Don't Quit Your Day Job

Last year I grew a completely accidental pumpkin patch and it was the most fun thing I've ever grown.  I had the best time watching the plants overtake a pretty big section of the side field and the pumpkins were all different sizes and colors and the sheep had two big pumpkin parties at the end of the season and I decided I was going to be a pumpkin farmer.  Pumpkins at Punkin's Patch!

This spring I picked out three different varieties of seeds (including one called Big Moose!), figured out my plant date for fall pumpkins and then found out the extension office was going to do a "Who can grow the biggest pumpkin in Harrison County" contest and I was All In.

I waited with great anticipation for the date I could go pick up my free pumpkin seeds and in the meantime strategized as only I can over-think things and gathered up special dirt and compost and researched and watched YouTube videos and created a baby pumpkin nursery and went ahead and planted my earlier chosen seeds out in a special safe zone in the yard, fenced off and everything.

Since all the volunteer pumpkins last year grew so well just laying out on top of the pasture, I thought if I made a little effort to amend the soil for each seed this year they'd really take off.  And I thought the Big Moose pumpkins could just live in the fenced area with the other pumpkins. I mean, how big could they get?

When I got the educational handouts from the extension office I found out that the Big Moose pumpkin getting labeled as a "giant" meant it was going to be...a giant.  Who knew.  I carefully dug as many of  those seeds as I could find back up and put them in starter pots along with the extension office seeds.  The rest of the seeds sprouted, but have not taken off in any sort of manner.  Pumpkin farming, not as easy as I'd hoped.

Four of the five extension office seeds sprouted and four of the five Big Moose seeds I found sprouted as well.  As the babies grew I made their fancy growing mounds, which involved lots of shoveling and moving of heavy materials on some really hot and humid days.  I was becoming less enamored with pumpkin farming by the day...but the baby pumpkins all grew well and looked good.

When the plants got big enough to transplant, I moved them into their respective mounds.  Four Big Moose plants and three of the extension office plants (I'll try to remember to come back in and update the variety) were planted in Del Boca Vista.  I put the biggest and strongest extension office plant out front, next to the driveway so I could really keep an eye on it, in preparation for the October 27th weigh in at the office.

I lost one of the Big Moose pumpkins in a wind accident fairly early on.  I moved a tiny volunteer from just outside the Wool House into it's open spot and babied it through some hot weather and it survived and is now doing a great job trying to catch up.

I'm concerned about these leaves turning yellow.  This is my biggest Big Moose plant...of course.  It's also the first one to produce any female flowers and now has two pumpkins growing along it's reaching vines.  I haven't decided if I'm going to limit it to only two in hopes of growing a true giant.  At this point I'm probably just going to be happy if I get any pumpkins.

This Big Moose plant did not look good yesterday and has not rebounded today so I'm afraid it's going to be a another casualty.  I've been carefully watching the plants for bugs and mildew and all sorts of other problems.  I've used diatomaceous earth and a couple of careful applications of organic Neem Oil in the evenings when the bees are long gone, but I don't have any control over the too wet conditions that may be causing some of my issues.  

Three of the extension office plants.

While my volunteers last year were big, hardy, heavy producers, the volunteers this year (probably a different variety) have been a bust except for a couple plants here and there.  This nice volunteer is growing out in the barn lot, so I have zero expectations for a pumpkin to reach maturity surrounded by sheep, but it's helping provide pollination for the female flowers in the main patch.

The bees, hard at work.

Oh, here's a funny story.  The first morning I knew I had a female flower ready to open it was drizzling rain.  The flowers are only open for a short time on one morning so there's just a small window where they can get pollinated.  I didn't think the bees would be out until the rain stopped, so I read up on how to manually pollinate it, grabbed my paint brush, picked up some pollen from a male flower and when I went to dust it into the female, two bees popped up and scolded me.  

"Do you mind?!?"

I shouldn't have doubted them :-).

