Pup-pup loves to chase deer. We see deer here at the farm every day. Recently though Pup-pup has changed his deer chasing method. He used to run, bark, and chase deer away into the woods. Now he is content to run, bark, and hold his ground about 100 feet or so from the house. The reason for the change?
Well, a few weeks ago Debby watched as Pup-pup ran out to chase away some deer. In the group of deer was a mom and a fawn. The mom initially started to run but then decided to turn and take on Pup-pup while the fawn got away. Pup-pup was not expecting a deer to stand up to him, this must have been the first time it happened. Since then Pup-pup has been keeping his distance and the deer don't seem very afraid of the Pup.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
The color purple and out of breath
My fingers and lips are purple and I'm out of breath. So naturally I need to blog about it.
I've just completed my workout which explains the out of breath part. My workout consists of going from the house to the mailbox and back. Sounds easy but the two are separated by about 1/3 mile in distance and 200 feet in elevation. Plus it's warm and humid. If I feel good I try to get in a couple of brief uphill sprints. My goal is to get to the point that I can run the entire distance uphill in one go.
OK, now for the purple part. There are a lot of wild blackberries along my workout route, and some berries are now perfectly ripe. So on the way down the driveway I pick and eat a few blackberries. When the blackberries are just right they are plump, juicy, and require just a slight tug to release them from their vine. Ripe blackberries will just about melt in your mouth and are delicious. The juice is what causes the purple lips and fingers.
Debby gets tired of how much I talk about the blackberries, but I really do enjoy them. I'm trying to figure out the best method to manage them, the wild ones put up canes in their first year and bear fruit in the second. And they have a bunch of thorns also. So, all the blackberry spots that were mowed last fall through this spring now have first year plants. If I don't mow these areas we will have a large blackberry crop next year. I'm thinking about how to rotate areas to get a good crop every year. I think a few blackberry trails would be a lot of fun, what do you think?
I've just completed my workout which explains the out of breath part. My workout consists of going from the house to the mailbox and back. Sounds easy but the two are separated by about 1/3 mile in distance and 200 feet in elevation. Plus it's warm and humid. If I feel good I try to get in a couple of brief uphill sprints. My goal is to get to the point that I can run the entire distance uphill in one go.
OK, now for the purple part. There are a lot of wild blackberries along my workout route, and some berries are now perfectly ripe. So on the way down the driveway I pick and eat a few blackberries. When the blackberries are just right they are plump, juicy, and require just a slight tug to release them from their vine. Ripe blackberries will just about melt in your mouth and are delicious. The juice is what causes the purple lips and fingers.
Debby gets tired of how much I talk about the blackberries, but I really do enjoy them. I'm trying to figure out the best method to manage them, the wild ones put up canes in their first year and bear fruit in the second. And they have a bunch of thorns also. So, all the blackberry spots that were mowed last fall through this spring now have first year plants. If I don't mow these areas we will have a large blackberry crop next year. I'm thinking about how to rotate areas to get a good crop every year. I think a few blackberry trails would be a lot of fun, what do you think?
Bzzz Bzzz Boom Boom
Hope you had a great 4th of July. My fourth included working our two bee hives (the Bzzz Bzzz part) followed by a nice thunderstorm where we lost power for a couple of hours (the first Boom part) followed by impressive firework displays by neighbors (the last Boom part).
Neighbors have been shooting guns and fireworks for several days now actually and the horses don't like the loud booms one bit.
Bees: Both hives appear to be doing well, at least to this novice beekeeper. Bees are really busy, shooting in and out of the hives. The bees are not "washboarding" on the hive and I do see quite a few honey bees visiting clover plants so I think that they continue to draw out comb an collect pollen and nectar and make brood and honey.
I built a shallow honey super and ten frames which was a bit of work. All the parts are assembled with glue and nails or screws. The hive bodies and supers then need two coats of white latex exterior paint. I installed the honey super so now both hives are the same, each one has two deep hive bodies and one honey super. Bees have not drawn out any comb yet in the honey supers so I don't know if we will be harvesting any honey during this first season. The goal for the first season is really to learn and develop a strong healthy colony that makes it through the winter.
Neighbors have been shooting guns and fireworks for several days now actually and the horses don't like the loud booms one bit.
Bees: Both hives appear to be doing well, at least to this novice beekeeper. Bees are really busy, shooting in and out of the hives. The bees are not "washboarding" on the hive and I do see quite a few honey bees visiting clover plants so I think that they continue to draw out comb an collect pollen and nectar and make brood and honey.
