Farmers Please!

Nate just returned from the Minnesota Organic Conference, so I'm sure some of the ideas will be spilling over to this blog. First idea, if you are a farmer (no matter how small) sing up for the census of agrigulture form. If they don't know we are here, they ignore us.
The link is here. Give small farmers a voice. I'm going there now.

New Header Picture

You might notice that I finally changed the lush July clover picture to a picture more suiting of the season. I haven't spent much time outside with the camera lately, but last week I managed to snap a quick picture of a couple of the Highlands before they mobbed the gate for treats. From left to right: Sophie Lou, a glimpse of Goldilocks in the back, Wooly Bully, and Nonie.

Those are our goats!

Yes, Nora and Brie have made their debut on a blog much larger (and more frequently updated) than mine.
Jackie Clay blogged about our breeding barter here . It's weird not to be greated by maaaing when I step out the door, but I'll be very excited to see what we get come June. We bred the girls to a boer cross last year, and were very pleased with the resulting offspring, one of whom is Pippa. This time around Nora and Brie are both being bred to a 100% Boer buck, and Pippa to a Boer/Nubian cross buck. Jackie chooses her Boers from milky lines, so I'm excited to see what rate of milk production we get out of Pippa. Thankfully since the babies won't arrive till summer I won't have to be doing any milking while school is still in session.
The goats are not Nate's favorite, though he does appreciate their milk. He hasn't said anything about missing them this week though...

I know,,,

7 years old!

4 years old!

Our newest addition, Purry.

yes, it's been way too long since I've blogged. No excuses, though I have to blame pinterest for some of my computer time being pulled away from blogging. It's addictive!

Quick recap of Fall: it was filled with busy times, kids' activities, lots of butchering, lots of chores, breeding groups arranged, and a few birthdays.

We finally had the opportunity to enjoy our home-grown red wattle pork. Five pigs were butchered in November, and were delicious! I can honestly say that it is the best pork I have had (especially the bacon!) We have been enjoying it!

Ten lambs were also butchered this fall, with less satisfactory results- the meat was great, just not a lot of it. The lack of rain in the end of summer and poor pasture management on my part led to lambs that were smaller than average. We did butcher a 2 1/2 year old ram, and he tastes very good. I was skeptic, but other than a bit tougher meat, the flavor is excellent! Plus the chops are more than one bite.

Lyle was moved back in with sows Gertie and Gwennie in November, and Hero was moved to the herd of 17 ewes in November too. It will be a busy spring! The goat girls- Nora

, Brie, and Pippa just made a trip to Jackie and Will's farm this past weekend for a visit with two of their bucks. This puts goat kids arriving in June, but that's ok. T-Rex our berkshire boar also made the trip to visit their gilts.

Our weather has been so mild that the cows are eating a lot less hay than projected. Nate has been spending time at some workshops to increase his expertise on the beef and marketing front. I'm just happy he's so willing to do extra chores before he leaves. Doing chores by headlamp has its challenges!

School is going well and I am still very thankful I made the move. Learning how to deal with sixth graders on a daily basis has its challenges, but we are managing! The realization of how much stress I was under at my old position is more evident now that I have some time to step back and look at it. I take the time to relax and enjoy my family more now. The biggest difference is probably my ability to leave work at work.

With our crazy warm weather this January well up until today, (it was 41 yesterday, but 8 degrees right now) the spring bug has definitely imbeded itself in my skin. Seed orders, planning for the farm, lots of ideas. Our biggest challenge right now is determining how fast to grow the size of our operations. More to come on that front!