Author Archives: Debbymff

•

This is not the post I planned to write today—I planned to write about making strawberry fruit spread at the Prince Edward Cannery, and I will but first, how to de-skunk a dog…

Tuesday is yoga night so Bruce and I were pretty relaxed when we made the mistake of thinking we could add Internet service to the farm’s new IPad quickly & maybe watch an epiSnickers&DoodleSnowsode of Chopped.  An hour into my phone conversation with tech support, Snickers and Doodle, our wonderful but precocious Australian Shepherds appeared on the deck after cruising the farm.  It took Bruce only one whiff to know who they’d been hanging out with.  We ignored them and continued with our futile tech support call knowing it was going to be a long night.  Finally, after almost 2 hours we got to the fun task of de-skunking our favorite canines.

If you’re wondering, tomato juice does not work!  But, we do have a recipe that works. We found it on-line years ago so I no longer have the link but I keep it on my phone as a Note – you never know when you’ll need it

De-Skunking RecipeDe-skunk

1 qt. 3% hydrogen peroxide

¼ c baking soda

1 tsp dish soap

  1. Mix all the ingredients together in a bucket. We use one recipe per dog
  2. Wet the lucky pooch
  3. Wear rubber gloves and use a sponge to apply the solution (we pour any extra over the dogs as a top dressing)
  4. Rinse, sniff, and repeat

We live in a small cottage so washing stinky dogs in the house is not an option.  Fortunately, our horse barn has a wash rack with warmish water.  It was 350 F outside so we prepared the first batch, bundled up, and with dogs mistakenly excited about our late night walk headed for the barn.

We woke the horses, mini-mule, and chickens but the barn cats, Jewel, Larry, Darryl, and Darryl, were happy to see us. We sealed all the exits—there would be no escaping!  I held and Bruce de-skunked Snickers first.  She was definitely more stoic about it—and stinkier! Doodle was sure it was the end of the world as she knows it, but Doodle is a professional worrier.  The cats gathered around and supervised.

Around midnight, our overalls were in the laundry, Snickers and Doodle were happily tucked in their crates and we capped the evening with yesterday’s Daily Show.

Today we bought 6 more quarts of hydrogen peroxide—skunk season has just begun!

•

The kids have all arrived and they are growing up healthy, strong and fast.  The final tally is 10 handsome bucks and 10 beautiful does.  Our last doe completed the kidding season on Feb. lastkid11 and presented us with a lovely tan buck.  Based on the breeding dates (and a distinctive set of ears), this youngQuizno fella is the only offspring of our very handsome Kiko buck, Quizno.   The rest of the kids are the offspring of a Boer “rent-a-buck” who belonged to our local extension agent.  Sadly, he has since passed but he gave us a fine crop of kids.

Most of the does will be added to our herd and bred to Quizno next year, furthering the positive traits that each breed contributes.   Two of the kids have been purchased as 4-H projects and they are currently learning to walk on a lead—challenging for the two and four legged kids. Look for these teams at upcoming 4-H events this summer.   The bucks will be available for sale before Easter and should average 40 lbs. For more information, contact Sara at 540-424-3987 or para Espańol, llame a Rick a 434-987-5896.

A favorite leisure pastime on the farm is watching the antics of the kids.  They have essentially four games they play when not engaged in the primary activities of eating or sleeping.  Game #1 is “king/queen of the mountain.”  This is played on the bridge-like structure built by Rick and Katie, Sara’s mom.    kingofmtn I have seen as many as three on the top but that never lasts long. There’s always an onslaught of challengers not only on the ramps, but also on the side.    Game #2 is standing on mom while she is trying to rest and chew her cud—just chillin’.  Some of the kids are already quite heavy and I’m thinking that the moms may be tiring of this IMG_4809game.  Game #3 is the helicopter game when the kids magically levitate on all fours—truly amazing (and hard to catch on camera)! They are not jumping like a horse but actually hovering with all four hooves equidistant from the ground.  Finally, game #4 is the gladiator challenge or classic head-butt activity.  Many of them have begun to grow horns so in time this could, from a human perspective, appear pretty hazardous.

The kids are enjoying exploring the pasture and, along witgoatspastureh their moms, celebrating their release from the confinement of the “Palace.” Green is starting to appear in the fields and we are all hoping that spring is on its way!

• 1 Comment

•

Rick had quite a surprise on New Year's Day when he discovered two healthy female kids nursing in the field.  We thought the kidding would begin about January 15 but as with people, sometimes calculations and reality don't quite jive.  We've welcomed new kids almost daily since then and we are anxiously waiting for the last couple of does to kid so we can return to a more normal sleep schedule.  Fortunately Bruce built them a fine new maternity ward with four "birthing suites" which have heat lamps and heated water buckets to get us through the freezing polar vortex period.

The kids got us off to a running start in 2014 and we have great hopes for the strawberry "patch" and vineyard, as well.  Once spring arrives, we'll double our strawberry patch.  Rick says that will be about 40,000 strawberry plants-wow!   Just like the goats our new plants will be the offspring of our existing plants.  In the world of strawberries, these are called daughter plants (sorry, no sons) and when cut and planted will produce great strawberries this season, as well as their own daughter plants for next year (OMG, how many plants will we have then?).

We will also expand our vineyard in the spring. Currently, we have eight acres under vine with four varieties; Petit Verdot, Merlot, Malbec, and Pinot Gris.   We will add two more acres and three more varieties; Chardonnay, Viognier, and Cabernet Franc.  Bruce and Rick can hardly control their enthusiasm as they contemplate setting several hundred more posts!  The new vineyard will be on Route 619 (aka Ruritan Lake Road) across from the existing vineyard.  This year we will add a pond betweenNewVineyard1:14 the two vineyards, which will provide the water used to irrigate the vines, as well as a great picnic spot.  Future plans include a winery, tasting room and farm market, also on Route 619.