Great Annual Poop-Moving Extravaganza

...is how Jennifer refers to the day when we shovel 12 months of accumulated bedding and manure from the sheep barn. I estimate that we moved 11-12 cubic yards of material and that it may have weighed upwards of 8,000 pounds. We still have the rams' pen to do but that's a much smaller area. This year we are sheet composting the bedding in areas that we want to convert from sod to food production. This photo will give you an idea where we've moved the poop this year.

At the far end of the garden you can see where we've extended the length of the garden area. This 10-foot extension over a 50-foot width will increase our growing area by 500 square feet - 1000 total since we're expanding both ends this way. In addition we're adding a new 3-foot wide bed about 90 feet long alongside the existing garden area. About 1/3 of this will be planted in asparagus and a bit of rhubarb with the rest going into strawberries for a 3-year rotation.

I like the 50-foot width since we have several soaker hoses that are 50' long. It makes watering convenient. The new total growing area will be 50' x 100' plus the additional bed (3' x 90'). This photo was taken from my sons' bedroom window. I hope to get up on the roof of the greenhouse soon so I can get a photo of the entire garden. I'll post it when I do.

All the animals are fine

We had a flash flood here this evening after three big downpours during the afternoon. I think we got at least 4" total. The debris in the photo washed up and knocked down a temporary fence. I'm pulling it up in in the pic.

All the animals are fine. Our bull walked over this fence and was in the with the sheep for awhile. I'll try to get more and better photos tomorrow.

The butcher came today. Unfortunately, no pics of that. We have a hogget for sale if anyone is interested.

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January 27, 2011

Here is the latest addition to our menagerie. Her name is Jazz and she's a 17 year old Paint mare. My daughter Katie is on her in the pic. She came to live with us last Sunday.

I haven't written much here this winter because not a lot is happening on the farm. The bull calf has been closed in the barn since early December and we'll probably let him outside in the next week or so. We've kept him confined so he wouldn't go through the fence and go back to nursing the cow. He should be fully weaned by now. Last year's bull, Porter, never tried to nurse again after he went back in with Sugar. If he went through the fence and bred her at her next heat it would mean a calf in November; less than ideal but not unworkable. Assuming he obeys the fence, we'll put him in with Sugar in June for planned breeding.

Spring is in sight and we'll be ordering garden seeds soon. I've gotten to the point where I usually buy plants instead of starting seeds indoors. Since we heat primarily with our woodstove, the cellar is too cold and we don't have any other place to do seed starting. On the plus side the cellar is perfect for aging cheese. I've got 25 pounds aging right now. When it warms up, though, it will have to go into a refrigerator because the cellar will be too warm.