Much has happened on Point 6 Acre between January and July. Projects were completed around the property, not the least of which was the exterior of the house got painted – yay!
I love it. The house looks fresh and accents the gardens. In the photo on the right, Paul’s Himalayan Musk heritage rose puts on a show.
This is a bizarre growing year. Spring alternated wet and cold, hot and dry, with no indication of when it would do what. Consequently, the plants and trees had no idea what season they were in. The plum and peach trees were full of blossoms, but it was too chilly for the pollinators. Red currant bushes were pollinated, gooseberries – not so much. Beets and onions were a bust. Peppers and basil are in the poly tunnel and seem unperturbed. Bush and pole beans are up and growing. We’ll see how they do. No guarantees. New to me, are chick peas and soy beans. At this point, they seem to be doing well. Seen foreground in the photo below (raised bed), the chick peas have a lovely feathery foliage. I’m curious to see how they turn out.
Iris (doe) and Alex (wether) moved in in April. I am besotted. They are the La Mancha breed known for their even temperament, steady production of fairly high fat milk, and tiny ears. This rich milk is what I’m after for both luxuriant soaps and cheese production.
In May the broilers arrived. British Columbia suffered extreme flooding in the Lower Mainland which had an impact on the availability of broilers. As Cornish Cross were unavailable, I opted for a heritage variety, known in some areas as Freedom Rangers or Meat Ballers. I find them to be a personable bird that behaves like a chicken, rather than eats non-stop like the CC. There also isn’t the same time crunch to process them, which is a relief.
In this video they are offered supervised free-range time. There are cases of Avian Flu in British Columbia which means all my birds: layers, ducks, and broilers, are in lock-down. The chickens and ducks have their runs, the broilers have the BABmobile and BABmobinette, but I take a small chance and let them free-range whenever I can.
I’ve attended two Sunday markets this season. All the other Sunday’s it rained.
The irony of having a goat milk soap business is it can’t get wet until you want it to get wet.
Busy time of year. I’m glad to have Iris and Alex on blackberry control. I look forward to showing Iris at the West National Goat Show in August.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this snippet of a catch-up.
Warmly,
Brin
Thank you! These goats are delightful!
Just lovely. All of it! I adore your goat’s tiny ears.