We're easing into Summer. We've already had a few days in the high nineties and then gotten a little rain with impressive lightning and thunder which took us back to lower temperatures and less humidity. It seems we're in for more hot days this coming week.
This is all fine for the continuing haying. High temps bake the grass dry and little rain doesn't really affect the process of raking and baling.
I'm in my normal Summer mode -- getting out early to do chores and whatever gardening I can manage and then retreating to the house until evening. I got my own battery powered chainsaw, so can cut small trees to neaten up the landscape. I cut up much dead pussywillow and wild grapevine this morning.
During the day yesterday and today, I bottled the 2010 wines which were stored in carboys in the basement. I taste a small bit of each one before bottling so as not to waste time if the wine isn't up to par.
Not a single wine was spoiled. Some are very good, others just good. Those of you who might be wondering about the yellow tomato wine: It has a slightly tomato-y taste with lemon and ginger supporting. It's what you'd call an "interesting" wine and one that may improve with age. It's a lovely golden color. 'Not something you'd normally expect in a wine. It does pack a punch, however!
The tomato wine made me think of the potent peapod wine made by the Goods in the PBS series, "The Good Neighbors." It was a 1975 series about what we now call Urban Homesteaders. They lived in a middle class neighborhood and when Tom Good lost his job, they decided to become self-sufficient by raising fruit and vegetables and even acquiring chickens, a pig and a milk goat named Geraldine. Tom managed to figure out how to generate power using the methane from animal manure.
Everything old is new again.
Monday, June 06, 2011
Wednesday, June 01, 2011
Scorcher
"May" rhymes with "Hay" and every year it's a game of dodge the raindrops while surviving extreme heat. Today is June 1st and the heat is on!
All around us, farmers are making hay. The weather may cooperate this week, but dealing with equipment malfunctions is trying and delays progress. Same old same old.
The first golden daylilies are blooming. Asparagus is plentiful and requires daily picking. I blanch and freeze as quantities require. I never got around to planting the vegetable garden, but chard, tomatoes, and beans have volunteered. The beans have grown to the top of the trellis. There is much fruit on the trees, but the black raspberries are late this year.
The cows are happy to be in deep grass and the goats are fat and finding plenty of browse under the grass. Baby goats are growing. Some are already half the size of their mothers.
All around us, farmers are making hay. The weather may cooperate this week, but dealing with equipment malfunctions is trying and delays progress. Same old same old.
The first golden daylilies are blooming. Asparagus is plentiful and requires daily picking. I blanch and freeze as quantities require. I never got around to planting the vegetable garden, but chard, tomatoes, and beans have volunteered. The beans have grown to the top of the trellis. There is much fruit on the trees, but the black raspberries are late this year.
The cows are happy to be in deep grass and the goats are fat and finding plenty of browse under the grass. Baby goats are growing. Some are already half the size of their mothers.
Sunday, May 08, 2011
"It ain't over till it's over"...
...the immortal words of Yogi Berra.
Yes, folks, just when I "graduated" the last class from the maternity barn and we started getting back to normal (whatever that is) I found a little orphan screaming her lungs out. No tag. This was two days ago.
Was someone playing a joke by dropping off goat babies in our barn? No. I found her mother that evening. She'd had the baby and gone off to graze for the day. They are now in the maternity barn and yard.
Today -- you guessed it! Baby boy. Baby #111. This defies my understanding of gestation since the buck wasn't here longer than a month. Are there more to come? Stay tuned to this channel for the answer to that and other perplexing questions.
Happy Mother's Day!
Yes, folks, just when I "graduated" the last class from the maternity barn and we started getting back to normal (whatever that is) I found a little orphan screaming her lungs out. No tag. This was two days ago.
Was someone playing a joke by dropping off goat babies in our barn? No. I found her mother that evening. She'd had the baby and gone off to graze for the day. They are now in the maternity barn and yard.
Today -- you guessed it! Baby boy. Baby #111. This defies my understanding of gestation since the buck wasn't here longer than a month. Are there more to come? Stay tuned to this channel for the answer to that and other perplexing questions.
Happy Mother's Day!
Wednesday, May 04, 2011
Tempus Fugit
It seems impossible that my last post was in early April. It is now May. Iris have just started to burst through their paperlike buds. Spring rains grow grass quickly and it is nearly time for the first mowing of hay. The lawns have been mowed several times already.
