I have sat down several times to update everyone about what we have been up to this past fall but wasn’t ever able to get this post finished. Well, here we are in the middle of January and I finally have an update for you! This update will be told in photos because that’s the only way I can remember what we have all done!
I plan to do more regular updates this year to help everyone follow along with what we do. This will also allow us to better share our story with you.
*Lotion will be restocked on Friday! There will also be new lotion scents and lip balm added soon!
We are so grateful to all of our customers who supported us this past holiday season and we look forward to serving you in 2021!
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The pond in September. It has been dry this fall and the pond was already getting low. It is a couple of feet lower now.
We’ve had two litters of piglets this fall.
It was warm enough in September and October that Colton had to keep the pigs mud hole filled with water. They love to lay in it when it’s hot outside.
The sheep & goats do an excellent job of cleaning up poison ivy and other unwanted plants under the trees along our dam.
The goats always prefer to eat the weeds, trees, or poison ivy before the grass.
It doesn’t seem to matter if its human or animal mama’s – they just can’t eat or drink in peace!
Some of the fungus we found in an old tree stump during one of our nature studies.
I dried some marigolds and pokeberries for dying yarn later. If anyone has recommendations on books to read about naturally dying wool please share them with me! The only book I have right now is Harvesting Color: How to Find Plants and Make Natural Dyes
We also made a marigold garland. It was pretty above the kitchen sink.
Goat Milk Lotion was added to the store in November! It will be restocked on Friday (1/15/21).
Hailey ran at State Cross Country. Hailey and Cody both had a great season in high school cross country. In addition to helping with the farm and being a full-time independent insurance agent, Lance is the head cross country coach for our local high school. He is also an assistant track coach in the spring. Yes – we are busy!
We started bale grazing November 1st. I will be sharing a post about bale grazing and what we are learning about regenerative agriculture in a later post.
Lane does an excellent job of caring for his chickens and ducks.
This girl is so sweet. She always wants a chin scratch. Finnsheep were definitely the right choice for our family.
I can’t wait to shear the sheep this coming spring and see what we can have done with all of the fiber! I’m hoping to have combed top as well as yarn made this year.
I will never tire of watch a Kansas Sunset. The top of our hill is the perfect spot to watch it.
Due to a freak accident, we had to buy a new Finnsheep ram. Lance and I traveled to Iowa to purchase one the day after Thanksgiving. He is gorgeous, both in confirmation and fleece. It will be fun to see what kind of lambs we get in the spring.
Isn’t he lovely?!?
The second litter of piglets – they are now weaned and available for purchase as feeder pigs. Just contact us if you are interested in purchasing one!
Lane’s chickens and ducks have started laying eggs. I have yet to capture a good photo of the blueish/green eggs.
I made Hailey pose for a picture after we finished putting straw out in the barns in November.
The Chicken Palace received a new sign and barn light! When it warms up the doors will also be painted.
We were blessed to be able to attend a couple of different vendor days locally. Our new lip balm will be added to the store within the next couple of weeks.
Very grateful that Lance can usually take my ideas and make it a reality when it comes to building things. I showed him a picture of a display shelf and tried to explain how I wanted to change it a little. Somehow he was able to figure out what I wanted and made these great little shelves!
At least one Saturday a month (more if cold weather is on the way) is spent replenishing straw in all of the barns. Even Kinzie helps put new straw out.
The rams were pulled out of the ewe flocks this past weekend. They didn’t want to get along at first (hormones….) so they got to spend a couple of days in a very tiny space. This allows them time to get acquainted but without the fighting. If we didn’t put them in this small pen, they would have just spent hours or days backing up to get a running start and head butting each other. We use the small pen to keep them from hurting each other.
I’ve also been crocheting in the evenings! This is a wool/acrylic blend yarn (Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick and Quick Yarn(3-Pack) Hudson Bay 640-610).
We hope you all have a wonderful and blessed 2021! Thank you for being a part of 14 Hands Ranch.
~Jada
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