The Saga Continues...

Yes, another 3.1 inches of rain... and the usual foot or so of water to slop through.  You all can see where I have to park the truck and walk into the water to care for the livestock.  Sometimes I wonder why we do this...  I know we have a major screw loose, if you know what I mean.  Instead of a 4 wheeler, perhaps an air boat would be useful for getting around the farm.

We may need to put the feed room up a bit higher...  The water is over the blocks we put it on, but at least the feed is dry for now.  The square bales of hay are in the semi trailer shown above.  The goats have enough bedding in the shed built up to be on their little island inside the sheds.

We have considered moving the buildings to higher ground, but since the property is flat, that really is not an option.  The sheds are car ports and can be moved by removing the pins and taking the sheds apart.  But the ground gets compacted and that is where the pooling comes in.  So, we have decided to raise the buildings and add fill and gravel, that is, when it drys up enough to get the gravel and equipment in.  We want to build a road as well, but again the weather has not been in our favor.  The ground is so saturated, the water just sits there until the wind evaporates it.  The flooding in the pictures has been an ongoing saga since October.

The poor ram taking shelter (picture below) in the hay feeder is a perfect example of the awful fall and winter we have had.  March is our wettest month of the year and we cringe to see what is yet to come...

If the chickens do not drown (just kidding), we will be offering Free Ranged Eggs this spring.  We are getting some eggs now, but not enough non muddy ones to sell.  We are offering a limited supply of free stained eggs if you want to try some to see the difference for yourself.  The mud gets on the eggs and stains them and does not always wash off.  We usually eat or give away the stained eggs and sell the pretty ones.  We will be offering the eggs for $3.00 a dozen.

If anyone in Selma knows of a farm close by to move some of our livestock to, please let us know.  A large barn with several horse stalls which is high and dry would be perfect.   We would like to rent for the next 3 or 4 months until we can get into and fill in our barn yard and raise the barn areas.  Our phone number is:  334-327-9252.  Our email is:  oldesouth@charter.net .

Wet Sunday...

As it pours down rain outside, we are reflecting on the Year so far and above are pictures of new kids.  The left shows the lovely Silver Queen with her triplets by Mr General and other kids to the right by Mr General as well.  We have been very pleased with Mr General's Kids, showing beautiful toplines, width and nice straight legs.  His first daughter is Oldesouth Summer and she will not be freshening until late summer.

The nice Nubian is a buckling out of Raisen, sired by Blake.  He is very colorful with a nice topline.  His mom has a nice udder and very good milk production.  We will be retaining his sister and offer him For Sale for $250.  He is a registered Nubian.  He is being bottle fed and is very tame.  Email us at oldesouth@charter.net or call us at:  334-327-9252 if you are interested in him.

The picture above is Mr Paul's tractor.  This was taken in December and I was a bit slow at getting it published.  Mr Paul was moving a large dog house for me to put out for the rams to use as shelter.  With 11.7 inches of rain in December, it was a bit wet to say the least.  Anyway, on returning from placing the dog house, the tractor bogged down and sunk like a stone.  It was close to dusk and was dark when I took the photo.  The tractor had to be pulled out by a large tow truck.  Mr Paul has friends in the right places and the tractor was pulled out the next morning.

The weather went from wet to cold and now back to wet.  We received 2.5 inches of rain Wed/Thurs and now we are being drenched again.  I have been waiting for the weather to clear a bit before slopping through the mud to care for the herd and mik.

The picture below is our new feed room, which by the way, the old room is under water once more.  We had this 12 X 14 building moved in and put on blocks to keep us high and dry.  We had electricity run to it and moved the small Frig and a heater into the room.  I can keep my cold meds in the frig and regular meds can be kept from freezing with the heater.  It was nice to have a warm place to retreat to when we had that Artic Blast.  The goats of course could not help themselves from exploring the building and tasting it.  So far they have not been able to figure out how to open the doors.  We have a latch and double turns to keep them out.  Eventually we will put up a fence to keep the brats out of the area all together.

