Edible Landscape Clean-up: Run for the Roses

Edible Landscaping

I don’t recall when I started to search out edible landscaping as a primary source of beauty.  It might have been when I saw how pretty my purple eggplants looked, tucked between some bushes because I did not have any more room in the REAL garden.  Or maybe it was the color of Swiss Chard under my cherry trees in the summer.  Well, for whatever reason, I am an avid edible landscaper.

I have been slowly trimming my rose bushes every other day.  They are not hard to manage but you do need to cut them back if you don’t want to live in Sleeping Beauty’s rose covered castle. Or was that Snow White and Rose Red?  Anyway, I never worry about trimming the roses too much because every bit of them are used.  In the Fall I use the rose hips for syrup.  In the Winter I give the trimmed branches to our goat, Lucy.  She eats them like candy.  The roof of her mouth must be made of titanium because these branches have thorns that really hurt.  The chickens clean up anything that Lucy drops and any spider cases, etc.

So, Lucy gets a special treat and I feel like I have cleaned up without adding anything to the landfill.  It’s a win-win.

Edible landscaping benefits not only the human critters but the birds, goats, and chickens.  Try it this year!

Real Food and A Box Full of Kids

This is the first day of the NDiN Real Food Challenge. I had a post about our first day and the instant challenges we (I) found feeding everyone "Real Food". But I'm posting this instead.

A Box Full of Kids

If you read this blog regularly you know we have been struggling with a kid who couldn't stand when she was born. She is the black and white one on the right. Her name is Patty. It took us some time (and some suggestions from a few helpful readers) to pin down the problem. She had White Muscle Disease. That's a vitamin E/selenium deficiency. She seems to be doing pretty well now, but her sister (who appeared strong when she was born) died today. Her heart just stopped. (That is another effect of selenium/vitamin E deficiency.) As I looked more closely at the whole herd it became apparent that everyone was suffering some of the effects of this deficiency. I've dosed everyone up with cod liver oil, extra kelp meal, and a selenium rich mineral supplement. Should solve the problem for the goats.

So, you are probably wondering what this has to do with Real Food and the Real Food Challenge. Well, here are my thoughts for the day. What I discovered was the deficiency in my goats came from their feed. They have been on hay for a couple of months now, and confined to the barn for about a month (the snow is so deep there is nothing for them to nibble on and no reason for them to go out to pasture. It would be pointless for them and more work for me.) The 'organic' hay I bought this year is from a new source. They are new to the organic game, and their fields have just 'transitioned'. Before they changed the fields had been farmed traditionally. In researching White Muscle Disease and ways to deal with it I found that selenium was depressed in plants grown on soils with low pH and on soils subjected to chemical fertilizers. It had not been a problem in the US until after the wide spread use of chemical fertilizers began. Vitamin E deteriorates in plants that are stored for long periods of time. This year we used first cut hay from a farm where the fields had just recently switched to 'organic' practices. The food caused the problem.

These kinds of studies are readily available for animals and animal feed. BUT, no one talks about it in relation to human food and human health.

Today has made me rethink this challenge and what I'm doing. I'm a farmer. My business is food. Producing fresh, nutrient dense, balanced food for my family and my community is my responsibility. That's an idea I intend to explore more this month. The how and the why of Real Food.

Floppy Goat Walking

Little floppy goat (now named Patty) seems to be doing much better. I suspect that Callie was correct. It was vitamin E/selenium deficiency. Early on I gave Patty a dose of cod liver oil. That plus lots of extra care seems to have helped her turn the corner.

Floppy Goat Walking

That would also explain the scruffy look of some of the goats, the difficulty birthing we have had this year, and the general level of unthriftyness. We don't usually have a problem with this kind of deficiency. We have built up our soil and pasture quality enough, and we supplement with a good mineral program, and that takes care of it (copper on the other hand has been a fight...) This year several things seem to have conspired against us. First, we are kidding earlier than we usually do. The Does haven't had the access to fresh green pasture that they normally do. Second, the weather this past month has had the goats confined to the barn. In past years we haven't had the snow cover that we have had this year. They have gone out to pasture and picked at old grass and weeds along with their hay and supplements. I think they were getting more from this than I thought. Third, we changed hay suppliers, and his land hasn't been in organic production very long. I don't think the nutrients are there at the levels I expected. So, now I'm on my way to start remedial supplementation with the rest of the goats. I'll also add a lot more kelp into the supplement and put more out free choice. Hopefully this will prevent future problems.

