Ranch Newsletter | November 2023

Originally sent to subscribers on November 6th, 2023

Farm Update: November

The change in weather and the decreasing sunlight has be a little discombobulated. We're a week into a new month and all the things I typically do at the first of the month have been completely forgotten. Thus, the late newsletter.

Actually, I can't entirely blame the weather and the sun. I took a week long staycation all last week and while I did do some work things that couldn't be ignored and kept up with caring for all the animals, I spent most of my week lost in a book. Five books actually.

Craig buys me books occasionally when he's on his business trips. I made it my goal to try and get through all the ones left in my pile. I'm still working on the last book.

Craig has been using every spare moment he can find to finish up the new shed, which hasn't been much as he had to travel for work almost every week in October. But we're very close to having everything tucked away for winter.

Last month was spent cleaning up gardens, picking up trash, rearranging tractor implements, moving the greenhouse, putting up the last of the fencing around the new goat areas, putting hoses away, blowing out sprinkler lines and all the other fun things that go into winterizing a farm.

I find I'm missing my routine. It changes, just like the seasons do, and I haven't quite found my footing for this new season.

In other news, we brought home two new family members this past weekend. Tango and Cash are four month old ginger tabby cats who will be indoor/outdoor cats and will hopefully help us with the mouse problem we're starting to have in our out buildings. Their picture is below. 

I'm working on a lot of things behind the scenes that I can't quite share about yet, but two of those things are going to make a big impact on next year's CSA and I'm excited about one in particular. As soon as I receive confirmation on these I can share them, but that might be another week or two, so keep an eye out on our social media page for updates.

I'm also working on some behind the scenes product stuff. Testing new ideas. This is in the early stages though, so I can't quite share my thoughts on it yet, but I'm excited about what might be coming in the new year.

In goat news... I had some trouble getting honey to let me milk her and it was getting worse as time went on, not better. So to save my back, and both our sanities, I decided to try a new method of milking which only has one rule. She eats her yummy grain and I milk. If she stops eating, I stop milking. She is also not restrained in anyway, so if she decides she's done being milked, she can walk away.

This has been working amazing well for us. Occasionally she tries to brush my hand off her teats with her back legs because she still wants to eat, but doesn't want to get milked, but blocking her from her food, with my hand, for a few seconds usually does the trick.

I'm getting a lot less milk, but we don't really use a lot of milk, so I'm okay with it.

Also, I've been trying to treat Reba's hormone issues with natural remedies and nutrition. It's been a little over a month and today she came into heat! It's been months and months since she last came into heat. It doesn't mean she's cured, but I'm encouraged. Next month I am planning on attempting to breed her. I am going to be using something called CIDR, which is hormones inserted into her for 21 days. After which, I'll give her a shot of synthetic progesterone which will help her release some eggs. The plan is to put her in with a buck the same day the CIDR and the shot are given. If it works, she'll go into heat within 24 hours.

I'm not a fan of using synthetic, or chemical. But this is an extreme case and even though she has gone into heat today, I can't be sure she'll go into heat again 28 days from now. So, this will be our attempt to completely reset her system and get her pregnant so she can stop being jealous of Honey.

In soap news: The new soaps are ready! My new line of soaps, which I've decided to call my Novel Line of Goat Milk Soaps is ready and live on the website. The new line is $7.00/bar. The scents I've had are now called my Signature Line and they are still $5.50/bar. The increase in price for the new line has everything to do with the essential oils I used and the fun additives, such as Himalayan pink salt, organic oats, and chamomile flowers. You can check them out here.

I am done with markets for the year, but am hoping to get into the Ogden Winter Farmer's Market this year. I didn't get selected to be a vendor last year, but I'm going to try again.

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