568
Hi Everyone,
Monday was a rainy day, but we were not asking for it to go away and come back another day. We were most thankful for the rain. We got a little less than an inch, but it was most welcome. We got our milking done, but that is about the only work I got done all day—laborious work that is. I did manage to put on my secretary glasses and answer all the order emails which can amount to close to 50 on a Monday, and I spent an hour or so on the phone and computer looking for companies that build walk-in cooler/freezer combos. We have outgrown our current one, and since the possibility of building a new building to house our Milk House, Brooder, and Feed Room is looking a little more promising we need to figure out how to acquire a new freezer/cooler combo. The current combo that we have is a make shift build that has worked for us for the last 15 years or so, but it leaks air and we were told that we should invest in a real freezer/cooler. Invest is the right word—and I am not too sure that our budget can handle it. We would be content to keep things the way they are (except we really would like our garage back—because for the last two years it has become the store room for four one ton tote bags of chicken feed since our current feed room is not big enough or equipped for maneuvering pallets of one ton totes—it is just a small storage shed), but a rotten building is pushing us to do something different—and it looks like the reason they call it “growing pains” is because it truly hurts. Since our Milk House is rotten it gives us a chance to do something about our Feed Room being too small, and our walk-in freezer that we have outgrown. It all sounds like a nightmare and we wonder how in the world we can make it happen. There are so many details to think about, so when we were done milking the cows Monday morning we headed over to another farm to look at and ask questions about their big metal barn—for the idea is to build a 30’ x 40’ metal barn that will house the new Milk House, a bigger Feed Room, a new Brooder house that has a concrete floor, a bigger walk-in freezer and cooler, and a real bathroom (not everyone enjoys an outhouse). We spent a few hours at the other farm and had many questions answered and learned a lot of what not to do and what to do. Tuesday afternoon we met with the builder to talk logistics with him so that we can get a quote of how much it will cost.
Tuesday found Mom and me travelling the roads again to another farm about 40 minutes away. We had to pick up some minerals and salt for the cows. We then picked the farmers brain on cow nutrition. He has been a dairy man his whole life and he has milked cows the conventional way, organically, and totally grass-fed—he has done it all and he knows how to get the best performance from his cows. We learned so much. On the way home Mom and I began talking about how we feed the cows. We are totally grass-fed and will continue to be totally grass-fed. We have supplemented the cows with alfalfa pellets for many years. We were told that alfalfa hay is much better for the cows than pellets, but the price of a bale of organic alfalfa hay is pretty pricey. Then we started doing some math and realized that we could buy 2 to 3 bales of hay for less than the price that we spend on alfalfa pellets every week. It is a change that we are willing to look into but it has its obstacles to overcome first—like how to feed the cows the hay so that they are not walking all over it and pooping in it. Then there is the logistics of getting the hay—the pellets are sold just a mile down the road, but the hay is sold 45 minutes away. The other trial will be to get the cows to stand still during milking without as much alfalfa pellets to eat. Some cows will stand still forever, other cows start dancing all over the place as soon as their alfalfa is gone. No one said change is easy.
Keeping up with the times isn’t easy either. With the price of eggs lately everyone is deciding to raise their own chickens—and I cannot blame them, but I can blame them for the fact that we almost didn’t get to buy new laying hens this year. Every year we replace one house of two year old laying hens with 200 new laying hens. I usually order them in June. This year I was planning on getting them in May—and I was fixing to place my order when a friend wrote to ask if I could add some chickens to my order when I placed it because she couldn’t find any. So I quickly placed my order and was met with a SOLD OUT. Yikes! I couldn’t get layer chicks in May, and I might not have been able to get them in June either—and it is very important to have fresh laying hens come the holidays. So I called another farmer friend and asked where they were getting their laying hens from. She was having the same problem—but had found a BIG solution. The only way they could get laying chicks was to order them by the thousands. No one farm needed that many—but when a few farms got together then they could handle that many and I was able to secure 300 for ourselves. Don’t know how we will house 300 yet, but I guess the Lord knew that the demand for eggs was high and it was time for us to increase our flock. They will be here the end of March—so we should have lots of eggs come fall.
Thursday arrived bright and sunny with perfect gardening weather, so as soon as I was done milking I headed to the West Garden to get some much needed weeding done. I planted carrots back in December, and the weeds were growing faster than the carrots. To my dismay I did happen to pull up a few carrots with the weeds, but the majority of the carrots managed to stay in the ground. Then I went over to weed the spinach but found that the Monstrueux De Viroflay spinach had started to bolt. It grew very quick back in the fall, but it doesn’t like the heat. I always grow Bloomsdale Long Standing Spinach and it is slower to get going, but last longer in the heat. This year I grew both kinds—half a row of each. I guess if you grow both kinds then you can eat spinach for a longer period of time. I pulled up the Viroflay with the weeds, and then weeded around the Bloomsdale. I also picked some for dinner and it was scrumptious. I weeded half of the mullein, and I managed to get the garlic and ranunculus weeded also—but thankfully they only had a handful of weeds in their rows. I still need to weed the snapdragons, the other half of the mullein, and one bed that is empty (it is actually full of weeds, but empty of flowers or vegetables). Mama was able to weed some in the Market Garden tunnels, and Steve was able to weed one of the beds in the Cottage garden.
Friday was another absolutely gorgeous day and the wind was not too high so I could finally work in the Cottage Garden pruning roses and burning the clippings and a bunch of woody sticks from flowers and weeds. Papa got the fire going and helped keep it fed. Only two roses were easy to get too, the others I had to weed a path to them. There was nothing more exciting than finding that an old friend was still alive. Mama even came out to help me prune. Around 4:00 Papa did a sheep tour with a couple who was interested in raising sheep. That lasted until around 6:00 when Papa had to get his evening chores done.
We had a good week . . . and I hope that you did too.
Serving you with Gladness,
Tiare