8/27/2009

August Ascent

I can not believe it’s almost the end of August already! Yikes! The 145 th Cummington Fair is this weekend. Unfortanately we will not be attending it. There’s way too much on the docket; including mucking the sheep barns and finishing touches on fencing for the new goats and working on the timber frame sheep barn in Cranberry Cove. Yes, I did say goats. We are expecting two does to arrive at some point soon. They are welcomed guests in the new area cleared for more pasture. There is tons of stuff to browse on to help begin the process of clearing the land. The trees are mostly felled, but there are brambles, blueberry bushes, stump sprouts, goldenrod and creeping vines. All good stuff for a goat to eat. The older doe will be bred and we’ll milk her next season. Looking forward to that.

The sheep story/ saga continues. Two of the rams left this week to go to a nearby farm. One yearling that will be used this season for breeding and one lamb for next year. Both were good rams and I’m happy they will have a good situation, lots of green pasture and lovely ewes to service. My preoccupation with a breeding plan is slowly getting more defined. At this point I’ll have three breeding groups, but I may add another. For such a small flock, I am making efforts to get more genetic diversity. Stay tuned on the breeding plan.