Goat-proof Fence?

A few weekends ago our goats broke down the welded wire fence that separated our garden from the pasture.  They feasted along with the calf in our garden.  I don't really blame them. I'd do the same if I was them. Vegetables taste better than grass, I'm sure.  The lesson I learned from that is that you have to have the proper fencing for goats.  I did not have that.  I was using a very light 48 inch tall welded wire fence. Nellie had stood up on the fence and just her weight broke the welds.  I patched it, but her persistence eventually enabled her to break it down.

After doing some research I found the proper fencing at Tractor Supply Company and purchased a roll of heavy gauge 48" 4x4 wire fencing that is specifically made for Sheep and Goats.  The 4x4 holes are too small for them to get their heads through and the heavier gauge fence will not break under the goat's weight. So we picked up a 330 foot roll and over the last two Saturdays we were able to break down the old fence, erect the new one in its place and get the first sunburn of the season.  It was hot!

Impenetrable, I hope

Here is the old welded wire fence that we pulled down.  I am planning to cut out the sections that Nellie ruined and throw it away.  Then I'll use the remainder of the good fence to add to the top of the existing fence that separates the pasture from the neighbor's yard.  The goats have been standing up on the fence and craning their necks over and eating the neighbor's plants.  That has got to stop.  Extending the height to six feet should dampen their resolve.  We'll see.

Welded wire that I intend on salvaging

Here is a close up of the welded wire fence and you can see quickly how Nellie the goat was able to break this fence down.

Not Nellie-proof

We finished the fencing this afternoon and put a strand of barbed wire on the very top to discourage rubber-necking.

The new fence is up

I'm thinking that this fence is going to do the job, but we'll watch the animals very closely as they examine the new fence and try to breach it.  Hopefully, this will fence will do the job and we can spend our weekends doing more enjoyable things from here on out.

A Thankful Heart

I'm sure many of you are familiar with this photo:

Grace by Enstrom Image Credit

This hung from the wall of my grandmother (Bumby) and grandfather's (Poppy) home for years.  It now hangs in the home of my Mom and Dad.  It is a very simple picture that is so interesting.  It is funny how something so ordinary and simple can invoke complicated thoughts and emotions.  I can remember looking at it from the eyes of a small boy to today.

Just looking at it, the word Gratitude comes to mind.  Here is a very ordinary man bowed in prayer.  It is sort of dark and dreary in the room - a room devoid of any decoration or frills.  The gentleman is not threadbare, but he's not elaborately dressed either.  He seems to be clean and humble.

There are very few items in the photo - a simple loaf of bread, for one.  It immediately makes me think of "Give us this day, our Daily Bread..." from the Lord's Prayer. There is a knife to cut the bread with.  Then there is a bowl with a spoon in it. Whatever it is, it looks very plain, maybe broth or a simple soup.  Finally, there is a big book.  I'm going to assume it is a Bible.  And then there are glasses that convey that the man's eyesight is not what it once was.  He is a humble man of humble means.

Then there's what you don't see.  The man is alone.  Or is he?  I think his God is with him.  I would imagine that he doesn't merely read the Bible, he studies it, deliberately. He mines out the Truth.  He depends upon the wisdom found therein like the very air he breathes.  I would think that in studying, he has come to know His Creator and is thankful for what he has.  The man's demeanor signifies to me that his happiness, his joy, his faith, is not dependent upon health and wealth.  His love for God is not conditional upon material things. He has come to a deep understanding of what true treasure is from those beloved words of Jesus:

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matthew 6:19-21

I used to listen to Paul Harvey at lunchtime when I was farming.  I always liked his "Rest of the Story" commentaries.  Here is the story behind the picture or painting of Grace from This Website:

