Sheep

A while back we traded a pig for 3 lambs. They're Dorper, (they're the two on the left, the larger ones are Tunis) which have hair instead of wool. They shed when it gets hot enough, saving us alot of effort. Shearing would only be worth while if we had a good way to utilize the wool, which we don't. Because I'm not very fond of lamb, we'll wait until these are Hogget. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamb_and_mutton If you're in central Texas and would like a Dorper lamb, give Deb' a call at 254-879-4686.

Soybeans

They're everywhere aren't they? Soy is used in an incredible amount of foods, in various forms. It's almost impossible to avoid soy in animal feeds and I was only able to do so in our pig feed because the addition of milk and whey makes up for the lysine that would otherwise be lacking. According to Wikipedia, raw soybeans, including edamame, are toxic to all mono-gastric animals. While I have known of the dangers of soy for some time, I'm posting on it now because it was brought to my attention today by an employee at a local feed mill commenting that he's extremely allergic to soy. Even the roasted beans bother him, but handling the raw ones make him really sick.

So if you didn't know that soy can be dangerous, consider this your warning.

Plums, plums everywhere

The plums are ripening and boy are we covered up! We've been making plum jam and jelly like crazy....... and we only have half a dozen trees!

Some of the bounty out on the porch

(along with a basket of onions)

Gabriel pitting plums for jam

Getting closer to the pot ;)

The finished product

And we'll do it all again tomorrow :)

New additions

Our milking doe population went from three to five yesterday. These two, Sweet Tea and Oatie, belong to a friend and I have no idea how long we'll have them but I'm enjoying the chance to make more cheese as long as they're here.


Gabriel really likes them because their teats are much bigger than our other goats' so he can milk them much more easily. He's always had trouble milking the three we have because they're much smaller. 'S'wat he gets for having big hands :P