EMS and Heroes…. August and September
It has been a while since I have posted because I have been really busy with commitments that I made months before I went to Canada and Earth Activist Training. But there will be a time in the near future where I move to another phase of commitment, which will be focused on Permaculture.
Here is what I have been doing…
In The garden
I finally got all the feed bags and stakes out of the permaculture beds. The sun had broken them down to a real mess because they do not have UV inhibitors to protect them. I should have thought of that or tested that before I set hundreds of them in my beds. But that is what permaculture is about test and more test. And the bags are here since we use them everyday and I am all about recycling anything I have on the farm. They did contorl some of the weeds and grass but at a huge labor intense cost to me, the farmer.
I pulled up all my summer crops and composted them. The grass has taken over so much of the garden. Noah tilled up ½ of the garden and he is still tending his peppers. I have purchased cover crops for the tilled section of the garden and have plans and materials for two box planters, one as a salad table for salad greens and another for carrots, which I hope to winter in the green house. The herb garden is about reached it’s peak and I have seeds to harvest and others that need to be covered with leaves to prepare for winter. My plans in the permaculture test beds are to use the tractor to smooth the mounds and sheet mulch with cardboard, create my winter garden with a spiral of compost and mulch once the seedlings are up. Since I pulled up all my irrigation system, I will have to redo that as well. The soil is still very dry and we are more than 20 inches below our normal rainfall. But the cooler weather and rain today is a blessing. Fall is on the way!
On the farm
We have been working very hard of Farm Management. We are down to 30 horses and have moved most of our horses around to make feeding and care more manageable. We are still waiting for one more foal to be born and have been advertising horses. Managing the horses is and has been a huge part of our work for the past few months. Let’s just say, we are doing the things we have been talking about for a while now, it is not easy when you have such a large farm with many projects going on and working jobs outside of the home too.
I have been doing a fair amount of canning. I learned to can meat, something I have wanted to do for a long time. I made jelly and jam from wild hog plums and crabapples. I strung and dried peppers. We harvested our early fall honey a few weeks back and our hives need more attention. The worm bins are full and happy, but I need to harvest soon before I set out my fall crops. I am waiting for the wild Sumac to turn red and I will harvest from the woods to store and make teas soon.
I am a better goat farmer today than I was last week. While I was in Canada Noah purchase 4 African pigmy goats. A buck, a doe and her two young kids. We did not vaccinate them when we brought them here, we did not know if they had been vaccinated by the previous owners…another lesson learned the hard way by busy farmers. Last week one of the kids came down with Tetanus. I knew the moment I saw her that I needed to act fast. 30 hours of constant care and administering anti-toxins and forcing fluids did not save her. It was very sad and as the book said, not a pretty sight to see and experience. Please vaccinate regardless of who owned goats you purchase, with as many horses as we have and knowing that tetanus lives in anaerobic soil it is only a matter of time. Lock Jaw is not curable. Vaccinations go for farmers too.
More goats..we made the trip to Marianna last Thursday to pick up our Saanen Goats from my friend Lisa’s mother. We got two does and a buck. We had gotten two does from her last fall and I had intentions of having myself a milk goat and was really looking forward to that this summer. The doe we thought was bred was not and she died suddenly in August of bloat. And I always thought goats could eat anything, isn’t that what the old folks say.. it is not true. Noah has been wanting this mean ass billy goat for a while now and I had been trying to put him off. Marie, Lisa’s mother had told stories of how mean he was and even though she called Diego, I renamed him.. in Spanish..The White Devil. Noah really, really wanted this huge muscled up Saanen goat, even as we stood at the fence with him butting it, I was asking, Are you sure? He lead him into the trailer and we loaded up a milking stand and lots of supplies she wanted to give us and then in the bargain we got a honey extractor and some hive box parts. We were all set for the next stage of our goat farming adventure and supplies to repair our bee hives too. We got home just before dark and it was almost 9:30 before we got everyone settled and the farm fed. The girls unloaded fine and so did the buck but when Noah went to release him into the round pen with the colts he tried to hook Noah several times. It took a few days to get his attention but now Noah has a halter on him and can lead him around the yard to eat grass. We just turn out the does to roam and eat when we are home. Every one seems to be happy. I will have a while before I have a goat to milk but I’ll be ready, Thanks to Marie.
