Sprouts Ready to Eat and Plant, More Calves.

L to R, pea, broccoli and kale sprouts

The pea, kale and broccoli seeds I've been caring for in my sprouter are finally ready to harvest.  They have grown too tall for the sprouter, particularly the pea sprouts. 

My plan was to pot up the pea sprouts in peat pots so I can set them out in the garden. Traditionally you should be able to plant peas directly in the garden on St. Patrick's Day.  The weather has been so cold and wet, I'm not sure I can work the ground.  St. Patrick's Day is Sunday and we are to have a little warmer weather for a few days, so I'll see how it goes. In the meantime I've transferred the pea and broccoli sprouts to a tray with a clear plastic lid, sort of a mini green house.  They can stay put for a few days, then if the ground is still too wet on Sunday I'll pot them up and put them out only during the day.  The kale sprouts went into a plastic bag in the refrigerator. They will top salads and sandwiches over the next week or so. The roots are a matted mass so I think I'll treat them as micro greens and just cut the tops to eat.  The pea sprouts look like they might be tasty as well, but I really love peas fresh from the garden so hopefully these will survive to grow out doors.

Pea Sprouts

Calf number four was born last evening. It was one of the Angus's heifer's turns and she gave us quite a fright.  Their owner, Courtney, came out about 6:30 to check the calf born Wednesday and found the heifer in labor.  She wouldn't let him near her so he just stayed back and watched to make sure of her progress.

 When it was almost dark and he hadn't returned I became concerned and suited up to go look for him. He didn't have his cell phone on him and I thought he might be in some kind of trouble either with a birth or heaven forbid, injured.  Just as I went through the gate he came striding up the hill to report that the heifer was in labor and wasn't doing well. She was straining a lot but no feet or nose was evident. He could see a rounded mass pushing against her vulva and was concerned it was coming butt first - which would not be good. To make matters worse, while he watched her heard rustling in the woods near by and a very large coyote emerged and headed for the heifer. Courtney is from Oklahoma by way of Texas and he was amazed at the size and overall healthy appearance of Ohio coyotes.  He got the heifer up and moved her across the big field to position her closer to the herd and left her there with plans to return in a few hours.   At midnight he returned and I let him know to call me on his cell if he needed me.  By 12:30 he called to report that the calf had been born unassisted, the cow was on her feet and so was the calf.  We were lucky. 

This was another early calf.  I'd checked that heifer yesterday and she wasn't showing any clear signs of calving soon. I figured her for next Tuesday when the first AI calves are due, so I had left them all on the high, dry back pasture.  It's still the best place to calve - provided nothing goes wrong.  I'm on the watch for the last calf due in that heard for a few weeks, and also for calves from my two possible AI births.  They are still not due until Tuesday, so we will see what happens this weekend.