I think this epistle basically catches everything up on the 2023 great pumpkin venture.  I have lost any expectation that it will be a Great Pumpkin venture, but I hope I'm wrong and will have some happy updates through the next couple of months.  

I'm glad I'm just trying to find something fun to do during my least favorite time of the year and not trying to feed my family.  Farming is not for the faint of heart and we all need to be cognizant of that fact and remember that food does not miraculously appear at the grocery store.

It would be nice to be able to feed at least a couple of pumpkins to my sheep family.

It is really hard to type pumpkin instead of Punkin.

The Great Bumpkin

I haven't carved a pumpkin in several years.  I always have great intentions and then seem to run out of time or motivation or something.  This year, as I was picking out some decorative pumpkins at the local farm market, the bumpy one just called to me to become a Cotswold sheep.  So I did.

I wish I'd left some details in her ears.  That was the original sketch, but I got carried away carving and forgot.  I toyed with adding them in the next day, but she doesn't know I messed that up and I'm not going to tell her.  She's just fine,  just as she is :-).

A practice run in the dark feed room.  I love that there is just enough light to show her bumps well.

Her spot on the Wool House porch.

And lit up for the night.  The sprinkling of rain was annoying for most of the festivities, but made a nice addition to this picture.

This is a special shout out to The Great Pumpkin and his younger brother.  The orange and yellow pumpkin showed up around mid summer as a volunteer across the road from our mailbox.  The green speckled one was a late arrival just a month or so ago.  There had been a middle pumpkin as well, but he was lost in a road incident :'-(.

I carried water out to this hard working pumpkin plant through the entire drought.  And for some reason the squash bugs either never found it or maybe somehow she was more resistant than all my other plants have been the last couple of years.  I will save their seeds and see what we get next year.

I just love pumpkins :-).

Pumpkin With A P Party

There are three highlight of fall around here (besides just stupid summer being over ;-).  The first is the Kentucky Wool Festival the first full weekend of October.  The second is the neighborhood Pumpkin Party that falls on the Saturday about a week before Halloween.  This year was the 10th year!

I wish everyone lived in a neighborhood like ours.  I can't help but think that the world would be a kinder place.  I realize part of this is due to living in a farming community, but I do know farmers in other places that might know who's driving that truck, but not how old their kids are or that their mother has been sick or that the chili supper starts at 6:00 so the pumpkin carving will be in full swing by 7:00 :-).

I took my camera so that I could take pictures of the over 100 people that gathered to say grace, eat awesome chili (and everything that goes with it) and carve pumpkins.  My design (that I'd worked on in my head, but not on paper...again) ended up taking so long that by the time I finished, pretty much everyone else was finished, too.  I think Auntie Reg got some pictures though.

I once again carved a design on the outside without cutting any holes and scraped the inside as much as I could so the light would shine through.  I'd planned on carving Bullwinkle, but it turned out looking more like Liddy.  That's okay.  She'll always be my special girl...and she's sort of shaped like a pumpkin anyway ;-).

Get it?

A play on Charlotte's Web...in case you didn't get it ;-).

The third highlight of fall is the Punkin (without the extra P) Party to celebrate National Hug a Sheep Day.  This will be our 7th annual farm party!  I don't really remember now how Hug a Sheep Day got started, but the first year was fun so we've kept it going and it's been fun watching everyone join in, not just here, but around the world :-).  International Hug a Sheep Day!

The farm party here is this Saturday, the 29th, from 1:00 to 4:00.  Everyone is welcome to come out and enjoy the farm, the hopefully beautiful fall weather, the sheep (and cats and dogs and horses and chickens), and the great company.  We will also have some leftover pumpkins (with a P) if you'd like to carve a sheep pumpkin for yourself!

You may bring treats (vanilla wafers, saltines, corn chips, Cheerios) for the sheep if you'd like, but once again we will all need to do our very best to monitor how many treats everyone (especially the C.O.R.G.I.) is getting so no one ends up with a tummy ache or in a sugar coma.

