[Ag-eq] Apple harvest

Mon Aug 24 00:12:31 UTC 2015

Danielle:

I am totally blind, don't know about the other members on the list.

One of the ways I manage the goats is by not allowing my herd to get to big.  I
handle all the animals a lot so the are gentle.  Usually when I need to catch
one it will come right up to me.  I keep bells on a couple of the goats so I
can here where they are.  They tend to stay pretty close to each other.  My
lead goat is an older nanny and the goats tend to follow her, so I keep a bell
on her.  When I find her the others are usually very close.  I also give mine a
tiny bit of grain everyday.  They come up to the barn and I can get my hands on
them to make sure they are all doing o.k.  When the are being milked and a
couple of months before kidding I feed them twice a day.  I know it is more
time consuming for me, but I feel it pays off.  My goats are healthy, friendly
and easy to handle.

When I breed the goats I just put the dose that I want to breed in a pen with
the buck.  I can usually tell by their behavior when they are in heat.  I keep
a wether goat with the herd and I call him the heat detector.  He will start
acting like a buck when the girls start to come into heat.  I just keep track
of when they were with the buck and hope they will kid in 5 months.  I watch
them to see if they come back in heat.  I can tell by their bodies, especially
their utters when they are close and I pen them in the kidding area then.  I
watch them closely then.  So far I haven't had any have trouble kidding.

Goat poop is a lot like rabbit poop so not nearly as messy as cow poop!  I have
boots for winter and some for summer that I wear when in the animal areas.  The
goats and horse are usually in the pasture so there isn't a lot of mucking to
do.  I keep the pens raked out.  Sometimes I pay a teenager to do any heavy
mucking jobs.  I do use fly sprays and traps around the barn and smaller pens.
So far there has been very little smell here.  Unfortunately I can smell the
cows from next door and the giant chicken house that is a couple of farms over.

I use raised beds and large pots for most of my plants.  All of the vegetables
are in raised beds and big pots.  It is so much easier for me to keep track of
the plants and control the weeds this way.

Tracy is the gardening queen so she may have some good suggestions for
gardening.

Zach works on a large dairy farm so he probably has developed better techniques
than me.  I've learned a lot from trial and error!

I did grow up on a farm and my parents expected me to carry my weight, so I got
good hands on experience that way.  I've helped with a lot of difficult
calvings so feel that I have some experience when that happens with the goats. 
I was required to help my Mom in the garden so learned about plants at a young
age.  I've also learned from reading, talking to others and as I said before
trial and error.

  The most important thing for me is being organized and having a good set up. 
Having good fences and the right kinds of shelters can make a huge difference.

Sorry to go on so, hope I answered all your questions.  I'm sure the other
members can add a lot more.

Nella

Quoting Danielle Ledet via Ag-eq <ag-eq at nfbnet.org>:

