Fresh Snow is Revealing....

Fresh trail, just after chasing the weasel out of the barn!

We've had a nice, fresh layer of snow over night, probably about 5 - 6 cm or a couple of inches.  Everything looks so clean and pristine!  It's covered the bit of a mess we made cleaning the chicken coop, covered all the little places the doggies have lifted a leg.  The fresh snow has also revealed a few new things: tracks around the chicken coop and off over to the barn!

The tracks are not my dogs, not barn cats and not the neighbors' big dogs.  It's more of a little tunnel through the top layer of the snow - with a deeper impression every two feet or so.  Like some little critter was jumping from place to place but not getting high enough to actually clear the snow.  Seeing these odd tracks, I did not open the chickens' hatch, even though the temperature has risen to quite an acceptable -12 C (about 8 F) over night.  Finished with morning chores in the chicken coop, I headed into the barn to give the goats their morning grain ration, re-fill waters and feed the barn cats.  I heard an odd squeaky 'meow' from beside the big sliding door, behind some equipment.  I went over, thinking perhaps a barn kitty was hurt or stuck.  I moved a feed bag, which was on top of the grinder and out from behind the welder popped a little brown head with bright, brown eyes.  It looked very much like a ferret a friend owns.

I'm not much of a screamer, thankfully.  I actually calmly said 'hello' to the little weasel.  Then I reached over and opened the sliding door a ways with my right hand, reached for a nearby broom with my left hand and started whacked the welder.  The little critter leaped out the door and streaked along the side of the barn, disappearing around the north corner of the barn.  The tracks went under the shed that sits on the north side of the barn.  So, Farmer Man definitely called it: a weasel is our predator!  A very strong, musky odor remains behind the welder - I didn't realize weasels had such a forceful fragrance!  So, a trap is absolutely in our future; in the meantime I probably won't be able to help myself and I'll be trekking through the snow to the barn every half hour or so today doing guard duty!  I've got to think twice about letting the dogs come with me when I go because, in my reading, weasels can be vicious fighters especially when cornered!  I certainly don't want one tangling with Blaze or Grizzly Bear - my usual companions!

Winter Chores!

Farmer Man shovelling the....

What a difference a couple of days makes!  Sunday: temperature close to the freezing mark - quite balmy for February in Manitoba.  Two days later we wake up to -30 Celsius with a windchill of -38 C! Good thing we got some chores done!

Number one priority for us was cleaning the chicken coop.  Not a wash down/scrub down kind of clean; it's still way too cold to be using water that would freeze too quickly.  It was time for hauling out the existing bedding and refreshing it with new.  We'd been waiting for a warm enough day when we were both around - not an easy thing to co-ordinate with Farmer Man working off the farm!  We'd tried a 'deep litter' method whereas you don't haul out the bedding, you top it up.  Theory is that the mix of bedding and manure composts in place, providing some warmth.  We've decided it's not our favorite method; the depth built up quickly and it was kind of slippery.  Plus, the chickens' feet seemed dirtier all the time so the eggs were dirtier!

Watching the weather forecast we knew Sunday would be the day!  High forecast to be around the freezing mark and both of us free.  The endeavor starts with kicking the chickens out of the coop - one of the reasons we want a nice day.  With their hatch open and a number of them already outside, we lured the rest out by throwing scratch grains out in the pasture.  The flurry of activity from the outside chickens always draws the others out - if there is even a rumour of tasty treats, chickens hustle over to see what's going on!  Once they chickens were largely all out, the open door to the coop covers the hatch so no one can get back inside.  A few hens didn't make it out and Rocky the Rooster chose to stay with them, so we had to work around a few bodies!

