playing catch up

Where has the time gone?!  We've had a lot going on in 2017. Let's get caught up!

When we lived in Alaska early in Lance's military career we learned Spring there is called "Break Up" because the ice melts and breaks up on the rivers. Being in a river town again with a similar climate to Fairbanks we were excited to learn Spring here is called Break Up too. Well, excited until an unusual amount of Winter snowpack started to melt by March 2017 and our little creek overflowed its banks flooding our driveway.  It wasn't pretty!  The flooding lasted several months.

We eagerly anticipated our only two calves of the year. Emerald was due in May two weeks before Ruby. Emerald's calf, a heifer we named Meadow (green halter), was born four days late.  Statistically, bull calves are overdue so we were shocked to welcome a heifer.  Ruby went into labor three days early and blessed us with another heifer. We named her Fern (red halter). That means we've had eight heifers in a row!! These calves are only six days apart but Fern is much tinier than Meadow.

Buttercup May 2017

We specialize in training our Mini Jerseys to be a cherished family milk cow. Buttercup and her first calf,  Munchkin, went to new homes the Summer of 2017. Both were bred and Buttercup delivered her third calf, a tiny bull sired by DC Taylor's Alpha. Sadly, Munchkin lost her pregnancy early but has been rebred for Sept 2018.​

Buttercup & Alpha's Bull Calf Jan 2018

We had the opportunity to purchase two Mini Highland cross heifers to start a beef herd to compliment our dairy herd. They were so shy but quickly learned to love brushing time.

We were excited to find wild Huckleberries growing all over our property. We hadn't seen any the year before. We picked nearly every day during the season. We also planted a big garden. It was our best attempt yet.

We came across a small AJCA registered A2/A2 Jersey, ​Bella, needing a home with other cows.  She joined us in August 2017 and we bred her to a Polled A2/A2 Mini Jersey bull for June 2018.

Bella Aug 2017

After much research we decided to start a flock of rare Salmon Faverolle chickens. They're sweet hearty birds.  We bought chicks from around the USA. We also added true Blue Ameraucanas. They're a blue-grey shade and lay robin-egg-blue eggs.  We plan to incubate eggs and sell chicks the Summer of 2018.

In the Autumn we got two feeder piglets to raise on Jersey milk.  It's been shocking how fast they grow! We intend to butcher them ourselves in April 2018.

Lastly, we gave a 2 year old Livestock Guardian Dog, Millie, a home and a job.  Her family was very busy and she was growing increasingly bored. She's learning to guard the herd and is very playful with the other dogs in the pack.

Munchkin June 2017

​​In May the site for the barn was cleared. We sold a load of logs we didn't need for firewood to the mill and it helped pay for the construction. By late July the barn was up and the hay harvest was overdue. We worked together to get it done and filled the barn with our own hay for the Winter.

Flying up the trusses June 2017

Making hay July 2017

Stacks of hay under a dry barn roof

Between Summer projects we worked on a new chicken coop. The flock had been living in two small two-horse trailers since we arrived the Spring of 2016. We now have water nearby, a storage room, two pens, electricity and lights.

Lorinda, Millie, and Amber

Did you hang in there to the end?  There was a lot going on last year and I haven't even told you everything!  In October Lance and I attended a week long course called Armed to Farm.  That really deserves a Blog Post of it's own so stay tuned.

Lorinda