Last week, our fantastic farrier, Kim, came to trim the horses' hooves. This is a regular occurrence, for their health and safety. She's so great! A real animal lover, and an expert at her job. How many times do you suppose that such an operation is overseen by a Canada Goose?


The little ones frisked around, as their mommas got their feet cared for first. The baby horses are alot like human babies - really curious, affectionate, and they really like to TASTE their world. Delilah, the oldest one, is especially bad about that - she LOVES to nibble! Anything. clothes, arms, hair, tools - anything she can get her baby teeth on.


A closeup of Kim working on the hooves.


These are Baron's tiny little hooves. I LOVE the coloration. Aren't they fancy??


The dogs love to hang around and get bits of horse hoof to chew on. EEEWW!!!

Beaker is enjoying the warmer weather - mostly, because it means that he can eat all the fresh greens and herbs he wants - his favorite foods! He will eat dried grains if he has to, but....they are most certainly not his choice of meal.


From Donna's shade garden


Go-cat luxuriates in the sun...Isn't her expression just great?


I *think* spring is finally here. We aren't past the danger of frost yet, BUT..chives are about to bloom! always a cheerful spring sight.

I'm fully convinved that Toby, my nephew, is the only person left in the Midwest who is actually enjoying this cold and icy winter. Every day the bus drops him off at PLH after school, and he spends a happy hour or so, bundled up in snowpants, jacket, mittens, hat and boots, running around the farm, sliding on the ice, playing in the snowdrifts, and generally having a good time. Ah, to be in first grade again!

We adults however are THOROUGLY sick of it. It's pretty much the ice and the cold that are most annoying. We have had a solid sheet of ice covering the farm since early December. Donna has fallen on the ice a couple of times through the winter, and Maggie did twice just this week. (thankfully we are both well padded on the rear end). It's just awful, and there's nothing we can do about it. Even the dogs lose traction and go sliding sometimes!



Even Violet is tired of winter! Here she is hiding from the horror of it all. "Wake me when spring arrives", she says.




Beaker doesn't seem to care too much one way or the other. He's a bit bored, because his "flock" is spending all their time indoors. He much prefers warmer weather, and he loves to help garden, distill, or just generally hang out outdoors with his "peeps". heh heh.

Here's a woodpecker, on our suet feeder we have just outside the shop. Feeding and providing habitat for wildlife is a really important part of what we do with our gardens and land.

We call Beaker our "Wax-headed cracker hound". He loooves to "help' John make candles, and has gotten bits of soywax dripped on his head and back moer than once. (It's not that hot and doesn't hurt him a bit, we swear). And he love love, LOVES Club crackers. If he hears a crinkly wrapper noise he comes right over to see if there might be cracker bits to be had! He eats veryv ery little people food (he doesn't even really like his winter food, he much prefers fresh greens and bugs and things out of the garden), but he has a serious addiction to those Club crackers!

I haven't posted about Beaker (the goose) in a while. he's doing great! We were worried about him, after we lost our ducks. We thought he'd be lonely. He has companyduring the day while we're at work - we let him out of his pen, he wanders around the farm and talks to our cats and dogs. If John is making candles or cleaning beeswax, Beaker is in heaven (he loves to help make candles!). But during the evening we have to shut him in his pen so he is safe. We've been looking at adopting some other fowl to keep him company but 1) we haven't found any, and 2) he thinks he is a dog (or maybe a person, we're not sure), and therefore doesn't actually get all that much company from other birds. But he found his own friend....




....A few months ago, we found some baby kitties in the barn. all of our pets are spayed or neutered, but this is a farm, with a nice warm barn, and stray cats come to live here. We feed them, and care for them as best we can, but they're usually wild. one had babies last summer...we caught, tamed, and adopted out 4 of them, but apparently...there was another one. We'll have to get a trap, and find a vet who will spay/neuter a feral cat, because s/he is certainly wild. BUT. S/he and Beaker are best buddies!!! Every night when we (read:John) puts Beaky away, his kitty is waiting there for him! We are thrilled he has found some "nighttime" companionship!

