A Farmgirl's Experience Is The Greatest Teacher

 

Sparrows on icy winter branches  Photo by Deborah Moen
Little Utah Farm

The temps have been dropping down from 20 to 6 degrees between 4 am and 7 am the past few days. I made my mind up before going to sleep that I would get up early to turn on the heat lamp in the coop.



I got up at 5 am got my warm clothes on and filled the water buckets, with warm water, in the kitchen sink. I stepped out into the new snow. It was so beautiful outside. Everything was enveloped in an icy fog. I made my way to the coop. I had my crampons on. I felt confident in the new snow which was on top of last weeks snow which turned to ice.

Yak Trax
They are awesome !

I took off the blue tarp I had clamped across the front of the coop to stop the wind and snow from entering. I noticed one of the latches were unhitched by the strong winds last night.

I unlatched the door with gloved hands because flesh can stick to freezing metal. The freshly filled water bucket was set inside the coop, the heat lamp was turned on, and the feed was replenished, along with some very desired dried boon worms, and sunflower seeds.



The bucket of water I had in there was frozen solid so I removed it and set it where the sun would help the ice to melt. My ducks and hens have a small insulated room where they roost. There was not so much as a quack or a peep while I was in there except for Fae, our white Plymouth Rock hen who came out and began eating. She looked great, unscathed by the bitter cold.

I shoveled the paths and cleared the corral along the fence so the llamas could eat their hay. The green hay looked so beautiful against the white snow. My hair was frozen and I had white frost where my breath had flowed in and out. 

Overhead I saw the ravens flying from the west. I could see their under wings were frosted with ice. 

Raven's wings were frosted with ice.

I so enjoyed my time out in the snow. As I opened the gate to walk back into the house, I looked back at the at the rising sun and low clouds which hung along the foot of the mountains. 

I looked back as I opened the gate and felt so thankful.
Deborah Moen Little Utah Farm

I can not express enough what living on this little farm has taught me about caring for our animals. It has opened my heart for other living things besides myself. It has made me strong and capable of doing things I did not know I could do.



Changing from a City Girl to a Farm Girl is not easy at first but you learn by doing. All the books about farming and animal care can help but it is the experience that is the greatest teacher.

Deborah Moen 
of Little Utah Farm

I thank you for visiting, Little Utah Farm
Until next time,
Believe in your dreams
They do come true.

A Farm Girl's Gloves

My box of gloves. 

A farm girl's gloves are her best friend throughout the year.


There is a glove for every chore and activity. I didn't realize how much I use gloves until I misplaced the box clearly marked "GLOVES" . I have been making do by borrowing from my husband and buying new pairs now and then. This morning while cleaning the hallway closet, I found the box on a shelf at knee height. What a joy to be reunited with my box of gloves !

Meet my gloves :

My Cold Winter Gloves

I own a rugged pair of gloves built for a cowhand with rough leather lined with softness to protect your fingers and hands in the freezing cold. When I look down at my hands on a corral gate I feel like a rancher or cowgirl from the old west. These were my first winter gloves in Utah. They are great for wiping away snow from the backs of llamas and hay stacks. Unlocking gates and dialing a phone can be near impossible so I take a glove off to unlock the latches and put the glove back on.

Thse gloves are good for watering
 or any wet chores.

These warm sweater knit type gloves with the rubberized palms and finger tips keep your fingertips dry and they are great when watering your herd and flock. There is nothing that is good about getting your gloved fingers wet on a cold, single digit morning.

Use gloves with Thinsulate reflects the
 heat right back
 into your hands and fingers.

Thinsulate is best for keeping your hands from freezing. It reflects the heat back into your fingers. Once my hands were painfilled with bitter cold, not even the barn heater gave me comfort. My fingers were numb. But put a pair of working gloves with thinsulate and the hands warm up very quickly. I do have a a slight size issue with these as the fingertips are an 1" longer than my own.

Driving and Parade Gloves

I have a sort of fancy work glove that is a creamy sort of leather for driving the tractor and the four-wheel buggy, we call it. They have a bit of smudged dirt on the underparts from running my hands on the wheel. I do have a clean pair that are good gloves for the parades.

One of my favorite pair of gloves
with the purple trim.

My mid-weight gloves are flexible and serve to warm my hands when weather first turns cold. These also make good weeding gloves. I have 4 of these. Some with splits on the inside of my fingers from grasping tumbleweed or mallow stems and worn spots on the finger tips from pulling the earth this way and that to plant. Here are two of the pairs below.

Hail to the all-purpose glove for gardening, weeding,
feeding, and most any chore.

This mid to lightweight glove also serves as protection from the sharp dry alfalfa stems, baling string, and the equipment when we take the bales off the trailer and onto it's place on the pallets. These are good for feeding hay to the llamas.



I do love my gloves. When I do not wear them my hands are rough as unpolished wood and I cannot feel any soft or silken surfaces without feeling my skin pick at the fabric like a hundred cactus needles.  

I am so glad I found my box of gloves. All is well in my world.

Deborah Moen
Little Utah Farm

Thank you for visiting Little Utah Farm,
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Until next time,

“Finn fell asleep draped in Kittens and dreamed that the corn walked the earth on skinny white roots, liked to joke with the crows, and wasn't afraid of anything.” 
― Laura Ruby, Bone Gap

Vinatge Child Feeding Hen and Chicks Kitchen Towel
by LittleUtahFarm