Busy summer!

The summer is well upon us at Foxhide Farm. It has been remarkably cool during July and I have to say that I am ok with that. We have been extremely busy with running the farm and both working full-time jobs off the farm as well.

Will give you an update on some of the happenings. All of the does have kidded and the resulting kids are all weaned and growing well. There are a few of the doe kids that appear to be pretty nice. It is always a good feeling to make breeding decisions, wait the five months for them to be born, watch them grow and hopefully result in a kid that you pictured when you selected the sire. We are working very hard to cull the herd and reduce numbers. So, right now, there are only 9 doe kids that are still on the farm from the 2009 crop of kids. I know this is the right decision, but it is still difficult at times. We've also been culling through the dry yearlings as well. We have gone from 16 down to 9. Still have 3 or 4 more of them that need to be sold.

We purchased some additional acreage last fall and we baled the hay off of it this summer. We have about 700 bales of hay in the barn now. This will be a huge benefit this winter. We have always had to purchase all of our hay in the past. Looking forward to the savings.

The square foot garden has been a tremendous learning experience this year. We will have a much better understanding of what to grow next year. We have learned that summer squash and tomatoes do VERY well in this environment and maybe sweet corn and bell peppers prefer to thrive elsewhere. We will soon be making the final harvest of warm season vegetables and making a planting of the cold crops. Might try some broccoli and cauliflower this fall in addition to spinach, turnips, lettuces, etc.

The chicks are doing well. They have left the brooder and are now growing well outside. We have 15 pullets and can't wait for the first Foxhide Farm eggs. Will be a monumental day!

The dairy is going well. We have experienced some changes here as well. We are no longer marketing our milk to the cheese manufacturer. Instead, we are working to finalize an agreement with another local farm. More details to follow.

We recently hosted an open house at the farm. We felt it was very successful. Many of our friends had been requesting to come see the farm and so we decided it was time. We had great weather to showcase the farm. The attendees got to see the square foot garden and "pumpkin patch", play with the kids, visit with the chickens, socialize with the Jersey cows, love on the horses, and milk goats. We also had goat's milk ice cream and milk for our guests to enjoy. We received a lot of positive feedback and certainly feel this won't be our last open house.

As you can see, it has been a busy time on the farm and no let up in sight. Gotta Love Farm Life!

Spring has finally sprung!

Sorry for the delay in posting. But, it has been a really busy spring at Foxhide Farm. The kidding has mostly subsided. To date, 22 does have kidded with 3 stragglers left to kid in the next couple of weeks. It has been a buck year for sure. With 22 does kidding, resulting in 47 kids, there were only 14 does. It was a little frustrating with some of the AI breedings, I was hoping for more does. But, there is no shortage of does on the farm. We still have 15 dry yearlings from last year. So, the future is ok.

In addition to the kidding, milking, bottle feeding, barn cleaning, trips to the feed mill, hay hauling, disbudding, deworming, vaccinating, AND working a full time job off the farm that is a one-hour drive from the house, we actually managed to add another project.........square food gardening. We put out 3 4' X 4' boxes giving us 48 square feet of gardening space. The pictures show the progress of these beds. As the growing season continues, I will post more pictures so you can see the "produce progress".

We bred the two Jersey heifers AI with sexed semen in hopes of getting them pregnant (with heifers). They were bred 2 weeks ago, so next week we will check to see if they are recycling. Wish us luck.

Also, I am a licensed judge with the American Dairy Goat Association and the show season is under way. I judged this past weekend in Little Rock, AR and will be in Portage, WI in 2 weeks. Then June, is very busy. I will be judging in Indiana, North Carolina, and Vermont. I have judged dairy goats in 17 states and will add 2 more this year. I really enjoy seeing goats from all over the country.

We have placed our order for chicks. They should be in the incubator as I type this. They should hatch on May 18th. We have ordered Barred Rocks, Buff Orpingtons, Speckled Sussex, and White Rocks. Can't wait for them to arrive. I haven't had chickens since I was in high school and look forward to raising these little girls. If the plan comes together, within the next year, we will have our own supply of milk and eggs as well as some produce. I don't know that we can achieve total self sufficiency, but I figure every bite helps.

Hope things are going well on your farms and don't forget to check out the farm website http://www.foxhidefarm.com/.

You've got to be kidding, because we are!

The does have starting kidding with a vengeance. Currently we've had 29 kids born. Of those, only 8 are does! This is unfortunate, but I am trying to keep a positive outlook. With a smaller number of doe kids, they can be given more personal attention and will hopefully thrive as a result. Also, among the large number of bucks are two that are sired by Tempo Aquila Freelance. So, they will both be left uncastrated for now and allowed to grow and develop. One of them just might be the new jr. herdsire here at Foxhide Farm. I will post pics of these 2 boys soon.

