Not only will we be heading to the first farmers market of the season, sending off our first CSA shares, and having a bittersweet farewell with our two beautiful pygora kids, but this is also the week of planting the fields. The rye is being rolled and the soybeans are being no till drilled in the same pass. Not only does this cut down the compaction caused by driving over the fields multiple times each season but it also adds organic matter to the depleted soil and works as a weed barrier for the crop. Fingers crossed we have good luck with it (last year was the first time we used this method and we faired pretty well).
The kids are growing like weeds!
And we're happy to announce that the boys will have a loving home just outside of Cincinnati. They will be joining a young family whom I'm sure will spoil them. And lucky for them they will get to stay together...as you can see they are nearly inseparable. They will be leaving by the first week of June so if any of our friends out there have yet to meet the duo please feel free to stop by. They could not get any friendlier!
Sad week on the farm...
Its with heavy hearts that we inform the world that our 'cover man' goat, Norris, passed away. Though one of the youngest, he is the first of our flock to die. Though we tried to find answers, the necropsy was inconclusive so we most likely will never know why. Everyone else is healthy and happy and we are keeping a close eye on them all. I feel terrible that I am now hoping the prison break last month (when the boys escaped and freed the girls for the night) will result in a couple more Norris kids. One last pic of the cover boy himself...
The boys are clipped ... finally!
I think they enjoyed themselves running around after the fiber was removed, but they definitely qualified as grumpy goats during! (and rightly so...they were getting a bit matted)
Bags, Bags, and More Bags
We are busy making market bags for our CSA shareholders. It's nice to have found a use for all those grain bags we've been saving for years. Fingers crossed they hold up well.
Wax Processing!!!
We have finally processed our first batch of beeswax and not only was it easy but it came out beautifully.
A quick tutorial: Take your raw beeswax and place in cheesecloth. We had four layers of cheesecloth to catch the bee debris. You can almost fill your crock pot with wax (beeswax isn't easy to get off of pots/utensils so just have a spare set for this venture).
Next pour in at least one liter of water making sure to get the edges/cheesecloth damp. More water is fine too.
Put your cover on and make sure your cheesecloth doesn't sink into the pot. I used a yarn needle to make a pull tie around my cheesecloth to secure it to the lid.
Now just turn your crockpot on low (mine was just on warm - not even enough to make the water boil) - wax will melt around 148 degrees F. Careful not to get it too hot as wax can catch fire!
After all the wax is melted you can carefully lift the cheese cloth out of the crockpot - set it on a screen and put the lid over it so any excess wax will drip in. You can now turn the crock pot off and let the wax cool overnight.
Voila! Your wax should be pretty clean. You can repeat the process if you want it cleaner, or use a finer material than cheesecloth. For us, this is perfect.
The Planting Begins...
The first seedlings were planted in the little high tunnel today. This is the tunnel that will turn into a shade house for our cooler weather crops. We transplanted seedlings of two types of broccoli and red Russian Kale. We also direct seeded a curly leafed variety of kale, spinach, and Bright Lights Chard. Don't let me forget that we first put some weed barrier and woodchips down on the inside and outside edges to try and combat the incoming runner grass. Fingers crossed that it works.
In other news...the girls were all happy to be moved to a new patch of lawn. With the way things have been growing this week, we'll probably be able to move them to the pasture soon.
Everyone's losing their hair!
Screech and Houdini were first, on a nice sunny and warm day this week. Today was a bit more chilly so the ewes are going to stay in the barn till tomorrow. (The bottom two pics are Billie before and after).
And, of course, a new kid pic. They are getting super friendly - almost to the point where you can't work in the barn because they are underfoot.
