Wrapping up 2014

We had a busy and productive year in 2014 with a lot of changes on the ranch/farm (we raise cattle and grow grass so you can decide if we are a ranch or a farm).  Since a picture is worth a thousand words, here are some picture highlights from 2014:



We started the year with a rare snow
(about 1/4") which was a big treat for
Ava and Cora while it lasted. 

Our first "livestock" was a box of 26 baby chicks.  We

got that many on the assumption that half wouldn't

survive to adulthood.

Our assumption was wrong as all 26 survived.  Here they are enjoying
watermelon rind treats.  We got a variety so we'd have a third split of
brown, white and green/blue eggs.

Here you can see a collection of eggs. 

We were most excited about finishing the house construction in April (here it
is festooned for Christmas) after living in the camper for over a year.

Pam started teaching Yoga again this spring.  She
currently works at Yoga Pod in College Station and
Om Grown Yoga in Bryan.  She is working on her
certification in Yoga Therapy through a center in Austin.

The next addition was a litter of kittens.  Lilly chose a large plastic pot for the
birthing room. 

Life on our farm is hard on cats. The mother disappeared one night
(after the kittens were weaned) and the father did the same.  We gave
a couple of kittens away planning to keep four. One got killed and
another disappeared.  So, we're down to two males who I expect to
leave any day.  If so, we'll be starting over with new barn cats in 2015.

  

We added 12 heifers and a bull in early summer. 

 

They started calving in October.  Here are two meeting for the first time.  We
are up to four now with at least a couple more on the way early next year.

Clark came for a visit.  He's enjoying a beer with Nicole (she seems to be
enjoying it more than him).  He's settled in Nashville now working with Bass,
Berry and Sims (law firm). 

 

We made a late summer trip to South Padre Island.

Holly and Cora enjoying the Burleson County Fair.  While
there are a lot of things a small community may not offer,
it is offset by other things that bigger towns/cities don't
have (a sense of community is one of those). 

I had one of those milestone birthdays which gave us an excuse to have a
bar-b-q and drink some beer.

I did a little Redfishing in Louisiana.  They aren't trout but are still fun to catch.

We've got a number of these lurking around so I've been practicing my "hurt
rabbit" and coyote calls to see if I can get a couple out in the open and
shoot them.  I'm confident they have been the reason our cats disappear.

Here is a sounder of feral hogs at our cattle tank.  They seem to visit us about
two times a month and too often root up a considerable amount of pasture.

To deal with the feral hogs, I built a trap.  It's basically a round pen made of
cattle/hog panels and T-posts.  This one is about 30' in diameter.

This is the trap/guillotine door.  It's not set in this picture. 
To set it a hinged 2x4 is attached to the rope which is
attached to a tire on the other side of the trap.

Some corn is placed inside the tire and when the hogs
move the tire to get to the corn, the 2x4 is pulled out and
the trap door drops, trapping the hogs inside the pen.

These are the loading gates (there are people who will buy
these wild hogs for processing) to get the hogs from the
pen into a trailer.

Cora really enjoys going to church.  On this Sunday, they
didn't have a Children's sermon.  At the end of the service
Cora decided to have her own on the steps next to the pulpit.

We don't have cold winters in south central Texas but
the north wind can occasionally be brutal (blue norther).
I boarded up the bottom (and the top although not shown
here) to reduce the wind and keep the chickens a little warmer.

Ava was selected to dance as an angel in the Bryan/College
Station area performance of the Nutcracker.  Here's Mimi
presenting her with flowers after the performance.

Pam and I celebrated our seventeenth wedding anniversary
in December by taking a day trip to Salado, TX.  This selfie
was taken at the sculpture park in Salado.  We are trying to
 take day trips to some of the "cool" Texas towns nearby.
With livestock, it's difficult to be gone overnight without
having someone on site. 

