Calves from last fall and spring are big enough now that we’re ready to wean them off their mommas.  The cows will naturally wean them off milk gradually, but they’re in a convenient spot for us to put the mommas in one field and the calves in another sharing a fence.  That way they can still touch noses across the fence, minimize separation anxiety, and keep the bigger cows from breaking down fence to try to find their calves.  The calves are eating grass so they don’t really need the milk to survive, but they still drink some given the chance.  And when they can’t nurse there’s a lot of mooing from both sides of the fence.  Good thing I can’t hear them in our room at night, and the windows are shut to keep out the fall chill.

the Upper 40

This summer has been fairly dry, but given our use of HDHG the cows are enjoying fresh grass. While some people have had to feed hay already, we still have plenty of green pasture. We just moved the herd up to a section we call The upper 40 because it is a fenced off area that used to be the original homestead. We installed an electric fencer that powers a temporary fence which we move each day. We give them a big enough area to have all the grass they can eat in a day, and their walking around helps trample organic material into the soil (not to mention they naturally spread their manure around for us into places we’d never have been able to get equipment into).

one water source

The branch doesn’t always flow, but right now there’s a little stream that flows into our creek which gives the north side of the Upper 40 a good supply of water. I move the cows each morning which gives me the opportunity for lots of views of the early morning sunlight on things like the babbling brook, the cobwebs wet with morning dew, and all the leaves on the trees. And wading through the tall grass setting up the next day’s fence lets me explore parts of the farm I wouldn’t tend to venture through. When the cows hear me coming on the 4 wheeler they know they’re going to get moved so they all crowd up to the front fence. All I have to do is call them, and they rush in to taste the new grass.

Momma's still pretty protective of her week-old calf

Calving season is starting. We’ve had several born so far in the last couple weeks. I’m always amazed at how protective the mommas are. They keep an eye out for anything they think might be headed towards their calf, and they let out these short low grunts to warn that they’re paying attention and feel The Line is about to be crossed. The mommas tell their new calves to stay hidden in tall grass, and even if the rest of the cows move on the little guys stay put.

supper at the bunks

One of the things that I enjoy most about the farm is watching how the animals get along with one another when they’re just being themselves.

For instance, the chickens flock to the goats’ bunks when they know we’ll be feeding them.  They’d eat right out of the bunks, but the goats push them out of the way.  But the chickens have learned that there is plenty of grain that falls on the ground.  So they make sure nothing goes to waste.  Then there are the cows and goats.  Goats prefer browse (leaves, weeds, and shrubs) and only eat grass as a last resort.  Cows do the opposite.  They might eat some browse if they’re starving.  So when the goats and cows happen to have access to the same field they don’t compete for food.

cows grazing and goats browsing

The Youth Peace Travel Team conducting their end-of-summer meetings in the bunkhouse.

Over the past few weeks we’ve had the pleasure of hosting a wonderful variety of guests in our now inhabitable guest space that we’re calling “the bunkhouse”.  ‘

From playing dice games with long-time friends from California, to taking Janelle’s sister, niece and nephew fishing at the nearby pond, to making room at the dinner table for seven extra friends from the Youth Peace Travel Team, the last month has been filled with lots of good conversations, silly adventures and delicious farm food.

Although we are still adding the finishing touches — putting up trim, decorating the walls and building a railing out of cedar trees off of the farm — we are so looking forward to this new way of sharing our lifestyle of good healthy food, good work and good fun with you!!

An Osage Orange stand

This morning I went for a walk/ride.  Its been hot and humid, but this morning wasn’t as bad so before the sun had been up too long and warmed things up I went up to the field we call the Upper 40.  Homesteaders dug a well and built a cabin up there.  I can see why because its beautiful.  The raspberries are ripening and I roamed around the hill grazing on the sweet ones.

