The other excitement this year (really slow year) was our Damson tree produced the first real crop of fruit. I first tasted my mother-in-law's Damson jam when I lived in Newfoundland and it became one of my all-time favorite jams. Marva's father brought out 12 Damson seedlings from Newfoundland years ago. From the 12 originals, 2 have survived deer, drought and goats growing into mature trees.
January came complete with winter snows and we were reduced to walking the dogs and planning for spring. To relieve the boredom, I finally painted the interior of the house changing it from the original peach colour, the previous owners had, to a green which we prefer. February was uneventful taking us into March and lambing season. We had 4 ewes and 3 rams born and one stillborn. All the ewes had twins except for two ewes who did not conceive this year. Our only black lamb went to a new flock as a breeding ram and in exchange I purchased two black ewes. This will allow me to increase the number of black lambs we will produce in 2021. March also brought the pandemic changing how we all live our daily lives. The farm is truly a blessing as our normal farm activates continued unchanged. A field was tilled and reseeded. The garden was planted and tended. The animals had to be fed and tended to daily. The dogs had to be walked and puppies were born and raised. We experienced our roads and highways with no traffic on them and the shock of large grocery stores with empty shelves for the first time in my life. My father died in April, a year after my mother but this time we, as a family, were unable to come together and mourn our loss. My major farm project for the year, after putting it off for more years that I care to mention, was installing underground power and water to all the barns and coop. For ten years water has been delivered by garden hoses and power by extension cords. I picked the week that my brother came over for a visit to rent a trencher and proceeded to dig up 300 to 400 feet of ground. In three days all the lines were put in, four animal watering stations were installed and a new yard light was functioning. The one thing I failed to do was photograph the project while it was underway. The other excitement this year (really slow year) was our Damson tree produced the first real crop of fruit. I first tasted my mother-in-law's Damson jam when I lived in Newfoundland and it became one of my all-time favorite jams. Marva's father brought out 12 Damson seedlings from Newfoundland years ago. From the 12 originals, 2 have survived deer, drought and goats growing into mature trees. While recognizing our blessings, I must admit the Covid19 thing has become really old. We miss seeing getting together family & friends and sharing what we have with each other. As we look forward to 2021 we hope that family visits and travel will soon be back on the menu.
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It has been sometime since I have updated my blog, in fact 35 months have gone by with out me documenting the activities on Furrycreek Farm. There have been many activities and milestones but not have been good or happy ones. The new lower pastures have been completed and fully fenced in 2019. Clearing land is a big labor intensive activity but we have been thrilled with the outcome and the improvement it has made to the farm. The sheep love the extra grazing space and the reduction in vegetation has had little impact on our privacy. An extra benefit has been the large volume of firewood that we have produced. The result is that we have been fully heating our home with wood and we estimate that we have a 5 year supply of wood. In February Marva fell down a flight of stairs hitting her head on the cement sidewalk. This resulted in a life altering injury due to the severe concussion she experienced. She has been receiving treatment and therapy for the last two years. In addition to this my mother, Eva Lorraine (Horton) Smith passed in March 2019, While dealing with these life's blows, life on the farm continues and we had the joy of 8 lambing being born. Marva helped out a small lamb with supplemental bottle feedings is order to ensure it got off to a good start. I had been looking for a used 4X4 tractor for several years and in May I went to look at one which was for sale at a local dealer. I was not impressed with the price or condition and as a result I walked out with a brand new tractor. It is a very happy day when a farm gets a new tractor and before you say anything, yes I had Marva's blessings and approval. Several family members took this opportunity to comment that Marva really did hit her head hard when she fell. A new lower field and a new tractor created the next project. I had to have a bridge to get across the creek on the East end of property. This was a fun job and it allowed me to add bridge builder to my resumé. The last big project for 2019 was the tilling and seeding one of the old pastures. It is our intention to redo one of our six small pastures every year. So far it has greatly improved the grasses and reduced weeds in fields done to date. Machinery has made this a relatively painless, although time consuming job, with the exception of rock picking. Where do the rocks come from and keep coming from. The rest of 2019 went on normally with good productivity in gardens and orchards. This resulted in our first sales in produce at local stores and at our neighbor's farm stand. Then winter came followed by the infamous 2020.
