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June 2008
May came and left quick enough! Sheesh!
Way ahead on rain this year, had over 6 inches this past month alone. Grass and fields look wonderful and even had a
7-day break in the weather, which was plenty to get the first cutting of hay done. Huzzah! First cutting in the
barn and Boy! Does it look and smell great! Hay rake broke with ½ a windrow left which we raked by hand,
but the mower and baler- bless their hearts- held up and did us proud. Neighbor’s son was available to help us
buck bales and made quick work of things.
CocoBuck has been sold to Tennessee State University to take part in
their breed research program. As he comes from a Vallera herd in VA he should have plenty of vigor to add to mixed breed
research. Our other bucklings were sold on-farm as well as direct to a buyer. All we fed them was mineral-salt
mix. Other than that, zero input for a great return. That is how we want to raise market goats- let them do their
thing and with minimal management, maximize the profit.
The does have been loving the 18 acres of “woods”
we put them in- except for the ticks- they have bloomed and regained condition quickly after this winter’s kidding.
The March-kidding does even look great, not pulled down at all. Nice full udders on the moms and growing kids.
Our farm dog Jasper had to be put down as he didn’t have a broken leg like we thought, but instead it was bone cancer. Vet had an inkling the latter was the case, but to be sure we took the “tincture of
time’ route for a couple weeks- splinting the leg and having him rest. After two weeks poor dog was in pain and
when we re-x rayed the leg, it was obvious the cause was not a fracture but cancer. Not unusual in big dogs, but unusual
in a big dog just 2 yrs old. We will miss our Woofie.
Savannah finished 7th grade, received 4 academic certificates
of merit and is having fun in summer school’s recreation program. Miss Rising 8th Grader is looking forward to
her summer, especially the pool. Will try to get her some music instruction this summer as she wants to learn piano
as well as flute.
Received our two nucs of bees and installed them. Bees are just too cool. They really
are calm and, inside a bee suit with gloves, you feel just like a part of the hive. They work easy and are busy in the
clover fields, asparagus beds, wild roses, etc. The first afternoon we put them in the hives the girls were out collecting
pollen!
Have an incubator with a dozen Buckeye chicken eggs purchased on Ebay. All 12 are at the same stage
of development and will hatch June 4th. Buckeye chickens are a heritage breed developed in Ohio and are said to be excellent
foragers, good layers and fast growers for the table. They “growl”, make other strange noises and like to
eat mice. Sounds like the perfect farm bird for us!
Have 3 raised-bed veggie patches done out of cement blocks.
Found a block guy who made us a deal on block- can’t beat that! Each bed is about 5’ x 16’ and 2-blocks
deep. Will get good garden dirt brought in this week and get my ‘maters planted, as well as our other veggies.
Am not concerned about the late start, did it the first year we were here and had bumper crops. Nice long growing season
here in God’s Green Valley.
Other than that, two cows are gearing
up to calve- maybe even today. Betty Jean of Diamond and Hammer’s Little Bit have nice filling udders and “other”
signs of impending motherhood. I wouldn’t be surprised if they calved on the same day. Both were bred to
different bulls- Hammer to our Fan-C-Joseph and Betty Jean to Wendy’s Blz Red Irish. Hmmm, a red calf perhaps???? Time will tell!
Summer is here! Yippie!
Until later,
~Mary Jane
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