Who needs a Topsy Turvy? This brilliant idea came from Unusual Unusual Farm Chick's blog. She has lots of good ideas! The basket is from the dollar store. I bought it a couple years back and it was just stashed away in the hay loft.
On the top we planted some morning glories. Flower Girl also made a post about this a couple days back over at her blog. She has posted more than usual this summer thanks to her buddy Morgs. Morgs also has a blog, check it out. Flower Girl also recently posted some pictures of the fish birthday cakes that I made back in the spring. The idea came from Family Fun. 
Ok, enough with the good. Now onto the bad & the ugly. Recently I have been overwhelmed with the tasks around the farm, mostly the animals. It is time to cut back! After much contemplation I have decided to sell the goats. My intention when I first bought goats was for milking. I have since come to the realization that adding another chore morning & night would send me over the edge. It is MUCH cheaper & easier to buy from my local farmer then to keep goats. I do not have to be responsible for watering and feeding day in and day out, no injections to give or hooves to be trimmed. Same goes for cows. I dream about having cows grazing in the back field but in reality it is just not in the cards right now. My garden needs more of my attention and we have a greenhouse that needs to be assembled. Oh yeah and we have LOTS of wood that needs to be hauled off the back forty, split & piled. At this point if I want raw organic milk it again easier to go support my local farmer for $4/gallon. As far as meat goes it would in our best interest if I put a little more time and effort into deer hunting. It is good, lean, meat that we do not have to tend day in and day out. Until this past year I have always taken for granted the deer meat in the freezer. You always miss something when you don't have a lot of it. From here on out I will cherish every morsel! I am not quiting farming, just cutting back. Learning from our experiences and our mistakes. God knows I have made plenty of those, that is a topic all on it's own! After my pullets are all laying I hope to sell of last years hens, the turkeys are soon to meet their maker followed by those egg laying ducks (khaki campbells) Maine Man had to have. If the pigs ever have their piglets, we swear they are pregnant! They will be off to freezer camp as well. Maine Man is a little hesitant about that after bonding with "Pumpkin & Ham" over the last year but I volunteered to be the trigger man. Can you believe that? That is how badly I want to simplify & minimize before winter. 2 years ago even I would have said "NO way" but I must say this farming stuff has hardened me. I am jaded, kind of like working in the ER.
If it don't produce (eggs/meat) I am all set. Never use to be like this. This whole farming bit was never even intentional, it just happened.
My plan is to go through the winter with 24 layers, 2-4 muscovies, and a few rabbits. That's it!
Sorry for the rant but d@#! I feel better now! A bit hormonal ehh? The planned post to was suppose to be about thriftiness. Ha, Ha, Add PMS & ADD and this is what you get.
I hear you. I just cut my goat herd in half and may cut them back even farther. If my work load is so large that it cuts into my ability to be present with my kids, it's not worth it.
ReplyDeletei am with you! Sold off my boar and sow, i have two hogs to slaughter, and the other 2 will be garbage cans and possible AI candidates later if i want piglets. Got rid of my 2 goats, and am about ready to get rid of 2 of my hens if they don't start behaving with my new pullets, i keep telling them it won't bother me a bit to have them for dinner. It has hardened me as well..........there is only so much a girl can take!!
ReplyDeleteMany people dont consider their time/energy limits. Animals can suffer if the owners are too stretched for time.
ReplyDeleteMy organic garden and chickens are all that I can or want to handle. A farm can be as big or small as you want.
I can't wait to see your greenhouse.
We just culled 10 of our layer flock and are considering culling all the flocks before winter and starting fresh in the spring. It's so easy to jump in full throttle and then find out that the day in day out upkeep is more than a person can handle. Rant away girlfriend!! lol And just know that we've all been there! :)
ReplyDeleteI think you have a job away from home and two kids and a husband, only so much time left in the day. I work away from home too so I can only stretch so far and the older I get I don't like being overwhelmed anymore, I have to have some down time every day.
ReplyDeleteWe don't mind your ranting. One can only do so much. Instead of just letting the animals suffer by not taking care of them, you are being responsible and sell them.
ReplyDeleteOh God, we are so on the same page! We are hoping to get rid of a lot of goats this year, just keeping the bottle fed "pet" and her sister for a companion. Having them has been so much fun, and so educational, but it's sooooo much work and absolutely no profit. Even if we sell them all, we cannot make back the price of feed, hay, medicine, etc. They are a lot of work, and dang they produce a lot of poop! I have had the realization lately that I am slowly becoming a plant person for the simple reason that plants don't poop! I think we're all experiencing mid-summer farm exhaustion. But it's a good time to take stock of what's worth it.
ReplyDeleteI hear you! Simplify, simplify...the older I get, the faster my life seems to be rushing by, and I don't want to waste time on drudgery. If it can be cut, it's gone. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteRant away! We all get that way sometimes. I don't see how you do all that you do with a job away from home.
ReplyDeleteYou deserve a break! And you can rant anytime you want, this is your place. It's hard to balance work, family and add farm stuff in too.
ReplyDeleteMaybe after a break you may feel like raising animals again or maybe not. It's nice to be able to make the decision that works best for all of you.
A big thing for us here is minimizing the daily chores and making some weekly, like having a big enough feeder and water setup that the pigs only need to be serviced once a week. Same with our laying flock. Things like that made a huge difference in my attitude :)
You guys have done a great job in such a short time. Here's to a stress free winter!!
Hear Hear!!
ReplyDeleteI am glad to hear a famous blogger telling us like it is! Thanks for sharing your decision-making with us. I often bite off more than I can chew and the tyranny of the urgent is, well, often tyrannical!
Sorry to hear you are covered up but it's def better to keep life fun as opposed to not fun. And heck, deer hunting is a LOT of fun so that sounds like a good plan!
ReplyDelete