We will have some of the most huggable sheep set up in front of the barn and you can meet and greet with most of your favorite sheep.  Most meaning Not Maisie.  Oh, I might set her up somewhere in a Hannibal Lecter cage, but as always when visiting the farm, stay away from the sheep with the tail haha.  She hates cookies anyway ;-).

Bullwinkle and Levi have been practicing for Trick or Treat, but on an interesting note, Bullwinkle may not be in the hugging pen this year.  We'll have to see how he does.  We've had several groups of visitors lately and he is, I guess, shy.  

He won't eat treats (that he dearly loves) from anyone but me and would rather go hide around the corner.  Levi, on the other hand, who I was sure was never going to tame down enough to approach strangers, has zero problem yelling "Tricks or Treats" and will be happy to mug you for cookies :-).

I'm hoping to actually join the group of spinners this year, so bring your wheel/spindle/current projects/show and tell...  Want to learn to spin or knit?  This is the perfect place to get started! Have questions about keeping sheep?  Bring 'em! Have questions about Livestock Guardian Dogs? Bring 'em.  Border collies?  Bring 'em.  Corgis?  The answer is always food.  Remember - Don't Feed The Corgi ;-).

If you have any questions or need directions, shoot me an email.  If you have the address and your GPS wants to send you off the interstate via US 32, don't fall for it!  I'm serious.  

We hope to see you Saturday!

*     *     *     *     *

P.S. This has turned into an epistle, so I'm going to post the next winner (and answer the question) of the calendar giveaway in the post I'm planning for tomorrow.  This give everyone an extra day to enter both drawings!   Today is Integration Day for the two boys and the weather is gorgeous, so surely there will be some good pictures!

As The Way Most Things End...

A couple of weeks ago I had a decent sized pumpkin starting to grow from one of the Big Moose pumpkins.  Most of the rest of the plants have died off.  While I had my hands full hauling out some potentially diseased vines I left the gate unlatched...got sidetracked...sheep got in...pumpkin got eaten.  

That one was completely on me.

I've pretty much given up on the Great Pumpkin making a showing here.  I'd add "this fall" to that sentence, but at this point I don't think I'll ever give pumpkins another try.  How I could have so much fun last year and so little fun this year...  

I just started to have one more potential pumpkin making an effort to save the day.  This is one of the extension office plants.  As I was checking on it this afternoon I saw a little blemish...looked closer...a stupid chicken had pecked it!  

My last grasp at success...pecked. by. a. chicken.

My first thought was "Well, that's going to be a goner now.  Those little holes will let bacteria in and that will be the end."  

I decided it couldn't hurt to try to cover the hole.  I was thinking masking tape would be the least destructive...but my masking tape has apparently run off with my half empty glass.  The only tape I could find was some vintage sheep duct tape from Auntie Reg.

Maybe the sheep will end up saving the day!

She's Baaa-aack

After the sheep were shorn back in the spring, the Sheep Chicken had to stop sleeping on her ledge.  She couldn't get enough traction on the slick sheep backs to make her jumps.  About the time their wool started growing back to an acceptable length, the days got long and hot and the sheep stayed out grazing in the evenings, well past the time when she wanted to go to bed.  

She slept in the coop all long summer.  A week or so ago I noticed she was back on her platform perch.  I caught an occasional picture of her on various sheep's backs, jumping for her ledge, but hadn't had time to post them and then forgot. 

Two nights (or I should say late afternoons - chickens go to bed early!) ago short little Clover Belly followed a couple of the older sheep in hoping for an evening snack.  She didn't get one, but poked around the stalls for a bit looking for anything that might have dropped.

She was standing at the doorway between the inside and outside stalls (the right side of the picture) when the chicken hopped aboard.  She stood there for a couple seconds and then walked straight over to the ledge and the chicken jumped on up.  If you look closely you can see her next to the fan on the back wall. 

Sometimes I just "live in the moment" and watch what goes on without recording it.  Sunrises and sunsets are always better in real life and should sometimes just be enjoyed.  Bees working flowers...well, they are good either way.  A chicken and sheep so deliberately working together, especially one I've never seen helping the chicken before?  I wish I'd turned on the video camera.