Winter is over and we are well into a very wet Spring. The fruit trees have been pruned and sprayed. The raspberries have been thinned and tied to the trellis lines. The new greenhouse has been enclosed in plastic. My first attempt to propagate raspberries plants is underway with 40 stems in pots. The garden is begging to be tilled but the ground is just too wet. One might think I am looking forward to the garden this year, while I continue to insist I do not really like gardening. I much prefer animal husbandry although I may have to rethink this position, especially after Furrycreek's breeding results for 2018. The end of 2017 brought mixed blessings. The good news was that we now have full farm status. The bad news is that It cost me $200.00 to sell eggs to my happy customers. I now feel like a real farmer, as it is costing more to produce my eggs than I sell them for. Last year I changed over most of my chickens to Ameraucanas which lay a really cool green coloured egg. I love the green eggs as they thrill and surprise children and adults alike. I did not realize that the Ameraucanas lay about half the number of eggs of most heritage hens and only a third of what Hy-Line chickens produce. My problem is that they eat the same amount of feed. My solution is the price of eggs just went up a dollar a dozen and the flock will evolve back into a more mixed group of heritage birds. I am looking forward to having multi coloured and speckled eggs again. Lambing I bred four ewes last Fall splitting them between Bilbo my black ram and Frodo my white ram. In early March lambing began with Chloe having a problem free delivery, giving birth to "Dirty Harry". Rosie was was next with her second birth, delivering the twins "Bobbitt Bobby" the only black lamb this year, and "Fionnlagh at Tweedholm" called Finn for short. Crystal without any human assistance delivered her first lamb whose birth weight was 11 pounds. He was named "Moby Dick" on the spot, which was so appropriate as he continued to gain a pound a day for the first three days. (Had to quit weighing him as to big for my scale) Pia was our last ewe to give birth. The previous year she did not conceive, so we were a little anxious for her this year. Marva was in bed watching her in the barn on the CCTV early one Sunday morning and became concerned as Pia appeared to be in distress. She ran out to the barn and was soon calling for me. By the time I got there she was working on revving a new born lamb that was not breathing. The lamb had become stuck in the birth canal with one foreleg facing forward and out, while the other leg was facing backwards jamming everything up. Marva does not quit or give up on newborns and soon had the lamb out and eventually breathing on its own. If Marva had gotten to Pia any later the lamb probably would not have made it, so we named him "Furrycreek's Just in Time" or Justin for short. If you have noticed that all the lambs have masculine sounding names you would be correct as every lamb born this year is a ram. Not a ewe in the bunch. Our biggest disappointment was with the breeding of Tilly our Australian Shepherd. It was unsuccessful, even though she went through a false pregnancy . I had been really looking forward to this litter, so I will be repeating the breeding in the fall. I now feel that I have positive proof that "if it wasn't for bad luck I would have no luck at all". My new project for this year is bee keeping and I am a new member of the Nanaimo Bee Club. The bee is the most studied insect in the world and I know almost nothing about them, other than being stung hurts and honey is good. My neighbour who is an organic farmer, also keeps bees and has promised me a nuc to get started. I have been able to acquire two hives mostly made up of used components that I have reconditioned. Note, my beekeepers protective gear is all brand new. I will keep you updated as to how this new endeavor goes. My big project on the farm continues to be the clearing of the new pasture for the sheep. The byproduct of this undertaking has been firewood. I am expecting to put up approximately 20+ cord of mainly maple wood this year.
