Potatoes In

Over the last two days I put in our first round of potatoes. The seed stock are leftovers from last years crops. We have some fingerlings on order but for now I got in three rows of Red Nordlands and two rows of Yukon Golds. I still have more of each in the cellar, we plan on planting a couple different rounds to maximize our yield and storage ability. Last year we only did the one early planting and got an excellent crop, but over the last month or so the Yukon Golds were getting mighty soft. We had stopped eating the Nordlands in the early winter. The Nordlands will be harvested early as new potatoes, but we will let the Yukon's fully mature. After a long winter it felt good working the soil again and getting our first crop in.

Look what I found.

Those would have been the words Buddy -- our 1 1/2 year old border collie/terrier mix -- was saying when he exited the hedge row with his latest find. I took the dogs out for an early morning walk through our back pastures. I like getting out to survey the land and think about where we will plant things and what other projects I need to do. The dogs, the aforementioned Buddy, and Boo -- a 4 year old springer spaniel mix -- love to run and explore the hedge row around our field. This morning Buddy pops out of the hedge row with a large white object in his mouth. I initially thought it was a piece of styrofoam or other trash. He was a little hesitant to give up his prize but did come over and leave it for me when directed. Turns out Buddy found the top portion of an animal skull. After bringing it inside the kids had fun speculating what type of animal it was until Google revealed its true identity. The skull is from a White Tail deer and since there are no horn buds (not sure if that is the correct terminology) I assume it was a female deer. We need to start a nature shelf so that we have some place to display all the things we find around the farm.