They will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit.
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… Continue reading Sheep in the Garden
Late August, the garden is gathering for its final burst of activity before the dark period. This is the most massive and vigorous stand of buckwheat we have ever grown. And the bees seem to be doing their job. I just hope we can get it ripened and harvested before the rains comes on hard… Continue reading Buckwheat, Triangles and Homeschool
We are deep into the dry season. The rainstorm at the beginning of August was nice, but it didn't last long. The pasture is dry and grasses are not growing fast enough. We are still moving the sheep through the pasture, but with very large paddocks, only for one day. We are also feeding hay… Continue reading Pasture Plans
It does not often rain during the summer in Western Washington. This is one of the biggest challenges of farm management in the PNW, the 60-90 days of drought that we get every single summer. However, last week we had rain forecast for Friday, and not just a little drizzle, but a good inch of… Continue reading Prepping for Rain
Our two steers were slaughtered last week, on the 9th. You might be wondering what Seppi is doing in the willow tree. He is trimming willow shoots. We cut a big pile of them to feed to the steers when the slaughter team arrived. They love it, they eat it like candy. Partially it's a… Continue reading Goodbye Steers
We stripped this willow trunk bare feeding to the cows and sheep. They go crazy for it, gobbling it up like candy. They even prefer it when they are on grass, and the sheep peel the bark off the larger branches and eat that. Within a week or two it is already sprouting a ton… Continue reading Eats Shoots and Leaves
The cows are her favorites. Just like her Mommy.
The acoustics on the farm are kind of funny. Sometimes you can be on the other side of the yard and yell at the top of your lungs and the kids won't hear you at all. Othertimes you can be halfway down the field and you can hear the baby laughing or crying from the… Continue reading What the farm is for
Early this year, in January, I think, we had two big willow trees on the farm cut down from some 30-40 feet tall to about 6 feet tall. There were several reasons for this. Both were in inconvenient locations. One was shading the garden and slowing the soil warming in the spring. The other was… Continue reading Tree Hay
