Mike CHS
Herd Master
Beautiful pictures as always. 
SA Farm's journal
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Bruce
Herd Master
Yes I believe you will!
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- #973
SA Farm
Herd Master
No idea. My mom planted it for me and now she can’t remember the variety 😂
Finnie
Herd Master
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Oh, that happens 😄
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- #975
SA Farm
Herd Master
I’ve got an order in for some hay for the end of August. 4 round bales. Also hoping to rent a truck to get some square hay and straw bales fairly soon. With how dry it’s been and still is, I’m worried hay will sell out faster than normal this fall, so I don’t want to wait until October/November like I usually do — even if I won’t need it until December.
Though if it stays this dry, I might need it earlier 😳 I’m hoping once my 3 grow-outs are gone, things will be a little less stressful. Right now the boys are eating down brush and weeds way out back in an area that’s never been grazed before while the girls are touring the yard for only the second time. Between a late spring and a dry summer, it’s been interesting to manage them.
There’s not much growing at any real speed. Need rain! Thank goodness for weeds though lol
The boys stuffing their faces with mostly goldenrod, brush, and a little bit of grass and other weeds I don’t know the names of. They don’t leave much, but there is one bush type they don’t like. I’m just happy they have some green to demolish!
Though if it stays this dry, I might need it earlier 😳 I’m hoping once my 3 grow-outs are gone, things will be a little less stressful. Right now the boys are eating down brush and weeds way out back in an area that’s never been grazed before while the girls are touring the yard for only the second time. Between a late spring and a dry summer, it’s been interesting to manage them.
There’s not much growing at any real speed. Need rain! Thank goodness for weeds though lol
The boys stuffing their faces with mostly goldenrod, brush, and a little bit of grass and other weeds I don’t know the names of. They don’t leave much, but there is one bush type they don’t like. I’m just happy they have some green to demolish!
- Thread starter
- #976
SA Farm
Herd Master
Two days of rain! Yay! It seems to be done for the time being and there are no puddles or anything left just a few hours later. The ground is still hard after all that too which tells you how badly we needed it. Forecast is calling for an off-and-on chance of more over the next four days, so we’ll see what more we get, if any.
Turkeys went to their new home this morning, so we’re officially turkey-free. It was sad to see them go. I’ll miss having them, but DH lost interest in wanting to send them to the freezer and I didn’t want to keep doing the work just to fill someone else’s freezer for little to no return, so we made the mutual choice to sell them. 😕
Entire barn will now be sheep territory which will be nice. More room for them and their lambs and whatnot.
I’m looking into a tannery to take my lambskins to when we butcher this fall and I’m also considering sending off some wool to be processed. I’m falling way behind! I think if I have all the white fleeces (to start with at least) taken in and processed into batts, I can dye and either spin or sell from there. We’ll see what the pricing is like and go from there. I will probably wash and skirt them more heavily first to make it a little more cost effective.
I counted and I have 10 garbage bags full in my basement 😂 I have more upstairs that I’ve been working on, so that’s a lot to do. Too much for me to do alone. If I could find a fibre friend, I would probably be more motivated, but I only know people who would want yarn, not raw fleeces.
So, my little farm is shrinking more and more, but with the way things are going, it seems essentials are probably best to pare down to. Chickens for eggs and meat, sheep for milk, meat, and fibre. Add some extra bonuses like fertilizer, pest control, lawn maintenance, and a few extras to sell now and again in there and they’re worth their keep.
Turkeys went to their new home this morning, so we’re officially turkey-free. It was sad to see them go. I’ll miss having them, but DH lost interest in wanting to send them to the freezer and I didn’t want to keep doing the work just to fill someone else’s freezer for little to no return, so we made the mutual choice to sell them. 😕
Entire barn will now be sheep territory which will be nice. More room for them and their lambs and whatnot.
