The Green Month

Country Living

It's March...

the GREEN month!

It may not be green where you live just yet

but it won't be long until that beautiful

refreshing color shows it's pretty face.

Here on the farm we are surrounded by 

beautiful green fields of 

winter wheat

and 

here and there the lawns and gardens

are showing signs that spring isn't far off.

Yesterday we had tornado 'watches'

and 'warnings' from late afternoon

until 1am.

Fortunately we only had high winds

and 1/4 inches of rain

but tornadoes hit down here and there

and destroyed 60% of the

small town of Harveyville KS.

We found out this evening that our friends

son and his family had the roof 

torn off their home yesterday.

They were all safe.

This is a month early

so hopefully this isn't a sign

of what's to come this year.

Country Living 

On a brighter note... 

I've got my vegetable garden

planned out and down on paper

and hubby has made the garden boxes.

Now we just need to get them in the garden... 

fill them with compost

and wait for the weather to warm up. 

I started a list for the perennials I'd like

to plant this spring

and the annuals I'd like 

to plant in pots. 

My lists usually end up larger than my 

pocket book can handle but I'm sure

I'm not the only one who

does that. 

Since there's nothing pretty to show you

in my gardens I thought I'd share a 

few photo's I found on the Internet.

I love the photo at the top

of this post and how about the garden 

sheds above and below!

Better Homes And Gardens

I love the salvaged windows in the shed above.

Better Homes and Gardens

This time of the year in the country critters start

moving. I suppose it's mating season for some

and other's are just moving from winter quarters. 

I found a big fat skunk body at the end of the

picket fence the other morning.

Shep must have caught it off guard

before it had a chance to spray.

I feel bad for the skunk

but this is a fact of life in the country. 

Most critters stay clear of our farm

because of Shep but some can't

resist the tantalizing smell of chickens.

Even skunks and possums 

like eggs ;)   

This Old House

This week hopefully we'll be hauling home

mulch and compost for the garden...

I can't wait to get my hands in the dirt!

How about you...have you got plans

for your gardens this spring? 

Looking Back

My how things change.

With March just around the corner I decided

to look back and see how things looked

during our first spring here on the farm.

These pictures were taken all during

the month of March 2010.

In September 2009 we bought our

little Phoebe.

She was a Miniature Mediterranean Donkey.

A friend of ours had offered to give us one

but when that never materialized

we decided to buy Phoebe.

She was 5 months old.

At the end of December

our friend showed up with the male

that he had promised us months earlier.

He was a stud! 

Because we are softies we couldn't tell

him 'too late'....so we kept the donkey

and named him Eeyore.

Along came March.

Unfortunately our fences were no match

for Eeyore's determination

to visit Phoebe

but since she would not be old

enough to breed until she was 

around 3 years old

we decided to have him castrated. 

A couple of weeks later 

Eeyore and Phoebe 

went to live on a large farm

where they could be together with

lots of pasture

and strong fences!

Towards the end of March that year

Hubby and I were in a 'farm store'

and overheard a lady complaining to the

store clerk that they had just been in the 

store with their 12 year old Grandson 

and his friend. 

Behind their back he purchased a chick!

She told the clerk that she wanted to bring the 

chick back because they had no place to keep

a chicken. The clerk said 'sorry...we don't

take chicks back'. 

The lady was ticked so I whispered to hubby

"should we buy it from her?"

Since we had 63 new chicks coming a few

days later he said to go for it. 

The lady was so happy to find a home

for the little fellow that she wouldn't 

take any money.

So 'Spring' came home with us. 

Unfortunately Spring was a Cornish X

and was destined to live a short life.

It may have been short...but it was a good life. 

The very next day was the first day of spring.

We had a snow storm!

Two days later the snow had melted

and the chicks arrived in the mail.

Most of the chicks were Buff Orpingtons.

Yellow fluff balls! 

Their days were spent eating...drinking...pooping

tearing from one end of the trough to the other...

and sleeping.

Sometimes they wore themselves out so much

they fell asleep standing up.

The remainder of the chicks were

Black Australorp.

Hard to believe this little fellow

would grow up to look like this!

While the chicks enjoyed their cozy warm

shelter in the garden shed

the older chickens were able to finally 

enjoy the barnyard.

The barnyard was Eeyore's domain

and he decided that the chickens were

NOT allowed on his turf.

He chased them every chance he got.

The day after Eeyore and Phoebe

left the farm....the chickens

had the barnyard all to

themselves.

They were happy chickens!

FYI ...see that long building? 

We sold it that summer and this time

last year...it was down and hauled away.

Hopefully if we get some rain this summer

we will have some good pasture grass

growing there :)

The end of March meant Shep was 8 months old

and Lizzy and Olly were 9 months old.