Water, water every where..not a drop to spare
That Thursday night we realized we had a problem with our water pump, again. We have talk extensively about the sacred water we have on this land and how our survival and our farms survival depends on this precious water supply. This year we have been through several pumps and thank the Goddess Noah is damn good at repair and trouble shooting the old system. I can only hold the flashlight and trace the known water lines. The old system had been here for a long time and we do our best to insure that it keeps going. We can survive almost anything as long as we have water for ourselves and our animals. We put our Emergency System to the test for three days. It was Saturday before we had water again. I was very proud to set up a composting toilet in the bathroom which did not meet the approval of Noah, Leslie or the grandkids that came in on Friday. But I was happy to get a chance to use my skills. We were able to get enough water to sorta keep the horses watered until Saturday morning when we decided we needed to fill all the water containers and fix the problem which seemed to becoming a puzzling task for Noah. After hauling 6/55 gallons drums of water we figured over 700 gallons to assure everyone was going to have ample supply, he fixed the pump. The problem was a broken hose in the Oak Garden that we had checked several times but not discover till Saturday. He also replaced the new ½ horse pump with another new 1 horse pump. But we were back in business in time for me to finally get a shower and go to work on Saturday afternoon.
We had another test of the Emergency System on Saturday. As we were unloading the last drums of water we looked up to see a Jefferson County Sheriffs officer coming behind Jamie (our youngest daughter) down our drive. When we went out to see what was going on, Leslie, Trent and Summer met us in the drive. I heard Leslie tell Jamie, Trent had called 911. Our grandson Trent (7 years old) had a difficult time this summer when he was at his fathers and ended up in the hospital very ill on his return (I blogged this back in July). I insisted that Leslie teach him to call for help if he needed it. Well I guess he waited till he got to Paw Paw and Me Maw’s to try it out. He called 911 several times, Leslie which was sick and was asleep on the couch and Trent had gone into our bedroom to make the calls. We were all pretty upset but the deputy was very nice and understanding. He got down on his knees and looked Trent in the eye and asked him some very serious questions about if he needed help. And now that he knows what to do, at least stay on the line and tell the dispatcher that you were just testing the system or if someone really needed help. It is a very long way to our end of the county when there maybe someone that really needs help on the other side. It really sacred Trent and gave us a nervous moment too since he was following Jamie all the way down our road. At lease we know if we call 911 they will come. More lessons learned for us all.
Now for the Hero
We have two critters on our farm named Angus, one is our beloved 20 year old African gray parrot that lives in our house and is considered family. And the other is an old American bull dog that belonged to Noah’s father. Angus (dog) resides in his dog pen out near the goats and the new stalls we build for the horse last month. He is now considered a hero on our farm! When we went to pick up the goats last week, Marie was ready to give them to us because she had encountered a rattlesnake in her goat barn. I too have been seeing a lot of snakes around our farm but they were mostly black snakes. I do not fear snakes but have a healthy respect as long as they stay where they belong, they have a job too. This time of year the rattlers move a lot so I have been told that August and September is breeding season. In the spring I killed one in the dog pen that insisted on trying to enter despite the barking dogs. I just do not understand why a snake would want to enter a pen full of barking dogs? While Noah was feeding on Tuesday a huge rattle snake entered Angus’s pen, he didn’t just kill the rattle snake but he ate half of it before Noah got back to the pen, head and all….and lived! Noah told the story that he was protecting the goats and the horses, which I truly believe to be so. The name Angus came from Noah’s ancestors, Angus Maloy was a famous paddle boat owner that ran tours on the Wasicca River in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. You may know some of the history about and around our discussions of the closing of the Maloy Landing road by the Jefferson County commissioners and our fight with Nestle’s bottling company wanting to draw water out of the river. Last week the Commissioners voted on the aquifer protection laws for the county but Nestle’s had backed off more than a month ago. We will not let down our fight and hopefully in the near future have Maloy Landing road maybe reopened so our children and theirs may enjoy the river landing their ancestors loved so.