NOT my GOOD towels!!! And other small-scale stock keeping dilemmas

We have a stack of old, ugly towels, rags, t-shirts, and bits of unidentifiable cloth collectively referred to as “Dad’s Towels”. They are farm towels, intended to wipe the mud and muck from people and things. We try hard to not use the other towels for mucky jobs. It helps maintain PEACE in our world.

But calving and kidding is messy. Especially when you choose to do it in the cold snowy muck rather than in the warm dry green grass. When you calve or kid early you have to get the baby clean and dry or they die. Sometimes there are not enough “Dad towels” and other get called into service. Usually they survive. This year a couple permanently joined the “Dad Towel” pile. I guess a new set of towels is a small price to pay for all these cute babies.

We are not done with the towels yet. We still have 3 more goats to freshen, and then MUD season. We are also using quite a few towels everyday caring for Angel’s baby.

This brings us to another dilemma, saving Angel’s baby. In the wild the baby would have died. Possibly them mom too, but the baby for sure. Her sister would have lived if the mom lived. That is the way it works. It’s a harsh system, but it works perfectly. I notice that every time I muck it up.

Angel's Second up and running around.

When I was involved with raising beef in large herds I quickly learned that you don’t save bum calves. If mom doesn’t take care of them they are not going to thrive. We bottle fed a bunch of calves to learn this. They never thrived. And even the ones that did reasonably well never recouped the cost in milk replacer and labor that went into getting them to weaning age. We also got rid of cows that didn’t wean a calf. It was an economic decision. But on a small scale, where you know and love each of your animals it is much harder to be so calculating. So, we do this every year. We save a kid who should have died. We put lots more money and time into keeping them going than we do with the others.

Usually they end up ok (it helps that we have lots of milk and lots of willing laborers.) But this year I’m not sure. Angel’s baby still can’t stand. Normally they are up and running around within 30 minutes. (The ones that weren’t got eaten a long time ago.) So here’s the situation. Angel’s baby can’t stand. It’s day three and she is still pretty floppy. She is stronger. She can hold her head up, she moves her legs, and tries to stand, but so far she can’t. So what do I do? JJ spends hours feeding, cleaning, exercising, loving this little floppy bit of goat. We all do.

When she was born that human trait that makes us love and defend helpless, screaming, slimy bundles of life kicked in and I brought her to the house instead of letting Nature take it’s course. How could I not? But now I’m faced with the possibility that she will never be able to stand, walk, or care for her self. As 8 lbs of cute cuddly baby it’s ok. As 130 lbs of smelly goat it’s not so good. It will be interesting to see how it works out…

Why I don't get anything done

Instead of working in the greenhouse yesterday I spent the day up to my elbows in baby goats. Angel had her babies yesterday about 11. The first one got stuck with it's feet back and it's head part way out. I had to push her back in, hook the front feet and then pull her. Long painful process. She lived through it but couldn't stand. The second baby was breech with her butt coming first. Same process rearranging her. By the time we got the second one out Angel was exhausted. She couldn't stand, and her milk wasn't coming. I got her settled and we started on the kids. We have some powdered colostrum on hand for emergencies. We got some in them, got them dry and warm (it was 36 degrees and 98% humidity out yesterday. Cold for a new born.)


Both babies made it through the night, and the second one is up and doing fine. Angel is up and seems fine too. Her milk is starting to come, and baby #2 is nursing. Baby #1 still can't stand, but she is much stronger.

The two new babies (and a couple of others who were cold) came in for a warm-up and a visit in the evening. Angels girls slept in the dog crate in the family room.

It's Raining Kids...hallelujah?

Orphea added her two bits today. A girl (the brown and black one) @ 6 lbs and a boy (the all black one) @ 8 lbs 5 oz. All are doing well.

Another new baby and an unexpected visitor

This is Lucy's baby girl. She was born yesterday afternoon. She weighed in at 6lbs 9oz. She and her mom are doing fine.

