fruit trees

Cow sorting

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Last week we did actually get some needed items checked off the winter list. Mr Rainman came out and tackled the orchard. He trimmed all of the fruit trees. Not only did he trim them, he cut them way back so they can gain some limb strength. This was a much needed thing as the limbs were having a hard time carrying a full load of fruit. He also tackled the ancient apple trees and raised the limbs enough that we can drive the tractor underneath the tree!

Mr Rainman is also building up a second pile of limbs near the irrigation ditch for the quail. The quail use the limb piles as cover to protect themselves from predators. This will be the fifth pile we have created on the farm for them. We have two coveys this winter of about 80 birds each. They are healthy and fly around the houses at least once a day. Even if I cannot see them they can be heard as they are quite noisy. This took both days to get completed. The raspberries and blackberries are the last thing that needs to get trimmed this winter.

Gingerman and I went out first thing in the morning last Saturday to sort the cows. We needed to get the bull into Alcatraz and the three weanling calves off the female cows they are 6-7 months old now. It was fairly cold and I could see steam coming off the pile of manure from two years ago.

I drove the tractor and the Gingerman cycled gates. The cows associate the tractor with food so they always come running when they hear it. I opened a gate into the pasture around the old chicken coop and the cows proceeded to rush the fence into the ram pasture. This led them to spot the open gate onto the hillside so they ran up the hillside looking for a way out. I had to get down off the tractor and the Gingerman and I herded them back into the ram pasture and back out towards the gate over by Alcatraz. The horse was locked into the old lamb barn and we had both gates down to the spring closed so it was a straight shot toward the corral. The new gate/fence in the barn lot worked incredibly well and we got the cows into the front barn lot without much hassle. Once we got them into the lot it was not very hard to push them into the corral area. We managed to sort off three heifers and then the bull got stuck out by himself so we pushed him back into the horse area to wait. He needed to go to Alcatraz but with the heifers already getting sorted we need to move them first. The calves all bunched up in the area near the barn and the Gingerman was walking up behind them to get them moving when the pretty brown calf smashed his hind leg backwards to state his displeasure at being handled. The problem with this is the Gingerman was too close and caught the hoof in the left testicle. He did not hit the ground himself but it was a close call. He ended up leaning on the gate while I casually sorted the rest of the cows.

We ran the calves through the yard into the orchard. The heifers just got pushed out into field #4 to continue eating and growing their pregnant bellies.

The bull just sauntered over towards the fence to get to the heifers. The fence and the Gingerman were in his way. He kept trying to get around the Gingerman and he would just wave his head and push forward against the Gingerman. We finally got him turned, then just chased him into Alcatraz so he did not have time to think about what he was doing.

I ended up sanding all of the pine pieces for the inside trim of the bathroom. I would have rather spent the day outside. It was a sunny and clear day, absolutely beautiful. But the bathroom must progress.

It shoulda worked

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Last week we did get a lot of stuff done. I was able to “mow” the front hillside with the animals. Normally one would think our new front fence would be sufficient, but it is not. Both the young Border Collie and Border Terrier can get past the fence, one jumps on top of it and drops just past the fence in the little spot before the rocks, the other just crawls through it. This meant we needed to get them locked up in the back garden area. They can run out into the orchard, lavender patch and back garden area. Chance, Border Collie, figured out how to jump through gate so we blocked that, then she learned to jump in the corner next to the post so she can jump on top of the gate, this requires a little scrambling but the upright post helps her stabilize. Once settled on top she just jumps down. Gingerman and I installed a cattle panel onto the top of the gate that raises it another two feet, she cannot jump it now.

Once that was done it was safe for the animals to come into the front hillside. I didn’t count on the cows liking it so much that they came in every day. It took about a week for everyone to knock it down sufficiently. Of course there were consequences, the cows broke a part of the plastic irrigation pipe that took me a few days to figure out. I could not figure out why there was a swamp in the making in one area and that same side was not getting watered. The dogs loved the swampy area, it’s cool and muddy.

We sold the last horned brown Dexter cow we owned. She was the nicest of the batch but compared to the black ones she was the craziest we had on the farm. She was very pregnant and a proven mother about six years old. We sold her for $1800. The price of cattle currently is crazy. We have of course cut the herd down dramatically last year. We will only have three cows for slaughter next year. We only have five female cows left. Our bull will come off the group at the end of the month. We will pull the rams off the sheep at the same time.

The fruit continues to come on at an unrelenting pace. Gingerman went up with me to pick yellow plums. Using the tractor as a platform is more efficient than a ladder. Plus, I get to steer and not pick fruit! We picked about 40# of plums and Annmarie made jam. We gave a large portion away and will just let the rest drop to the ground. The sheep will clean them all up.

Too much fruit

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Labor Day weekend was spent getting ready for the next thing whatever it is. Annmarie wants me to get the Dodge pickup cleaned out and the Ford diesel up and going. I bought two new batteries for the Ford and the Gingerman got them in and the pickup started. He has spent a few days tinkering with it and it is running pretty smooth. It just needs a couple of quarts of power steering fluid. Plus, he found a brand new tire weight on the ground so it will need to go back in and have the tires rebalanced. I was able to unload the sand out of the Dodge. I needed space to fit a piece of plywood and there wasn’t any with the sand still riding around in the truck bed. I needed to get the replacement throttle cable ordered for the compactor so that we can spread the sand out and pound it in place. I left the sand in the bags so that the cats would not use the gazebo as a personal toilet.

I was able to snag some shelves at a reasonable price and got them installed on the shop wall. I am going to move all my various anchor bolts into one section so I know what I have and can find it when needed. The left side is plumbing and air line brass parts they came with the organizer. Slowly but surely we are getting organized. It is much easier to find things when they are in their place.

