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January 2008!
Happy New Year to all! I cannot tell you how much I am looking forward to
this year- I am excited- feel like I am reading Dr. Seuss's Oh! The Places You Will Go! Not that we are going anywhere
special, just all the things we hope to accomplish this year. (Hmmm, sounds suspiciously like resolutions to me)
SteelMeadow Farm Resolutions:
1: Finish the housebarn and move in this year. Note- I am not saying exactly when
this year, just sometime this year.
2: Have a wonderful calving season and imprint all the calves. Will help a great
deal later with handling, as we did last year with Baby Beefers.
3: Get the goats all cycled together to schedule October
and November kiddings.
4: Have the best garden ever!
5: Set up the hoop house somewhere permanent for future
gardening and chick needs.
6: Attend Cheese School and Bee Classes.
7: Tighten our budget so creatively we don't
realize it... (Planned trips to town, eating better with monthly menus, etc.)
8: Finish training Buzz (the gelding)
so Savannah can learn to ride. Safely.
9: Lose weight and get into better shape. (It had to get listed sometime you
know)
10: Make new friends, be good parents and enjoy ourselves in the process with all the above.
That
ain't asking too much now, is it???
All the best for this upcoming Year of the Rat!
~Mary Jane, Ever
the Optimist
February!
Superbowl, Fat Tuesday, Super Tuesday and the beginning of calving;
lots of things going on this month at SteelMeadow!
Savannah and I attended the Missouri 4-H Teen conference in
Columbia, Mo. 300+ kids from across the state all housed in a lovely resort with sessions held at Mizzou. They sang, danced,
met other kids and we all had a good time. This young teen conference is preparation for the older teen conferences to come.
I still have the Missouri milk song, beaver song and eat bananas song rattling around in my head- don't get me started!
Daisy, our dun herd queen, is getting ready for her calf. Sire is Shome Randolph- another dun- and we are eagerly
awaiting the calf's arrival. Daisy has a full udder and is loosening up- I suspect she will go within the week. A trained
professional, Daisy has things well under control. I was out rubbing on Calpurnia and felt her calf kick. Our other 7 females
should all have their calves this spring and summer with Beggin calving last in September.
Had our first real
snow last week with 2 snow days used up. Only got 2" out of the forecasted 5-10" but it was enough to make things
look nice and wintery. Chickens decided it was better in their coop but Buzz enjoyed making snow angels in the paddock.
Work is progressing on the housebarn- but with temps in the teens it was hard for Glenn to get out there in the unheated
space. We have been exploring various hardwood flooring options- domestic vs. exotic species, unfinished vs. finished and
still have not quite made up our minds.
Today we need to get the martin gourds down (I have been procrastinating
doing this but today is warm and calm) and hung up in the tractor barn so I can sand them and repaint them before our purple
beauties return. That and the usual daily chores all await us.
Until March- keep fingers crossed that Daisy has
a heifer!
~Mary Jane
March 2008
Daisy had a fine dun bull calf and Calpurnia
followed suit with a dun calf, but a heifer this time. Odin appears to be a "leggy" Kerry-type bull and Scout is
a short-legged cutie heifer. Once they realized they were both calves they have become inseparable.
Lupine and
Zuu Zuu will be next to calve in a month or two and we have 4 does to kid by the end of March. Grass is already starting
to green up and we are beginning to open up the south field. Brush hogging and fence-line cleaning, then we will put up goat
fencing. Will give the caprine stock a nice 18 acres of nothing but browse-heaven. They will LOVE it.
Planning
our management-intensive grazing plans for the spring and summer. This entails cordoning off parts of the east meadow. The
top may become a nice additional hay field, at least for a cutting or two until the heat of summer slows the fescue down.
Honey bees are in the works. Will start with two hives and see how things go. Cheese school is a "go"
and Glenn keeps reading about running a few sheep with grass-fed beeves for optimal results soooooo, we may look into a few
of them too. Especially if we are able to get the goats in the woods, the sheep can help keep the weeds down with the Dexters.
Savannah competed in both the middle school choir and band competitions. She did very well with a soprano solo
and quartet as well as her horn solo and band ensemble pieces. We are very proud of our music major. 10 snow days used so
far this year- maybe we are done with ice for the year!
Savannah also was confirmed in church with her Grammy
and Papa Rumi up from TX. The weather was cold, windy, raw and downright miserable. Had the window of opportunity there
between two ice storms, but all went well. Had a great visit!
