Thumbs Up

Relaxing at home after William's surgery day.

I asked the Vet Tech to confirm an Official Toe Count while he was under:  Twenty-two.

Long may the Tabbies reign.

William

I have long wanted a huge, striped, short-haired, polydactyl male cat with a great personality.  William is all that, with the exception of huge. 

Now I have two cats who are more interested in each other than in hanging out with me.  I am so, so grateful that the Mitsy/William integration has been smooth so far. 

Photo is from his ad in Uncle Henry's; the ad copy follows.  

Category: Pets & Accessories

For Sale Price: $25.00

Short haired orange and white male kitten. 7-8mos old. Not neutered. Huge paws - has quite a few extra toes. Very friendly and Very playful. Acts like a dog and with time, I'm sure he'd could get along great with a dog as well. Curently lives with an older couple who need to place him in a new home. He is litter box trained. He has been an only cat but I'm sure could get along with others. Must go to loving new home. $25 adoption fee. He was a bit younger in the picture shown. CFMI.

Mitsy

You may be as surprised as the cat in this picture to hear that Pleasant Pond Farm has already gained a new feline overseer.

Mitsy has been very busy inspecting her new domain and cataloging all the smells, but has also made time for plenty of head-butting, singing, and biscuit-making.

Thank you so much, Steph!

Time, place and occasion, indeed.

Edith

Edith the cat of Richmond, Maine died on Saturday, September 18th at Androscoggin Animal Hospital in Topsham.

At one year of age, Edith was living independently on Elizabeth Street in Manhattan's Little Italy. A chance meeting one August night in 1990 resulted in her move to an apartment on nearby Mott Street, which she shared with Sandra and another cat, Alberta.

From New York City, Edith relocated several times. She experienced island life in the Puget Sound of Washington State, and held her own in feline society of Berkeley, CA. She enjoyed vacations in Mattapoisett, MA, and five tranquil years in a farmhouse in Maine.

Edie was an indoor cat who appreciated outside playing. She took her name from Now Please Don't You Cry, Beautiful Edith by Rahsaan Roland Kirk.

Edith was predeceased by Alberta, and is survived by Sandra.

It is June

I considered suspending this blog after my whiny post of April. Since then I got a garden in.

Tomatoes, Chiles, Eggplant, Brussels Sprouts, Kale, Swiss Chard, Beans, Cucumbers, Squash and Corn! Herbs and flowers.

Even have a little space left to think about.

Oriole feeder

Hummingbirds and Bobolinks have arrived! I am ready for the Orioles.

Three oranges, three bamboo skewers, and three pieces of twine.

There will be a garden this year!

Amy is here. Off to Wilton!

No Mojo

This Spring feels unexpected, like the mob of migrating Goldfinches that swooped in and cleaned out the feeders this morning. I like it, but still, I'm surprised.

I confess that I am not ready to deal with growing at all. Walking round the place this lovely weekend, all I can think of is maybe raising catfish or eels; it is that wet. The state of my barn roof keeps me up at night.

Woodcock! Peepers! Round bales steaming, maples flowering. Normally at this time I would have seedlings going under lights. However, I don't even have any garlic in the ground. Maybe that is the problem.

The hens certainly don't share my problem. Both the 4 year-old Marans, and the 10+ year-old Hamburgs are LAYING!!!

Silver Spangled Hamburgs

The Massachusetts chickens are settling in nicely! Many thanks to my Aunt Priscilla for giving me these beautiful birds. They belonged to my Uncle Joe, and are over ten years old.

One week ago, I grabbed them one by one, stuffed them in boxes, and drove them four hours to this strange, cold place. Uncle Joe's custom-made feeder is the only reminder they have of their old home.

I can see why Uncle Joe kept the Silver Spangled Hamburgs around, even though the hens have stopped laying. Since the relocation, they have been calm and friendly. They are also graceful and pretty.

The group consists of two hens, and one rooster with incredible spurs.

Over the partition live my four non-laying Cuckoo Marans hens, or my "Stewing Hens" as I refer to them when I swipe my credit card at the feed store. Such sweet and dopey survivors; in the absence of dining companions, it is easy to procrastinate.

I am proud to say that my Marans have been friendly and welcoming to the Hamburgs. This afternoon, I left the coop partition open and everyone was circulating peacefully.

A photo from last winter:

Two approaches to Merrymeeting Bay

Yesterday would have been a great day to get the garlic in. Instead I took the boat out on the Cathance River. It was a beautiful, sunny November 1st and the tide was running in, so I was paddling against a current as I approached Merrymeeting Bay. I got as far as the transmission lines before my instinct for self-preservation overruled. Saw some light chop upstream on the way back to Bowdoinham.

