Missing Willow Farm

Our asparagus patch is still giving us spears, we pick some every day.  We grill it with olive oil, salt and pepper, steam it or broil it wrapped in bacon.  Leftovers go into a cheesy risotto.  We’re in our third month of asparagus harvest.  Once they’re gone, it will be a good six months before I miss it enough to pay grocery store prices to have them again.

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We had the great fortune to be invited to a cookout last weekend where we met two lovely documentary filmmakers who recently completed a short film titled Pimento Cheese, Please!  which is kind of a love poem to this southern delicacy.  Did I have the nerve to make a batch and take it?   You bet I did.  It was very well received (they took home the leftovers).  I thought I’d share the recipe here.  It’s pretty simple stuff, just 5 ingredients; 8 oz. of sharp cheddar cheese,  3 Tbsp. of Duke’s mayo, 2 0z. of drained pimentos, 2 good splashes of worchestershire sauce and hot pepper flakes to taste.   Oh, and salt & pepper.  It’s best served on a saltine cracker.  Go ahead and make some, you know you want to.  And while you’re at it, have a look at their short film, it’s awesome!   http://vimeo.com/31515064

Herding sheep is hard work in the heat, especially when you’re wearing a black fur coat.

Our one remaining rooster got kicked out of the barn for injuring our banty hen Nugget.  We found her almost pecked to death and moved her to the big barn to recuperate.  The rooster continued to hang around the hens acting all sad about being banished until a few days ago when he up and disappeared without leaving as much as a feather.  We are guessing that hawk that’s been hanging around may have grabbed him.  Or maybe he just flew off and found a farm that appreciated him more than ours.  Nugget’s injuries are all better but her personality has changed.  She used to be a real scrapper and the fastest bird on our farm.  Now she’s very docile and easy to catch.  At least she’s healed.

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Jack’s been training Brian in sheep herding.  😉  Actually, Jack’s getting to know our sheep and his new handler.   He’s really eager and knows his commands.  Because he’s so young, he’s very excited to show them who’s boss.

Milos  sheds like crazy this time every year.  It’s like pluchking a chicken. He makes me realize why this NOT an indoor breed!  Can you imagine him on your couch?  He drools a lot, too.

Hermione and Mina are the two goats I’m milking this year.  Mina is better than Hermione about being round up in the afternoon, it’s usually a struggle getting Hermione to come in.  Brian figured out a way to make it easy on us… we hook a lead to both of their collars and Mina leads her to the gate.   I love lazy farming!

Jack was a little apprehensive of the Mule at first, but once he got the hang of it he loads right up.  We see lots of bunnies and squirrels along our driveway, which causes great excitement!  We’ve taken him to visit a friend’s farm in our truck and he has a hard time staying in the back seat.

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We got him home late Thursday night and he seems to have settled right in.  We’re keeping him on a lead until he figures out we’re his peeps and this is his home.  I took him to our vet this morning to have a microchip installed just in case.  Our cow Jessica is fascinated with him and our goats are terrified.  The sheep just seem pissed off that he’s here.  We haven’t taken him into the big pasture yet to meet the guardian dogs and wrangle our sheep.  Baby steps.  🙂

We’re heading to NC today to meet a young, fully trained herding dog.  It took over a week after Jenna’s passing for me to be able to contact the folks we received her from.  They told us they have a young trained dog available if we’re ready to welcome another dog into our home.   As it turns out, that was the same day one of our sheep got loose and we had spent the good part of an hour chasing her up and down our driveway.  If we didn’t have a farm and animals to move, I’m sure we would have waited.  But we do and it’s been difficult for the past few months.  We need a farming partner.  No photo today, but I’m planning on lots of photos over the next few days!