Thursday, April 29, 2010

Meet Ursa

We drove 2 hours each way today to Dogwood Farm in South Carolina to get an angora doeling. She is 8 weeks old and very sweet.








The other goats are adjusting to her really well. Eris is picking on her a little, but Eris is the lowest goat here now so she's just trying to be above someone. The rest of the goats are being nice to her. Things are so much more peaceful here without the sheep.


Our plan for Ursa is to breed her to a nigerian buck and get nigoras. Carol at Dogwood Farms had a few nigoras and they are precious! They have the nigerian personality, the angora coat and really great coloring. I'm excited to see the babies we get out of her when she gets older.


Sunday, April 25, 2010

Shearing the sheep

Last Saturday, after Logan's black belt test, my friend Tina came over to shear the sheep. Thanks Tina! I owe you big time.

Sweet Pea was pretty cooperative.

She looks funny with half her fleece gone.

Almost done.
Hey Honey! That weird dog with the horns is back!
Nebula was a lot less cooperative. We had to push and drag for a good 5 minutes to get her on the stand.
Once up there, she was pretty good though. She had a thick fleece!


We got a late start and it was after dark before we finished, but they both got sheared and their hooves trimmed.

This will be our last sheep shearing here at Whistling Wind Farm. Someone is coming to get the sheep tomorrow. I've been thinking about selling them for 4 months or so. And decided after the shearing it was time to. I haven't really enjoyed the sheep. I can't catch Nebula without help. And Sweet Pea can be rough on the goats. The goats we have now know how to avoid her, but with babies coming in a few weeks, I didn't want to take any chances. I'm a little sad to see them go, especially Sweet Pea. She really is a nice sheep. But I know in the long run it will be best for everyone.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Black belt test

OK, not back to farming yet. Logan tested for his first degree black belt Saturday and I thought I'd share some pictures and a video

Here he is doing a jump spinning hook kick.


Love his intensity when he's doing forms.

Choking his partner while doing one step sparring.
Getting ready to break the board with his elbow.

Just broke the board with a spinning side kick.
All done with his test.

A video of him doing his 3 breaks at the test.




I'll be posting more videos and pictures to Facebook, so if we aren't friends yet and you want to see them, send me a friend request.

Friday, April 16, 2010

A sad anniversary

On this anniversary of the shooting at Virginia Tech, I want to re-post the post I made after visiting the campus a few days after the shooting. I can't figure out an easy way to re-post it, so here is the link:

Our visit to Virginia Tech

We'll be back to farming soon.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Guinea eggs

We're finally getting guinea eggs! Or they are finally laying where I can find them, not sure which.

They are very different from chicken eggs. They are speckled and have a very pointy end. They are a little bit bigger than bantam eggs.


They also have a very thick shell. I had to really hit it hard to get it to open.


They have a nice orange yolk and have an eggier taste than chicken eggs.


Sorry for my absence from your blogs. Things have been crazy here! But the garden is getting in slowly and the other work is getting done.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Garden report

I've been busy working in the garden for the last week. I had to revamp all my raised beds. I had filled them last year with top soil from the local hardware store and it was crappy soil! 2 of the beds had gotten rock hard, I mean I literally could not get a shovel into them.

So I used my cool new mini-tiller to break up the beds, then I shoveled half the dirt out of each one and filled it back in with compost and manure. I then used my cool new tiller to till the compost in and I planted them. I have 5 raised beds, 3 will be seasonal and 2 are permanent plantings.

Brocolli


Peas

Strawberries (one of the permanent beds)
Asparagus, it still needs more compost worked in before I plant it.
Beans, oops looks like this one could have used a bit more compost.


The neighbor came and tilled the big garden. I've been working compost into it with the tiller. The dirt was rock hard and in big clumps so I wasn't having a lot of success, but it rained today so the ground will be softer and I should be able to really work it in a few days. Then I'll plant it with corn, tomatoes and more beans for now. Other things will follow as the season progresses.

The big garden is going to get broken into 2 halves, if you read my blog last year, you'll remember I had a good half and a bad half. The good half is the half I'm working compost into and will get my vegetables. The bad half is going to get permanent plantings. It will be all the berries and a few fruit trees. That way I can just mulch it really well and leave it be from now on. I still have to put in all those plantings.

The butterfly garden needs 2 more plants and it is done. I just haven't been able to find the plants yet.

I think I'm on track to have all my planting done in the next 2-3 weeks. Then I'll just have the fun of watering!