 

All things considered, we've had a blessed year and are looking forward to 2015.  We hope you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
 

Eggs and Calves

 

The Chickens Have Been Busy

 

We are full into fall in Texas which means it can be 90 or 40 degrees on any given day (and it has been both).  Mostly, its been very pleasant and we've had rain so nothing to complain about.  Pam's been encouraging the chickens to be productive and we've seen them take that to heart.  We started getting 1-2 eggs per day at first and now are up to 12 per day.  The Leghorns are the most productive but as you can see in the photo below, we are getting brown, chocolate and green eggs too.  Initially, we had a problem with the hens laying eggs all over the coop instead of the nesting boxes.  They also scratched out the nesting bedding as fast as I added it.  I tried putting some golf balls in the nesting boxes to mimic eggs (supposed to encourage them to use the nesting boxes) but they removed those too.  Pam had the idea to add some curtains and it worked beautifully.  They made it harder for the chickens to scratch out the straw bedding and the hens seem to like having some privacy as all are now laying their eggs in the nesting boxes.  I have no idea how much egg production will drop during the winter months.  We still have some hens that haven't started laying nor are any of the Guineas so that should only add to eggs produced.  However, reduced daylight slows egg laying.  We don't plan to use a light to encourage production during the lower daylight months, so we will see what nature has in store for us.



Pam encouraging a Black Sex-Linked
hen to lay more eggs.

Cora helping gather eggs (looks to me like she
wants to eat or throw it).



A nice variety of egg colors.

A little privacy please?

As a reward for their getting down to egg laying business, I built the chickens a dust bath.  Actually, they had already built their own but I hope the amenities of this one will encourage them to use it instead.  Chickens take dust baths to stay clean (if only I'd had that information at bath time when I was a kid).  Adding a little wood ash and the occasional dried herbs helps.  Typically, several bathe at once so it's a social event of sorts.  In addition to removing the grass and loosening the soil I placed and partially buried rocks around the area.  This gives the chickens a place to perch and watch those bathing and wait their turn.  I call it Chickenhenge. 

 

Bath time at the 'henge.

So Have the Cows

 

We finally saw our first calf born a couple of weeks ago.  I wasn't able to round up the mother so she had it on her own under a Yaupon bush in the fence row.  That wasn't desirable as first time mothers can have problems with delivery.  So, I built a "pre-natal pen" near the house and rounded up the four heifers I believed will calve next.  Cows are herd animals and don't like to be alone.  A few days later the second calf was born and I was there to keep watch (no assistance was needed).  I'll admit I was something of a "nervous father" and thought about jumping in a couple of times.  It's pretty amazing to watch the calf stand up (albeit with some difficulty) shortly after birth and start nursing.  It was a learning experience for the calf and the mother as she kept moving every time he got close to her.  Eventually, they figured it out and he took care of business.  It's important that the calf nurse within the first few hours to get the colostrum that provides necessary nutrition, antibodies and immunoglobulins they are unable to produce until they are a little older.  I'll keep the calf and mother in the pen for a week or so until I'm sure the calf can fend for itself. 

 



Second calf.  Is that the state
of Texas on his forehead?

First calf born on Tres Colinas

I have attended a couple of seminars on cattle management held by the local county agriculture extension office in concert with Texas A&M.  I've learned a lot about cows, calves, pasture, hay production, fertilizer, weed control, pest control, cattle economics, etc.  One of the physicians I worked for was worried I wouldn't have enough mental challenges during my retirement.  I don't think that's going to be a problem. I still plan to be as "organic" as possible, especially with fertilizer.  It may take a year or two of chemical weed control to get my pastures where I want them.  Once they are better established, fertilizer alone may keep the weeds out.

 

    

 The spring/summer garden wrapped up with a bang.  We got a last batch of cantaloupes, a good crop of peanuts and a decent number of sweet potatoes.  I will spend most of the winter adding more compost and manure to the garden.  The cows and chickens are certainly doing their part to help in this area.  I did plant a small fall/winter garden of beets, carrots, radishes and various greens.  It seems to be off to a slow start. 

 

 

A second crop of cantaloupes

Despite the Aggies epic meltdown this football season, everyone dressed as some aspect of college football for Halloween with an Aggie theme.  Ava and Cora were cheerleaders, Nicole was a fan, Holly was a referee and Pam was a player (I handed out candy).   

 

Aggie Halloweeners

Heath the cat stands watch (that's him below the front window)

 at the end of another day on the farm.

