Hello all! Things have gotten pretty busy around here. The farmers' market has started up, Abram is playing baseball, Samuel and Timothy are playing soccer, we have butchered chickens, and everything is growing.

Our grandparents have come up to visit. It has been nice to visit with them.

I have grass everywhere! I am not going to complain, because last summer was terribly dry. So far this year has been good. I am trying to manage the grass the best I can. It is hard to do that when the grass is tall. Sheep like leafy stuff, not stalks. So when you graze the taller grass, they eat any leaves into the ground, and leave the stalks. It doesn't look pretty, but it is certainly better then no grass at all.

I took a pasture walk yesterday to try and see how many types of plants I could find growing. I counted 18. Each year I am getting more and more diversity within the pasture. It is amazing what managed grazing will do. I was not able to identify all the types of plants growing, but a lot of them I was. Here is a list of the plants I have been able to identify in the pasture. Not all of them are growing now, but I have seen all of these in the past. Also note that the "weeds" are not necessarily weeds. I just used that word to classify them. If the sheep eat something, I don't consider it a weed. Here is the list:

Grasses

Bluegrass

Fescue

Purpletop 

Orchardgrass

Johnsongrass

Foxtail 

Ryegrass

Legumes

Red Clover

White Clover

Vetch

Weeds

Plantain

Dandelion 

Poppy

Buttercup 

Shepherds Purse

Purple Deadnettle 

Dock

As you can see, there is a lot of variety. My guess is that it will continue to get more and more diverse. In the past we have had a lot of Purpletop, and some foxtail, but I did not see any this year. It is interesting how it changes from year to year. Maybe we will have some this fall? Also, we have had way more clover and vetch then I think we have ever had. 

We butchered the first batch of chickens this year. Unfortunately I lost a lot to predators, so I only had 21, but I guess that is better then nothing. I am trying to watch how many I loose to predators with my other batches. The thing is, you should profit  about half of your income with broilers. However, if you loose half of the chickens, there goes your profit. So I am trying to work on watching how many I loose. I have started using GMO-Free feed, and that seems to be helping as well.

I heard about a new broiler breed. It has got the conformation of a Cornish cross, and supposedly grows to butchering weight in 9 weeks. It is also supposed to be hardier. They call it the "Heritage White" and it can be found at S & G Poultry. I have yet to try them, but when I order the next batch, I plan on getting some of these. 

The farmers' market has started up this week. It is our second week there today. Last week I sold $300 worth of stuff. It is nice to be out of winter, when all I do is spend money, and start making money instead. 

My friend Cody and I played the special music for a service at our church Thursday night. Here is a video my grandfather took of us performing. I got to use my new PA system, and (once we figured out how to work it) it worked well. Here is the video, it is not great quality as it was taped on my grandpa's camera, but I hope you enjoy it. 

And, while I am on the subject of music, I thought I would show you a video of these brothers playing music. Even if you do not like bluegrass, you will be amazed. The banjo player is 11, and I believe the fiddle and guitar players are 14 and 15. They are called the Sleepy Man Banjo Boys. Here is a video. Check these guys out! 

Well, that is all for today! 

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to leave a comment. 

- Graham

Hello everyone. Things have been pretty busy. The farm is in full swing, Samuel, Abram, and Timothy are all real busy with baseball and soccer, and the farmers' market will be starting up soon. Here are some pictures I took this morning. I will discuss what has been happening as I go along. 

Here are the laying hens. We bought several new chickens, and they are starting to lay now, so that is great! We have them in a spot of grass around Papa's trees so they can keep it down. It seems to be working well.

This is the second batch of broilers this year. They will probably go out to pasture in a week or two. 

The lambs are growing as you can see here. The lamb (on the left of the black ewe) was born in march. He is looking pretty slick! When he was born he was almost as big as some of the lambs born in February. 

Here is the wool I got from the sheep. It is not easy to shear your own sheep, especially with blade shearers, but I enjoy it, and it is much cheaper. 

The ram.

Here is the first batch of broilers. They are looking pretty nice.  Unfortunately I lost ten to a predator (I think  a raccoon). But other then that, it has been a good batch.

Some plants in the greenhouse.

Here are the sheep grazing. The grass is finally growing great! It is nice to be able to graze efficiently now.

