Stump Removal

The neighbor next door had a piece of equipment up here on the mountain removing some of the stumps from his property. We hired him today to remove some of our stumps from the horses paddock/corral area. It was a bit tight for him to get into the corral area but he made it.

He started working right away and quickly removed most of the stumps with no problem.

He got to one of the stumps that was from an old growth tree that had been here before we moved in. When he got it out it left quite a hole.

The picture below kinda shows how big the stump was.

This is a better picture of the stump. You can see how big it is compared to the piece of equipment in the back ground.

He got things cleaned up pretty good. It was amazing to watch him. He made it look so easy.

Our neighbor came over with the old dump truck that we are selling to him and helped us haul off the old stumps. He was kind enough to let us dump the stumps down the hill in front of his property. The old stumps should help hold the hillside in.

It is amazing the difference it made in the corral/paddock area.

The horses aren't going to know what to do with all the extra room they are going to have.

Don has to get out with the rake for the tractor now and rake the whole thing. Then we are going to seed it in pasture this fall before all the rain starts. Hopefully by next spring it will be up and growing enough to let the horses stay in there with out depleting our pasture area now.

Job well done. Now on to the next project.

Spring has Sprung

Well it looks like spring is finally here. I am so glad to have the nicer weather. I am busily getting my gardens in. Don has been spreading the compost out around the yard and trees with the tractor and I have been spreading it with the rake. Hopefully it will help with the fruit production this year. Last year we didn't get much fruit because it rained almost the whole time the fruit trees were in bloom. This year it is nice and warm. We got another temporary bed made and I have some pole peas, gold nugget tomatoes and some zucchini squash planted in it. My corn is about 2 inches tall already and am getting ready to spread some composted horse manure on it. I am also going to use it on my squash, because squash is a heavy feeder. I hope to have most of my garden planted by the end of the week.
I also purchased a couple of new azalea bushes today and need to get them in the ground. I have already picked out the spots I want to put them. We have a whole bunch more trees we need to get planted and also need to get the posts in for the kiwi, which is also going to be our new pergola. We have a lot planned for this year and hope to accomplish most of it before winter hits again.
I picked some rhubarb the other day and juiced it up. It made some wonderful juice and have some of the juice put up to make jelly out of later. I have more rhubarb to pick and use now. Maybe I will make a strawberry/rhubarb pie. Who knows.
Don has been working on the horses paddock this last week. He got several of the tree stumps dug out and still has more to get out, then going to run the ground rake around it and plant it in pasture for the horses. Going to try to get some stuff called Terra One thicker pasture. Hopefully it will help the pasture to grow thicker and faster. It is organic and suppose to work really well.
It seems like every year we get a lot accomplished but the next year rolls around and we have just as much to do if not more. It is never ending for gardeners. I guess that is why gardeners learn so much, they are always experimenting and building and redoing until they get it right.

Boy's

Well Miss Ghost had her babies this afternoon. She had two boys.

This little guy was the first one born. He was a little difficult coming out. Poor Ghost was pushing and pushing and getting no where. I was watching and saw the little guy trying to breath and the bag was still around his nose. I promptly ran into the house and got the kidding gloves that I have stashed away and went back to the barn and removed the sack from around his mouth and nose. Then I gently helped pull him out. He weighed in at 10.5 pounds. Ghost was very relieved to have him out. I went into the house for about 1/2 hour and then went back out to the barn to check on Ghost.

That was when I found this little guy. Apparently Ghost had no problems delivering him, although this little guy weighed in at 10 pounds. No wonder she was so big. These two little guys are the biggest babies Ghost has had yet.She usually delivers about 8 to 9 lb. babies.

Mean while......

Mamma's and babies from yesterday are doing great. Brownies babies have already ventured outside. It sure is a good thing that the weather is warm today.

When one sees these cute little faces, you can't help but thank the good Lord above for such miracles.We have been truely blessed again this year. All mamma's and babies are doing well. 

MORE?

Well the baby saga continues, Ghost our best milker went into labor this morning. When you check on her you have to feel sorry and glad at the same time. She is soooo uncomfortable, but at least soon she will have babies not a huge body. We were going to leave today for a short trip out of town, but plans change when babies are coming, Janice has had to assist Ghost's mother when she got two stuck in the birth canal at the same time.

