There Were Three in the Bed.......
And the little one said, "Roll over, roll over." Well, I have miraculously survived the latest viral onslaught and the Terrorist Baby is on the road to recovery; however, my predictions of coma-like states were fulfilled as she has spent the last several nights sandwiched between us in various and sundry athletic poses. Did I mention before that she is double-jointed? She could rival a sideshow attraction for the contortionist of the year award. The last straw was when I received an right upper cut to the jaw. Not wishing to be the recipient of a permanent disability, last night I broke it to her gently that she would be sleeping in her own bed. Thankfully there were no violent outbursts and I did get some sleep, although it was in fitful snatches as one does on the battlefield while anticipating the next call to arms.
Spring and planting season cannot get here quickly enough for me. Yesterday was our weekly jaunt to the local supermarket wherein I was once more shocked by the rising price of produce. Higher prices are a given in the Northeast but please - $7.49 for a quart of grape tomatoes?!! Praise God, there is hope though, and so much to learn! God willing, I will have many patient teachers within the agrarian community to mentor me because I am such a greenhorn. Dwayne is agreeable though sometimes skeptical as when I broached the idea of raising goats for milk. But we don't have enough land to pasture a cow........do we?
Spring and planting season cannot get here quickly enough for me. Yesterday was our weekly jaunt to the local supermarket wherein I was once more shocked by the rising price of produce. Higher prices are a given in the Northeast but please - $7.49 for a quart of grape tomatoes?!! Praise God, there is hope though, and so much to learn! God willing, I will have many patient teachers within the agrarian community to mentor me because I am such a greenhorn. Dwayne is agreeable though sometimes skeptical as when I broached the idea of raising goats for milk. But we don't have enough land to pasture a cow........do we?
posted by Emily at 7:26 AM
7 Comments:
I'm so pleased that you've healed!
How much land do you have? If you've only a little, you will have to supplement feeding the cow with hay and grains, which can get pretty pricey. It also depends on what pasture you have. But I'm just a novice too, I know there are others more experienced who can give you more concrete wisdom!
Hi Christine.....I just left a comment on your blog. Well, it looks like a cow is right out if we'd have to do the supplements with hay and grains. We only have 2.65 acres, some of it wooded but mostly a fairly large level grassy area part of which will become our garden. I was just reading on the Antithesis in Agriculture blog about grass-fed livestock and thought that would work out for us with goats and we'd only have to supplement in the winter. I think! :) I'll have to ask around to get the scoop from those in the know!
Those grape tomatoes were HOW MUCH? Whaaa?
Emily:
I love your description of your terrorist. We have what we call a thrasher too. They sneak into our bed in the middle of the night. I can so relate to the upper cut and permanent disability. How many acres do you have? We have just seven right now and have 14ish cows on it. We will have 40 acres in the spring for them though praise the Lord. We also experimented with goats. If you would like lots of adventures and entertainment, goats are great. Really you don't need a t.v. when you have farm animals. They are quite hilarious. I will be glad to help with any questions you have on cows or goats. There are a few tricks to getting goats milk to taste good, but it is not impossible. Nubians are a real treasure.
Note that I'm the Aspiring Agrarian, so my advice is worth ... oh, probably about 5% of what the others' advice is, but I would say with 2.65 acres, you have enough for a cow, but would there be enough left over for a garden? That would probably depend on the quality of your pasture. Also, chickens could be run in the same paddocks as the cow, using a pasture pen that is moved daily. Joel Salatin's book, Pastured Poultry Profits gives a lot of details on the chickens, and a little bit of information about mixing chickens and cows on the same land (one after the other).
Keep asking questions. Certainly the KS Milkmaid, and the Reformed Farmer (I think he's probably lurking) can give you lots of specifics. I had a pretty decent garden this year, and one "batch" of chickens (ended up with 77), but I'm hoping a milk cow, and a beef cow to breed are in my future within a couple of years.
Don't rule out goats. I kept dairy goats for years, and for the small landholder they are valuable dairy animal. Be warned, goats can be the most destructive critter on four legs. Good gates are essential!
Emily,
I agree with Scott, goats are the way to go. Here's a hint. The breed you are after is LaMancha. These are the ones with no ears... We have them and they are very mellow. They can still get out occaisionally, but much more subdued than say, Nubians, which tend to be more readily available.
Also, LaManchas give less milk than some of the other breeds, but in our opinion, it has the best flavor.
You've got plenty of land for goats, especially if you let them in the woods occaisionally.
JM
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