A Sleepless (Not Sheepless) Night

I was nervous as a first-time Mom. Ok, maybe "nervous" isn't the best word to describe the sort of headcase I was at the beginning.

But it was NOTHING compared to being a first-time lamb owner and hearing the coyotes howling at each other VERY near by.

We threw on a floodlight. The howling stopped. I walked the fence's perimeter, scanning the woods (we kept the pasture away from the woods' edge so if a predator got bold enough to approach they'd need to cross open land) with another flood-type flashlight, talking to the sheep as I went. Karl called out the window, "Come back in, they've stopped howling."

"Yeah," I said. "Because they know where I am. They're close."

But I went inside. I lined up my shoes, the gun and the flashlight so arming myself on the path out would be more "natural." I then took the fastest shower ever. I laid down for 5 minutes before they started calling again. Out I went, lights on. The howling stopped. Again I walked the perimeter. I went back inside. I had seen one set of eyes in the woods on the opposite side of the driveway from the pasture, but couldn't tell if it was deer or coyote.

I laid back down and waited. An hour passed without a word. Then another. I got worked up wondering if it could be worse that I DIDN'T hear the coyotes. I used the flashlight to peek at the sheep from my bedroom window (not realizing how the beam would flash back off the screen and wake my husband). The sheep seemed fine. "Let the fence do its job," Karl said. I think I groaned. "They're an investment," I explained to the man who says "I keep seeing dollar signs whenever you have a new idea." He said, "So was the fence," and rolled over.

I finally drifted into a restless sleep.

This morning I woke up and counted the sheep. They are all present and munching happily. They knocked over some hay bales we had stacked as a windbreak for them and have been plaing "king of the mountain."

Sun's out, coyotes are gone, and I have cleaning to do...

Have a great one!
Shannon

Loading and Unloading Sheep

So, we borrowed Annaliese and Will's horse trailer to get the lambs yesterday. They were all in one end of the Southwind Farm Dairy barn, so loading up was pretty convenient. Realizing that and that we had Kendra (professional sheep catcher ;-) to help load up, and we had a much less worrisome time of catching and loading.

Karl even looked at Kendra(she's probably 16 or 17 years old) at one point and said, "So where does sheep wrestling go on a resume?" She smiled and shortly thereafter outdid herself by grabbing two of sheep at the same time.

I did carry one out myself (so proud), but Kendra caught it for me, so I'll have some work to do. It was one of the few times I really felt "too slow." That sucks, especially when there's a kid in the age range I used to teach watching.

We tipped the folks who helped (how much does one tip a sheep catcher?--we tipped like they were luggage handlers at the airport) and then slowly (because that's all our X-terra can do hooked to a horse trailer) drove back home.

Amidst noises that made one think the sheep had the better of Karl he grabbed and hoisted each one, carrying them to the pasture. I kept my son out of the way and worried over one plant I couldn't positively identify. I pulled a bunch of it (just in case) and gave a sample to Karl to compare to images on Google's image search.

He said, "Maybe it is lupine."

I freaked. Previously he had said he didn't think so, and now... I started plucking and tossing more of it as the sheep started to graze.

Our neighbors (Annaliese and Will) came up the driveway with their children in strollers. I stopped pulling up stuff to chat, then mentioned my concern.

"Really? Lupine?" Annaliese asked. "I've never seen lupines growing out here."

I pulled a stalk/stem and showed it to her. "No, those aren't lupine. I don't know what they are, but they aren't lupine." She then suggested I ask the guy who does a lot of haying locally. "He'll know," she assured.

We stood and chatted a while, my son playing with her daughter. He gave her a flower. I was proud. Then they were racing around and he put his hand out to grab at her back (he steers our dog that way, sometimes) and they both fell down. She got that look of utter betrayal on her little face and he didn't want to apologize (but he did, after a discussion with me).

The neighbors left and we finally got dinner.

Shannon

Good and Bad Go Hand-in-Hand It Seems

The good:
My son and I took a scenic drive to get some hay at a farm in a nearby town we'd never visited.

The bad:
On the way home, most of my son's time was spent complaining that he wasn't allowed to get out and run around.