Is that not the HANDSOMEST goose you have ever seen? He recently celebrated his first snow with a nice swim in the pond. The cool weather does not seem to bother him one bit!

Beaker is currently without fowl-friends....Unfortunately, the neighbor's dogs came down to our farm (we live in the country....no fences), and killed Beaker's duck friends. They actually tried to get Beaker too, and he was slightly injured on one of his wings, but he is fine now. Now we have to keep Beaker in a safe, roomy pen when we're not around to watch out for him.



This is or cat Tilly - Donna's cat, really. She lives in Donna's house but occasionally comes out to the shop to "supervise". The other day she positioned herself on top of our antique cash register and spent quite a bit of time there, just watching the world go by!



We have a new soap - Just Plain Goatmilk! We do get a fair number of requests for unscented products so do try to have a nice selection of fragrace-free handmade goods!



John is making candles like a crazy man, and also working on a new, floral essential oil candle. Makign a new candle takes a lot of time! First, he tries out various essential oil blends and mixtures, to get something that smells wonderful. Then, the various blends must be made into candles and thoroughly burn-tested. Here's some of the blends he was working on the past few days....when our new floral candle is ready, we'll be sure to let you know about it!

So, in case you wonder what we've been doing lately, THIS is what we've been doing lately.

Our shop was nearly empty after filling several largeish wholesale order, then this BIG order came in, and we spent a week making everythign to fill it. In case you ever wondered, this is what $2400 of prairieland herbs merchandise looks like. I packed it in five very large, very heavy boxes!




In other news: the only members of the PLH family that actually *like* the rain we've been having every day (for almost a week straigh) are Beaker (shown enjoying the now-full pond), and the ducks. Normally the ducks are pretty boring but they are funny when they come out in the middle of a downpour and quack their way around the yard, just enjoying a little walk in the rain....

It was VERY rainy the other day, and Beaker LOVED it! He spend hours out in the pouring rain, just enjoying himself. Then he found a mud puddle to splash in - ohhhh boy did he love that!



We have 4 kittens that need homes. This is Tori, cuddled up in Maggie's bag. Yes, they are all this cute. YES, they need to go live with you!!! But seriously - just email or call if you are interested in adopting one of them. They are used to kids, cats and dogs, are litterbox trained, and ready to go home!


Yesterday was a busy day! Donna did her annual impersonation of a swamp monster - she always crawls into the pond to get it cleaned out before the winter. It's a stinky, slimy job but this year she had "help" - Beaker thought it was a FABULOUS game! As you can see, he is thoroughly enjoying himself. He kept diving down into the muck to nibble on mom's toes! He even picked off her toenail polish in the process. Living with a goose is *quite* an experience, I'll have you know!



Meanwhile, some of the rest of the gang did some organizing in the shop. Even though we ship out about 75% of our business, we didn't have a very good shipping area. So with some reorganizing and cleaning, we managed to concoct (we think) a more organize d area for shipping your products. We'll be packing up some orders this afternoon, so we'll see how it works!



Then we cleaned up and raced off to teach our "Lovin' Lavender" class last night through the Des Moines Adult Ed program - always fun! So fabulous to share herbs with others!



Last but not least, we're starting a new thing. A friend of ours in New York makes fabulous, luxurious bars of soap, so we're going to be offering a Luxury Soap of the Month! We'll post it around the first of every month, and keep it online until they're gone. We'll only get 20-40 bars of each kind, so when it's gone, it's gone! They will rotate with the seasons, and all be different and wonderful! This month its "Golden Orient", made with shea butter, organic goat's milk, silk, calendula and clays! MMMMM.......

