Some of the Apple blooms are beginning to open up now. Only a few but the next two days are suppose to be kinda cool again and maybe another hard frost Saturday morning. We might end up losing the Apple blooms if that happens. Of course it isn't as big a deal these days. Used to be the yearly Apple crop was a pretty big haul for us and we made gallons of Apple butter and Apple sauce each Fall but our old Apple trees have been steadily dying off. These days we only have half an Apple tree left of any size and five little replacements. We don't even get enough apples to mess with really. The last big tree that produced well for us died during the Summer of 2012 with the drought.
I spoke a little soon about the ewes being uncooperative it seems. Marble-cake, one of our oldest ewes, decided to give birth this morning to a white boy lamb. She has only given birth to singles the last three years so I was pretty sure this year would be the same. That makes three boys now which is fine with me as I don't see us keeping many ewes from this years batch since we kept 10 from last year's bunch.
If all stays good and everyone makes it through this lambing season that will give us 23 breeding ewes for next season. That's about all I want to handle under the current circumstances, plus we still have three in the invalid flock that are basically pets. This will give me a good number of starting ewes if things take a quick nosedive off the cliff and allow us enough surplus to get through a year if the timing is really bad.
The genetics have been spread out enough that I can also take a ram lamb and use him as a replacement when the time comes that I can't just drive somewhere and buy one. It would require a little weeding and building back up but I have enough breeding ewes from the old ram to get far enough away from line breeding if needed. It wouldn't be an ideal circumstance of course but in a long term grid down situation it is an option I been breeding for. Just in case.
Anyway today was another rain out with high winds once again. The morning was looking good but by the time I made it home from work the storms were rolling in. I did manage to get Hazel and her two new lambs their first taste of pasture today by allowing them out in the West paddock for a bit between storms. I wish I had a video camera to record their antics.
Keep Prepping Everyone!!!!
Nice shot of the bee in the bloom!
ReplyDeleteMV - Thanks!!! I actually reused that pic from a few years ago the wind was too strong to get a good one yesterday.
DeleteYes, the included shot is lovely, but isn't there a law or something making gratuitous shots of baby livestock mandatory with every mention of birthing??
ReplyDeleteJewlz - Your wish shall be granted on Fridays post :)
DeleteWe have had flock numbers up to thirty (ewes and lambs) two years ago, now we have seven adults and eight lambs, which is more manageable for us because of the amount of land we have. Plus we don't like selling our animals, and prefer to breed enough meat for us to live on but not to then sell on. But if finances get tight, we might have to review that!
ReplyDeleteVera - I had as many as 57 ewes, lambs and rams in 2014 I think but we lost a couple of breeding ewes and didn't replace them. I can handle that many again once I get all the fences and shelters done but not yet.
DeleteYay for new lambs! I am concerned about our some tree with this cold weather too. We do get a lot of apples from it and I can apple butter and apple sauce.
ReplyDeleteLisa - I understand. I loved our last big apple tree and was sad to see it go but I hafta admit it wasn't unusual to lose the apple crop about every other year because of frost.
DeleteI love to see the warm weather come, but a mild winter and an early spring always makes me nervous. In the end, I think I'd rather see the cold hang on and on most of the way thru April, and then know (as much as you ever can know) that the blossoms are safe.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the sheepses, and good planning.
MC - YA as I said to Lisa above we just had to get used to the fact that about every other crop was ruined here because of frost. I think that's why traditionally the Northern apples were the most popular as they could count on better blooming conditions later in the year.
DeleteFor all us folks that occasionally visit these sites, it would be great if you and other bloggers would let up know in your posts where in general you're located. My apple trees (zone 5) aren't even trying to bloom.
ReplyDeleteLoren - Sorry.I often forget there are readers who may not know I am in Missouri. You give good advice I should add something to my blog to ID it for that reason. Almost all of Missouri is zone 6.
DeleteWe are supposed to get our second night at 28 or so which will take out a lot of the fruit trees that have bloomed like peaches.
ReplyDeleteI guess it doesn't mess with your bees much as they regulate the temperature for the short time that it dips.
Sf - The weather guessers are saying 29 by morning here now. I fired up the wood furnace again this afternoon due to the wind. It actually got up to the 60's today but that wind just cut right through you.
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