Published on Leave a comment on Homestead Pets
The dogs resting, they work hard around the homestead.
The dogs resting, they work hard around the homestead.

Well, we got a lot of rain in the past 24 hours.  So far we have had 1.75 inches and we are due to get a little more before it is finished.  The forecast is for clearing and a run of several beautiful days at least through the weekend.  I'm expecting the garden to really take off when the sun comes out.

I thought I would share a picture of our two dogs Zoe is the shepherd and Bebe is a mix.  They are best playmates.  Zoe works in the yard with me when I am not using any of the mechanical equipment.  She is really good with the livestock.  She considers them hers so she likes spending time with them.  The chickens know she will not hurt them so they just go about their business even when she is walking through the middle of them.  Bebe on the other hand cannot go outside of her yard without being on a leash.  She became part of our family after she was full grown so we did not have a chance to acclimate her to the livestock so she thinks they are to chase not take care of.

Raising your pets with your livestock is important.  They need to learn that the livestock is not to be a play thing or something to be chased and killed but that they are to take care of them.  Different breeds will react differently to livestock.  Although the German Shepherd is not really a livestock breed Zoe is very good with ours because we raised her with them from a pup and she learned her role with them.

Because Bebe came to us as an adult dog and she is not of a breed that would naturally be a livestock guard dog we have had to limit her access to the barn and our livestock.  It is our responsibility as pet and livestock owners to make sure that we do not put either in a situation where harm could come to either.  If a pet kills livestock or gets injured by livestock because they escaped from their fenced yard or the house, ultimately that is my fault as their owner.  The pets are just acting by instinct and because they have not been taught any different.

So, as the saying goes, good fences make good neighbors.  Well, good fences also make happy pets and livestock.

 

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Published on 1 Comment on Full Moon on the Homestead

It was a beautiful full moon peeking out from the clouds last night.  I spent about 20 minutes outside with my new camera taking pictures.  I had to come in when I couldn't stand getting eaten by the mosquitos anymore.   The garden got weeded yesterday now we are hoping for a little rain so we don't have to water.  Now that I have the picture thing sorted out I will be sharing more pictures from the homestead in the future.

Full Moon on the Homestead
Full Moon on the Homestead

 

Published on Leave a comment on Happy Summer

The weather was beautiful this weekend so it was time to catch up on a few things.  The early morning started with opening the bee hive.  It had been a week since we brought them home.  It was time to add one more brood chamber and put the first honey super on.  Since it was fairly cool the bees were not too active.  I did suit up fully and smoke the hive just a bit but everything went very well.  Since there are many things blooming they should start to make honey now.  There is a queen excluder between the brood chambers and the honey super to prevent the queen from laying eggs in the honey area.  It has been really fun so far getting to know the bees.

I finally got the additional 50 strawberry plants into the new planting bed in the front yard.  The plants that we planted a couple years ago are heavy with fruit.  We were able to pick 2 quarts of beautiful sweet fruit in the afternoon.  From the amount of berries still ripening on the plants I'm think we will be able to pick this amount each day for a week or more.  Boy they were really good sliced up on vanilla ice cream with a bit of my mother in laws famous hot fudge sauce on them.  My next project will be to make biscuits so that I can make my sweetie his favorite strawberry shortcake.  It must be on biscuits though, none of that squishy sponge cake.

We had a heat pump installed a few weeks ago so it was time to built the rain cover over it.  I just built a little shed roof with a scrap piece of metal roofing over it.  Now when it rains or if snow from the house metal roof slides off it will not hit the outside unit.

There is still a ton of stuff to do during our short summer including getting the garden weeded soon before they take over.

Well, it sounds like we are having a passing shower, good for watering in those new strawberry plants.

Happy Summer Everyone

Published on Leave a comment on The Bees Are Settling In

Last night we picked up our bees.  We got to see the queen before she, along with her workers, were put into our hive body.  They spent the night in the camper shell of the truck since it was dark and raining when we got them home.  This morning I set the hive body on the base which is all set up in a corner of the yard.  I suited up not really knowing what to expect so that I could take the screening off the hive opening and set the feeder on top of that.  Since it was raining and not very warm it was recommended that we feed the bees.  Our feeder sits on top of the hive body but under the top.  The bees exited when I got the screen off but they were not aggressive.  I got the feeder on and then filled it with the sugar water and put the top on.

The bees seemed to be happy.  I watched them throughout the day and they were heading in and out of the hive and trying out the few things that are blooming in the yard.  We are very excited about this addition to our homestead.