Despite the fact that we are drier than normal, there are lots of plants blooming all over the place.  The grass is yellow, but throughout are green plants blooming.  There’s this one that I’ve been watching to get pictures when all its purple flowers come out.  Recently I’ve been pulling a trailer behind the 4 wheeler where ever I go with a shovel and fencing supplies so that I can dig up musk thistles to try to keep them down before they can go to seed.

my thistle-control-mobil

I’ve learned that even when I dig them up they will live for awhile before they die.  So if they are young enough that they don’t have flowers, once they are dug up, they will wither before they can produce seeds.  But if they’ve already developed a flower I need to carry them away or else they will still mature (hence the trailer full of thistles).  Now when I go out I’m always on the look out for thistles, but I’ve been thinking maybe I don’t need to be getting rid of all these thistles.  When we moved back from Sudan I had a similar knee-jerk reaction to kill any snake I saw.  Farmers, especially ones that grow crops, are programed to defend the farm against thistles.  But calling a thing a weed says as much about what you want to produce as it does about the “nature” of that plant.  Musk thistles really have pretty flowers.  Insects, and especially butterflies, love them.  And once I could see them without the bias of their being a “weed” I started wondering if I was fighting something unnecessarily.  They’re colorful, they add to the diversity of plants in the fields, insects like them, they provide more organic material for the cows to trample into the soil, and they help hold moisture in the soil.  So should I worry about cutting them down?

Mmmmm, breakfast

One of our groups of goats has cleaned up most of the browse around their yard.  Although there’s plenty of grass available, they’d prefer to eat leaves, bushes, and weeds (or Mom’s flowers for that matter).  Occasionally, when we have the time, we have let them out to graze on some new food.  There’s a section of land across the road in front of our house that’s overgrown.  That and the ditches are candy stores for the goats. If only we could get the Missouri Department of Transportation to pay for us to watch our goats trim the roadways.  They eat for a little while then on their own all decide to head back home to lay in the shade and chew their cud.

watermelon

We’re trying to raise some plants for Bakers Creek, an heirloom seed company.  We fenced off an acre to keep the goats out.  Thlama, our bottle-fed calf what runs with the goats watched us for days wondering what the heck we were doing digging in the dry soil.  A neighbor tilled up strips with his tractor, and even after a couple passes with our tiller the ground was still very hard and rocky.  (After all that I can imagine that they made houses from sod!) We have a contract to raise a certain amount of watermelon, cantaloupe, tomatoes, peppers, and squash.  But we’re also going to plant some sweet corn of our own because we’ve got plenty of room.  Plus, all Bakers Creek wants is the seed so we can eat all the watermelon, squash, and cantaloupe we want as long as we save the seeds.

We got all the chicks out in the chicken tractors so we cleaned out the brooders.  Later, I was mulching the potatoes when I saw the laying hens and some goats picking through the pile we made.

compost turning

As we emptied the brooders I made a mental note to spread the pile out so that it didn’t kill the grass underneath.  However, before I got back to it the chickens and goats were having fun investigating.  Dust was flying as the chickens scratched and pecked at things.  There was plenty of chicken feed that had spilled and was mixed in with the wood shavings.  The chickens as well as the goats were happily cleaning it up.  I thought to myself how nice it was to have other farm residents who not only helped out occasionaly but actually benefited from their contribution.

In raising goats, our general policy is to let the mamas take care of their kids and to interfere as little as possible.  However, in some cases, we do end up bottle feeding a kid or picking a kid up several times to give it supplements that it needs to strengthen its legs, etc.  Many times, when we do that, the kid starts to get used to being “manhandled” and might even look forward to some rubs or head scratching and become a bit of a “pet”.  And it’s nice to have a few kids that like to be petted, for when visitors with small children come to the farm.

Most of the other kids keep their safe distance and general don’t like to be touched by people.  But, Jon and Janelle have found that sitting quietly amongst the goats for awhile usually raises some curiosity.  Here are some good shots we got while allowing the kids to “explore us”.   Enjoy!

On Thursday we went to get our chicks for raising to broilers.  What a great thing at Easter time!  Most people just have Peeps.  We have real chicks!!

250 Jumbo Cornish Cross and 15 brown egg-layer pullets now send a chorus of cheeping from our old wooden garage.  In two weeks, they’ll be in their “awkward teenage” stage and we’ll take them to the chicken tractors in the field, so they can feast on new grass and bugs!!! Yum!

In the first week of June, the broilers will be in the four to six pound range and ready for butchering.  Our chickens are plump, clean, and grass-fed!  If you are interested in ordering, give us a call and we’ll notify you of the butcher date.   Or come see us at the Cabool Farmers’ Market every Wednesday afternoon, starting April 14th.  We’ll have a sign up sheet there.

We’ll also have our green and brown eggs from our free-range chickens, and Janelle’s fresh baked artisan bread.  Come and see us soon!