 

Catastrophe at Tres Colinas

"Cat"astrophe at Tres Colinas

I guess it is a matter of perspective but from ours it was at least a disappointment if not a catastrophe.  You may recall that Matt and Lilly produced six kittens and a neighbor took two of them.  We decided we had enough cats and had Lilly spayed.  Of the four kittens still around, three were males and one was a female.  We figured the males would grow up and wander off and we'd let the female have a litter next year to keep us in barn cats.  It didn't cross my mind that having Lilly spayed would be Matt's signal to leave and never come back.  It also didn't occur to us that Audra (the female kitten would meet a violet death one night behind the barn.  I'm not sure what killed her but it didn't attempt to eat her and it looked like two culprits were involved (I won't go into the grisly details but just leave it that forensic evidence pointed to two murderers).  My first thought was to accuse Shane and Maddie (our dogs) but they seem to ignore the cats and when close to each other there is never any animosity.  I learned in the fifth grade not to accuse some one on circumstantial evidence (an embarrassing incident with a missing American Flag that turned up after I publically identified the supposed thief).  So, I set up a trail camera for a week or so and no further evidence was found.  So, we thought we will at least have Lilly when her three sons decide to start "catting around".  Once again we were outsmarted.  A few days later Lilly disappeared.  She was always there at daylight when I let the chickens out and feed the cats and dogs.  After the second day we had to face the reality that something must have killed her.  Now, we've got three young male cats and no reproductive options.  The lesson I've learned is first, don't think I'm in control of what happens in the barnyard at night and second, don't waste money having a barn cat spayed.  From now on I'll let the natural order play out and deal with the consequences. 

 

White Leghorn, Silver Wyandotte, 2 Black Sex-linked, 5
Ameracaunas and a Buff Orpington free ranging.

The chickens are almost grown and should start producing eggs any day.  I let them free range every day for a couple of hours before sundown.  The beauty of this is I just leave the coop door open and they all march in about fifteen minutes after the sun sets.  I don't think they'll ever learn to shut the door behind them but (similar to men putting the lid down and women turning off lights when they leave a room) you can't have everything and should be more satisfied with what you do have.  I don't trust the dogs with the chickens although they ignore them, at least from behind the fence (maybe that's their MO with cats and chickens).

 

 

 

You can also see that the cats generally ignore the chickens.  They will occasionally act like they are stalking one but at least to this point there has been no violence.  Both enjoy chasing grasshoppers, of which there is no shortage.  Fortunately, they haven't done too much damage to our crops.  We had great watermelons and cantaloupes this year.  I raised red and yellow seedless watermelons and they were outstanding.  I ate one every day for at least a month.  We actually had two crops of cantaloupes from the same vines.  Based on comments from neighbors, that is unusual.   We still have peanuts and sweet potatoes that should be ready to dig at the end of September.

 

 We took a week off from the farm and drove to Padre Island in South Texas.  It's only four hours away and is a beautiful beach.  Robert, Nicole, Ava, Josh, Holly and Cora accompanied us.  It gave us a chance to stop in La Grange for some BBQ at Prause's , a fourth generation Meat Market.  They don't make sandwiches (a sign on the wall states so) but will give you the bread and meat for you to do with as you will.  La Grange is also famous for The Chicken Ranch.  If you want to know more about that you can watch the movie with Dolly Parton and Burt Reynolds.

 

As you can see the weather and beach were great except for the occasional group of weirdo's who think they are still High School Cheerleaders.   

We got everyone up early (about 5am) one morning and went to the Park Station to see a turtle release.  They had about a hundred hatched sea turtles that they released into the Gulf.  They turn them loose about fifty yards short of the water and let them walk in.  Amazingly, this imprints that location and the turtles that survive will return to that same area when they are ready to lay eggs.  That doesn't happen for about ten years and the harsh reality is about 1 in 500 make it to reproductive age.  They have a lot of predators in the water until they get bigger (guess the one at the top knows that and has decided to stay on dry land).

 

 

When we got back to the farm it was time to celebrate my _0th birthday.  I've never had birthdays with a 0 on them bother me much and this one didn't either but I'm beginning to face the fact that I am getting old if not already there.  We invited about twenty friends and family over for a BBQ (what else would you do for a birthday in Texas?) and Josh served as the BBQ master.  He cooked two briskets (he basting them on the left) and a pork butt on a grill that he made.