I’m looking into a tannery to take my lambskins to when we butcher this fall and I’m also considering sending off some wool to be processed. I’m falling way behind! I think if I have all the white fleeces (to start with at least) taken in and processed into batts, I can dye and either spin or sell from there. We’ll see what the pricing is like and go from there. I will probably wash and skirt them more heavily first to make it a little more cost effective.
I counted and I have 10 garbage bags full in my basement 😂 I have more upstairs that I’ve been working on, so that’s a lot to do. Too much for me to do alone. If I could find a fibre friend, I would probably be more motivated, but I only know people who would want yarn, not raw fleeces.
So, my little farm is shrinking more and more, but with the way things are going, it seems essentials are probably best to pare down to. Chickens for eggs and meat, sheep for milk, meat, and fibre. Add some extra bonuses like fertilizer, pest control, lawn maintenance, and a few extras to sell now and again in there and they’re worth their keep.
Baymule
Herd Master
No point in feeding mouths that are not going in the direction you need. I think you are showing great wisdom in paring down the “herds”.
- Thread starter
- #978
SA Farm
Herd Master
My Mom is a genius. So, we’ve tried growing corn here before and the birds (crows and the like) always get to it if the raccoons don’t.
The turkey pen is huge and covered. Nothing bigger than a robin getting in there, so Mom suggested I plant corn in there next year. I think I’m going to give it a go. This fall I’ll put compost down, plant in the spring (corn on the inside, squash on the outside) and once everything is established I can put the chickens inside to weed since I already have the turkey door available into what will be a lambing stall. But the stall will be empty by then, so it’s perfect!
Hopefully 🤞
In case it isn’t obvious, my Mom is the gardener in the family. But I really love the idea of growing stuff that’s low maintenance and good for the household and the animals, so I’m trying to develop more of a green thumb.
In other news, my poor rams have discovered a large patch of poison ivy 🫤 They won’t touch it—which is probably for the best (and I don’t blame them one bit!) Any suggestions on getting rid of it? DH wants to burn it, but I believe the roots are too deep for that method to be effective…not to mention the danger of the oil from the plants getting in the smoke.
The turkey pen is huge and covered. Nothing bigger than a robin getting in there, so Mom suggested I plant corn in there next year. I think I’m going to give it a go. This fall I’ll put compost down, plant in the spring (corn on the inside, squash on the outside) and once everything is established I can put the chickens inside to weed since I already have the turkey door available into what will be a lambing stall. But the stall will be empty by then, so it’s perfect!
Hopefully 🤞
In case it isn’t obvious, my Mom is the gardener in the family. But I really love the idea of growing stuff that’s low maintenance and good for the household and the animals, so I’m trying to develop more of a green thumb.
In other news, my poor rams have discovered a large patch of poison ivy 🫤 They won’t touch it—which is probably for the best (and I don’t blame them one bit!) Any suggestions on getting rid of it? DH wants to burn it, but I believe the roots are too deep for that method to be effective…not to mention the danger of the oil from the plants getting in the smoke.
Baymule
Herd Master
No! Don’t burn it! If you breathe the smoke, it will land you in the hospital. If you get in the smoke, it will blister your skin. Burning is bad!
Poison it. Fence it off with cow panels to keep sheep out, and spray it. Then take it up once it’s dead and put in trash bags. Wear long sleeves, gloves, long pants, protective clothing. Bathe immediately in a tub with a cup of Clorox in it. Leave it fenced, it will come back. You can spot spray it the next time.
I’m not much of one to use poison, but I HATE that stuff!
Poison it. Fence it off with cow panels to keep sheep out, and spray it. Then take it up once it’s dead and put in trash bags. Wear long sleeves, gloves, long pants, protective clothing. Bathe immediately in a tub with a cup of Clorox in it. Leave it fenced, it will come back. You can spot spray it the next time.
I’m not much of one to use poison, but I HATE that stuff!
farmerjan
Herd Master
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I have poison ivy along the deck ....RIGHT where my LILAC BUSH IS..... DO NOT WANT TO KILL THE LILAC..... any ideas??? all the poison things I read for killing the poison ivy say woody plants... that will kill the lilac....