Warm and dry, and with time to kill before the pasture walk at Crystal Springs Farm, I drove the drive I always do to get fleeting looks at Merrymeeting Bay: Route 24. This time with a kayak strapped on top, my attention was a little different. I remembered seeing duck hunters putting in one time on the Foreside Road. So I parked down there and tried the Muddy River approach.

Check this out:


View Larger Map

The wind was really refreshing. Reminiscent of March in MA when it is time to fly kites. However it is actually freaking NOVEMBER in ME and were there a mishap, no one would miss me for days, so I turned around before I got to the Bay.

Then I went to to the Maine Grass Farmers Network Fall Pasture Walk at Crystal Springs Community Farm, and met Tom Settlemire. The Northeast Katahdin Hair Sheep Project, and the Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust will have to be a topic of another post.

Pleasant Pond

Finally! Only today, after nearly 5 years here, did I finally get a kayak onto Upper Pleasant Pond. I have snowshoed on the pond, and have launched from/landed on it in a seaplane piloted by Paul Harvey. Today was my first boating excursion. A lovely fall day: 60 degrees, sunny, with foliage still brilliant. I discovered that lily pads have their own kind of fall color.

I purposefully paddled south, toward Route 197, because I have heard that it is a good birding place. One Bald Eagle and one Great Blue Heron obliged. Lots of ducks flew up, but I have no idea what kind, and was not carrying binoculars.

Nothing but rave reviews for the 12' LLB Calypso! On and off the Forester all by myself! Very responsive and maneuverable, yet tracks like a kayak costing many times the price!

October 2009

Taking a vay-kay day from the Elder Care Contingency Reserve. Elders have been fine lately, so I can do it.

Had a blast at the Common Ground Fair. Amy came up on Friday; Esme and Karen followed us to Unity in the Prius on Saturday morning as I drove and yakked with Amy, while foolishly choosing to follow the "Shortest Distance" route directed by Gertrude (the GPS.) We caught the early sheepdog demo, a "Co-existing with Predators" presentation by the Coyote Project, and a talk by Linda Cortright, editor of Wild Fibers magazine. Appreciated Will Bonsall's talk about legumes. Purchased yarn, seed garlic, dulse, sausages and quail eggs.

Ate deep-fried shiitake mushrooms, "Give Peas a Chance" soup, great potstickers, and an eye-opening Peekytoe crab roll. Coffee was available at the fair for the first time this year. I think I enjoyed my decaf all the more because it felt so illicit!

Fast forward to October. The long-awaited, Nose-to-Tail Pork Processing Workshop was everything I had hoped for, and more. I'm still processing my notes and recipes. Three Days of Hog Heaven. Many, many thanks to instructors Eric Rector and Clayton Carter! Thanks also to MOFGA for organizing, and to all the workshop participants!

What does it say about modern life that, I am so ignorant that I have to sign up a year in advance for a course on such an essential, cooperative, human activity as pork processing?

So cold so early! Getting my knit on with some nice Pygora fiber.

Washout

It rains and rains. I can't really complain. I work indoors; it's not been hot, and I prefer this to a drought. Had I prepared better last fall I would have had more raised bed space, and drainage would not be such an issue.

This year is not for tomatoes. And to think I had grand eggplant plans! I do have garlic, onions, shallots, podding radishes, peas and favas, and lots of happy slugs. And enough dried '08 chiles to hold me over.

You may have heard about my woodchuck hunting exploits. After 6 weeks in Hunter Safety class with a bunch of twelve-year-old boys, I finally obtained Madre's .22, and shot one little woodchuck from this year's litter. Compared to birds and fish, this herbivore mammal had a very high ratio of entrails to meat. I feel terrible about shooting her, and even worse that I wasted her flesh. (I fell asleep during the braising part of a rillettes recipe; the pan boiled dry.)

Often, things don't work out how we would like.

This is the last year for the Cuckoo Marans flock. I was hoping to get 4-5 years out of them, but in their third year, they have essentially stopped laying. Time to think about poule au vin.

Small Farm Field Day, Fiber Frolic

It's 3:10am. I am only aware that Handsome Dan is crowing because I am already awake. May as well get some events down.

Garlic is going strong; shallots, onions, and potatoes are in; peas and favas were planted late. This has turned out to be a tricky year for transplants for me. Mice got some, and I ruined a bunch by trying to harden them off too early; after acquiring replacements from a variety of sources I finally got a few in on Sunday, 6/7.

