Farm Friday

After a two week hiatus, here is a real farm friday post.  Our garden is filling out now and the squash and green beans are beginning to bear. The tomatoes have not ripened yet, but there are many green tomatoes on the vines.  The rest of the plants are filling out and will hopefully bring their harvest soon.

I sold the goats on Wednesday, and although we still have our dairy goats, I am not having nearly as many problems while doing my chores now. They were good goats, and I hope they do well for their new owner. 

Next week I will elaborate on our new chicken prospects; we must save something for later. For now, they are growing happily in the pasture. The turkeys are getting very large now as well, and are just beginning to gobble.

Have a great weekend,

Sherlock

Independence Day

On this day 233 years ago, the most important document up to its time in the history of the American colonies was read before the troops by General George Washington.  I don't think that the impact of the Declaration of Independence is well understood today; our society rarely seems to consider history.  When those 56 men signed the Declaration, they knew that the act would be branded as treason. They were marked for systematic persecution.  I found a wonderful article about the terrible sufferings of many of the Signers.

Independence Day is my favorite holiday. It embodies the spirit of liberty and patriotism- not to the Government, but to the country- which inspired the founders of this country. It offers an opportunity to consider our own day, as we see our liberties eroding. If called upon, would I have the courage that these great men displayed: a courage that defied the greatest military power on Earth and scorned loss of property, torture, and death? I fear that the true Spirit of '76 is rarely found now.

God has used the United States mightily for the advancing of his kingdom. It is often said that America was founded as a "Christian nation". Some of the Signers of the Declaration do not appear to have been Christians; however, the culture was heavily influenced by true Christianity, so even the unbelieving Signers thought and wrote as the believers did. Without the Christian foundation that our country was founded on, liberty would have been meaningless , a vain concept. See the French Revolution- a bloodbath.

Much is made of John Locke's influence upon American Independence, but Locke borrowed his thinking from the Scottish worthy Samuel Rutherford. Rutherford penned the revolutionary tome Lex Rex in 1644, in which he stated that the King was ruled by the law and not superior to it. Rutherford's book was also considered treason at the time, and the principles outlined in it were embodied in the Declaration of Independence's list of the wrongs and injustices of King George III.

What a blessing it would be if our country was governed by statesmen which displayed the courage and understanding of the Signers. Instead, secular philosophies have displaced the ancient wisdom, and apathetic citizens watch as their government gratifies them with one hand while stealing their freedom with the other. Our nation has fallen away from its foundation on God's law and instead turns to man for guidance.  It is steeped in sins of murder and idolatry.  We must pray for repentance and reform for our land: otherwise we will never save the nation for which the Signers sacrificed so much. 

Farm Friday

Farm Friday

This week has been much slower than previous weeks, due to the fact that we have finished all of our planting. Now we are simply keeping everything watered and weeded. Our green beans are beginning to produce, but otherwise there has been nothing of note.

Have a great weekend,
Sherlock

Farm Friday

I'm happy to be blogging tonight after surviving the hottest week so far this year; the daytime temperatures this week were all in the mid-90s.  With that said, the broiler chicks are very comfortable, and we're not having any more trouble with wet soil.  In fact, I set up our drip irrigation system today.

Our garden consists of 8 60' rows that are 4 feet wide, with 2' paths in between.  Drip irrigation makes watering the garden as simple as filling up a barrel.  We have a 55 gallon barrel, uphill from our garden, which is fitted with a pipe, valve, and filter.  Two header lines run out of the filter and along one side of the garden.  At each bed the header is fitted with one or two 'T' fittings which allow us to connect the driplines.  The driplines themselves are basically just hoses with holes in them, but they are designed to flow evenly and resist clogging.  The lines run the length of the bed and are tied off at the ends.  To water the garden we simply fill the barrel with water and open the valve, and we can calculate how much water we wish to apply.

In the pasture, we have planted popcorn and Southern peas inside a goat-resistant fence (I've learned not to say goat-proof, it's an oxymoron).  We also have some buckwheat planted in the hoophouse as a cover crop and green manure.

This isn't exactly farm-related, but I noticed what seems to be a geological phenomenon in one of our ditches.  This ditch is cut down to the stone underneath, which is sedimentary and really soft.  Normally, the layers run horizontally, but as I was walking by today I noticed a section that is positioned vertically.  I don't see an explanation, because there is horizontal layering on either side, but it's interesting. The first picture shows normal layers, and the second is an overhead shot of the vertical layers.

Tomorrow I'll be selling at the farmers' market for Birdsong Community Farm, so stop by if any of you are passing through. =)

Have a great weekend,

Sherlock