Tiny apricots, pears, peaches, figs and apples are on the trees, foretelling a good fruit harvest. I've been picking and freezing asparagus and eggs are plentiful.
We ended up with well over a hundred little goatlings. Today, I "graduated" the last bunch from the maternity barn to graze the pastures. I decided to put the four bottle babies in that enclosure, as there is a refrigerator and microwave in that barn and it will be more convenient to keep milk there and warm it up. There is also soap and water and I'll be able to de-gunk when they splatter me with milk. Since it will be in the 30s tonight, that is a good warm place for them to stay.
I call them the gang of four, AKA the howling banshees. Bottle kids can be thugs, especially the males. Their cuteness makes them tolerable. They guzzle milk like it is going out of style. They run to greet me and trip me by winding around my feet. Little goats seem to have the impression that humans have milk somewhere in their legs, but it is not precise just where. They love, love, love milk and they love, love, love attention and cuddling.
We've achieved a sort of system and I actually manage to cook meals and am catching up with cleaning in the house. The vegetable garden is unplanted. I've considered just seeing what I can glean from the perennial crops and berries this year, as we have plenty frozen and canned from last year. I'll likely relent and get things in the ground soon.
Tiny apricots, pears, peaches, figs and apples are on the trees, foretelling a good fruit harvest. I've been picking and freezing asparagus and eggs are plentiful.
We ended up with well over a hundred little goatlings. Today, I "graduated" the last bunch from the maternity barn to graze the pastures. I decided to put the four bottle babies in that enclosure, as there is a refrigerator and microwave in that barn and it will be more convenient to keep milk there and warm it up. There is also soap and water and I'll be able to de-gunk when they splatter me with milk. Since it will be in the 30s tonight, that is a good warm place for them to stay.
I call them the gang of four, AKA the howling banshees. Bottle kids can be thugs, especially the males. Their cuteness makes them tolerable. They guzzle milk like it is going out of style. They run to greet me and trip me by winding around my feet. Little goats seem to have the impression that humans have milk somewhere in their legs, but it is not precise just where. They love, love, love milk and they love, love, love attention and cuddling.
We've achieved a sort of system and I actually manage to cook meals and am catching up with cleaning in the house. The vegetable garden is unplanted. I've considered just seeing what I can glean from the perennial crops and berries this year, as we have plenty frozen and canned from last year. I'll likely relent and get things in the ground soon.
Thursday, April 07, 2011
Redbud in Bloom
I saw one redbud ready to bloom in the woods on Saturday. Today, they are prominent on the edges of the pastures.
We're having a little respite from goat births for the past few days. I think there will be another wave before the end of the month -- and then it will be over, because the buck was only here for a month.
All is pretty copacetic in the barns. In the big barn, which is maze-like, fifteen or twenty babies will play a breakneck game of follow the leader. They race through the barn from end to end and through the fenced pasture. Sometimes, they are so intent on the game that they run into me as I try to make my way to do one task or another.
Baby goats are happy to be alive and full of energy. Mothers' milk is making them strong and heavy to pick up! The life force is strong. They can now leap atop tall buildings in a single bound. Well, at least they are jumping up onto the top of the little plastic dog house in the hallway. Eventually the sudden need for sleep will hit and they will pile inside for a nice, warm nap.
We're having a little respite from goat births for the past few days. I think there will be another wave before the end of the month -- and then it will be over, because the buck was only here for a month.
All is pretty copacetic in the barns. In the big barn, which is maze-like, fifteen or twenty babies will play a breakneck game of follow the leader. They race through the barn from end to end and through the fenced pasture. Sometimes, they are so intent on the game that they run into me as I try to make my way to do one task or another.
Baby goats are happy to be alive and full of energy. Mothers' milk is making them strong and heavy to pick up! The life force is strong. They can now leap atop tall buildings in a single bound. Well, at least they are jumping up onto the top of the little plastic dog house in the hallway. Eventually the sudden need for sleep will hit and they will pile inside for a nice, warm nap.
Saturday, April 02, 2011
March Went Out Like a Lion
We even had some snow flurries yesterday morning -- April 1st -- no joke. I am UDDERLY (and utterly) exhausted. We are up to well over 70 new kids, but it seems to be nearly over. We had a single newborn yesterday afternoon.
To think that I was under the impression that kidding would just be starting about now! I guess I need to be a little more careful about counting days. We were caught a little off guard and the small pastures need fence repairs before we can turn them out on a dry day. I'm hoping that will be addressed today while we have our Saturday helper. Now, if we could just have a dry, warm, sunny day...
