The Mobile Home Woman | Our journey from urban homesteading to rural homesteading at Windhaven farm…

The Weed Patch is NO MORE!

Posted on June 8, 2014 by MobymomJune 8, 2014

Do you remember our weed patch? It’s the back eastern pasture of our property that we have been working on to make a pasture for the sheep and goats.

And it was overrun last year by bull thistles. Oh my gosh…. Maggie had broken her leg first part of June and then Jess and I were just overrun with a lot of things… and next thing you know, there are bull thistles EVERYWHERE and they are too thick for the mower to cut!!! OH NO!!!

This is what it looked like early in the spring. It was aweful. Flooded, muddy and full of hard, thick, nasty bull thistle stalks. It was so heart breaking. We would let the sheep out, but they pretty much hated it as well. I heard mumblings in the dark that the ponies got the next pasture because they were the favorites of the food ladies… I was worried that the sheep and goats would HATE us…

Well… now look at it!!! OH MY GOSH!!!!

Our wonderful, fabulous, super special, amazing and just wonderfully wonderful friend Justin came over and Maggie and I got started on pulling every single one of those nasty things.

It took six hours, tough gloves and lots of breaks.

It was grueling. Back breaking. No fun.

Well, okay, maybe a little fun.

Because we were talking and laughing and comparing who had the longed root or who had the bigger bundle. Stuff like that.

You know, the stuff that peasants used to laugh about to keep from crying over the hard, unpleasant labor in the fields of the manor lord.

Can you hardly believe it? I sure can’t! I just keep walking back there and marveling. It’s sooo nice! It’s like a Martha Stewart pasture!

Okay, maybe not. Still got the burn barrel trash patch to clean up. And miscellaneous things here and there. But I don’t care, it was a wonderful and amazing thing that we did. And hard work. And just so rewarding. The sheepies and goaties were STUNNED. I kid you not. They were amazed. They ran around and nibbled grass and just had a whole day of crazy celebrations and wrote us sonnets of praise and admiration!

Of course, they were hard to decipher, since I’m not very fluent in ovine or caprine sonnets, but I’m pretty sure they were very happy.

We even took a bit of time to gather up all the fallen sticks and junk that we could get together. We had this old chicken tractor that is kind of falling apart and will be part of a celebratory bonfire burn later on. It’s just amazing out there. All nice and clean and picked up and just wonderful. I can’t stop smiling. For all of last summer and then into the fall and winter, I hated that this pasture was so so so overgrown with those dreadful things. It was awful.

Now, the goats and sheep will eat any of those thistles that think they want to start growing. They will eat them young, but not once they get much more than a foot high. If they do start to get a little unwieldy again, we will mow them down. So far, they haven’t even considered sprouting. Thank goodness!!! I was afraid we would be overrun with the nasty things again.

Soon, we are going to remove the old pallet fence (more fuel for the bonfire) and put up a nice new fence along that cement foundation line. We hope to get the posts in the ground sooner than later. Not sure when we will have the cash for the cattle panels that will go there, but hopefully eventually… all in due time!

We moved all the bundles of hundreds and hundreds of dead seven foot tall thistle stalks to the far eastern fence. That fence is old and a bit weak in spots, and we’ve been patching it and wiring it together. However, laying all the old stalks on the other side, in tight and high bundles, really helps to make a sort of visual and pokey barrier for anyone that might try to get out. It’s still on our property, and will ultimately break down and compost, but thats fine. It will help until we might be able to get new fence back there. Just keep at things… and you will get it done.

There are a few more thistles here and there. I need to leave a few growing because I want to win the Fayette Bull Thistle Festival award for the tallest bull thistle. Last year, the winner was a measly 5 footer. 5 foot? Are you kidding me? We have some that are near to eight foot tall! We are shoe in for winner this year and the years to come.

I wonder if we get a new car or something cool. For winning. Hmmm…..

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My Garden!

Posted on June 8, 2014 by MobymomJune 8, 2014

We are finally getting some seriously nice spring weather and no more cold snaps. In our zone, which is 5, and for our area, which is northwestern Ohio, our very last last day of frost is supposed to be May 15th. But we had some cold stuff still hanging around until the last week! Rainy, cold and just unpleasant. But after this last winter, can you even be surprised? I know, I’m not.

