Thy Mercies, O Lord, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reacheth to the clouds. Thy righteousness is like the great mountains;
How excellent is thy loving kindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings.
Psalm 36:5,6,&7
On the evening of April 27th 2011, a mile wide F-5 tornado tore through the state of Alabama leaving behind in it’s path nothing but death and destruction. Many of you may have heard of the Lee family, who not only loss their home, vehicles and everything they owned, but they also lost their beloved husband and daddy. Mr. Lee gave his life for the safety of his wife and children and until his last breath, he uttered prayers and supplications to his Heavenly Father, Whom he was about to meet, for their protection and safety. God has honored this righteous man’s prayer and by His Grace they are able to say with Job, “The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.”
God has blessed, and is blessing, this precious family through so many different folks from all over the country and the Church has come together to serve through this trying time. The Lee family have been very dear friends of ours for sometime now, and we are very grieved about the loss of dear Mr. Lee. But we are also very grateful to the Lord for allowing us to know him for the time that we did and we know we shall see him again in glory when all of God’s children are gathered about His throne.
Well, summertime is here on our farm and life is becoming busy with all those wonderful things that summer brings. A few weeks ago I built {with the assistance of my older sister} a little chicken tractor for the 12 Rhode Island Red chicks that we had gotten at the local hardware store. We used some scrap 2x4’s to build a 4x8 square frame that rests on the ground. Then we took old 1“ PVC pipe and cut it into 6’ pieces and by bending them, we were able to fit them into the wood frame, making hoops, {kind of like a covered wagon}. Then off to the hardware store to purchase some chicken wire. I decided that 30 feet of the 30” wide chicken wire should be enough {or I hoped it would be} and I also got a 10x8 tarp. Back at home we laid the chicken wire over the hoops and wired it in place, then using the tarp in the same manner we were able to make the shelter part of the chicken tractor. I must say, I was quite proud of that little project, for it turned out looking {and functioning} right well. The chicks loved their new home and were very happy pecking about at the grass and bugs. But alas! It was not to last as the pretty little chicken tractor that it was- our young goat kid found a way out of her pen and decided that I had built the chicken tractor just for her to jump on. And jump and climb all over it she did, bending the brand new, nicely stretched wire all up and almost ruining the chicks new home. And so, after obtaining permission from Mama, I made a phone call and had the baby goat and her mother sold and carried off that same day.
Now we are looking for a milk cow. It seems, I have observed, that cows stay in fencing a little better than goats. For a gentle, calm, family milk cow, you don’t need 4 foot tall woven wire fencing, reinforced with barbed wire and at least 2 strands of hot wire at two different levels. No, I think a regular good old fashioned {and cheap!} barbed wire fence with 6 foot T-posts and strong cedar corner posts, would suffice well enough for most cows. And guess what we have? Almost all of our 90+ acres are fenced in exactly so.
Perfect for cows.
And there I rest my case.
Now I know, that the absolutely, ultimate way of dealing with cows {especially if you are doing the “Salad Bar Beef” method} is to have moveable electric fencing and live in a place where there are wide open spaces and at least have a mile between each mountain or hill so as to get the best grazing and pasture growth. But here, where I abode there are hollers and hills all around and little places we like to call “high mountain meadows” {which are little fields tucked between two hills or upon a cleared hill} and smallish hayfields edged with woods, hills, creeks and rivers. The best way to move cattle is on horseback or with a 4-wheeler, going from one already fenced in high meadow pasture to the next, over hills, through the woods and fording the creeks. That’s why I am of the opinion that Texas Long Horn cattle would do grandly here.
Or Herefords.
But preferably the Long Horns.
In-between chicken tractor building, goat selling and cow hunting, I have kept busy in the garden planting, weeding and hoeing. I am growing cotton again this year, and one of these days I will actually make something with it. Got the pink eye purple hull peas and zipper cream peas in the ground, and they have come up, but I need to fertilize them badly. We need rain badly too. Been hotter than buccaneers pistol here and getting pretty dry too. Today Jasmine and I canned 16 pints of salsa. By the end of canning season we hope to have put up at least 40 pints. We like salsa. This evening I am planning to plant some field corn. I know to most folks it might seem a little late in the season to plant corn, but here in Tennessee you plant field corn as late as June 15. I heard tell that by this fall corn will be going for $14.00 a bushel. That’s quite a high price, especially if you are buying it by the ton. I remember back in 2006 corn was only $3.50 a bushel. Back then we would buy 150 lbs of corn and 100 lbs of oats and mix our own feed for chickens, horses, and goats. But now we just buy individual feed for each farm animal. The corn seed we have is heirloom, handed down for generations since before the Civil War. We grew it last year and it turned out real nice. Makes the best cornbread! This year we would like to not only use it for feed for the animals, but for our own use too. Cornmeal, hominy and grits. Sounds good to me!
Well, I better get back to the farm and garden. It's been fun chattin' at y'all!
A Tennessee Farmgirl,
Cecilia