I got all of my lambs butchered. We are going to go pick up the meat on Monday. We were going to go butcher them at a place in Amelia, but they were not ready to do inspection yet, so we had to take them all the way to Harrisonburg. Thankfully a friend of ours who goes up their regularly was able to take them up there in his trailer for us. It was a big blessing.

I went to a sheep shearing workshop yesterday. It was great. I have talked to the man who did it before several times when I have had questions about sheep. He has been a farmer/extension agent his whole life, so he is very knowledgeable. He still farms and raises sheep, cows, and pigs, and a few other things. The shearing workshop was helpful. He talked a lot about how to hold the sheep the correct way in order to shear them efficiently. He had some nice feeders for his sheep, and I think I will build some for this winter. He also had a great facility for them. 

While I was there I was speaking to our county extension agent. I have never needed much from the extension agent, but I am now concerned for those who do. As we were talking the conversation was on organic and how it is hard to find feed that is affordable. He said that duckweed seeds are 18% protein. He said this would be a great feed source for folks who have a small number of chickens and acess to a pond, which is were this plant grows around. He said that if it grows along a manure lagoon, its protein level can be in the high 20s. I said that all you would have to do is add some corn to bring the protein level down on the feed. He said that you wouldn't want to do that because you want to bring the protein down not up. I said yes, that is why you could use corn, as it is low in protein. Now, all of you who have any experience in buying feed, mixing, feed, or nutrition (for animals or people) would know that corn is LOW in protein. But, our county extension agent continued on after my former statement to say something along the lines of, "No, corn is high in protein. It is like (he said 20 something percent)." Thinking maybe he misunderstood what I said I replied, "Well how come when you buy a bag of corn in the store it will say it is around 9% protein?" "That is because they mix it with something like hulls," he said. Huh. When you buy a bag of corn you buy a bag of corn. I understand that it is possible he meant to say soy or something instead of corn, but since we continued on the subject of corn for several sentences and he never said anything, I think he would have understood his mistake. He also didn't think I was able to butcher chickens and sell them without being inspected. Poultry and rabbits have been exempt from inspection (for under 20,00 animals-if you do over 1000 you have to apply for an exemption permit) for a long time. Seeing as how this is a pretty well known exemption among pastured poultry production which is a growing system, I would think he would know about it. Now, to his credit, Cumberland county has much more Tyson chicken production then pastured poultry, so I could see where he may not know about it, but still, I think someone who is paid to do what he does, should know that sort of thing. I am not usually one to get upset about people, even when they make mistakes, but I thought something should be said. Ask anyone in the feed industry, farmer, or buyer about the protein level, and they will tell you it is low. But ask a "professional" government official, and you won't get a correct answer. 

In May, our church is hosting The James River Baptist Association meeting. My friend Cody and I are going to provide the special music. It should be good, we are planning to do two songs. Maybe we will get a video or some pictures of it to show you. 

Well I don't guess I don't have a whole lot more to say today. 

Thanks for reading! 

-Graham

Hello everyone! Spring is delaying. Hopefully it will get warm here soon. Despite all the rain and snow, the grass is barely growing. If it doesn't start growing back soon, I am going to have to go back to feeding hay.

We were supposed to take the lambs to the butcher on April first, but that did not work out so now we are taking them to a butcher even further away on the 9th. I think it is all worked out now, so that is the best you can hope for.

I moved our first batch broilers out to pasture yesterday. They seem to be doing well.

We had a new lamb born yesterday. It is the last lamb supposed to be born this season. Though I did not get as many lambs as I wanted, but I am thankful for whatever I can get. Here is a picture of the new lamb (a ewe by the way). Notice the "C" on her forehead.

Here is a video I took of the lambs playing:

I don't guess anything else real interesting has been going on. Here is a recording of two songs I have written recently. The first one is taken from Psalm 51, the other is based on the three steps in salvation Justification, Sanctification, and Glorification. I just wrote the first one, so it is a little rough yet, but I hope you enjoy it all the same. If you are a Contemporary Christian fan, these two songs may appeal to you, as they are sort of in that style. Enjoy!

Well That's all for today.

Thanks for reading!