The good:
Our dog (a pound puppy) will be okay, although he's on antibiotics; and the vet didn't charge us for an "emergency" visit.

The bad:
Our dog has not yet realized how NOT to get in trouble around the farm.

The good:
My husband's parents are coming up for the weekend.

The bad:
The landlord's stopping by first.

The good:
We get our Jacob sheep today, something my Mom and Dad have been strong supporters of.

The worst of the bad:
My Dad called to tell me my Mom's cancer(sarcoma) has spread to her brain stem and she has one month to live, at most.

So, what will I do? My Mom's going into hospice care around the end of this week and my Dad says not to come until sometime after that. I'll take his advice and drive down with Jaiden on Tuesday of next week--I guess. Those plans could change quickly.

You have to understand...

Before I got pregnant, we were living in Florida (outside of Tampa). I loved the people I worked with, loved the kids I taught, but missed my brother and parents. My husbands family was spread across New Jersey and he missed them, too. My husband and I felt Florida would be "temporary" because we couldn't get anyone else to move down there and could only fly or drive North so many times each school year and summer.

We had started the wheels turning to go back North (I kept saying to my hubby--"They (our parents) aren't getting any younger." I learned I was pregnant almost immediately after returning to my family's home. We were trying to get settled--the move had cost us twice what the moving company estimated, so our savings was wiped out quickly. Land near my parents was outrageously priced and if THAT was expensive, land near my husband's parents was so outrageous it made the other look cheap.

My husband got a teaching job (he rocks) in Pennsylvania and we stayed with my folks while I went through a troublesome pregnancy (gestational diabetes, pre-eclampsia, mild toxicity) and a 36 hour labor. My son was born healthy (and a good size) and we started to look for a better paying job for my husband.

He found it teaching in New Jersey and for a while we were weekend husband and wife. When his Grandmother's health started to fail, we moved in with her and her 50 year old son. That didn't work out well and we started examining other options. My husband's eldest brother started looking for a large piece of land (while Karl was still teaching in NJ) in hopes of having a family-style "commune" (for lack of a better term).

We helped look, knowing that nothing in PA was suitable (price per acre) and the sister-in-law's parents didn't want to drive south of the Mason-Dixon as it would suddenly grow "too hot." Limited by our own economics and wanting to live near family in a rural or nearly rural environment, we helped look at properties. Finally this one was chosen and we suggested we move on up ahead so we could try and get certain chores and things of that sort started.

As soon as it became "real" people interested in living on the land started backing out. The sister-in-law's parents and brother ditched first. They liked the idea of visiting a country home, but not the obligation of living away from certain conveniences. The hubby's brothers (who had toyed with the idea) also renigged. They had started putting down roots elsewhere with their families and in-laws. The landlord/brother-in-law's friends found a suitable commune in Gettysburg. My parents then decided that gun laws and certain other things about New York state made living there a poor choice for them, too.

So we started driving 5 hours to see our loved ones. Granted, it was MUCH less than the 21 we would have driven from Florida, but it grew costlier and more exhausting.

Now we drive down whenever Karl has time (or there's an emergency), but we always wind up feeling pretty ineffective. So please understand if I rant about people living too far from family--I was one that thought being outside the 50 mile norm would be exciting and empowering--a way to strengthen my marriage (and it did). But my mother's rapidly declining health has shown me I made a mistake in my timing and geography. I hope you all don't make the same errors I have.

Take care,
Shannon

Sheep Pictures...They're Like Potato Chips....

Yep, seems you can't have just one...

Good Neighbors

As much as I may complain about certain aspects of my life, I must admit to having good neighbors.

Will and his wife, Annaliese, are good and giving folks. I just got done talking to Annaliese about borrowing their horse trailer to get the sheep. She showed it to me and said they'll help us hitch it up when we're ready to go this evening. She also told us who locally has hay for sale and suggested we give him a call. Now I need to get some money and drive to get some hay... I think I'll stack some to lend a temporary windbreak/snack for the lambs.

Hmm. Gotta' make some calls. Probably won't get to revamping the jelly today...Ugh.

