The Zen Of Winter On Little Utah Farm

Winter on Little Utah Farm photo by Deborah Moen

WHOOSH!

 It was the second week of December. As the door opens a blast of vaporous swirls came licking into the kitchen. Paul, my husband, was leaving for work. the temperature was -20 degree temperatures. He hunched his shoulders ducking his head deeper into his jacket then reached back to close the door.

There was a moment of silence that followed. His truck lights hit the front windows then disappeared. I could hear the crunching of ice fade as he rounded the corner and drove towards the main road.

I remembered back when we were first dating. I used to watch his tail lights going down the road when he left. That memory always uplifts me.



My thoughts turned to baking cookies. It was baking day ! Paul and my grandson love my homemade chocolate chip cookies and the oven would keep the kitchen nice and warm. I began getting out the flour and the brown sugar, the 3 Pyrex measuring cups, the wooden spoons and mixing bowls. I turned on the oven.

Soon I would be going out into the freezing winter temps and onto the icy paths to feed the llamas and the hens. How they handle these conditions was not for me to know. I laid awake at nights before falling asleep feeling guilty for my nice warm bed. But I got to thinking, Nature has that figured out. For all I know they enjoy it rather than the heat of summer.


We have built the llamas a 3 sided shelter and provided heaters in the water trough and infrared heating lamps for the ducks and hens in the coop. The llama corral is filled with gravel and sand to keep it dry.

I made Arapaho's winter blanket.

In our first year here, Arapaho, our Suri coat llama, (shown above) shivered in the cold. His fiber was thinner than the others and hung down in loose twisted ropes or twine like Rasta braids. Shivering warms a body they tell me but I ended up making him a blanket anyway.

I also made Little Luna a coat for winter. 

The llamas have adjusted to the weather. Not a one of them shivers.. Even Luna Llena (pronouned yena) our surprise Harvest Moon baby ( 1 year and 5 months of age) does fine in the cold. Her first winter we made her a coat also.

In my day dreams I imagine an adjoining barn where I could peek through the kitchen window and see the llamas all lazing about inside earthing ( soaking up the goodness of the earth) on the dirt floor or munching in a big standing bin of premium hay. My hens are roosting on tops of the stalls or pecking though fresh straw for some scratch I laid the night before like the tooth fairy.


B-E-E-P ! The oven was preheated at 375 degrees. It was time to mix the brown and white sugar, crack the eggs and put in the vanilla. I love mushing that all that together. I take down the flour add some baking soda and salt. Mixing in those dry ingredients is not as easy and then comes the chocolate chips. The heavy wooden spoon does the job real good. I scrape it all into a container and snap down the lid for chilling in the fridge while I go out to feed the llamas and hens.


I put the mixing bowl into the sink and turn on the hot water to soak. I promised to only lick the zucchini bread batter and leave all the others alone, well, maybe sometimes I lick the brownie batter bowl also. It is fun for me and tastes so good.



On goes my shirt, my sweater, my coat, my shoes, my scarf  to cover my face. Thank goodness for gloves, the warm insulated kind. Once I am out the door and begin walking towards the shed, I am acclimated. I keep a swift gate and a happy face and smile at my loved ones who live outdoors. They really seem well and good in this cold. I feel satisfied watching them eat. Early in winter, after the first snows, I shovel a snowy labyrinth ( linking paths) in the pasture. I shovel and scrape open connecting feed stations and lay the hay in each one. It is still thrilling for me to open the gate and see them run through the white glistening snow along all the connecting paths and find their hay.

I figured out the best thing to say as I leave the freezing cold and go back into my warm home is... I live in the country, my dream has come true.



I realize, winter is a time to chill out, I mean, to slow down, relax, get more rest, organize recipes and photographs, bake cookies and breads, watch some funny movies, write more stories and letters, meditate and hibernate, like the roots of the grasses and trees.


 Winter may seem like a never ending cycle but really it is the perfect length of time. Winter is just long enough to miss and appreciate the green grass and the balmy breezes and the sounds of crickets in the night.


