Good morning. I have had wise people messaging me about this year's crop of goat babies.
Sadly everyone, this is a non-breeding year for me. If we decide to bring in a buck this autumn, I'll be sure to let everyone know. Do contact me if you have breeding/baby questions and I'll do my best to answer.
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It's harvest time. I left the garlic in too long this year. I did a better job with not watering as they were hardening off but left them in about a fortnight too long. This resulted in a lovely treasure hunt but I think I got most of them. This was a wee portion of the harvest - such fun. I'd just been away for a week at a Master Dyer's retreat (more on that later) and worried about all of my crops with the encroaching cold, especially this little beauty: I'm so excited to have a fair few proper squashes and really hope I'm able to get them to ripen. The weather has warmed a little again so... fingers crossed. Next year, tomatoes and squashes and the like are going in about a month earlier and going to be covered at the start of the season as well. Will it help? Who knows but it will be a worthy experiment. In other news... later, I think actually. I have so much going on and so many announcements but they'll have to wait. Sorry folks, there are no babies for sale at this time. Thanks to everyone who's messaged me with requests. I don't think we're going to be breeding next year. If you're still looking, do drop me a line and I'll send you in the direction of some great goat producers. I know it's bad manners to just have these long, quiet periods but it is what it is, I guess. There is a crispness in the air I would not have expected for another month but there it is. As someone with who's mostly North Atlantic, in her recent ancestry, I certainly don't mind, though it's doing a number on the warm weather crops. I see green tomato something in my future. The squirrels are crazy busy too, dropping pinecones from the heights and running around chattering. But it's still the time of year when I can eat a bowl of fresh peaches for breakfast (so does not make me sad). Which reminds me, I need to grab more peaches after work. Canning, canning, canning. This weekend I need to deal with freezers and the cold room situation. In other news, my hens are thinking this is a good time to hatch out. I know what you're probably thinking - it was too hot before and now they're comfortable but you know, it didn't get as hot as that. No, I can't figure them out but right now I have teen aged chicks, brand new, hatched on the weekend chicks, and two mamas on a nest. In goat news, Athena kidded out at the end of May. As usual she had three (doe, buck, buck), got them out like a trooper, cleaned off and cared for, and well mothered. Ironically, I decided that we were taking a break from breeding. There are tonnes of wonderful things about breeding, the obvious: babies. But also there's a deeper excitement of new life, the potential for milk (I say potential because ever year I start off well intentioned but fade), and just the fun of watching the sillies grow up. The bad isn't all that bad either. Ok, it's bad in the moment but it's part of life and most definitely part of farming. You can't get away from it in farming, no matter how hard you try. So, why go on hiatus? I just can't part with the babies! I love them way too much. We neutered all of the boys so I'd have to pressure to move any of them on. I love this year's doeling, Hekkla, and have decided that if someone needs a doeling, I will sell her but I hate that part. So, for right now, we're taking a break. I also have a tonne of personal life stuff going on so, we'll take the next season off and see what comes. So, there's your update. See you sooner, than a couple of months, I hope!
First of all - thanks for notes you've sent and my apologies about my long silence (again). I don't know about life for you but around here, things have been kinda kooky. Some has been good but some not so much. This has been good: Yep, three babies born at the end of May. Two bucklings and a doe. They're all adorable and friendly, and everything I could want in babies. And this: That was the second crop of babies. There was a third but after a day we managed to reunite them with their mama.
This came because I said "never again" to brooding chicks in the house. I said "never again" and then was faced with the option of either letting babies die or brooding them in the house. So of course... And then I started school. I decided, in spite of everything else going on, to apply for a doctoral programme. I thought it was one out of my reach and somehow got in. Funnily enough, now that I'm in the programme, I'm wondering if it isn't out of my reach. I have never been in such a tough programme but it's compelling. And I'm not much good at quitting. So, there's the update. I hope things are moving along well in your world. |
AuthorI'm a 40-something writer and smallholder living in the wilds of BC with my family, our small herd of Nigerian Dwarf Goats, chickens, ducks, dogs, and cats. Archives
August 2017
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