Take care!
Shannon

Sheep and Insanity

Today's the day! Today, at about 5pm we're traveling a back-country road (aren't they all around here?) for about 2 miles to get to the wonderful Southwind Farm (they are truly tremendous) and pick up our 7--yep, count 'em--7 Jacob lambs.

The picture above is of our eventual flock sire. Right now he's called "Poppyseed," but we get to change the name before he's officially registered.

Jacobs are an "unimproved breed" or "primitive" breed. They are polycerates (sheep with multiple horns). Our boy will have only 2 horns, but some of our girls will have 4. They aren't doublecoated (unlike other primitives--Navajo-Churros, Icelandics) but they are good foragers and easy lambers. Their fleece is generally desireable to handspinners because of its handle and staple length. We believe all of our Jacobs will be eligible for registration with the JSBA, and our boy's an RR genotype which means he's Scrapie-resistant (and that his offspring will probably be, too).

Well, I have a lot to do, so--

Have a great day!
Shannon

10 Sealed Jars of Dandelion...Jelly?

Woo-hoo! I never realized what an awesome noise the wet pop of jars sealing can be! All my 10 sealed (dumb luck is a great thing to occasionally have) and now it's just a matter of the "will they, won't they" set up to the thickness of jelly.

Gosh, I hope they do... I have no idea what else I could possibly do with a somewhat sweet, thick and sunshiny liquid...Is there a use for Dandelion Sauce? Hmm. Let's hope I don't need to find out.

We frantically planted the last of our bigger "plants" (replacing tomatoes that died with Monday's frost). 2 blueberries, 10 tomatoes (heirloom-types), sage, sweet basil, marjoram (one of my favorite flavors), dill, lavender... I can't remeber the rest.

I feel like we're so late with our planting, but I think that's one of the things that divides some American lifestyles. If you are a real teacher or a (non-farm) small business owner, getting anything in the ground in a timely manner is nothing short of a miracle.

I'm trying to be more grateful for everything I CAN get done... But there's so much I'm still desperate to accomplish.

We got more bad news about one of our lambs, seems she's acting lame. Southwind Farm's manager, Laura (she's great), says she thinks the lamb may have just knocked her leg against the barn coming inside--doesn't seem broken, doesn't act like foot rot. Whew!

We're going to try and add one last lamb to our flock, having spoken to the in-laws. I need to email Laura (yet again) and make the arrangements. I think I'll also ask what stud fees are if we find one of our related ewes shows more promise than a non-related. Maintaining one ram's enough for us, but it quickly limits our genetic line. I want options. Laura's very helpful, I'm sure she'll let me know what local options exist.

Thanks to the hubby for adding the hopping lamb. Now I just need one that looks Jacob-y...

Have a great night!
Shannon

Oh Sugar! (And Sheep)

So I bottled my last batch of Dandelion Wine (for now at least). When my hubby realized I was making a second batch of the same recipe he asked why. I explained it would be like my "control." If everything was equal, wouldn't we be able to truly judge if the wine was good or not?

Besides, weird stuff happens--maybe one batch will decide vinegar's its calling and the other will be wine... I would like SOME wine out of my first attempt at winemaking, after all. But I do have some neat herbed vinegar recipes just in case...

So today I tried making Dandelion Jelly. I've never canned before. I may never be brave enough to can again considering the insanity of my first attempt. There was a brief period where I couldn't locate my last 1 and 1/2 cups of sugar--a rookie mistake, not having everything handy from the get-go! How embarrassing...

I guess we'll see what happens after the 24 hour cooling period. I need better equipment--that's for sure. Deeper pots to give myself more space to achieve the 2 inch above the lid rule. A jar holder (instead of my wonky tongs). A space of a few hours when my 3 year old isn't trying to play with his cars on my kitchen floor... You get the idea.

Ah well, I knew I was on the steep end of the learning curve on this...

Today we decided to officially reserve two more Jacob Sheep. One is a wether (that means "castrated") and one is the twin ewe to another we're already getting. I saw an email from the farm's manager, Laura. She said that upon further inspection one of our ewe lambs appears to have scurs, not horns (scurs are sort of like loose or wiggly horns--not fully attached).

