See that bright green mass of grass just above the rope decorated with plastic bags from the grocery store? That is where all of the snow and subsequent 5 inches of rain went....and is still laying there. This situation has caused us undue problems. Today's temporary fix is the rope/bag combo which allows the alpacas to get out a bit without getting into the slop.
The main problem has been with Chief (center above). He developed a pretty bad infection in his feet from the dampness. This required an antibiotic and keeping his feet as dry as humanly possible for the foreseeable future. Not an easy task. We tried keeping him inside with just the other babies, but they weren't having it. So then we had to keep everyone inside. When we left them out, they immediately headed for the green grass growing where the water was laying. Just an awful situation that has been going on since the big melt and subsequent rains. But hopefully this temporary rigging will keep everyone healthy till it dries up.
We took the three babies to the Virginia Classic in Lexington, VA, in the beginning of March. It was a great show with Chief taking a 4th in his class, Jewel taking a blue and Reserve Champion in her class, and Izzy taking a 4th as well.
Around the farm...well, we purchased a Kubota BX25 this week, with a front end loader, 60" mower and backhoe. It will make life easier moving stuff around, digging out some stumps, mowing the back 40...er, 4. Cleaned the barn to make room for it yesterday and we're expecting delivery sometime this week. First job for it will be moving soil to fill these...
The new raised beds for the kitchen garden. I am really looking forward to having things growing again. Last year, we did tomatoes, swiss chard, lettuce, butternut squash (which makes the most amazing soup), peppers, eight ball zuchini, sunflowers, and a very tough variety of corn. So with the new seed catalogs come fresh hope. Soil is being ordered this week and son is getting picked up from college on Friday so he can help get these boxes filled.
Managed to salvage some pots from last year with some very tired soil that will benefit greatly from a boost of new dirt. The spring brings good things after such a tough winter.
See that bright green mass of grass just above the rope decorated with plastic bags from the grocery store? That is where all of the snow and subsequent 5 inches of rain went....and is still laying there. This situation has caused us undue problems. Today's temporary fix is the rope/bag combo which allows the alpacas to get out a bit without getting into the slop.
The main problem has been with Chief (center above). He developed a pretty bad infection in his feet from the dampness. This required an antibiotic and keeping his feet as dry as humanly possible for the foreseeable future. Not an easy task. We tried keeping him inside with just the other babies, but they weren't having it. So then we had to keep everyone inside. When we left them out, they immediately headed for the green grass growing where the water was laying. Just an awful situation that has been going on since the big melt and subsequent rains. But hopefully this temporary rigging will keep everyone healthy till it dries up.
We took the three babies to the Virginia Classic in Lexington, VA, in the beginning of March. It was a great show with Chief taking a 4th in his class, Jewel taking a blue and Reserve Champion in her class, and Izzy taking a 4th as well.
Around the farm...well, we purchased a Kubota BX25 this week, with a front end loader, 60" mower and backhoe. It will make life easier moving stuff around, digging out some stumps, mowing the back 40...er, 4. Cleaned the barn to make room for it yesterday and we're expecting delivery sometime this week. First job for it will be moving soil to fill these...
The new raised beds for the kitchen garden. I am really looking forward to having things growing again. Last year, we did tomatoes, swiss chard, lettuce, butternut squash (which makes the most amazing soup), peppers, eight ball zuchini, sunflowers, and a very tough variety of corn. So with the new seed catalogs come fresh hope. Soil is being ordered this week and son is getting picked up from college on Friday so he can help get these boxes filled.
Managed to salvage some pots from last year with some very tired soil that will benefit greatly from a boost of new dirt. The spring brings good things after such a tough winter.
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