Testing the soil

We tested our soil this week, after last week's realization. Good news: plenty of potash. Bad news: scarcely any nitrogen at all.
This is vital stuff. It explains some problems we've had with growing stuff in the past. And it shows us what we have to do next.

Regressive weekend

Friday was splendid, but the weekend has been challenging.

Friday saw warm weather, bright skies, pleasant breezes. Temps were in the 60s, even the 70s, down in the valley.


But Saturday dawned cold and dark, clouds pushed into place by a large cold front.


The temperature sagged down to the 40s. Crocuses looked resentful. Goats and chickens bore up. Winter's hands are slow to withdraw.

This morning the weather warmed scarcely at all, and the goats decided to revolt. Chocolate, our milking goat, paused halfway through being milked. She withdrew from her position slightly - one other goat charged in to seize her food - the other goat blundered in to help...

I charged after Chocolate, trying to coax her back to her place. Ghost and Bramble leaped in from both sides, trying to protect their fellow from my wheedling. They also tried to snack on the food I held out as a bribe. I fended them off with a squirtgun under one hand, goat chow in one hand, milk pail swinging and clanging from the other. All became seething chaos.

So I retreated. Ceredwyn told me that yes, this can happen, and to wait it out. Wait I did, and when I finally returned to the scene of this goat-ish October Revolution, all was calm. Chocolate was placidly milked, while Bramble and Ghost waited outside the shed. (One and 1/4 cup milk, plus 5 eggs)

Onward!

April still being cruel

The soil is still too hard to dig, after several days with temperatures in the 20s.

TinyFarmblog reminds us that it's a good time to test the soil. We have never done this, so it's vital to begin.

Chilling Documentary

Farming in the Peak Oil era. From a British farmer and filmaker.

Home produce: cream cheese and biscuits

This is my really local breakfast: Biscuits my lovely husband made from locally milled flour with our own goat milk (Ingredients: flour, milk baking powder). Strawberry jam I made from last summer from local strawberries (ingredients: strawberries, sugar, pectin). Fresh cream cheese I made yesterday (ingredients: goat milk, yogurt culture, rennet, salt).

One meal closer to self sufficiency.

April winds versus the trees

April is the cruelest month: high winds yesterday, roaring across the mountain. They pulled trees back and forth. Several trees finally broke, like this one, toppled across our lane.


I hauled it out of the way. Later on I'll cut it up for firewood. Should be good stuff.

This morning the winds remained, and now carried some fresh snow. I imagine, anthropomorphically, that the trees look patient and tired, even melancholy:

April 1, 2009

A chilly morning here. Yesterday afternoon water stood in puddles and hollows all over the land, snowmelt seeking freshly warmed earth. Only a few piles of snow still stood. But the temperature sank below freezing last night, and the morning now shows fragile ice everywhere. There are weirdly shaped twists of soil, too, grooves in mud turned to miniature canyons and surreal tumuli.

The animals are busy, generating milk and eggs at high rates.

Too cold for much sap, but Ceredwyn will see if she can boil some today.

I (Bryan) am setting aside the next week to work on the land. If the thaw happens, I'll dig holes for fence posts, and carve out new garden beds. Failing that, it's time to cut down a few trees and saw them up for next winter.