We haven't named her yet. She is on the list of possible keepers, so we have to think a bit about the name.

We also found this rather odd trail wandering across the pasture and stopping at the barn. It took a few minutes to figure out what made it and to discover out visitor.

A goose has taken up residence next to our barn. It seems to walk just fine, but has made no attempt to fly or even flap its wings. I can get as close as about 6 feet, then it tries to run away (not an easy thing in the deep snow.) To keep the kids happy I've thrown it a few scraps and some chicken scratch. We'll see what happens as the weather warms.

Right now he/she seems pretty happy just hanging out with the goats.

Early Arrival

Guess who arrived around 5 this morning?

It was 10 degrees and foggy so we named him Phileas (Fogg). He and his mom are doing great. I'm a bit tired. I could tell she was going to kid soon, so I went to check every two hours. Long night.

In the Pasture - Sunshine

This post was supposed to go up yesterday, but... it turned out to be a bit of a do-over day so I didn't get my blogging done. (I had resolved to post everyday, LOL.)



The sun came out, the temperature broke 35 deg. F, and the Mob wanted to go out. They have been confined to the barn and a small yard for most of the past two weeks. We are feeding hay right now, and when the weather is really bad it is easier on all of us to keep them close. But, with the sun shining and the temperature rising they wanted to go out. I wanted them out too. I needed to do some work in the barn and it is much easier to do without a dozen goats nosing in to see what you are doing. So I hauled hay and water out to the pasture and turned them out. They loved it. Running, bucking, acting like kids. It was fun to watch.



Once I got them settled it was time to get some projects done. There are things that have been waiting for a break in the weather. Time's getting short, and it looked like I was going to get the break I needed. Besides getting the animals out of the barn, there were a few bits I needed to pick up to be able to do the barn projects. So, I jumped in the truck and headed out. Backing out of the driveway I slid off the edge of the hill and got stuck. I tried every trick I knew (including calling the neighbors to beg for help.) Nothing worked. An hour later I gave up. The truck was well and truly stuck (I've done this before, so I know.) The barn projects were not going to get done.



So I decided to turn my attention to the greenhouse. It is past time to get it ready for early planting. As I walked by I started smacking the plastic with my hand, trying to get the snow to slid off the top. After three good smacks the rotted lath along the bottom gave way and half of the plastic started flapping in the breeze. I could see the rest of it starting to give way too. I knew the lath needed replacing this year, but I was hoping to be able to wait until the snow was gone and the day was calm. Two hours of crawling around in the snow screwing scraps to the base to temporarily hold the plastic in place. The greenhouse wasn't one bit cleaner, but at least it would not blow away (I hope!)



I went to check on the Mob in the pasture. All this activity out in the sun would make them thirsty. I needed to make sure there was still water in the trough, and that they weren't completely out of feed. The feed and water were fine, but Darby, one of our first fresheners, was laying in the snow off by herself. She is usually one of the first to the fence when I come out to check on them, so this was a bit strange. She is due to kid the first week of March. Still far enough away to not be a concern, but... I jumped the fence and trudged over to her. She had miscarried and was bleeding. I tried to get her up so I could walk her to the barn, but she couldn't stand. So, I had to carry her back. She only ways about 120 lbs, so it wasn't that difficult. Still, 120 lbs of squirming, unhappy goat, 6 inches of wet, melting snow, and a mob of interested others who wanted to come along to see what was happening, made for an interesting trip. I got her to the barn, bedded down in some dry straw, and checked her out. The bleeding stopped, I got her cleaned up, fed, and doctored to the best of my ability. Exhausted, I went back out to find half the goats out wandering around the yard. Apparently I didn't get the gate shut properly. They just wanted to see what was happening, and let me know that if I didn't do something about the gate the cow would get out too. I got them back to the pasture, locked the gate, and looked furtively around for what ever was coming next. The sun was sinking toward the western hills, long blue shadows reaching out across the snow. Time to call it a day. Wish it could be a do-over.