We just pulled a few weeds, so our annual herbs are looking pretty good! Most of these are destined either for the still (lemongrass), hair vinegars (rosemary), or my mouth (basil!). :)



Here is our little Go cat. Isn't she sweet? She's graceful and muscular - a true Iowa Ditch Tiger!



Beaker is SO big! He's just fun to have around. His voice has quit breaking (mostly) so he can honk like a big goose whenever he likes! He's trying to learn to fly...he'll take off running, wings flapping, get a few inches off the ground, before he lands....and then spends the rest of the day walking around the farm, eating grass and bugs. :) He loves when we work outside and hangs out with us all day, then quietly goes in his pen with the ducks at night. What a spoiled goose!



The popcorn plants grow so FAST!!!!



Here is the rain garden Donna planted in front of the shop just last year. It's entirely prairie plants/native plants, and it's gorgeous!! She did an outstanding job, I think.

These sunflowers were actually accidents...just spilled birdseed, really, but they're one of the most cheery things on the farm right now! I was trying to explain to Toby, my 6 year old nephew, that these big yellow flowers will make the black seeds that both he and the birds like to eat. He was skeptical. :)



Here's Toby mowing! (with a little guidance from John). He sure has been enjoying helping on the farm lately...pulling weeds, digging holes, mowing, and just generally messing around. Ahhh, to be six again!



Here is Beaker! My gosh, he is SO big! He honks now! For a few weeks, his voice was breaking...he'd say "weet weet HONK" :) Now he can do "big goose" honks just about anytime! Also, he is starting to *think* about flying....he will run a few feet, then sort of take off and glide a bit, then touch down and run some more. But you know what? We think he thinks he's a dog. But our dogs think they're people, so really...it's very confusing. But if, say, Donna leaves in the car with a dog or two, the other 2 dogs, AND BEAKER, will run after her as she drives away. And when I drive to work in the morning, I usually am greeted by 3 dogs and a goose running towards the car, full speed, to say hello! It's really all very amusing. :) But Beaker is quite happy to go into his pen with the ducks at night (He thinks they're boring, but they keep him company well enough at night). By the way, even though I refer to him as "he", we have no idea what sex he, uh, she, uh, it?? is.



Speaking of grandpas, my grandpa (Donna's dad) is here, and has been here for a few months, helping out and hanging out. (I call him Bakka, by the way, so if I refer to him as such, that's just my name for him). Anyway, he's been doing an *amazing* job of going through our back land and old farm buildings and finding old, interesting stuff to use for decoration and/or landscaping. He totally landscaped the front of our classroom using some rocks and old "stuff" we had laying around the farm. That, a bit of mulch, and a few plants, and all of a sudden it looks like someone came and professionally landscaped the barn. it's wonderful! I'll get some pictures of the other side of the classroom when he gets it finished.

Goose Update! Here is a picture of Beaker, our rescued-and-now-thinks-he's-people Canada Goose. He's probably about 6 weeks old now, and is fully into his "geeky teenage" stage! The furry cuteness is gone, and he's getting all his feathers in, and changing colors. (By the way - we refer to him as "he" but we actually have no idea what sex he is!). He still loves people and wants to be around us ALL the time. He doesn't really like to be touched our petted, but he is constantly at our sides, and will even "groom" us if we let him (nibbles to the legs and feet).



There are few things funnier than sitting alone in the shop...all is quiet, cats are asleep, door open, filling orders....and then hearing the "slap slap slap" of big goose feet, as he comes in to see what you are doing. :) He trys to eat the cat food every chance he gets, but we don't let him if we can help it!



We did get Beaker an adult male duck for a friend, and they do tolerate each other, but dont' seem to have "bonded" very well. But this adult male duck (who still needs a name...got any suggestions? and NO we are not going to name him Donald!) was getting picked on by another male duck at his old home, so he's going to stay here with us...we hope to get him a "lady friend" very shortly. He is free to come and go in our farm pond anytime he likes, but he seems very shy and reserved, so we gave him his own mini-pond in his pen, and he really likes it!



