Farm Friday, June 10th, 2022

In which Precious the llama stands up unexpectedly

Last Saturday Precious stood up on her own for the first time in weeks. Then she walked to the other pen and sat down there. This stunt has not been repeated since.

This week was the last week of the school year for the students who go to the school that owns the farm where I live and work. We had a group of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd graders out for three days of activities. It was a bittersweet time because their visit started with a rotation that included a visit to our barn to see the animals. During the tour, I made it clear that this is probably the last time they will see our llama, Precious. Precious was very patient with them while they gave her little hugs and petted her. I told stories about Precious each time we gathered, and the children were rapt in attention. In the middle of one story, I broke down and cried, and so did many of the children.

I saw a bear this week while driving home on Wednesday!!!! Actually two bears. The young one was already across the road when we stopped, and the big momma was wondering about crossing and then decided to wait until cars had passed. The photos were too far away and blurry.

This morel was found in the white pine plantation. Unusual.

My partner and I took a group of people out for a mushroom hunt last weekend. It was a lovely day, and against all odds, we even found a few morels. I made us all wild mushroom pizza with nettles and green garlic. It was fancy and we had a tablecloth and everything.

We had to dip into the freezer to make some of the pizzas. This one had chicken of the woods with lamb’s quarters and green garlic.

Jack-in-the-pulpit by my neighbor’s barn.

This is my Allis Chalmers Model G tractor that I used to make the trenches to plant Pumpkins and Brussels Sprouts in this week. It is from 1949!

I love our little Allis G. We actually have two. The G is special because it has the engine in the back. That makes the mid-section of the tractor available for mounting cultivating tools to kill weeds. That is a big part of the month of June for me. Planting crops and killing weeds. And the G is my friend.

We plant two pumpkin plants in each spot. It goes twice as fast.

We planted about 1000 pumpkin plants with the students this week. It is a project that we time for them so they can help plant in the spring and then help harvest in the fall. They love it!

You have probably heard the saying “Make hay while the sun shines.” Well, this week was the perfect week to make hay. We need about 350 bales of hay per year. A few years ago, I decided to plant a hay field instead of buying hay every year. This would save us money and we could control the quality. Now we have seen that vision come true. Our neighbor who used to sell us hay now comes to cut our hay and bale it. We still pay him, of course. I think the sheep will like this.

This is a “before” picture of our three sisters garden. Corn, beans, and squash grown together in a polyculture. You can see the corn in clusters. The beans and squash are a little behind.

Garlic. Planted last fall and growing well in the spring/early summer.

The apples are done flowering and you can see the “bady-bump” of the fruit set behind the dying flowers.

One of my favorite birds is the barn swallow. They make these clay/straw nests in our barn every year. The bird was sitting there up until I hit click on my phone and flew away. The nest is still pretty cool.

I mowed a LOT of grass and did other tractor jobs this week. A cold beer is much appreciated after mowing on a hot day.

For those dear readers who are waiting for more writing and less photos, please know that I have a bunch of stories going in my head.

1. About how my Morris dancing hobby is problematic, but I think I should keep at it.
2. About my gift economy business and how capitalism sucks.
3. About masturbation and talking to young people about sex.
4. About the Irish potato famine and how it led to the immigration of a part of my family.
5. About how automation hollowed out the midwest farming communities.
6. About how fatalism is indefensible in the wake of the Uvalde school shooting.
7. About how we need something like dairy farming in Wisconsin to propel our economies forward.
8. There may also be some fiction in the works, but mostly I have to get through next week when we have a bunch of planting to do.

P.S. I entered my Precious the llama disguised as a dragon story to the Vocal fantasy writers’ challenge. Please read and like. I think they put some weight on how many people have read my story.

Jaycee and Precious the Dragon