Well the good news is that we won't have to water our plants for probably a month, and we did get all the seeds and transplants in the ground we wanted to (hopefully some of the seeds didn't wash away though!). Also good is the fact that 24 hours of rain gave me time to get some much needed housework and relaxation done and it's still continuing, for though the rain has stopped it is still way too soggy to even think of working in the fields let alone walking through the fields. Even the greenhouse is pretty soggy and I have made a few ruts just walking.

So I guess there is no bad news. Like the song says, around here, "rain is a good thing." I am noticing I am now able to tell the subtle changes in temperature and the look of the clouds that mean a front is coming in. I also like the work of settling all the children, animals and equipment in for a good long rain. Yes rain is pretty fun, especially when we are making good headway through our list of projects before the season starts a short month away.

Oh my what a week! Sorry I have been so behind on blogging. It has been quite busy and eventful around here what with finishing up building projects, planting and trying to fend off foxes that have now discovered our chickens. Oh well, the life of a farmer. I did want to check in and give you some glimpses of life here on Crazy Boy Farm.



Plants getting ready to go out to the field. Proeun designed and built the tables, aren't they great?



Thanks to the sellers for leaving this beautiful garden.



Shadrach, one of the wild cats that just showed up one day and that has become part of the family chilling in the crabapple tree.
 


Effie getting into her "chores" she loves giving the baby goats their bottles. We have to watch her as she gets bored and wonders off but I love how she is embracing this life already. She will grow up on the farm, an awesome thought.

This week the children came running to the house as excited as could be to tell us, "The bees are in the tree!"



This tree to be exact. And they were so excited because we are first time bee keepers. We started this year with 2 packages of bees and two hives. It's a little nerve racking to be quite honest, not because they are dangerous but because they see so delicate. I am mean lets face it, we have all heard the rumors and facts--bees are in trouble. And they are in trouble on many fronts. One of course is the environmental affects they no one seems to be quite able to pinpoint but there is also the problem of perception.

Many many Americans have little to no connection to the outdoors and anything related to it is scary. Bugs are one very scary element of the outdoors and ones that have the potential to sting even more so. Let me illustrate, we were at a family gathering and I was telling one of the aunts about our new hives. She said, "aren't you worried about the children?" I am worried about the children I am worried they will grow up in a world without bees to be quite honest. 

When we were still residents of St. Paul we discovered that you could legally keep bees inside the city limits. But after going through all the paperwork for our chicken permit (which included going door to door to ask our neighbors permission to keep chickens) we knew it was very unlikely we would actually be able to get bees. So we are learning about them now.

I admit I was one of those bug haters. Then one day I was working weeding the vegetables and I heard the familiar buzzing that used to bring fear, but now I understood without those bees I wouldn't have tomatoes or cucumbers, or eggplant or you name it. That doesn't even get into a world without honey.



Still Proeun is the beekeeper in the family, though Two is begging for a suit and I would actually like one as well, or at least the hat and gloves like Proeun is wearing. Here he checks the entrance to the hive to make sure it is clear while some bees hitch a ride. I told him, make sure you take your hat off before you go inside.



Here he feeds the bees sugar water since not too many of the plants are flowering yet. They have already started producing beautiful creamy white wax, the likes of which I have never seen. Yes I am thinking I am really going to enjoy this.

This weekend we did one of those crazy things we are getting known for--like farming. Yes at 8:00 in the morning we loaded all our children, 4 and counting in the suburban and drove to Little Canada to pick-up the 2 colonies of bees we had ordered. We were not sure the exact day they would come in so we had planned to also pick up 3 more goats that day. No big deal right?

So we loaded to 2 metal wire containers in the back and were serenaded by a pleasant buzzing for the next 2.5 hours as we continued driving to southern Minnesota's Wren Hill Farm where we picked up Margaret, Pearl and Kojo (sorry I couldn't link directly to their individual page but you can look at them under "Kid's and Kidding."

It was such a joy to visit this farm. The owner Allan Weinand really has a passion for goats and in a few years has gotten quite the herd going.

Then we drove home 3.5 hours and arrived just in time for bottles for the kids (goats) and bed. There are 2 ways that you can raise your goats--dam raising meaning they stay with their mother until they wean about 8 weeks and then you milk or bottle raising where they are removed from their mothers and raised by humans on bottles from the beginning. There are goods and bads for both. One good for bottle raising is disease prevention that can be passed from mother to kids.

So when you buy goats it depends on what the farm you are buying from does. Some will dam raise and wean at 8 weeks and then you can pick up your goats. Some will sell mother and kids together as in the case with our Ginger and some will sell bottle babies.

So now for a mom that has never mixed a bottle I am mixing 3 bottles 2 times a day for 3 baby goats.



Luckily I have lots of help. Two with Kojo (our new B* buck I am so excited about) and Mavis and grandma with Pearl.
 


And Avril with Margaret (my favorite little lady).

They are such a joy. At first I didn't think I would bottle raise any but I am realizing I may not have any choice. Allan was telling me about a goat he had that had 6 babies in one litter a few years back. Even with help only 4 surrived but without the human help I am sure that number would have been lower. Ginger had triplets but could only handle twins so one was taken off and put on a bottle. So at least now I am learning the ins and outs of bottle feeding before we are in an emergency situation where we may loose a goat.

In May Raven, our adult female is set to kid, now I know how to bottle feed should the need arise. The hardest thing I think about bottle feeding is the goats get really attached to you which is good but when you leave them they cry something fierce. And I really believe nature made the cries of babies so that mother's physically could not ignore it. Even though I am not the same species I am finding the crying really difficult to deal with. Hopefully in a couple days it will get better. At least we have 3 of them so they have each other and are kept together.

Plans for next year I will hopefully have 5 plus goats milking and maybe 10 plus babies running around. I really need to get my goat page up and running but honestly the goats are shedding winter coats right now and not very pretty. Soon I'll get my own pictures to share.