The Farm Book v1
Every year is time of harvest, be it spring or fall. In spring the harvest is in the animal kingdom mostly, although many plants come to fruit then also. However we should right now discuss the spring harvest of animals.
In temperate zones, that is where winter lets fly with cold and snow, the seasons are generally more pronounced, In the modern industrial world we have harnessed the ability to effect the climate, although not entirely on purpose, and well away from the balance, However it still snows, and gets moderately cold, so there is a dying if it is rather short and broken by periods of rain and thaw. Either way, the rams would do well their work, had they been let aside the flocks in the fall (down time), and by early spring, lambs would be the first harvest. The first lamb to be harvested is unlucky if it is a ram (*boy), not in the sense of luck for us, but for it, because it will be fettered first, nearly from the nipple.
The clan farm would pasture 20-40 sheep, being they provide multiples of product, including early milk. One ram per 10 sheep (ewes) , will be tolerated, ,more so if there are more than three Shepard. The heard is thinned in the fall, but excess rams (in the lambs) will be sold for their weight at 6 months. The sheep will produce one or two lambs, and this is based in abundance. An abundance of food in fall will produce higher incidences of twining in spring. If 20 sheep produce 30 lambs, every third will be fettered, the rest will be culled, the top to flocked, the remaining ten to be sold at hoof, the way they stand, On this of the remaining ten, two may be sold as parts, allowing their trails to be sacrifices to the dogs for their contribution.
Just a brief bit abut dog and humans that use them. A dog is a tool, if it fails it must be fixed, if it can not be fixed it must be eliminated. Any human who relies on dogs then must breed them, and therefore cull them. Dogs must also be traded as any animal,. to keep the stock alive. Any dog that is not performing as is it's nature will be made part of the stew that the Shepard dine upon. Any Shepard that feels not should not be a Shepard. The trails of this dogs must be fed to the rest of the dogs, in full view of the dogs remaining, to ensure that they know their fate is at the hands of the Shepard if they fail to perform as they are breed. In addition the coat will be tanned and used to provide the cloak for the whelping mothers, as a sign of respect for her dedication.
The sheep are the first to produce, followed quickly by the poultry,m kids and kittens. The spring is very busy, but not hurried, for to hurry is to waste energy on waste. Soon after the kids the swine will give birth and then the cattle, followed last by the mares. In this time if Alpaca are kept, they will drop with the swine, or right soon after as would any late goat or sheep. The cattle will drop late spring, but save the fall cattle (half the heard is dry, while half is wet). The same is for the goat and sheep (alpaca also), while the horse, swine and poultry (as rabbits are 3 tines) are once in spring and dry for the reminder, as their young are either many in their a commodity. With horse, the breeding is staggered, as a mare is useless for work while breed and 3 months thereafter, she must also rest one year between colts to produce wealth of any kind.
For a moment let me discuss the issues of cats. Cats are a necessary evil, so to speak. They are consumers of resources, and their purpose is best when unknown. However their lack of use is immediately known. When vermin (mice or rats or other parasitic rodent) invade the barn or home, the cats must be culled. They will suffer disease on occasion, when poverty strikes them, they must be culled. Otherwise they are ranged, with access to nearly any place, and no knowledge of them is always best. They are fed only the raw scraps and raw milk, leaving them to feed on the rodents and whatever swallows or crows fail to fly. If they begin to be noticed, they should be culled fast, and their trails fed to the remaining sightless cats, as this will keep the knowledge of sightless stealth within the brood. Otherwise they are wasting resources that could be else applied.
Now a bit about dogs again There are many dogs, some do one thing, well, others may serve several purposes. It is my opinion that herding dogs are of importance, as they work in consort of Shepard. Some, such as the boarder collies can also be used in game hunting, but not as well as hunting dogs. The hounds track (beagles included) well, but they are nearly useless in herding. A smart retriever may heard a fair short, but the retriever will tire before the collie or russel. Large herders, Collie, German Shepard, Irish Shepard, English Shepard, are good to their use in herding, but nearly useless for game hunting. This means many dogs are employed if you are to hunt as well as herd. Lastly there is such as guard dogs (which most dogs will do), and specific purpose dogs, sled dogs, or pack dogs (which are only needed where horses can not go) and finally there are house dogs, which serve to fill spaces and perform the work of cats. There is much to be said for the comfort the favorite bitch of a Shepard can provide years of comfort on cold winter's nights. Likewise a small "castle" dog can provide comfort, but little else in my opinion. Still in a steading, the small dogs use resources, but can produce at least a moderate wealth, if they are whelping and traded for useful dogs.
Other livestock must be traded out to refresh stock. Lambs are traded for lambs, and so forth. Cash in modern society is of little use to the clan farm, but save for imports which are usually bought with money made from clan work. The by-products of the clan work surplus should be sold at a market, or if remote, through access points. Combinations of technology and need to buffer the clan on society therefore makes the tavern (today's bed and breakfast) the idea buffer for a larger clan with relative access to the metro community.
Limited resources denote that everyone of them must be carefully accounted for. Land the ultimate limited resource is heart of the clan. Land can not be possessed, only used and reused, or set free.Therefore land is limited but boundless. The clan may remark parts of the land, and different clans may dispute one clans more from theirs, but all clans will agree that the land can not be owned,. bequeathed, or possessed.
The land is free, and the clan will only claim their use of the land, and only this may carry any attachment. The fields are the fruits they bare, not the filed themselves. There can only be no levy on fields, no instrument of commerce can attach to that which is not chattel. The animals are the Shepard of the land, they maintain balance without our assistance. We are the Shepard of the animals, and the harvesters of the fields without attachment, for there is nothing but the yield that can be attached.
That said, there is use, and the use can be measured. This measure can be attached and the attachment made chattel for commerce if so is deemed. Therefore the resources of the land are limited. Therefore the results of the clan is chattel, and in that wealth and worth is one's measure of this limit.
In keeping with such limits, those resources which immediately are abundant may cease to be so if the Shepard are careless in their generation. Live not upon, but within the land, to best utilize the resources. Energy consumed is for less from within the geosphere than atop it. Reserve the surface for grazing and growing, living within the geosphere connects the soul to the spirits of the land with permanence. The careful clan roams not, but maintains balance with wakeful herding, and stout use of the growth. Therefore the land provides adequate resources for the longevity of the clan, and surplus is the work of the clan, that results in regular abundance of perishable and non-perishable goods.
This is a draft, more will be added and edited to.