I sold one of my last Nubians with her two fat baby doelings yesterday. There are two Nubians left. We are nearly all white with brown heads now. 'Get 'em while they're hot. By the way, Brambleberry Farm will be a good place to purchase new breeding stock this year.
I hope to start tagging, worming, and wethering, but need courageous and strong helpers.
To think that I was under the impression that kidding would just be starting about now! I guess I need to be a little more careful about counting days. We were caught a little off guard and the small pastures need fence repairs before we can turn them out on a dry day. I'm hoping that will be addressed today while we have our Saturday helper. Now, if we could just have a dry, warm, sunny day...
I sold one of my last Nubians with her two fat baby doelings yesterday. There are two Nubians left. We are nearly all white with brown heads now. 'Get 'em while they're hot. By the way, Brambleberry Farm will be a good place to purchase new breeding stock this year.
I hope to start tagging, worming, and wethering, but need courageous and strong helpers.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Speedy (Goat) Delivery Service
When you've survived another day on this goat ranch, you know it by the back pain, extreme fatigue, and inability to string sentences together.
I've been working pretty much twelve hour days for the last week. My little UTV is outfitted with two vented plastic picnic baskets, lined with clean towels and a dog leash. I bought those picnic baskets many years ago in a Big Lots in Orlando, Florida. I had no idea what they'd be good for, but at five dollars apiece, it seemed like a good buy.
My little UTV travels uphill and down and all around the pastures, picking up mothers and babies who have been born al fresco and delivering them to the barns where mothers get food, hay, and water and semi-private digs. Mothers are usually tied onto the handhold of the UTV and I slowly proceed with them in tow. Babies naval cords are iodined; the date, mother's tag number and the babies new herd numbers are entered in my little notebook; paper collars containing the same information are placed on little baby necks and kisses and congratulations are given all around.
There are also a good number of overnight births in the barn. This morning, my husband and I worked to sort out a dozen new births, clean out the biggest space in the bottom of the barn and figure out a strategy for housing all in some sort of orderly fashion.
I've just done a count from my notebook. We have had 64 live births so far. Many sets of triplets and two sets of quads so far. Most births are twins, but today we had a couple of singles -- all bucklings.
So, those of you who love baby goat time at Brambleberry Farm and want to help out for a few hours (you know who you are), come on out or give me a call or email to set up a time. I figure we are only about half way through.
The picnic baskets were a great buy and the UTV was a great buy in terms of useful tools.
I've been working pretty much twelve hour days for the last week. My little UTV is outfitted with two vented plastic picnic baskets, lined with clean towels and a dog leash. I bought those picnic baskets many years ago in a Big Lots in Orlando, Florida. I had no idea what they'd be good for, but at five dollars apiece, it seemed like a good buy.
My little UTV travels uphill and down and all around the pastures, picking up mothers and babies who have been born al fresco and delivering them to the barns where mothers get food, hay, and water and semi-private digs. Mothers are usually tied onto the handhold of the UTV and I slowly proceed with them in tow. Babies naval cords are iodined; the date, mother's tag number and the babies new herd numbers are entered in my little notebook; paper collars containing the same information are placed on little baby necks and kisses and congratulations are given all around.
There are also a good number of overnight births in the barn. This morning, my husband and I worked to sort out a dozen new births, clean out the biggest space in the bottom of the barn and figure out a strategy for housing all in some sort of orderly fashion.
I've just done a count from my notebook. We have had 64 live births so far. Many sets of triplets and two sets of quads so far. Most births are twins, but today we had a couple of singles -- all bucklings.
So, those of you who love baby goat time at Brambleberry Farm and want to help out for a few hours (you know who you are), come on out or give me a call or email to set up a time. I figure we are only about half way through.
The picnic baskets were a great buy and the UTV was a great buy in terms of useful tools.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Spring Sprung
The apricot trees are in full bloom, as is an early Magnolia. I decided to "Spring Up" the blog in celebration. There is some rain in the forecast, and I'm glad of it.
The briar project continues, but I'm nearing the end. Huge piles of cut brambles have been generated and await removal by tractor or truck.
Jonquils are blooming, but not all yet. Restraint is good. I see tulip leaves up, but no buds yet.
Much of the pre-baby work is done in the barns. Maternity checks are daily events.