I have hired an excavator contractor to remove the stumps, grade the land and general clean up of area in preparation of planting the new pasture. The rain has delayed this endeavour already more that two weeks but hopefully we have some dryer weather on the way. Hot and dry best describes our summer and I am not complaining. I have never seen so little rain on the West Coast. It has been a wonderful test for our well which at the best of times produces a very low volume of water but it continued all summer to produce water even though the recovery rate was a little slow. The summer has been hard on the larger trees, especially the cedars which clearly show signs of being drought stressed. Oh yeah, Marva says it was also a hard summer on Postal Workers as they were also heat stressed. Joey our limping goat is still limping even though I broke down and called a veterinarian to come by and treat her. She has had a full treatment of antibiotics, liniment, marihuana ointment, and has had her leg bandaged to help support and stabilize the leg. Nothing has helped to date. She is happy, active and eating well as she limps her way through life. She did come perilously close to having her life ended, but not due to the hurt leg as you will soon see. The raspberry canes that I planted in the back half of the garden adapted well to the soil and new location growing fantastically. The only thing that grew more spectacular was the corn that I put in the first row, 24" in from the lower fence where the soil in the deepest and richest. Of everything I planted this year it was the fresh corn on the cob that I was looking forward to the most. The corn stalks were the first plants to break through the ground and they grew like a weed. One morning after attending to the animals I walked over to the garden and found a disaster, the corn stalks which now were about 6" tall had all be pulled out of the ground and much of the tops had been eaten. Nothing else in the garden had been touched. I looked for sign that either deer or rabbits had been in the garden but failed to produce any evidence to identify the culprit(s). I carefully replanted as many of the corn plants as I could find and sadly realized that my corn crop had been reduced in half. I maintained a much closer watch on the garden and would walk around once in awhile with my pellet gun looking for those pesky rabbits that I would see playing and sunning themselves in the field below the garden. I was sure that they had been responsible as deer would have to leave hoof prints in the soft soil. I decided that I was going to eat a rabbit in lieu of the lost corn. The surviving stalks were now well over a foot tall and some a good foot and a half. All is well in the garden, when Uncle Gordie and Aunt Nonie came for a visit. We welcomed them at the front door and the first thing Gordie says "As I drove in I saw your white goat with its head through the garden fence eating." I ran out to see Joey hobbling away from the garden fence and all the corn stalks once again were pulled out and eaten. My first thought was I will be eating goat tonight not rabbit. Marva immediately made it clear to me that it was not going to happen, besides it was my fault for planting the corn to close to the fence. "Rocket" and "Eclaire" our new lambs have settled very well into life on the farm. When I transferred their registration "Rocket" became "Rockette" which is more feminine and representative of the young lady she has become. They are currently living in with the goats and have their own stall in the goat barn as we do not want them bred this year. We also added two new mature white ewes to our flock bringing the total to nine. "Chloe" and "Crystal" both (2 years old) were purchased from Brian on Saltspring Island. They were both wild little things coming from a larger flock with much less direct contact with humans on an ongoing basis. They always stay together but get along well with the rest of the flock. They have become tolerant of me, meaning that they no longer panic and run into fences when I approach. They continue to be less trusting of me than the other sheep but they are coming around nicely. Currently they are running with "Rosie"and "Bilbo" our black ram . "Frodo" our white ram is spending time with "Pia" and "Goldie". We are looking forward to spring lambs starting in the middle of March. The orchard did not do so well this year mainly due to the heat and dryness of the summer. The little fruit that we did produce went largely to supporting the squirrels and birds. Our yellow plum tree had a reasonable crop and I watched it closely in order to pick them when perfectly ripe. One Saturday morning I got a bucket and went out to pick the fruit. On my walk to the orchard I saw a big black squirrel jump out of the plum tree and run for it. I arrived to find not a plum left on the tree or ground. The birds also got all the blueberries again this year. I do feel that I am doing my part is supporting local wildlife. It is really fall now with the leaves changing colour and falling from the trees. It is windy and raining outside and the wood stove is well stoked. Several nights ago we had our first real wind storm. I had secured all the animals in their barns as the neighbours had photos of a big black bear on their trail cam just above our property. At approximately 5:00 am a large Grand Fir tree succombed to the wind and fell hitting the sheep barn dead center. When I went to let the animals out, I found the treetop across the barn with a branch punched right through the roof. In all there were three holes in the roof and some crinkled roofing but there was no structural damage. The sheep were not happy with this aerial assault, but no one was hurt. I fell two additional trees that were a possible threat, so I hope we will be safe from falling trees for the rest of the winter. New Champion"FurryCreek Arctic Sky Blue" aka Pippi completed her CKC Championship in July 2017, at one year of age. Pippi was handled by Marva Smith and I thank her for her hard work and dedication in bringing out the best in Pippi.
