Fire on the Farm!!!

I was gone Thursday afternoon, singing at a nursing home with a friend, and when I came home I noticed smoke coming from the far back corner of the property. "Adam," I said, "There's a fire next door!" Adam had called our one-and-only neighbor, who was on his way lickety-split from work.

Still, a fire is an exciting thing, and even though Adam had checked it moments ago, I decided to traipse across the field to see the fire in the neighbor's yard ... only it was no longer in the neighbor's yard. The wind had blown it into our field!

Adam called the fire department because it was spreading quite quickly. I dashed back to the barn for some shovels, and Adam and I got the fire's edges under control by smothering it with shovels. The photos below are after the shoveling had conquered the fire. I don't take photos when a fire is spreading on the farm :)

 It took only a few minutes for the fire to jump through the fence and across this area. We were so, so thankful that this field had recently been mown quite short. Otherwise, the fire would have been quite out-of-hand.

 The farm dogs were quite interested in the fire and insisted on walking across the smokey area. I was worried about their paw pads, but they were unfazed by it.

 Adam doused the fence posts, which kept smoldering.

 Adam may be on this side of 50, but he can still climb over a fence if needed!

 In the end, it was not a big deal, and I'm thankful we were home. And the nice guys on the fire engine said it counted as a little bit of training.

 

Still a few tomatoes from one bush.

My two silkie chickens are getting so plump! My chicken-lady-friend said she thinks the larger of the two is a roo. (It's very difficult to tell sex with silkie chickens.) But from above, you can certainly see the difference in size.

 

And one of them has started laying! Hooray! Now I'm getting two eggs a day ... phew!

I put my onions to bed.

 I stripped lots of dry basil blooms from their stalks and sprinkled them in an empty bed, covering it with straw. 

Will they come up in the spring? Earlier? I have lots of them left, see? And I'm keeping some inside too. Since basil grows so well here, and lettuces have been a challenge, we're thinking of having more basil salads next summer.