The workshops at the MOFGA Small Farm Field Day were exceptional this year. I got a chance to work on my milking technique at Grace Keown's Dairy Goat Demo, and learned about "What to Do When the Vet's Not There" from Dr. Beth McEvoy, Assistant State Veterinarian. After a talk on Homestead Metalworking by Alan Clemence, Gabe Clark of the Maine Grass Farmer's Network demonstrated a method for re-seeding pastures using a No-till Drill.

At lunch on Saturday I met Julie, a very cool gal from Vermont who is interested in draft-horse-powered farming, and is looking to relocate to Maine. Of course I am always ready to proselytize for rural Maine, so after recommending certain towns and scribbling a map on a back of an envelope, I invited her to stop by Richmond on her way home the next day.

A local RE agent pounced on Julie at the breakfast place in Richmond before I even got there. After breakfast, I showed her around a bit, and introduced her to the Visellis. On Joe's recommendation she checked out a foreclosure up the road -- interesting, but more disaster than Julie is looking for. Last weekend Julie was back in Maine, checking out a bunch of properties recommended by the Realtor. I suggested that she also take a drive through Bowdoin and Bowdoinham, and my oh my did she ever find a good one on the River Road! I do hope this one works out; no need to dwell on it unless the deal makes progress!

While driving Julie around to take in the splendor of Locally Known's laser-leveled fields, the fleeting, oblique vistas of Merrymeeting Bay, and the deceptively good condition of Route 24 in June, I explained that the farmland on either side of Merrymeeting Bay is very unique and very much worth protecting from development. A lot of land in Maine is pretty marginal for farming. This is not the Central Valley of CA, after all. If we want local food, we should protect the best farmland we have close by.

When I lived in California I was mystified as to why tourists seemed to enjoy sitting in a traffic jam on Route 29 through the Napa valley, just to gaze at dusty vineyards. Well, this is not a grape-growing region, but I am just as excited about the farmland on either side of Merrymeeting Bay -- and there is no traffic! Maybe I should start a tour bus company that drives people up Route 128 from Woolwich through the Dresden Farmlands, then down Route 24 back to Topsham. We could cover Greek Revival architecture in Richmond, with a final stop at Bisson Farm, for a raw-milk tasting.

Then the Fiber Frolic on Sunday: I was on a mission to get me another Cashmere Goat pelt. Yvonne from Black Locust Farm was there, and I felt up all the pelts. None were of the caliber of the one I sent home with Dmitri, so Yvonne offered that I stop by the farm sometime to look at more. I also petted all kinds of Pygora and Pycazz goats, and some agreeable sheep, but not the llamas or alpacas, who don't like to be pawed by random people at fairs. One of the cashmere exhibitors let me hold a tiny goat triplet. Yes, someday I do want this kind of kid.

I am not really a dog person, but for the second year in a row I attended David Kennard's Border Collie demonstration at the Frolic. It is fascinating what they do, the shepherd, dog, sheep and goats. The dogs move a flock around an open space using their EYES. They respond obediently to 40 auditory commands, all whistles and calls. David Kennard explains what he is doing, with wit and humor, and throws goats in the mix to make things interesting.

Next opportunity to see David Kennard and his dogs in action will be the Common Ground Fair. Show up to one of the early demos, when the sheep will be rested, and really spirited.

Rainy May

These last few days have been THE sweet spot of spring for me. Last chance to drive around and see my favorite trees naked; tiny leaves coming in all chartreuse and reddish; lawns and fields fully greened up and loaded with dandelions. The Bobolinks have arrived to complete the perfect RWB/Tree swallow/Bobolink sonic trio. A couple of male RTH's spotted in the last few days; no Orioles yet.

Of course it rains quite a bit and that presents a problem for people who neglected to do much soil prep last fall. This is the time of year where timing is so, so important. Seed potatoes are chitting in the kitchen. Onion sets, shallots, fava and pea seeds are ready to go. However, I am stymied by garden soil that is the consistency of uncooked brownie batter.

On May 3rd I dared to loosen up a potato area and the two new raised beds with the broadfork. This past weekend, I stared at the muddy clay and decided that my best bet was to mulch the heck out of it, to avoid ceding it to weeds. The plan is to transplant my tomatoes and chiles into the mulched area later, and make hills of compost for squash and cukes. Though I haven't yet gotten the chance to dig at all, I had a grand time yesterday dismantling a couple of round bales and hauling rotten hay around.

The garlic looks great. I hit it with seaweed/fish and mulched it too. My strategy for the potatoes and favas and everything else I should be doing right now is to wait and hope that things dry out enough in time.

