We are expanding the goats pasture area by another 100 feet so it will be 165 by 35. To do this we need to sink 22 posts for the new fencing. It takes about an hour to dig a two foot deep hole for the post. That is all dependent on how many rocks you hit. Over the weekend I got nine posts in and I plan to put another six in next weekend. With the following seven to be installed the weekend after next. We hope to have the goats in their new pasture by the end of this month.
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Harriet’s two doelings are going cold turkey on milk. We started to tape her teats so they can not nurse. I will tell you someone is really looking forward to milking time as her udder gets really tight. She now gives about 40 oz of milk a day.
Water, you can live about three days without it and about 45 days without food. So, with that being said we try not to waste either one around the farm. Recently, we started to collect rain water for watering the gardens. With our system now we can collect about 100 gallons during a good rainfall. This is enough to water the gardens once. So it is a start, we eventually would like to install a below ground 1500 gallon cistern, so we can use this to water the gardens and the livestock. However, that is going to be down the road a bit.
Around here, food is very seldom thrown out. It just goes down the food chain. If we have some food left over most times we can give it to the chickens and ducks. This ranges from stale bread to chicken carcasses. The later they will pick clean just leaving a few bones. If the food is spoiled, we put it out in the compost heap. Besides soiled food, coffee grounds, egg shells, food scraps all go into the compost bin. Over a year’s time, the compost bin will accumulate about a ton of rich, black compost ready for the garden. The cycle of life, it is very “green” but we do it because it just makes good sense. Tonight the goats were out playing in the pasture. Milking time was over and the air had cooled. They were running and jumping, going as far as their legs could take them. The game was following the leader. One would start out and the rest would follow running and jumping into the air. This was followed by loud snorts that sound like a sneeze. It is so relaxing to watch them play. It is also a good time to observe them to see if anything is wrong.
As you know we put of laundry out on the line to dry in the summer. Well sometimes it rains before we can bring in the clothes. So we have to leave them on the line to dry again. When they dry after a rainfall they are softer then you could ever get from any fabric softener. Just a nice perk from living out in the country.
Today is wash day here and this so reminds me of Mom! Let me explain, during the summer months we hang our laundry out on the line to dry. Shortly after Mom and Dad were married, she related to me that they lived in Bayonne. On wash day she would do her laundry and before she put her clothes out on the line to dry she would have to shake the line to dislodge any soot clinging to line. I think about that as I put our clothes out to dry!
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December 2023
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