Farm Update July

Since nothing new or earthshattering (thankfully!) has been happening over the past week, I thought an update on general “stuff” would be good!

I am scrambling to find some hay. I’m down to my last 1/3 of a round bale for the rams, who are on dry lot. Pretty much everyone around me is in the same boat. I have one neighbor who thinks he has several bales left that he can sell me one, and he also promises to give me a kitten from the stray tom who departed without paying child support to his catmama. Waiting to hear back from him now on both the hay and the kitten.

I was able to help the same neighbor with his two bottle lambs. They are not growing at a rate that they should be at. I suggested to him to treat them for coccidiosis and see if that made a difference in them. We discussed the different treatment methods and he seemed pleased with a possible answer to his problem.

I am also looking around for winter hay. The prices this year are outrageous! Everybody I have talked to that buys hay are saying the same thing. Most are planning to wait until later in the summer before buying to see if prices drop. I suspect I may have to do the same thing.

I get that hay buyers need to make a profit, just as much as the rest of us, and I do get raising fuel prices and inflation. However, hay that was 150.00-170.00 per bale last year are 210.00-225.00 a bale this year. And they have all seemed to change from the per ton price to a per bale price, which also means that buyers end up paying more in the long run.

This all makes it so hard for small scale producers like me to survive. Depending on how this goes, it may mean the ultimate end to my farm next year. This is breaking me heart to wrestle with that decision.

I got a few fleeces picked thru for customers. One of my moorit ewes has really changed color from a deep red/brown to a beautiful shade of fawn brown. She is 6 years old now, and ever year she has gotten lighter in color.

The flies and mosquitos are still tormenting all of us here. I have 3 new traps out and 2 were doing great catching those nasty things. Trap 3 was doing nothing. I sat watching it for a bit trying to figure out why. It had the same bait, was in the same area as one other trap, and only had 6 flies, whereas the other one had 2 solid inches of flies in it.

Then I saw it. There was a miniscule hole in the netting of the trap right at the top, and those bastards were climbing right back out! Got out my fray check fabric glue and stuck that thing shut. Now it’s catching flies!

The lambies are all doing great! Getting big, eating real food, playing with each other and making cuddle piles for nap time. Mom’s are starting to get fed up with nursing and have started kicking them off the teat. The one we were supplementing is now down to one bottle of water in the morning, and that’s more of a comfort measure for her than any other reason. They all drink out of the stock tanks now, so even if they don’t get mom milk, they are still getting well hydrated. I will prob cut that water bottle out next week.

I’ve secured a new home for the ram lamb, but I don’t know when he will be leaving us yet. If your in the market for a wool sheep of your very own, give me a shout! I have a few I would like to also find new homes for.

The weather has been really weird this year. We have had so much rain. Between the rain and my work schedule, I never got any kind of a garden in this year. I hope to find a source for pickling cukes at some point in time. My pickle supply is getting dangerously low! We can’t have that!! Our local farmers market will be starting up in a few weeks, so I’ll be there looking.

Also on the weather note, the heat has arrived. So far the days have been cool, mostly in the 70’s, overcast, rainy, and today we are supposed to hit 90 and it’s going to stay hot the rest of the week. I do have Gatorade on hand if the sheep are looking heat stressed. They love the flavor and it makes them drink more water which helps to combat the heat stress. Plus the salts and electrolytes are good for them. They love the original lemon lime flavor, followed by the cool blue one.

It’s so funny when I dump a can of powder in and mix it, it’s like the call for treats. I’ve seen them drink down an entire 50 gal stock tank in 15 mins! They are quite disappointed when the refill is not flavored anymore. Like, turn up their noses and sashay away from me shaking their butts in protest disappointed.

Onto the tractor. I have all the stuff I think I need to do the rebuild on the carburetor except the courage to start. For some reason, and I think its because if I screw it up I can’t replace it, that I just can’t get going on this. It’s intimidating the heck out of me. I do question my own sanity at the thought of trying to do this. I am no mechanic and if I can’t fix something with bale twine, zip ties, a hammer, WD40 or duct tape, then it’s usually beyond my ability to do. I keep hoping some wayward local shadetree mechanic takes pity on me and offers help. So far, no such luck.

Conversely, if it’s not the carburetor, then I have no idea what direction to go with this beast. I’m going to need it to unload whatever hay I can find and bring home. And to skid out the firewood logs from the trees that my son cut down for just that purpose.

Course the chain saw also decided to act up and blow thru entire tanks of bar oil cutting one tree down. I suspect whatever oil line is inside cracked.

Around here, when it rains, it pours LMAO!

On a happy note, due to all the rain, right now I have the best graze I’ve seen in the 4 years I’ve been living here. The sheep are all pretty fat at the moment. Even if it starts to dry up, they will still have plenty to eat for the rest of the summer and well into the fall. Course they won’t be pleased with the dry stuff vs the green stuff, but they will survive!

The wool I was spinning at the living history event I recently did has been plied and washed. I have another hat on the needles in all grey, and it’s so dang pretty!!! Stay tuned for a hat sale here! Winter is coming and the sheep will be hungry!

I fired up my sourdough starter again and it is bubbling and growing happily. I hope to be able to have the time to bake this week. I miss sourdough bread! Plus, I’ve been hearing coffee cake call my name in the wee hours of the morning.

I think that’s pretty much all that’s going on around here lately. Here’s a lovely doe saying “Hey!” to you new and past subscribers. I am grateful to have you read about my life. I hope my posts bring a smile to your face, or an occasional tear to your eye. Thank you for sharing this ride with me.

Don’t forget to check the “notes” page for a daily shot of something around the farm that strikes my fancy!

Blessed Be!