Thank you for visiting Little Utah Farm ( 18,516 page views)

Deborah Moen
of Little Utah Farm

Read my story about my gloves : A Farmgirl's Gloves

Here is our Vintage Tractor Collection which comes on mugs, pillows, cards, magnets, throw blankets, and more.We have Farmall, John Deere, Allis Chalmers, Ferguson, Ford Vintage Tractors.

Vintage Tractor Collection from Little Utah Farm Store

The Hens Get Winter Care

It snowed last night, a light dusting of Utah powder, glistened under the porch light as I opened the door to let the dogs out in the wee morning hours.  

 

In the morning when I feed, I love how the ice crystals , the hoar frost, glistens like bright silver stars on each branch and twig. The cold can be a wonderland if ice and steaming breath coming from the nostrils of the llamas. The air is crisp and invigorating provided you are dressed right. There are no wet puddles at this time, just frozen water and crystals. Lot's of crunch underfoot.

There is much attention to the well-being of our fur and feathered friends. Even the wild birds get their water renewed and new seed to eat. We look for steady bodies, clear bright eyes, a good appetite. during feeding, each dear family member is greeted with a smile and a blessing. Anything that needs tending to is done.

Florence has a large comb. We spotted some black spots on the tips. www.facebook.com/littleutahfarm

I saw that a few of the long combed hens had a slight touch of frost bite which blackens the tissue on the tips. After dinner I tippy-toed out to the coop where all 9 girls were nestled side by side on the roosts. I stepped into their sleeping den and passed the flow of infrared red waves from the lamp hanging just so, in the far corner.

It was cozy in there and I always breathe a sigh a relief* knowing they are safe and comfy. They look so big with their down and feathers fluffed to keep them warm. I took out my trusty tube of Vaseline out of my pocket and laid it on the north wall on the shelf.

 Florence was close by and I took her, gently wrapping my hands around her wings and body. She didn't seem to mind. Then I applied a bit of Vaseline to her red comb and wattles. She shook her little head a bit and that was that. I am sure it felt good to her. 

May our black Jersey giant has a large comb that flops over like a ladies hat. www.facebook.com/littleutahfarm

 I searched the line of roosting hens and saw that May was next. Her and Florence have the longest combs. By this time the hens were murmuring to each other. I leaned over and picked up May from the top roost and brought her down. She is our black Jersey giant. Her large powerful wings flapped against my face and I set her down on the shelf and brought her close to my chest and secured the other wing gently against her body with my hand. We both took a deep breath then I began to apply the Vaseline to her comb. I loved the texture of the combs and how pretty they looked with their treatment under the infrared lamps. Their heads are so tiny and to think that God desired a red rubbery comb to jut out right on the center top is an wonder to ponder. 

The hens bodies are full and soft yet you can feel some dominant 
 bones like the breast bone. I set her back on the shelf so she could find her way back to her roost. "Good night, sweeties" I cooed. I made my way past bun bun's rabbitat then ducked under the sharp long icicles at the doorway. The door shut and I latched it.

The white fields of snow crunched underfoot as I walked back to my warm house. I dreamed of an attached barn like a Noah's Ark filled with animals and connected to our home where I could feed them all in my leggings and socks and there is a large solar window to let the sun shine in and on and on the dream goes.

I am smiling as I walk up the back porch and off goes the light.

All is well on Little Utah Farm.

Thank you for visiting Little Utah Farm (9,471 page views)

Wishing you and yours a happy New Year 2016,

Until next time here is a quote:

Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

Deborah Moon Moen of Little Utah Farm

 

Chickens and Deep Snow

 

The snow reached a higher volume than my hens could handle. We had shoveled paths but the walls of the path were much too high to see over. Naomi one of my Giant Jerseys, flew into the white abyss and landed in a foot of soft Utah powder. She was stuck and looked all around for an escape route. But the white snow overwhelmed her and she stood still. 





Here is Naomi strutting through the snow when it was only 2". She is now on a greeting card to wish someone a Happy New Year. Click on the image to see this card.

