Another afternoon at the farm

 The chickens with the naked butts may not be here much longer...

 Black sex link hen

 Earl(ine) Gray is hiding from the chicken.

 Bardo

 Another black sex link hen

 Looking up our driveway at the 2 cats.

 Tree ear mushrooms

 The chicken house/green house is coming along slowly. Too many hours working and lots of rainy days.

 The sun peeking out  from the rain clouds.

Anyone on Face Book?

You can follow the farm here. I also post from others items I find interesting.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ewe-I-Farm/208179205917180

Has anyone noticed?

Here in Merrimack County, NH, there seems to be a LOT of dead squirrels, porcupines and raccoons on the sides of the roads. Both back country roads and the highways. BUT, the ravens, crows and turkey vultures are not touching them. The only things recycling the bodies are bugs. What's up with that? Are they as infested with ticks as the moose, and the birds do not want to be infected themselves?
Inquiring minds want to know.


In the meantime, at 1 pm it is 93 degrees out and 80% humidity in the house. I've closed all the windows and turned on the fans. It seems the dehumidifier decided to quit... Time to go work in the basement/lower level and do some fleece inventory!

 Little Roo

 Little hen

 Earl(ine) Gray

Jack Black

We are in the midst of constructing a greenhouse (temporary chicken house) from recycling metal windows with screens. The chickens will be much happier having a breeze from 3 sides of their house and I'll be happier having them all in one place. This heat wave has either dropped off egg production, or caused them to go to cooler places to hide them. They will be contained to a 1/2 acre area where they can tear up the property to their hearts content. It is a piece that is loaded with moss. Instead of lime, I will try my chickens first. Pictures will follow at a later time!

I am also working on organizing our basement/lower level into a shop of sorts. I will be posting fleeces for sale within the next couple of days. I will not have pictures for a while as time does not allow, but I will take pictures upon request and get them up.

TTFN. Off to work.

Horned Dorset for sale

Kane is free to a good home

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cornelius $300 with papers

1st picture this spring before he was sheared, and before his horns were cut back.

2nd picture is from June.

3rd picture is right after he was sheared and his horns cut with our 'goat friend' John Wiley.

We have 2 5 year old rams that we would like to sell. One is registered and has done very well by us.

$300 with papers, BRO without. We've cut his horns back as they were pressing on the sides of his head.

The other was given to us without papers, but was used as a show sheep as a lamb so he leads well.

He just will give you a slight smack with his horns if you are in his pen not paying attention to him.

He missing most of one horn as he pulled it out of his head last year. It is slowly growing back.

 He did real well for us lamb wise as well. Bigger lambs than the registered ram.

He is free to a good home.

The registered ram is a production ram. The other was more of a show ram,slightly taller and thinner.

We will not ship, but we may consider meeting you somewhere for the price of gas. We live in central NH and would prefer you come to the farm. That way you could see the 'lambs' for yourself.

We borrowed another production ram from another lamb last year and ended up with a ram lamb 
that we will use for this year's breeding. At 3 months he was already 80 pounds!

A day on the farm-July 15, 2012

 These 6 pictures show what the area looks like today where the chickens are going to be free ranging. They will have about 1/2 acre to 'destroy' and reclaim. Once they are moved to another location we will seed this.

 I will need to put much smaller holed wire here, but will leave up the 6' tall fence to keep out predators.

 A large 'clump' of wild raspberries.

 Horseradish?

 Jerry is working on the green house/temporary chicken house.

The one on the den will go into the one he is building.

 You can't see us hiding under here in the cool earth.

 This morning's collection.

A day on the farm-June 28, 2012

 Baby chicks and momma-2 months old. Living in house at night because of a raccoon...

 Breaking ground for the new chicken house.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerusalem_artichoke

 Where the chickens will be free ranging. We will see what they do with all of the moss. They will have ~1/2 acre to free range in. They will get another piece of the property when they are done with this section.

 Momma and her kids

 Bardo checking out the building site

 One baby, Momma a Black Sex Link, and an old NH Red

Kane and Cornelius. The 2 boys that need a new home.

Entered to win chickens. Want to try? Enter here...

http://www.chickenforum.com/f10/carters-legacy-farms-chicken-giveaway-contest-279/



http://www.carterslegacyfarms.com/

Happy 4th of July

Happy Independence Day.

   And Happy Birthday to my lovely daughter!

I am having trouble with the computer and camera agreeing to download pictures into a place I can find...I've used Picassa3 for years....and now they don't like each other. I've even emptied the pictures from the program into my removable hard-drive, and still it is a no go. I downloaded pictures from the camera  the other day, and of course it asks if you want to delete the pictures on the camera.... They are somewhere on this computer, but only God knows and I've not taken the time to sit down with the computer for any period of time and ask Him.

I have fleeces to put on the fleece blog (this verbal rant is there as well), but I can not YET locate the pictures. So, please know that I am not ignoring anyone!!

In the meantime, we are getting fleeces (not for the blog) washed, and drying, in readiness for the picker and carder. Other fleeces are headed for the dye-pot, and then the drying screens, for either sale as fleece pieces or eventually as roving.

I am working in the lower level of the house today and enjoying the coolness of concrete floors. Taking inventory of what is left to sell and what is left to wash. Always fun!!

And, if I finally get the computer and camera working...July's featured SALE!! fleece will be Northern NH ICELANDIC.

TTFN

From Sheep to Yarn: AN EXPLORATION OF FIBER

This was posted in a group e-mail to beginning women farmer's group. I know most (all?) of these people. I hope to listen in this Thursday.

The Farm Report, a program of the HeritageRadioNetwork.org presents:




From Sheep to Yarn: AN EXPLORATION OF FIBER



Tune in live to The Farm Report every Thursday at 1PM by visiting

http://www.heritageradionetwork.org/  




June 21st, 2012: Introduction to the world of fiber

Mary Jeanne Packer of Battenkill Fibers Carding and Spinning Mill, Greenwich,

NY and Mary Pratt of Elihu Farm, Easton NY
(We bought the super carder from Mary Jeanne)


June 28th, 2012: Heritage breeds and craft shearing

Virginia Scholomiti of the Yellow Farm, Delanson, NY and Andy Rice of Hogget

Hill Farm, Braggleboro, VT
(Andy Rice-shearer-taught me how to flip sheep. Sounds odd I know, but you need them on their butts to shear and to do 'toe nails')


July 5th, 2012: Fiber processing

Donna Quinn of Blue-By-Ewe Farm, Temple, NH and Mary Jeanne Packer of

Battenkill Fibers Carding and Spinning Mill, Greenwich, NY

We are finally catching up with all of our shearing. Some customers had to be rescheduled because of rain, and we moved those with barns up into their spots. So, we've been right out straight.

Today, I am cleaning house and dyeing llama. We did a llama and a sheep Wednesday that were damp from all of the rain, so they were both headed for the dye pot. The llama is done and when we get back from shearing, the sheep will go in.

Pictures will be coming soon. Maybe tonight while dinner is cooking. TTFN!

I found this interesting!

http://cascadeyarns.com/milkproteinfiber.asp

I've been working a lot of hours at the Post Office, and headed out after work every day for the past 20 days to help Jerry with shearing.

I will be working with my product later this week to get ready for NH Sheep & Wool. I hope to get some pictures up on the blogs.

Life needs to slow down soon!!