Woodchucks live under my house. They cavort openly in the yard, even up on the terrace. I am fortunate to know people who are qualified and eager to help me with this problem. This spring, three separate hunting parties have convened in my kitchen during brunch hours, without getting even a glimpse of a woodchuck. Brunch is fun, yet somehow woodchucks sense the danger. Does this mean when I finally borrow Madre's .22 that they will just stay away?

Started tomatoes, eggplant and chiles very late this year. The coop is clean; egg production is WAY down from last year; Handsome Dan continues to behave like a gentleman.

Perrin and Sharon and Dmitri arrive today, hooray!

Six months ago, or six months from now

It's March. It's snowy. I'm getting tired of Facebook.

Just found this picture on my desktop from haying time, six months ago now. It is really past time to order seeds.

Handsome Dan speaks

Dan the Barred Rock cockerel at 8 weeks, back in October:


Today at 16 weeks, having grown some nice hackle and saddle feathers. Still working on the tail, though:



This morning I heard him crow for the first time.

'09 Garlic is in

I am trying a configuration of 20' long, 2 1/2' wide beds in the newly tilled area. Prepped the easternmost one for garlic last weekend with compost and amendments per Steve Solomon's COF recipe. The following varieties went in yesterday, all home-grown:


Species Allium sativuum; Subspecies ophioscorodon (hardneck)

Brown Rose
Chesnok Red
Lavigna

Species Allium sativuum; Subspecies sativuum (softneck)

Kettle River Giant
Inchelium Red

Species Allium ampeloprasum (technically a leek)

Elephant

Alberta

Alberta the cat of Richmond, ME died Saturday, October 11th at Androscoggin Animal Hospital in Topsham.

Born in 1990 in Bronx, NY, Alberta was adopted from the 96th Street Animal Shelter in Manhattan in 1991. She began her hunting career in a small apartment on Mott Street, where she innovated a technique of trapping the American Cockroach in human footwear. Traveling widely by car, train, boat and plane, Alberta fiercely defended territories in Vashon Island, WA, Berkeley, CA, and Richmond, ME.

Her hunting prowess, proven in urban, suburban, and rural environments, brought her many rodent trophies, including the House Mouse, Deer Mouse, and Field Mouse or Meadow Vole. She also enjoyed bird-watching.

Alberta was a great lap cat, and a true party-animal who loved being the center of human attention. She is survived by her companion-human, Sandra York, and the other cat, Edith.

CABIN FOUR!!!!

The BOW weekend was a blast. Very fun, educational, and I met a bunch of amazing women. The best things I learned at "Finishing School" were the trucker's hitch, and that I actually can sweat a pipe. Couldn't start the chain saw by myself, though.

Picture above is from my first time ever firing a .22 rifle. We tried skeet shooting later. I will need a lot more practice at that.

Let's hope that the BOW weekend doesn't conflict with the Common Ground Fair next year.

http://www.mainebow.com/id61.html

Agricultural Processing

Finally got a chance to do some harvesting and processing this weekend. First I made sauce from the Banana, Speckled Roman, Amish, and Hog Heart paste tomatoes. A bunch of Principe Borgheses got in there as well. I think Hog Heart is my favorite variety, but I would grow them all again. Four quarts in the freezer.

I brought two Hubbard squash up. They are nice specimens, but not enormous. There are some great big leeks and kale and parsley still. Weeds are completely out of control, to the point where I think I will have to call Tony to till up a different garden spot for garlic planting this fall.

The chile bed did very well despite the encroaching pasture. I harvested a bunch of Hot Paper Lantern, Limon, Red Rocket, Matchbox, Fish and Czech Black peppers, pictured. As of mid-September there are plenty of green fruits still out there. As an experiment I yanked a few of the pepper plants, roots and all, and hung them upside down under the ell porch roof. Maybe I will get more ripe chiles before frost this way. If not, at least I maintain my weirdo reputation in the neighborhood.

In addition to drying chiles I thought I'd try to make a batch of hot sauce. Lacto-fermented, of course! I chopped up a mixture and packed them in a jar with sea salt and a drizzle of kimchi juice to get things started. Since I don't expect that the types of chiles I grew, with the intent of making ristras, to have enough moisture content on their own to make a brine, I topped the jar off with water, then crammed a ziploc bag full of water in the mouth of the jar to weigh them down.

Terry Johnson cut the fields late this year, understandably due to the rains. I was surprised at how eager I was, beyond any practical reason, to see the pasture mowed.