NEW BABIES FOR 2012

We started getting new goat babies for 2012 last night. The first to deliver her babies was Brownie a little doeling we kept from last year. She was the daughter of Ghost. This is Brownies first year and if she milks like her mother and grandmother, they both milked over a gallon and a half a day, WOW!

Her babies look a lot like their daddy, our registered Nubian, only darker brown. They are beautiful.

Then early this morning just prior to us going out to feed, Daisy our grade Saanan doe, delivered her babies. She was still cleaning them up when we got to the barn. Daisy was our baby two years ago and milks over a gallon a day.

Both Brownie and Daisy delivered a buckling and a doeling. Of course all babies are beautiful, and these are no exception. Three look somewhat similar to their daddy.

The only one now left to have her babies is Ghost. Last year she delivered two babies and Brownie was the doeling. Her Buckling went to our friend who has a herd and organic farm in Port Orford. Ghost milks over a gallon and a half a day.

The picture below is a picture of Ghost when she was a baby with her mother, Emma. You can see the ghost on her side.

As you can see Emma was a LaMancha, with the short ears. Just as a side note, LaMancha's are the only American breed of goat.
And this picture is all three of our mommies for this year.

And the Daddy of this years babies is a youngster himself, Grizzly, is a registered Nubian out of the line of Rosebud and Vienna, from Crown Hill Goats. He was only eight months old when he bred these three girls.

 And this big guy is Rosebud, Grizzly's father, who weighs in at 250 pounds and the progenitor of nationally known bloodline.

Wild Ducks

We had some visitors this morning. A couple of wild ducks. These are wood ducks. They come to visit our pond every year. This couple decided to take an excursion in our yard and I tried to get some pictures of them without spooking them off.

They took a stroll around the small section of the yard by our blueberries. I guess they are casing our yard out for goodies to munch on later.

They generally stay for most of the summer here on the pond. It is such a joy to watch them swimming and diving for food.

After there little excursion, they took off back to the pond. The pictures aren't very good as I had to take them from my living room window inside the house. Then I needed to crop them to get just the ducks.

GRAPES OUT

Well the grapes are history in this location, hopefully they last a little while for the goats.

We also have most of the compost in the new bed. I forgot to mention in the other post that the rail ties will be eventually replaced with stack blocks, connected to the upper wall in a lower long flat scallop type arrangement.

FUTURE PERGOLA and STUFF

Of late I have been working on our future pergola site, I have the wire and two of the treated posts removed from the grapes.

Janice and I went to the lumber yard the other day and bought the three 6x6 posts that will be on the top end, supporting the Hardy and Fuzzy Kiwi.

The top posts for the Pergola will be supports for the Kiwi's, placed just behind the block wall pictured. I now need to dig out the old grapes and move them. These grapes are not a good variety for this area and have only produce a few small berries, so they will move down into the pasture and be tied up to the Hemlock trees for forage for the goats. After the Pergola is done it will support the Kiwi and some grapes that will actually produce in our area.
Yesterday I took the sod Janice had removed from around her herb garden and placed it, sometimes stacked, down along the path that will be the lower path in the yard past the Pergola.

Anyway I was pleased the way that area turned out.
The old rotted rail ties shown in the pic are the bottom of a garden bed we are currently working on.

The cardboard is down on the grass first, then the dirt and compost, which will have the garden stuff planted in it. This bed will be about 18 feet long, not sure how deep yet (haven't measured).
In taking a look around the yard it was nice to see things in bloom, I sure hope the fruit gets pollinated. Right now the Plums, cherries and pears are in bloom.

We have other flowers blooming in order to draw pollinators and to enjoy.

The horse are as happy as us that the rain has stopped at least for a while. and the neighbor across the pond is finally able to work on clearing for a couple of greenhouses.

Jason a friend of the neighbor made a natural bird house for Janice catching his cat and returning it home safely, a very nice gesture.
We now need to get it put up some place on our property, it would be really fun to see it used this year.