We had a friend of ours who had purchased a new incubabtor.  One of those fancy high dollar ones to breed and hatch their pure bred chickens.  At the time, their chickens were not laying and mine were laying like crazy.  I have some Red Production, Black Production and my favorites, Americaunas.  We have two Americauna Roosters and I gathered up some eggs to hatch and we set them according to the Old Farmer's Almanac, December 29th.  I had 23 eggs and had put them in a turner until we had enough to try a hatch.  When the date to hatch came, I was a bit surprised to see that 22 of the 23 eggs hatched!!!  They are a combo of Red Production and Americauna.  They all have the beard and sideburns of the Americauna and we will see what color eggs the hens lay come July.  We plan on eatting the roosters, but it will be a bit before we figure which are which.  The Americauna's lay blue and green eggs.  I picked nice blue eggs to hatch.  The pure Americauna's have strips down the length of their bodies, so they are easy to pick out.  Some are pure white, which may be the roosters (production reds are sexed by the red hens and white roosters) and the rest are redish.  But we will wait and see what is what.  Some of the white ones have black speckles.  Will get a picture to put on the blog. 

I am itching to plant a garden, but the mud puts all that on hold.  Would love to grow some lettuce and collards and plant some carrots.  Even with the added soil, the garden spot is under water.  I think we are going to move it, but have not made up our minds.  I like the location now and it is close to the water.  We will have to run water to the new spot and that is what we have not decided to do yet.

We are also looking at barns and want to build a 40 by 80 barn to store hay in and the sides would be good for livestock and lambing/kidding pens.  We have decided where to put it, now it is gathering up the $$$ to do it and get it done.  Hopefully by the end of 2010, it will be a reality.

We have a few nice Nigerian Yearlings still available who are bred to Mr General For Sale.  We are also going to offer Oldesouth Christmas Eve and Oldesouth Blue Dawn For Sale as well.  They are both proven does with nice udders.  Eve has the lovely black and white pattern so popular and she is blue eyed.  Blue Dawn is a daughter of Blue, sired by Ceasar and is blue eyed as well.  We are offering them after their current kids are weaned for $300 each.  Give us a ring if you would like more information.  Both are AGS and NDGA registered. 

Blue had two daughters by Buddy who are spectacular.  One was drop dead and had a baby doe by Mr General who is blue eyed.  All of blue's kids are blue eyed.  Anyway, I was excited to show her with such a nice udder and perfect topline.  Then, one morning I go out to milk and feed and she is dead.  We still do not know what happened to that lovely doe, Oldesouth Blue Annabelle.  Her sister, a week ago miscarried and thankfully she decided to mother Annabelle's daughter.  We have named the daughter Reba.  She is a blue eyed pistal.  She is half bottle baby and nurses off of sister Anna Lynn.  Anna Lynn just decided to take over Reba and is very happy.

We are going to keep back several doelings and bucklings from the breedings to Mr General to grow them out and see what he produces.  We have so many nice ones, it is hard to just pick out one or two.  We will need to make room for the young ones and sell off a few of the older favorites.

We will be offering Buddy (blue eyed) and Bubba For Sale probably next summer or fall.  I want to breed Bubba to Brat once more and Buddy to Blue once more.  We will keep the Politician and several young bucks.

The Arctic Blast

We hope everyone had a great Holiday Season.  Now we are awaiting the Arctic Blast.  It has been real cold all this week and we have had several days of 18 and 17 degrees at night.  The mud is all frozen and we are having to deal with frozen water buckets and troughs, which is my least favorite thing in the world.  We had been breaking ice for the livestock to drink and yesterday the temps went above freezing so we could thaw the hose and  fill the troughs.  I pulled out the ice and refilled.  We may end up ordering warmers if this weather keeps up.  We have not had to deal with this before.  Usually it is cold at night and warms up during the day and we just wait to refill water.  It has been almost a week where temps are not getting much above freezing.  We are some 20 degrees below our normal temps.

