Bone Marrow Soap

This soap making thing...my learning curve has tuned into more of a Tilt-O-Whirl ride with one of the really scary carnies at the control. You know the one I mean. Tattoos on each finger that spell out "wicked boy", Elvis hair from the Valium- crushed into- his- peanut- butter- sandwich days and of course the carnie would be wearing a Pink Floyd T-shirt but Floyd would be spelled "Floid" because the T-shirt was made by a friend of his. Yeah that is what my newest batch of soap looks like.

I tried the PVC pipe trick to make round bars. That part went OK.

Why thank you. I love the table too. Son Jason made it for me
for Christmas last year
 It seats about 30 as long as folks don't mind lap sitters.

 It was the coloring past that went AWOL. My intent was swirls. Instead I got this,

Can anyone tell me the number for 911 ?

Charming huh ? Like The bruised leg of a gangster that has been at the bottom of Lake Michigan for 3 months. It was suppossed to look beautiful and elegant like this

http://shop.beekman1802.com/images/1230395722606-2104052638.gif  (Oh I love those Beekman boys)

So the hardest part of this deal is...how to price it ? Or better yet what shall I name this batch of soap. "Ecchymotic Essence ?" or "Purple Repugnance ?" And shall I cut it across the grain or with the vein ? I've said it before and I'll say it again...(in a deep crop sharers voice) "No-body knows the trouble I've seen, nobody knows the sorrrrrowwww. " Yeah, I hear ya, maybe I shouldn't have left that great paying night job.

How Now Brown Cow ?

July 30, 2009

Calving takes place year round on Green Acres Farm. In the warm weather it is almost always in the pasture and an uneventful occurrence. This past Tuesday Keith noticed a cow in labor and grabbed our granddaughter Allana just in time to witness another birth. She was impressed but a little more worried about the thistles poking her legs.

What always amazes me is how attentive and interested the rest of the herd is. The moment that new babe is born they are poking their noses into things.

"No wonder she birthed so easy
what with that tiny tangerine
sized head, my Eggbert had a head the size of a beach ball. Now THAT was labor !"

Plant it and they will come.

July 29, 2009

When my husband first told me months ago we were going to plant SorghumXSudan Grass, I did my usual smile and nod trick. I know a large amount about what goes on around our farm and there is a large amount I don't know. And at that time I had no idea why he wanted to plant some syrupy grass from an Mid Eastern country . Turns out its not sticky at all (until it breaks down a little), its available right here in the US of A and it will help us meet the nutritional needs our 100% grass fed herd. It is also a frost sensitive, warm season erect annual grass that proves to be quite drought resistant. So he planted it, and it grew. Then came time to prepare it for winter silage.

We're small farmers. We have small equipment. So at times we need to hire friends and neighbors to help with certain tasks. This was one of those times







First came the Schaeffer family who hauled in
their bagger/chopper and sileage wagons.






Following them was Matt Stork who brought forth his hay mower and tractor. (Matt had cut the grass for us the day before). Our son Jason came by to help as well. So with the sun shining above the work began

.



The grass after being cut before chopping began














Gathering up the grass with the chopper and
blowing it into the wagon.









Transferring the sileage from the wagon into the bagger.












The completed bag filled full with sileage to be used this next winter.