THE STORY OF "GRACE" A much-loved world famous picture
		Back in the year of 1918, a bearded, saintly, old man, with foot-scrapers to sell, called on Eric Enstrom at his photography studio in the tiny mining town of Bovey, Minnesota.From this chance encounter a world famous photographic study was created. Today Enstrom's picture "GRACE", showing the elderly peddler with head bowed in a mealtime prayer of thanksgiving, is known and loved throughout the world. "There was something about the old gentleman's face that immediately impressed me. I saw that he had a kind face... there weren't any harsh lines in it," Enstrom said in recalling the 1918 visit of Charles Wilden to his studio. It happened that Enstrom, at that time, was preparing a portfolio of pictures to take with him to a convention of the Minnesota Photographer's Association. "I wanted to take a picture that would show people that even though they had to do without many things because of the war they still had much to be thankful for," Enstom said. On a small table, Enstrom placed a family book, some spectacles, a bowl of gruel, a loaf of bread, and a knife on the table. Then he had Wilden pose in an manner of prayer... praying with folded hands to his brow before partaking of a meager meal. To bow his head in prayer seemed to be characteristic of the elderly visitor, Enstrom recalled, for he struck the pose very easily and naturally. As soon as the negative was developed, Enstrom was sure he had something special... a picture that seemed to say, "This man doesn't have much of earthly goods, but he has more than most people because he has a thankful heart." That Enstrom's camera had captured "something special" is an appraisal widely shared. Today many "GRACE" pictures hang in homes, restaurants and in churches across America. Prints have also been shipped to mission stations and other places around the world. The early "GRACE" pictures were printed either in black and white, or in sepia (brown tone). Later, Enstrom's daughter, Mrs. Rhoda Nyberg, of Coleraine, Minnesota, began hand-painting them in oils, and interest in the picture mounted. Enstrom remembers that his best customers for the picture in the early 1920's were people traveling through Bovey, Minnesota who saw the picture in his studio window. As soon as one framed print was sold, he'd make another to take its place. After nearly a half-century as a professional photographer, a career dating back to 1900 in Minneapolis and to 1907 at Bovey, Minnesota, Enstrom listed "GRACE" as the best of the thousands of pictures he has taken.

Mr. Enstrom did indeed capture "something special" with that photograph and it is a good reminder to me to work on having an attitude of gratitude and thankfulness. I'm reminded of the third verse to the old hymn, " Count Your Blessings," by Johnson Oatman, Jr.:

When you look at others with their lands and gold, 

Think that Christ has promised you His wealth untold,

Count your many blessings money cannot buy, 

Your reward in Heaven, nor your home on high.

Count your blessings name them one by one,

Count your blessings, see what God hath done,

Count your blessings, name them one by one,

Count your many blessings, see what God hath done.

Amen!

Name That Flower

I'm not a real big "flower-type" of guy, but some of them are pretty.  While walking around the yard, I captured some photographs of different types of blooms.  Some will be only ornamental and some are blooms of plants that produce food.  See if you can guess the names.  I put the answers at the bottom of the post:

A.

B.

C.

D.

E.

F.

G.

H.

I.

J.

K.

L.

Answers:

A. St. Joseph's lilies

B. Irish potatoes

C. White Amaryllis

D. Confederate Jasmine

E.  Red Amaryllis

F.  Black from Tula Tomato blossom

G. Yellow Cactus Flower

H. Endive blooms

I.  Yellow crookneck squash blossom

J.  Cardoon Bloom

K. Agapanthus (Lily of the Nile)

L. Hydrangea

Just BEET it!

Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD, But those who deal faithfully are His delight. - Proverbs 12:22

Vegetables are great.  I absolutely love them.  I'll admit, though, that kids don't exhibit the same exuberance for them.  Notice the next time your child lifts the lid off the pot of Brussels sprouts, spinach, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower or beets that are simmering on the stove.  You'll likely see long faces.  Today, we'll talk about a sure fire way to make the vegetable vexation vanish.

It is hard to disguise vegetables.  You're not going to fool your child into thinking that broccoli is a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup.  As our Scripture verse shown above testifies, it's not right to lie.  But what you can do is incorporate vegetables into dishes that your kid would NEVER refuse.  Take the lowly beet.  It is a root crop that is not romanticized much.  There's a lot of potential there other than steaming or pickling.

Below is one beet in a row of Bull's Blood Beets we are harvesting in our garden. These beets are called Bull's blood because their stem and leaves are the deep, rich color of a bull's blood pooling on the ground. Not a nice or appetizing visual, I know, but stick with me.

The Bull's Blood Beet

We've found a nice way to use beets in making a Red Velvet Cake.  The recipe is based off of one similar to this one on foodandwine.com: Recipe for Red Velvet Beet Cake  We altered the recipe by combining several different recipes we found online.

You'll need 1 and 1/2 cups of pulverized beets from beets that you've harvested peeled and cooked.  So start out by slicing the beets and cooking them in a little bit of water. Once cooked and cooled, puree them in a blender.

Cooking beets then pureeing them

Once you've pureed the 1 1/2 cups beets, combine with 1 cup melted butter, 1/2 cup milk (we used our homemade buttermilk), 2 teaspoons yogurt, 1 teaspoon vinegar, 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice, and four eggs.