Happy New Year Hen Greeting Card by LittleUtahFarm
See more Chicken Cards at zazzle.com

 

 

 I picked her up and her little body was cold and shivering. I warmed her and placed her back in the coop and closed the door. . The solution to this was to keep them inside their coop.

 My hens are tough and do enjoy tromping around in the snow. They cackle and whine a bit inside the coop, especially Winona. She sounds like a little girl with pigtails, saying Why ? Why can't we go outside?

Little Utah Farm has a hard working Kabota tractor. www.littleutahfarm.blogspot.com

Husband Paul made our winter wonderland a bit more animal friendly with his Kabota tractor. He shaved the snow down to 4 inches where the hens and dogs play in an enclosed back yard.. It is so much better.

 

We have a magical winter wonderland around us as far as the eyes can see so this does not diminish our beauty one bit. He did such a great job. So much easier to feed and care for our flock and herd and dogs. We let the hens out and they are laying outdoor in the sunroom on their sides, wing extended, leg out, soaking up the sun.
 

 

Thank you for visiting Little Utah Farm (page views 9354)

Until next time

Wishing you a Merry Christmas
touched with wonder
and filled with love

 

Deborah Moen of Little Utah Farm
Farm-girl, Nature Lover, Photographer, Writer

 

PS

 

We have a Little Utah Farm Store on Zazzle and a Facebook page.

 

Greeting Cards and Express shipping are both 50% off till Sunday December 20, 2015 Zazzle always has a sale going on.

We have a winter Holiday Category on Little Utah Farm Store. Here is Starbuck our llamas peeking out of the shelter on a winter wonderland morning.

 

Llama In The Snow Happy Holidays Greeting Card by LittleUtahFarm
Make custom notecards at zazzle.com

Challenge In The Llama Corral

Lakota Little Brother of Little Utah Farm one of our llamas
This is Lund, Utah. Photography and art design by DeborahMoen©
www.littleutahfarm.blogspot.com
www/facebook.com/littleutahfarm

Lakota Little Brother is one of my llamas. He got a large branch wound up in his fiber. 

Llamas love to nibble and strip the bark of Elm branches. On this day my neighbor and I fed them several branches she had just sawed off her tree. 

 Hours later I fed the llamas their dinner inside the shelter and nearby the sky was blackening again with lightening and thunder. I noticed a branch trailing under Lakota and onto the ground and out between his back legs. My eyes followed the branch upwards beyond his shoulders almost all the way to his head. As he moved the branch stayed in place and I knew it was tangled in his fiber.

For a moment I watched him and tried to see where it was hooked or if it fell free as he moved. It was bound up tightly with his fiber. I felt the rain drops begin to fall. I felt alone for a moment then I remembered to take it one step at a time. 

 I reached out and pulled a bit on the upper part of the branch and it was steadfast, wrapped around an 8" length of 5" long of both the stiff outer coat and the soft undercoat or down . The limbs of the tree had been nibbled down making it a snare like many little crochet hooks. I wished I had my husband to help me or a friend that could help me. That was not possible at that moment. 

I ran to get the big branch clippers and some scissors and the halter. I had not haltered him in a long while and usually brought him into a sort of chute called a catch pen to make it easier. I came back with the clippers and some sharp scissors. I remembered to use my focus and mindfulness to communicate with him and also breathed to remain calm. I focused on Lakota's rear end to move him out of the shelter away from the others. I felt this ease as he moved out without having to trip over the branch. I also knew he was willing to communicate. We remained silently in sound and connected through mind.

I walked towards him and he walked on and I stopped and focused. on the thought, “We must get this done now.” He knew it too because he stopped at that moment.

 I got the halter into position. He remained calm and still. ( Llamas are not fond of having their heads touched but Lakota has been trained to be haltered and I drew on that image to complete the task). He continued to hold his head and body still as I slipped on the black halter with the purple lead rope attached. I buckled the strap behind his ears and we were good to go.