 

 

 

I'm pretty impressed with the design and building of this BBQ pit.  The steel fire box is on the lower right with both a top and side door for adding wood.  A large pipe runs from the fire box to the grill allowing heat and smoke to reach the meat.  The grill has two sides, each with a door and a thermometer.  You can control how much heat and smoke reach each side with a sliding door at the top of the pipe.  Finally, the grill is mounted on a trailer so it can go where the party or cook-off is that day.

 

Josh cooked the briskets for about ten hours at a temperature between 225 and 250.  This and a few secrets he has results in a tender and moist brisket with a nice pink smoke ring as you can see below.  I plan to build a stone pit this fall but suspect it will be a while, if ever, before I can cook a brisket that is this delicious.

Carved and ready to eat

Birthday wishes with a nod to the past

Ava and I taking my birthday gift out for a spin

   

 Well, I think today (9/23/14) marked the beginning of fall for us.  The low this morning was 61 and the high today only 84.  If so, it's coming about 3-4 weeks early for south central Texas but we are glad to see it.  It's not been a hot summer by recent standards (only a hand full of days above 99) but its still nice to have some cool weather to enjoy.  Hope you enjoy the fall season wherever you are.  We should have some calves to show off in the next blog.

 

 

Summer Fun

Tres Colinas on the road less graveled

The garden has continued producing and you can see we've had peppers (green, yellow and orange), corn, peas and beans.  We had our first cantaloupe this morning and it was delicious.  There are 25 more of them on the vine.  The Pumpkins are growing as are the Butternut Squash and the Watermelons.  We planted two varieties of seedless watermelons (one red and one yellow).  They require a pollinator which does not produce melons.  I will have to do a lot of watering as they get bigger (unless it rains regularly).  We also have sunflowers as a memorial to Pam's mother (she loved sunflowers) who passed away two years ago.

 

 
 

We have also had a good crop of cucumbers so I decided to try making dill pickles.  I found a recipe from an East Texas woman for sun pickles.  All you do is put a couple of garlic buds, a sprig of dill and a teaspoon of dill seed in each jar.  Cram the cucumbers in the jar and fill with a solution of water, vinegar and salt.  Close the jars and place them in a spot that gets full sun.  After fourteen sunny days (adjust if there are rainy days) they are ready.  The high heat (we are consistently in the high 90's and have had a couple of 100 days) during the days and the cooler nights supposedly seal the jars.  You can see that it requires a lot of concentration.  We will see in a couple of weeks if it works.  Hopefully they won't taste like "Aunt Bee's Kerosene Cucumbers" that nearly killed Deputy Fife.

 We had a pretty big thunderstorm on July 3rd.  We were at a fireworks display in Caldwell when it hit our place.  The major casualty was one of my favorite trees.  You can see the before and after pictures below.  That's Pam and Cora looking sad at the loss of the tree.  It's about 200 yards from the house so I'm sure it would have been loud had we been home.  We were fortunate none of the cows were under that tree as it had been one of their favorite places to rest.  I need to get it cleaned up sooner than later.  The locals tell me that the heat from the lightening strike combined with the summer heat will dry the wood in short order.  This will make cutting it up with a chainsaw very difficult if not impossible. 

 

 

 

 

The chickens are doing well.  I decided to install a Chicken Fountain to meet their water needs.  In the hot Texas summer you don't want any animal going without a continuous supply of water.  I considered making my own but it wasn't worth it to save about $20.  You just attach it where the chickens can reach it and hook it up to a garden hose.  It maintains a constant water level and the chickens quickly learned to get water by hitting the water nipples with their beaks. 

 

They like getting treats on hot days, so Pam is giving them some watermelon rinds in the picture below.  All 26 are still with us so we should be getting lots of eggs in about two months.  The five Guineas we had have all disappeared.  I think I occasionally hear one in the woods but it may be a ghost of a Guinea passed.  One of our relatives gave us 3 Guinea chicks so we are raising them to see if they will stick around. 

Watermelon treat time

Guinea chicks on their birthday

The kittens either love to keep a bird's eye watch on
the chickens or are training to run away and join the circus



Can't imagine being this flexible (not sure
what I'd do if I was)

 The grandkids are doing well and growing up fast.  Ava loves to dance and Cora loves to eat so here's pictures of them doing what they love.








Don't even think of taking this rib from me!