I have so many pictures backed up, waiting for get put into a blog. I have given up on a detailed update on all of it, but as this blog is our primary record keeping mechanism (for big picture stuff, anyway) they still need to get updated. Good Friday (April 3rd) planted two new apple… Continue reading Three Week Update Post
Author: Ryan Kraeger
Well that was a surprise!
Last Saturday, Adam texted this picture during morning chores. (It was a clinic day, so I wasn't there for chores). No, that's not a picture of one of the older lambs. This is a new lamb! Matilda had a baby on April 20! No, no one was tracking she was pregnant at all, though I… Continue reading Well that was a surprise!
Matilda likes dandelions
Sunday Afternoon
Early Spring Pasture
We are doing the pasture rotation a little bit different this year. We have three lambs and a calf in our little flerd, and there has been some coyote activity in the area over the last few weeks. Also, there is not enough grass yet to sustain them in a small 40x50 foot paddock for… Continue reading Early Spring Pasture
Salt Cured Lamb, Update.
Leg 1: Starting weight 76 ounces, current weight 54 ounces, down 29%. Leg 2: Starting weight 74 ounces, Current weight 53 ounces. Down 28%. Leg three, Starting weight 86 ounces, current weight 66 ounces. Down 23%
A Very Helpful Winnie
Our four-footed lawnmowers did an excellent job mowing the lawn around the garden. Before... After. In only two days they ate it down to the ground, and enjoyed it immensely. Unfortunately, there isn't enough grass there to keep them happy long term, so we moved them back to the pasture. The pasture is still not… Continue reading A Very Helpful Winnie
Spring Buds
Everything is homeschool. Even a muddy former driveway that the pigs rooted through for a couple of months. This becomes a vehicle for talking about healthy and unhealthy soil with the kids. Think of it as a "before" picture. The "after" picture won't be for a couple of years, but ideally that same former driveway… Continue reading Spring Buds
Eunice’s Twins
Got to the farm for chores about 5 AM on Monday, and a little surprise was waiting. Eunice had her lambs! That's right lambs. Twins. There is a little black ewe lamb and a little white ewe lamb. And Eunice is being a great mom, nuzzling and licking and feeding and herding them here and… Continue reading Eunice’s Twins
Gates around the scale, and Hog Live Weights
Everything on the farm is interconnected, whether we like it or not. Because we want to be able to give our customers an accurate live-weight assessment for the pigs they bought, we need a scale. Because the scale needs to be on a flat, firm surface, under cover, accessible to all the livestock, it needed… Continue reading Gates around the scale, and Hog Live Weights