Diego's Bad Day.

That is one broken leg!

(sorry for the sideways, graphic if you're squeamish) 

I think one of the cows stepped on him, so now I've got to figure out a way to keep the goats out of the cow-side of the barn... no idea how I would do that.

Took awhile to get a hold of someone at the vet's office (and by awhile, I mean about an hour, but I was panicked), they got me to splint it before I brought him in. So I'm madly running all over the farm looking for anything to splint this leg with. I managed to find a dowel in the shop, and after 20 minutes the duct tape. Then I cut a piece of electrical conduit for the other side. (We're going to find something better and put it in the first-air box just-in-case.)

Now isn't that pretty!

According to the vet, I actually did a good job (I'm not convinced), got it longer then his toes, and kept the whole thing together until we got there. I had to splint it so that Diego didn't step on it or something, and end up with the bone out of the skin.

Diego was a trooper!! Took awhile to get the cast on so he was coming out of the sedative towards the end and he stayed quiet and well behaved for the whole thing. We got lucky because the break was clean and uncomplicated, and stayed under the skin, and there was no damage to the blood vessels; it's likely he'll make a full recovery. Diego's foot was still warm, even by the time I got him to the vet; if it had been cold we wouldn't have been able to save the foot.

The vet laid down tape, then gauze, then used wire on each side which you use to remove the cast later (I also got a great story about how at vet school they heard about what happens when you cross the wires then tried to remove a cast, the leg comes too), so they are taped down. Then the cast is over top of all that, with a bit of really stinky gluey stuff on the end as a 'shoe' to keep the whole thing together.

That is one darn lucky goat too!! You can splint it yourself and leave it, and if he was a market goat or something, that is what we would have done. But he's not, he's a pet, and my favourite (okay they are all my favourite...). All I can say about the whole thing is Diego you'd better be the best darn goat you can be, especially when the bill arrives!!

Had to run to the feed store since it was across the road anyway, and I was telling the ladies about what happened, the response was "Isn't it fun to be a farmer?". Of course they get a very sarcastic "Oh yes! SO much fun!!" but really, even days like this, I don't mind at all. Got to learn a lot of new things about the goats and do something I've never even attempted before (splinting). Wouldn't trade it for the world!

Who is in the coop run?

Hey! Those aren't the normal bums!
Trying to get some better pictures, picked up a few new birds on Friday.

KSCC Pattern Finds

I haven't bought a knitting pattern book in years (although I do have my eye on a couple cute toy-books). This is why: 

Ravelry. If you aren't on you do not know what you're missing! Thousands of patterns, and an amazing K/C community of a fibre-a-holics. You can even find people who are working on/have finished the same projects you are doing, so if you run into a snag, you can find someone to help!

Purple Kitty is amazing, they have tons of free vintage KSCC patterns! Most of them are super cute, there are few jackets I've been dieing to do for the kids. Definitely worth a search through the records!

Knitty, oh Knitty. I had to stop reading their seasonal output until I get a few more projects finished, because there is always at least one that I have to make each time they publish. There is always a count-down to the new Knitty patterns, and they never disappoint. All free!

Right now I'm working on a knitty pattern: Cigar Gloves.
These would be the gloves I promised my husband 2 years ago when I started them... still a WIP.

More poor Di

His back leg is snapped right in half in his back cannon. Started out this morning, when I first saw it, thinking we were putting him down, so glad for the internet!! I've learned goats are very resilient, and he should heal fine if we splint it.

(It would also help if my vet clinic would ever call me back when I ask them too...)

The swollen bit on his back right is just hanging loose.

I do need four hands though so I've got to wait until hubby gets home. For now he's resting in his stall with lots of food, water & he got a little sweatfeed treat too. The break is clean and under the skin, but we'll have to see how things go.

Poor Diego, his in pretty good spirits for the pain he must be in. I'm thinking he got stepped on by one of the cows (he was in his stall already when I went to turn the horses in), or he possibly could have gotten it caught up in something, somewhere.

Update: I managed to get is sort-of-splinted on my own (it's not pretty) and we're on our way to the vet clinic. 

Garden: The Ignored Garden is still a Fruitfull One

Everyone can vegetable garden. Everyone.

Zucchini (left) Spaghetti Squash (right)

I've had a few years of practice, so I'd like to think I've accumulated a little knowledge of what I'm doing; but this year I had no time to fuss with the garden, no time to weed, no time to tend plants or deal with mildew on the squash. I've only had time to gaze at it fondly as a I walk past to do other things, and promise the tomatoes to take better care of them next year.

