Fall is on the slippery slope toward winter and we are just barely hanging on! There is so much to do and yet so little time before the cold creeps in. Plus, this year, we are going to function a little different than normal and milk through the winter. That means chores on top of preparations! But lots of fun stuff to be excited about and excited we are!
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| Notice the corn in the background drying in "shocks". Local Amish farmers will feed their animals with this corn, over the winter. |
Maintaining and Keeping Up
We can't quite believe it, but we are still doing hay into November! We had a great opportunity from a neighbor to cut his hay. Because our equipment harkens back to when farms were a bit smaller, we are a bit slow to be able to manage this huge windfall. It has been a bit like trying to carry out a fortune's worth of money in our tiny pockets.
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| Jaden is very excited about her chance to drive the tractor! |
Another neighbor is lending us a few fields for late grazing in exchange for some fencing. This is allowing us to continue milking into the winter. SUCH a blessing as many of our cows are in the middle of their lactations and if we dry them up now, we lose 6 months worth of milk. Many of the cows on our line won't calve until mid summer. Keeping the cheese in production over winter keeps us all "above water". Continuing chores and making cheese twice a week does cut down on our available time though, and this means we are working double time to meet the deadline of winter.
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| Brahma is due to calve in December. :-) |
Repairs and Improvements
So much of what fall is about is preparing for a smooth winter, which means repairing things that broke over the summer and make some improvements that will make the cold, wet days easier to cope with for us....and for the animals.
Last year we started a CL free goat herd and this fall we are expanding their grazing reach and housing for the winter. So doing some fencing and winter housing prep for them. We are really excited about the young, purebred buck we got this summer! Looking forward to some really pretty babies.
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| I just love these guys! |
Fencing is a major theme of fall, as animals start getting hungry and looking across the fence for some green. And it always seems it is greener on the other side of the fence! Keeping the sheep in would be a major win as they have a habit of collecting pokey stickers in their wool. Pull a thousand of those out at shearing time and see if you don't agree! It takes a year to grow a fleece and two point two seconds to ruin it!
Another huge blessing has been the use of a friend's skid steer. Forget hippos and front teeth for Christmas! Drop a skid steer into my stocking, please! We cleaned out the goat barn in record time with this thing and fixed the dirt work at the facility for the inspector.
Up Next!
Still so much to do around here! We are looking forward to finishing hay, family firewood gathering, and a big team effort at taking down our holding pen roof and rebuilding it. Also, we are beginning to pine for the slow season of holidays and family togetherness.
But in the classification of things to look forward to is a bit of fancy cheese we tried. Three hours of chopping dried fruit and four hours of intensive pressing, made these 27 lbs of cheese a big undertaking. I sure hope they taste fabulous! We have another month of aging our little Wensleydale cheeses before we know!
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| My try at Wensleydale cheese! |
Lots of goings on around here, but I want to pause and remember that it is our customers, neighbors, and family to whom we owe our daily existence. And we hope we are extending those blessings back into our community. In a time of such stark division in our country, we just want to remember how blessed we are for one another. The diversity of our country, communities, and families is a strength, despite the obvious conflicts that arise exactly because of that diversity. In these times, I try to remember that we don't have to think alike to love alike. Cheers!
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