebrate it this year, since we didn't procure a haggis in time, but maybe next year...

There are a lot of customs and rituals surrounding this observation, most dramatic of which is the Entrance of the Haggis. Here's a step-by-step video guide and more great information, plus recipes, from the BBC Food site.

August = chores!

Yet another load of hay stashed in the garage. Some really nice fescue/orchardgrass that the critters approve of heartily. We have a pretty good menu of various cuttings and grass varieties to accommodate the needs of all our herbivores. I wouldn't mind having a round bale dumped in the barnyard to give them something to snack on between meals. With just one of us taking care of the place for the next 6 weeks, every shortcut helps.
Here's Princess Stella having a pedicure. Too bad we didn't get the lifting process on video. The metal stall part starts out upright. She walks into it and gets lifted and turned with heavy duty slings.
The giant "bolt cutters" take off the bulk of overgrown hoof, then she gets her nails filed with a hand-held grinder. She wasn't too thrilled with the process, but she looks great now. There aren't too many people willing to come work on just one cow, so finding such a skilled and friendly trimmer was a huge relief. Email us at the info link or post a comment if you want his contact info for cow trimming in Whatcom County.

Beets! These are Early Wonder Tall Top, a new variety for us this year. The greens are just ok for eating, but the beets themselves are really tasty, and even better pickled. I still blanched & froze the greens anyway, since come winter we'll be happy for any "free" veggies we can get. We've been harvesting chard, kohlrabi, the last of the lettuce, carrots, cukes (8 quarts of dill pickles so far), a few Stupice tomatoes, Anaheim & Islander peppers, and of course lots of potatoes. The Reddales are about ready to dig up completely, and the Island Sunshine & Ozette fingerlings are not far behind. The garlic is harvested and drying, green beans are getting a late start but starting to shape up, and the corn looks very happy so far.
Got the trim on the back corners of the run-in installed. Now Gemini & Ryder have a lpace to get out of rain & wind and still have lots of fresh air. We'll keep fancying it up later this year though.
Stella and Doug, posing for the camera. The vet didn't think she's pregnant, but we think she is. With Dexters, sometimes the fetus is too small to feel so early, so there is a margin for error on his diagnosis. We could do a blood test to be sure, but we'll just wait & see. She's weaning Doug right now, and will all we have going on this summer, I decided to stop milking. There just isn't time to do twice a day milking, and I also don't want to deal with the bellowing that will commence once they are separated. We got 5 good months of milking, and later I'll post a grand total of how many gallons we got over how many days. I'm still pondering how I want to milk next time. I'd like to milk longer, but the convenience of letting the calf do most of the work is very tempting. We are back to buying milk. It's raw, local Jersey milk from Jackie's Jerseys. Tasty, but nowhere near as rich as Stella's.

Here's Ryder, modelling the new stanchion. He got dehorned Friday, and his shots. He's settling in ok, and we've been walking him and working with him, and enjoying the learning process of training a bull calf.

Ryder is here!

Here's the little guy. We drove nearly 3 hours each way to pick him up, but he looks so nice and beefy, we think he'll be well-worth the effort. His dad was a wonderfull bull from great milking lines, so he should be a great match for Stella.

Living with a bull is a little tricky. We'll have to make sure he knows we're in charge, but I think we can handle that just fine.

He did great on the ride home. Here's Stella & Doug staring at him. They're in separate pens for now, but close enough to get acquainted.Here are a couple clips of Stewart, showing how well he follows instructions. Such talent!

Is she or isn't she?

They certainly look rather bored with each other, don't they? This weekend, if I got my days counted right, would be when Stella shows sign of coming into heat if she's not pregnant. She pretty much did boring cow things like eating, sleeping, grooming Doug and Nash. No sparks, no mooning about like a lovesick teenager. And her milk production has gone back up to a steady 3 quarts at morning milking, after her brief experiment with holding back milk from me. Doug still gets most of the cream, but we'll manage until weaning time.

Here's Doug, in his favorite napping spot, a bed of leftover hay, next to a stump. It's usually shady when it's hot, and dry when it rains. It's also conveniently out of the way of grown up hooves.

