hemp news

We received the rest of our seeds and our approved hemp farmer registration letter in the mail yesterday. We are working on finding a pump for the well, getting the seeds ready to start, and working the soil on the new land.

Our Indiegogo campaign is still up and running. 32 days left.

Donate here:
http://igg.me/at/SLVHemp

Blowing out the well

When we found an old well pipe on our land, we were ecstatic! But, it turns out there's more to it than we anticipated. It could be dry, although there was standing water in the pipe. It could be plugged up, filled with clay somewhere down there. Or, it could be non-potable water.

found well pipe

So, we called many people, trying to figure out what to do next. We have some options. The well drillers came out last Friday to blow out the well, so we could see if it was worth pursuing.

well drillers arrive

They stuck a plastic tube down as far as it would go and turned on the air compressor.

blowing out the well

There were several eruptions of nasty, black water, spewing about 6 -8 feet high, and a small pond formed with all of the water they pushed out. It disappeared back into the sand within a couple of  hours.

Lots of yucky water

The well drillers measured the pipe they sent down and decided the well was 28 feet deep before it hit bottom, and seemed to have a good fill rate. They recommended testing the water, which we will do to see if it is potable or not. But, on the plus side, we have a usable well, even if we can only use it for irrigation.

We also took a load of compost up to the land to dump in the field where we plan to plant the hemp. It looks small, but we have many more loads, if we have time to move it. Ideally we will get the pigs out there to mix it up with the sand, and add some more soil and organic matter if we can. This is where Richard wants to put the big greenhouse, if we can raise enough funds on our Indiegogo campaign.

compost in planting spot

There seems to be several small peat bogs around the area. This is north of our land by a few feet. We have some of this on our property as well. We are planning on collecting it and adding it to the planting space.

peat field north of land

Next step: bring in some road base for the driveway and parking area. We have gotten the van stuck twice now with the big stock trailer behind it. Yes, we got it out with some ingenuity and misc. supplies laying around, but it's not fun and a major time loss. So, we are hoping to have a dump truck of road base dumped this next week, rent a skid steer next weekend to spread it and clear some more space for the office to be built.

We are still moving stuff to storage and whatever is not valuable out to the land. We are working on our power system and will put that in the office space. We are still waiting on delivery of a cistern. We tested the water system in the RV, which seem to be working. The toilet leaks, so we need a new one of those, and the furnace doesn't work, but overall, this was a bargain camper at $700. We may just put in a composting toilet in place of the RV toilet. That will save our water. I'm hoping it's going to be warm enough in a couple of weeks that we won't need heat in the camper. We can always find a propane heater, I guess.

On Tuesday: Fencing.

Found well update

The well we found on our land near Alamosa was blown out today. The well driller estimated it at 28 feet deep after it was cleaned out, and running about 15 gallons per minute at the bottom. As per his instructions, we put a bottle of bleach down the hole, and a cap on it to keep it clean. In a few days (when we get a pump) we will pump out all of the bleach water, let it refill and then have the water tested for potability. It looks like it is going to be a usable well, at the very least for garden irrigation.

This is good news indeed!

Hemp update!

We are officially Hemp farmers! Today, the state of Colorado approved our application to grow hemp.

We are still waiting on some more seeds to come in, but we have some to start with.

Tomorrow we are laying ready to plant compost on our hemp field, in preparation for seedlings in a few weeks.

Also, tomorrow we are getting the old well we found on the land blown out, so we will see if it is usable or not. We may be able to use it to water our gardens at least, and the hemp field too.

Big things are happening!

This week at the farm...

We disbudded the baby boy goat. That is always traumatic. More for me, it seems, than the goat kid. We changed his name to Coco, in keeping with the sweet/cookie theme. His mother is Oreo. His sister is Cookie. We haven't decided if we are going to castrate him. He's a nice looking buckling. His father is supposed to have good lines. I have him listed on Craigslis, but no interest yet. We may keep him to mate back to the other two female goats that aren't related. I'm still looking for another buckling that is not related to breed to all of girls. I'd even do a trade.

Fairy dust still has not kidded, and I was sure she was about to. Any day now....

Richard started a couple more avocado seeds, hoping to get some more trees going. We have one pretty good sized avocado tree, but no others to pollinate with. These trees will have to live in a greenhouse.

Avocado seed starts

We have moved building materials up to our Alamosa land, have moved some boxes into our storage unit, and keep on packing. We are testing the water system in the camper, and waiting for a 1600 gallon cistern to arrive. We bought batteries for our power system and are waiting for an invertor, which should come today. We are trying to get a well driller out to the land to blow out the well we found to see if it's any good.

I have decided against getting the mini horse. Horses are just too much maintenance, and it is not recommended to keep them in sandy areas, which our new land is--completely. There are so many toxic plants to avoid, plus teeth issues, digestion issues, and hoof maintenance and issues. Too bad. They are really cute. For now, we will stick to camelids and goats. The pigs are doing well. Richard has been trying to whittle down Choe's toenails a little at a time.

Harley and Chloe

The Hemp project is underway. We have our Indiegogo campaign up and running with a couple of donations already! Thank you! We have some seeds (don't ask, don't tell) and are getting them ready to start. We need more funding to really get this thing going, but we will continue on anyway and do what we can. At the very least, we can grow some plants for seed for next year. And make compost out of the mature plants. It's supposed to be great stuff.

We are trying to decide if there is enough time to move our compost and manure piles. There is so much to do still to get ourselves and animals relocated to an off grid situation.

I am proud to say, our Turkey feathers are on their way to the Hopi people to be used in ceremony. I can't think of a better use for them. I am honored. I respect the Hopi a great deal, and have studied and learned much from the Hopi prophecies.