So about two weeks ago, we finally got started on the garden, seriously. We had done a bit here and there, but nothing really hard core. Jess and I got our gardening hats on and set off with a mission. To do some clean up, some weeding and get some of the 28 planting boxes and beds into shape.

We had our trust tin of seeds… lots and lots of the little dudes.

Can you say, Seed Hoarder? Yes, I know you can.

One of my goals this year is to pretty much burn through most of my stash. Some of it is getting a bit old. It’s time to plant it and get it working for us, instead of sitting in the box. So be it. We had a plan and it was a good one.

Our onions and garlic did fairly well over the winter. We did loose some, as you can see by the bare spots. We’ve also had a bit of rooster damage… there are a couple roos that seem to think the garden is their private little hang out and veggie patch. We might have to clip a few wings and put up a bit of netting…. bad chickens! So far, they just have been digging around and messing up the onions we just planted. The over winter ones are much more established. We will probably replant a few bags of onion sets…. just to see if they will take.

Maggie came in and did a great job of mowing it all down for us! If it were all up to me, I’d have boxes and beds all over and very little grass. That is the ultimate goal. This is the corner that I want to have our orchard. I’m not sure if we’ll have the funds to get it going this year, but I sure hope so. It takes so many years to really get an orchard growing well and we have already lost out on three of them!!! But good fruit tree stock is not cheap and I would rather wait until we can do it right. Sigh… someday!

We had gotten a bunch of nearly free seeds at the dollar store when all the seed packs went on sale for 90% off! How can you resist that? Well… you get what you pay for! Out of over 25 packs of flower seeds… all we got was that wee bit in the bottom of the bucket. Not really very much, eh? Well, we planted them anyway, in the courtyard and we’ll see what happens! You just never know. And I love zinnias…. I definitely have to plant some in the main garden as well.

Jess and I really worked hard! We cleared out a whole bunch of junk and failed experiments. Just got it all out and ready to be cleared away, burned, thrown out, whatever made sense!

The shutters, however, I’m going to be using to make some raised beds! Why not! Anything that helps to hold in some dirt, compost and spent bedding, works for me! And it will be pretty in there… That’s the best part.

We got the place cleaned up, and mowed, and a lot of the beds weeded and roughed up with a steel rake and ready for planting. Jess and I planted about 8 of the boxes before we just got too tuckered out and ready for dinner. It looks wonderful and we’ll keep at it for the next couple weeks to get everything planted and growing. Over all the space is nearly 9,000 square feet! Hard to believe… but it’s 60 feet wide by 140 feet long. Eventually, I want this to be such a lovely wonderful and productive garden! Just can’t wait…

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Perfect Mother’s Day!

Posted on June 8, 2014 by MobymomJune 8, 2014

This year, Mother’s Day was such a lovely day… and filled with beautiful images and a restful contented day! I started out visiting with my little pony man, Cody, who I must say is looking more and more handsome as he sheds off his wooly winter coat and is the trim beautiful little stallion I adore! So handsome. He needs his bi-annual bath soon, and a little tail and mane conditioning, but I say he’s rather the handsome man, don’t you think?

But the best surprise was when Maggie came running up to the house… baby pigs had been born!!! Yes, Miss Ebony had her babies! Oh my gosh! We were so surprised… we thought she had another week or two to go but I guess she was ready and had them sometime in the early morning!

Ebony loves Maggie and I know Maggie loves Ebony. They are buddies for sure. Most breeds of hogs you do not want to get in the middle of her and her piglets, but American Guinea Hogs are so different. They have the best temperament and are gentle and loving. Especially with their caregivers. Ebony does not mind Maggie at all being in with her newborns. Of course, we are very careful and don’t want to push the limits with her. But she was fine with Maggie checking out the litter and making sure all were okay.

