Calf Came Right on Time

Brand new baby born about an hour ago, still wet and hasn't nursed yet. Mom is very protective so I didn't hang around. The rest of the herd is lying up in the high pasture behind these woods.

One of the many advantages of AI (artificial insemination) is the calves come pretty close to an established due date.  Two of the Angus girls who were AI'ed were due to calve April 4.  I just came back from tramping the woods and fields looking for them and we have one calf on the ground and another very near.  The weather is suppose to clear tonight, so these babies should get a good start.

Talk about blooming where you are planted!,
This little violet was blooming all alone on a muddy cow pocked hill side.

Asparagus

The asparagus has returned.  I picked a dozen spears about two weeks ago and then the nights turned cold and the asparagus decided to stay in bed a little longer. This evening, after several nice days with night temperatures in the low 40's the green spears have returned. 

The mild winter was good for grass and the asparagus bed is almost completely taken over with it, so I had mowed the bed very close after I picked last week.  That made it easy to find the spears this time as they stand half again as tall as the grass - this week. Next week will be a different story I'm sure as the grass will keep growing and I can't mow it again without sacrificing the asparagus. Mulch is on the way!

Here' my favorite way to cook asparagus. It's from Nicole at The One hair salon and its the best!




Lay the asparagus spears out in a single row and bath them in a little olive oil.
I like to put down some parchment paper. On the grill use foil or just lay them out carefully so they don't fall through the rack.

Roast in a 450 degree oven for five to seven minutes, or on a barbecue grill, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper and grill another seven or eight minutes. I moved them a little closer together to help the cheese stay in place.



       





Ready to enjoy. I use the large flakesof cheese that I by in a box at the Kroger. It's their Private Selection brand. I use it on salads all the time.  Some of the flakes fall off the asparagus and on to the parchment paper. They cook into delicious little Parmesan chips!  So good!!

Hunting for Cows

Two of the Angus are due to calve April 4, so I went looking for them.  I found the older one just fine and she is definitely going to calve in the next couple of days. I could not find the heifer. She and the old crippled cow were not with the herd.

Thor and Bobbie watch me head out, hoping that I will throw a bucket of grain in their feed bunk.

The herd, or most of it anyway, nooning.

I texted the Angus' owner to let him know I was checking on his girls. He texted back that he and his wife were timing her labor pains and they were now 5 minutes apart!  Good thing I never told him I couldn't find the heifer - but I did find her finally.

Tom Tom and his mother BTAP Violet.  This week I plan to register him as BTAP ZZ Tom.
 

Tom Tom having lunch.