A Yearly Review

Every year when the cold starts to set in I begin my mental review of the past year.  Which things did I love doing, which ones did I try new and what did I hate doing?  Basically, what will I do different for the next year?  These questions go on through the winter until I have decided on a plan for next year.  It's also my time to research projects that I am interested in but have not had time to learn about. 

There is one thing I have decided so far for next year and that is what to do with my potato patch.  They did not do anywhere near amazing this year and I had no room for a pumpkin patch.  I really missed not having any pumpkins -1 year I even planted the baby pumpkins.  Next year I will be planting the pumpkins in the potato patch!

We definately want to grow our goat herd next year, too.  We had wanted to get a few more nannies this year, but we had trouble finding any at reasonable prices as the year went on.  We are more interested in the full bred/unregistered reasonably priced ones than the high dollar papered ones.

We also will have to take it easy on the cow herd growing until all the pastures are up and running (unless I see something that I love!).  Next year should be the last year this has to happen.  Hopefully after that we can sustain ourselves in the winter with hay too!!!

As the review begins for this year, I am always looking for new ideas to use on our farm.  I look for ideas that others are doing or not doing and why.  I like to find ideas that are at least cost efficient. 

Fences are My Nemesis!

Fences are my nemesis!  We have been battling old hedge post fences from day 1.  The fences weren't something we gave much consideration to when we bought this place since we had no animals at first, but we knew they weren't in top condition.  They have contained our animals for the most part for the past few years.  As the interior and property fences get worse, we have been replacing them as fast as we can afford but FENCES ARE EXPENSIVE!

Our dilemma now is that our whole south fence is pretty much barely a fence anymore.  The horses stay in there and we're not sure why.  They could easily walk right over it.  Our problem is that we have the cows in the small pasture that is almost out of vegetation for them and the large still lush pasture is the one with that awful fence and a corn field on the other side.  Much too inviting for the cows!!  It is roughly 1325 feet long so it will be an expensive venture.  The cows need to eat so we either will have to replace it quickly or buy electric fence. It is too far out to run electricity, though so we will have to use solar.

After pricing the solar electric fencer from Parmak, which I am told is the best, our decision is clear for now.  For about $350 we will have electric running the whole fence with maybe a day for installation.  The new fence would cost at least $2000 and take lots more time to install.  Eventually that will have to be done, but hopefully the electric will hold them until the pastures are reseeded.  

It always seems as though if it's not one thing, it's another around here.  Someday I am hoping that we will have all new fences that will last the rest of my lifetime!  Too bad I don't have a secret fence fund just to get them all done!  Lesson learned this time that maybe we should have looked into fence cost a little more closely when we bought this place and replaced them before we got any animals.  That would be my sound advice to anyone thinking of buying an old farm that needs updating.   



Update: Pasture Reseeding

 

The field has been sprayed.  It has taken a long time for it to die, probably due to the cooler weather we have had.  But it is dying.  We used a combo spray of roundup and 2-4-d to kill everything.  It didn't take long to spray the 10.5 acres we are doing this year.  It took longer to find a day that wasn't windy so they could do it without killing our yard or the corn field next door.  By the time we had a day the corn field was no longer an issue.

 

 

The next step was that we had lime spread on the whole field.  The big truck came and spread a ton of lime on each acre.  Not a real pricey event, but one more step completed. 

 

After conflicting recommendations on when to plant the field, I talked extensively with pretty much whoever I could get to give me an opinion on this.  We have decided to wait until it gets cold to plant it.  Hopefully this will give it a good start to come up in the spring. 

 

We also have waited a little while to disk it due to it's slow dying process and still no rain, which makes it very hard ground to work.  This pasture hasn't been worked in at least 50 years!  Well, last weekend we had 2 inches of rain here and a few sprinkles today.  That should make the ground a little more workable as soon as it dries a bit.  I am looking forward to getting that part done.  The only things left will be the seeding and fertilizing in November!

 

I have learned a lot this year about seeding and the whole process and what is recommended.  The NRCS office is very helpful as long as I know to ask the questions.  We have already started the tree clearing on the next section which is much larger than this one.  Next spring we will have the fields ready to be sprayed as soon as this one is grazable.  When it is all completed they have told us that we will be able to take at least a cutting of hay off of it and have plenty to graze all year.  The hay would save us a ton in the winter and maybe have enough to sell some?

