llama Grove Groove

Mowing

kari — Mon, 17 May 2010 04:33:52 +0000

More mowing, more fields. This is a lot of fun, really.

Farmers

kari — Mon, 10 May 2010 03:42:27 +0000

Llama Grove is moving. Are you a real farmer when you say things like, “Gotta mow the field before that storm gets in.”

Spring Cleaning

kari — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 04:05:30 +0000

These are the last daffydils from the flower bed. It’s a little sad to think that we will not get flowers from teh same bulbs next year, but plans for moving llama Grove proceed apace. We may have to rename the farm now that we’re changing to the top of a foothill rather than an enclosed hillside.

It’s been wonderful planning how we can make this land viable, sustainable, and productive.

Ready to Go!

kari — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 15:23:27 +0000

Come on Spring! Bring that warm weather and beautiful veg. We’re ready for you! The spices are all organized and the last of last years sarkaut and pickling is done! When will the snow end? When will the sun come out? Will we be making our own apple juice or will we have to buy it? We’re ready for you growth. Come get us!

The top shelf of the pantry is kombucha, vanilla, ginger ale and other fermentation jars, the next shelf down is all spices, the next shelf is a combinaiton of baking needs, coffee and emergency cans of stuff we might not have been able to stock up on. the final shelf is flour, cane crystals, etc. Oils on the ground, more spices hanging on the door. We are so ready!

Homestead Here?

kari — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 01:54:13 +0000

We’re not sure if this is the permanent homestead. The view is unbeatable, but the slopes don’t accomodate the larger animals without putting the soil in jeapordy. The chickens love the space that used to belong to the female Alpacas! So roomy and full of worms. They also have the entire barn to themselves. We’ll be looking for a new site soon enough, but hope to return to the llama grove as soon as we can. <3

Growing Season Begins

kari — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 04:30:39 +0000

The rhubarb and garlic are growing already! We’ve had such warm weather that today I was sweeping wasps nests off the roof and found a wasp. The nights have been very cold, though. there is no cloud cover at night, so we have a real risk of frost taking the buds off the apple trees and killing the garlic and rhubarb.

Chicken

kari — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 04:53:24 +0000

The chickens continue to lay as though it was summer time. They are doing great.

Away From Home

kari — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 04:21:11 +0000

Well, everyone is gone now. We will miss everyone who went to live with other farms permanently. The cows were really lovable and the llama was probably the most beautiful llama we’ve ever seen. He quite a personality on top of that. We’d really been looking forward to training him for hikes.

Brody, the horse is staying at Gaston Irish Sporthorses. He will remain there and be trained by the extremely competent trainer until someone comes to take him to another home, or until we build a dry barn. Whichever comes first. He’s such a big love that we know he’ll be in good hands either way.

On the up side, we’re in the middle of winter and getting 6 to 8 eggs a day from the chickens! This is great news. The weather has been rainy, but nice and warm for the time of year. The big question is without llamas and alpacas, what will we do for large-ish scale garden composting?

We’ll Miss You

kari — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 10:53:29 +0000

As the rain continues, so does the exodus from the soggy barn. We’re very sorry to see them go, but without proper drainage, the barn is simply too wet for our animals to spend the winter. The French drain didn’t hold under the weight of the cows and horse.

Cinnamon, our juvenile milk cow, has found a new home where we hope she will be very happy. She is a sweetie who loves having her cheeks scratched and really only has one motivation in life: a little treat.

Leif the guard llama is auditioning for a 4-H family this weekend. We expect that he will probably find a new home Saturday.

Brody the horse is looking for a new home as well. He’s going to go stay with our friends and horse trainer to be keep company with other horses for a while. We’ll bring him back when we are able to do so or he will find some family looking for a wonderful Georgian Grande pinto who also have time to train him.

The chicken stall is still dry, so they will be able to stay safe and dry. What’s a life without our chickens?

Sad to Say

kari — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 04:16:09 +0000

It’s hard to see, but the insanely wet and cold weather we’ve had gave us our first hail this week. Unfortunately we’ve been getting over an inch of rain each each day.

The really sad thing about this is that our barn flooded again! Horses and cows are too heavy for french drains.

Because of this and our lack of time, we gave up our beef cow. He’ll have a gret time with the cows in the new pasture he’s going to live in, well, for a while. He is a Jersey Angus cross steer, so he’s not really slated for a long life.