Into the world of magic
The Fall Equinox is only a few days away and I will be celebrating the harvest with my beloved Circle of friends in ritual on Friday night. On Saturday we will be joining our community for a public Mabon ritual at Lake Ella. A few weeks ago we taught Elements of Magic in a weekend intensive that brought 8 new students into the knowledge of Magic with Air, Fire, Water, Earth and Spirit. Our work in the community is very important as we feel the shifts in the world, the seasons, as well as in the cosmos. Life is changing fast and the world we live in, just listen to the news. Those of us that feel and embrace the connections of life on Earth are working for unity and enlightenment as we evolve through these changes. If we join together on a higher level of awareness we use our knowledge and skills to prepare the future generations to survive. Last night I watched my youngest grandson in Urgent Care as he was being treated for an ear infection. Even though he did not feel well, he charmed everyone with his crystal blue eyed gaze. Watching these children grow and seeing the natural magic in their eyes is awesome. And I am not just saying that because he is my grandson, you are seeing them too. There is a difference in the children being born today, they are our future and we need to teach and protect them, but most of all give them a world of natural balance, community and unity to grow in. I am very proud of my youngest daughter, she has developed her own skills in using cloth diapers, natural foods and alternative medicines where she can with her first born. She is a stay home mom and works hard at it, she has come a long way in sustainability for her family.
Into the future
Yesterday as I was doing my duties of irrigation in the demo gardens at the Leon County Extension Office, I finally met Will the Extension Agent that is teaching Green Gardens and Homes and who’s focus is on sustainability and permaculture. I was so excited to meet him and we had a nice chat about the programs he is working on and I showed him my mess of slides from Earth Activist Training and some of my projects. I signed up for his class but missed the first one because I was hauling goats that night. Hopefully we can share more of our interest in Permaculture and work together in the future on projects to share our knowledge with community. I know my approach and training may bring a little different flavor to permaculture than others but it will take us all to make permaculture a household word and practice in our community.
I am almost ready to get all my photos and material together to get started, just a few more commitments I need to complete. As I have said before I am passionate about Permaculture and my intent is to share it with as many people as I can.
Have a Happy Harvest as the Wheel of the Year turns,
Sissy Taylor-Maloy
Certified Permaculture Designer
(Whooo Hooo! That felt really good!)
It has been a while since I have posted because I have been really busy with commitments that I made months before I went to Canada and Earth Activist Training. But there will be a time in the near future where I move to another phase of commitment, which will be focused on Permaculture.
Here is what I have been doing…
In The garden
I finally got all the feed bags and stakes out of the permaculture beds. The sun had broken them down to a real mess because they do not have UV inhibitors to protect them. I should have thought of that or tested that before I set hundreds of them in my beds. But that is what permaculture is about test and more test. And the bags are here since we use them everyday and I am all about recycling anything I have on the farm. They did contorl some of the weeds and grass but at a huge labor intense cost to me, the farmer.
I pulled up all my summer crops and composted them. The grass has taken over so much of the garden. Noah tilled up ½ of the garden and he is still tending his peppers. I have purchased cover crops for the tilled section of the garden and have plans and materials for two box planters, one as a salad table for salad greens and another for carrots, which I hope to winter in the green house. The herb garden is about reached it’s peak and I have seeds to harvest and others that need to be covered with leaves to prepare for winter. My plans in the permaculture test beds are to use the tractor to smooth the mounds and sheet mulch with cardboard, create my winter garden with a spiral of compost and mulch once the seedlings are up. Since I pulled up all my irrigation system, I will have to redo that as well. The soil is still very dry and we are more than 20 inches below our normal rainfall. But the cooler weather and rain today is a blessing. Fall is on the way!
On the farm
We have been working very hard of Farm Management. We are down to 30 horses and have moved most of our horses around to make feeding and care more manageable. We are still waiting for one more foal to be born and have been advertising horses. Managing the horses is and has been a huge part of our work for the past few months. Let’s just say, we are doing the things we have been talking about for a while now, it is not easy when you have such a large farm with many projects going on and working jobs outside of the home too.
I have been doing a fair amount of canning. I learned to can meat, something I have wanted to do for a long time. I made jelly and jam from wild hog plums and crabapples. I strung and dried peppers. We harvested our early fall honey a few weeks back and our hives need more attention. The worm bins are full and happy, but I need to harvest soon before I set out my fall crops. I am waiting for the wild Sumac to turn red and I will harvest from the woods to store and make teas soon.