In another bowl, mix your dry ingredients, 1 1/2 cups flour, 1 1/3 cups sugar, 1/2 cup cocoa, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.  Mix your dry ingredients with the beet mixture.

Adding the beet puree to your batter

Butter and flour and line with parchment paper 3 eight inch cake pans.  Pour your batter in and bake in a pre-heated oven at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes.  Pull out and let cool.

Letting the 3 layers of the cake cool off

For the frosting, cream together 8 ounces of cream cheese and 1 stick butter at medium speed with a hand mixer.  Then beat at low 16 ounces of powdered sugar, then at high setting until smooth.  Then frost your cake.  If you want to get fancy, top your cake with chocolate covered strawberries.

The Icing on the Cake!

Then it is time to cut the cake and enjoy.  Beets in a cake?  You better believe it!

We destroyed this cake!

As parents we didn't lie or deceive our children into eating this cake.  As they say, "The proof is in the pudding!"  The taste of the moist, delicious cake won them over and is why we make this each year during the beet harvest.

He Just Needed Killin'

Benjamin and I just finished up reading a Louis L'Amour book entitled The Mountain Valley War.  Here's an excerpt or a teaser of the book:

Holed up in a cabin in the Idaho hills, the mysterious man who called himself Trent wasn't looking for trouble. It came looking for him. A trigger-happy kid named Cub Hale emptied his gun into an unarmed man. Then he came swaggering after Trent. The girl who ran the gambling hall tried to get him to hightail it. But Trent wasn't buying. Even in that forsaken back country, he knew when a man had to speak with his shooting iron.   http://www.louislamour.com/novels/mtnvalley.htm

When we finished the final chapter, we just knew what had to be done.  With apologies to Louis L'Amour (and to be read in a dramatic tone):

The night was damp and the air was heavy.  Heavy with suffocating moisture and humidity, but also heavy with the realization that we could either continue allowing the enemy to run roughshod over the primitive settlement of the dirt farmers who eeked out a hardscrabble existence on the Cajun prairie or we could stand our ground and face the sinister outlaw who was inhabiting a homestead he didn't own, where his ruinous ways threatened their very existence.

With a look of indignation, the boy resolved to do something about it and gathered up his Marlin lever action .22 rifle and extra ammunition.  The grim reality hit him that he must take a life tonight and this solemn observance made the journey to the stall seem as long as the vast wide-openness of the American West.  He left his faithful steed tied up and instead opted to walk in determined fashion, making slow, purposeful steps to the bloody destination.  His gait was sure and steady.

The huntsman

Chickens scurried to safety, sensing the danger that was palpable - an ominous, imminent action that would soon play out near the barn.  The cattle lazily slumbered, but became quickly alert with the presence of the boy, swishing their tails at the swarming mosquitoes as if to symbolically and preemptively blot out the horrors they would soon behold in this otherwise peaceful locale.  The Day of Judgment had arrived and there was a debt that had come due.

The boy opened the gate to the barn, whose hinges responded with a creaking, and then the lights came on in the villain's lair as the boy keenly looked around for the outlaw.  As the villain showed himself, the boy's fingers pulled the hammer back. "Your time's up, vermin!" the boy muttered with disdain as he looked into the beady eyes and into the very soul of the despicable creature.   But the enemy couldn't hold the stare and true to the yellow-bellied coward that he was, turned and ran from the gunfight seeking protection amongst the rafters of the barn.

The boy's fingers twitched and found their home against the familiar trigger.  He took careful aim and followed the interloper with the long barrel of his weapon as the wrong-doer ran.  Coward. Time seemed to stand still.  As if in slow motion, the single shot rang out through the thick darkness.  Dust in the air parted as the pellets made their way to their destination. The sound could be heard far and wide across the settlement and all inhabitants perceived what this sound meant.  It was a hearkening sound of justice, freedom, and finality.  No more would they be plagued by this scourge, nay, judgment had been rendered and the debt had been marked "Paid in Full."

The pungent smell of burnt gunpowder filled the enclosure along with the scent of death.  The young man spat on the ground accentuating his disdain for the villain as the trespasser kicked and struggled and breathed his last breath.  "He just needed killin'," the boy uttered.  Somewhere in the distance, a dog howled signaling the end of a long, darkened night which would soon usher in a bright new day on Our Maker's Acres Family Farm.  Oh take heed, all ye dirty rats that welcome filth and breed destruction.  There's a new sheriff wearing the badge and his name, well, his name is Benjamin.