What was truly amazing… is that she had a litter of ALL BOYS!!! Her first litter was ALL GIRLS…. and now, all boys. She had six little boy piglets. Just like her six little girls. However, two of the boys in this litter were very very tiny and not doing as well. And unfortunately, the next day they were gone. But she had four super healthy little boys left and they are doing fantastically! It’s hard to discuss loss in farming… we’ve come to understand that things just happen. There isn’t much you can do and often it’s a very quick end. When we checked the litter originally, even Maggie knew that two of them were not thriving. They were runts and just didn’t seem to be as strong. We made the decision to leave them with their mom and littermates as that really is their best chance. They need that initial nursing of collostrum and they are safest with their momma. Ebony is a good mother. She seems to care and worry over her little ones. But hogs are not exactly the most nurturing of creatures and in the end, it’s hard to know exactly was the reason of their passing, but you can’t really worry it to death in your mind. We dread any of our animals passing, but when you start to have a homestead with many little critters, the odds are, you are going to experience some loss. One of our ewes had a stillborn lamb two weeks early this year and that was heartbreaking. Hard to know… was it her condition, was it the harsh harsh winter, was it an injury, or was something just wrong. Even with a necropsy, there are still unknown elements in the equation.

It’s best to move on, and nurture the ones you have. In a way, I’m not sure that putting a ton of effort and resources in a runt animal are the best things to do with animal husbandry. Sure, it’s very possible to keep just about anything alive these days, but is that really the best thing? Especially with our special hogs… we really are dedicated to helping to reestablish this endangered breed of heritage hogs. These little boys are going to become future herd sires… unrelated blood lines are so important in our area, and I want them to be the very strongest and healthiest of their breed to help continue on and improve the hogs. Weak and unhealthy animals do not help that cause. The breed club is very strong about culling for the very best of representatives of the breed! In a way, I have to believe that nature had a hand in helping out that cause.

Oh, little piggies are so adorable. Within hours they are running around, acting like little minature adults. They are wandering about, in and out of the house, checking out new things and experiences. Their two sisters, Cheyanne and Shawnee were very interested in their new siblings… sniffing and licking and just sort of pestering over them.

American Guinea Hogs are also unique, in that, they are very good at coparenting their litters. Onyx seemed very pleased with his first litter of boys. He was interested and patient with them. I think this father and son picture shows it all. They are so cute together. He has moved on and is visiting another farm nearby right now, helping to add a little genetic diversity to another group of AGHs… giving Ebony a little time to bond with her new litter and enjoy a rest from his advances. Hogs can have two litters a year easily if left to naturally control their families. We intend to let nature run it’s course, but it’s nice to give her a six week or so break while Onyx is out handling other females in need of his studly services. Once he returns, he will be in quarantine for 3 weeks just to be sure he doesn’t unwillingly bring anything home. Just normal operating procedure with a special endangered breed of animal.

We are so excited to have this new litter on the ground… they are going to be named after Ohio cities! We have a Akron, Sandusky, Parma and Warren…. if you haven’t noticed… we like to group name litters and year babies around here. All our registered American Guinea Hogs have American group names. Our first were Native Americans, and now Ohio Cities. The sheep are all Lord of the Rings names. And the goats are going to be candy names. (Jelly Bean started it all by being born nearly on Easter…) It’s kind of fun this way and we know when the various animals were born by the group name. Works for us! Some folks use the letters of the alphabet, each year being a different letter but we thought that means there are a lot of A B and C names out there! We just thought it would be fun to be a little different!

All the sheep are finally enjoying the weed patch… they are doing a pretty good job of keeping the weeds down to a low roar… of course, last year’s weeds are still there and we have a plan to get in there and make it all lovely, soon!

It’s so nice to see them out and enjoying their own pasture!

And of course, it’s so nice to see Moon Shadow getting his new spring coat in place as well! He is still a little shaggy, but getting better and better with each day. We curry comb them both almost every day and it’s like a little mountain of pony hair comes out! Funny thing, is that the mountain will be gone in a few hours as all sorts of little birds rush in and grab hair for their nests! I’m pretty sure there are some sweet little white nests here and there on the homestead from Mr. Shadow’s contribution!!!

Such a lovely Mother’s Day… and my dear daughters made a lovely dinner for us as well. Just loving the beautiful spring weather and how green and beautiful it is here on our little dear homestead farm!

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