We have a lot going on at the farm these days. Not only are we doing the normal routing of chores, maintenance, cutting/baling/picking up hay and keeping the garden looking reasonably decent, we are also running a farmhand camp, trying to set up for our yearly 4-H fair and also selling the produce from the garden (which is bigger than ever)! Yesterday we made a big push to get bales of straw off the field. I also removed 6 or 7 huge trash bags of weeds from the garden (there has not been much time to work in the garden so this week I am playing “catch up”).
We also have two new bottle calves: a guernsey bull and a guernsey heifer. Both are just over a week old. The bull is doing great but the heifer has a naval infection that is causing us to worry. It is affecting how much she will try to eat and her temperature is up. We started her on penicillin and we are trying to make sure she is getting enough electrolytes and other stuff to keep her going through this. Keep your fingers crossed that she will get better!
On a positive note: the garden is turning in to melon town! If you remember last year, most of our melons never grew bigger than a large marble with just a few cantaloupes getting large enough to crack open… but they never had ripened enough to eat. Well, this year the exact opposite is happened! The melons are taking over. And some of them are gigantic. Yesterday I pulled out the old bean plants that had stopped producing to find a melon as least a foot and a half in length and a foot in diameter! That thing is huge.
Well, it is time to get going to the farm. Today we are milking Dandy with the farmhand campers later in the morning so chores are a bit more relaxed. Hopefully this cooler weather will stick around! A friend sent me some pictures of our newest calf so I will try to get those posted later tonight.
Enjoy the day!
