Homesteading

[joncutt87]

An update on our end, got a goat today, pick up the other tomorrow.

 

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[DeepseekerADS]

I'll be watching what goes on with your goat adventure!

The Easter Bunny kept getting into my garden, couldn't find just where it got in.

But then yesterday he got me, took out my broccoli plants, first damage from him. I went back and reinforced everywhere I thought he might be getting in at. I'm going to re-plant broccoli...

From now on when I plant things, I'm going to flip the sod, the plants at those spots are doing far better than even my beds. Maybe it is just coincidence, but I really feel like that's a better way to do things.

 

[joncutt87]

Berta and storm

 

[Bullet:Mich.]

Deep, it takes time to learn everything. Like turning the soil to plant your garden. Its a lot easier to.

 

[Bullet:Mich.]

An update on our end, got a goat today, pick up the other tomorrow.

Is this what you are going to use your silage for this winter? Just remember when they are on pasture they will eat anything that looks good to them including you veg and fruit. I like goats.

 

[joncutt87]

The pasture is plenty "goaty" right now. The Silage will be for the goats and for the chickens.

 

[DeepseekerADS]

The pasture is plenty "goaty" right now. The Silage will be for the goats and for the chickens.

I can think of zillions of reasons for getting goats. Your adventure here will help me make my choices as well. So, let me ask these questions:

Why did you get the goats? What do you see as your reasoning? And what are you planning to do with them?

 

[Bullet:Mich.]

The pasture is plenty "goaty" right now. The Silage will be for the goats and for the chickens.

Goat milk is healthy and tastes good as long as they are not eating a lot of weeds. They will keep your fence lines clean.

 

[joncutt87]

We got adga registered nubians, they are one of the major dairy breeds and do well in the south. They were developed from a cross of African and English sheep, and have one of they higher protein and fat levels in the milk. They prefer to eat weeds and leaves, which we have plenty of. Nubians produce a little less milk than alpines or saanens at about 1 gallon per day. During pregnancy and lactation they should need about a pound of food and a flake of hay per doe per day. Nubian buck kids are also pretty meaty when weaned, so I have a few people who will lbuy any whethered kids that I have. I can also use the leftover milk to make butter, cheese, and soap. I can also mix in the skim or butter milk into my scratch grains to help keep my chickens fat in the winter.

 

[DeepseekerADS]

To my knowledge, I've never tasted goat milk, cheese, or flesh. I'm kinda peculiar food wise, so it's a stretch for me, except for the weed and bush clearing of my land.

 

[releventchair]

Goats milk is digested better by some folks. The Health Benefits of Goat Milk - Global Healing Center

A two titter makes for a great poor mans cow, but better milk too for some people.
Less fat affects cheese making, but no real obstacle.

Dad moved the fence back a little each year. Goats ate the poplar leaves as trees were felled, and kept most everything else browsed into submission.
The hogs did the rest.
A nannygoat needs to be "freshened" each year to keep producing milk. So expect to have young ones annually.(Fun critters).

Keeping a billy that wears a loud cologne (self made) will floor your yard with cheap tarp smell, only a hundred fold if your downwind!
Taking your does to a billy or borrowing a billy is preferred by some folks.
A particular race of folks have young goat as an important part of some cultural activities, weddings might be one but I don't remember more than the demand from the city a friend used to humor a bit.
How the goat was killed was important to them too, but a market existed ...
Other uses like keeping lawn and brush controlled, a meat breed or most any goat can satisfy. Goats can be kept without milkers in the herd. Just that some breeds make better types for milk production.

 

[joncutt87]

And most importantly, the misses liked the floppy ears.

 

[Bullet:Mich.]

I will bet your wife won't like the Billy's cologne. The meat tastes a lot like deer meat. I hope that you won't be disappointed when you try to make butter out of goats milk. You have to keep the nanny on good food while milking her or the milk does not have a good taste. Some grain and a little good hay.

 

[DeepseekerADS]

Jon, is that electric fencing I see in the pictures?

