getting started

Greetings from HOT!! sunny North Carolina. This is just to keep those interested up to date on the happenings of our little ghetto farm. We [me (TeAnna), Tim (super hunky boyfriend), four cats, ten ducks, two goats, one beehive, and a rabbit] live on 3.79 acres, five minutes east of downtown Durham. It sounds like a lot of land, but given that one acre is a pond and the rest woods, eh... we're working with it. We moved in last November, back when we were Tim, me, three cats and a philodendron, so to say this project is in the early stages is being kind. Zygotic.

We loved the place through the winter: planning, ordering seeds, reading Gaia's Garden, ordering ducks, planning some more. Then spring came and I think we both got a little soft in the head. Suddenly there were turltes and geese laying eggs by OUR POND! There were wildflowers and mullberries everywhere, honestly though, it was the fawn that did it. Tim's walking around, already lovin' life when WHAM! fricken bambi was stashed on the path in front of him. BAMBI. have you ever seen a fawn up close? If you have, then you KNOW. If not, I'm sorry, there is nothing I can tell you. BAMBI. Suddenly it didn't feel so much like OUR pond or property, it felt like a forest. Here, surrounded by strip malls, tortillarias and used car dealerships is a forest. The place was nearly developed into townhouses and the thought of eveything being razed...uhg.

Summer is now upon us and our love affair with this place has matured with the plants and animals around us. I'm still making new discoveries like: poison ivy is not fun, fluffy little goslings become great pooping, hissing, duck food stealing jerks, and there are ticks on my cats and ants in my kitchen and the hogna carolinensis is the largest spider in North America.
But, then again.. love is love.

We (try very hard) to grow heirloom fruit and vegitables, yes organically, but I'm just saddened by that concept. Why does doing things the way countless generations have give you bragging rights? And why does frankendeath agraculture get the word "conventional"? What is conventional about tomatoes with fish genes!?! Really people, we need to take conventional back and find Monsanto another word. Oohhh, I have a good one and a place for them to put it too! But, how about "stupid"? Then there would be ads like "Kroger has organic onions and stupid apples on sale now!" Ahhh... When we rule the world (and plans are being made) there will be sanity.

Oddly enough, with all these beautiful trees comes A LOT of shade, so we're taking our time with the garden and observing things before we do anything drastic. Tim did get a chainsaw (thanks mom!) for his birthday, we're taking out just a few trees and for a reason. The standard for development here makes me crazy. It goes: rip out mature trees, level, build (wood shipped in), plant tiny anemic trees. So lazy. We're going to use the wood for some of our remodeling projects, it will be interesting to see the shelf and remember the tree.

In animal news:
NEW GOATS! We are picking up Daisy and her baby Carley tonight. I'm telling you, this can't happen a moment too soon. Two goats does not a herd make! Gypsy and Juno need new blood, another personality (not me) to balance daily life.... Daisy is "in milk" but she's never actually been milked, which is funny because I've never actually milked. We already have something in common! Does anyone else hear that? Oh, I think it's just me swearing so loudly I can be heard through space and time... funny how the really nasty expletives do that.

Also, I have a rabbit. She was to be the main momma of our meat rabbitry, then we found an umbilical hernia, a hereditary condition meaning no babbies for this bunny. Now, of course the only logical thing to do is turn her into meat, right? Yeah, uh huh. That night, a few glasses of wine later, Tim, being the genius that he is, brought up the point that this could be seen as an OPPORTUNITY to observe an umbilical hernia in rabbits. If in the .03% chance we come across said condition again we'll know what to expect, this may be our only hope of expertise! How this absolute truth wasn't obvious from the beginning, I'll never know. Thank jebus Tim was there to help me see the light. So, while she thinks she is just feasting on lambsquarters or tormenting Mongo kitty, really.... she's being OBSERVED...

We're still waiting for our first duck egg... anytime now would be fine.

I can't get spell check to work on the mac, so just remember that standardized spelling is a passing trend anyway.

Stay cool!