I spent one single day doing nothing but picking fruit. I picked 24 cups of tame blackberries then about 8# of plums and then nectarines. The bad part about picking the fruit is when you pick that much you have to do something with it. Our large upright freezer is stuffed full of frozen fruit. I truly believe we have enough to get through the next year. Irregardless of that the fruit trees just keep producing. I have taken boxes of plums and nectarines to work for the produce table in an effort to give it away. So far it disappears fast enough that it doesn’t go bad. I kept track of how many blackberries I have picked in the last six weeks, 21.5 gallons! That is a personal best. Annmarie has made jam and syrup that we have canned. So we have canning supplies all over the house as we process fruit. Making your own food does take time.

Catch up weekend

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We keep trying to get ahead but it seems like the chores are winning. I am sure they are piling up faster than we can get them completed. My helper is busy and I have been doing a lot more general keep up so I have not made any movement on any project. We have been processing fruit nonstop. The tall upright freezer is full of six types of fruit. Annmarie has canned plum syrup and jam. We want to make apricot butter and maybe some pear butter also. We are still having to pick tame blackberries every four days and are getting at least 20 cups every time. I am waiting till the season is over to tally up the amount of blackberries that were harvested this year, it is a lot! We are still seeing a lot of bunny rabbits!

We are going to be moving our sheep back over to Hermiston the first week of October. They will be able to hang out for two months eating green grass and then come back just in time to start having lambs. We will take the lambs and cull ewes to sale as soon as they come off the green grass. They will have the most weight and best conditioning then. I have no idea what the sale price will be. I heard this week that feeder calves (500-600#) sold at the LaGrande auction for $4.25/# live weight! That is a crazy high price. We already have all seven of our yearlings sold for $4.25/# hanging weight and are going to stick with that price. Beef prices are going to leap up in the next 3-4 months.

We have started to process our nectarines. I did not think there were very many on the tree. There is probably 100#. I have been selectively picking them half a box at a time. Taking just the ripe ones off the tree. The golden plums are starting to come on and there is a solid 100-200# on the tree and the Italian plums have at least 100#. We have started to just pick fruit and take it into the hospital. There is a communal produce table where you can donate garden produce to other staff, free shopping. It is quite nice and most stuff disappears in 1-2 days so it does not go to waste.

I spent a day weed eating the yard and garden. The Gingerman helped me string wire up into the top gap in the side gate so the Border Collie could not jump through it. It seems to be working so we will be letting the sheep onto the front hillside to knock it down. It is starting to get out of control.

We did manage to get a single piece of oak plywood down on the saw horses and the saw rest assembled. I need to get a new blade for the skilsaw before I cut the cabinet pieces. I need to get that cabinet done.

I did take a couple of hours and cut all of the dead branches out of the nectarine tree. I will be cutting all of the fruit trees this winter. They need shortened, thinned and shaped. It cannot wait any longer.

I really need to get the sand and bricks installed in the gazebo but I have to repair the throttle cable on the compactor again. The thing vibrates and cuts the sheath. Once that is done the greenhouse is next. It is all a work in progress. The parts came this week to fix the little John Deere tractor so that will need to be done this weekend so I can dig out the barn.

On top of all of that and our daughter just had her first baby today and we are now grandparents. So we have been moving things around and setting up an area for the baby as the kids come down and see us almost every weekend. Both the baby and mother are doing well.

Within the next month I will need to hay again! I will be cutting a neighbor’s field that he was been watering since the first cutting. It is going to be a loaded fall season.

Lavender harvest

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Mr Rainman and the mermaid (formerly the Gimp) came out on a Friday to help me harvest some of the lavender. It did not take us long we had about half the patch harvested in two hours with Mr Rainman and I weeding as we went along. By the time we were done harvesting we had the entire patch weeded! I used a little serrated sickle bar and it worked slick. I grabbed a full handful, cut it and then passed it off to the mermaid who rubber banded it together. We filled seven totes/boxes and they took two for helping harvest.

Annmarie posted it on Facebook classifieds and we got zero hits. I had put it all in her office and cranked the air conditioning up so it’s about 62F in her office now. We ended up taking a bunch to work to give away. This was over two weeks ago and another 25% of the lavender patch is ready to be harvested again. The Grosso (type of lavender) still needs another two weeks before it is ready. We are going to use that to redo our wreath we have inside the house. Annmarie puts new flowers on the wreath every year and we hang it up in our dining room.

The garden is starting to produce finally. We have collected almost three full flats of strawberries from a 2×6 foot trough elevated bed. It is amazing how many berries we have been getting. We are freezing them in one cup baggies so Annmarie can use them in her breakfast smoothies. We did have to net the berries this year to prevent the birds from eating all of the berries like last year. The raspberries have just started to turn red so we will be picking them seriously by next weekend.

I really need to get out into the garden with a hoe and clear some weeds. I had done it a couple of weeks ago but it already needs it again.

Just before we left for camp last week, I set up a drip system for all of the fruit trees. Each tree is getting 12-24 gallons of water a day. The plums and apricots were checked today and they have another 1-2 weeks before they are ripe. We will be harvesting everything this year and cutting and prepping the extra for the freezer for Annmarie’s breakfast smoothies.

The wild blackberries are blooming continuously and we should have a bumper crop this year. So between all of the berries and fruit trees we should not have to buy any frozen fruit this next year.

The sunchokes I planted are already two feet high! I am hoping they do really well so I can move them to someplace else in the yard. We have never grown them before so we really did not know what to expect.