We have had several kids with snotty noses and our buildings are open, not equipped to deal with the cold north and west wind.  We have put up some tarps to cut down on the wind chill.  Deep bedding and extra feed is about all one can do.  We have lost a few kids due to chilling at night.  We do not use heat lamps due to the fire hazzard.  It is better to loose a baby, then loose the entire herd due to a fire. Our well is covered with a light to keep it from freezing.  We have underground pipes to pipe water out to the pastures, but that is all turned off for the winter.  This cold would only bust them.

We have had several Nigerian Kids born and my Nubian Raisen is due to kid shortly as well.  She will more then likely have a purebred Nubian sired by Blake, my huge black Nubian Buck.  Brat had twins by Mr General, a buck and a doe.  Thundersnow had twins, a buck and a doe by Mr General.  Blue had triplets one cold night and lost one of the bucks.  She was acting strange and did not want to take care of her kids this year.  I guess the quintuplets did her in.  I pulled the kids and one went to her new home as a Christmas Angel present for Christmas. We still have a buckling available who is Blue eyed, sired by Bubba and very colorful.

We sell a lot of babies for Christmas.  They are great gifts and easier to deal with then dogs.  If they are bottle babies, they are very tame and follow one around like a dog.  Some folks put diapers on them and dress them like children.  I have put oneseys on The Rock, when he was a Boer baby with a diaper.  Oneseys are like a tea shirt with bottom snaps.  You put it on back wards and snap over the back.  It will hold the diaper in place to catch urine.  When the diaper sags a bunch, you know it is time to change.  The Rock is over 2 years now (200 pounds) and is as tame as any dog and knows his name.  Bottle babies are the best...  If the baby is for a child, they learn to feed them and care for them like a baby.  The goat bonds to the caregiver like a child and will even ride in a car and learn tricks.  There is nothing cutier then a baby Nigerian Goat.

We have set eggs from our chickens to try a hatch.  A friend of mine has a fancy incubator.  I have never had much luck with the incubator I have and will let her try to hatch some.  I would like more Ameraucana's and as soon as I decided to collect the eggs for hatching, they stopped laying all of a sudden.  Before, there were eggs everywhere.  What is with that???  Maybe it is the cold weather.  I am a good detective and have found all their laying spots.  We did get some and will hatch them and the Ameraucana mixes.  I have two Ameraucana Roosters.  The Ameraucana are the chickens which lay blue and green eggs.

Got to go for now and will try to get pictures of the cold snap.

The Year with no Fall... The first day of Winter... The Winter Solstice.

The weather has been aweful... and we are Wet, Wet, Wet.  We have not had any Fall, just winter since October.  Today is the first day of winter, but we have had enough winter and are getting tired of it.  To date we are 12 inches over our normal rain fall for the last 6 months.  We have had almost 8 inches of rain so far this month.  Wed and Thursday, we had almost 3 inches.  Everything is flooded and the goats hate being wet.

The temperature has been 10 to 12 degrees below average as well.  We have been low 50s and 40s when we are usually in the 60s during the day.  The Nights are in the 30s.  Cold and Wet makes for poopy butts on baby goats and snotty noses.  The picture to the right and below is the herd not looking to happy and a very unhappy baby goat one cold morning after two days of rain.

The Winter Solstice is the shortest day of the year.  At least it has not rained today, and we are thankful.  We have actually had 3 full days with out rain and a bit of sun, Hurray!!!

The farm is drying out, but we are scheduled for more rain on Thursday, Christmas Eve and maybe Christmas Day.  Hopefully it will miss us...

We received our building early this morning.  It is made by the Menninites and is made of wood, with a metal roof, 12 X 14.  It has double doors and a window and vents to get circulation.  We put it up on blocks, so should need a biblical flood to wreak the feed.  Plus with the wood, can hang halters and put up selves a bit easier then the metal area.  We will put in another window into the metal building, fill in the space with sand and use it for kidding and lambing in the spring.  Hopefully it will have dryed out by then...

The picture to the left is the water standing at the entrance to the goat shed.  We put a pad in front of the gate to allow us to park and deliver feed without getting stuck.  That tuck is my Nissan Frontier, which I get a lot of flack for.  Folks tell me I need a real truck.  But it has served me well and can pull the 16 foot trailer, gets great gas milage, so I will keep it until it gives me problems...





