One of the realities of farming in Western Washington that I did not appreciate when we first started our homesteading journey is the twice yearly dormancy. It has become a recurring theme on this blog since then. Most of the total pasture growth for the year occurs in late spring, between March and June, Tapering off in July and going dormant through September until the rains return. (See the handy-dandy pasture calendar from WSU here). I don’t know the official number, but I would estimate we have seen 70 percent of all pasture growth in that narrow window.
What that means is that there is limited forage availability from about end of July onwards, after they have eaten through what remains from the spring flush.
So we are left with the necessity of either providing alternate sources of forage in the form of bought in hay, or downsizing the flock.
Willow is a handy perennial forage. We had our two curly willows pollarded a few years ago. This summer I pruned them with five or six laterals apiece which will turn into boughs over the next 2-3 years, and provide (hopefully) 5-6 times more leaf forage per summer.
It may be hard to see in this picture, but on the right side of the rock (currently modeling its Holy Family statue that we want to mount on it) is a bough of willow planted in the ground back in June which has begun to leaf out. Hopefully next year it will become a third curly willow tree, and in 5-10 years will start producing leaf fodder, as well as looking beautiful.
We talked before about weeds, but garden trimmings are also a good source of green food. Or purple food, in the case of red cabbages and brussels sprouts.
I still haven’t gotten this squash row cleaned out and prepped to receive garlic, but I was working on it earlier this week.
All the squash vines and rotten squash and tomatoes can go to the pigs.
All the cabbage trimmings go to the sheep and Darla.
Ellie and I set up some electric netting around the Brassica row.
And then opened the gate to let the lambs into the garden. (The lambs are still separate from the Ewes, so they don’t get pregnant, although a friend left the gate open during CiderFest and the two flocks were mingled for at least a couple hours, so…)
I tried to get Evie to say “Who let the lambs out? Baaa, baaa, baa baaaaaaa!” But she wouldn’t do it.
But even with the supplemental feed from the garden, a few slabs of alfalfa per day are needed to keep the critters in good condition, and once they have gone around the pasture once, they will be off pasture and in the barn for the rest of the winter, so they don’t beat the roots up.
To keep the dog out.
Because he thinks he’s a real sheepdog.
It’s amazing what they will eat. They will browse even elderberry leaves (which are toxic) and they ate the rhubarb leaves down to nothing (also toxic).
Hopefully they don’t die, at least not before we start culling the flock in a few months.