The litter was, particularly under the roosts, about a foot deep.  We use mostly wood chips for litter, with some straw/hay mixed in because that's largely what we use in the nests and it gets kicked around. With the deep litter method, when the chips are quite soiled with manure, you put another layer of wood chips on top.  The result was something in weird, dense, plastic layers.  It was heavy and didn't break up easily: once you got a shovel under it, when you lifted, it bent rather than breaking.  It was hard work and it took three tractor buckets to clean it out!  It didn't smell all that bad, fortunately.  A quick sweep and we put down another couple of bales of wood chips and everything smells better and looks better!

A few more things got done as well.  Snow has been pushed off the roof of the house, the path up to the barn and the chicken coop has been cleared, the barn got a good sweep.  It's not exactly Spring cleaning, but it's a start! 

Where'd The Soil Go?

A Spring storm, forecasting up to 10 cm of snow (about 4 inches).  It is heavy, sticky stuff and should melt quite quickly.  But the enthusiasm of finding bare soil yesterday has been, well, quenched.  And have we got some messy Bears!

I See Soil!

It's true - Spring is coming.  In the last few days, we've gotten just a wee bit above the freezing mark!  We're starting to see results.  Top photo is last this afternoon, bottom photo is yesterday morning.  Look how much that patch of soil has grown - very encouraging!  The photos are of the walkway up to the barn and, beyond that, the chicken coop.  It's a gravel walkway, which makes it impossible to use a snow blower and hard to even shovel.  We tend to just trek out after a snowfall, and the pathway slowly becomes packed down.  A slow melt would be best for us here in Manitoba, considering our flood forecast.  But it's been such a long, long winter.  Everyone around here just wants the snow gone, we want our bare feet in sandals and we want to sit outside and feel the sun on some part of our bodies other than our faces!  However, the forecast tonight:  a mix of freezing rain and snow!

Ah, Spring On The Prairies!

Well, we didn't get the big dump of snow that was forecast, at least not here in Brandon. We got 4-5 cm ( a couple of inches, maybe) of slushy, wet stuff. What we did get today was high winds, causing extreme drifts along the country road to our house. A knock on the door sent Farmer Man out to help some people stuck not far from the house. Good neighbour Mr. Robson, Babes' owner, stopped to help on his way home. The ironic part of this whole adventure is that the people were on their way out to see us about renting a garden plot this summer.

It's Dangerous Out There!

This time of year is very hard for Manitoba gardeners who like to surf the Web. Bloggers almost everywhere but here are enjoying the first signs of Spring; they're posting awesome pictures of snowdrops and tulips coming up, buds swelling, birds returning. Here in Manitoba, on March 21st, we have a weather warning: the forecast calls for a storm that could dump more than 15 cm (about a foot!) of snow over the next 48 hours. Oh, good! It's already weird here, we've had a little nice weather, then more snow. It's melted, gotten icy, then gotten more snow on top of the ice. The picture is our barn, the door and window on the left are in Farmer Man's shop, the door on the right leads to our little greenhouse. Looming overhead: the snow and ice slowly creeping down the roof. One good slam of the door and one of us, or a little Bear, could be buried. It's not cold, at least. Well, still below freezing, but not by much, which is nice by Manitoba standards. The only things greening up around here are the seedlings in our sun room!

First Snow!

We've been away for a wee bit, and returned home last night to the first snow of the season! The drive from the Winnipeg Airport home to Brandon seemed to get more, ummmm, interesting with every passing mile. What started as a few wet flakes turned into a bit of a blowing, snowing mess! Now, this isn't an unusual time for the first snow; I'm not sure statistically when we get it but folks around here always think it's a good thing if it's not snowy for Halloween. Because we've been away, there are still a few things undone - like carrots and beets still in the field. They need to come out and go into proper storage before it freezes solid and there's three feet of snow covering them. Fortunately, the forecast looks pretty good the next few days and this snow should melt away and we'll have a window of three or four days to dig them! Everything else is pretty much done - except getting the pigs off to 'Disneyland', as blogger Bill Stearman would say over at 'Word...from Willow Gardens'. That's a chore that will probably be accomplished next week.

Awesome Neighbours!

