we purchased 6 excellent looking fruit trees this weekend for $19.99 - $21.99 each. they are about 7' tall. we got 2 types of peaches, a red one and a regular one (the names escape me at the moment), a bartlett pear, a bing cherry, a granny smith apple and a honeycrisp apple.
greg did quite a bit of equipment purchasing this weekend, one item being a post hole digger attachment for his tractor. so, after 6 hours of manually adjusting the settings on the tractor (it's an old ford dated between 1949 - 52) he was able to get it up and running and got the holes dug and the trees planted. next time he uses it to dig posts for the goat fence (soon i hope!) it should go a lot more quickly and smoothly.
he also purchased a rototiller attachment for his tractor. it's supposed to be delivered this week and i've got my fingers crossed that the garden will be tilled this weekend, including the new herb garden. our garden started out being raised beds but it's too time consuming to keep the areas weeded and even though the soil is primo in them, i've given up using them for gardening full time. instead, they will eventually be filled with the perennial stuff: asparagus, horseradish, rhubarb and strawberries. i'll just start dumping the goat stall stuff onto the garden for it to be tilled in to help build the soil. sage permitting (and he's not very), i'll at least get that task accomplished this week.
the broilers are growing by leaps and bounds. it's always amazing to watch their growth rate in comparison to the pullets. the difference is unbelievable. we are hoping to start breeding our one cornish crosses so when i place my next broiler order, i'll order several cornish and rock chicks as well. i need to get on that order soon.
we are hoping to get rid of the 5 goats we purchased a month ago. they've been nothing but diseased and i'm thoroughly disgusted with the guy who sold them to me. we've got our eyes on a few pregnant does from a trusted friend. hopefully something will come of that.
looking ahead to next year, we are going to purchase a few ewelings and a ram lambs and start raising navajo-churro sheep. i can't wait! instead of mowing our yard, we'll corral them with electranet fencing and just continously rotate them. in the fall, the babies will be put into our freezer. i am looking forward to owning sheep. it will be fun learning to sheer and using the fiber. i miss spinning. it's going to be another year or two before it will be safe to bring the spinning wheel back out but hopefully by then, everything else will be running smoothly and i'll actually have time to do it.
2 comments:
Oh, you'll love having sheep: easy & cheap to care for (although they are escape artist when they want to be!!), dual purpose (fiber & meat and even milk with certain breeds), the meat is a great substitute for beef (I honesty cannot tell the difference between ground beef and lamb); and friendly. Oh, and easy to breed and the ram doesn't have the musty odor like goats.
I wish you luck with the goats. I can't say enough good things about my saanens. Sweet milk, great disposition (follow me like dogs). Does aren't the escape artists that bucks can be. And just like a sheep, the kids can go in the freezer.
We are looking to finishup kiding soon, maybe tomorrow. Always a nail biting season. Our doe who was a first freshner is giving twice as much milk at each milking as she was last year. And her kid is growing strong and quick. I am considering training him as a pack animal if he shows the confirmation and inclination.
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