Goat Antics

Do you think it's dead?

Really, why else would one be laying on a pile of garden hoses?

Oh, I'm awake now.


Maybe they know I'm watching them, silly goats!

Today's Harvest

Wow! Who's going to eat all this stuff? Someone needs to get busy canning.

Catching Up

In September we hiked to the top of a mountain...

Where is Terri?

Terri where are you? So long without news or pictures...have you turned into a New Mexican and abandoned us forever? Please post a new blog for us soon!

How the Garden Grows

Grandma visited for a week and a half and planted the garden. We have okra, corn, squash, lemon cucumber, sunflowers, and watermelon.

Son, the horse from next door visited for a week and a half too. He mowed the pasture and fertilized it at the same time.

Follow the "Farm Photos" link to see the garden and the horse.

It's a Boy!

Spring is here. The fruit trees bloomed in April and it was a pretty sight. Our neighbor has 5 varieties of cherry and invited us to take as much fruit as we want since most of it goes to the birds.

The cotton from the cottonwood trees has been flying for a few weeks now. When the sun is just right and there's a breeze, it looks like it's snowing. Well, it turns out that there are male and female cottonwood trees. The girls put out the cotton. The boys have red flowers and no cotton. The tree in our yard is a boy. The tree in the neighbor's yard and the one down the street are girls. Lots of cotton; those girls are flirting with our boy.

Still, the trees need the flood cycles to cause the seeds to germinate, and with all the human controls & restrictions on the river, new trees are not sprouting naturally. There are efforts by conservation groups to plant new trees, so that is good.

There was a story in the paper last week describing someone (read "bureaucrat") trying to pass a law that we could only plant male cottonwood trees because so many people have allergies. Maybe we should pass a law that allergic people can't live here! Geez.

My First Blog

Hello Mom. Look at me blogging. Aren't you proud? I did it all by myself! Just wanted to say hi and I miss you. Hope to see you soon on the "farm."

Famous Dancer Makes Cover of Newsletter

Here is a PR photo of Mariel Greenlee, famous Indianapolis dancer, advertising her latest production. You can also catch her show in Oregon all summer this year.

Is This Farming?

Snow in the back yard on 3/12/2006
Our farmer neighbor, Dave, finally got tired of waiting for us to get the garden tractor (really just a riding mower) running and came over Saturday to show us how it worked. I had previously bought a battery charger and following the directions charged the battery on the 2A setting (Dave later said use 10A). When I put the charged up battery in the tractor and tried it, all I got was a clicking noise (very faint, and once only when turning the key). Duh, need to use the clutch/brake or it won't start! Dave started it, it worked, etc.

I called Sears and ordered the owner's manual and set up an appointment for service. The problem seems to be difficulty shifting the forward gears which may be why the prev. owner said the transmission was bad. I used it Sunday to mow about half or less of the pasture. Dave seeded it a year or so ago, so he is interested in us keeping it growing. So per his instructions I mowed the dead grass at the lowest setting. I ran into several big rocks (bigger than a golf ball, smaller than a baseball) that couldn't be seen until it made a sudden & huge racket when the blades hit and I finally quit. I couldn't make a whole pass across the field before filling the "bagger" and have to go back to unload.

This was very much like the old days of harvesting because it was dead grass & made lots of chaff and dust. Now I have a couple of big piles of dead grass clippings; I guess I will have to turn it into a compost heap as it will be nearly impossible to burn.

I can tell from the trial run that I need a much bigger tractor/mower. This one is 16.5 HP; Dave says I need 24-25 HP. He drove over on his garden tractor to show off. It is also a Craftsman, but is at least 2X bigger than ours (maybe 30HP?). Dave is a real farmer; he has several tractors, a hay baler, etc.

I also need some additional accessories for my tractor: a trailer to haul stuff around 'cause I'm getting old and wear out easily, a spreader to fertilize the pasture, something to dig up the pasture a little, and a skip loader would be nice too.

All this will keep George employed for a long time paying for it! I need to retire now to spend my time taking care of the farm-let. I hope to get chickens soon, but have to construct a little shelter for them first.

We've Arrived

We set up this blog to share our adventures in New Mexico with our family and friends. We hope you visit often.