Having finished our three Sundays of being out of the house early and heading up to Portland for fruit tree pruning classes, we got up even earlier on Saturday and headed up to Portland for the annual goat conference at Clackamas High School. The NW Oregon Dairy Goat Association hosts a large conference every year […]
Weighing the Goats
When Bryn came to visit on Monday she brought her animal scales. We need to weigh the goats to determine the amount of pour-on insecticide to give them. They have…..lice…..shhhh. Actually it is quite normal this time of year. Talking with other goat people in the area the general thought is that it will be […]
A Visit to Diji Farm
Halle Berry was born at Diji Farm. It is a wonderful farm just about 20 minutes from us. Carol is the owner/breeder/Nigerian Dwarf goat aficionado. We arrived smack in the middle of kidding. They have quite a large barn and have kidding stalls for the goats. Probably seven stalls with either a doe and her […]
Pear and Apple Tree Pruning
What a busy month February has been and will be until the end. I intended on posting what I learned in each of our three pruning classes. I’ve changed my mind and this post will include what I have learned in the last two classes. Both the pear tree and apple tree pruning classes had […]
A Very Large Pond
The flooding of the lower acreage is passé. We expect it when we have many days of rain. We have had MANY days of CONSTANT rain. Here is what the field looked like on Saturday. Notice that field fence by the canoe? That is the fencing Michael and I replaced in December. It sits on […]
Jasper has Left the Love Shack
Michael took Jasper back to his home last Saturday. He had been with us Halle since January 10th. Not much went on in the Love Shack. She might have already been pregnant. If only she was more obvious when she went into heat. I’m just grateful that we have room for a Love Shack and that […]
New Roof for the Chickens
Michael’s big weekend project was to add some metal roofing over the outdoor pen for the chickens. He expected to quickly get the project done on Friday after picking up the roofing. Projects rarely go quickly. The little bit of time he set aside on Friday was taken up with removing rotten posts. Here is […]
Fruit Tree Prunning
One of the coolest things about our new home is our “orchard”. We wanted a place that had enough land to plant fruit trees. God provided a place that already had them. We have 27 fruit trees. Mostly apple, but we also have plums, pears, and a fig. In September I stumbled across “The Home […]
Deep Litter with Goats
Our barn has cement floors. It is really nice for cleaning. The stall floors are covered in straw. In the summer we clean the stalls weekly. All that dirty straw goes into the composts bins and becomes wonderful compost for the garden. As summer came to a close we decided that we would use the […]
Goat Update
We really like having goats. They bring us much enjoyment and entertainment. Halle is still shacked up with Jasper so Brown Sugar is alone with the three doelings. We give them treats every now and then. This is some winter squash. They all love it. Since the doelings came from the same herd they are […]
Our First Egg
Well, it happened. Sooner than I thought it would. Yesterday Michael found an egg in the chicken coop. Yeah! Being green, it was laid by an Americana. It is a good month earlier than I thought we would have eggs. Maybe she is an early bloomer. It is small, which we expected. My understanding is […]
Love is in the Air
I’ve been noticing our Rooster pecking at the hens lately. I guess he is showing his loving feelings by pecking the ladies. He has pecked me. Not because he has any loving feelings for me (like Calvin does) but probably to keep me away from his harem. It hurts. I’m glad I’m not a hen. […]