I was going to name this post “Honey Making”, but I was corrected by my loving wife. I’m reminded that the bees make the honey. We simply rob a little of the extra and extract some for ourselves. Either way, it makes for some delicious diversions; not the least of which is smoking the hive [...]
Before I introduce our new bull, I have to post a beautiful picture of Jamie’s cukes and onions. It’s a fairly simple recipe consisting of equal parts vinegar and sugar (about 2/3 cup each), and about twice that amount of water (say 2 cups). Throw in a teaspoon of salt and bring to a [...]
So much going on right now at the farm. This is our second growing season here and it couldn’t be more different than last year. Instead of endless rain and cool temps, we have record breaking heat and are having to figure out solutions to keep all of the plants and animals adequately hydrated.
The garden [...]
We lost our sweet ewe lamb two weeks ago. We found her in the woods, barely alive. We tried to get her back on her feet for two days to no avail. In the end, after we went through every possible sheep disease, we figure out she had enterotoxemia. Essentially, she had such a rich [...]
We have had a busy month here. In addition to settling in as a family of five, we have had two lambs born, planted our garden, procured two feeder pigs, and also added three more sheep to our flock. We got another CVM ewe named Camieaux, and two CVM yearling rams that will keep [...]
Our second baby lamb was born this morning. While our first lamb was a ewe (a girl), this little one was a ram (a boy). He was also a good 2 pounds heavier than his sister upon birth (8 1/2 versus 10 1/2). We weighted the girl again today and she was 11 1/4 lbs, [...]
Our first baby lamb was born on Saturday, the day before Mother’s Day. We’re busy with our own new addition born just a couple weeks before, so for the moment we’re just putting up a couple pictures.
Our other ewe is due any day now. Happy Mother’s Day everyone!
Last Friday our sheep and goat shearer came to the farm to remove the winter fleeces from our flock. We really like her; she can work with all of the fiber animals people regularly keep (sheep, goats, alpacas, llamas), she knows tons about general livestock health, and she is willing to come to small farms [...]
For those that follow our blog, you may remember that we were having difficulty with our female angora goat Flora last year. During the summer she developed lameness in her hoofs and despite trying numerous treatments, we weren’t able to get her back onto her feet until after a visit for our shearer. She suggested [...]
This past week was the most beautiful week imaginable. Warm, sunny, the perfect way to welcome spring! We were outside as much as possible, soaking in the sun’s rays.
On our farm, we have a perimeter fence (48″ field fence with a strand of electric fence running around) around the entire “back-yard” which is about 11 [...]