Working And Playing With Food

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Last night we made a trip to The Adickes Farm northwest of Buffalo.  Just me and all the kids.  Patti was not having any luck getting work done at home with a houseful of them, and I needed to get some work done in the garden up there.

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Phoebe had been begging to be up there for an overnight and time with Bella’s new horse, which is a retired show horse.  They had fun giving it a bath (It had rolled in the mud) and walking it through patches of clover.  Truly a hayburner.   Had no interest in anything except whatever it could put in its mouth that was growing out of the ground while I took photos of them with it.

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Younger kids were working industriously on a hole.

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Made a quick survey of the annual side of the gardens there.  I know I have to get into the grape vine cuttings I am rooting there, as well as the apple root stock, and get that all cleaned up, but time was limited.  The Baby Vi squash Patti and I planted last week was emerging.

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So was the row of pole beans we put in.  I had thought today we would get the trellis up, but with Patti needing to get paying work done and it just being me there, that simply did not happen.

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Jerid and Katrina zipped up to me in their farm vehicle, affectionately called The Gator, and had me come with them to see two new calves that had appeared since that morning.  This shot is just one of a chicken tractor back by where the cows are pastured.  New laying hens for the farm.

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When I took this shot Jerid told me not to go any closer.  Its mother was not thrilled about me being there.  I backed off a bit and assumed a lower position to the ground so as to not appear threatening.

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She calmed right down.

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The other mother did not seem to really care, but due to her array of armaments, I did not push it.

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The other one placed herself between me and her new baby which was new enough to not even be up and walking yet.

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Katrina though went and halved the distance I had been at.

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What is missing here, in those two shots of the white cow, is the in-between shot, when the cow gives a 3 foot false charge and Katrina, in her rush to back up, falls on her butt.  <grin>

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Suddenly every other cow and steer in the field wanted to come over to see what was going on.

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I just stayed where I was.

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Really found myself surrounded on all sides by curious bovines.

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Some wanted a scratch, some wanted to sniff, none of them were being protective of newborn calves.

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And that was the playing with food bit of my day.

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Back at the garden I weeded the potato hills.  Shot above is shot of a plant from a TPS seedling potato saved from last year.  They have, by far, the best emergence of all the types I planted.

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All of the sweet potato plants look good.

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The Victor Kucyk corn looks good.

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I worked out there until well into the dark.  Got this shot of the sunset.  Got out of the garden at close to 10 pm.  Just maintenance things.  Nothing more planted, though I want to.  But I need to not lose what I do have in to weeds.  Got home after 11 pm. got kids into bed, and then crashed out myself.

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