On October 16th, a hard freeze spread across mid-Missouri. The evening before, we did one last garden harvest of anything ripe enough to store. This included a quantity of watermelon. What a treat this turned out to be. All nine were around 20 pounds of sweet deliciousness. Because of their size, and the amount of other produce, we had to be creative about where to put them until we could get around to sharing with family and neighbors. Who really needs leg room under the kitchen table anyway?
For whatever reason, a few skunks decided to make our yard and garden their home. Most likely they were attracted by all the moles. However, when they took shelter in the crawl space under our house, it was time for them to go.
The trap we purchased worked well. We baited it with peanut butter and once captured, the stinky critters were hauled to the back fence line and released. One skunk though, showed no fear of us at all. It roamed the yard, barely giving us a second glance as we went about daily life. Once captured and released, it returned the next day, still friendly and showing no hard feelings. We trapped it again but made the mistake of sitting the trap on uneven ground. Skunky licked up the peanut butter, wiggled around, and tipped the trap over, thus allowing the door to jar open. Skunked by a skunk.
After trapping Skunky a third time, we released him in a conservation area. Perhaps he is tagging along with some campers. As for us, we are back to an overabundance of moles in the yard. Does that mean we have been skunked twice?
It’s herd bull turn-in time. To control our calving season, the herd bull runs with the cows from August until the first calf is born the following year in May. We are strict about calving from mid-May to no later than mid-July. So far, this plan has worked well. We don’t take the bull out after only a few months, allowing us to just have one cattle herd to move. Young bulls and heifers are advertised and sold prior to bull turn in.
Calving in May allows the expecting mama cows to graze the fresh Spring forage, then calve in cool Spring temperatures. Low stress. Some cattlemen might voice a concern about Spring rains. Typically, this isn’t a problem. Even during the calving season, the cattle are moved daily to a new grazing lot, therefore, there is little to no chance of calves being exposed to mud or mucky areas.
Once again, we have skunks looking for free room and board – this time under our house. We first noticed them scavenging the yard for beetles and possible moles. They don’t seem interested in us as we go about our daily activates, but because of the odor, potentially eating the cat food and snacking in the garden, they just can’t stay. One has been trapped and will be released at the back fence line, then just one more to go. Hopefully.
Nine new employees will be arriving in less than a month. Like their parents, they will be put in charge of manure pat maintenance. As turkeys flip dry manure pats, looking for seeds and bugs, they break apart and scatter the pats, spreading fertilizer. We don’t use commercial treatments for fly and tick control, which can cause harm to these helpful inhabitants. Of course, these turkeys are a self-reliant food source for us as well.
As a side note, a neighbor’s son pulled in our driveway just before youth hunting season started. He heard some chatter and asked if he could hunt our pasture. A nice sized gobbler was harvested, but there are more on the way.
Over eight inches of rain have fallen on our mid-Missouri pasture. Some of these inches came in one big event – 4.54 inches to be exact. Our soil is soaking it up, and we are grateful considering last year’s drought conditions.
Looking from our hilltop to the neighbor’s overstocked, grazed low, well compacted hilltop pasture, I see he is getting the same moisture, but it is noticeably running down to his creek and heading down stream. We make effort to avoid this type of pitfall by rotating our cattle, to avoid compaction, and leaving some forage behind which slows heavy rains down and allows time for it to sink in.
The garden tilled up great. All the grass clippings, leaves, composted manure and wood ashes keep the soil going strong. On March 3rd, we tilled the garden, installed a trellis and dropped twenty-four snow pea seeds in the ground. Last year I planted the peas too late, the temps warmed, and harvest was low.
Snow peas are a must have in our garden every year. They taste good and have great health benefits. We can walk out to the garden and snack on them, serve them as a vegetable during mealtime or freeze them in small quantities for later use in stir fry.
Not the greatest picture, I know. Given the subject, you can understand why I photographed through a closed window. Earlier this summer, these seven stinky omnivores took up residency under a concrete slab that leads to our basement. They eventually found and consumed the cat’s food and started sheltering under our outbuildings. One skunk even came from under a shed and stared me down as I attempted to open the shed door. Cute as they were when they were little, they hung around too long, eventually leaving sometime after Thanksgiving. We now have a live trap, suited for such critters, should this happen again.
Don dropped a buck this firearm season. After all the trimming and deboning, we stored 19 quart jars in the pantry and 10 one gallon bags in the freezer. I’m estimating this to be about 120 single servings of deer meat. Even more if you add those single servings to soups or stews.
Canning venison is our most common way to store it. It makes for a quick and easy meal to pop the jar lid, heat up with some tossed on barbeque sauce, then serve on a hoagie roll. Another advantage is that freezer space is saved for other items. Side note: I just remembered that I have some pork bones in the freezer that need to be boiled for ham and bean broth.
Our annual Fall rituals have begun. Firewood is being moved out of the elements and stored in its designated shed, and we continue to prep food to be stored in the pantry. As I type, apples are being dehydrated for future uses. Our home smells delicious.
The attached image shows the wood I have brought from the back of the shed to the front. It’s rare that we burn every stick of wood in a season, so every few years I rearrange the wood ricks so older wood is used up. True this is extra work, however, with this lifestyle no gym membership is needed.
