Makin Gear

From time to time we need good using cowboy gear. Luckily, my husband Dave is really handy at this sorta thing. He usually can make anything we need or repaired. Recently, he and his buddy Randy have decided to start twisting rawhide Reatas. For those who don't know what a reata is it is the holy grail of ropes for Buckaroos or cowboys using the Vaquero traditions. Reatas are very expensive and can break if not used properly. Dave and Randy built a rope twister and this is how we spent an afternoon. The rope needs to be stretched and cured before it can be used to rope any stock. 
I'm always impressed with Dave's skills, but this has really impressed me. I think Grandma B would be impressed too! 

Spring

My Grandma B had been known to say "people better know how to grow their own food!" I don't think she had much confidence in the current system of farm to table or the government to keep it safe for us.  I would have to agree.  I am very disappointed in the way that the government exploits the food system for big profit and not safety.  GMO foods (genetically modified organism) are organisms that have been engineered by removing or adding different DNA to produce superior foods. In theory they should be able to withstand drought or being sprayed with pesticides or herbicides or grow at super speeds than that food, in its natural state, could not withstand.  Great idea, right? We can feed the world with this technology! Well, unfortunately studies have shown that GMO's aren't perfect. I would go into it further but I would not want to be sued by one of the most powerful companies in the country that are also known for financially devastating farmers that do not use their products, etc. There is plenty of literature out there if you want to know more.  Anyway, that is one reason that I feel it is important to raise, produce and preserve as much food for my family as I can.  Grandma B would agree I believe.

Big Month Tomato Plant!

So this spring, I have purchase all heirloom seeds for my garden. I have started some of them in my extra room with the help of a grow light and heat mats. We are looking forward to varieties of Tomatoes like "Big Month," giant tomatoes that ripen at the same time so you can do all your canning at one time! Brilliant! Fun veggies like purple broccoli and Cinderella pumpkins that look like Cinderellas coach before the Fairy Godmother did her magic on it!

Layers

We have started raising 10 laying hens of different varieties. We have White Leg Horn, Black Astralorp, White Laced Wyandottes, Buff Orpingtons and Auracanas ( the Easter Egger, that lay green/blueish eggs). Dave has built a "tractor" chicken coop so that we can move it around the yard yet keep them contained and protected from predators but get the "free-range" effect.

Meaty 4 weeks

We are also raising 17 meat birds. I have to say that this is an experiment. The breed we have are Cornish Barred Rocks. They are freaks! They are the same age as our layers but they are about 4 times the size as them. I am disturbed by them. They grow so fast that they have difficulty walking it seems.  I have been with holding food at night as recommended so they do not grow faster than their hearts and die! The rapid growth means that they will be ready to "harvest" in 8 weeks! We are excited at the prospect of having healthy home grown chicken, however it is equally important to me that the chicken we raise for meat have quality of life up until the point where we get to enjoy them on the table. We will not be getting this breed again! I can wait a few more weeks until they are big enough to butcher if it means they don't have skeletal and cardiovascular problems.  By the way, this same breed is what most all of the chicken you buy in the market are. If you happened to care about the quality of life of your food on the table you may want to look for alternatives of chicken.  I wonder what Grandma would think of them?

Our fruit trees are in blossom and look gorgeous. The honey bees are as excited as I am to see this trademark of spring and to have a break from winter. 

Honey Bee and Apricot Blossoms

Spring makes me feel like it is a new start to the year. I think we should move New Year to March 20 and do all of our resolutions then! I feel much more inspired now than when there is 3 inches of snow out and it gets dark at 5 pm.

To Be Like Grandma B

My Grandma B died this last November. It was a few days before the one year anniversary of my mothers death.  I'm sure a lot of what I am to write about could be "how to be like my mom" too, but Grandma B was one of the first people that I remember when I was very young that I wanted to be like. My first memories of her was at the house on Tuxford Street (the house that would eventually be the house that I would grow up in) when I was probably 3 or 4 years old. At that time the driveway lined with fruit trees seemed endless. The back yard seemed like a park because on the patio was a real life drinking fountain.  Grandpa's garage was so fun to explore. He had  little canning jars filled with different nuts and bolts, nails and screws and what seemed like every tool imaginable. And then their garden was one of the coolest things to me. Nice, neat little rows of vegetables of all kinds. Grandpa had an irrigation system he had installed made out of a 50 gallon drum that you would fill with water and it gravity watered the whole garden. I loved it there. It was a child's paradise. Well, to me anyway.

Grandma B seemed to know everything about nature. She new every plant and tree around. She loved horses and would often tell me about her time growing up on a ranch and her horses.  She loved to fish and sew. She played the piano. She always had on Turquoise jewelry, that I loved. I felt drawn to her I guess because I was a Tomboy and she was always outside in nature using her hands. She was a lot different from my other Grandmother who was very prissy and liked the finer things in life. Grandma B was just salt of the earth and I liked that about her.
Anyway, now I am 34 and living in rural Utah. I am trying to be as self sustaining as possible out here. There are definite challenges to living so far out in the boonies. As I do some of the things I do, like planting my garden or pruning my orchard trees I often think of my Grandma B. I wonder how she did it with 4 kids. I only have 2. And will I ever do it as good as her.