Chicama Run Farm Blog

Ok, so we ended up getting 2 llamas to replace the one we lost.  They are adorable if I do say so myself

Devlin is a dark brown llama – very friendly actually which is quite different than what we have been used to.

Rudolph is a little hyper.  But he’s pretty cool looking.

So these guys have a new job of guarding sheep.  They are quite curious of everything is that going on around them and I wish I was able to take a picture yesterday when they were both resting on the ground and all the ewes (female sheep) were grouped around them.

Tomato season is coming to an end (at least for us).  It’s amazing but we have canned a TON of tomatoes!  Alexis made salsa the other day and went through I would say 100 pounds on tomatoes herself.  32 pints and 4 hours later she was done for the day, but ready to go again the next day.  I went though probably 25 pounds of tomatoes and 4 quarts of tomato soup and 7 quarts of spaghetti sauce later I was done.  And no – I wasn’t ready for day 2.  I took a break and started back up today with sauce on the stove.  I’ll start canning it soon and get another batch going to put in containers for the market on Saturday.  It’s a lot of fun to can and though I am sick of tomatoes, I know during the winter it will be worth it.  I counted the other day and I have about 52 quarts of spaghetti sauce in the basement!!!!  So we can now have spaghetti 1x per week for a year without having to buy anything from the store but the noodles

Good thing we like salsa too – I didn’t count but I KNOW we have well over 50 pints downstairs.  I even made pickled peppers which I personally don’t like but hey – we have the peppers!

Pumpkins are in - personally I can’t believe it.  But it’s true!  This weekend I will actually be bringing some to the market!!  We have some of those jumbo huge ones still growing and then baby style ones, pumpkin pie ones, and much more…. Joe planted an unbelievable number of pumpkin seeds and I think when you start walking through the garden you see them all – otherwise they are hidden underneath the leaves.

Animals have started to leave the farm (I know most people think I horde animals – but I don’t really!)  2 hogs went to the butcher this week, steers leave November 1st, the other 3 hogs leave September 10th, broiler chickens will leave in a couple of weeks, and then the lambs will start to leave soon also after they gain some more weight.

I never knew this – but with grass-fed you are expecting the grass to be the main source of protein for the animal – this year with the drought, the grass is not providing enough protein for the animals to grow!  They are only getting a maximum of 6% whereas they need at least 15% to grow.  We just added a protein/mineral block for the lambs hoping to kick them into growing some more.  Hopefully it will help speed up their growth a little bit.

Gotta go…..

Plain and simple – don’t become an animal farmer unless you are ready to face death.

This morning I went out to feed everyone and saw one of our guard llamas down.  At first I didn’t pay attention – they like to lay in the sun sometimes and it’s normal.  But when he didn’t get up when I put feed in for the ewes (female sheep) and rams, I knew something wasn’t quite right.  I checked and he just wasn’t breathing well.  I went back to the house, got a longer hose (thinking heat since it was already 90 degrees at 8am) and some gatorade in case I needed it.  Cooling him off didn’t help, it turned out it was just his time.  Joe and I stayed with him until it was over and honestly – I went back to the house and cried.

Camelot was born in 1989 so he wasn’t quite 20 years old – and llamas will usually live until 20-22.  He was pretty easy to get along with – this past year he let me hang out beside him for awhile if I was checking on him.  Very easy going – and for a llama that’s big.  They aren’t the type of animals that you cuddle with.  On our farm, we gave him a purpose besides being a lawn ornament.  His job was to protect the sheep and new born lambs.  Camelot did a wonderful job, I think he needed something to actually ‘do’ and a purpose.  He was a natural and would check out the lambs once they started walking around to see who was new and supposed to be around.

The people who we bought this farm from ran a llama farm – with over 40 llamas.  Camelot was their 1st and they were the first people I emailed this morning to let him know that he died.  I enjoyed having him here for the past 2 years and I wish he would be around longer.

Yes, we raise animals for meat.  I know where they go when we load them in the trailer.  But some of our animals are different – they aren’t for meat and it just gets to me when they die.  This past year we had more than enough deaths on this farm with all the ewes giving birth when it was -9 degrees outside (apparently going into the barn under the heat lamps was not an option in their opinion – but the open field was).  It’s not fun when it happens and it’s heart breaking.

So farming is not just failed crops as most people see – it is the death of animals as well and it can be devastating if you aren’t prepared…. and even if you are.

Whew – we are back from the 4-H Fair!!  It’s officially over and I have to say it was a blast.  Jacob showed well – but the animals didn’t do as well as we would have liked.  It’s ok – it’s all a learning experience.

Jacob showed 4 lambs, 2 market hogs, and 1 dozen blue eggs.  Everything sold either at auction or at private sale.  It’s great since the money goes towards his college fund.  The eggs sold at auction for $250!!!  See that all you farmer’s market people?  You are getting a deal at $3/dozen!!  The lamb sold for $5.00 per pound (97 lbs) and the hog sold for $3.25 per pound (270 lbs).

 As a family event, it’s great – though we are all exhausted to say the least.  We made some great new friends who live right around the corner from us and they have kids our kids age!  Today we picked up the animals that came back to the farm – 2 of the lambs, 1 new young ram, 1 new ewe and 3 new piglets.  Set everyone up, fed everyone, ran to the grocery store and now we have to go pick.

Well about a week later since I started writing this thing – I’ve canned and done a lot more!  Amazing thing is that I’ve just gotten started.  Joe is out picking more tomatoes.  On top of everything we started ’school’ since we are homeschooling this year.  Apparently in my mind I didn’t have enough to do….

Canning has already been fun… busy but fun.  I’m big on making spaghetti sauce and love seeing my shelf stocked back up with jars of sauce.  I know I’ll probably get bored with it soon – but I’ll appreciate it more over the winter when we can’t just go out to the garden and pick tomatoes and have fresh spaghetti sauce with dinner.

Homeschool is an interesting thing.  We have been doing about 4 subjects a day and getting ready to add Latin in.  No I’m not supermom…. actually I get a lot more frustrated because I’m not used to being mom and teacher.  I’m learning though I think as much as the kids sometimes.  Can you remember what the 4 parts of a cell are?  I know now since my son had a quiz on it this morning.  I think I want to stick with 2nd grade stuff which is what Alexis is doing – I can do that!  Actually it’s pretty fun, I like hanging out with the kids going over stuff and learning as they learn.  But of course I’m a book learner and so I have fun reading everything.  It takes a little away from what I need to do at the farm – but fingers crossed it will be worth it.

Back to the farm…… chickens aren’t laying as much as I want only 5 dozen a day.  It stinks – plain and simple.  I have the demand for 70+ dozen eggs per week and I’m getting 30 or so.  Yeah tempermental creatures.  Dang heat – blah blah blah…..

 Back to canning…..