Time

Einstein has been playing havoc with time here at Robert's Roost. It has been moving in very odd jumps. Somehow I am at least three weeks behind on some of my farm projects. The Farmers Market starts this weekend and I am not going to have anything to sell. We will get there eventually.

Some things are working quite nicely. The chickens and goats are getting fat on the grass. We are all learning the routine of daily pasture moves. We still have the occasional rodeo, but it mostly works.

We still haven't solved the lawn mowing question. I've been able to keep up using the small mower, but now that it's starting to warm up I know it will get away from me. I feel guilty about mowing so much, but we are using all the clippings for mulch and compost. I am going to try Gene Logsdon's idea for using grass clippings to make grass silage. If it works that could go a long way toward meeting my winter feed needs. I know the chickens would love it, I'm not sure how the goats will do. Importing feed is our biggest weakness in our farm system. It is going to take some creativity to solve.

We will soon be adding a few more animals to the mix. We need about 50 more chickens to help maintain the pasture. I could do pasture broilers and sell them in the fall when we had less feed, but the kids don't want to get into meat production yet. We have a huge demand for eggs and should be able to sort out the feed issues. We are also getting a cow. I've been wanting a cow since we bought this place. We bough a Dexter milk cow with a friend. We will alternate years taking the calf and share the milk. She is small, well trained, and should fit into our system quite well. The family we bought her from will deliver her and her calf the end of this week. The kids can't wait. I'll post pictures when she gets here.

I often wish I could have an intern or some part time help here. It's not really feasible at this time. (I couldn't pay anyone.) Maybe in a couple more years we will have the income to support some help. We should have our eco-cottage done by then too. It would help to have a place someone could stay. Future dreams. I should be getting caught up on current projects instead of dreaming up new one.

I've enjoyed the comments that have been posted. It's nice to think someone is interested enough to read what we are doing. If you know anyone you think would be interested in joining the conversation please share our blog with them.