I did some reading and Laura also assured me scrurs wouldn't impact her health--and she might be able to be registered after all. Some people would reject her outright for that. Since we're buying these for fleece/pelt and/or meat/dairy(a little dairy), I can't tell which will have which particular destiny. Perhaps our scur girl will wind up on the dinner table and her sister will have lambs. I don't know yet. I probably won't know for at least another month. It'll depend on behavior, fleece and conformation.

Anybody else got Jacobs? Or thoughts on jelly, wine and vinegar...? ;-)
Shannon

Dandelion Wine and Other Flowery Pursuits

I grew up in a Pennsylvania Dutch (no, I'm not and never have been Amish--although it's a common question when you say "PA Dutch") area where you heard of eating dandelion greens with ham every Spring and where the words "dandelion" and "wine" went together relatively well. My father home "brewed" (maybe not quite the proper term) cherry wine for several years, but it met with mixed results (possibly because the family's never been big on booze of any sort). So, when I started seeing the adorable heads of sunshiny dandelions poking up through the slowly greening New York grass I thought--Hmm, a new crop to add to our ever abundant rocks and milkweed?

Milkweed's deadly and rocks are quite hard on dental work, so I thought it was time to look into the one other thing that shows up here in abundance. Several sites showed me recipes for dandelion-related things.

My 3 year old son and I got to picking :-) I washed off the flowers, trimmed off the greens with old scissors and made dandelion fritters first.

My son especially loved them. Me? Well, they're more "savory" than "sweet" and perhaps a little too plain, but there are surely ways to "dress them up." My hubby wasn't offended by them either (and he's the pickiest of our lot). Braver as a result, I sent some back with our visiting landlord (along with some freshly baked country white rolls). He tried a roll while with us and seemed to approve (he's the next level of "picky" up from my husband ;-). I still have yet to hear back about the fritters... Ah well.

Emboldened, I read several recipes for "Dandelion Wine." I settled on one (I'd provide the link when I find it again--good thing I copied and pasted into Word...) and my son and I again braved the large backyard in search of nice-looking blossoms.

We (really I) used the easiest recipe, even cheating and using a relatively regular type of Red Star yeast (not the wine or champagne yeasts many suggest--maybe next year). I know not all yeasts are created equal, but I'm just screwing around at this point--it takes my mind off bleaker topics and forces me to move around. It started fermenting beautifully--tiny bubbles rushing to the golden surface. We followed our directions and bottled it. It's currently resting in a dark part of the basement.

I was so excited, I made a second batch (my hubby's family liking wines and strange things --yep, they even like me--the strangest thing of all ;-). I even picked younger dandelions (supposed to be slightly sweeter and better). That batch is sitting on my counter as I type, waiting for sterile bottles. It will be like my "control," trying to prove or disprove that I can be competent with making a primitive form of wine...

My husband wants me to also try another recipe (the first one had cloves and ginger and smells like a mild mulled cider as it's boiling before being strained--holiday wine, I think). I think I will, but we need more bottles...

I've moved on (for now at least) to Dandelion Jelly. I've found about a half-dozen recipes online and I've chosen two that sound the most promising to me. I want to start with one today (but the dandelion blossoms are being sluggish due to last night's FROST--argh). I guess I'll mist my mushrooms and plants before my son gets up to help pick flowers (he'll probably just play on his swingset while I pick nearby anyhow). Jelly Link 1, Jelly Link 2, Jelly Recipe that shows up almost everywhere...Jelly Link 3.

Over the weekened the hubby, son and I also tried a dandelion "greens" dish that included sausage, potatoes and vinegar (I used balsamic since that's all I had handy--discolored my potatoes, but oh well)--actually pretty tasty (especially if you like collard greens). I wasn't picky about the age of the greens I grabbed, so a milder flavor can supposedly be obtained by picking the younger leaves (and supposedly earlier in the season, too). But the hubby liked it (me, too) and the son ate some of it before truly questioning its genesis and focusing on devouring his roll.

