Hi there.
My name is Morgan, and I'm a farmer.
It's not my fault really, you see my father is an avid vegetable gardener, as was his before him. My mother has always had chickens in the backyard, and had a milking cow (or four...lol) when I was young. So it's natural progression I guess. In my genetics, to be inclined to keep livestock, and a veg patch of my own.
As an adult, I started of course, with the humble backyard chook. Or six. Then a dozen, then 20 or so... Chickens are notoriously a "Gateway Livestock" and should be treated with extreme caution for new homesteaders. They're addictive you see. To date I've found no 12-step program to keep me away from farming!
Over the last ten years or so I've experimented. I've tried duck (muscovy ducks) and decided that I love them, but that I need a bigger farm to keep them as I'd like to, so we've none at the moment. I've tried sheep (dorper x) and found that sheep were very flighty and prone to panic. I'd like to try them again in the future, when we can keep them in a paddock just for the sheep.
I've also tried goats... boer goats. Let me tell you something about goats, they're smart. They work out which room you sleep in, and then stand outside just before dawn and bleat loud enough to wake the dead... ask me how I know! Let's just say it was a "tasty experiment" in the end, and goat keeping is another thing I've shelved for the future.
So our current little plot of paradise is home to my milking cow Annabelle (who is a jersey x brown swiss) and her calf at foot (a beef cross, by a Santa Gertrudis sire) plus the two dairy heifers I bought last year to foster on her. and that's the cow herd.
Then there is Reuben, my Waler x QH gelding. He's a beautiful paddock ornament that I don't get nearly as much chance to ride as I'd like! But he likes to hang out with the cows, and he likes pats, snuggles, general grooming, and bananas. Don't come between Reuben & bananas!!
We also keep two great danes, Ivory and Paroo. You'll get to see fun photos of them in my blog, largely because Ivory is a photobomber... Level : EXPERT. The pair of them like to supervise anything I'm doing outside, from hanging out the towels to digging in the garden - they help out where they can.
The poultry.... as before mentioned, are addictive and prolific. I keep my addiction under control by selling pullets (young hens) and selling eggs to friends and family for a meagre contribution to my grain bill. I do a sell off every so often, usually when someone asks me "how many chickens do you have?" and I actually have to count them, and I realise I have WAAAAAY too many.
In addition to the chicken population, we keep American Bronze Turkeys. They're one of the heritage breeds, so they're not the biggest meat variety out there, but they are very pretty and they seem to keep the snakes and hawks away.
I believe I've covered everyone, although I'd love to add more creatures to my menagerie, we're on a very small block for a farm. It's approx 2.4 acres you see, more of a "farmlet" or a "farmish yard", and the worst part of that... it's a rental. We're working towards a new farm, hopefully in the not too distant future. So for the moment I'll share my tips on living frugally, keeping livestock in a smaller space, and keeping a small vegetable garden.
Hope you enjoy!!
M
Howdy Morgan, great to see you've started a blog and I'll be keen to follow more of your musings. I'm assuming that's Annabelle on your masthead. What are the fruit on the ground under her feet?
ReplyDeleteThose little orange things are the bane of any lawnmower... they are the fruit of a date palm. I hate them - largely because they attract flying foxes - and they make a mess. the trees are at least 50 years old - and far too tall for me to dock the fruit when it's young, I even have to wait for it to branches to drop when they die off, usually when we get a storm.
DeleteThat most certainly the lovely Miss Annabelle :-) in all her one-horned glory! Thanks for reading :-) I'm aining for maybe a couple of updates per week.