View From the South
Things have been a bit slow since moving in the first of January, but I’ve been keeping myself occupied. The search for a pair of dairy cows has taken me to a few area farms to look at Jerseys, and I’m waiting to hear back from a few more farms here at the end of the month. I’ve been pleasantly surprised to learn that Turtle Lake is the epicenter of Guernsey cows in western Wisconsin, and I’m waiting to hear back from a some of those farmers as well. I expect to have a couple moved in by the first part of March. Then I’ll be making cheese nearly every day!
February means love is in the air, especially if you are a goose. The noise coming from the pen suggests the gander has been hard at work courting his three lovely lady geese. They haven’t started laying eggs yet, but they should start any day. I would be immensely satisfied with 25 goslings, but its not really up to me!
Seed orders have pretty much all arrived too. I’ll be planting about four varieties of heirloom dry beans on about 2/3 acre. That and garlic are the main cash crops, but I’ll be growing a large kitchen garden and a few fodder crops for the animals such as corn, beets, and pumpkin seeds.
I’ve decided to put in an order of Cayuga ducks to the hatchery of about 40 birds. They are included in the Slow food organization’s “Ark of Taste,” so odds are they will be incredibly delicious. I’ll hope for a March arrival so that the ducks are out of the brooder as the turkey poults arrive in early April.
Otherwise I’ve been spending a lot of time walking the property with my dog, Moon. She has been a holy terror to the resident rabbit and squirrel population, which will ease the critter population on the garden this Spring. Good dog.
and thanks to new roommate Ross for the photo!
nice dude…..cayugas?? where from??