Have I come full circle?

According to the free dictionary http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/come+full+circle
come/go/turn full circle: if something or someone has come full circle after changing a lot, they are now the same as they were at the beginning .
I have mentioned my Great Uncle Hoolie  before in my blogging, he is the person who planted the crazy idea in my head to be a farmer.  I used to visit his farm as a child and he would teach me things about cattle, tractors, equipment, etc as well as let me play.   His son John Glen, my cousin was one of my best cousins growing up we would spend hours playing on the farm.  Well last night instead of going to the football game Maddie ( my third child), Chris, and Cassidy (John Glen’s second and third children) all spent the night with my Grand Mother.  This morning I was out feeding my animals when they all three walked over from Granny's.
Take a look.
   
Maddie and Cassidy with a turkey feather.

Cassidy petting Lilly.

Cassidy petting Bunniculla and Chris and Maddie looking at the eggs that were collected.

Cassidy collecting eggs, she washed then and carried them to her mother.

Chris hand feeding Sally.  The leash is because she was being walked by Cassidy to get fresh green grass.

Kenzie and Maddie showing them the pigs.

Feeding the pigs, bread.
This was so much fun watching them play on my farm.  It meant a lot to me.
So let me explain this again: I played on my Great Uncle’s farm and today his grandchildren played on mine.

Some new creatures

This has been a big weekend at Rosebriar Farm.

On Nashville’s Craigslist I found a lady giving away some pot belly pigs; this always makes me wonder why? Are they mean?, Are they escape artists?, etc.  In this particular situation they live in Hillsboro and the husband commutes to Murfreesboro, everyday to work.  They are depleting the animals and selling the farm.  I wanted the Holstein steer however they have plans for him to move to the freezer.  I did pick up one female pot bellied pig, she is about 1-1/2 yrs old and weighs about 125 pounds.  As with most of my animals Jen gave her a literary name; Ophelia (Hamlet’s Lover).  How fitting.

Hamlet (left) Ophelia (right)

We also took the opportunity to pick up another turkey because Tom’s days are numbered, literally.  Unless the Governor calls (my cell phone will be off, just in case), he is scheduled to die the evening of  Tuesday, November 23rd. 

The new turkey (left) and Tom, Thanksgiving dinner 2010 (left).

But wait there’s more.

As, I mentioned before most of our pets have literary names, this young lady however came with a name.  It could be considered a literary name if you think back to first grade to the Dick and Jane books, the younger sister’s name was, Sally. 

Sally has sort of a sad story, she was one of a set of triplets, whose mother died at birth.  The other two received most of the colostrum , from the mother before she died.  Sally is a runt,  she is now seven months old and only about half the size of her siblings.  That may have worked out best for her; she is too small to slaughter and also to small to breed, therefore we were asked to take her for a pet.

So here is our new lamb, Sally.

Sally meeting her new friends, Romeo and Maestro.

Sequatchie Cove Farm

For the few of you that actually read my blog, I would like to give you a tour of Sequatchie Cove Farm from the guy's perspective.  If you want the Southern Belle’s perspective check out Jen’s version. 

Before we get into the tour, we invited friends family to accompany us.  Connie, my mother-in-law, Lauren a young lady who attends church with us and Alyssa her 2-1/2 year old little girl.  As Jen so eloquently put it I looked like a grandfather with Alyssa, hummmm well I do love her like she is mine.

Believe it or not this is where they grow shitake mushrooms, It has to be Oak or a similar hardwood.  They are stacked, drilled with holes stuffed with sawdust infested with the mold spores.  The log is soaked in water to boost the spores growth.  These were in a well shaded area.  I thought this was really interesting I had seen mushroom hunting (on TV) in the northwest, but never really though about farming them.



While my photographer only captured one there were about 6 beehives.  The bees are very useful in the production of their flowers (see the photo below) and Mr. Keener said the honey “wasn’t bad either”.

 

We have seriously considered honey bees.  We sometimes get fresh honey from my brother-in-law in Nashville however, he sells so much getting ample free sample jars is getting harder.
They had a large flock of chickens, of various breeds, which are purchased locally.  They get about 3 dozen eggs (mostly brown, a few white and some green/blue) a day but they have the same problem I do.  If you let chickens free range the will not always lay their eggs in nesting boxes.  I had chicken hiding her eggs in the end of a fallen tree, when I found them there were 17 eggs.  Because of this I get 12-15 if the coop is closed, when I let them free range I get 9-12.




Pictured above are many of their hens.  Below is Mr. Keener and I walking, he is carrying egg baskets.



Here is a quick peek at my eggs and basket.




Next we found the cattle.

 

A couple of young cows, These are Jersey/Devon crosses.  The Devon is an interesting breed, the cows (female) have horns as do the bulls (male).  Sorry, my photographer failed to capture this interesting fact. Jersey is known to be a milk cow, Devons are multipurpose (meat, milk, working).



While we were there it was milking time, while they do not milk by hand, they have to express some milk after cleaning the teat before attaching the vacuum.



Here is the milk in the vacuum chamber just below the cows udders before it goes into the tank.  Now if they do not sell milk where does it all go.  The creamery (cheese factory) of course.  Because it is a clean room, we could not go in but here is a photo.

 

He are the sheep, they are one of the meats they provide.  



If you have never had lamb, I strongly encourage you to try a recipe from Fiddle Dee Dee; Braised Lamb Shanks. 




This recipe can cause fights between siblings and could even lead to spousal abuse, if there are not enough pieces.  Jen and the kids almost ripped my are off one night because I wanted the last piece.
I really hope you enjoyed the farm tour and encourage you to check out Sequatchie Cove Farm online or in person.