The sap run was short and sweet!  Acorn figures it was actually a false run, brought on by the Polar Vortex.  Two weeks of below freezing temps forced the sap back down, and when the temps warmed up, up came the sap.  Good enough for two quarts total of finished syrup.  Impressive, especially if you think of the 40:1 sap to syrup ratio!

Goats in the dairy barn are all kidded out, now is kidding time for the commercial and Spanish go...

The Polar Vortex is winding down, cold air receding and temps actually creeping above freezing. Hot Damn!

Blind Hog and Acorn have continued to soldier on- feeding the livestock, waiting for baby goats- expected and unexpected.

Fortunate for running water and electricity, however plans are in the works for "yet more farm improvements..." There is always room to make things run better, smoother, and to be prepared for outages ...

The polar vortex is upon the farm.  Single digit highs, minus "whatevers"at night.  And snow...  And gusting north winds...   And yes, dairy kids being born!

Blind Hog and Acorn have been trying their best to deal with electrical resistance, amperage, wattage calculations. Working on electric lines from the house to the dairy barn, at midnight, in the 5F cold is a great way to kick off Valentine's Day...

Good news is that...

Oy!  Blind Hog and Acorn have readied the farm for the upcoming hard, deep freeze. One day might have highs in the single digits and lows?  Minus whatever...  Been there, done that- they know what they need to do.  

Of course, the dairy goats might go into labor next week when the vortex settles in- let's hope not!

Blind Hog has been Mr Electrician, wiring in the new receptacles for the welder and plasma cutter.  Acorn has been b...

Blind Hog and Acorn have been busy- doing this and that...  Hay out for the herds, unpacking stuffs from 15-20 years ago, going through old papers, rewiring the shops for the new welder and plasma cutter, taking down old light fixtures and putting in LED flood bulbs. Going in a gazillion different directions, but slowly but surely, things are being accomplished.  Acorn is ready to get welding!

Of course, it has been raining. Flood o...

Blind Hog and Acorn took their show to the road, literally, as they recorded the podcast while driving to the big city.  They had their sights set on a portable air compressor that would be big enough to use with the new plasma cutter, and Lowe's JUST happened to have one 45% off, PLUS and additional 10% off with military discount. SWEET!

Yup,  the farmers purchased a new wire feed welder that uses flux core wire, no cover gas n...

Blind Hog and Acorn have enough to do on the farm.  Selling some goats, whipping up dogfood for Sam and blueberry-pumpkin muffins for the farmers- the recipe of the week.

Ozarks geology means goats must have selenium booster shots to avoid white muscle disease. Vaccinated half the adults, the other 24 will be done soon as I prefer 4-6 weeks before kidding.

Fixed the washing machine- replaced the drain hose and drain pump.  YouTube vi...

Blind Hog and the Acorn had a very nice holiday: usual farm chores, goats getting stuck in things, machinery to be fixed, hay to be set out. You know, all the typical things that go on regardless of holidays...

Acorn has some new plans for Season 2 of Blind Hog and Acorn.  Dare we mention the m-word?  (merch!)

Starting a new feature of weekly recipes from SteelMeadow Farm.  This week's installment are Farmhouse Brownies- they are...

Just a little farming done this week, as in Bonehead is still alive and doing much better, but also art and telescope magic.

Blind Hog has a commission for a wall sculpture.  He has a lovely piece that he is cutting in half, making a free standing sculpture into a wall mounted piece.  So far, so good.  The saw blade was awesome. Cut the stainless steel plate like butter.

Acorn is going out at sunset to view the planetary conjunction....

Blind Hog and Acorn enjoyed a lovely week of record high temperatures, got lots of outdoor chores done in the process.  Sticks and limbs picked up, auto mechanic skills honed, experiments in the kitchen with tepache and homemade dog food (score a loss and a win).

Also, find out why you should never by chickens in the dark- you won't know what you paid for until the light of (the next) day... Ha!

Acorn goes into detail about menin...

Blind Hog and Acorn checked the Old Farmers' Almanac and today is the optimal day for weaning livestock, with the least amount of stress and fuss.

It was also a most unusually nice afternoon, so it was hard to pass up an opportunity to sit in the sun for a bit.

Turkey stock canned, experimental turkey pastrami a  success, calves separated, goats combined- does not sound like a busy week but you know what?  Even a couple farmers c...

Another rainy Saturday, two in a row?  Crazy!  Just in time too as Blind Hog and Acorn finished off with the new ditch at the old goat barn.  Drain laid, gravel dumped and cross drive trench dug/piped/filled.  Done!  AND, water is officially draining out of the pipe.

Blind Hog and Acorn went to the Big City and shopped as if they don't want to go back for a couple months- they might not want to!  Staples were purchased; pantry a...

Blind Hog and Acorn had enough to keep them busy this week but today it is raining, so they get a bit of a break.

Blind Hog had a birthday and will be eating cake all week long, hence the need for some vanilla ice cream.  Acorn has plans to add lavender flowers to it.  "Honey lavender vanilla"...

Nothing super exciting this week.  Blind Hog is tired of picking up rocks, Acorn's guitar chords are improving (well, she think...

Acorn has been busy cleaning the house after RAIN finally fell from the sky.  She also goes on a bit of a rant- wondering why folks just won't wear masks. So frustrating.

Blind Hog has his work "cut out for him " (pun intended) as a dead tree fell across the driveway, and thus he will get another cord or two added to the winter's stash of firewood.

There is a 505/50 chance of podcast next week- depends if we can avoid...

Today was the day to take the buck kids to market, our dairy buck also went to a new home where he will meet new Alpine dairy girls to call his own.  "Win-win,"  Acorn says.

Blind Hog pulled out another old post from the old goat barn, he and Acorn will put in the last new post in there- hopefully that will do it for barn repairs for the year.

Acorn has been cooking winter squash (aka pumpkin) and it appears on the menu 2-3x ...

Blind Hog and Acorn have a few minutes on the porch during strong winds.  It was a lovely day, just BLUSTERY!

Garden is changing over from summer garden to winter garden, the old goat barn gets yet MORE repair work.

Pi finally calved, a bit later than the rest.  Her heifer's name is Ram. There is a Bible story in there, brought to you by the Badger.

Acorn has always wanted a dress form and found one, cheap!  Some taping, bracing, ...