Compost, Cantaloupe, and Lots of Weeds

Sunday work day...

This morning, after a breakfast of eggs and berry muffin bake, the kids and I went out to the goat yard to harvest gold.  

Okay. Actually, we were digging up and harvesting goat poop compost: beautiful garden gold. We had shovels, rakes, wagon, and wheelbarrow.  In some places, it is 8 inches of built up compost against the fences. 

We were filling up the wagon and wheelbarrow, pushing and pulling up to the medicinal garden, and dumping. It is some rich compost; sweet and earthy. We did finally stop for the day, but there is still a lot of compost to load up for the garden. 

After Al worked on getting water to the ewes in the eastern pasture where they were grazing, he used the tractor and grappled up all the old hay in the does' pen so we could move a new round bale in.  Round bale is now in with goats chomping away happily. 

In our homeschool...

We do year round school so that our schedule, the many appointments, and feast days don't interfere with making sure the kids learn the basics.  

This past week, Caleb finished both his math book and his language arts book, basically making him ready for the next level.  

The girls are at various lessons in their books.  Some are closer to being complete than others.  This week I plan to look over their lessons to see where they are at.  Then in an effort to have a more scheduled day, I will look at how we can best put our time to use without school dragging into the evening. 

History and science are not a focal point in our education plan, but I do make sure they have access to it.  Our history is typically done as a family, and the past few years, they have worked through science on their own.  

This year, the plan is to do a family science class with the younger two or three, then the older one, or two, will work on their own science.  Again, since I don't emphasize the science and history, I don't care too much if they take two years to get through one book.  

Our history is a family unit and we are working through the Revolutionary War.  We only do history two days a week, but I have plans to do it every day this upcoming "year" in smaller lessons.  Some days there are simple too many things to read.  

In the garden...

The main garden is an absolute wreck, but we have been bringing in cantaloupe.  These aren't nearly as nice as last year's bounty, but they are still good.  

My main focus for that garden in the next few weeks is to get the larger bed ready for the fall garden.  I want to get cabbage and broccoli in as well as some root veggies.  I had really wanted to get more beans in this summer, and while I do still have time, I have to prioritize it.  

The front garden is slowly coming along and it really doesn't present itself like it wants to grow tomatoes or peppers.  The squash are coming along, as are the cantaloupe.  The cucumbers are also up, though only two of three.  None of the Chinese cabbage came up.  

In the sheep yard...

Our asparagus patch actually lies where the original garden is out by the eastern part of our property.  We initially put a cattle panel border around it to keep the sheep from eating it, but the system failed.  The sheep could push on the panels and reach the weeds and asparagus growing in the small garden.  Eventually, they snapped the ties on the t-post and they devoured all my asparagus this past spring.  Fortunately, there were no ill effects.  

Al and I worked a bit on a newer fence earlier last week, and on Friday he was able to finish the job, making the pen twice as wide, 1/2 a cattle panel longer, and add more t-posts for security to prevent them from pushing through.  Now I need to work harder on keeping it cleaned up and mulched to encourage a stronger and healthier harvest. 

The rams have been separated for quite some time from the ewes because I needed the ewes to fatten up in time for breeding season.  They slowly started putting on weight, but those who still had lambs nursing were struggling to keep the weight on.  Finally, in the last few weeks, I was able to sell off the final three ewe lambs.  The ewes are looking great!  

With the asparagus patch finally finished, we were able to move them to a new pasture with something nutritious to eat.  With the rain we have been getting, we are hopeful we can get the other pastures to grow again before fall and winter.  Then, it will be back to the dry lot after breeding season.  

And for breeding season, the plan is to have two separate breeding pens.  One will have Lego (formerly Leg o' Lamb) with Sage and Basil, and the other pen will have Othello with Rosemary and Thyme.  (Yes, our breeding sheep are named after games and herbs, while our meat sheep are named after meat.) Meanwhile, Rosemary's ram lambs are still rather small and we aren't sure when they will go to the butcher.  We ended up naming them after games this year, which is fine.  We don't struggle with having difficulty eating animals with cute names.  Blackjack and Scrabble will still end up in the freezer before they are a year old.  

In the goat pen...