 I lead him slowly to the corral panel to tie him up with a release knot. Gracefully we worked as a team. His big black eyes knowingly looked down on me with confidence. No other llama I have met has this unique piercing gaze. It can signal get away or it can show he trusts you. 

I made some cuts in the tightly bound hairs and used the big old branch lopper to cut the upper part of the branch. Not one stir did he make as I severed it.  I began to pull the twisted bunched up hairs, a small clump at a time, away from the branch. Little by little we released enough for me to cut through with the scissors and the stick gently fell away between his legs and Lakota remained still. The whole experience was surreal like time stood still. 

In the moments to follow I savored taking off the halter with not a move of his head and feeling it slip gently off his nose. Lakota was free yet he remained standing. "Go, you are free" I said softly.  He turned and went back to his hay, undisturbed and calm.

Here is the branch that got stuck in Lakota's fiber.
www.littleutahfarm.blogspot.com
www.facebook.com/littleuathfarm

The storm had arrived and rain fell. Like so many times before I walked between the big drops to the hen coop and checked on bun bun ( my rabbit). I called the girls (hens) in to have some scratch while it rained.

I now have hope that I will indeed walk the llamas soon. That working with them everyday has changed our relationship and brought us closer. 

DeborahMoonMoen
of Little Utah Farm

Thank you for visiting Little Utah Farm

 ( 8,301 page views )

Until next time 

Believe in your dreams,

Deborah Moen of Little Utah Farm

                                                                             

Moist Zuchinni Bread Recipe

Moist on the inside, a nice crunch on the outside, this recipe is my favorite when it comes to making zucchini bread. My husband loves it in his lunch at work. It is also good with your tea in the morning and in the afternoon and for dessert after dinner or really anytime you want to enjoy a sweet and delicious treat. I use a wooden spoon to mash and mix the ingredients all together.

Moist Zucchini Loaf right out of the oven at Little Utah Farm.

MOIST ZUCCHINI BREAD

Recipe makes 2 8X4 Loaves
You can put this batter into one large loaf pan and bake it longer.
Turn on the oven to 325 degrees
bake 40-60 minutes
To begin
Grease and flour 2 8x4 loaf pans

RECIPE

Sift into a bowl and set aside

3 cups of white flour
1 tsp of salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp of baking powder
3 tsp of cinnamon

Mix well together in separate bowl

3 eggs
1 cup of vegetable oil
2 1/4 cups of white sugar
3 tsp of pure vanilla



 Add flour mixture into egg mixture and mix well

The mixture can be thick so do the best you can. I use a wooden spoon to mash it all together.

Add and Mix In

2 cups of shredded zucchini
1 cup of chopped pecans or grated carrots (optional)


Pour mixture into 2 greased and floured 8x4 loaf pans

Bake at 325 for 40-60 minutes.
Begin checking for doness at 40 minutes.

Important: Check to see if it is done by sticking a clean sharp knife down into the center.

If it comes out clean its done and ready to take out of the oven.

Let the bread sit for 5 minutes then loosen the sides and remove from pan. Let cool completely, wrap in plastic and store in fridge. Good alone or with cream cheese, butter, or peanut butter.

Enjoy!


Thank you for visiting Little Utah Farm

Until next time,
Believe in your dreams!

Weeds and Bare Root Willows

In the summer of 2007 when we arrived in Utah, our land was barren, a diamond in the rough. We pulled all the wild thorny tumbleweeds and discovered muscles and joints we didn't know we had. 


 Weeds and bare Root Willows
 www.LittleUtahFarm.blogspot.com

When the cooler days of autumn came, we decided to go out and clear the pasture out back. Having a tractor would have been wonderful. It was on our bucket list for sometime in the future. For now we entertained the idea of hiring out someone to plow a 1/2 acre. We called a man who had a tractor but it would have cost $700 to clear the whole thing. $100 dollars an hour.

