July

The Fourth of July was spent locally - fishing and fireworks. This was the first year in a very long time that Rog did not work the holiday as part of his summer park gig. So we had time for a picnic as well.

                                      

And then the rain stopped. Every little green puff on the radar split up and missed our house completely for at least 6 weeks. Right after we got a new 15 acre hayfield planted. The early rainy season delayed our field prep considerably so we had a few strikes against us already in terms of timing. We stared at it every day as if willing it to grow,

About 5 weeks after planting we started seeing hints of green. Strangely, the grass and clover didn't grow- at all. Alfalfa, which is generally a bit more temperamental and unforgiving, was the only thing to show signs of life. The alfalfa came up sparsely and was soon joined by friends. 

Morning glories, in every color, shape and level of creeping invasiveness.

Some grew like shrubs, some like vines. It's like a damn forest shading the alfalfa. We've spent countless hours walking the field and identifying plants to determine if they're safe to be eaten, ie toxic to the goats. 

Not sure what these are but there are now millions of white hibiscus flowers, and the morning glories have bloomed yellow, purple and hot pink through the field. The purple alfalfa blooms are present but dwarfed. At this point we have no choice but to cut and bale it, figure out of the alfalfa seed is round up ready so we can hopefully kill of the intruders and then overseed it with clover. 

The garden did quite well, despite gross neglect on our parts. We've been enjoying our favorites. 

Coated in farina and fried quickly in grapeseed oil. 

And even on pizza. 

This spring we are out of bacon, yes *out* of bacon and dangerously low on pork products in general. 

So since we needed one more thing to feed, we got a pair of piglets!

In 5 months our bacon stock will be replenished. They have a large indoor / outdoor space that we built and poured concrete for ease of cleaning. 'Pigs' and 'clean' don't generally go hand in hand. The smells are back in full force. Nothing says July like 100 degree heat, pig poop, spilled milk and hundreds of fly carcasses. 

And Rog couldn't be happier, of course. He missed the pigs most of all. 

And because we needed another thing to feed. . . we brought in something even larger. 

Sierra looks lovely in the pasture. 

And then there were two.

More to come on the latest additions.