 

This all has been a ton of work, especially the daily cutting of hedge trees for my husband as I am no chainsaw user.  I have covered all the phone calls, setting up the guys to come do the various stages and research into each step of the process.  It will all be worth it in the end and we will have beautiful pastures that sustain our small operation!

 

Fall Vet Visit to Preg Check Cows and Vaccinate

So, the vet came yesterday afternoon and first vaccinated and wormed the calves.  They were fairly easy to get into the chute since they had no idea what it was!  It always looks very medeival but doesn't hurt them.  Three calves down, two momma cows to go.

After the slightly unpleasant task of loading the first into the chute, which wasn't as hard as usual for any of them, the vet whips out this device, a probe hooked to glasses with a cord.  I asked what it was and he said "the ultrasound".  I had thought he was just going to palpate for the sac in the uterus.  Wrong!  I was so excited that he would actually see something.  After a couple of minutes he told us she was pregnant!!!  I made a "woo hoo" out loud and he chuckled at me.  He took off the video glasses and let me put them on.  Wow!  I could see it.  The next momma went exactly the same although he couldn't see the baby only the embryonic vessicle, which he said means she is pregnant!

So, for our first time trying artificial insemination we had 2 out of 3 take the first time.  That's not so bad.  This is also our first time using a hereford bull named Traditions from www.SelectSires.com -usually it's a angus bull from a local farmer. The 3rd heifer we probably won't have preg-checked.  If she is then she will calve about July 9, 2013 and if she isn't we will re-breed her at a later date.  I still haven't decided if we will AI next year or rent a bull.  There are pros and cons to each. 

A big thanks to such a wonderful vet that not only understands my excitement, but answers all my questions and offers tons of info and explanation to aid my learning.

Our little ones are about an inch long right now and hopefully they stay put!  We haven't ever had trouble maintaining a pregnancy, but he said it does happen.  At least we are out of the woods for super hot temps now.

Looking Forward- Cows and Babies

The anticipation of knowing whether or not my cows got bred is killing me!

We decided this year to AI the cows for the first time ever.  We accomplished this on August 23.  It has been a long 45+ days waiting til we could check them.  Tomorrow is finally the BIG DAY!  The vet will come in the afternoon and we will know within a couple minutes of loading each in the chute if they are pregnant or not.  If so, the calves will be due June 2, 2013.  We only have 2 to check as we had an unfortunate one that went back into heat a couple weeks ago. This was the first time heifer that we raised from a bottle calf.  She was re-bred on Sept. 29.  So hopefully that one takes for her.

I have tried to watch the cows like a hawk for signs of any heat in these two.  Unless I just missed it, they should be bred.  We will see how this goes tomorrow, but I am seriously thinking about renting a bull next year.  It has been a lot of waiting, watching and waiting again.  At least with a bull one can see the breeding happening! (Sounds wrong when I see it written, but yes, I like to watch!)

The vet will also be vaccinating/pouring this years' calves and the mommas. We have not been as diligent with vaccinating as we should be, but my goal is to improve from here forward.  

Calving is one of my favorite times of year.  The anticipation drives me even crazier then than now.  I am overly diligent with checking the cows multiple times daily when it gets close and my husband finds much humor in the fact that I know so much about what their rear ends look like in each stage!   

There it is!  I am super excited for tomorrow to get here and find out if we are pregnant or not!   

As always, HAVE A GREAT DAY!

Pork at a Discount

While I do love bacon, pork chops and sausage I do not love pigs.  As much as I love to walk around and interact with all of our animals, I did not love having a pig.  We raised a pig for butcher a few years ago and I don't know why, but I just couldn't like it.

It was kind of a costly endeavor by the time we bought all the feed and while we enjoyed having pork in the freezer for anytime we wanted and we knew exactly what it ate, it didn't really save us any money.  After that, we started buying a pig from a local farmer to take to the locker.  This wasn't much cheaper than store prices per pound, either, but we like to buy local and know what we are eating.  

Recently we have been wanting to purchase another, but hog prices are a little higher than the last time we got one.  I was enlightened one day to the fact that I could purchase a "belly rupture" hog for less than the price of a regular hog.  I, not knowing what that meant, said absolutely not at first.  I assumed there would be something wrong with the end product.  After doing some research on it I found that all a belly rupture hog is is one with a hernia.  Absolutely no impact on the meat unless it gets ruptured during butcher!  