We decided to DIY. We grabbed our shovels and set to pulling the big old grey and boney tumbleweeds and cleared the debris that the former owners left behind. Funny, we discovered when we pulled on the weeds we nearly tumbled backwards as the roots had let go of the soil. The tumble weeds just lifted out easy with the tip of the hoe or a scuff sideways with our boot.

We had a good laugh after that. To think of all the work we did on those fresh young weeds back in spring along the pasture road. They had quite a hold into the ground and you got to get it all or they will grow back. There were many such lessons when we first arrived here on Little Utah Farm.



Bare Root Purchases For Beginners

 Have you ever had that planting fever in spring where you want to order everything in the catalogue?

 It is like going shopping when you are hungry. In late winter of 2010 I had this happen to me. The pictures show blooms with beautiful bright colors and the prices are cut in half for the big sales in the mail order Burgess' Seed Catalogue.

 I had ordered a dozen Hybrid Willow plants for a wind barrier behind the llama shed.  I was in quite a hurry to get it going so I selected those fast growing wonders. We also ordered some 6 Poplars Screen Hybrids to go in  front of the garden fence.

As I placed my order, I felt my heart racing with enthusiasm. Dreams of lovely lush green trees passed through me day and night. I envisioned the 3' to 4' plantings and played reruns of it till the day they arrived.

I recall, with a little snicker* the feeling of receiving 40 some shrubs and trees that I ordered from Burgess Seed Catalogue. The bare roots came inside a plastic green bag. All of them. I remember the day they came like it was yesterday. I got a knock at my door  and saw that the post lady was parked out on the graded road.


My hands rubbed together in anticipation as our postwoman opened the back door of her mail truck and brought out a large green sack. "What? Well hmm." I thought , "That sack is probably just the bulbs and small perennials I ordered". She sat the sack down with her one hand and gave me a friendly smile and waved with the other to bid me good day. "Wait, isn't there more?" I asked. "That is all." she replied. As she hurried back down the driveway, my heart sunk into my solar plexus.

 I shook off my disappointment and  ripped open the stapled bag. The smell of glorious earth came fuming up into my nostrils. It was love at first sight as I gazed over the little bare roots of my future trees and shrubs. While gently placing the skinny red- brown roots into a bucket of tepid water, I wondered how long it would take before they would grow into trees. I soaked the roots overnight.


Digging Yourself A Hole In Clay

 

 By the way has any of you ever dug in to the hard pan layers of clay?

The shovel may go in as far as the tip and then you hit what feels like rock. This is the hard pan of clay. Little by little it does chip away with the shovel.  I came to a softer layer half way down, from an ancient alluvial fan, and that made the last half of digging the hole a breeze.

20 holes later....

I successfully planted 20 trees and shrubs. I got the routine down.

Only 20 more holes to go...


How to plant bare root willows in clay:

My holes were 2 feet deep and 1 1/2 feet in diameter. Usually you make the hole twice the diameter of the root ball but I had heard stories of the hard clay stopping the roots and trees dying out of the blue, so I made the holes bigger than the spindly roots.  For the hybrid willow wind brake,  I placed the holes 31/2 feet apart.  

1. dig your hole as much as you can ( it may not be all the way yet) if it is not hard just skip steps 2-4
2.  fill with water to the rim.
3. wait 30 minutes or until the water has soaked in you may dance around the plant for optimum fertility
4.  continue digging your hole ( it will be softer now)
5. mound 1 part soft rich earth mixed with 1 part of manure in the center of the hole
6. lift the tender bare roots out of the water while thinking encouraging thoughts
7. gently untangle the roots and spread them over the mound gently, set her down, then breathe
8. put some of the soil mix on top of the roots, filling the hole half way and tamp the soil down gently to remove any air bubbles. I added some water at this point.
9. fill the rest of the hole with soil tamp down a bit then water really good
10. nurture your plantings like they were your children. Water them regularly especially in dry hot weather. You can mulch them also just not too close to the stem.


The catalogue book was right.

The little branches I took out of the green plastic bag did grow really fast just like the catalogue said they would. they grew 4 feet the first season. Now look at them !