Try the links--fun stuff!
Shannon

Baking Bread and Eating Dandelions

Ok, so several months ago we bought a Sunbeam breadmachine at Walmart to replace the one we had in Florida (whose parts didn't all show up when we moved north). It's really great--although you have to download the actual recipe booklet and manual or risk the results of some significant typos.

We sort of binged on bread for a while--experimenting with most of their suggested recipes. Then I got bored. The machine sat on the counter collecting dust.

That is, until I realized I could make it do my bread dough--and that it's actually quite competent at it. So, this week I did rolls and knots, and rolls filled with dried apple and iced with a cinnamon buttercream. Making bread (or doing pottery) is especially grounding to me. I have no wheel or kiln, so I guess I'll keep baking.

Sent some rolls home with the landlord (and some dandelion fritters) along with a half-dozen eggs. The meeting with the eldershire guy seemed to go well, even though it poured rain the whole time.

Tomorrow we'll pick dandelion greens and try another "dandy" recipe. I come from a background where every Spring there was the annual ham and dandelion dinner--in which we never participated. I guess times change. I'm trying to embrace the earth and her bounty and make the most of everything we have...

Take care!
Shannon

Just heard on the news that a small group of men (20-somethings) tried to kidnap a woman off the street in the nearest real town. We JUST had a home invasion problem in the same town and before that we were hit by floods and Ralph Bucky, Jr's illegal journey back and forth across the state. There are many reasons why good people move out to the country, but do the nut-jobs have to move out here, too?

Fences and Subdivision

So, as I'm m/baking my hubby granola cereal last night, the discussion returned to fencing for the Jacobs.

We've looked at a few options--I really want to do rotational grazing (a small fenced plot that you move before grazing gets too worn down) with them because it seems to be better for everybody and everything. And although we might get away with something with less electrical output for just the sheep (did you know they have solar electrical chargers for fences now?) we do have coyotes around. LOTS of coyotes around.

So we want a good shocker, but cost is important. While the Jacobs are small they don't defend themselves as well, but once our boy gets his horns he should be a decent protector. The gals should be able to help with protecting themselves (and each other), too. Two of the three gals will get 4 horns. The other girl (and our boy) will only have 2. Aren't genetics wild? So no real decisions were made about the fencing. We just know what we want and need--getting the money to match it will be another matter.

Today I'll be cleaning up around here because the landlord (aka brother-in-law) is showing up with a guy who has done subdivision for a few "eldershires." The B-i-L wants the property subdivided so he and his wife and newly born daughter can build, and his parents can also build. The S-i-L's parents already rejected the idea (although NY land was bought specifically to please them) and the S-i-L would be pleased as punch to remain utterly suburban.

So far we're the only ones here--renting a 2 BR, 1 Ba; setting up gardens and farming experiments; and hunting (took a deer last year on the last day of the season--just as dusk was falling).

So--busy, busy, busy--and this all has NOTHING to do with my other obligations...

Ugh!

Welcome to 99 Acres of Rock on a Hill!

Follow the journey (more a journey of the spirit and lifelong education than a physical journey now) of a family living in an economically depressed region of rural New York state as we strive to live off the land and become more ecologically aware and responsible.

Our (local) family consists of one child, a Mom, a Dad and a rescued dog. Our neighbors are great (all farmers or teachers) and the landscape is beautiful (even if the soil is poor and we grow more shale and milkweed than anything else).

We've got nearly 100 apple trees (the first one just started to bloom today), a few seasonal streams and two tiny ponds. We have a struggling strawberry patch (can you imagine?), a small backyard garden of mainly onions and shallots and an assortment of container plants (tomatoes and peppers, etc.).

In the big open-type coop there are 8 laying Barred Rock hens (with 25 more mixed birds on the way--we'll "chicken-tractor" them). We just put 3 Jacob ewe lambs and one RR Jacob ram lamb on "hold" from Southwind Farms and got a shipment of two varieties of mushroom to grow in the basement before setting them outside in the forest.

We have a lot to do in the near future to get ready for all the arriving animals--and there's still a ton of planting to be done!

Keep stopping in to see how folks from PA and NJ (by way of FL) make it living on a soon-to-be shared homestead.

Have a great night!
Shannon