We got our hog and it's at the butcher right now.  I am very excited that I will pay a grand total of a little over $1.50 per pound for the pork.  That is so much cheaper than grocery store prices!  

If you are in the market for pork check with your local hog farmers.  I was told that they cannot send the "problem pigs" out with the others for butcher.  They have to send them to another facility.  The farmer that we purchased ours from was more than happy to get rid of one to us.   

And as always -buy local and support the farmers in your area!!

The New School Lunch

Many have been hearing about the new school lunch program.  I think there are a few things that just need to be said about it.  While I have heard many complaints about it from the beginning, I do understand the need to try to control the obesity of America.  I told my children to give it a chance.  It is great that they added more fruits and veggies for the kids.  I am all for that and I am always working on ways to get my kids to eat healthier at home, which they do pretty well at, but could improve.

I didn't realize that by adding another fruit or veggie they are decreasing the portion size of the main entree, I guess in an effort to keep total calories within the limit?  This is leaving many of the kids hungry all afternoon!  This is happening every single day to a lot of the kids that are very active.  If there happens to be something they really don't like on the tray then they are starving!  This is happening to kids of all ages -elementary through high school on a regular basis!

It is costing me a fortune!  

Not only is my highschooler buying more extras than usual, but now even the elementary kids have to get extras so they aren't hungry!  I can't hardly tell them no -the first few weeks of school they didn't get extas and almost every day they came home complaining of "starving".  They told me they had been hungry since lunch! My kids are used to coming home after the 45 minute bus ride, grabbing an apple or pear and heading outside to play and do chores until supper time.  

The fact is that active kids need more calories per day than kids who go right home and sit all evening.  As I understand, the amount of calories allowed to 17 year olds who play sports is not much more than the 6th grade students who do just that -go home and sit.  Some of these kids have practice right after school until 6 or 6:30.  In the high school the kids are only being allowed what was described to me as 2 medicine cups of meat when they eat salad bar!  Really?  Kids need protein to grow and energy to be active!!!  I have actually heard some reports of football players almost passing out in practice due to not eating enough throughout the day.  This is just unacceptable!

These kids used to go get a small snack after school, now they are going for a big bag of chips instead! This doesn't seem to be the effect anyone was hoping for, but it is the reality!

The last thing I want to say is that, while none of my own children are obese in any way, there are many kids who are.  This is a huge problem and contributes to many health problems later in life for them if they don't learn to eat right now.  That being said, good nutrition starts at home!  If these kids are going home hungry like many kids are then they are probably eating snacks when they get there.  If they aren't choosing fruits and veggies regularly they are probably having that bag of chips, a brownie, doughnut or a candy bar.  If they are already more hungry than usual they will eat more of these things and the obesity problem will continue.

We cannot change the obesity problem in America until kids start eating right at home and being active!

Winter -The Inevitable

After being a little spoiled by last winter with little snow for the season and only a few days of unbelievable coldness, I am a little weary of what this winter may hold for us.  I have been watching the winter outlooks since mid-summer in hopes of knowing ahead of time what it will entail.  The outlooks, however, all vary in the degree of super cold and amount of snow.  I would like nothing more than to be able to skip winter altogether.  I only go out if I have to and if I could hibernate, I would!

I do, of course, go out every morning all bundled up with coat, hat and mittens to feed and water the animals.  As I trudge through the snow dreams and anticipation of spring fill my head.  My countdown til spring begins as soon as winter hits. Morning chores generally take me over twice as long since I have to get hay for everyone. The water tank heater has to be kept going so they can drink, so I fill it with wood and relight it if it went out overnight.   All the animals get a look over for any problems with them.  It usually ends up being quite the workout for me.  By the time I get to come in I am usually sweating in all my winter garb. 

I don't think the animals like it much either.  We do our best to keep them as comfortable as possible and make it through the winter without illness in the sometimes treacherous weather of the midwest .  They get so excited when we let them on the pasture when it starts to grow in the spring!   I think they are a lot like me when it comes to being in the cold.  They just would prefer not to! 

Winter is, however, inevitable! 

It will come, we will a survive it and eventually it will end.  Those of us who hate winter will once again feel the giddiness of spring when it returns.  The land will come alive once again, the flowers will bloom as always and birds will return home.