My magnificent graceful willows after 3 years. They are about 15 feet! They are just about to bud into beautiful slender leaves. I watered them faithfully, admired them from afar and every time I feed the llamas.  I stayed in faith during the many woe be gone stories and warnings of my neighbors. " Oh my trees never made it, they died,"  they said. Their efforts or lack there of, produced nothing but dead wood. My story was going to be different. These plants would grow big and strong and provide shade and glorious green in the summer. And they did.

Looking up the willows. Hybrid willows planted from bare root. 3years old.
www.littleutahfarm.blogspot.com

Just wait till they are all leafed out. These are amazon sized willows, are happy as can be. The catalogue says they will reach 60 feet tall. They provide shade, protection, yummy snacks for the llamas and satisfying songs in the breeze.


EPILOGUE

It is almost spring 2014. It has been 4 years since my trees and willows were planted. These hearty plants and trees have given us such joy and greenery and shade. The Siberian Elm that grow here in Utah like weeds have rooted in some bare spots and really filled in some of the bare spots quite nicely. Our willows are now flowering after the cold harsh winter, and the bees will come shortly as it warms up.







The willows are gigantic and tower way above the wind harps ( telephone lines). The hybrid poplars tower way above us as well. We are so excited to see them leaf out this year. These memories bring me so much joy and laughter. I ain't done yet. I am still learning and discovering on Little Utah Farm.

Paul is near 6 foot tall. These willows are giants.
www.LittleUtahFarm.blogspot.com

Thank you for visiting Little Utah Farm's Blog. We also have a Facebook Page and connect with hundreds of farms all over the globe. Come and visit us at www.facebook.com/LittleUtahFarm


Believe in your dreams and appreciate life as it is. Those dreams will materialize.
Until next time,
Deborah Moon Moen

Do Llamas Spit? The Truth

Storey's Guide to Raising Llamas: Care/Showing/Breeding/Packing/Profiting

The most frequent question people ask about llamas is, "Do they spit?"

 

 

The answer is yes, they do. Spitting in some animals is a survival response when threatened by predators or mishandled by humans. They also spit mostly at each other during feeding. Here are some amazing facts that may be help the public to understand more about these exotic creatures.

 

Llamas get a bad rap from people who get spit on by walking up to a guardian llama in a field or attempting to cuddle with one in a petting zoo.

• A Guardian llama is used for alternative herd management in guarding sheep. The noises they make and their ability to spit with dead aim for a distance of 10 to 15 feet can discourage predators whether they be animals or human. This why we never approach a llama in a field. it is his job to guard that area and he is chosen ( usually best is a gelded male) for this job specifically for this purpose. Not all llamas are guard animals. 
•  Llamas are herd animals require another llama, sheep, goat, to occupy the same space with them. Llamas generally do not like to be touched like horses or dogs do. They are usually in a survival mode when approached by strangers in a petting zoo because they are in a corral alone. Most llamas unless trained do not like to be touched. They appear aloof. This is their way of survival instinct. Do not take it personally.
• Domesticated llamas are trained to accept the handling for their care such as toenail clipping, haltering and grooming. Ask before you touch a llama. The handler will instruct you how to best approach him or her.
• Llamas are a 4 legged work of art.
• They make fine eye level companions. What do you do with a llama? Well that is another story for next time....

Starbuck

 

Below is a video of our llamas about spitting from You Tube on our new
You Tube Channel Little Utah Farm.


 

There are many animals in the wild who spit for survival.