The Huntsman and His Prey

Well, we were unable to catch him in the rat trap, the bucket trap, or the glue trap, but Benjamin got him with a .22 rifle loaded appropriately with rat shot.

He's dead!

He was a big old fellow.  For perspective, that is a size 10 1/2 boot!

Tails you LOSE!

Tomorrow, we try to get his mate.  The hunt never ends.  The guy in the white hat must always be vigilant and watchful.  

The Cardoon

Each year I'll plant a few strange items in the garden, just because I like odd things.  I wanted to show you a plant that we've grown in the past and have growing this year, too.  This is by far the easiest thing to grow.  I think it is easiest because it is, in essence, a weed.  Funny how you don't have to nurture weeds - they just grow!  The plant I'm talking about is the Cardoon.  Cardoon is in the thistle family and is related to the artichoke.  You might notice the resemblance to the artichoke in the bloom of the cardoon from the picture below:

Cardoons are blooming in our garden

This plant is prevalent in Spain and Italy and can be eaten.  In the past, we have prepared a French dish called Cardoon Au Gratin.  It was good, but it certainly was a lot of work to prepare.  You must take the stalk and remove the outer layer along with the 'strings' that grow on the stalk.  The outer portion of the cardoon stalk is VERY bitter.  You don't want to put your fingers in your mouth after doing this or you'll be sorry.  I learned this the hard way!

In some parts of the world, this is an invasive weed that grows everywhere.  I can see how that is true. Although I think it is a pretty plant, it gets big, with large leaves and overtakes everything in its path.  I've cut it back and it just regrows from the roots. I'll generally let it bloom, let it dry out, and then gather the seeds for use next year. If anyone would like some, I'd be more than happy to share.  Isn't this a beautiful bloom?

The Cardoon Flower

Now, one thing I learned, but haven't tried yet is that you don't have to import thistles or weeds like cardoon from other locales to grow and eat.  Any Louisianan knows that we have plenty of thistles and weeds that will grow on their own without propogation of seeds.  What I didn't know is that you can eat them.  If you live in Louisiana (or maybe other parts of the south), you've no doubt seen this thing below growing on roadsides or perhaps in your yard.  They are everywhere!

Image Credit

You might have learned from experience not to kick them as they have sharp prickly spines on them!  It is best to chop them with a shovel or hoe.  What I learned is that you can eat this thistle.  It requires a little preparation, but not as much as the cardoon.  All you do is chop the stalk, remove the leaves and peel the darker green outer layer off.  What remains is a pale greenish yellow hollow stalk that can be eaten raw.  It is supposedly cool and crisp.  I think with the warmer weather, all the thistles may be too far mature for this, but I've made a mental note of this and I'm going to try to eat one next year.

One man's trash (weed) is another man's treasure (feed)!

An Unexpected Visitor

This afternoon I threw some rice out to the chickens and something didn't quite seem right with our flock.  All the normal cast of characters were there - with one large addition.  A peacock.  Let me rephrase that - a peafowl hen.  When I threw another handful of rice, the hen flew over the fence.  We all just watched her in amazement since we've not seen peafowl on our property before.

I threw her some rice and it scared her and she flew over the perimeter fence toward the patch of woods directly south of our property, so I threw her some rice to eat on near the fence.  She must've escaped from someone's farm.  I didn't see a band on her legs.  She was real timid, though and wouldn't let me get near her.  It was getting dark, so the pictures below aren't very good.

A visiting peahen

When I got back indoors I did some research on peafowl since we've never owned any and know nothing about them.  First, in looking through the pictures I'm almost positive that the bird is what's called an India Blue Pea hen.  This bird is the national bird of India.  These birds are quite expensive.  Murray McMurray Hatchery sells these peafowl chicks at a price of 8 for $392 - That's roughly $50 per bird!

On the lam!

So that's why I'm a bit concerned about the fugitive on the loose.  One of my neighbors spent quite a bit of money on this bird and there are dogs and other predators in the neighborhood that could make a $50 investment go away in no time flat.  There is no way I could catch the bird, but I'll continue to try and feed it until I can get close enough to try to catch her with a net.

Goodnight Mrs. Pea Hen

At least the pea hen cleared up a mystery.  We've been hearing the strangest noises in the late evening.  A sound that sounds remarkably like a very loud cat's MEOW. When I looked up the sound that a peacock makes and listened to it, well, now we know where the sound originated from!