The picture to the right is the feed room.  It is so moldy and wet, it is not worth dealing with.  It depresses me to even go in there. 

The wet bags of used feed and so much water has made it so bad, it smells like a sewer and one can see the feed is barely above the water with all kinds of stuff floating about.  It is a health hassard and that is why we need to move.  I know this has been an unusual year for rain, but we can not continue to put the herd and us in danger, with the nasty water and conditions which may cause an outbreak of disease we are not prepared for.  It is best to be proactive and move to higher ground.

The picture to the left is of the Pecan Orchard.  It is flooded and the pecan crop is floating in the water.  Yea, need a net to pick up the pecans.  Maybe when it drys out, we can pick some up and have them shelled for relatives and to sell.  We have a ton of the pecans, the trees were loaded to the point of breaking, but the water has them floating away and more then likely rotting in their shells.

My fancy boots have saved me a lot of heart ache with all the water.  I get a lot of guff with the high water boots, but my feet are dry and others are not as lucky...

Had to include a picture of Brutus.  He is that scruffy bull we bought.  A bit of TLC and good feed, thank goodness he is gentle and shy.  He had put on some weight and is down right handsome.  This photo and most of the photo's have been the first we have had sun for some time.  Brutus is doing well and our old cow Daisy thinks he is quit handsome...  We think the other two are bred.  Brutus is no trouble and carries genetics we want and are thankful to have been able to purchase him.  I will continue to post pictures of him, he is 26 months and will let folks know how he grows out to his full potential.  He is from some outstanding stock and will beef up over time.  I personally love the clean polled head.  If one has ever had the bloody experience of dehorning cattle, will know exactally what I am talking about.  I just hope he throws the clean, polled heads in his calves.

The pictures to the left are of the sheep herd.  Most are Icelandic.  Some are sheared and some not, due to the lovely weather.  We will get the rest in March, if the weather allows.  If not, it will felt and we will use it to insulate my garage at the house.  But that is how things go...

Ultram, Havvah's son is the clean up ram and we have one more breeding group to put with the ewe group.  They are the shetlands.

We took The Trump and Phantom and a Boer Goat, The Rock to get semen collected.  The Rock was no problem, they had a goat in heat and he did his job, a tough one and he was tired by the end of the collection.  Rocky was ready to go home.  Rocky is a bottle baby boer with great meat qualities and disposition.  He is short, wide and long and a big baby.  We also collect The Trump, an Icelandic Ram.  The Trump likes goats and does not care if they are lame, blind or not sheep, he will breed them.  We were able to get 50 straws off of Trump and 32 off of The Rock.  Old Phantom did not like the goats and wanted nothing to do with anything.  We ended up electro ejaculating the poor guy, but the semen was old and not of good quality.  So we did not freeze it.  The Trump had some young ewes who came into heat later then Phantom.  Phantom had mature ewes who probably came into season earlier and that is why his semen was old.  Usually to collect, the ram is cleaned out and then allowed to collect semen for a week or so before collection.  If they go a month or so, the semen is not of as good a quality.  Next year we will take an ewe in season and make sure Phantom gets a few young ewes to get a good draw fall of 2010
.

The sheep shelter on a finally sunny day.  We put a large round bale into the shelter so the sheep and goats can eat while staying dry and be happy.  Also the hay is not messed up by the rain.  All these shelters are nothing more then Car Ports.  It was more cost effective to put up Car Ports then it was to construct buildings.

We are taking deposits for sheep for spring 2010.  The Cheviots are booked full and the Shetlands are too.  We have openings for the Icelandic sheep remaining.  If you are looking for sheep for meat, let me know and we will make arrangements.  Sometimes we have folks who beat around the bush and we sell something to them that is good enough to breed and later suspect they were lunch.  Be honest with us and we will be honest with you.  Do not butcher that nice ram for meat when we have others to eat.  I just recently sold a nice young ram and heard through the grape vine he was butchered.  The buyers paid a high price for him when I have others who I have no problem going to the processor.