- Graham

What's Been Happenin'

Hello everyone. I thought I would do a post, along with some pictures to talk about what has been going on.

I helped a friend from church build fence last week. It was a two strand high-tensile electric fence. I helped him clear up some things on tuesday, then me and another man from church helped him build the fence on friday and saturday. It went pretty well. He had an auger for his tractor, so once we got that hooked up, and figured out how to use it, we were able to get the posts done pretty fast (compared to digging by hand anyway). We were able to get all the posts in on friday, and the wire up saturday. He is now waiting for some gates and extra posts in order to put up the remaining little bit of fence. It looks great, and should be great for their milk cows.

Some friends of ours lost power during the snow storm, so they came over for the day on thursday and friday. It was nice having them.

I have finally got everything but the chickens onto pasture for the season. I have got the rams in one fence and the ewes and lambs in another. The ewe fence is new. The sheep flock "outgrew" the electric netting fence, so I bought some polywire, step-in-posts, and a electrical chord reel, and set up a three strand electric fence for them. There are several benefits to this. One, is that I can give them as large or small of an are as I would like, whereas the netting is pretty much a "one size fits all" approach. Those of you who do managed grazing will know that when you are grazing, it is never "one size fits all".  Another benefit is that the the fence is eisier to keep hot as it is only three strands vs. the 8 or so that are on netting. It takes a little longer to set up and take down, but I think it will be worth it.

I have the ram lambs in with the breeding ram in the netting up front until I can the lambs all sold. The one up close it the picture is the breeding ram.

We sold the heifer calf that we had. We don't have enough pasture for her, and since there seems to be no hope of getting  anymore in the imidiate future, our only options were to sell or butcher her. We were in need of beef, so Mama and Papa were going to buy her from me and butcher her. A local farmer offered to trade her for a steer and $200. Like me, he didn't really want to see a good heifer be butchered. He had a group of heifers that were about her size, so he figured she could go in with them. It appears to be a win-win situation. I get paid $600 ($400 from Papa and Mama, and $200 from the farmer), Mama and Papa get beef, and the farmer gets a heifer. I am glad with the way it worked out.

The chickens should be able to go out to pasture as soon as I get my replacement posts for the netting in from Premeir.

Here are a few pictures to close out! Thanks for reading!

- Graham

The broiler chicks in the brooder box.

The greenhouse.

The chickens, ready to be out on pasture. 

Hello. Boy, it has been crazy recently! I don't know where to start.

Ok. Well I have had a total of 9 ewes lamb (only two left that are supposed to lamb), and have a total of 9 lambs. Those of you who have experience with sheep will know that this is not a good crop. Ewes typically have twins, which has been the case with most of mine, but a lot of the ewes have lost one of the lambs leaving them with only one. One ewe wouldn't nurse her lambs, so I am having to feed them on a bottle. They don't grow as fast this way, but at least they are alive and healthy. I had one big lamb born. He is a single birth lamb and was the size of the week old lambs when he was born! He should make a good meat animal.

There is snow on the ground right now. It has been a rather stressful day. I worked with a man from our church all day yesterday clearing up some things so he can build a fence. I practically ran out of hay yesterday, but I was planning on putting out the sheep to pasture today, so I figured it was no problem. I have been worrying over trying to get the fence supplies necessary for putting them out to pasture, and have been trying to get several other items together for purchase, plus I was helping the guy from church yesterday, so I just plain forgot about the fact that I needed to have hay to feed today. When I woke up this morning I realized I was not prepared to feed the animals this morning. I was able to scrounge up some hay that I had left, but not much. I made a phone call to a local farmer, and they went out of their way to bring me one of their bales (which I am going to pay them for). It is wonderful to have people who are willing to help you, even when you make a stupid mistake. The fact that I over-looked the fact that I needed hay reminded me of the verse in the Bible that talks about straining the gnat and swallowing the camel. I was so concerned about the wrong projects, overlooking the obvious fact that I needed more hay.

To make everything worse, the post office called this morning and said we had chicks waiting there for us! We had totally forgotten that they were supposed to be coming soon. So we had to drive to town to get some supplies for them, and to pick them up. The roads were pretty bad, but thankfully the Lord protected us, and the car was all-wheel drive.