Some of you may recall we received devastating news that our wether (castrated male) was sick with Johnnes, or chronic wasting disease.  We did end up putting him down, and the quarantine lot will be left empty for a few more months more until we can clean it up.  The bucks will be retested come fall to make sure they do not have the same disease, but if they do, I am uncertain what direction we will go.  The bucks are all hanging out in the buck pasture and the woods.  They all look wonderfully healthy at this point (then again, so did Kobe, the wether).  We currently have four bucks in that pen (the new one makes five, but is in another pen) and I am watching the two youngest to see whether or not it is worth keeping them.  

The breeding plans are already in the works for the does.  I am hopeful that Maizie and Yelana, my two newer does, are pregnant.  They were bred to Oliver.  

Our newest buckling, Noir, fell ill a few weeks ago.  I didn't know what the problem was, but I did all I could to get him on the mend.  He made it!  But it was a difficult time.  His initial problem was being off feed and after checking him, his membranes were pale and he had a fever.  Fevers almost always indicate an infection.  Unfortunately, in treating him, I over treated with antibiotics which ended up tearing up his rumen and gut, causing diarrhea, and sending him even more into sickness.  He was given iron, Vitamin B complex, and also dewormed in order to cover all the bases.  He was also given two little girlfriends, Kahlua and Serenade, since it didn't matter if they got bred by him.  The good news?  He is completely back to full health and looking good.  And other news?  I am pretty sure he has bred Serenade.  So just a matter of waiting for Kahlua to go into heat.  

There are only two goats on the milk stand now, bringing in about a quart a day.  I stopped milking Juniper last week because her first freshener udder is just too difficult for me to milk.  So, she and Ivy will be the next two to be in the breeding pen.  I am trying hard to stagger the breedings so I will always have milk.  

The final breeding will be in early fall when Mocha and Amber will be bred.  After that, there won't be any breedings until spring IF some of our kids from this year are big enough.  

And Jersey, our runaway doe who has hated me from day one, has finally reached the point she will be sold.  

In the poultry pen...

Most of our laying hens (12 of them) are still laying eggs for us with an average of seven a day.  They are still in the front yard, tilling and fertilizing where the garden will be expanded this winter.  

The chickens we purchased this past spring are nearly full grown, but not laying yet. At this point, I still can't tell if they are roosters or hens.  I need to figure it out soon so I can separate or tag them for processing.  We were letting them free range until we realized the dog killed one.  Now, they are back in the electric fence.  We will eventually move the dogs out of the sheep pasture in order to give the chickens access to free ranging.  

Our turkeys all died.  Okay, the dog helped herself to a few and should have been removed from the realm of living at that point...but.  I decided to buy hatching eggs from a local guy, but after candling all the eggs, it looks like he needs to get out of the hatching egg business and start selling eggs for food.  I bought 30 hatching eggs and at this point, I only see viability in 3 of them.  Yes, you read that right.  Three.  But, BUT, here is the thing.  If I buy turkey poults online, which I should have, it would cost $14 a poult plus shipping with a minimum of 15 turkey poults in an order. So, even if three poults hatch, I still ended up with a deal.  Sort of. 

We have Freedom Ranger meat birds arriving this week.  This was to bring in a bigger bird for meat, but not one that is prone to heart attacks and broken legs like those meat birds raised commercially for grocers.  These are supposed to be able to breed on their own, which we will try.  If we can manage to pull this off with the help of Yah, then it will help us out with providing a bit of a bigger bird for the table.  If not, then we learned and we just live with smaller birds. 

Other news...

We have been working toward our annual stock up of hay for the winter.  We brought home about 26 round bales, plus what small bales we baled from our property and the neighbor's fields.  Unfortunately, I found out that some of the hay has been sprayed with Grazon which can affect the quality of the garden.  So in the future, we will definitely be more careful about what we feed our livestock and what we put on our gardens.  Be warned, many people are suffering from grazon taint in store bought composts and manure.  Grazon is used to kill off broad leaf plants and seems to really affect tomatoes. 

The well water is to be tested for contaminants and minerals, then possibly hooking it back up to the house, thus getting off of rural water.  

A split-pac unit was finally installed in the basement to allow for the girls to have an air conditioner during the summer.  The heater won't be used since there is already a propane heater down there.  

Abigail will begin her first phase of orthodontic care this week.  

I recently started a 22 week treatment through a local chiropractor to help alleviate pain in my neck as well as shoulder.  They are also going to help me find some more natural options for my insomnia.  

I guess that is about all I have to say about that.  😁