New neighbors

Last weekend the alpacas were fascinated by the happenings in the pasture next door.

The boys getting a close look into the neighboring pasture.

They saw five little goats! Our new neighbors had their goats delivered on Sunday. There is one pregnant Nubian doe, one black pygmy doe with her one-week-old baby, and two white pygmy wethers.

The objects of their curiosity.

I had to get a closeup of the little baby. She's so tiny it's hard to see her in the grass.

The little baby girl. She doesn't have a name yet.

That little one might be tiny but you know she's around. Her sweet little voice is easy to pick out among the other goat voices in the tall grass. And that little herd had the attention of our relatively big herd every time they made a peep (or bleat).

I like these new neighbors :-)

Update on the bee hives

I've been very happy that I started with 2 hives as everyone suggested. Being a new beekeeper, there is really no other way to understand what a strong hive and a weak hive look like.

I have one of each. And the difference between them is huge.

The hive that I call the West Hive (because it was on the west stand) is doing really well. Okay, that might be an understatement. It's going crazy. Meanwhile the East Hive is hardly doing anything. And Until recently, I learned all of that just by watching the entrances and checking the bottom box by holding a mirror under.

When I started noticing the East Hive falling so far behind, my friend Pam Kelley suggested I switch the positions of the hives. That will sometimes help even out the populations by tricking the stronger hive's bees into calling the weaker hive their home.

Jeremy helped me make the switch one sunny day a few weeks ago. And it did help the population of the original East Hive. But eventually it dwindled again.

So, after reading and talking with my bee friend more, I was certain there was no queen or even, perhaps, a laying worker bee (which is a real problem). So I called Wolf Creek Bees to order a new queen.

But John at Wolf Creek convinced me that something else might be happening. I needed to investigate a little more closely before I introduced a new queen. That was not a pleasant prospect for me. But I did it - with help from my wonderful and brave husband/co-farmer Brent. We opened up the hive and pulled out the combs.

Here I am looking really closely at the cells.

It was fascinating. John explained what I should look for to determine whether there was a laying worker - the eggs would be on the sides of the cells and there may be more than one egg in the cells. So, as you can see, I looked really closely. And, strangely, there were no eggs to be found.

John also mentioned that they might be growing a new queen. I'm still puzzled about that. How could they if the queen wasn't laying? But, guess what, that's exactly what they are doing!

Comb with queen cells - those peanut shaped things sticking out.

We found queen cells on a comb near the center of the box. And one of the cells was capped (closed up). That was all I needed to see. So we carefully put things back together. Then I quickly went inside to start reading. And I learned that a queen would hatch about a week after the cell was capped and then go on a mating flight a week later. So, maybe, this little hive will pull through.

It's already been 2 weeks since we opened that hive. I'm watching carefully for signs that the workers are bringing in pollen for brood. But I'm not seeing anything yet. 

The West Hive is obviously thriving. When I took off the feeders near the end of May, I could see with my mirror that comb was already built in the bottom box. So Brent quickly constructed new boxes with windows for me and we added one to the bottom. That was box 3. A week later we could see comb in the new box with the window. It's amazing. Since then, we added another box making that hive 4 boxes tall!

It's growing crazy-fast. The bees coming and going get so crowded at the entrance that they knock each other off the landing board. The number of bees living in there must be incredible. If you listen carefully near the screened bottom, you can actually hear the whoosh of air moving in the hive. It's a very healthy and happy sound.

We might get to harvest a little honey from that hive this year :-)

Chickens are in the coop and acting very grown up

Well, we found out, for sure, today that Dot is Nottadot (or Donny, we haven't landed on a good name that isn't female). He crowed for me this morning!

Here's Donny!

I had a great time building that chicken coop out of the salvaged lumber and the construction waste we have accumulated. With all the rain, it was helpful to get the corrugated roof on so things could stay dry. And it must have been comfortable also, because it very quickly attracted a pretty kitty, Patches. She started sleeping in the nest boxes. And now we have adopted her :-)

Patches, our new barn cat checking out the pop door on the coop.

