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wow

coming up on a year since i put this lil site up, i guess it is time to bring it up to date. one of the big changes "site" wise is i have stepped up from the hosts simple web tools and am now using a stand alone editor to create and edit the pages for my site.

i have added quite a few animals since i last updated. the critter count this days is 5 adult goats 1 dairy/alpine the others mixed boer/nubian. my alpine is with child and due shortly. of the other 4, 3 kidded this spring 2 singles and a set of twins. unfortunately 1 of the singles was lost at a couple weeks of age. i milked the mom for a while just to get the hang o fit and also have on occasion penned up one of the other moms at night so the kid would not be able to nurse thru the night and then milked her in the morning. this seams to be a good way to go about the milking. junior gets to nurse and i only have to milk once a day. i think i am going to try this rutine from the start with my alpine. last year i had aquired 4 boer weathers and after butchering them we decided goat me was good stuff. after that i got some bred nanies that were meat/milk crosses so we would not have to buy weathers this time around and i added the milk goat and had her bred at a nearby ranch. things have gone so well with the goats i am seriously considering moving up to some heritage breed spanish goats. I would be breeding them as dual purpose meat/milk animals and maybe even train up a buck as a draft animal. the spanish is not only an old heritage breed but is listed on the slowfoods ark of taste and fits right in with my goals to help preserve the heritage breeds while enjoying some might good eats.

i also increased the pig herd by adding 2 pure bred tamwoths, 1 boar and 1 sow. the boar has been put to work with the sows this past month so hopefully towards the end of summer there should be a bunch of lil piggies running around the ranch. the boar will get another month to take care of bussiness an dthen it is off to market as custome sausage along with any sows that dont "take" i have developed a nice "glutenfree beer bratworst" and will likely only make the one sausage the first time around but i also would like to have a nice mildly sweet breakfast sauage. i intend for the sausage to run around 20-25% fat as whole hog sausage (though i will make the sides into bacon for sure!) and will use organic spices, fresh if available at slaughter time.

i have a beef heifer grazing on some land south of me and she will be going to slaughter next week if all pans out. she will be processed into all premium burger with as many organs included as our trusty "government" will allow. shooting for around 20% fat if she has enough, i wont contaminate my beef with outside fat. hope to be adding some milking red devons to the ranch so the offspring can be raised for meat as they are also a wonderful heritage breed that is listed on the ark of tatse, more info on the milking devon can be found at the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy website.

i am up to alomst 100 laying hens with a handfull of roosters mixed in (the rooster population is slowly dwindling as they taste pretty good) i want to add some meat birds but without power i have to decide if i want to spend the money on gas brooders or make the plunge and get the electricity hooked up on the property. (i will only hook up the elec if i get started on a grid tie solar project starting with a good sized grid-tie inverter and a few panels that i can add to as $ allows) the birds i have now are a hodge podge of breeds and a few mongrel mixes thrown in, they were what i could find for sale localy that had been raised to the point they could go on pasture without suplemental heat. my birds are pasture intensive. they have shelters they can roost in and go to lay but for the most part they are forced to be out on pasture or cruising under the trees. (next step for this site is to get some more pictures up). when i get my brooder going i will be transitioning to the the buckeye breed again a critically endangered heritage breed that is a dual purpose breed for meat and eggs. they must be pretty tastey to have found their way on the ark of taste as well. i figure when i get the brooder going i will order up a batch of straight run chicks and butcher most of the males and end up going into next year with a nice breeding flock of buckeyes, some to be hatched out for meat and enough eggs to keep me happy.

on the garden side, i talked aneighbor into letting me work around an acre and a half of southern expousure. last fall early winter i disced the field and planted winter rye dryland style, no irrigation. it sprouted and held it's own thru the winter and has really taken off this spring. i need to disc it under or mow it or get some critters to help keep it down as i dont want it going to seed as it was just intended as a cover crop. i have 1 good row of potatoes in and a second 1 preped along with a row preped for some summer squash. i need to get some small implements to speed thins along as preping rows by hand it very time consuming not to mention tiresome, but it is a good work out. i am considering getting one of the high wheel cultivators similar to the ones Lehman's sells and a seeder i also need some good hoes and other handtools for working in the trenches this season. i am considering some of the rouge hoes especially the ones made frome recycled agricultural disc blades..

check back soon to see the pix i will be adding and many new pages i have planned talking about my reasons and goals. i would also like to say high to the new friends i made today while working off my CSA share down at Javernick Family farms and to all the new friend and mentors i have yet to meet. remember, if you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem. think sustainable.

if you're not sustainable,
you're part of the problem

the chop shop
westcliffe colorado
1(719)783-4263