A knowledgeable friend of mine said that goats are "devilish fence climbers and escape artists".

 

[DeepseekerADS]

Last night was tough as we received I figure 6" of rain. I'd gone to Advance, NC (quite a drive) to pick up two "reel mowers", the old time manual labor ones, and also a load of pallets the guy happened to have laying around. Left around 1330, and returned in the deluge to find once again a torrent of water washing over my bridge. 4x4 and I plowed through it. And it just kept coming down. All I could do was look out my window overlooking my garden dreading this morning when I'd have to do bridge work again this morning.

Over the years I'd just been dumping rocks into the breeches. Last time it washed out, I placed all stones of the 3 loads into positions of fit - like cobblestones. So, with great dread I went down to fix it one more time and found not one single stone washed away. In fact, the flood had filled each gap with sand

Good gracious, that storm was worse than the last one! All I had to do was some clearing of the culverts.

But, on the negative side, Bugs Bunny was in my garden again this morning. I've gotta stop that period.

 

[releventchair]

Good job on the stonework.

Where does the rabbit go when you approach it? They can squirt through tiny gaps for sure.
Knowing you don't want to set a conibear trap, or pop it with a rifle...

 

[joncutt87]

We will be using a registered stud Billy down the road. It takes a few days, but you can get a little cream off of the top of the milk. Then you can add it to a tub in the freezer, and then thaw and whip in the stand mixer.

 

[joncutt87]

It is an electric fence, 7 strands worth. If the are taught that the fence hurts when they are young, and kept content with the pasture they really don't try and push the fence. Ours have gotten out twice since sunday. We found where that got out both times. They just trotted up to the house making noise and looking for treats.

 

[Bullet:Mich.]

I have been around goats for at least 60 yrs and I am just trying to give you suggestions from my experience with goats. The milk is good, ice cream made from it is great, different kinds of cheese made from it is wonderful but when you try to make butter out of the cream it takes at least 3 times as long even with a electric butter maker as it does using cows cream. When you finally get it to turn to butter it is so hard you have to cut it with a sharp steak knife. When I was young and still at home my brothers and I use to milk 40 goats twice a day by hand for our small cheese factory. If we got finished before our sisters finished milking our cows by hand we had to help them.

 

[DeepseekerADS]

It has been 10 days since a post here, and life + progression continues.

My first planted bed, I allowed to go beyond when I should have gone to the next round in the bed. Pulled all my radishes, they went to heck - replanted with new stuff after turning the soil and mixing in new.

I guess you'd say I'm in my second season now.

Turnips got really, really buggy, but did harvest a lot of leaves before the bugs took over. Pulled a few looking at the turnips themselves, they're there though small. Haven't pulled the plants yet - still thinking.

Got some potatoes already because the plant was dying. Now I have 3 more dying - some kinda blight? Mom said to cut out the plants and allow the taters themselves to grow Not sure about that.

I've continued expanding the garden picking spots to plant. I'm not sure I'll build anymore raised beds as the sod flipping is producing far better plants.

My long rows are now mostly tomatoes, and they're doing great - over 30 on the vine now and far more coming. Tomatoes will likely be my best crop.

Still battling rabbits - a continual issue, but I've been more successful finding their entry points.

Spent all day yesterday in a Virginia Tech Sustainability program, 5 classes:

3 bin composting
Backyard greenhouses
Natural pest control
Small orcharding
Homebrewing

I'd picked up that Postage Stamp Orchard a couple months ago and set it up according to their suggestions. Well, their suggestions won't work well - 4 Seasons Nursery - the trees are too close together. In the Fall I'll be digging most of the trees up and relocating. Of course that forces more fencing. Not a problem.

The VT staff wants to get involved with my 200 year old pear tree, the trimming, and procreation. I'd picked up some rooting solution, but they want me to do grafting instead - they weren't impressed by rooting chemicals.

I didn't mention my beech tree to them or they'd have been up this morning already. Notoriety I do not need.