Shep had a blast trying to chase the cats.

Olly would run but Lizzy...well

she NEVER backed down.

She stood her ground and then some!

End of March sky.

2010 was a good year for rain but

last year we were in a drought.

Hopefully we do better this year.

Above is our nearest neighbor 

as the crow flies. 

Two years ago the fields across the road 

from us were yellow.

This year they are green with winter wheat

shown below in January 2012.

We'll be keeping our fingers crossed that

this March will be a good month

with lots of gentle rain.

If all goes well the grass seed we sow

will take root before the heavy rains hit.

After all....April is Tornado season

here in Kansas!

Barn Charm #73 And A Barn Conversion

The barn above is one we pass by every time

we travel to Kansas City.

It has a stone foundation on the lower half

and a timber frame above that

with the attached additions

that you see above.

The barn is built into the bank

and looks as solid as a....

well ...a rock!

I've always had a dream of converting

a barn into a home

and can't help wondering how this old

barn would turn out.

I have a feeling it would be wonderful.

Below is a REAL barn conversion

of a 19th century barn 

and horse stable 

owned by realtor

Richard Cifarelli

 The long low building was actually

the horse stable

which Mr Cifarelli has converted

into a beautiful home.

Look at this wonderful kitchen

and dining room....

and what about that

old window that

showcases the chandelier! 

This is an original stable dutch door.

I love all the quirky windows

and the posts.

Below are photo's of the actual 

barn portion that 

will be a future project.

This would be quite the challenge 

and you'd have to have a 

good imagination...or a good architect...

probably both!

photo credit Katharine Schroeder SUFFOLKTIMES.COM

With the wonderful job Mr Cifarelli

did in the other areas

I think it would be safe to assume 

that this barn will be amazing

when it is completed. 

I'd LOVE to tackle something like this.

How about you?

I'm linking with
Tricia
over at 
Bluff Area Daily for

Barn Charm # 73

Early February On The Farm

I thought you might enjoy a little walk around

the farm with me.

February isn't the best month for taking

photo's but I figured what the heck. 

Above are a few of my 'girls' doing

chores in the veggie garden. 

They are doing a fantastic job of scratching

 pecking and eating lots of weed seeds.  

Along with fertilizing ;)

Hopefully I'll have a WHOLE lot less weeds

this year.

Above is one of the doors on our 

chicken coop/garden shed.

This year the plan is to paint some

of our farm buildings.

As much as I like the old chippy look

it doesn't help preserve the wood

and we have to be practical.

The garden shed/chicken coop will

be painted it's original white with 

barn red trim.

Above is a photo of what my hubby 

refers to as our 'hog shed'.

He has no idea why he calls it that but

we think it was one of the original buildings

on the farm built after the chicken coop

and barn. 

We don't use this building and we're not

sure if we ever will. 

We could tear it down and save some

money on taxes but it seems a shame

to tear it down plus it blocks

the snow and wind from the north.

This old ladder was found right here against

the old elm tree. 

There was the base of what looked like 

an old tree house further up

when we first moved here

but part of it has fallen down.

I can imagine kids playing up there 

having a ball

back in the old days. 

Lots of laughter and fun.

I wonder if they had a tire swing?

Above is the view the kids would have had to the north east.

Here's one of our old plum trees.

They've seen better days.

This old corn seeder was left on the farm.

I can almost picture it being pulled by an

old work horse.

In the background is our porch swing 

waiting for spring.

The lilacs are starting to bud out.

Hopefully they don't get any larger

as we didn't get many blooms last year 

because of a late frost. 

Winter isn't over yet.

The mailbox will soon be sporting it's 

spring cover with Blue Birds and

will be surrounded with orange Day Lilies.

Rosey our old mare came out to say Hi.

Shep our Akbash following me around the farm.

Hubby moving our last round bale over 

to the horses. 

See the dirt in the foreground?

That is where our 280'X40' long building

was. We sold it and it was taken down and

hauled off last year. Hopefully we will get some

grass seed to sprout on there so we can use

it as pasture one day.

One of the cows that surround us.

Not sure if this one has had her calf yet.

Strawberry plants.

Mint above.

Rosemary...can you smell it?

We have Black Australorp hens and one rooster

the hen to the left is one of them. The yellow hen

is a Buff Orpington.

The hen in the middle is 

'Golda Meir'

and she is a mix between the two breeds and

one of the 4 chicks that hatched late 

last spring. 

The Girls on the compost heap along with Lizzy

one of the barn cats. 

Since this photo was taken the pile has been

turned.

This is 'gold' for the garden!

Last but not least is

Socrates.

He's seen better days but this year

he'll get a make over.

Those were my best overalls!

I hope you enjoyed your stroll around

the farm with me...and the dogs.

Have a WONDERFUL weekend!