Goats in the garden, ponies on the porch

Fall has come, the grass if finished, the mob is cleaning up the scraps before getting relegated to their winter diet of hay. Yesterday I put them in the front yard. They're cleaning up the grass I didn't mow before it got cold, the weeds along the road and the fence line, and all the overgrown flowers around the house (I checked to make sure nothing was toxic.) We have really slowed down traffic today, and I'm sure we will hear from the neighbors. Still, strange as it may seem it will save me 500 lbs of hay and do the clean-up and fertilizing I didn't have time to get around to.

Copper and Healthy Goats

I was reminded today by the Dancing Farmer that I had started an experiment and had yet to follow up with the results (never get accepted as best practice if we don't publish the results.) So, here's what I've seen so far.

We had some serious health problems with our goats last year. Much of the problem had to do with liver fluke and other parasites. Once I got everyone back on their feet and reasonably healthy I added copper sulfate to their feed ration. I started giving 1 teaspoon per week to each adult goat. The results have been pretty good. Our summer fecal count was good. Haven't done the fall one yet (I should say I haven't had it done yet, I don't do my own. It is a skill I hope to learn, but don't have the time right now.)

I am seeing some indication that the copper level is still too low for some of my goats. One of the ways you can tell is looking at their coat.

This time of year the coats should be slick and shiny.

Most of them are, but a couple of the black goats we have look a bit sun-bleached, the hair has a bit of rusty red at the end. Another gray and white doe looks as shaggy as she did at the end of the winter.

Her hair looks rough and fluffy and if you look close you can see the ends are curled. These are sure signs of copper deficiency. I will be doubling the copper for these goats and adding an extra dose of dolomite. Hopefully this will fix the problem as we go into fall. I'll try to remember to post a bit more about this in a couple of months.

A lovely spring morning

What a lovely start to the day. This morning's post is about which type of dairy animal is right for a small homestead. It's posted on Not Dabbling In Normal. Go check it out.

Goats, ya got to love them... or eat them.

It had been a very long day. Lot's got done. We had just settled in for dinner, tired, hungry, enjoying each others company. C looked out the window and there were the goats, bounding up the lawn toward the potager and the back door. I dropped my fork, slipped on my boots and raced from the house to head them back to the barn. I'm sure a few interesting things were said as I ran down the steps. Probably in French. Six of the eight goats turned and hightailed it back to the barn, beating me to the gate and waiting patently for me to let them back in. The other two led me on a merry chase around the barn a few times before I cornered them and got them back where they belonged. While I did this a few of the first group came back out to join the fun. That's when I discovered that they hadn't escaped through the gap in the gate. No, they had knocked down one of the siding boards in the barn and made their own gate. (Goats will always find the weak spot. Even in places they have been for years. They are obsessed with testing.)

Here is where they broke through the wall (they pushed out the two boards under the window.) It's fixed in this picture, I didn't take the camera with me when I went chasing goats into the night.

The inside of the barn was quite a mess. Apparently several of the goats stopped to eat all the treats, grain, and rummage through everything before they came looking for me. I'll know who in the morning because they will be pretty sick from all the grain.

Looking pretty inocent after returning to their beds. You have to love them, or eat them...

A new herd sire

This is Andrew

He loves to eat.

A lot!

He's a cheeky little man.

Who needs his rest.
He has a lot of growing to do if he is
going to do his job.

The best laid plans...

Yesterday I had PLANS. Lots to get done and detailed plan of how to do it all in the allotted time. I had the final skim coat of mud to put on the ceiling, 5 flats of herbs, lettuce, and some greenhouse tomatoes to plant, logs to move so the trees coming for the potager would have a home, kids school to supervise, laundry, baking, and dinner. Lots to do, but I had a plan. First thing, chores. Normally it takes me 45 minutes since we are not milking right now. I feed the chickens and give the ponies, cows, and goats their supplement. When they are done I put them out to pasture with the chickens, throw down a couple bales of hay, and call it done. The animals had a different agenda for the day. I turned them out into the pasture and went to get the hay. When I returned they were all in the chicken coop. I mean the cow, the goats, and even the pony had her head stuck in. They were trying to get the layer mash. They have been sharing the pasture with the chickens for a couple of months now and have completely ignored the coop and the chicken feed. I chased them out the back of the coop they had broken down and pulled the wire up. They wandered over toward the hay and I started back toward the house. I got about 5 steps and they were sprinting back toward the coop. The next hour and a half was spent retraining the goats and cow that the chicken coop was not their space, cobbeling together some repairs the would discourage reentry, and raging at the stupidity of animals in general. After that my plan fell apart and I got only half of the things on the list done. Maybe today the dice will role my way and I'll get caught up...