It's especially awesome to have good neighbours with snow plows on their trucks who just show up unannounced to clean your road. If you check the previous post, I had started to shovel out last night's snow fall. I managed to dig out about two ten foot strips from the driveway and then decided to go have my second cup of coffee. I'd get back to it a little later (really, I would have!).

The dogs start kicking up a bit of a ruckus a short time later, and when I peek outside Neil has the driveway and the road almost finished. Unbelievably awesome!! He wouldn't take any money, of course, so I laid some fresh eggs and a little of our homegrown Berkshire Pork on him - but I think I got the better part of the deal!

Snow Day!

Woke up this morning to a fresh covering of snow - everything looks beautiful, clean and fresh! Officially we've had 6.2 cm (almost 3 inches) of new snow. Now, it's February and really, snow is not unexpected, but I could live without more. However, I realize that all the snow that sits out here now becomes the water in the irrigation dugout in the spring, so I really should be happy! Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow....First problem: it was also windy, so in some places the snow has blown in over a foot deep. Second problem: Farmer Man is still away, so shovelling is my duty. Blaze and The Three Bears are enjoying it! My kitchen floor: a wet, muddy mess!

Chickens in the Snow

It's chilly - but The Girls and Rocky decided to take a little stroll in the snow, anyway. We've got to be careful about letting them out in colder weather - they may go even though it may not be good for them. They can freeze combs, wattles and toes as well as have respiratory problems. However, I needed to get into their little coop to clean and collect eggs and refresh water. I don't think they will be staying out long!

Is Winter Here to Stay?

For the first day of December we got a good blanket of snow. It's actually a little late for us this year (we're not counting the freak snow earlier this fall!) But everything is clean and white, very pretty! Driving is a little hazardous but our truck has four wheel drive, so we're okay. Plus, Farmer Man grew up around here - he's very comfortable driving in snow and snow storms! This is the day we know the gardens are finally put to bed for the winter. It's a little funny catching up on my blog reading this morning: at Green Frieda she's planting her winter garden of lettuce, radish and other goodies! When we start seeds, after Christmas, we usually start a flat of lettuce for our own use. May have to start that flat early this year!

An Early Winter Storm

Usually, in Manitoba, the question is: 'Will it snow for Halloween, or not?'. This year, we had an unusual storm for Thanksgiving; night time temperatures dipped to -8 C (about 16 F), and we received a couple of inches of snow. We knew some bad weather was coming and harvested everything we could, packing the garage with winter squash, boxes of tomatoes and crates of peppers. What is left in the field is gone, done, dead. The picture is of the spaghetti squash field, many left in the field. Had the temperature stayed closer to 0 C, most of the winter squash and pumpkins would have been fine. But, it was cold enough to damage them and make them unsaleable. Now, if Farmer Boy stopped and thought about it, he could get pretty depressed about thousands of dollars of product left in the field. But what Farmer Boy sees is pig food! It's just a matter of getting the tractor out there, loading it up and then off to see the pigs! And with the weather returning to normal October temperatures and the snow melting, it's a rather enjoyable task!

Ah, Country Life!

It's evenings like this that make us stop to count our blessings. Such a beautiful day Sunday, and a gorgeous fall evening. We took the dogs for a walk before dark, and saw this beautiful scene from the front of the house. Love seeing the neighbour's horses; they were having a little run yesterday.

It's been a tough week. I had to go to Alberta on some family business, and Farmer Boy was suppose to come and enjoy Thanksgiving with my sisters. But, unusually early cold temperatures and snow meant Farmer Boy had to stay home alone. The freaky cold froze the water lines to the animals. Now, it's one thing to ask the neighbour to pop over to open the coop and dump some feed into the pigs and the chickens, but it is a little much to ask him to haul water three or four times a day. So, Farmer Boy stayed and worked. No turkey for him! Sunday's fine weather meant that the snow disappeared and we're back to looking like fall in Manitoba.