• The spitting cobra utilizes muscle contractions to squeeze glands in its mouth to accurately shoot venom at possible predators to protect itself. This process gives an appearance of spitting. The spitting cobra has been known to shoot venom for a distance of more than 6.5 feet.
• The archerfish hovers near the surface of the water, watching for bugs. When it sees one, it spits a stream of water out of its mouth to where the bug is sitting on a plant. Once hit by the water, the bug is likely to fall off and land in the lake for the archerfish to swallow for dinner. The archerfish has mastered the angle at which it must shoot water to knock down a bug.
• The male scorpion flyuses spit during its mating ritual to attract a female mate. The sticky saliva is spit onto leaves for the females to devour as a distraction during mating. This distraction helps the male to survive after the mating has completed.
• Spittle bugs wrap their bodies in a foamy spit to keep from drying out when they are young. The foam also insulates them from heat and cold. These spit-covered youth, known as nymphs, can be found along the stems of small plants.
• The mighty walrus spits a forceful gush of water at the mud on the bottom of the sea or ocean floor to uncover clams from hiding. This trick is useful for the walrus, which has limited eyesight. Walruses are also known to spit out water when playing around.
  
  Read more: What Animals Spit? | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/info_8444945_animals-spit.html#ixzz2AKVVD8vR

 

Thank you for visiting Little Utah Farm

Luna Llena our baby llama is almost 4 weeks old

She plays happily with the herd and there is a co-operative community emerging as a result of her presence

Hope you all have a great day !
Deborah MOON

 

 

A Tea Party For My Hens

Tomato Pulp Tea Tray

The hens have enjoyed this season immensely. The Unique Tomato Pulp Tea Party was a success. I love creating fun activities with my hens.  The talk between them is so cute." Oh look, Henny Penny!" one hen says, " a  platter of scrumptious red tomatoes."  "Mmm," Betsy cackles and purrs," The taste is divine!" On and on the little coos and clucks make quite an appreciative fuss over the party.

The girls run to their tray of goodies. They can't believe their eyes.
 During their  molting, a party is a great uplifting event.

Scrumptious Tomato Pulp Tea

The dishes emptied. Even the spilled pulp from their enthusiasm has been gurgled and supped down.  The Tea Party was a success. The hens walk off in every directions looking for bugs, green blades of grass and their favorite hiding places.

Thanks for reading our farm  journal at Little Utah Farm.  Take care and come back and visit us.

Autumn Bliss

The Rolling Hills Off Lund Hwy

How does it get any better than this? Our dream of living off the land continues to come true as we go out to cut our own wood in the wild for our stove.

Team work.

We made an efficient family team as we cut, sorted and stacked the wood in the truck.

Me Tossing The Wood Into The Truck

My Grandson is a great help. A  job well done.

This is the land where the antelope play and wild horses run.

The graded road to Lund is long and the perspective is amazing. Out here is where the cowboys still ride their horses into the sunset after a long days on the range. For miles as far as the eyes can see is the land as it was in the 1800's pure wild and free.

"I looked around me and felt the ranges, the land, and the sky embrace us and I knew then I was truly close to the earth and living the life I/we have dreamed off."

***********************************************************************************

freshly picked Oak Leaves

 I gathered the last of the Oak leaves while on a hike in the gullies and canyons of The Three Peaks. It seems like yesterday that the Oaks leaves were bursting out of the bare winter branches. I have lot's of ideas for these beauties. I will use 2 methods of preserving. One will be to soak in a solution of glycerin and water and the other I will iron between waxed paper. I have an online store that displays these creative projects on T-shirts, mugs, and greeting cards. I hope you all visit often to see what I have made. I have oodles of ideas, landscapes, flora and fauna and art to fill my store as time goes by.

End of Autumn Chores

I looked outside my kitchen door and heard the roar of our tractor plowing and tilling the land. After such a grand harvest of corn we move into the rhythm of the earth and prepare for the winter and an easy spring planting.

Our Fur and Feather Family Play

What a blessing that we all get along and respect each other's process and space. Our dogs and chickens commune beautifully together. They sing and play and run together in the yards. I will take my hens for a walk in the front gardens today before the snow comes later tonight. I will make a trail of bread to the gates and toss the rest into the grass. They will love scratchin' and digging in the dirt and clay.

Autumn Bliss: A walk in the high country promises exquisite color
and crisp cool weather. The meadows and trees are a delight as we walk on the trails.

Soon we will be riding our ATV's with our new club called the Trail Blazers and receiving visitors for the the holiday season. Life is so good. How does it get any better than this? Autumn Bliss !