Alan's Soapbox - A bit more about "Organics"

How ever the organic gardening movement started, and what ever its beliefs were at that time don't really matter now. Organics has become what the USDA and the Marketing gurus have made it. As it is now it is pretty irrelevant. Substituting "organic" NPK for synthetic NPK doesn't change much. Neither does the current round of "organic" pesticides and herbicides. There is nothing in the mandated practices about nourishing the land, feeding the soil, finding balance.

For example - If I lived in a different state I would be running a micro scale organic grade A goat dairy. (I'm not doing that here because this is not a raw milk state and the equipment costs to be a pasteurized dairy are prohibitive, not to mention the fact that I don't support mandatory pasteurization ... but that is a rant for an other day.) This past winter we had a lot of sickness in our goat herd. After losing several animals and ending up with everyone else extremely sick, we finally discovered the cause. The goats were infested with liver fluke from the overly wet pastures. Remedy? A prescription for a fairly toxic wormer. At this point, if I were a certified "organic" dairy I would have to choose between curing my animals and losing my certification or letting nature sort it out and keeping my certification. I opted to go with the non-organic solution. For me it is a one time thing, done with my eyes open. I know how to prevent the problem in the future in ways that wont damage my animals or my land, and that would fit the "organic" standards, but if I don't cure these animals, they will die. I know that there will be toxins in my goats, and I know how to help them get rid of those toxins. I know the wormer will damage populations of worms and microbes in my soil, and I know how to help those populations recover. So for me, in this instance, on my little farm conventional is better than organic. Alive and recovering from some toxins is better than naturally dead. The line is fuzzy, and the only way to live is eyes open, consciously doing what is best for your land, animals and local systems. The toxins I used once are here on my land for me to deal with. I know it and know how to take steps to fix the problem. But I'm not organic any more.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled programing...

2008 was a really tough year for our goats. We lost two adult goats and half of our kids to some ailment that hit them fast and didn’t seem to be curable. We struggled all year, making sure they were all up to date on vaccinations, that their feed was good quality, that they had access to a well balanced mineral supplement, that they were wormed regularly, everything we or the vet could think of, and still they died. It was very frustrating and heartbreaking. Finally, this winter after losing two more kids, we found an answer. Liver flukes. They thrive in wet pastures and we have lots of that, and had even more this past year. They are also not common in our area, and the eggs (which are what you look for when you test) look almost identical to the Barber pole worm. The worms respond to most of the wormers that are readily available, but the flukes only respond to a rather expensive, vet prescribed wormer. It’s pretty harsh, but we are prepared to use it now that we know what the problem is. I’ve also read some articles that indicate that an increase in copper sulfate will solve all the internal parasite problems, including liver flukes. I’m going to try that first, and have them tested again in a few weeks. If it works it will save us lots of money and keep the pasture toxin free. If it doesn’t work quickly we will do what ever we must to keep the herd healthy. Now that we ( our vet included) are keyed in on what to watch for we should be able to solve this problem for the future of our farm and herd. It is easy to miss if you aren’t looking for it specifically. The symptoms and the eggs of the fluke are very similar to other parasite problems, but it doesn’t respond to any of the common wormers.


Barber pole worm eggs


Liver fluke eggs

Besides the increased copper we will be improving drainage and fertility in the pasture this year. More on that later.

Five minutes makes a LOT of difference

Evening. Time to do the chores. Feet propped up on the fender of the stove, Ender's Exile has sucked me in. Five more minutes then I'll go.