*     *     *   In other news  *     *     *

Hank and June are now best friends.  Other than taking a walk yesterday where she shouldn't have, June is doing really, really well.  I'm putting up some more fencing today to hopefully stop her from future exploration missions.  If the Adventure Chickens figure out they could ride her to town... :-o

Cecil Aguilar's been back and made something extra special for us.  I'm telling you, drystone work is like tattoos.  Once you start you can't stop.  I of course took lots of pictures including a very cool one with Eli, who is trying really hard to make the calendar next year.  I'd say things are looking good for him ;-).

Tonight is the big neighborhood Pumpkin Carving Party.  I had planned to try to do a special felted pumpkin to carve, but...I'm now spending my day putting up fence :-/.  At least I can think about my real pumpkin design while I work.  I'm guessing it will be a Biscuit and Muffin design.  Stay tuned!

I don't know how it could possibly be almost the end of October, but it is and next Saturday is National Hug a Sheep Day :-D.  We are once again hosting a farm party to celebrate and would love if everyone could come!  Needless to say if I can't find time to post blog pictures, I probably haven't had time to work on the teleporter either, but June is all about some cookies as are Biscuit and Muffin and Mrs. Pepperpot and everyone else.  It will be a fun afternoon if you can make it :-D.

*     *     *   One more thing   *     *     *

When I was looking for a link for the words "Sheep Chicken" above, I found the post about Baby Belly and Spud helping last year.  I'd forgotten that had been Baby Belly.  Clover Belly is Baby Belly's daughter.  While Muffin may have ditched me and Mrs. Pepperpot, Clover Belly stayed very close to her momma her whole life.  We lost Baby Belly last week.

I am quite sure we don't have even an ounce of understanding about what goes on between animals, especially animals in a close family.  I was amazed that a sheep who I had thought had no previous experience with the chicken routine was helping out.  Now I'm extra amazed.  Remember Tilly stepping up after Iris died?  Something else to ponder while I'm stringing fence today.

SO, as I did with the long post about Tilly, let's see who made it to the end of this epistle.  Leave me a comment saying which sheep you'd love to hug most and I'll have 20 draw for a winner at the end of the weekend.  There's a 2018 Farm Calendar in it for the winner :-).

Well It Wasn't An EPIC Fail...

...but if I have to keep explaining that it's two cute sheep, Biscuit and Muffin, eating a pumpkin and NOT a skull...  

By the way, that's Stella in the background wearing a bats in the belfry headpiece, courtesy of Auntie Reg ;-D.

It was another great Pumpkin Party.  This is really a highlight of the year for sure.  The amount of work it takes to put on a party of this size and cook all that good food and set up all the tables and chairs and bring in all the pumpkins and have carving tools and buckets for everyone to share and a big tobacco wagon to display them all and candles to light them...  We have awesome neighbors!

It's a little less scary in the daylight, or porch light.  And now that you know the bottom is a pumpkin and Not Teeth, it totally looks like Biscuit and Muffin...right?

Shirley won the calendar drawing :-D.  I don't think I have your address, so if you could drop me an email I'll get it sent out right away.  And I'm hoping to get the farm shop updated today so if anyone else would like a calendar...

Solstice Sheep Day One - Muffin

As I was preparing to get up this morning I decided I would wear my Maisie sweater today.  I love all my sheep sweaters and I like to think the sheep know I'm wearing their wool and are maybe a bit disappointed if I wear something not from our flock.  

I was rustling around trying to find Maisie - I do this by feel in the dark - and felt Muffin's sweater and changed my mind and decided to wear her.  As I was pulling it on I thought "Wouldn't it be fun if I drew Muffin's name this morning!"

I cut all the name tags out, folded them tightly and then shook them up in a bowl and without looking put each one into a pocket.  I love surprises and if I'd seen a name, I'd have put it back in the bowl and tried again.  I was Very Careful.

