- Thread starter
- #2,221
frustratedearthmother
Sustainability Master
Typical week in my part of Texas - HOT! Can't believe I'm actually going to say that we NEED some rain. Crazy, considering that we were a total mud pit for about 7 months.... geeze!
I tossed some of the mama/baby goats out to the pasture. Their babies are big enough for the great outdoors and I don't need the milk from the mama's - so - out they went! And - it really helps with the feed bill. The goats that are kept 'up' rely totally on purchased feed and it is a definite drain on the pocketbook. That took 7 goats off of the feed bill. Now I just have Sparkle up (because I'm milking her) and the older doe and her two kids are still kept up. I want to be sure she gets all the nutrition she needs. The 'outside' goats still get some feed but it's mostly just a token feeding.
Sparkle isn't the biggest volume milker, but she routinely gives around 1/2 gallon daily. That's plenty of milk for two people with enough left over for yogurt and/or cheese. I've still got two (maybe three) lactating does out in the big pasture that I can pull up if I need some extra milk.
Today's plan is to get into the garden and clean out all non-producing plants. I still have time to get in another summer planting so I'm going to put in some more bush beans and maybe some black-eyed peas. They love hot/dry which is where we're at right now. The first batch of 'bush beans' I planted were totally mis-labeled. They grew into a solid green wall about 6ft tall that made beautiful blooms and barely a bean anywhere. Not sure if it was a bean problem - or a pollination problem. But, they're coming out and a different variety will be planted in their place.
It's time to cut back the tomato plants... the stink bugs never gave up and moved on so I'm going to take away their food source. I hope with no food that the bugs will disappear and the tomatoes will come back and produce a fall crop for me. I put off building a green/screen house this year but I definitely won't put it off again. If I ever hope to grow an edible tomato again I've got to make a change. I hate bugs...
DH had a big problem couple nights ago. He was headed to the airport to pick up his boss when he hit a huge pothole. He had not one, but two blow-outs on his car. GRRRR! His boss had to take a taxi to the function they were both supposed to be at and we waited almost 2.5 hours for a wrecker. Worst part of the deal is that his brand new fancy-dancy car didn't even come with a spare tire! They give you a can of flat fix and a little pump - totally worthless! So, while his car is at the dealer waiting for the mucho expensive special order tires he's having a 'donut' kit installed in the car. It wouldn't have helped him in this instance since he blew TWO tires....but for future run of the mill flats he'll at least have a spare.
Monetary damage: $700 for the donut kit....$325 x 2 for new special order tires...and hopefully he doesn't need new wheels because they are $800 apiece. Guess I need to sell a few more goats!
That's about it - gotta get outside and get busy.
I tossed some of the mama/baby goats out to the pasture. Their babies are big enough for the great outdoors and I don't need the milk from the mama's - so - out they went! And - it really helps with the feed bill. The goats that are kept 'up' rely totally on purchased feed and it is a definite drain on the pocketbook. That took 7 goats off of the feed bill. Now I just have Sparkle up (because I'm milking her) and the older doe and her two kids are still kept up. I want to be sure she gets all the nutrition she needs. The 'outside' goats still get some feed but it's mostly just a token feeding.
Sparkle isn't the biggest volume milker, but she routinely gives around 1/2 gallon daily. That's plenty of milk for two people with enough left over for yogurt and/or cheese. I've still got two (maybe three) lactating does out in the big pasture that I can pull up if I need some extra milk.
Today's plan is to get into the garden and clean out all non-producing plants. I still have time to get in another summer planting so I'm going to put in some more bush beans and maybe some black-eyed peas. They love hot/dry which is where we're at right now. The first batch of 'bush beans' I planted were totally mis-labeled. They grew into a solid green wall about 6ft tall that made beautiful blooms and barely a bean anywhere. Not sure if it was a bean problem - or a pollination problem. But, they're coming out and a different variety will be planted in their place.
It's time to cut back the tomato plants... the stink bugs never gave up and moved on so I'm going to take away their food source. I hope with no food that the bugs will disappear and the tomatoes will come back and produce a fall crop for me. I put off building a green/screen house this year but I definitely won't put it off again. If I ever hope to grow an edible tomato again I've got to make a change. I hate bugs...
DH had a big problem couple nights ago. He was headed to the airport to pick up his boss when he hit a huge pothole. He had not one, but two blow-outs on his car. GRRRR! His boss had to take a taxi to the function they were both supposed to be at and we waited almost 2.5 hours for a wrecker. Worst part of the deal is that his brand new fancy-dancy car didn't even come with a spare tire! They give you a can of flat fix and a little pump - totally worthless! So, while his car is at the dealer waiting for the mucho expensive special order tires he's having a 'donut' kit installed in the car. It wouldn't have helped him in this instance since he blew TWO tires....but for future run of the mill flats he'll at least have a spare.
Monetary damage: $700 for the donut kit....$325 x 2 for new special order tires...and hopefully he doesn't need new wheels because they are $800 apiece. Guess I need to sell a few more goats!
That's about it - gotta get outside and get busy.