One of us at Seven Trees is going to have major surgery in August with about a 2 month recovery time. That means we'll be hammering on a few projects to make sure we're ready to cope with the drastic labor-force reduction. Now that the garden is mostly in (and we just laid soaker hoses in all beds to speed watering) and the perimeter fence is done, we're concentrating on running electric fencing to delineate all the grazing paddocks. We should be able to rotate them through all 5 with plenty of time to let the grass regrow and disrupt the parasite cycles. We sold our main laying flock in preparation for the younger batch to start laying anytime. They get to free range where ever the cattle go, and that helps keep the bugs down too.

The next project will be building an 8 x 16 lean-to type shelter on the south side of the barn. This will give us 2 stalls that can open into grazing paddocks, separate from each other and/or the barn & barnyard. This is where our new bull will live, and also be a holding pen for anyone who might need to be kept apart. We're designing it with our upcoming hurricane season in mind. Since it's on the side where the worst storms come from, it needs to withstand extreme wind and rain. We're also hoping to run a buried powerline along the driveway, with outlets at the chicken coop, outlet & light in the barn, and a light at the end of the drive for safety (and security).

If the stars all align properly, one last project this summer will be painting the house. It's been on the list forever, and really needs it, but painting weather and free time don't always end up in the same universe.

Raining like kittens & cats!

The weather is not cooperating much with our outdoor plans & projects. The cats, on the other hand, don't seem to mind a bit as long as there is a comfy place to hang out.

Here's Mercia multitasking, grooming between naps, or maybe it's the other way around...

And Magnus, casual as ever in the face of paparazzi.
And finally, Master Crichton himself, giving his new cat tree a test run. Only the finest Whatcom County orchardgrass hay for this feline connaisseur!

If the weather ever catches up with the calendar, we'll continue setting fence posts on the last unfenced corner, finishing the garden prep, and getting ready for Nash's arrival on Monday. Doug did fine with the vet Friday. He's no longer a bull, and everyone is up to date on vaccinations. Stella has learned the exciting trick of holding back her milk for Doug, so we've been working with her to unlearn it, or at least loosen up a bit. It is fairly common for a first calf heifer to be really focused on the calf, and not interested in sharing with people.

News flash!
In the middle of a rain storm, at bedtime, Magnus has figured out the cat door. These kittens have previously shown no interest in going outside, even though they're nearly a year old! Now they'll probably be up all night running in & out, practicing their new skill.

A bull in the hand....

Looks like Ramblin Bob is booked right about the time we want Stella to be bred. Instead of having to deal with a calf that is too early or too late for our needs, we decided to see how

RdoubleD Nash Rambler will do. We pondered buying him last year, but didn't, and we're talking with his owner now about price etc. Nash is a year younger than Stella, and has the same dad as Bob. He's a real cutie, and having our own bull will save the worry of making sure we have a guy with a good bloodline booked each year.

Speaking of guys, Doug is just old enough to notice Stella is in heat, and too small to do anything about it. Time to get the vet out here to take care of that business! Stella is still giving a good amount of milk for the short time apart from Doug. Sometimes a bit over a gallon, sometimes a bit under. Once Doug is weaned, I'll be able to get more, with lots more butterfat. She's still very motivated to hold some back for Doug right now, which is fine, since we want him to grow up big & healthy.

Spring fever

Here's the kittles, wishing they had earned such a wonderful breakfast before chores.

Stella & Doug, in a mother and son sprint down paddock 2.
And a couple of video clips of mom & baby.

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Milking log:

Stella has been giving about 2 quarts after being apart from Doug 3-5 hours. I notice she lets down again for him maybe 10 minutes after I'm done. A more experienced friend says I may be too slow to get everything. I didn't realize that the window of time a cow lets her milk down could be as short as 10 minutes, so my next efforts will be to speed up milking a bit.

Today, 3/18, I tried milking a bit faster, and got 3 quarts! I think I could have gotten more if I tried a little longer, but I wanted to end on a positive note.

Stella is getting better about the whole routine, though she still doesn't like being herded/pulled into her stall. She also knows when I ask "want apple?" that it means a treat is coming.