My shamanic studies continue, but I am having a lot of trouble with the journeying aspect of it. I did acquire a lovely rattle from Wumaniti in trade for milk, cheese, eggs and yogurt, that I have begun to use in my own personal ceremonies.

There have been a couple of snakes hanging out around our kitchen door. One day, they allowed me to see them mating, which was interesting and odd. Snake medicine is strong right now. Healing and transformation. I thought they were baby Bull snakes, but now, I think they are Garter snakes.

Little Bull snake, I think male

It's Hemp time!

In celebration of Earth Day, tomorrow, we are officially launching our Indiegogo fundraiser today. Be a part of the Hemp movement and be a part of the change that will help save our blessed Mother Earth. Hemp rejuvenates the soil, can be used to replace petroleum in every way and is a natural plant...no chemicals needed.

Donate, share with your friends, and be a part of the future. Let's heal the planet, one Hemp field at a time. We can do this thing. Let's start planting!!!

Check out the Indiegogo fundraiser here:

http://igg.me/at/SLVHemp

Goat baby! and our Driveway is In!

Woke this morning to Oreo giving birth. She had a healthy little black boy that Richard named Midnight. We waited around for another, and performed the bounce test, but I think the little buck is the only one she is going to have. He's big though, like 12 1/2 pounds.

Oreo and baby

New kid nurses

Midnight

Fairy Dust, the Alpine Boar cross, looks about ready to pop too. But the other Nubian, Bluebell, doesn't look pregnant at all.

Fairy Dust and Bluebell

And, yesterday, we got our drive way in! That is one of the most exciting things that has happened this week (until this morning and goat baby). It sure seems like we waited extra long for the driveway to go in.

Culvert

Driveway

Parking pad

We started moving some nonessential things out there, like the glass we have been collecting here and there for greenhouse windows, or barn windows, or....

We also took the RV all the way to South Fork to get diagnosed. It seems the fridge and the stove work, and most likely the hot water heater too. The furnace, maybe not, and we did not have the water systems tested yet. Unfortunately, a piece got broken on the hot water heater and so the camper gets to stay up there until Saturday when we can go and get it.

We rented a large storage unit in Alamosa for our furniture and boxes of stuff that will not fit in the RV. Our landlords got back to us and it seems if we do not want to do another one year lease, we have until June 1 to vacate. We decided to go for it, and see if we can get our animals moved and ourselves set up in the RV in time. A challenge, most certainly, but an exciting adventure as well.

Adopting pigs and finding a well

Harley (black) and Chloe (white)

We adopted a couple of Pot Bellied pigs this week. One male and one female, and because we have them in the same pen, most likely we will be seeing baby pigs in about four months.  It was traumatic picking them up. They were scared, we were unknown, their nails are way too long and the female, Chloe, got her toe stuck in the trailer ramp. She screamed and screamed, but we got her out. It took three of us maneuvering her around to do it, but she got free. The two of them together were the hardest things to catch I have ever dealt with. Worse than llamas. We ended up putting cardboard and a rubber mat down on the trailer ramp, and eventually got them in.

At home, it was much easier to deal with them. We just put an old rug down on the ramp and opened into their new pen. We are all getting used to each other now. They are calmed down and let us pet them behind the ears. In a week or so we have to start working on their toes, which are just in horrendous shape.

poor Chloe's toes

Those two pigs have rooted up almost all of the soil in their small pen and turned hardpacked rocky dirt into pretty brown plantable soil, minus the rocks of course. We plan on using them in the garden, like Joel Salatin's pigerators, to turn the soil and mix the compost. But we won't eat them in the end...just keep them around to mix the soil. They are ugly cute, I have to say. We have big plans to teach them to walk on harnesses. Won't that be entertaining? Then we can walk our pigs and llamas. But, maybe not together. And not here, with the crazy running dogs, but up on our new land where there are no dogs to be seen anywhere.

As if that wasn't adventure enough, before we picked up the pigs, we went to our land near Alamosa to put up some fence posts and mark the northern boundary before the driveway goes in. It was supposed to go in on Saturday, but there was a mix-up with the culvert, so maybe on Tuesday. We put tall posts with pink flags in the four corners of our lot and used binoculars to stake a line. We got a few fence posts in, but most all of our fence posts are being used here, at the rented farm. Oh, this is a process! Taking fence down, putting fence up...so much to do now.

While we were stumbling through salt bush and chamisa, we happened upon a well pipe, just ten feet or so on our property, but it is ours! It appears there is a well there and we may not have to drill at all. So now, we have to research that and talk to the well guys and figure out what to do next. Is it a usable well? Is the water any good? There is standing water in the pipe, about three or four feet down, so there is water there. How deep is the well, I wonder? So many questions, but I'm not complaining. I am so grateful to have stumbled upon that pipe sticking up out of the ground!

Also, I have cleaned turkey feathers this week, using a couple of methods, and now have some for sale. Check it out at our farm store page (tab at top of page). Some of them are really long...nearly 16 inches!

I washed some llama wool this past week too, and hope to try felting again. Always busy. The kids and I are working on a clay project again and I hope to get the kiln dug out of the garage and get this stuff fired before we move into the RV.  I'm working on a incense burner for sage and what not for my shaman stuff. Exciting! The motif is all about snakes who represent healing and transformation. I'm looking for a rattle snake rattle too, just because it seems to be filling my ears lately (in song, and thankfully not in a reality full of live rattlesnakes).

We may also be adding a miniature horse to the farm in the near future. Why not? Horse medicine is running strong these days.