Monday, September 22, 2014

The Chores Around the Small-Hold Never End





As predicted I was pretty stiff this morning so I spent a few hours just taking stock of what needed to be done. Now that the temps are staying in the 70's for highs whatever it is that I am allergic too doesn't bother me so I am once again motivated and headache free.

After I got the stiffness worked out I began unloading the firewood from yesterday. I filled the racks by the wood furnace and then started refilling my deep reserve section (pictured above). This area should be full with split firewood stacked about five feet high and at least four rows deep by now. However this little spot has been empty since Spring. It is the first time it has been empty in like six years or so when I hurt my knee at work and couldn't cut wood for a few months. I figure another three trips like the one I made yesterday will once again have the reserve section up to snuff if not totally full.

Basically I have three wood stacking areas around the place. The furnace racks hold about two cords ready to burn, The deep reserve can hold upwards of six cords if I fill it that far but I usually don't. Since I have the luxury of leaving a lot of firewood to cure freestanding I have that option. The final area is the need to be split area where the stuff too large to burn resides. The last area is where I turn to when weather keeps me from getting into the woods to collect the stuff I have out there. I also use it for those times when they predict a heavy snow so all I have to do is back the truck down, wheel out the splitter and load the truck for better Winter driving.

Trust me if there is a huge snow storm predicted the Wife WILL go to work and get stuck and call me to come rescue her. The only way I have stopped this scenario from playing out was to steal her keys and hide them.

So at least I am now back on track to get the stores back up to where they need to be. A few more trips and I should be flush with late September levels. Last Winter really sucked the wood stores down let me tell you.

After stacking the wood I needed to go repair the temporary fence for the sheep. This is becoming almost a daily affair now as they have eaten all the good stuff inside their area and want the still green grass in the yard. I used that nylon wrapped foil electric line and standard stick in posts so I had maximum flexibility to move it around and let them eat. The trouble is that light electric line stretches easily.

Now most of the sheep have pretty bare heads however we have this one in the cutting crew that is a Rambouillet and she has proven to be a real pain in the butt.




We bought this girl two years ago from a place up in Northwest Missouri and she was the most sickly, knock kneed, skittish, pathetic looking little thing I ever saw. My Mother wanted a couple of Rambouillets for their wool though and she was the one buying so we brought two of them home. The other ewe the woman who sold em to us swore could only have still born lambs. I asked her where she lambed at and she said right there in the pasture.

No barn, no shed, not even a wind break that I could see. No wonder she was having dead lambs. As a side note the other ewe had triplets this year and proved to be an excellent mother. She bonded well to all three and enjoyed her alone time in a nice inside stall and was very protective of her lambs. This girl was too young to breed this last Winter so she joined the cutting crew.

Now here is the problem. She has become friendly, fat and fearless. She thinks my only goal in life is to give her treats and has decided humans are just big sheep with no wool and those very useful thumbs. She also has wool so thick on her head that she can't see to her front and the electric fence line doesn't penetrate to her skin. She puts that head down and starts eating and just walks right through the fence and doesn't even know it. In most cases all she does is stretch it out until she can finally see it and then she retreats but that is what allows the escape artist ewe Lilly to jump over it because it now sags.

So almost every day I have to go out and tighten the fence back up. I could switch to a more durable line but in only a few more weeks it will be time to move em all to the Winter pasture anyway so I am trying to not have to do that. The grass is almost all eaten in their enclosure and so they are wanting the stuff in the yard that is still green and succulent. I need to open em up a new section but not sure where to do that yet.

Oh well if I don't work tomorrow maybe I will look into that.

Keep Prepping Everyone!!!




15 comments:

  1. You have what we call a 'closed faced' ewe. A breeder would cull her, as it is an undesirable trait and it gets passed on to her lambs. You might have to hog tie her and trim the wool away so she can at least see and feel the shock of the fence.

