Honey Harvest

This one goes out to our beekeeping friends. A full hour on springtime beekeeping practices and even a small taste of swarm management.

Links
Alaska Urban Farmstead
Increase Essentials by Dr. Larry Connor
Northern Kentucky Beekeeper
Beekeeper Linda’s Excellent Blog
Gardener Apiaries

Music: James Larson, Gaia Consort
PodCast Call in Line: 740-5-MYFARM

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Rest in peace, Manna. We will miss you.

Today we did what every horse owner dreads having to do.

Manna, one of our mares, experienced an acute intestinal blockage yesterday. The vet came out and gave her some mineral oil to loosen things up and Banamine (an anti-inflamitory) to help with the pain and told us to keep an eye on her. He called back several times to check on how she was doing. I slept outside with her last night to keep an eye on her condition. Around 3 or 4 she seemed to improve and cleared a large bowel movement. For the rest of the night she seemed to be comfortable and content to stand instead of laying on her side as she had been.

This morning she was walking around as normal and we assumed things were on the mend.

Later this afternoon she began to run a fever and again became agitated and short of breath. The vet came back out immediately and determined that her bowel was again blocked and had become severely distended. The only treatment in such a scenario is emergency surgery, but with the condition being present for so long and her age (late 20′s), her chances of survival were not good. Even in the best of outcomes, she would have had several months of recovery. The situation was complicated by the fact that toxins from her intestine were now leeching into her bloodstream. It didn’t look good. The vet confirmed this with four words, “I’m sorry. It’s time.”

We cried. We hugged on her. We told her how much we loved her. We thanked her for being a wonderful horse and a patient teacher. And we cried some more. I know that in the end we did all we could. There was no pain. She died quickly, with dignity, and surrounded by love.

The infamous Borris

A real treat for you guys today. I get my beautiful wife and garden diva, Laura, in on the podcast action. We go through some updates, catch you up on the latest weimaraner suicide attempt, talk about a pending new addition to the farm, take some great feedback, and finally break the hour mark talking about seeds and gardening.

Music: James Larson, Gaia Consort
PodCast Call in Line: 740-5-MYFARM

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The dog with a guardian angel

Actually recorded 4 days ago but I’ve been having some internet access problems from the beach house. At any rate, join me as I drive down to Jekyll Island. We figure out how not to kill the dog, go through some updates, and then talk about what to do about finding a barn sitter.

Music: James Larson, Gaia Consort
PodCast Call in Line: 740-5-MYFARM

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Merlin's Garden

Join me again on my commute while I blither on about all manner of Halloween stuff, fox hunting, sump pumping, and lament over having to rebuild our well house.

Music: James Larson, Gaia Consort
PodCast Call in Line: 740-5-MYFARM

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Vending at Inman Farm Heritage Days

Pressed for time this week. We get a great shoutout from Sean and Cim, talk about horses, curse the carpenter ants, and badmouth hicks that cannot tell the difference between a honeybee and a hornet.

NewsReal – Enjoy the soap, Cim! And yes it is actually made from lard.

Music: James Larson
New PodCast Call in Line: 740-5-MYFARM

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