Have not worked much on the housebarn, but will
get to it soon enough. Now that we are back into fencing-mode, our living arrangements take back burner. Animals first,
as always.
Until later- with luck the server won't have any more issues and I will be able to update my site
without any more problems or delays!
-Mary Jane May 2008 Whew! Am I glad that March is
over or what? Certainly started off like a lamb, but it really did go out like a lion.
Ended up with almost
12 inches of rain for the month which is a record for the state. Although school did not close, our road was flooded out with
parts of the road washed down to bedrock. Savannah missed a day due to high water but it won't be counted against her.
Fan-C-Zuu Zuu calved Saturday night, under a full moon right before Easter. Our bull Ace was a bit confused and
kept thinking she was ready for something else so Glenn had to literally keep him back with a stout hickory shepherd's
crook. A heifer, she labored well but needed just a bit of help when the feet and snout presented. Eased the head out and
helped to "walk" the front legs; out he plopped! Once Zuu Zuu had licked him fairly dry, we moved mom and calf to
the corral. Glenn, calf and I were covered with amniotic slime but it was a beautiful starry night so we couldn't complain.
Two of our four "March Delivery" does had their kids- Sunny had twins and the first doe popped out
fine. Twin brother presented with just a head, no feet, but Sunny had the "room" and all we had to do was give him
a good angle and out he came. Talk about cute! I wish all the kids could have his markings!
Buttercup, the dairy
doe, had her buckling who weighed almost 9 pounds! Her udder is wonderful and the two kids of Sunny's quickly learned
that Buttercup ALWAYS has milk and will sneak up behind her for snacks.
Savannah wanted to go to the roller rink
(the same evening that Zuu Zuu calved) but fell going to the practice area and within an hour of arrival had hurt her ankle.
Brought her home and did the "RICE" thing but Easter morning it was apparent she needed "professional help."
Took her to the urgent care and they applied a plaster cast and said they believed she had a broken ankle. With her crutches
she attended school but getting comfortable at night was her most difficult hurdle.
A week later we went to ortho
for an appointment and they "upgraded" her to an aircast. Instant comfort! Will get xrays first of the month to
check on progress. At least we can remove the aircast for showers and hot tubbing. The swelling is going down but that is
allowing more "action" in the ankle which causes pain. Not out of the woods yet.
Fan-C's Lupine
and Frieda are both building udders and loosening up. They will be the next calvers. Now that we have them off the winter
field and up in the East Meadow, we will get our temporary corral moved so they can have a "private suite" at calving.
I can't wait!
Seeds are started, hives are painted. Glenn has the south field newly cleaned up and we will
get it fenced as soon as the weather breaks. Come On, Spring!
Looking ahead to a break of the wet weather-
Until later,
~Mary Jane May
Where is 2008 going in such a hurry?
We finally finished fencing and gating (4) the south
section so the goats and llama have 15 acres of wooded bliss, complete with 3 acre open meadow. A spring runs through
the bottom of the “valley” and will supply water as long as the water table is up. In a dry spell, we will
have to tank in water for them but for now they truly get to eat “goat food”- multiflora rose, brambles, shoots,
etc.
Gave the nannies and doelings a look over, banded the March buck kids and after trimming the llama (his coat
and toes) turned them loose. Fatima, one of the “major” does, was so excited she couldn’t stop eating
to pee, so she did both at the same time. Happy goats.
One of the winter bucklings is going to have a new
home at Tennessee State University as part of their research herd. Our Vallera-strain buck “CocoBuck” has
had surprising growth in the 30 days post-weaning- .61 lbs/day on just forage! Hope he isn’t a “one hit
wonder” and will be able to pass that “growthiness” onto future kids.
Dexters are doing well.
We have sectioned their East Meadow into 3 portions using one strand of braided electrified wire. The bucks are in there
too (for now) and they all quickly learned to move through the temporary gates from one section into another when called.
Do that every few days and it really has helped by increasing the uniformity of their grazing.
Tomatoes,
melon and lavender seedlings are growing inside still. No big hurry. Long growing season here and as long as I
get them out by the end of the month, all will be fruitful. Asparagus bed produced heavier than expected, this it’s
first year after planting. Felt guilty picking it but hey, it is HUGE!
Bees should be ready for pickup in
a week. Won’t that be fun! Savannah’s broken ankle is all but healed. Only a few more weeks
of school for her. Eagerly looking forward to working on the housebarn- will we be moved in by the end of the year?
Until later, think “hay!”
~Mary Jane
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