Be a bit proactive, put your order in for the spring lambs and we will raise them up and get what you want for the freezer.  We eat lamb and goat and have no problem processing them or sell for slaughter.  Just be honest with us, that is all I ask.  Do not eat the high dollar ram, use him for breeding... Eat the sons and daughters who do not make the cut...  I know of some goat breeders who will not sell goats for slaughter.  In my opinion, that is crazy.  There are a lot of wethers and other goats who are not good enough to breed, are bad moms, have messed up teats, are just plain sickly, or are hoodlums (bad goat syndrome, where the monsters, unfriendly to humans, get into everything, eat wires, dance on your cars, are on the roof of the house and cause general mayhem) and need to go... Before you whip out the shot gun and blast the brats from hell...  Yes, I have had wethers who I was glad to send to the processor.  They were unfriendly, mean to the other goats, hogs to the feed trough and would tear up everything and poop in the feed troughs and water troughs.  They are the fat ones and the best eatting I might add...


Ok, enough of all that... But there have been a few goats I actually hated and almost shot.  The ones that stay are the sweet hearts and great producers.  That is what farming is all about.  The last picture in the set here is the back side of the farm and the flooding after all the rain.  This area has never flooded before and you can see the water standing.  Boy it has been a rough year.  It can only get better from here.

We at Oldesouth Farms wish each and everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.  Stay dry and warm and if we get a chance, we will post another blog before the end of the year.
God Bless...

Terry

The Holidays are a coming.... Fall is past...

The Trump is pictured above and to the left and to the right with Phantom.  These are the two Icelandic Rams we are going to have semen collected from next weekend.  Phantom is larger and longer then The Trump, but the Trump is more handsome.  Both have thick, soft fleece.  Phantom has a small horn growing out of the middle of his forehead.  It gets bumped and tore when ever he head butts.  This makes him a bit rough looking.  Phantom is a Macbeth Son, with both his parents being AI from Iceland.  The Trump combines Macbeth on his mom's side with the AI lines of Laeker and Bambi.  I personally think the Bambi line is the most parasite resistant and just a nice hardy line.

I feel these two rams are as good as any in Iceland and want to collect them and put into my semen tank for the future and to offer For Sale to other breeders.  If the sheep can survive and thrive in the south, with the heat, humidity and parasite heaven, they will thrive anywhere.  We offer genetics homegrown with the parasite immunity our breed needs.  The Icelandic genetics are great, do not get me wrong, but the immunity to our American Parasites is something the Icelandic born sheep do not have to deal with.  Therefore, the natural genetic immunity has not been developed.  Conformationally our sheep are as good, some even better then what is in Iceland.  I feel our time has come to improve our American stock with American born rams and semen. 


With December just starting and knowing it will be gone in a flash, we have been reflecting over the past year.  I went back over the pictures from last winter and fall.  We had a beautiful fall and winter last year.  It was not until the middle of March that the weather changed and we have been wet ever since.  We have gone from summer to winter, missing fall.  Now we are wet and cold with more rain in the forecast.  We are very tired of the rain and pray for some decent weather.  We have missed the window for fall shearing for half the Icelandics.  We will have to wait until March. 

There is so much mud and mildew in my feed room, we are going to have to abandon it as a feed room.  We are pricing the Mennonite Built Small Wooden Storage barns.  We are going to put in up on blocks and will have a dry area for our feed storage.  It is getting to the point of concern.  The roof of the metal shed drips like rain after a frost and makes for even wetter conditions.  We have been having frosts since the middle of October.  Now, the metal sweats and all, but with the satuation of the ground and no floor, we have to move the feed elsewhere or risk loosing it.  We can use the shed for kidding and lambing jugs in the spring, if we can get everything out and let it dry enough to raise the floor with gravel or sand and put in another, larger window for air flow.

We put up the carports and storage room April 08 at the end of the 2 year drought.  It did great until this March, which was the first of the flooding with over 5 inches of rain.  Then it dryed up and all was well for some time.  Since September, with the rain increasing each month, it is now unbearable and any metal in the storage unit is rusted.  Hoof clippers, any blades or shears, forget it, all rusted in a weeks time.

