Things have been hopping on our little 'farm' lately...
A friend gave me five of her older chickens who aren't laying anymore to use for bug control around our place.
They've been quite industrious, scratching about the yard.
I converted our old lamb tractor into a coop for them...
For those not in the know, a lamb tractor is a portable fenced structure either on wheels or runners which is used to move lambs around the yard for grazing purposes. You can also use them for goats and there are chicken tractors as well. We simply removed the wheels from ours so it would sit flush with the ground and viola! A chicken coop. Our old one is 1) falling apart and B)...no...2) farther from the house. Keeping them closer to the house will hopefully eliminate the predator problems we were experiencing.
The Muffin kitty, taking a break from hunting mice, grasshoppers, rabbits and birds;)
It will be cherry picking time soon!
We've already been sampling the cherries. Just can't wait until they're completely ripe:)
The orchard was here when we bought our property - some of the trees are around 50 years old!
Resting in the shade with the Bonnie dog.
The best thing about summer - bare feet!
The Syringa is our state flower...
I love our cedar trees. They're so big and tall and smell so good.
Dewey and Freckles are an interesting pair.
They're grooming each other one minute, then biting each other and squealing the next. Silly boys. Bob, being an amazingly intelligent boy, stays out of it;)
They're grooming each other one minute, then biting each other and squealing the next. Silly boys. Bob, being an amazingly intelligent boy, stays out of it;)
Oceanspray...
My garden is doing quite well this year, although it desperately needs weeding.
I learned my lesson on over watering tomatoes last year and there's no blossom end rot to be seen!
The sheepies are enjoying their lush green pasture...
It's been unusually hot lately - in the 90s - so I've been watering a lot.
And eradicating thistles. I couldn't find my heavy work gloves, so I settles for cutting the heads off and bagging them. I may or may not have amused myself by muttering "Off with their heads!" while doing so...;)
The llamas have been in the brush-y unfinished upper pasture eating the brush.
They prefer brush to pasture anyway, so it works out well for everyone.
Happy Trails, y'all!
My goodness, you have a BEAUTIFUL home! Love the cherry orchard!
ReplyDeleteOh, I love seeing all the pictures! We had a wee mini farm when I was little and I do miss it sometimes! Lovely!!!
ReplyDeleteLove all the pictures. You must have lots of fun spending time on your property. It look so beautiful!
ReplyDeleteLovely photos! Now I'm yearning even more for a farm of my own! Aw, and your llama is so cute (along with all the other animals of course!)!(:
ReplyDelete~Vicki
deckedoutinruffles.blogspot.com
Wow! Your house is incredible! So big--lots of room to spread out, aye? And right by your own private pond...I'm jealous. ;-)
ReplyDeleteCherries! One of my favorite things about Summertime. How do you keep the birds from eating them before they're even ripe??
Here's-a-llama-there's-a-llama....
Hehe, couldn't resist. :-P
God bless,
~"Tom"~
What a delightful series of pix of your beautiful farm & ranch! To say it's beautiful isn't quite enough! Muffin sure is gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteI love cats so! And the pix of the horses, llamas, sheep, & chickens are great. Do you have a ram? I hope the hens help with bugs and all. Thanks for sharing these with us Natasha! I remember a friend having several Guinea Fowl around the yard to keep snakes out. But they also ate every annual planted including the entire vegetable garden. It didn't work out!
Will
Tasha- what a beautiful set of photos of your gorgeous summer farm!! All of the lush green, flowers, growing garden, happy farm critters everywhere, and ripening cherries.... Does it get any sweeter than this? What do you make from your cherries? Jam? Pie filling? Cherry pies? Oh gosh how I love cherries!!!! Thanks for another virtual farm tour in beautiful north Idaho!!
ReplyDeleteThank you all for your lovely comments! :)
ReplyDeleteKatySue - Thank you!:)
Alexandra - What kind of animals did you have?
Sereina - Yes, I do have a lot of fun on our property. I never really want to leave it:)
Vicki - I hope you get a farm of your own someday!
Tom - *grin* Yeah, it is a bit big and there is lots of room to spread out, but it also means a lot of cleaning. ;)
We used to put nets on the trees to keep the birds from eating the cherries, but we haven't for the past several years. It was a pain in the neck (literally!) putting the nets on.
Teehee;D
Mr. Dane - Muffin is a lovely cat. I love cats, too:)
No, I don't have my own ram at this point. The sheep with the horns is my pet Calvin. He's a whether (which means he's castrated).
Guinea Hens - ugh. They may be good at bug control (or snake control), but they're ugly as all get out! My cousins have some for bug control.
Winnie - My dad LOVES cherry pie, so we make a lot of those. I usually just pit the cherries, freeze them, and thaw as needed. My mom used to make cherry jam - it was delicious!!