Meanwhile, I struggle to learn to use Open Source Software on the theory that exercising the brain is good. Mostly, I get a mild headache and smoke comes out of my ears, but some progress is being made.
The briar project continues, but I'm nearing the end. Huge piles of cut brambles have been generated and await removal by tractor or truck.
Jonquils are blooming, but not all yet. Restraint is good. I see tulip leaves up, but no buds yet.
Much of the pre-baby work is done in the barns. Maternity checks are daily events.
Meanwhile, I struggle to learn to use Open Source Software on the theory that exercising the brain is good. Mostly, I get a mild headache and smoke comes out of my ears, but some progress is being made.
Thursday, March 03, 2011
I Love Puzzles
My current project is cutting down a large stand of brambles near our front gate. It is a complicated and treacherous puzzle. You could really get hurt unraveling this puzzle.
It's not the first time in fourteen years that I've done this, but I swear it will be the last time! I've got plans to keep this stuff in check. There are lovely perennial bulbs planted there which, some years, are never seen and appreciated.
I work for an hour or just a half hour and then need to rest. This is not for the faint of heart. I'll work outside as long as I can each day and tackle the pruning and cleaning of flower beds during Spring. When the Summer heat comes it'll be all over!
I planted some peppers in the greenhouse yesterday.
The newborn calves run like crazy when I drive down the hill. The interesting thing is that they run to Papa Tom, our horned Dexter bull. He's been known to lay in the pasture with a group of young calves all around him. How do they know he's the pater familias? Is it instinct? He is a lovely boy and I am fond of him
It's not the first time in fourteen years that I've done this, but I swear it will be the last time! I've got plans to keep this stuff in check. There are lovely perennial bulbs planted there which, some years, are never seen and appreciated.
I work for an hour or just a half hour and then need to rest. This is not for the faint of heart. I'll work outside as long as I can each day and tackle the pruning and cleaning of flower beds during Spring. When the Summer heat comes it'll be all over!
I planted some peppers in the greenhouse yesterday.
The newborn calves run like crazy when I drive down the hill. The interesting thing is that they run to Papa Tom, our horned Dexter bull. He's been known to lay in the pasture with a group of young calves all around him. How do they know he's the pater familias? Is it instinct? He is a lovely boy and I am fond of him
Wednesday, March 02, 2011
March Came in Like a Lamb
Will March go out like a lion? Stay tuned.
Severe thunderstorms and possible tornados were predicted on February 28th. It kept me on edge the whole day. Thankfully, they never materialized. We did get some nice rain.
It was up in the 70s F. The next day, March 1st it was 20 degrees cooler. Good. That's more normal.
I'm aware that France near the Swiss border is experiencing much the same Spring-like weather, with daffodils and tulips starting to bloom. The drive to prune and weed was strong yesterday. I tired myself out just calculating how much work needs to be done. I managed to plant some tomato seeds in the greenhouse -- but I would have done that no matter the weather outside.
Meanwhile, the logistics of goat kidding is taking up some brain space. The maternity barn is pretty well fitted out, but it won't hold all, so I must start strategizing how we will use the big barn stalls.
'Bet you city dwellers didn't know that farmers have to do so much thinking and planning. Don't plan and you'll reap the consequences in terms of chaos.
I'm reading Bringing It to the Table, by Wendell Berry and just at the point where I may learn the secrets of large herd management of sheep, which are close enough to goat herd management. I'm hoping there will be some gems of wisdom included.
Severe thunderstorms and possible tornados were predicted on February 28th. It kept me on edge the whole day. Thankfully, they never materialized. We did get some nice rain.
It was up in the 70s F. The next day, March 1st it was 20 degrees cooler. Good. That's more normal.
I'm aware that France near the Swiss border is experiencing much the same Spring-like weather, with daffodils and tulips starting to bloom. The drive to prune and weed was strong yesterday. I tired myself out just calculating how much work needs to be done. I managed to plant some tomato seeds in the greenhouse -- but I would have done that no matter the weather outside.
Meanwhile, the logistics of goat kidding is taking up some brain space. The maternity barn is pretty well fitted out, but it won't hold all, so I must start strategizing how we will use the big barn stalls.
'Bet you city dwellers didn't know that farmers have to do so much thinking and planning. Don't plan and you'll reap the consequences in terms of chaos.
I'm reading Bringing It to the Table, by Wendell Berry and just at the point where I may learn the secrets of large herd management of sheep, which are close enough to goat herd management. I'm hoping there will be some gems of wisdom included.
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