Tilly has been taking life easy after raising her first litter. She did Basic Rally training this summer and although she did very well at it, she hates it. As a result I have retired her from Rally and she has mastered lying around on the couch. Proving again dogs take on the best traits of their Master. It has been the coldest, snowiest and wettest winter that I can remember and I am so glad it is behind us. We are also behind on all of our projects and jobs around the farm, but to quote my Uncle Gordie "Works not a rabbit, it will not run away". Everyone and everything at FurryCreek Farm is happy and relatively healthy. Marva has just gone back to work after having a minor surgery on her hand. Joey the big white goat is limping from what appears to be an injury to her front leg. A few of our original chickens passed on due to old age (they are not so happy), while Marva has been busy hatching a new batch of chicks for market and our coop. The most exciting thing this spring so far has been the arrival of our spring lambs. "Loony Luna" a black ewe was born on March 11 and was followed by "Larry the Lamb" a white ram born eleven days later. Our flock is slowly growing as we were able to purchase two ewe lambs from Denman Island. These sisters were born on March 9th and were named "Rocket" and "Eclaire". We are so grateful to Tashi and Dante for allowing us to have and raise these sweet girls. On the organic side of things, the orchard has been pruned and prepared for the crop. Fences have been mended and a new gates have been hung. The garden has been modified this year, as half of it has been delegated to life as a raspberry patch. We are patiently waiting for 30 raspberry canes to arrive from Nova Scotia. (10 Killarney, 10 Royalty and 10 Heritage). The trellises have been built and installed and by next year we may have raspberries, or not! Our neighbours, Gary & Kathy, gave us some of their extra seed potatoes and even though I said I was not growing potatoes this year, I now have 60 feet of them planted. It is definitely time to buy and plant seeds for the rest of the garden. So far all I have done is rototilled the garden beds four times so far. Our Australian Shepherds, Tilly and Pippi, are both doing well. Pippi has outgrown most of her puppy traits that were driving us crazy, ie: the chewing, digging, etc.. She completed her foundation training and graduated with distinction. At the end of last year Pippi entered her first Dog Show in Port Alberni winning "Best Baby Puppy in Show". This coming weekend she is entered in the Tyee Dog Show in Duncan and we are hoping for great things from her. Both of these girls love the sheep and goats . They display strong herding instincts at times, (If they would only drive the sheep in the direction I wanted them to go) while also acting as guardians especially around the lambs. Tilly has been attending classes in Novice Rally and although she is smart and learns quickly what is expected of her, she really does not seem to enjoy it. She completed her last class tonight and will continue to search for an activity more inline with her interests and desires.
You ask what else have I been doing? I say remember the 30 Maple trees that Marva's father fell last winter. So far I have cut, split and hauled up to the woodshed six cord of wood. This has made a dent in the felled trees, just a small dent but we will be warm next winter. As I sit here writing, it is again snowing outside. The big white flakes indicate it will soon be changing to rain, then to ice as it freezes later tonight. The 224-year-old weather forecasting guide, the Old Farmers’ Almanac, proves accurate again as it's extended 2016/17 forecast for southern B.C. was for a cold, snowy winter with colder-than-normal temperatures and more precipitation than usual. I can attest to the more than usual precipation this fall as all it seemed to do is rain. The annual FurryCreek Bonfire and Wiener Roast for neighbours and friends did not happen this fall as the fields were just to wet and muddy to be enjoyable. While we did enjoy a white Christmas this year the ice, snow and cold does get tiring and limits what work can be done outside. Marva's surgery at the Jubilee Hospital this October went well. She received a spinal cord stimulator implant making her truly a bionic woman. Her parents Otto and Levie Day travelled from Newfoundland to help out with Marva's recovery. They stayed with us for six weeks and we were sorry to see them leave, although I suspect that they were happy to head home and to get away from the burden of caring and dealing with so many animals, not to mention Marva and myself. They could not believe that in a six week visit they had only three days with no rain. Marva kept her father busy with numerous odd jobs she had been saving for him, but the real work began when I decided to develop a new pasture. Otto grabbed a chain saw and before he left, approximately 30 Big Leaf Maples had been felled and limbed. I will have firewood for years to come as well as maple wood once it has dried and been milled. In mid October, I put the rams and ewes in their respective pastures and it was just like Woodstock all over again at FurryCreek Farm. The love-in appears to be over and we are excitedly waiting for April spring lambs. Our experience with last years "Wee Willie" was so positive we can't wait for a small flock of lambs. We fully enjoyed this Christmas, spending time with family and friends while in direct contact with those we could not physically be with. Getting into the Christmas spirit started slowly this year but once Marva decorated the house the magic began. Even the dogs seemed to enjoy the season. Pippi has turned out to be the puppy from hell. While we love her to death, she has a bit of a chewing problem. Over Christmas she destroyed six pair of my wife's shoes (a hanging offence) after she learned how to open the closet door and then chewed the arm off a hide-a-bed couch (I had to hide the guns) in the time- out room. The good news is that the dogs loved the Christmas tree and decorations and not one ornament or decoration was touched or damaged. Go figure. New Years was more challenging as Marva came down with the flu causing us to cancel a family New Year's Dinner. New Year's day ended with this sunset showing the promise and potential of another year at FurryCreek Farm.
