Thursday, May 15, 2008

Farming stuff.............

We have been having beautiful weather for working outside. Cool days - high 50's to low 60's. We are very dry again and the fire danger is high. I have a feeling it's going to be another hot, dry summer. We planted broccoli and cabbages. Hopefully potatoes will go in tomorrow. I've had to water the broccoli and cabbage twice already due to lack of rain. The weatherman keeps promising rain but it either goes above us or below us and out to sea. We are hoping this weekend will bring us much needed moisture. Broccoli & Cabbage plants
We picked up our piglets (8) and kept them in the barn for a week. I like to make sure they are all healthy and give them time to get used to us before we put them in the outside pigpen where they can run in and out as they choose. These are the biggest piglets I have ever purchased. They were all the boys wanted to pick up and carry! They moved them with no problems and as always, we had fun doing it. They are good sports as you can see. The pigs have all settled in nicely and are doing well. It's fun having them back ( for awhile).


Tom & Dave moving pigs!
Between shearing, planting and other things, we are repairing fence lines. This one seperates the ewes from the cow pasture. The board fencing was ten years old and was in desperate need of repair. Our water table is very high here and it doesn't take many years for the posts to rot off at ground level. We have that part of the fencing finished. We had new ground opened up last fall and the next project is to get that cleaned up, fertilized and seeded. We will use electric fence and rotationally graze so we won't need permanent fencing for a year or two.


I've also been preparing for a speaking engagement this coming saturday at a local Spinners and Weavers Guild. We are taking our pygora goats for a demo/show & tell presentation. Should be lots of fun. The photo below is gray pygora/merino roving from our goats that I picked up from our local fiber processor. It's so soft and spins like butter :) Pygora/Merino roving

I hope everyone had a Happy Mother's day! My family and I planted a Purple Prince Crabapple tree in the yard next to our new home. I know it will be beautiful for many years to come. We did take a couple of hours off enjoyed a great lunch prepared by our oldest son. My nephew is living with us and we were all together including my Mom. A great day and and as always, a reminder of how much I have to be thankful for.








4 comments:

Linda said...

Looks like you have been really busy since the snow left! It has been dry enough that I may even get into MY garden soon! Love seeing those lambs as we don't have any. Fiber looks beautiful!

Christy said...

Hi, I asked you about shetland sheep before. How would you say raising the pygora goats compares to raising the sheep? I'd like a few fiber animals that are fairly friendly and not too hard to raise. Are your goats as bad about respecting fences as goats have the reputation of being?

threecollie said...

Nice garden, lovely pigs...and you sure are busy these days! Looking good though

Deb said...

Christy,
I use the same fencing for the pygora goats as I do for the sheep. I don't have trouble with the goats trying to get out. I think as long as they are comfortable, have plenty of feed and water, they are happy to stay where we put them.
In my opinion the goats have much more of a personality than the sheep do. Don't get me wrong, I love my sheep but the goats are fun! They love to interact with people. The love to climb and jump and romp and play and just have fun. We really enjoy them. The pygora fiber is sooooo soft and a dream to spin. Normally we blend it with wool as it has no memory of it's own. Good luck!