I have been recording our rainfall since July 09 and to date we have had 30.48 inchs.  July had 6.20 inches, October 6.10 and last month 6.5 inches, which has been the wettest, so far.  The average for Selma is 23.5 inches for Jul through Dec.  We are already 6.98 inches over with a month to go.  The web site:  http://www.rainfallreports.com/ is a free site to record rainfall and it has been quite handy since July.


My friend Mr Paul is very happy.  He had his Bull Delivered yesterday, before the latest 2 inches of rain.  We put him in the Ewe pasture, which we had rotated the ewes out of.  There is a nice shelter with hay in it.  The big boy had just come in from the range and is a bit bewildered.  He went through the indignities of semen testing (you do not want to know the details), shots, worming, etc..  We are giving him a few days to chill out by himself, the next field over from some Boer Goats.  He could use some weight, is long and wide, with a polled (hornless head).  I think he is a Beef Master.  I call him Brutus until Mr Paul decides what to name him.

We have also been busy with Christmas preparation and hopefully will get around to putting up a tree.  I have to work at the hospital Christmas day and that weekend.  But I am off Christmas Eve and hope to not have to cook.  I am still wore out from Thanksgiving.  This holiday season is going by so fast, I have seemed to miss it somehow.  But we have enjoyed it all, in spite of the cold and the mud.

We wish everyone a Great Holiday Season and and even better New Year...!

A late Happy Thanksgiving Everyone...

We hope all had a great Thanksgiving.  I had the fortune to roast a Bates Turkey.  Of course I had to doctor it up a bit, after all, I can not help myself.  We purchased a free ranged turkey from Bates Farm located in Fort Deposit, Alabama.  Their website is:  http://www.batesturkey.com/.  Anyway, the turkey's are raised in a Pecan Orchard and are free ranged.  They do not use feed additives or antibiotics or hormones.  They are totally awesome.  They also have natural spiral cut hams which are wonderful as well.

The pictures above are of Hay Making which I have been trying to load for a bit now.  The horse in the picture is Mr Paul's Baby Girl, Big Bertha.  She is a draft horse.  We were able to harvest some of the hay into small bales, the begining of November.

We had a lot of trouble getting the hay this fall, with 6 1/2 inches of rain in November.  The garden has not dryed out enough to plant garlic and onions or greens.  We even brought in more dirt to fill it in and added goat do do, but it is still a muddy mess and more rain is coming.

My son has hooked me up to a new computer.... Yeah, a fancy, super fast, super dooper, monster.  Well, my photo programs do not work with it and my old computer is mad at me for switching to this new one.  So it has slowed down even more, cussing at me and taking it's sweet time to load anything.  My son was to hook the old computer to wireless and the new to the fast internet.  Yeah, well the darn thing does not work properly and I am having to switch cables which is a PIA.

Anyway, it maybe a bit before I can get any photo's to the BLOG.  My son is in the Airforce in New Mexico and it is a bit of a problem to get his behind back over here to fix things and make them right...  I am not computer stupid, but not a wiz like him and his uncle. My brother Mike was a Computer Genius.  Unfortunately he lived in Michigan and passed away in 2000 with a heart attack at 45 years of age.  I miss him dearly, because he was a Computer Wisper and could dial in and fix anything from anywhere...  My brother was one of those special guys you do not appreciate until they are suddenly taken away from you.   Especally when my computer is acting up...  My brother Mike was the first Computer Whisperer...  You know, like the Horse Whiperer... He had a way and knack, I can not explain.  Sometimes I think God needed him to work on his computers and that is why he was taken at such a young age... 


Well, If we can ever get this old computer to get over being POed, we have pictures of The Trump and Phantom, ready to be collected.  We are going to be the first folks in the United States to collect an Icelandic Ram for semen and freezing it in Liquid Nitrogen.  I hope to do both rams and my Boer Goat Buck, The Rock.  We have an appointment the 13 of December, north of Montgomery.  I also have pictures of Ariel, my Nubian and her awesome udder and Angel, one of my Nigerians and her awsome udder.  I know, the udder thing is weird, but when you are breeding for milk and milk production, the udder is the boss...