Today is special as the first two of our Aussie puppies left us to go to their new homes. Tomorrow two more will depart for their their forever homes, joining their excited new owners. The "Blue Litter" turned 8 weeks old, two days ago and to mark this monumental occasion I was up at 6:00 am. and I loaded all six puppies into travel crates and stacked them on the back seat of my truck. We were off to catch the ferry to the Lower Mainland. Fifteen minutes later we arrived at Duke Point and lined up for the 7:45 ferry sailing. I immediately jumped out and moved all six barking, howling, yelping puppies into the canopied box of the truck. It is hard to fathom the amount of noise that six 8 week old Aussie puppies can generate. After the two hour sailing we drove straight to the animal hospital where the doctor prodded and poked, looked and listened before giving the litter a clean bill of health. A vaccination each, followed with an oral dewormer and we were headed back to the ferry arriving home in late afternoon. It has been an interesting summer but with the exception of my son's wedding in August we have not left home. Marva's recovery from surgery and meeting the growing demands of the Aussie litter saw to it that not much else has been accomplished In mid August, Lynn Rogers and "Booker" came for a visit and to see the puppies he sired. "Booker" looked, sniffed and then proceeded to ignore his offspring but appeared to be happy to see "Tilly" and myself. We have finally decided which puppy to keep and our final choice is "FurryCreek's Arctic Sky Blue". It was a difficult decision and in order to help make it, Marva enlisted the help of some of her dog show and breeding friends. Coleen Franks, Melissa Cadieux and Kylarra Simmers all attended at our home and each gave the puppies a through going over. The final results were very close but in the end Arctic Sky Blue was the winner. I cannot thank them enough for taking the time to help analyze the litter and for making this decision fun. Proudly Introducing "FurryCreek's Arctic Sky Blue" (Pippi)Our next challenge is to find the perfect call name. Introducing the New OwnersSeeing our puppies leave creates a mixed emotion. I am so happy to see my workload being reduced. I am so sorry to see my children leaving for good. I am so happy that I have found such loving people and wonderful homes for them.