However, look what the garden gave me.

Spaghetti Squash (left) Green tomatoes that
were knocked off their stems (right), beans (back)
got too ripe and I'll save them for seeds.

I think this is my best year for tomatoes! We've got bucket-loads of them just waiting to turn ripe. Or I did, until the turkeys got in there...

The one thing I didn't get any of was the peppers and cucumbers I planted, they were smothered by weeds and stayed too small. They were also the plants we bought from the nursery; all the ones I started at our last placed, abused by leaving too long in the pot, then threw in the garden hoping something would happen... they did the best!

The cucumbers are too hard to transplant, but I moved some of the peppers indoors under lights in hope we'll have a mid-winter bounty. Most of the plants succumbed to an early freeze when issues with the fence conflicted with me having the time to cover the plants. If I had been able to just throw some plastic over them, I'd probably have been able to get a harvest as that really extends the season well.

I've seen tons of people with beautiful veg gardens out on the patio of their Condo, or grown indoors under lights in the winter, or using the square-foot method in a tiny urban garden. If you've got $3 for seeds, you can do it too.

I never liked zucchini or tomatoes or broccoli until I grew them in my own garden. They do not taste like anything you get at the grocery store. Maybe it's the work and effort you put into them, but really I think it's just that they are grown properly.

TED Talks Farming & Food

TED Talks are one of my vary favourite things to listen to. A really good TED talk can inspire, enrage, and motivate. Check out amazing scientific innovations about possible cures for malaria or cancer, about the robotics information making personal robots and paraplegics walk again, the heroism of the family of doctors working in the Somalia. 

Here is another great talk about our food system by Mark Bittman.

That's it for the tree!

Hubby got the big dead tree in the paddock cut down, we took most of it for wood for the house but there was some of it that just wasn't a good size plus we had some old fence posts out here that had to go!

Diego & Harry "helping"

The whole pasture is really coming together. The grass has been cropped really short in some spots, but there are other spots that still have enough for the animals to browse on. The goats have done an amazing job getting the weeds down all over the place. Can't wait to get the new fences in next year (I hope!).

The pastures should come back beautifully as long as we keep the animals off them early spring, with all the drainage I'm not that worried about soggy fields but we'll have to see! With all the nitrogen the grass has gotten this year, plus if we can rotate the fields, we'll be sitting pretty for sure.

On Monsanto

Permaculture.org

Growing Forward 2: My responces.

Sorry for the long, boring no-picture post today, but I thought this was a really interesting and important thing to be involved in. Even if it took a good chunk out of my afternoon! I do think it's good to write down your thoughts and philosophies from time to time, gives you pause & reason to consider what you feel is really important. Even better to do it in involvement with the civic process and hopefully influence positive changes.
Everything with a little O beside it was my response.

For my fellow Canadians

Check this out! QUICK!!
http://www.farmstart.ca/

FarmStart has posted some information about how to get your opinions into the federal government in time to help shape agricultural policies. You've only got 4 days to get involved (closes 30 September) and fill out the online form.

If nothing else the GF2 file is an interesting read.

Having something to say about the Small Flock Grower laws?
Quotas on milk production?
The sustainability of our food system?

Speak out.
And if you live on Ontario remember voting is the 6th of October.
Don't vote, you can't complain later!

The horribly, terribly loud, ducks.

You may want to cover your ears...

Or turn your speakers up!!
The noise is from the tractor next door, I wasn't too far away from the ducks and they were upset at Lenny for being a jerk. This is about as loud as they ever are, making that funny hissing noise.

Waffles

TastyKitchen.com is my favourite place to get recipes. Unlike other recipe sites, it's nice and small so it's easy to find what you're looking for, and most of the recipes are really good. I've found with some of the bigger sites you get a lot of really 'junky' recipes that aren't properly written. 

Sunday waffles are one of our favourite weekend morning breakfasts! Once you get the recipe down (and it may take a couple tries) it becomes second nature and you'll be churning out waffles. I usually like to adjust recipes a bit to suite our tastes, I've been making this for 3 years and the only thing I do is add a touch more vanilla.

I serve ours with Balkan's style yogurt and blackberries we harvested and froze this summer.

Goats are Trouble

Helping move out the old tree

Trying to find some feed

Looking very handsome

And Cute

The black sheep is the best behaved of
all of them!