Natural Harvest Farm

It is near lunch time and this mornings activities included a great deal of time breaking roads through the snow. It is impassable for the goats and tough for the beef cattle. The tractor is pushing snow, but that makes good livestock pathes. Moving feed just takes a long time in deep snow. We have been blading off around the layer house to afford them some ability to get outside. We also are putting straw in the floors to keep feet warm and the baby goats and pigs a warm dry nest.

 we had a maternity house started last fall. We had set the piers and intended to have it functional by January. It is a large warm building that we could put some heat in for sows farrowing or goats having young in extremely cold weather. This year we have had to make do with the old sheds, but as soon as the snow clears, we will put all the parts together and take our first shipments of layer and brioler chicks. We normally expect to have our first pastured broilers by May 1st, but this year will be at least mid-May if not the first of  June. We have a few old layers left, but our serious egg production will not arrive this year till mid-July.

We are expanding our milk and meat goat herd this year. We anticipate doing pasture rotation with the chickens in one field and turkeys in some others to do natural parasite control. We are adding sheep in mid-July as well. We have chosen the Gulf Coast breed of sheep. They are quite vigerous, yield a fine wool and require almost no worming in there lifetime. As many know that has been a major problem with sheep production. Many flocks have to be penned and wormed on a monthly basis. Gulf Coast sheep have a high degree of natural resistance to internal parasites. With their natural resistance and our cross species pasture programs, we hope to build the soil and not increase parsite problems.

We had intended to spread ashes on the fields during the winter as well, but the seasons have slowed that too. We are going to attempt to spread ashes with a manure spreader. These are available in great bulk from a local dry kiln that uses saw dust to heat with and the residue is available in semi-trailer loads. The nitrogen from our livestock manure, ashes. micro-nutrients and the use of legumes on pasture provide the plant food we need to grow everything that eats our grass. We are growing some sugar beets for the fall foliage and winter carbs to the pigs and chickens. We will also be doing a patch of squash completely for livestock food. We did some pumpkins in our sweet corn last year with pretty good success for our own needs and fall livestock feed. We feel that this area is not good for corn production and we cannot be truly sustainable without the ability to produce total winter foliage for our livestock. Therefore we are experimenting with anything to replace corn as our livestock wintering feed for chickens and the sows.

The geese are getting more aggressive each day, telling me they will soon be nesting. We hope to have a good hatch this year. We will be adding a pair of Cotton Patch geese this month as well and hope to have a good hatching year. One of our Blue Orpington hens is setting now, although I have little faith in this. We will be putting as many of their eggs as possible in the incubator April 1. They were devistated by a dog last year and if we are lucky, we may have extras to sell by late summer.

 we hope that spring breaks soon and the grass is abundant. We have adequate forage for the season even if it is late, but know that many of the farms around us are very short on hay. The goats don't each much if any hay as soon as the ground is bare again. We will soon be going to get an ox to power our cane mill this fall and to move some trees in rough places that are not to large. It is coming from the same gentleman in North Carolina from which we both the sorgum mill. We hope to also use him for some tillage this year for our garden crops. This is just another one of our adventures into knowing how our ancesters did the work we have used tillers for.as a child, we tilled with a pony and I think this will replace that gas powered tiller that always breaks down when you need it most. Again, I wish everyone a pleasant and early spring with all the possibilities that spring always brings.

we have had a bit of rain that has been clearing the snowpack. Can't remember being so happy to see a little mud. The goats were out along the fence line doing there job on left over noxious vines. This little mid-winter peak through the window toward spring seems to make me and all the animals perk up a bit.

We will be getting a few rolls of sheep and goat fence on Monday. That goes around the garden and along our public road frontage. The rest we are building five strands of electrified high tensile. I used the dozer to build roads up the hillsides. This will give us good equipment acess for fence construction as well as installing lines and tanks for our water system. It is our hope to put several little sheds in these fields to help make our rotational grazing plans work. The sheds will have several doors so as to make the rotational grazing work straight out of the sheds in the morning. we shed everything at night to lessen predator problems.

During our spring farm field days which we will schedule, visitors will see the growth of our dreams to return this run down and overgrown farm back into the sustainable farm that our ancestors were raising families on prior to the civil war. We will again be raising the freedom ranger style broilers on pasture. They are a far ranging and truly pastured bird. We will also be rotating the goats, sheep and rabbit pens on the same ground to be building the soils and vegetation. We will be doing sugar beets in one of the hog fields, the balance of which will be sheep pasture this year. We hope to fall pasture them and then lets the sows forage  them  after they are brought in from the woods for winter pasture. If this program works, it should greatly reduce our dependence on outside purchased corn. To be truly sustainable we try to minimize the outside commodies consumed over which we have little control.