I am just going to use the old computer for the picture loads and posts.  I really need to off load a bunch of pictures and I bet the old computer will be a lot faster.

Oh, we have a ton of free ranged brown and blue/green eggs from our hens.  We have several dozen we are selling.  They are $3 per dozen if you bring back the carton.  If not, the next dozen is $4.00.  Those darn cartons have really gone up...  Anyway, the real free ranged eggs are wonderful.  The yolks are a bright orange yellow and the taste out of this world.  The free ranged eggs sold in the store, are not free ranged.  You will know immediately by the anemic yellow egg yolks.  My hens are loose with the protection of the guardian dogs.  They eat grass and the left overs from the goats and sheep and cows.  They are healthy and happy and lay in a 6 box nesting area I put out for them.  I suggest trying their eggs and you will know exactly what I am talking about...

This blog update is a bit late I know, but life moves a bit to fast for me.  We have pulled the rams from their breeding groups and most of the ewes are together with one clean up ram Ultram.  More about all that later and we hope you did not eat to much turkey.  I know I did....

Fall is almost gone...

Somehow, I feel as if I missed October, my favorite month...  We have been going in high gear and actually have harvested some hay in between the tropical storm and regular too much rain...

I love the fall, it is my favorite time of year.  I just wish it would last longer and not have all this rain.  I know we need rain, but come on... To much is too much...

We were able to cut 15 acres of hay and bale it up in square bales.  I have trouble dealing with the large round bales and feel the small bales are of better quality.  They smell sooo good...  Even though as soon as they were cut, that evening we had frost...  Frost will discolor the hay and make it dark and look like it is bad.  As long as hay smells good, it is good.... Stick your nose into it, if it is sweet smelling, all is well...

The cows are doing well, I have some recent pictures to share with our fans.  It seems weird to me, so many folks really enjoy seeing what is going on at Oldesouth Farm.  But we really enjoy our farm folks, so it is OK.  Black Beauty above is pregnant and waiting for her to calve next spring.  Daisy, the red cow, should be pregnant and raising a steer calf.

This is the little heifer calf out of Christy who is growing well and the youngest of our Bovine Group.  She is a bit shy, but hopefully will tame down to handle easily.

This is Barbecue,the little steer we are raising up for the freezer.  We have a half of him reserved and a front quarter.  We are looking to reserve the rear quarter as well.  We hope to finish him and process him by fall 2010.  If you are interested in reserving some home grown beef, let us know.  He is mostly Brahmin and he is getting spoiled with all the goodies he gets to eat.  He will be treated like a king and when his time to go is here, it will be quick and he will nurish our family and our extended family.  That is what home grown meat is all about.  I truely believe in treating my animals with due respect and good food.  I only hope God will give me the same end as these animals, quick and with a great life.

We processed Chops the Icelandic Ram Lamb and he was worth the wait.  Oh my... My friend Mr Paul and I have truly enjoyed the Icelandic Lamb.  It is what everyone claimes and more!  We only processed him in October and he is almost gone...  We will process at least 3 lambs next year.  The goat is almost gone as well.  I love slow cooked, soups and stews and  will share one of my most favorite soups...

This can be made with Lamb, Goat or Beef or even Chicken.

In a slow cooker, coat the bottom with fresh cut Onions, any type.  Also cut up garlic or buy the cut Garlic and put a good 2 tablespoons of Garlic in the bottom of the slow cooker.  I love Garlic and the more the better.  If it ever drys up, I have garlic to plant in the garden for next year...

Anyway....  Put ground Lamb, Goat, Beef, whatever onto the onions and add enough water to cover and up to the top of the slow cooker.  Add a couple of handfuls of beans (I have big hands, so 3/4 cup per handful), any type or the mixed beans available for soup.  Add a handful of SHORT grained brown rice, can get at the Kushi Institute.  The short grain brown rice is loaded with B vitamines and is more like a grain and will thicken the soup.  The Kushi Institute in Mass. is the only place I know of on line to order.  I went to their Institute back in October 2004 to learn macrobiotic cooking.  Very interesting and I highly recommend them.  The Macrobiotic cooking is great for treating Cancer and other problems.  They cook everything fresh and is mostly a vegitarian diet.  It works and I have met folks who had recovered from Cancer with their diet and methods.  I followed the diet for a long time, but missed the meat and dairy.  So I incorporate their methods with my own meat and dairy ...