Tilly says "I just don't care". It is my hope that each of these puppies brings as much joy and love to their new families as Tilly and the puppies have brought to me. The July 5th, 2016 started out as a wonderful day that ended on such a tragic note. We woke up with Tilly in labour and by early afternoon she was in her new whelping box. Marva and I stood by in great anticipation. Then at 1:10 PM a complaining 14.5 ounce, blue merle female puppy was born. This was followed 10 minutes later by a black tri girl and continued until 4:25 PM. When all was said and done we had 4 females and 2 males. We also had 4 blue merle and 2 black tri puppies. Click to see pictures of puppies. We were so happy and excited with this litter of six. When mother and pups were all settled in nursing and sleeping. I went out at 9:00 PM to put the farm animals in for the night and to collect the days eggs. As soon as I entered the yard I knew something was wrong. My three white ewes with the baby ram were waiting for me at their usual spot by the fence but there was no black ewe. I put the sheep in the barn an went out looking for "Periwinkle Minx" with a sinking feeling in my heart. She was always with the others and usually one of the first to greet me in the evening. I went first to the goat barn to see if she may have settled in with the goats. Minx was not there. The feeling became worse. A hike through the fields found no sheep. I decided to check the creek first and then the woods. I followed the mostly dry creek bed to the pond and found Minx lying in 2 to 8 inches of water with her head submerged. She was gone. It was such a sad ending to what had been such a happy day. I am amazed as to how attached one can become to an animal that was with us for such a short time. Minx will be missed. We ended May and entered June waiting to pick our new black ewe from Simon and Fran Cudworth of Periwinkle Farm in Powell River. We had planned to pickup our new lamb on Sunday the 12th, but due to the unseasonable hot spell on the Coast, which saw temperatures soar into the low 30`s, we postponed and had to wait for temperatures to fall. We drove to Powell River on June 16th taking the ferry from Comox with our friends, Colleen and Trevor. We had a nice lunch and then drove around the area seeing the sights from Lund to Saltery Bay. We met Simon and Fran after work and were introduced to ``Periwinkle Minx``. We had a short visit and completed the transaction. Then``Periwinkle Minx`` was loaded into the back of the truck for an uneventful trip home. We arrived home late so she was placed in the barn in a separate stall overnight. She was turned out in the morning with the rest of the sheep and was fully accepted by the flock. She seemed to hit it off especially well with ``Wee Willie``. The goats seemed a little more leery and kept their distance for a short well. Her black colour seemed to confuse them, especially our black goat . Wee Willie, our first lamb to be born at FurryCreek Farm, was sold on June 3rd making it necessary to establish whom the father is, in order to register him. Hair samples were taken from Wee Willie and from our rams, Frodo and Bilbo. These samples were duly packaged with the forms and declarations and express posted to Davis University in California. Again we waited to find out the results. On the 21st June we received the Genetic Marker Report for all three rams, each containing the type for 15 LOCUS, but no parentage report. I immediately called the University Genetics Lab and learned there had been some confusion with the order, but if I would wait, they would review their tests and send me a parentage report. It was a short wait, as they had the report to me the same afternoon. Oh ya, did you want to know who the father is, Bilbo. I guess that is why he is a black sheep! The other huge wait has involved Tilly our beloved Aussie. On May 5th, she was breed to ``Can/Am GRCH Kiji Kiss Me I`m Blue`` better known as Booker. Lynn Rogers is the owner of this gorgeous 4 year old duel Grand Champion Blue Merle Male. For Tilly it was a true love match and I am truly grateful to Lynn for facilitating this breeding. I am tired of waiting, Marva is tired of waiting, but most of all Tilly is tired of waiting, but all we can do is wait. The puppies are due from today onward and we are as ready as we are going to be. Whelping kit is out and ready. The whelping box is built and in place. It is said patience is a virtue, so I am beginning to believe this summer is making me into a Virtuous Man.
It is spring and the sheep need a hair stylus, manicurists and generally a day to shed the old out of date styles, to start a new style for summer. An email to Garrett's Shearing Service and a date was set for the end of April. The day before, Garrett called and to confirm the sheep were in the barn and dry. Bad news, they do not shear wet sheep and my sheep were all wet from one of the only rainy spells in weeks. New date would have to be set sometime in future. The requirement to keep the sheep dry when it is raining meant that it was time to build lambing jugs (Stalls). I needed to secure the rams and ewes together, but apart and still to have room for shearing. The pens were built and Garrett was able to fit me in on May 30th. The sheep seem to like their pens and the ewes sleep in them and often go in during the day to chew their cud. They do not like to be shut in all day, as they were on May 28th as it rained on and off all day. The 29th was a matter of put them in when the clouds got dark and let them out when they lightened up. The morning of May 30th found the sheep locked in the barn dry and fasting. The shearer confirmed that he would be here at 12:30 pm and all was ready.
Garrett arrived right on time, setup in the barn and the five sheep were sheared, hooves trimmed and he was packed up driving out the driveway in exactly one hour. It was our baby ram who was the most upset through this process and he was the only one not done. It appears that he did not recognize his newly trimmed mother at first. Our two Rams also did not know each other and had to go through a short process of re-establishing who was who. All in all it was a pretty good day with everyone checking out each other's new hair style and expressing their pleasure or displeasure with the outcome. |
AuthorDON SMITH CategoriesArchives
March 2021
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