Doud Dairy Farm Journal
Monday, September 1, 2009
Nothing special, the feeding routine went as expected, the goats were let out to eat their grain, while the ducks and chickens got their grain in the pen. I did some raking of the old pasture spots, to encourage growth of the small grasses. I need to get the suspension fixed on the Kia and a trailer hitch put on so I can tow a small trailer, this will allow me to carry some equipment, like a lawn tractor. The pasture needs mowing. I will see if Mary has a lawn mower I can borrow to mow the pasture. I will also need some grass seed to seed the pasture when we are done so that it comes back as lawn. We have about another week at the outside there, before we have exhausted this small pasture space. I hope to have located a farm that we can rent reasonably by then. I may continue to pasture the animals here even when we find the farm, in order to complete the work here, but after they have eaten down the pasture and I have reseeded the lawn, I will move them to the new farm where they will stay out the winter.
Oh yea where was I, after the chickens and ducks have eaten their grain we drive the ducks down to the pond, where they get some supervised swim time. While Arleta was with the ducks I started to clean up the current pasture. We will need to move the pasture today, as the state of the ground is such that it needs to rest now.
We attempted to build a small lean-to structure to provide the animals with a little relief from the elements, but the goats seen to it that it was destroyed within minutes of their being near it. We will need to build a slightly more substantial structure if we want them to be able to use it and not tear it down so easily. I am removing the canvases from the structure and will be weaving the structure from young saplings to build the walls and roof, on which we will put green branches and pine bows. The trouble we had with the last one is that I was in a hurry, and I didn't go far enough into the woods to find the right materials. So I won't make that mistake again.
I will contact the woman about the laying hens today, and hope that they are still available. I also hope that the Buff Orpintons are still available, so that we can purchase them as well. I think having the laying hens will help as they will produce eggs, and that will take the pressure off of us to buy eggs, which we must do today, as well as milk, which is silly, considering we should have at least one cow by now. The trouble with a cow is that you have to get it pregnant to expect to produce milk, so we need a cow and a bull at the very least. At $2400.00 per cow, it is hard to buy a cow or a bull on the limited money we have coming in. We need that farm, so we can establish our work base. I can work, I am able to so many things, and I will advertise this ability once I am at some location that I can be sure that we will be at for some time. I will try to DBA the farm now, and get the tax number, even though I will have to change everything once we do get a location, at least this way we can use our tax exempt status for farm purchases, and I can take work on a 1099/W-9 status.
Well I feel like I am rambling, so I will sign off, and write again later, maybe with some pictures this time, as I will be getting some batteries for the camera, even if they are to expensive for what they are worth. I have to go now because I have things to do, so I will process and produce again tomorrow.
Peace.
No comments:
Post a Comment