> Wow that's cool. I don't know how yall do it. Can yall see some? One
> thing about farm animals and such I would not like stepping in manure,
> and how do you keep things sanitary? What about breeding and welping?
> Do you require assistance with the birthings? I am assuming you all
> were expected to help out on your family farms which is why you all
> are so comfortable. We had a dairy farm here when I was very little
> and most I did was maybe go in the barn and pasture amoung the animals
> I was taught how to pick and shuck corn, and pick oranges, Kumquats,
> figs, and tangerines, but that is all. Oh yeah, I was taught by my
> father how to tell if fruit was ripe. I enjoyed the fruits of my Daddy
> and uncles and my Pop's labor. As for your gardens how do you map out
> plots and rows?
>
>
>
> On 8/23/15, Zach Mason via Ag-eq <ag-eq at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> > Could you explain what GMO free meat is?
> >
> > Zac
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Ag-eq [mailto:ag-eq-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Nella Foster via
> > Ag-eq
> > Sent: Sunday, August 23, 2015 1:17 PM
> > To: Agricultural and Equestrean Division List
> > Cc: nfoster at extremezone.com
> > Subject: Re: [Ag-eq] Apple harvest
> >
> > Tracy:
> >
> > I plan on keeping the young doe goats asuming they are healthy and grow
> > well.
> > My dose have all kidded easily and are good milkers, so hope their
> > daughters
> > will be the same.  Two of the dose are getting older so can probably only
> > breed them one more time.
> >
> > I will casterate the young bucks and they will go to someone's table.  I've
> > made contact with a couple of butchers in the area that specialize in grass
> > fed and GMO free meats.  I plan on following their guidelines so they will
> > buy the kids I don't want.  This is hard for me, but I cannot keep all of
> > them.  I could sell any unwanted doelings as milk goats since they come
> > from
> > good milking lines.
> >
> > I will be selling milk; we are allowed to sell raw milk here as long as
> > it's
> > picked up from the farm.  There are a few regulations you have to meet to
> > sell the milk, that is why I'm building the milk barn.  I've met a family
> > that live a few miles away that are selling fresh Jersey milk and they
> > cannot keep up with the demand.  Unfortunately I'm not allowed to sell
> > cheese, only the milk.
> > I can sell the goat milk soap since it's not being eaten.
> >
> > Nella
> >
> >
> >
> > Quoting Tracy Carcione via Ag-eq <ag-eq at nfbnet.org>:
> >
> >> Hi Nella.
> >> Chocolate sounds very nice!
> >> What will you do with the kids?  Will your herd get bigger and bigger,
> >> or will your neighbors be eating roast kid?
> >> Tracy
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: Ag-eq [mailto:ag-eq-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Nella
> >> Foster via Ag-eq
> >> Sent: Saturday, August 22, 2015 9:30 PM
> >> To: Agricultural and Equestrean Division List
> >> Cc: nfoster at extremezone.com
> >> Subject: Re: [Ag-eq] Apple harvest
> >>
> >> Tracy:
> >>
> >> I recently got a dehydrator and so far have only dried some peppers
> >> and herbs.
> >>
> >> The buck goats can get aggressive, but this little guy has been
> >> handled since birth and I continue to spend time with him.  He is very
> >> friendly and will follow me around like a puppy.  I think he will be
> >> o.k. as long as I keep handling him and don't let him get away with
> >> bad behavior.  I've met several bucks that are friendly and the people
> >> were petting them and spending time with them.  I've seen a couple
> >> that were aggressive, but they were just out in a pasture and didn't have
> > a lot of human interaction.
> >>
> >> The worse thing about a buck goat is how stinky they get.  so far
> >> Chocolate isn't very smelly because he is still young.  They get more
> >> smelly when they reach adulthood.  His name is Chocolate, which fits
> >> right into my heard, the girls all have candy names.
> >>
> >> I purchased Chocolate from a nice Amish family.  All their animals
> >> were so healthy and friendly.  He is registered and their herd has
> >> been tested for certain diseases, which is what I wanted to find.
> >> They even called to make sure he is doing o.k. and didn't get to
> >> stressed by the move.  I've kept their contact info so that we can do
> > business again.
> >>
> >> I think they had to call from a neighbors, they don't use phones.
> >> When I called I spoke to the neighbor; it was strange, but all worked
> >> out.
> >>
> >> Nella
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> Quoting Tracy Carcione via Ag-eq <ag-eq at nfbnet.org>:
> >>
> >> > Hi Nella.
> >> > My apples are Golden Delicious, sweet/tart, the way I like them.
> >> > I'd forgotten about drying, and I have a dehydrator.  I'll have to try
> > it.
> >> > This morning, I separated the apples into "use today" and "will keep
> >> > a
> >> bit".
> >> > After lunch, applesauce!  And maybe more.
> >> >
> >> > Your barn sounds great! And your buck sounds cute.  Do male goats
> >> > get aggressive, when they reach maturity?
> >> > Tracy
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > -----Original Message-----
> >> > From: Ag-eq [mailto:ag-eq-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Nella
> >> > Foster via Ag-eq
> >> > Sent: Friday, August 21, 2015 5:00 PM
> >> > To: Agricultural and Equestrean Division List
> >> > Cc: nfoster at extremezone.com
> >> > Subject: Re: [Ag-eq] Apple harvest
> >> >
> >> > Tracy:
> >> >
> >> > What kind of apples?
> >> >
> >> > I'm so jealous, love fresh apples.
> >> >
> >> > Wonder how long until my little trees start bearing fruit?
> >> >
> >> > Do you ever dry them?
> >> >
> >> > I'm still getting tomatoes, peppers, squash and cucumbers.
> >> >
> >> > I bought a little buck goat and put out with my doe goats.  He's
> >> > kind of young, so don't know if he is old enough to do his job yet!
> >> > He is very cute, will grow up to be a handsome boy.  He and 2 of my
> >> > dose have genes for spots, so hoping I get some spotted babies.
> >> >
> >> > I'm turning my shop building into a milk barn.  The guys are working
> >> > on it right now.  There will be a room to store hay, a room for
> >> > milking and a room to put the goats when they kid and to keep the
> >> > really young kids out of the weather.
> >> > It is going to make milking so much easier.  There is a pen on one
> >> > side where I will bring the girls, then I can take them into the
> >> > milk room to milk and put them out a door on the other side.
> >> >
> >> > I finally have goat proof fencing around the whole pasture, so the
> >> > goats and Cruiser can all be together.  Hopefully by next spring I
> >> > will have more fences up to divide the pasture so I can rotate the
> >> > animals around.  They graze it more even that way.
> >> >
> >> > What is everyone else up to?
> >> >
> >> > Nella
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > Quoting Tracy Carcione via Ag-eq <ag-eq at nfbnet.org>:
> >> >
> >> > > The apple harvest is starting to roll in.  Literally, since I'm
> >> > > picking them up off the ground and often finding them by
> >> > > accidentally kicking them.  My young retriever is also good at
> >> > > finding apples.  He has a soft mouth, and can pick them up without
> >> > > a scratch, but I'm trying to teach him not to pick up
> >> > > miscellaneous things
> >> off the ground.
> >> > >
> >> > > Yesterday, I took a medium-size bucket and filled it to the top.
> >> > > I'll have to sort them this weekend, green or ripe. Then I'll
> >> > > start making
> >> > applesauce.
> >> > > I've also found a pandowdy recipe that sounds yummy.  Applesauce
> >> > > is the easiest though, since all I have to do is boil the apples
> >> > > 10-15 minutes, then run them through the whatchamacallit that
> >> > > squeezes out the good stuff and leaves the seeds and skins in the
> >> > > pot.
> > Yumaroo!
> >> > >
> >> > > They're little apples, 2-3 inches across, so it will take quite a
> >> > > few to make a pie.  But it could be worth it.
> >> > >
> >> > > And then there's just plain eating them.  Or wrapping some up to
> >> > > store for later.
> >> > >
> >> > > Tracy
> >> > >
> >> > >
> >> > >
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>
> --
> Danielle
>
> Email: singingmywayin at gmail.com
>
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