I am a better goat farmer today than I was last week. While I was in Canada Noah purchase 4 African pigmy goats. A buck, a doe and her two young kids. We did not vaccinate them when we brought them here, we did not know if they had been vaccinated by the previous owners…another lesson learned the hard way by busy farmers. Last week one of the kids came down with Tetanus. I knew the moment I saw her that I needed to act fast. 30 hours of constant care and administering anti-toxins and forcing fluids did not save her. It was very sad and as the book said, not a pretty sight to see and experience. Please vaccinate regardless of who owned goats you purchase, with as many horses as we have and knowing that tetanus lives in anaerobic soil it is only a matter of time. Lock Jaw is not curable. Vaccinations go for farmers too.
More goats..we made the trip to Marianna last Thursday to pick up our Saanen Goats from my friend Lisa’s mother. We got two does and a buck. We had gotten two does from her last fall and I had intentions of having myself a milk goat and was really looking forward to that this summer. The doe we thought was bred was not and she died suddenly in August of bloat. And I always thought goats could eat anything, isn’t that what the old folks say.. it is not true. Noah has been wanting this mean ass billy goat for a while now and I had been trying to put him off. Marie, Lisa’s mother had told stories of how mean he was and even though she called Diego, I renamed him.. in Spanish..The White Devil. Noah really, really wanted this huge muscled up Saanen goat, even as we stood at the fence with him butting it, I was asking, Are you sure? He lead him into the trailer and we loaded up a milking stand and lots of supplies she wanted to give us and then in the bargain we got a honey extractor and some hive box parts. We were all set for the next stage of our goat farming adventure and supplies to repair our bee hives too. We got home just before dark and it was almost 9:30 before we got everyone settled and the farm fed. The girls unloaded fine and so did the buck but when Noah went to release him into the round pen with the colts he tried to hook Noah several times. It took a few days to get his attention but now Noah has a halter on him and can lead him around the yard to eat grass. We just turn out the does to roam and eat when we are home. Every one seems to be happy. I will have a while before I have a goat to milk but I’ll be ready, Thanks to Marie.
Water, water every where..not a drop to spare
That Thursday night we realized we had a problem with our water pump, again. We have talk extensively about the sacred water we have on this land and how our survival and our farms survival depends on this precious water supply. This year we have been through several pumps and thank the Goddess Noah is damn good at repair and trouble shooting the old system. I can only hold the flashlight and trace the known water lines. The old system had been here for a long time and we do our best to insure that it keeps going. We can survive almost anything as long as we have water for ourselves and our animals. We put our Emergency System to the test for three days. It was Saturday before we had water again. I was very proud to set up a composting toilet in the bathroom which did not meet the approval of Noah, Leslie or the grandkids that came in on Friday. But I was happy to get a chance to use my skills. We were able to get enough water to sorta keep the horses watered until Saturday morning when we decided we needed to fill all the water containers and fix the problem which seemed to becoming a puzzling task for Noah. After hauling 6/55 gallons drums of water we figured over 700 gallons to assure everyone was going to have ample supply, he fixed the pump. The problem was a broken hose in the Oak Garden that we had checked several times but not discover till Saturday. He also replaced the new ½ horse pump with another new 1 horse pump. But we were back in business in time for me to finally get a shower and go to work on Saturday afternoon.
We had another test of the Emergency System on Saturday. As we were unloading the last drums of water we looked up to see a Jefferson County Sheriffs officer coming behind Jamie (our youngest daughter) down our drive. When we went out to see what was going on, Leslie, Trent and Summer met us in the drive. I heard Leslie tell Jamie, Trent had called 911. Our grandson Trent (7 years old) had a difficult time this summer when he was at his fathers and ended up in the hospital very ill on his return (I blogged this back in July). I insisted that Leslie teach him to call for help if he needed it. Well I guess he waited till he got to Paw Paw and Me Maw’s to try it out. He called 911 several times, Leslie which was sick and was asleep on the couch and Trent had gone into our bedroom to make the calls. We were all pretty upset but the deputy was very nice and understanding. He got down on his knees and looked Trent in the eye and asked him some very serious questions about if he needed help. And now that he knows what to do, at least stay on the line and tell the dispatcher that you were just testing the system or if someone really needed help. It is a very long way to our end of the county when there maybe someone that really needs help on the other side. It really sacred Trent and gave us a nervous moment too since he was following Jamie all the way down our road. At lease we know if we call 911 they will come. More lessons learned for us all.
