So here we are again with autumn here and winter coming on. It has been full on at Stone Tree Farm. We have had visitors from all over the world. And while that has been great, the weather has not cooperated. The first guest came when it was still summery (and by the way, guest, many, many thanks for the Lego set. The kids have been entranced ever since.)
What do you do with people who can't drive here (wrong side of the road), it's bucketing, and Alessia has a massive ear infection and sore throat? Oh, and did I mention that the kids are off school?
Yup, it has been a trip. Now my dearest friends are leaving and I am struggling with some serious sadness. But the farm always has a way of dealing with sadness. It's called "work". The chickens are moulting, the borrowed ram is being returned (hopefully having impregnated 30 some ewes), the ewe lambs need to be re-introduced to the larger flock, and the boys aka our 2 steers are headed for the freezer.
Taking the last first, 2 steers is a ton (almost literally) of meat. Where to put it all? We have both a house freezer and a chest freezer at the farm. And a normal refrigerator/freezer at the apartment. Not enough. Not nearly enough. So we are renting a freezer from a neighbor.
All this is because we don't want the steers chewing up the paddocks through the sodden winter. They are hefty and leave great gashes in the soil as they walk. We could take off just one but they are social animals and it would be cruel to leave one all on his own.
The sheep are happy in the new barn paddock but the steers just left it and there probably isn't enough grass for the large flock once the ewe lambs join them. This is the conundrum of autumn. There is much less grass and it grows slowly. How are we able to balance feeding our animals with preserving the integrity of the paddock? We have never found the ideal solution so each year we have tried something else. This year we will try taking off the steers and just wintering over the sheep.
I'll let you know how it turns out.