We also hope to be planting our cane seed during the farm field days. The seeds are quite small and all steps in this process are done by hand. we wish to share all the steps as we prepare the soil, plant, weed and harvest our traditional sweet sorgum syrup in the fall. No weedkillers or artificial fertilizers. Just grown by the sweat of our browe and cooked over waste slabs from a sawmill while visiting with nieghbors and friends, many of which we are meeting for the first time. This was one of those normal fall activities in every community a hundred years ago, step back in time with us.

until we meet again in the pasture, farmers market or on line, we hope life treats you well and happiness guides you path.We will look after the animals.

Rodney

Our poor chickens and in their houses with straw on the floor to keep them warm and plenty of warm water, yet they have to stand at the door and look out, knowing full well a trip in the snow may be one way. The geese have even given up after the total on the ground exceeded a foot and the temperature highs got below 20 degrees. the dogs and cattle are the only things going out regularly. The sows are getting stiff from the cold. we are deepening the straw beds, but have an older one that I am very worried about. We have not let the baby goats out of the barn- an extreme rarity here. The next ten days is cold and snow. I know it is January, but many warm winters have lulled us to believe all the global warming is going to turn us into Florida any day now.Wrong. We are still in the mountains of WV. We can get an old time winter anytime mother nature decided we need one. The farmers almanac predicted this and was laughed at by modern scientists. We are now thankful that past years storm damage has provided us with an overstock of good firewood.I had planned on picking up the rabbits this weekend and now the weather is calling for a major snow event. We shall see. Well, stay warm and safe on the highways until we talk again. We will try to keep all the animals as comfortable and well fed as possible.

The snow is threatening to delay our trip to get some American bunnies on Saturday, but an old doe goat that was given to us because she was crippled has had a nice set of twins tonight. We brought her into the basement as the outside temperature will be near the single digits tonight. They have dried off, eaten and are sleeping well. She is picking a bit of hay after drinking a good bit of water. They are nubian x kids one of each billy and doe. The weather man is calling for  6-12 inches of snow tonight. We will just have to wait and see about the rabbit trip in the morning.

I am building the farrowing house with water and movable dividers so as to use it in the future as a goat maternity ward as well. I can see by this weather it will be needed, but we are going to target earlier breeding in our herd in the future.

Our old hens are well, but the geese will not go in tonight, prefer to swim the creek. If I cannot travel to the eastern panhandle for rabbits in the morn, it will be time to finish that tile job in the upstairs bathroom. About the only thing not finished inside our home. Trying not to waste a day on the farm just because of inclimate weather. The warm weather will be for outside construction of fences, building and water systems as well as the management of our little groups of livestock. Stay warm and have a nice weekend.

Rodney

As the new year arrives, we are preparing for the arrival of our new American rabbit breeding stock. We will be pasture finishing them as soon as grass arrives in the spring. It has been cold so building our new winter farrowing house in the pasture is our main project. It will allow for better seasonal litters all year.

We are also seeding some fields in anticipation of the arrival of our new sheep flocks spring arrival. We believe they will work well with our layer pasture program. They will keep the grass down and short for the chickens to enjoy and hunt breakfast in. Our hens have gotten old and badly fox pilfered. The new girls will arrive as chicks in February and be ready for that first good grass in May. Mr. fox will find a very protective guard dog in the field with the chickens and sheep as well. We do not allow crows to be bothered on our farm at all. Any crop loss is well worth it in exchange for hawk chasing and an early warning system that mr. Fox is on the prowl.

Our old spot hogs will start farrowing in February. We have a late litter finishing now, but the next major availability of finished pork will be about November- December1. It takes us longer to produce  for us to finish a hog than those factory farms, but the result is worth any wait. A truly marbled pork chop cut about one inch thick and baked is the fare of five star establishments or your home if you chose to try our pork.

The meat chickens will arrive in March and hit grass April 1. They will be ready for harvest @ about 4lbs by early May. We will be at the farmers market openings near DC then. We will post by March which one we will attend this year. We will be doing both the cornish white and the freedom ranger red again this year. The red is a wide ranging forager, but has a beautiful dressed appearance. The texture is more that of a heritage breed. It will make a fine change for a special dinner.

Finally our turkeys will be arriving to our new brooder house in March. We will be taking orders after September 1, for the holidays.

We thank you for your patience as I have recovered from my injury. After a year of no walking and the bigger part of a year learning to walk again, each day in the field working with the stock or just cutting brush is a blessing. We look forward to new adventures and meeting new friends with which to share our love of the earth and the things it produces.

Rodney