Sorry for not posting in a while

I know I have not posted in a while. Spring time sure brings on a lot of work. Lately, at the end of the day, I have been more focused on getting to bed than getting on line.
Everyone is doing well. The horses are finally out on pasture full time and the lambs are all thriving. Here is a picture of that lamb that was born in March. She is doing really well. I am very impressed with her growth. She is a singe so she is getting all the milk she wants, it is said that 60% of the lambs growth is based on the amount of milk they get. I imagine this is giving her a big boost. I have decided to keep her and put her with the ewes this fall. She is a healthy ewe lamb and I do not have a lot of ewes to breed that are of the type I want to keep. Normally I would only keep ewe lambs that are twins but since my numbers are down and this lamb was born by herself at 20ºF (tough) I am making an exception. One of the criteria I am working toward is a 100% independent lambing flock. I have said it before, I want tough animals that require minimal input from me and that thrive in the environment I give them. This little girl is just that, tough, she is from a ewe that is doing a great job taking care of her, and by the looks of her she is going to mature at least as large as her mother.
The grass is growing. The weather has been pretty dry so it has been growing very slow. Most of the growth looks to be native species, not the timothy and clover I planted. I was afraid this would happen. Since I did not till the soil the seed bank --native seeds sitting in the soil waiting for sunlight – were ready to sprout and are doing much better than the seed I broadcasted. The seed I spread is not staying moist enough to sprout. All is not lost but I will have to try something different to get some better grasses growing.
I started digging a well for the animals, “man” those old timers most have either been worn out or muscled like steel. I am about ¼ of the way down and then I will have to start stoning up the sides. I am not sure how to set the stones so I will have to do some research.
I guess that is it for now. I really love this spot. It is so nice up there. I can not wait until we start building a house up there.

the clearing is seeded

Yesterday I seeded and fertilized the clear-cut. I can’t wait until the grass comes in so I can stop calling it a clear-cut and start calling it a pasture. It is supposed to rain in the next couple days which will work out perfectly. The rain will set the seed down onto the soil and start breaking down the fertilizer/lime so that it is accessible to the seedlings. The tractor broke down 3 times while trying to get it done. I sure need that old piece of junk and I sure am getting tired of spending as much time working on it as using it. I really wonder if the money I put into parts to keep it going would be as much as taking out a loan to get a good used one. Probably not but spending 3 hours in the truck running for parts, and then performing the repairs makes me wonder if I am not being stubborn about making this old machine work. I really do not want a farm that needs equipment to operate. My goal is to manage the pastures with the animals not mowers and fertilizer spreaders. I imagine in the end it will be a compromise of both.
Mack has been a big help. He hauled fertilized bags with his pickup – for those that didn’t know I got Mack an old Mazda 4x4 to use while he is working. He has been working hard hauling brush and getting the open area ready to seed. I am continually impressed with how well he just gets to work and doesn’t complain. I can give him a job and he just does it. I swear if I didn’t tell him “we are done” he would just keep working. I make sure I tell him to take plenty of breaks and I always make sure he has water and food. He is definitely a big help. He did have a little drivers ED experience the other day, notice the shadow UNDER the right froint tire.

Well I suppose that is it for now. The barn foundation is poured and we are backfilling it so the slab can be poured, a few lambs have come since the last post as well.