Regina and I were talking the other day about how quiet things are on the old homestead right now. The cow is dry and just needs to be fed everyday. The pig is growing like pigs do, and requires very little attention. The laying hens have still yet to start laying and just peck around the yard all day. The meat chickens and ducks are hanging out in their brooder, growing like their supposed to. The garden is relatively bare because the spring planting harvest is over.
It's kind of like the calm before the storm. We've got a busy couple of months coming up around here, and it all seems to culminate in the month of September.
At the end of September the cow will calf and not only will we have a calf to take care of, but we'll have to start up twice-a-day milkings once again. That will last for about 6 weeks until the calf is bigger and drinking a lot of milk. Then we'll switch to once-a-day milkings. Having a cow in milk means tons of milk on hand...more than we could drink, so cheesemaking and butter making also get added to the list, along with yogurt, cottage cheese, sour cream, and all the other wonderful things you can do with fresh raw milk.
The end of September is also when the chickens should be in full egg production. That means at least 17 eggs per day that must be collected. The ones we don't eat (and 4 kids can put away a lot of eggs) go into quiches, cakes, and all manner of other things.
Around the same time, the pig will reach her slaughter weight. Besides building a crate to haul her to the butchers in, that doesn't mean a whole lot of work for us, but its one more thing to worry about.
The meat chickens will also be ready to process in late September. We're going to process them ourselves, which can be time consuming. We've done it on a small scale before (1 at a time) but we'll have around 18 to process this time. An experienced team of 2 could probably do 3-4 chickens per hour, so I'm expecting about 1-2 per hour for us. Luckily my mom has offered to come watch the kids while we have our big processing day.
Lastly, our fall garden will be in full swing around that time too. There will be constant watering, weeding, fertilizing, and harvesting going on.
Like I said, the storm is brewing in the distance, but its as exciting as it is frightening. It's what homesteading is all about, and we wouldn't have it any other way.
5 comments:
Wow! Ya'll will be busy! Luckily, you have a wonderful wife who can help you with most of those things. Have a good day!
I was thinking about you and Reg and was wondering when y'alls vision began for your Homestead? Is it something y'all have wanted from the beginning or has it evolved? Just curious. I'm sure you're looking forward to the day when those sweet kiddos are old enough to help with the responsibilities/chores of the homestead!
We never really talked about getting a place out in the country until we got married, but I always figured it would be after I retired from the Air Force. Since I'm getting out before I retire, we've been able to realize that dream earlier, and the rest sort of evolved from there. We've both always loved animals, farming, and the outdoors though.
Don't start without me. I'll be home from Tucson October 1. I can come anytime after that. Just let me know. Mom
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