Goats and stuff

Guess it's about time for an update on the goat project. I started with three goats about two years ago. They were, I am told, half Nubian and Pygmy goat. All three were black with a few white and brown markings. There was the fully grown doe and her two female offspring. When the younger 'girls' were old enough I agreed to host a pretty fellow who was mostly brown with black and white markings who wouldn't stay in his owners pen. He stayed with my girls for a couple of weeks and then started trying to wander again so I assumed he'd done his duty and asked the owner to come get him.

After the usual interval I was presented with six more goats. Only only four were female. Those I kept, selling the males. I also traded off the oldest female goat and one of the young males for another pair of goats. A male and female goat that were all white. I eventually discovered that the male, at least, was one of those infamous 'fainting' goats. My house cat got out and startled him and he just fell over. Very odd.

In any event, I kept him separate until about 3 months ago when I returned him to the pen with all 7 of my does. The over all plan for now is to sell all the kids and re breed after the does have dried off. I have not trained the girls to stand for milking and I have no patience for cleaning, or keeping clean, a milking parlor.

Now, after a very busy and trying week that included loosing one kid despite buying all kinds of things I now don't need, loosing half a nights sleep two nights in a row, and helping one doe during a breach birth I can report that I have twelve goat kids. . . I think. The little buggers keep scampering around so it's hard to tell.

Now if you managed to keep track of the numbers above you should have figured out that I had 7 does, so you are likely asking: Only twelve? Well, it breaks down this way. Oreo had two, Baby had two, Star had two, Rose had one that didn't survive, Brown 2 had one (the breach) Brown 1 had three (that Rose stole from her as she is more dominant than Brown 1) and Cookie had two. At least that's how I think it is, but it's hard to tell as I did have other things to do and all of them except for Brown 2 refused to kid while I was watching.

This is a learning process for me. Last time they kidded I had made the mistake of  not taking the billy (ram, whatever) out before they started having the kids. I lost one kid then because he kept them moving so much the little thing got trampled. (I think. Once more I wasn't there when it happened so could do nothing to prevent it.) This time I took the Grand Wizard out and put him into exile in a separate pen. Next time I will have to have one of the stalls in what is now a horse barn set up to put the girls in with several smaller stalls for each doe. The idea being to keep them together but still somehow separate so there will be no stealing of other's kids and I will know for sure which kids go with which doe.

But that's a lot of work and I need to get some materials together for it besides. Meanwhile I need to
catch up on my sleep.

As for the naughty kid stealing Rose, if I can get a stall fixed up I plan to move every one around so that I can lock her up with at least one of the triplets leaving the other two with Brown 1. Unless of course Brown one has already started drying up. Sigh. You have to make so many decisions when you are a goat lady. Maybe I should just sell them all off and get chickens. I like eggs. I know I like to eat chicken (might even be able to kill one never tried.) But I've never tried goat meat and if I don't like cow milk I doubt I'll like goat milk.

Growing food without irrigation! Even during a drought!

Sound like a blurb from one of those "Buy this and Get RICH in just ONE DAY!!!" ads doesn't it. Only difference this is true and you don't have to buy a thing! Really. I'm going to be trying it, that's for sure. I've already got some tiny little mini versions snaking across my front yard. They may grow as more material presents itself.

Out back in the pasture however, I'll need some help. Big muscle type help or weaker muscles that owns some power equipment and won't mind doing something that will likely seem odd to them.

What is this Miracle that could let me grow food, even during a drought, without irrigation?  It's got a weird German name that means hill or mound or some such. It's spelled Hugelkulture and you can find out a lot about it at http://richsoil.com/hugelkultur/
That's where I found out about it.

All you need are some old, preferably half rotten logs, tree limbs or firewood so old it's no longer usable and a place on your land where you want a garden. You can dig down a little or just start right there with out even skinning back the sod. If you do skin back the sod save it and plop it grass side down on top of your newly built raised bed when you are done.

Next  you build that raised bed by pilling all that old wood, rotted and otherwise, within the outline of where you want your garden.Stuff it in there. Add in fallen leaves, sticks and other woody type things then cover it all up with soil and maybe even a little compost or manure if you want to give it a kick start. Then you plant some fast growing plants that grow tight soil holding roots on top of that to hold the soil in place. (It's a mound by now, preferably a fairly tall one.) There are more details of course. Just go to richsoil.com or permies.com and this fellow Paul Wheaton will tell  you just about everything you need to know about Hugelkulture, and iron skillets, and rocket stoves as well as a little bit about Permaculture. Real good stuff.

Man, I can almost taste the tomatoes already! I'd give more details on this but really Paul does it so much better than I and he's even got pictures showing how it's done. So just go to those sites I told you about, now. Go on! Shoo!!