Food in, feed out

We're halfway to that magical day of the week when I travel into town with a full load of fresh food, and return to the mountain with a bunch of feed.  Deliveries require a constant array of coolers for transport.  They work pretty well for our conditions, actually.  Then, at the end of the day they get stacked up front in the bed of the truck to make room for feed.

It's a rare day when I don't come home with at least a quarter ton of something.  Last week was a 3/4 ton of alfalfa hay.  Today I'll bring back a ton of barley.  Just got the alert that local oats will be ready on the 26th.  I'll get half a ton of them, maybe more.  And probably 40 bales of oat straw too.

It's a continual shuffle.  Money in, money out.  Lots of work in the meantime.  I haven't looked at my timesink into the farm recently.  Last time I checked into it, before the interns came, I was working about 100 hours a week.

Now that we're post-interns, I'm finding some ways to make my motion more efficient.  Cutting corners without cutting quality or profit is always a challenge- but it's necessary to sustainably get the job done.  If I burn out, we're done.

It would be pretty easy to scale back to a farm that only supports the local area within walking/riding distance.  Offload a lot of livestock, sell some equipment, and go back to just feeding my family and few others.

But I don't know.  I LOVE what I'm doing.  Looking my customers in the eye each week, hearing their questions and feedback and gratitude... it makes the work worth the time.

Am I making enough of a monetary profit to want to keep doing it?  I mean, it's so much work.  I'm not the typical stay-at-home mama anymore.  My toddler wakes up to an empty house every day while I milk.  There's not time to do leisurely things like make cutout cookies or even socialize.

And then there's always the concern- what happens if I get really sick or seriously hurt?  Who will cover every milking, do deliveries, harvest birds, take care of orders and customers, etc?  Still seeking a backup plan, as you can see.

Meanwhile, all my focus appears to be on growth.  Fence more pastures for rotation, drill a well!, improve shelters and feeding systems, get more goats.  And sheep.  This time I'm looking for Finn sheep.  And maybe 8 pigs for next spring.  But no more chickens.  I have enough right now.

Then there's the question of all that poop and all that feed, and transporting it all.  I just need a bigger system and a clone.  That'd be the ticket... find someone with a big truck who wants to drive around and pick up supplies.  Oh, and a huge warehouse with grain silos to store it all.  

One foot in front of the other.  Better get off here, and call the barley farmer and make a plan.  Gotta go.

Time is ticking

Frost on the wings of the airplane.

Cold hands driving the 4-wheeler in the early morn.

Ground covered with yellow leaves.

Dark, dark, dark in the land of the midnight sun.

Ready or not, here it comes...

Let's get these chickens finished and the potatoes dug!

Good dog!

Well, we really lucked out with this dog.  He's worth more than I could pay, that's for sure.  I'm so relieved to find that he's such a good boy.  Smart and helpful and trustworthy too.  I like him alot.  

It's really amazing to me that he at such a young age, he can very quickly size up a situation that he has never experienced before... and figure out on his own how to help.  Awesome.  And if the method that he chooses falls short of my needs, he is so easily redirected.  LOVE IT!

He fits right in around here, and we're so happy to have him.  Some things are just meant to be.

Contemplating fall

I just looked out my window... 40 degrees at 8:30 am, and barely a green leaf to be seen anywhere.  What this means is, I better find some time to wander out into the big backyard in search of lowbush cranberries and crowberries.  The time is here.

We're deep into hunting season now.  Ben is gone most all of the time, flying and dealing with our guides and hunters.  They've taken some nice Dall sheep and moose this fall.  Only 11 more days for our season in the interior, and then we have 6 days to wrap things up and switch gears and relocate the operation to the coast of Prince William Sound for late bear and mountain goat season.

Yesterday we moved the meatchick pen onto fresh pasture for the last time this year.  Soon they will be released into freedom with all their compatriots, and that chapter will be coming to a close.  Yay, I love free birds!  

Speaking of chicks, we picked up our fair chicks... 79 were viable out of 13 dozen.  Not a bad hatch rate, not at all.  So all those little guys are living in a snowmachine sled in our dining room until they have enough feathers to go out into the brooder.  It's pretty late for babies, but ya get what ya get.

All the sheep and goats know it's breeding season, it's been a real zoo trying to keep everyone on a kidding/lambing schedule.  Those boys, and a few of the girls, will do just about anything to get the job done and foil my carefully laid plans.  I'm sure there will be a few surprises in February.

Ah February... you will be here before we know it.  No more meatbirds to contend with, already started into the early kidding season, onion and pepper seedlings on the windowsills.  Deep in snow... quiet.  But first I have another 165 birds to harvest, bucklings to sell, and shelters to build.  Better get to work!

Revolving door

Since we lost Edelweiss, and Wings is going to her new home in about 10 days... I decided it's time to go goat shopping.  Again.  As luck would have it, there are a few on the market right now.  Yesterday Ben brought home Frannie and her too cute buckling.

Frannie is two months fresh, but her buckling is just now being weaned.  If he weren't already wethered, I'd consider keeping him intact for a breeding or two.  But alas, he will likely go for meat in the next couple of months.

Walking around with my camera, I was surpised to come upon Dapper Dan- our oldest buckling- running around with the does!  It appears that he has learned to climb fences, and I'm not sure what to do next.  I guess I'll figure it out.  He'll be going for meat in the next 4-6 weeks.

Then came the meatbirds.  Every shape, color and size... and boy some of them are getting big!  I hope to harvest at least a couple dozen before Wednesday.  Gotta go!