It's late December, and for the first time in a long time, the pastures are still green this late in the year. We have had some very decent rain, and the dam rose considerably. We have also been mowing some areas much more frequently. We can't really get to it all, but the areas mowed are all still green, while the majority of the land turns brown as the very tall spring annual grasses die off. We've also finished the sheep watering / solar energiser / fence supplies cart.
With the cart finished, we didn't have many more excuses to not get sheep. A breeder not far from us had some Harlequin mini meat sheep available, and we went to talk to her and see the sheep. After a couple of weeks deliberation, we decided to take the leap and give them a try. We've had the flock of five for a month now, and we have been learning how to fence a little better every day. They have learned all about electric fencing now, and so have we!
Marty and I welded the panels together after our awesome neighbour showed Marty what his look like and sold us the metal for us to weld some too. They worked to keep the sheep contained while learning about electric fencing. These young sheep were smart and learned all their lessons by day 2, so on day 3 we opened up a small area just outside the pen using 3 strands of electric fencing on the outside and 2 lines for the inner fences. When it was clear the smart sheep wouldn't attempt to cross 2 wires, we used 2 on the outside fence. Now we've moved down to the back fence, we're trialing a single line with the physical fence on the other side, and 2 wires everywhere else. So far, no sheep seems interested in escaping, they seem quite happy moving into a new area every day or more often than that if the spot is lacking in green feed.
The watering cart has been working out just fine, although it is possible to make the whole thing live and get a mighty zap. Like I said, we're learning all about electric fencing too. The sheep are getting quite comfortable with the grazing system and with us as well. We bring them edible weeds, poplar and grape leaves, wormwood branches and things from the garden. They run to us and rummage through the offerings. We also open up new areas, so in their eyes, us humans are good news. They've grown in just a month, their bellies are full and they've got energy to run and jump. They're about 6 months old.
Recently it became much more of an encumbrance to, well.. shop. We have been pairing down what we need to get from the outside world, aside from food. I am lucky to have come across the JADAM method of making liquid fertilisers. It's easily comparable to commercial fertilisers, only not as concentrated. I use it more generously too, because it costs so little to start and nothing to make, and the plants are noticeably happier as a result.
The Sebago potatoes we planted in the shadehouse back in August are mostly harvested now, and I packed the biggest potatoes in straw in a couple of milk crates. We don't have a cellar, but our kitchen does stay fairly cool thanks to the thick mudbrick walls and high ceiling. If they sprout, we'll have to re-plant them, because they do taste nice, and they are dense and firm. We have plenty of garlic and herbs, so my next plant challenge is carrots. We started eating raw carrots and drinking orange juice after listening to and reading the great Dr Ray Peat talk about their benefits. Otherwise we've been ordering our lamb directly from the butcher, saving by buying a whole carcass, and getting quite practiced in cutting up a whole lamb ourselves. We save even more by having beef or lamb heart in our stew and boiled beef kidney occasionally as well.
So we continue in our quest, at a snails pace it feels like, but even small steps are still progress, and we won't fail if we don't give up.