I built a shallow honey super and ten frames which was a bit of work. All the parts are assembled with glue and nails or screws. The hive bodies and supers then need two coats of white latex exterior paint. I installed the honey super so now both hives are the same, each one has two deep hive bodies and one honey super. Bees have not drawn out any comb yet in the honey supers so I don't know if we will be harvesting any honey during this first season. The goal for the first season is really to learn and develop a strong healthy colony that makes it through the winter.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Rare mussels found near farm, pigeons
I just saw a news article about a wildlife biologist who found some rare mussels in the Emory River in Morgan county not far from where we live.
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2011/may/26/rare-mussels-found/
I've read other stories about all kinds of unique species in the Smokies, the Knoxville area (some rare cave dwelling species), and the Cumberland Plateau. We have all sorts of fascinating things on the farm, from flying squirrels, interesting birds, colored salamanders and frogs, turtles, snakes, insects, bats, even leeches (ask John how we know about them).
Interestingly enough the reporter is the same one who came out and interviewed me a couple of years ago about homing pigeons.
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/feb/24/winged-wonders/
I still get contacted by people because of that article, just last week a woman called to say that she had a banded racing pigeon show up whose owner could not be found and so I met her and picked up the bird.
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2011/may/26/rare-mussels-found/
I've read other stories about all kinds of unique species in the Smokies, the Knoxville area (some rare cave dwelling species), and the Cumberland Plateau. We have all sorts of fascinating things on the farm, from flying squirrels, interesting birds, colored salamanders and frogs, turtles, snakes, insects, bats, even leeches (ask John how we know about them).
Interestingly enough the reporter is the same one who came out and interviewed me a couple of years ago about homing pigeons.
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/feb/24/winged-wonders/
I still get contacted by people because of that article, just last week a woman called to say that she had a banded racing pigeon show up whose owner could not be found and so I met her and picked up the bird.
Friday, May 20, 2011
Flooding April 16, 2011
This is a picture of Clifty Creek overflowing the Clifty Creek bridge on April 16, 2011. This is right next to the Emory river so it might be more appropriate to say that the Emory flooded. We've seen high water levels a few times in the past several years but this was the first time we saw water go over the bridge. Second picture shows the waterfall at the bottom of our driveway taken the same day.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
End of the Rainbow II
This morning Debby called out from the kitchen for everyone to come and look. Out in the pasture we could see the end of a rainbow! This was the second time we've spotted the end of a rainbow, the place where it touches the ground, from our house. The first one we saw was about 250 feet from the house near the barn, this one was probably 500 feet away looking South. Debby said there must be a pot of gold around here somewhere.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Fireflies
I just stepped outside to see what Pup-pup was barking at. It's a beautiful evening, 59 degrees, with a nice moon. And fireflies, I believe these are the first I've seen this year. Very pretty.
Strawberries
Debby and Mary have been working in the garden. Today Mary picked the first strawberries of the season.
Bee hive inspection
John and I inspected the hives on 5/7/2011. The first hive appeared to be doing fine, we pulled a few frames and saw honey cells and brood, the bees still have a few empty foundation frames to build on. When we removed the top cover on the second hive we could see that the bees had built comb on top of some frames and connected to the inner cover.
We carefully removed the inner cover and cut/scraped away the extra comb. The bees in this hive are ready for a second hive body, they have almost completely built out the first hive body.
John and I wore protective clothing but the bees were really gentle. We used Dad's old smoker.
Warning: pictures are large, about 3 MB each.
We carefully removed the inner cover and cut/scraped away the extra comb. The bees in this hive are ready for a second hive body, they have almost completely built out the first hive body.
John and I wore protective clothing but the bees were really gentle. We used Dad's old smoker.
Warning: pictures are large, about 3 MB each.
Orchard planting
In March we planted a few fruit trees. The soil was in good shape, every hole we dug had earthworms, grubs, and organic matter. The chickens jumped right in and ate several bugs.
Mountain horse?
Also from February, picture shows Spirit on top of a huge pile of dirt that I excavated from the pond last year.
February Skiing
I took the kids skiing at Cataloochee in February, just found a couple of pictures. We had a great time.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Bees are here
I picked up my two bee hives this morning in Oliver Springs and brought them back to the farm. I have them setup near the edge of our front north pasture where they will get morning sun and afternoon shade.
Each hive has a young mated queen that is laying and young worker bees. At the moment each hive has a screened bottom board, one deep langstroth hive body, an inner cover, and a top cover. Each hive box has 10 frames of foundation, presently the colony is using about 5 frames.
In a week I'll open the hives and check on their progress. I plan to add a second deep hive body to each hive later this year. I may need honey supers also if the hives do really well.
Each hive has a young mated queen that is laying and young worker bees. At the moment each hive has a screened bottom board, one deep langstroth hive body, an inner cover, and a top cover. Each hive box has 10 frames of foundation, presently the colony is using about 5 frames.
In a week I'll open the hives and check on their progress. I plan to add a second deep hive body to each hive later this year. I may need honey supers also if the hives do really well.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)