This past weekend was one of hard work and determination at Foxhide Farm. We cleaned out the dairy barn. We hauled manure all weekend and the barn is back in great shape. We also cleaned out one of the "horse" stalls in the old barn. This stall will be utilized as a chicken coop for the new hens that are coming this spring. I want to thank everyone that helped us with this major undertaking. I couldn't have done it without the help of my Uncle Mike and cousin Joe. They provided the equipment (tractor, bobcat, and manure spreader). Goose, Gator, and a couple of Eastside FFA students who helped prepare the chicken coop. It was great to have them on the farm. I think we've got to visit with Goose and Gator every weekend for the past 6 weeks. We always have fun when we're together.

The milking continues and there are still around 10 does left to kid. Surely there will be a doe kid or two in that mix.

Hope things are going well on everyone else's farm.

Todd

Spring isn't springing fast enough!

This has been a crazy winter. It seems to have lasted 10 months already. With the forecast for warmer temperatures in the coming days, I am ecstatic. I can't wait to put this cold, dreary winter behind me. I'm sure I'm not alone.

With the promise of spring comes many other things. The first kids of the year have arrived at Foxhide Farm. The oldest kids are now about a week old. There have been 11 kids born with 4 of those being does. Typically, I would be disappointed with the low number of doe kids, but with there being 15 dry yearling does from last year, I am pretty sure the future of the herd is solid. Plus, there are still close to 20 does left to kid. I'm sure there will be plenty of does.

In those 7 buck kids, there is one high spot. My first AI kid of the year is a buck, sired by Tempo Aquila Freelance. Freelance is doing some AWESOME things for the Redwood Hill herd in Sebastopol, California (http://www.redwoodhill.com/). This kid is out of Foxhide's Sneak Preview, a 4 year old doe that show a lot of promise. She isn't the largest doe in the herd, but is very correct. Hopefully, with the size coming from his sire, this kid has some potential and will be evaluated as a prospective herd sire. If he makes the cut, he will be the first buck retained in the herd.

Some of you know that I am currently struggling with some things related to agriculture. I just finished reading The Omnivore's Dilemma and am currently reading The Righteous Porkchop. Both of these books delve into our current food supply and American agriculture. I find myself questioning much of what I have been taught my whole life about agriculture and food. I am at a point in my life where I have to strive to educate myself further than my college courses, my family history, and everything I've been exposed to thus far in my life and make up my own mind. I must develop my own beliefs about agriculture and arm myself with the information to defend my standing. I do not know where this road will take me, but I am hopeful that I can document the journey on this blog.

As a first step in this journey, Kendal and I are planning to attempt to raise a portion of our own food this spring. We will be attempting to construct and develop a square foot garden. (http://www.squarefootgardening.com/). The concept revolves around the fact that our traditional method of gardening with putting 3' rows between plants served our interest when we were plowing the garden with tractors or horses. However, in today's agricultural world, this is just an additional area where weeds can quickly take over. So, the square foot method condenses the area that each plant occupies and thereby reducing the space available for weed infestation. I will plan to include pictures of this process as it unfolds. I am very optimistic and hope that by late this summer, we'll be dining on the fruits (and vegetables) of our labor.

On the livestock end, at this time we plan to purchase a small flock of laying hens. I think they will be a welcome addition to Foxhide Farm. I had many great experiences as a kid one of those was gathering eggs. One of my earliest memories was of my sister Heather and I gathering eggs and deciding it would be a good idea to throw them and bust them against the wall. Great fun! I'm confident we got into trouble and were probably spanked, but the memory of us laughing lasted longer than the one of the spanking.

With the addition of 11 more acres to the farmstead, we will be in the market for a tractor to help keep the pastures mowed and the manure spread. So, if anyone has a good used dependable tractor for sale, let us know. We have toyed with the idea of using horsepower to mow and such, but not sure if it is a good fit right now. Not sure we could devote the time and energy to another livestock enterprise. At this point, I am putting my draft horse dream on hold. Notice, "on hold" not "giving up on". I still one day want a team of draft horses that I can do farm work with and drive a wagon hitched to them. After all, if you know my family, draft horses are part of the legacy.

That's about all that's going on right now (plenty to keep us busy). Will update you soon.

First Entry

February 16, 2009

This is my first blog entry. Not sure how I'm going to like this, but I will certainly give it a whirl.

I currently own a small licensed goat dairy in central Kentucky (www.foxhidefarm.com). I share the farming responsibilities with my best friend Kendal Butler. We share most of the farm chores.

The herd consists mostly of American Alpine goats with a handful of Toggenburgs thrown in as well as a few recorded grades. The milk is shipped to Susan Miller's farm in Winchester, Kentucky (www.bleugrasschevre.com) where it is turned into delicious chevre, soft spreadable cheese. Susan currently markets her cheese at the Lexington Farmers' Market as well as select restaurants in Lexington.

I will try to post from time to time as events happen on the farm and will attept to post some photos as well.

The first kids of the season were due yesterday. I don't expect them to arrive for another day or two though. It would have been nice for them to be born during the warm weather the last few days, but I would expect they will come during a very cold spell.

Until next time,
Todd