So, after I finished all of the doors, Patches started staying in the Summer Kitchens and the chickens started living in their coop. It's been about 2 weeks and they have adjusted very well. It only took them 2 days to start going back in at night on their own, which is A LOT easier than chasing them around the run (good thing Brent didn't think fast enough to get a video; it would've gone viral). I still give them a night light when I close their door, but I didn't end up camping out like I thought I would.

Their first trip out the pop door and down the ramp to the run.

Today, I actually let them out of the run. Well, only 5 of them - Basil and Rae couldn't find the door. We've noticed how much they love to eat grass, so I risked giving them a few minutes of freedom to find out how easy it will be to get them back to the run. And, after they pecked around a little off the edge of the concrete (and Thistle made a trip around the side of the run), I shooed them back in very easily.

Donny and three girls checking out the real ground
(Thistle is in the background with his tail in the air)

I think tomorrow they will get a good taste of the real outdoors. And I'll take Doogle over to see them on a leash. He may be the most dangerous predator around! Luckily, his wireless fence keeps him away from the coop. Now we just need to teach the chickens to run the right direction if they cross into his space. 

Okay, so maybe there is no teaching a chicken, but I'm trying it anyway!

Rain, rain, rain...

It has been a very wet Spring here in eastern Kansas. Luckily, Brent and I aren't trying to get crops harvested and/or planted like all the farmers we know. It's been a real struggle for them.

Our biggest struggle with this weather has been staying cheerful while the weeds take over the new lawn and the chickens grow like weeds!

We have managed to take advantage of the occasional sunny day to work on things around here. But the ground is soaked and water is standing everywhere - so progress is slow. As always, there are things to smile about - like this vision of beauty out our window:

The rain drenched deck

In spite of the rain, the guy that is helping us finish out the barn has also been able to make a little progress for the alpacas. He's finished the roof and the west side. And since it's dry in there now, we took a little time to move things around. The boys have a lot more space inside to get in out of the rain these days.

Walt standing by the feeder in the middle of the "spacious" barn

We also expanded their pasture. I posted a fun picture on Instagram of Brent and me splattered with mud. You can see it there if you search for either Patti Ragsdale or gardenrambler. Brent figured out how to set the telephone pole posts even though the holes we had drilled were full-to-the-top with water. And putting up one of the posts created a muddy rain shower that was pretty amazing - and very picture-worthy.

Getting up 4 of the 14 posts for the fence along the draw created enough fence line to move the pasture space out another 100 feet to the east. Brent, Logan and Jeremy strung some new wire fence last week and herded the boys into the newly available tall grass. The alpacas love to nose through all that grass to find the clover and eat it first.

Loki checking out the clover in the newly expanded pasture.

My most pressing project is the chicken coop. Even though it's only 4 foot by 5 foot, it's a big project for me and is taking way too long (as always). But, between rains over the last 3 weeks, I've made quite a bit of progress. And it's a good thing because the chicks are pretty much chickens now. They are pretty crowded in their "expanded" brooder.

The very beginning of the coop.

A view of the nest boxes and egg door at the end of the day yesterday.

So we are making progress - just slow because we are literally walking through mud. We should start moving a little faster in the weeks to come because, as of last week, I'm "retired" from my corporate job. I'm a full-time, focused farmer - or something like that these days :-)

In spite of all the rain that's slowing been things down, Brent and I have taken time to enjoy the fruits of our farm. Last weekend we walked out to the east-most border of our property to see if the mulberry tree had ripe berries. And it had a ton! Of course, we only picked what we could reach...and then we made a cobbler. It was really good - tasted like figs!

Mulberries

There just isn't any end to the things to do. And that's a really good thing because most of those tasks are outside in this beautiful place. And, even though I already miss the constant interaction with the wonderful people I worked with at Hallmark, this new farm-focused job will give me a lot of things to smile about - and, hopefully, the space and freedom to share with friends.