August 29, 2020
August 29, 2020
I'm afraid the rain we are getting this morning is too little, too late to help with feeding our animals. The pastures have given up for the season, and I'm not sure if any rain we get from now on will convince them to grow any more. We have started feeding the sheep hay already, more than 2 months earlier than last year.
The local hay crop was severely affected by this summer's lack of rain, as well. Local hay farmers have cut and baled half to two thirds the amount they usually make, which means price hikes and shortages. We are getting in our first load this week and are trying to find storage for the rest of what we need.
The recent "derecho" storms in the Midwest have seriously damaged the country's grain supply and I foresee shortages in the animal feed supply line as well. We bought in a ton of pig feed as a buffer- but that won't last forever....
August 22, 2020
We upgraded our solar panels at Hill-Stead, making the mounting more wind proof (we almost lost them in the storm 2 weeks ago) and adding another panel. The system provides power for the electric fence and runs the "sheep cam" we stream live from 7am- 7 pm https://www.clatterridgefarm.com/sheep-cam - we also use the camera to monitor the sheep after hours. It's provided great entertainment for the public - and added security for the pasture and barns.
I have also been, for years, working on water management through out our farm. "Working on water management " is a nice way of saying digging ditches and ponds. The ridge part of our farm has problems with erosion, since there is very little topsoil to support grass and plants - the roots of which help hold the soil in place. So I have been digging swales and shallow trenches to slow down the run off. It works. Over the years the swales have slowed the run off, which has stopped the soil from eroding and allowed the pasture to grow in. We also have rain barrels to capture roof run off and a holding pond that helps retain some of the rainfall for future use. It's been handy during this drought!
The Mountain Spring part of our farm has the opposite challenge. At the base of the ridge it captures all the rainfall and is prone to flooding. My father, an engineer by profession, dealt with it by digging massive drainage ditches. The ditches always seemed to become blocked in major storm events and required the 5 of us kids joining him in the pouring rain armed with rakes and shovels- It was great fun! To this day when there are torrential rains my first instinct is to go outside with a shovel. As one of my sisters noted - the town's public works department should put us to work keeping their storm drains clear. It's pretty much in our DNA....
After my dad passed away I filled in the ditches and planted comfrey and other plants to use as feed for the animals. My father's goal was to gather as much of the water as he could and remove it as quickly as possible off the property. My goal is to slow the water down so it's not such a destructive force, direct it to where I want it to go, and keep as much as possible of this valuable resource, on the property.
He would have been horrified at first, but now, I'm certain, he would completely approve. Given a choice, I like to work with nature, not against it.
August 14, 2020
One of our lambs disappeared from our Mountain Spring Road pasture while the power was off and our fences not electrified. Our trail camera caught a glimpse of a coyote and her 4 pups walking by. Circumstantial evidence for sure, but....
Lactating animals require a fairly easy, and steady supply of fresh water and with this drought, I know of only 2 places on our property that have any water at all. So I walked the perimeter of the pond and found no tracks in the mud, other than deer. A half mile away, I searched the stream bed that runs in and out of our pasture. Just outside of the fencing in a densely overgrown area, I found coyote tracks, trails, scat and the remains of one of our chickens. I now know where the coyotes live, where they hunt, and where they drink. If I were a coyote- it's exactly where I would choose to raise my pups. It's the perfect choice and I hope we can peacefully coexist.
I'll be more vigilant, and make my presence known. They are welcome to stay, as long as it is on their side of the fence!
What's the saying? Good fences make good neighbors...
August 8, 2020
It's been a very long week! We've spent days clearing trees and trying to get the pasture fences repaired before the pigs realized they were basically free to roam, and before the bears realized nothing was electrified and all of our animals unprotected.
Perfectly healthy trees were snapped, in half, 20 feet off the ground. The pigs are absolutely thrilled with all the acorns and hickory nuts that came down with the trees, and the sheep are loving the leaves. I imagine they all wished longingly for the tops of those trees, looking forward to Autumn, knowing the nuts and leaves would eventually fall and be theirs for the eating- and then it happened- the tree tops were suddenly ground level! I'm glad someone is happy.
We have a generator that keeps all of our freezers at temperature but it can't keep up with our walk in cooler. It was a mad scramble to find refrigeration space. We created a fair amount of space by turning one of our chest freezers into a cooler, but we still lost bushels and bushels of vegetables.
I abhor food waste, but the pigs were pleased as they got everything that we lost. Like I said, I'm glad someone is happy!
you can check out the sheep helping clean up the brush at the link below
https://www.clatterridgefarm.com/sheep-cam
August 1, 2020
Okay, I am back to whining about the lack of rain.
In a good year we can keep the sheep on pasture, eating grass, until November. This year however, we will have to start feeding some of our sheep hay next week, unless it cools off a bit and we get some rain.
Feeding the flock hay is less nutritious, and expensive.
Rotating the sheep through the pastures keeps the pastures healthy, the grass growing, and breaks up the parasite cycles. We try to keep the sheep off each section of pasture, until the grass has regrown in that area. Right now the grass isn't growing, and we are running out of new areas to move them to, so our next move will likely be back to the barn. That's good news for those of you who watch our "sheep cam" - but bad news for me, and the sheep.
Our pastures on Mountain Spring Road are doing much better presumably because there is much more shade to protect the pasture from being cooked to a crisp by the sun.
The pigs are happy with the wallows we created, and the baby chicks have settled in nicely.