And on the very first day of Sheep Solstice I drew...Muffin :-).

Muffin and her mom, Mrs. Pepperpot, moved over here from Final Frontier Farm in...are you sitting down?...2017.  Good.  Grief.  Time flies.  She'd been the sickest little lamb I'd ever seen who actually lived and she still looked pretty rough when she moved over here to be Biscuit's best friend.

"First hot day this summer, you are probably going to lose her, so don't get too attached."  Too late.  I was already attached.

Watching Muffin and her mom take the very best care of each other was one of the highlights of my sheep life.  Remember them sleeping together, Muffin's head tucked over her momma's back?  The day we had to put old Pepperpot down was soul crushing, but the last thing I told her was that we'd take good care of Muffin and here we are seven year later, still enjoying some Muffin magic.

About an hour later I walked into the front room and found a ceramic sheep laying on the floor.  Archie!  It was a sweet little shiny black sheep and I picked her up and set her on the kitchen counter.  She'll be our mascot for the season.

Muffin is a sweet treat lover, but she also loves pumpkins, so today everyone got to have a pumpkin party.  My friend Celia and I picked up an entire car full of pumpkins at the season end at our local orchard.  I never shared that picture and need to go find it.  That car was loaded!  I think we had over 150 pumpkins of various sizes piled in there.

Muffin's portrait?  One only a mother could love.  Look at that slimy pumpkin face :-o.  Her calendar picture is so much prettier, but this one tells a good story.  Oh, and who is that sheep trying to share her pumpkin?  Yep, it's Biscuit.  I love that they are still best friends.

We'll try to do better tomorrow ;-).

The Punkin's Patch Pumpkin Party

I took the Halloween/Maisie's birthday/Christmas pumpkin out to the barn lot yesterday.  It was a huge pumpkin so heavy I used the hay cart to haul it up from the house. 

I should have just left it on the cart.

A little interest from the nosiest sheep...and chickens.

And then Hank showed up.

So Chocula split.  Does the chicken photo bomb remind you of someone?

Hank left so Chocula came back.

And Renny walked over.  These are brown sheep, not really dirty white sheep.  Sort of like my kitchen floor does have a hint of brown...  Just sayin' ;-).

"Um, we like watermelon much better."

B. Willard did actually put some in his mouth.

And a couple Adventure Chickens gave it a couple tries.

But in the end...it was a bust.  

Note Chicken No's interest in the sledge hammer.  The Graham Lamb of the chicken world...

Happy Baa-loween!

This awesome shot was taken by neighbor Jennifer G. at the pumpkin carving party last week.



It's B. Willard. Remember his pumpkin from last year?



We had farm-wide tricks or treats this afternoon. Even Claire Bear made a rare appearance, drawn out by some kitty treats.



Probably only corgi owners will find this "temptations" picture funny ;-).



Normally Stella and I dress up some poor unsuspecting sheep for Halloween. This year we just couldn't get our great idea pulled together. That was okay. Hickory set himself up for needing a costume this year. He's dressed up as a sheep, in hopes maybe Hank will start to like him.

"Um, Hickory, if you don't quit chasing his sheep around, you're going to need more than a lamb's ear head band to help you out."

"Don't care. Give me the treats!"



I could only get two quick shots off before he started ravaging that poor unsuspecting sheep basket.



The cat treats were instantly tossed aside. As were the dog biscuits after he tasted them and the pretty red apple. Turns out he's a cookie monster.

"Hickory, I have a feeling that eating all the sheep's treats probably isn't helping your cause any."



I hope you are able to show a bit more restraint digging into your trick or treat loot ;-).

Happy Baa-loween!

The Pumpkin Party

Well, the after the pumpkin party.  Or maybe I should say the after we ate all the original pumpkins party ;-).

That's a ewe on a mission.

And the race is on!

"Let me show you how it's done, boys."

The two white faces looking at each other are Christopher and Maggie.  They are still the best brother and sister :-).

If you'd like a new puzzle, this is a fun one.  Enjoy!