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    1. Tewshooz - Supposedly Mom picked up the two Rambouillets for the wool to make batting out of not really for breeding, at least not for any type of breeding that minor undesirable traits would matter for. She had a huge old Whether she kept for years specifically for his wool she uses for her quilting and wanted to keep that part going. I am not a big fan of the wooly head because it is causing me some issues but I cannot deny she has grown into a big girl and is quit easy to handle these days. Since she will be bred to a White Faced Cheviot of good size I am hoping to get some nice meat production out of her.

      I plan on opening up a new pasture section for the cutting crew this week that should keep her busy for a while. Not that I stress much about them getting out because they never go anywhere. Only a few more weeks until they go into the breeding pen with their respective Rams and I take down the fence anyway.

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  2. You just pointed out a hole in your own preps there. You already know how much firewood you need annually. You have already injured yourself once. If the crunch came at this point whilst injured you could easily freeze this winter. Two years stock minimum would give you breathing room.

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    1. Anon - Yes and No. In the event of a true grid down situation or major emergency I would now be switching from burning my furnace and heating the entire house to burning my stove and only focusing on one room really. One reason I cut wood to a smaller length at times is so I have plenty to run the stove in those type situations now. For emergency use I already have enough cut to last most of the way through a Winter like had been the norm up until this last one.

      No denying in a crunch situation the house will be a lot colder in Winter though.

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    2. You need enough to get yourself a wood-stacked berm so that you can hold off the cannibals.

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  3. When we had sheep, back when I lived on the farm, you'd have some that wanted to make life difficult for you. We always tried to remember them to sell them on next year. We always lambed inside as well. I might get a few sheep for here next year.
    As for fire wood I might have just enough for this year if its not too cold but next years is looking pretty scarce. I could do with a pile lik yours as backup.

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    1. Kev - I run my outside furnace mostly that eats some serious wood. When it's really cold I can go through a cord a week heating the entire house. In a grid down situation that would stop for the most part and I would switch back to my inside stove and focus on one room. I have done experiments with gathering firewood without fossil fuel input and let me tell you.... It would be a nightmare.

      I might be snuggling up to those sheep :)

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    2. Thats one reason I'm starting a willow coppice. You cut the wood every five years. Mo need to split it and ot wouldn't take too much sawing to het through them. I'll keep using my chainsaw till yjen though!

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    3. Kev - That's a good idea actually. I have read of several bio farms that do similar and thought about trying it here if I ever get that far. The largest failing of the Small-Hold right now is wood production. I really have very few trees when you get right down to it. I been trying to encourage and help the growth of a small wooded area but I will be long dust by the time it really pays off. I can cut off my parent's place though so it isn't a deal breaker or anything.

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  4. My pile got down for the first time this year, I just can't get it all done and work a job. I did go out and drop trees months ago but still need to do like you are doing and get out there and cut and split it then haul it in close to the house. It is really hard to get much more than a year supply because of time and the space it would take to store it. It is a huge amount of wood to heat a house all winter. We have sheep at work and the girl is halter training one or at least attempting to.

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    1. Sf - I have the added bonus of having a helper with me. My Dad can't really use a saw or carry much anymore but he sure can sit there and run the handle on that splitter which actually saves a lot more time than people would think. If it became much more work I would also be more a slave driver on my son. I let him slack off and get out of a lot of the wood cutting.

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    2. All of those tractor girls are just back at the barn washing and polishing the tractors, they could help out a little.

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    3. OMG could you imagine the Whining?

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  5. It seems like its the chubby, friendly sheep that cause the disruptions in life. I think they know they can get away with mischief because they know you like them. Little wooly brats.

    Good luck with getting the wood all finished up. The cooler temps should make it easier to work in.

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    1. Hobo - All our Ewes are chubby and friendly it seems. I can go out there and move them anywhere just be walking because they will follow. When I first started helping with the raising and such I tried to treat em like cattle which is what I was more used to and failed. Once I realized it's the trust they get for me that makes them unique it's been easy. Sometimes though when I need to really start separating them apart I can see where it begins to shake that trust a bit. I have been building and planning a series of smaller paddocks and gates to make those days a bit easier.

      One reason I like to send the lambs and moms down to the Summer pasture where I don't deal with em much is that I don't form an attachment to the ones that are going to market. I hate that look of betrayal they give me :)

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