Here we are building a bigger and better pen for our fowl. They get out to roam around the farm with us while we are here, but we wanted a bigger outdoors area for them to enjoy on evenings and weekends. Are they spoiled, or what??

Fowl update!!! Beaker, the fellow shown above (who used to be yellow and fuzzy but is not getting his feathers!!!) is a Canada Goose - thanks to all of you who called or emailed to help us identify him! He is, I think, the world's most spoiled goose. He has his own huge and comfy pen in the barn for at night, and during the day he wanders around at will, eating just about anything he can find (grass, dandelions and bedstraw are favorites, as are worms, ants, and crackers) and getting lots of attention from us and our customers. He gets in our little pond several times a day and has a good swim, and eats the water lily leaves. he sure is handsome! He chases the cats and will even snitch their food - he is one onery goose!

Sadly, we lost his duck brother, Stu...the neighbor dogs came over and, well....we never saw Stu again. Our dogs are fine with the fowl, but the neighbor dogs...not so much. We are keeping a very close eye on the situation. Our most fabulous neighbor and postal-delivery guy has offered us a few of his ducks to keep Beaker company, so we think we are going to take him up on that offer. We'll keep you posted on their progress!

The other day when Donna FINALLY got to plant a few things (it's been so wet here, we haven't even gotten our garden in....can you believe it?), Beaker discovered very quickly that when she digs up soil, there are worms....here you can see just how eagerly he is awaiting each turn of the pitchfork. Aahhh..gardening with a goose. Every day is a new adventure around here!!

So....the last 2 weeks we have been engaging in some MAJOR farm cleanup. Why are all farms filled with old junk, cars, stuff, cement, bricks, and just general JUNK? We rented a rolloff box....



And some major equipment, because we needed to dig up some random, huge, HUGE chunks of concrete....



and pretty much filled the rolloffbox. I'm going to be REALLY interested to see how heavy that is! but it feels good to get rid of that junk. Now we can till/plant a big area behind our barn - we'll probably just seed it to pasture for now, as we don't really need any more space for herbs at the moment. (Maggie's secret plan to get some alpacas or other fiber animals is one step closer to fuition, hee hee hee!!!)


Stu and Beaker "helped" us clean up the farm...mostly by sleeping in the shade and watching us work. They're hysterical, and growign like CRAZY. Stu (the duck, the brown fellow) is getting his real feathers in! I'll try and get a picture. He looks sorta ratty right now, pooor fellow - I bet it itches when those feathers come in!

So apparently...Beaker (the yellow fellow - the one we rescued from a busy town highway) is NOT a duck. let me preface this by saying we know NOTHING of birds...especially farm birds. But one of our great customers (thanks Hanna!) clued us in today to the fact that Beaker is NOT a duck. So we think maybe he's a goose...or possibly even a swan?? Any bird people out there that can help us out..let us know! But, let me tell you - these guys are a hoot, and they're growing like crazy. More blogging about them over on Maggie's personal blog! (In this picture, btw, they're like 2x the size they were last week, and they're hanging out in our herb shop. Yep, they think that's where they should be. *sigh*)

So, the other day, I found a baby duck. So we got him a friend (ducks need friends) but, in the intervening 4-5 hours where we had just the one rescued duck (during which we hauled him around tucked into sweatshirt hoods and pockets, because he didn't want to be alone), he apparently imprinted on humans because...now he thinks we are his parents! Beaker is the yellow fellow - the one found running, all alone, on a busy highway in Adel. The brown one, Stu (I call him Disco Stu - simpson's fans will get the reference) was purchased at a local farm store (for $2 - he was on clearance!). Beaker loves people and follows us around, and gets most frantic when he can't. Stu loves BEAKER and follows him around. It's a whole thing. Anyway, I have loads more pictures to follow but for now - aren't they adorable??