I have learned two things from this. One is that good friends are a blessing, and I want to be the kind of person who is willing to go out of their way to help others. The second thing is that it always pays to be prepared. Everybody is better off if you make wise decisions and plan ahead.

Well that is all I have to say today. Soon the snow will be gone, and everything should be back to normal.

Thanks for reading!

-Graham

Hello everyone. I thought I'd better do a post, seeing as how there have been some interesting things going on recently.

I have had a total of 6 lambs born so far, but unfortunately I have lost three of them. I had the one ram lamb born on Samuel's birthday, and it is doing great. The next day my ewe Ewelizabeth had twin ewe lambs. One of them was real healthy, and the other was rather weak. It almost seems as if it was blind, as it wandered away from it's mama regularly. It also continued to get caught in the electric fence. Most of the lambs will get shocked once and stop testing it. This is why it seems to make since that it was blind. Whatever the problem, a mix of malnourishment (it didn't appear to be nursing it's mama much), over shock (at one point I was going out ever 5 to 10 minuets to get it un-tangled), and the cold weather, made it die. The good news is the other lamb is growing good and strong.

Another one of my ewes had a single ewe lamb a couple of days later. She is doing well also.

Monday I went to help another grass-fed/all natural farmer in the area build fence. That morning my ewe Deere had twins (both rams I believe). Deere (I did not name her, the boy I bought her from did) has always given me several lambs, usually triplets, but she also gets mastitis and can't feed them. The lambs then have to be fed on a bottle. They are never as strong as lambs raised on there mama, don't grow nearly as fast, tend to get parasites easier (probably because of a weaker immune system), and cost a lot more to raise. So I decided I was going to cull Deere despite the fact she gave me lots of lambs. Unfortunately I didn't think to take her out early enough, and she got bred. I figured since she was bred I would let her lamb this last time and then sell/butcher her.

So anyway, that morning, before I left, I watched her lambs to see how they did. One was up and nursing, the other one couldn't even stand up. I gave it a bit of colostrum but it did not help much. Well, I couldn't do much for it and had to go, so I left hoping it would do better, or at least the other one would be good. I worked with my friend on the fence (mostly clearing trees and putting in T-posts), then that evening my mom called and said the weak lamb was dead, and the other one was almost dead. It was getting close to time to go anyway, so his fiance', who has been around sheep for a long time brought me home, and took a look at it. The lamb was dehydrated, and cold. She showed me how to check to see if it is dehydrated by pinching the scruff of it's neck. If the skin falls back into place instantly it is fine. However, if it falls back into place slowly it is dehydrated. We brought the lamb inside to keep warm and be fed a bottle, but to no avail. It did not make it. I think I will be setting an appointment with Mr. Blackburn our butcher pretty soon. I think Deere would make some fine sausage....

Speaking of butchering, we took one of the ram lambs to him Saturday. We should be picking it up this Saturday. There is another butcher nearby that is becoming USDA inspected soon. That will be great as I could take my lambs there and sell individual cuts.

I have been saving my birthday/Christmas money, and have finally been able to purchase a PA system. I have been wanting to get one for a while, as it would come in handy for playing at various places that do not have one. I am trying to start a band as well, so I figured it would be good for that as well. I bought this system. I think it will be adequate for my needs.

We have all had bad colds recently, but Sunday mama took Mary to the hospital. She had been complaining about her stomach hurting and seemed to be in real pain. The doctors thought it might be appendicitis, pneumonia, or a urinary tract infection. They found out it was constipation which they were able to fix very easily. We are thankful it was nothing worse, and that she is doing way better now.

Well I reckon that is all for this time. Here are some pictures of the lambs.

Thanks for reading.

-Graham

Double Birthday

Well it is Samuel's 12th birthday today! It is amazing to realize he is 12 already!

Also, when I went out to feed the sheep this morning, there was a little ram lamb born! I don't usually lamb until April, but I didn't take the ram lambs out in time this year, so many of them did the "real" ram's job, so most of the ewes will probably lamb early this year. I did not know this ewe was close to lambing, but thought some others would be lambing first. It never fails that the first one to lamb is not the one you suspect. Anyway, the little lamb seems to be doing fine. Here are a couple of  pictures.

Thanks for reading!

- Graham