But if I were to be diagnosed with Cancer, would follow it completely and dump the meat and dairy.

But for now... I do enjoy my meat and dairy, especally the goat milk and cheese. 

Ariel, my brat Nubian Drama Queen is milking like mad, giving me 4.5 pounds (4 pounds is half a gallon) per morning.  I put her up at night and milk her in the morning and leave her out with her mini nubian (half Nigerian) kids during the day.  Her milk is great for cheese, drinking, etc.  I will keep her daughter for a future milker.  I am thinking about purchasing some Nubian semen and AI her for next year and keep her doe kids.  She is an excellent milker and has a nice udder.  She is a bit of a Drama Queen and pushy though...

OK, where were we...  Back to the slow cooker,  add sea salt (has more minerals and nutrition) and fresh ground pepper.  Also add a pinch of Rosemary, Sage, Basil, a bit of Soy Sauce and what ever else you prefer.  Let this slow cook all day, at least 8 hours on low and you will be sooo pleased.  This is a hardy, wonderful and easy recipe for any meat for those of us with not a lot of time or energy.... With the cooler temperatures, this is a great and easy meal for the entire family.

We have 3 bottle babies, one is a Boer/Nigerian Mix white doe, one Nigerian Doe buckskin with blue eyes(Molly) and another little white doe Nigerian who lost her mom.  They are For Sale on the Goat For Sale page and can contact us at: 334-327-9252 for information.  We will have several wethers and young goats for sale for meat or pets next spring.  Cabrito (young goat) is excellent and healthy.  We are taking reservations.  They are being reserved for $1.50 per pound live and we will deliver them to a local processor.  You pay us and pick up your meat at the processor after paying the processing fee of $65.00.  They will cut and package anyway you prefer.

I have had many requests for Goat Milk Soap and Lotion. 

If you need some, email me at:  oldesouth@charter.net and I will get you what you want.  Most of my soap and lotion is at Mark's Mart here in Selma, Alabama.  They have purchased all I can make and deal with the tax end of things... Which really makes retailing on the internet difficult and a PIA.  But, I will take care of you, just let me know what you want.  We have the 4 oz Goat Milk Lotion (Passion Scent) $6 and the Bar Goat Milk Soap, large $6 and small $4-$5.  Hopefully in the future I can hire someone who can help and follow simple directions to make the soap and lotion.  With the farm expanding, it is difficult for me to keep up and do it all with out deligation.  A lot of folks can not read a digital scale,  I do not know why and do not have a lot of patience for those who can not...  That is why we have backed off the soap and only made a few batches this year.  Dealing with the Lye turns off a lot of folks, can be dangerous and it takes 6 weeks to cure the soap properly before use...

 I have to add The Man to the Blog.  The Trump...  He is honey mooning with a group of 10 ewes and I look forward to his lambs.  The Icelandic Lamb is soooo good to eat and the fleece is out of this world.  I hope to collect the Trump and put him into my semen tank as well for future use after his short life is no more.  I love this ram and want to keep him around for future generations long after his life span.  We hope to collect him in December after he has the girls taken care of.  I want to collect Phantom as well.

This little lamb is a Superb SRX8685 daughter sired by the monster Icelandic Ram Ragnar LF194S.  She is a twin, but a bit on the small side.  I was thrilled to get her when I went to Lavender Fleece in Michigan.  I think she will add some excellent genetics to the Icelandic Flock.  She is a white, white and I have not sheared her.  Due to her small size, will shear her in the spring and let her grow and not stress her with fall shearing.  She is meaty and has an awesome fleece. 

We have several yearling bred Nigerian Does, most bred to Mr General if anyone is looking for a good family milker.  Contact us by phone:  334-327-9252 or email at:  oldesouth@charter.net.

Take care everyone...