Now for the Hero
We have two critters on our farm named Angus, one is our beloved 20 year old African gray parrot that lives in our house and is considered family. And the other is an old American bull dog that belonged to Noah’s father. Angus (dog) resides in his dog pen out near the goats and the new stalls we build for the horse last month. He is now considered a hero on our farm! When we went to pick up the goats last week, Marie was ready to give them to us because she had encountered a rattlesnake in her goat barn. I too have been seeing a lot of snakes around our farm but they were mostly black snakes. I do not fear snakes but have a healthy respect as long as they stay where they belong, they have a job too. This time of year the rattlers move a lot so I have been told that August and September is breeding season. In the spring I killed one in the dog pen that insisted on trying to enter despite the barking dogs. I just do not understand why a snake would want to enter a pen full of barking dogs? While Noah was feeding on Tuesday a huge rattle snake entered Angus’s pen, he didn’t just kill the rattle snake but he ate half of it before Noah got back to the pen, head and all….and lived! Noah told the story that he was protecting the goats and the horses, which I truly believe to be so. The name Angus came from Noah’s ancestors, Angus Maloy was a famous paddle boat owner that ran tours on the Wasicca River in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. You may know some of the history about and around our discussions of the closing of the Maloy Landing road by the Jefferson County commissioners and our fight with Nestle’s bottling company wanting to draw water out of the river. Last week the Commissioners voted on the aquifer protection laws for the county but Nestle’s had backed off more than a month ago. We will not let down our fight and hopefully in the near future have Maloy Landing road maybe reopened so our children and theirs may enjoy the river landing their ancestors loved so.
Into the world of magic
The Fall Equinox is only a few days away and I will be celebrating the harvest with my beloved Circle of friends in ritual on Friday night. On Saturday we will be joining our community for a public Mabon ritual at Lake Ella. A few weeks ago we taught Elements of Magic in a weekend intensive that brought 8 new students into the knowledge of Magic with Air, Fire, Water, Earth and Spirit. Our work in the community is very important as we feel the shifts in the world, the seasons, as well as in the cosmos. Life is changing fast and the world we live in, just listen to the news. Those of us that feel and embrace the connections of life on Earth are working for unity and enlightenment as we evolve through these changes. If we join together on a higher level of awareness we use our knowledge and skills to prepare the future generations to survive. Last night I watched my youngest grandson in Urgent Care as he was being treated for an ear infection. Even though he did not feel well, he charmed everyone with his crystal blue eyed gaze. Watching these children grow and seeing the natural magic in their eyes is awesome. And I am not just saying that because he is my grandson, you are seeing them too. There is a difference in the children being born today, they are our future and we need to teach and protect them, but most of all give them a world of natural balance, community and unity to grow in. I am very proud of my youngest daughter, she has developed her own skills in using cloth diapers, natural foods and alternative medicines where she can with her first born. She is a stay home mom and works hard at it, she has come a long way in sustainability for her family.
Into the future
Yesterday as I was doing my duties of irrigation in the demo gardens at the Leon County Extension Office, I finally met Will the Extension Agent that is teaching Green Gardens and Homes and who’s focus is on sustainability and permaculture. I was so excited to meet him and we had a nice chat about the programs he is working on and I showed him my mess of slides from Earth Activist Training and some of my projects. I signed up for his class but missed the first one because I was hauling goats that night. Hopefully we can share more of our interest in Permaculture and work together in the future on projects to share our knowledge with community. I know my approach and training may bring a little different flavor to permaculture than others but it will take us all to make permaculture a household word and practice in our community.
I am almost ready to get all my photos and material together to get started, just a few more commitments I need to complete. As I have said before I am passionate about Permaculture and my intent is to share it with as many people as I can.
Have a Happy Harvest as the Wheel of the Year turns,
Sissy Taylor-Maloy
Certified Permaculture Designer
(Whooo Hooo! That felt really good!)
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