Now it's dark. All the animals are restive. Pony (still unnamed. Please vote!) came to the barn at a trot, dragging me along. (We spent an hour with her today, inspired by the post at Sallygardens, but she is starting to think she is the boss. Another project...) May, our wonderful Dexter cow, came along nicely. Then the goats. All but Blots ran straight to the barn. Blots veered off towards Egypt. I closed the gate and went after her. A few minutes later (and a few choice words) and she was on her way back to the barn. I opened the gate to push Blots in and May bolted. I'm brave, but 650 lbs of crazy cow make me step aside. Blots went in and May went out. Words were said. The neighbors were walking up the lane from an evening of deer hunting. They called out their offer of help. "The next thing that moves is DEAD!!" I replied. Quietly, they went on their way. Eventually May was captured and led back to the barn. I was reminded that I may think I am in charge, but my herd can change that at any time.

If I had started five minutes earlier while it was light things would have been much different. I suppose I can blame it on a really engaging book.

This post was supposed to be about chickens. It was to be followed by a post about rabbits. They are coming soon.

Coshocton County Fair Day 2, Saturday

Show Day!

7:45 AM - Arrive at the Fair Grounds to care for the goats and for J and R to sing with the Sacred Heart Children's Choir. The Fair Grounds are a bit like a ghost town at this time of morning. The carnies are just starting to make their bleary way to their stands. The folks with livestock are dragging in to water, feed, and prep. Some of them are still wearing pajamas. They probably camped over night with their animals.

early morning ghost town

The kids sang very well. Fr. Bill was happy, and the crowd was impressed. By 10:30 we were finished performing, and finished prepping the goats. The goat show didn't start until 3 pm so we scooted home for a couple hours rest.

Singing with the choir

2:00 pm - Back at the Fair Grounds. Things are looking a bit more lively now. Signed J in and got her number and a show book. Dairy goats were listed 9th. It was going to be a long afternoon. Of course J and her friend G (who is also showing a dairy goat this year) couldn't wait to get ready. The insisted on changing into their show whites immediately.

things looking a bit livelier
J and G ready to show (2:30 pm)
Still clean
waiting

watching

interesting things across the yard

LOTS of pygmy goats

7:20 pm - Dairy Goats are up. It's a pretty fast show. It went really well. J had to hustle in and out of the ring to switch goats for the different classes. She was awesome! The goats were great too.

Show Time

in the ring with Molly

answering the judge

9:10 pm - End of the day. J and her three goats, Ginger, Darby, and Molly, took home Showmanship in the Junior class, First place Junior Kid Doe class, First Place, Second place, and Reserve Champion in the Junior/Senior Yearling Dry Doe class, and Second place and Reserve Champion in the Senior Dairy Doe class. It was quite a day.

a GOOD ending

Coshocton County Fair 2008 Day 1, Friday

The Fair is a huge event in our county. Everything (or at least most things) closes for at least the first few days, and many things are closed for the week. The kids are off school for two days. and everyone goes to the fair. A friend of ours is planning a major remodel in their house. He went to the bank on Wednesday to get the loan started and was told, "We couldn't possibly get to it until after the fair. Everyone is too busy setting up the booth and helping their kids." It's amazing, but tons of fun if you prepared in advanced and don't need anything major.

For us the fair started on Thursday. We spent the day setting up the stalls for the goats. People showing in the Junior Fair (4H and FFA) have to decorate the stall area where their animal will be staying for the week. They are also responsible for keeping the area tidy during the fair and for cleaning it up at the end. That keeps us there every day.

Setting up the stall

Friday we delivered the goats in the morning. It took a while to get them settled. In the evening we had the milk-out. This is our first year taking a production doe to the fair, so we didn't really know what to expect. Last year they made a big deal about the milk-out and the one person participating was featured in the paper. We went prepared to milk as part of a show. J in her dairy whites, ready to milk and answer questions. This year it wasn't a show. They just wanted to ensure that all the does where completely milked out at the same time so you couldn't cheat and allow their udders to over fill. It was a bit of a let down, but everything went well. We also had some time to wander through the display buildings and check out the school, 4H, and Scout booths that the kids and their friends had participated in. Fun. The rides were starting by the time we were done. The air was filled with that special popcorn, cotton candy, hot-dog-on-a-stick, carnival smell that floods the mind with memories. We quit a bit early for a fair night. Saturday the kids have to sing with their choir at 8:15 am for the opening, check the goats in with the vet. and then be at the goat show by 2 pm. Lots of friends to see showing their animals too. So a busy day ahead meant an early night.