Back Valley Ridge Farm

These are the current residents. Used to be more but we either ate them, they died off, wandered off, were sold off, or were killed by local villains i.e. coyotes, dog packs, possums, raccoons, etc.

1. 6 Dexter Cattle

2. 3 cats (Momma Cat (a.k.a. Rapunzel) - good mouser when she's here, Tiger Lily - an aggressive hunter, & Mugwort.)

3. 1 Mustang Stallion (William Wallace)

4. 1 Donkey (Jack)

5. 4 Chickens

6. 5 Dogs ( Angel, the Chihuahua, and her 2 mixed breed pups: Two dogs that just wandered in, Crooked Tail and Jumper)

7. 1 Daughter (Kristine, she works at a local bank)

8. 2 grand daughters (Jasmine (3) and Lily (7))

9. Me, the Papa

10. 1 Miniature Horse (Almost forgot him. He's a stallion. He went to visit a neighbor's mares a couple months ago and won't come home.)

A few years ago when I first got the cattle, I fed them round bales of hay. The bales lasted about a week. After a while I became concerned about how much of the hay was wasted. Kiddo, the bull, liked to "fight" with the bales and push them around the paddock. Cattle aren't very neat eaters - the hay got pulled off the bale, stepped on, defecated on, and urinated on. In other words, unpalatable, wasted. (I didn't have a "ring" to put the bale in.) I figured about 30% of the hay was wasted. But my bank account was fatter then, hay was cheap, and giving them round bales was pretty much feed and forget so I kept giving them round bales.

However, as my bank account shrank and the price of hay and fuel increased I looked for alternatives. I decided to feed them the smaller and more easily handled(no tractor needed) square bales. Square bales are more labor intensive to use but there's much less waste.

To further lessen the waste, I currently feed them three times a day - noon, mid afternoon, and sunset. If I don't feed them 3 times, they complain. Especially Minimoo who seems to be the spokes bovine for the group.

The quantity of hay I feed them daily is constant. I can give them their whole ration at noon and they complain in the evening. I can split their ration in two and feed at noon and mid afternoon, and they complain in the evening. I can split their ration and feed at noon and sunset and they complain after dark. (If the feeding times aren't spaced out properly, they'll count 2 feeds as 1.)

The magic number for them is three. (Maybe the Universe is telling me something and I should use 3 as one of my lottery numbers.)

Meet my new dog, Jack. He's the grey one with long ears on right. Yeah, he looks like a donkey, has ears like a donkey, has feet like a donkey and brays like a donkey. In fact, for years I thought he was a donkey. It's only recently that I found out he's a dog. How did I make this discovery? Well:

Dogs eat dog food.
Jack eats dog food.
Therefore, Jack is a dog.

When I feed the livestock in the evening, I give out the hay first then I feed the dogs - mine and the strays that hang out here. Well, Jack ignores the hay and comes to where the dogs are eating, chases them off the food and eats it. That is unless I stay right there to prevent him.

I really need to mend Jack's fence.

I mentioned before that our miniature stallion had gone to visit the neighbor's mares and wouldn't come home. Last Saturday was a beautiful spring-like day here in NW Georgia, so Kris, Lily, and I brought him back here. (Jasmine was visiting her father in Calhoun.) Kris and Lily got a rope around Little William and I walked him home. It was a lot easier than our previous attempts - none of the usual rearing, struggling and noise. He's gotten fatter, must have been the free choice round bale hay. When we first got him several years ago his name was "Butter bean". We renamed him "Little William" because he looks like a smaller version of out large mustang stallion, "William Wallace". Now he looks like he should be named "Butter Ball".

The picture is of Lily and Jasmine riding him.

In the picture you probably notice the round pen panels are upside down. He'd been escaping under the panels. He still escaped. Currently I have the inverted panels tied to Tee posts.

Booger was killed by a pack of wild dogs (or coyotes) about three thirty this morning in the SE pasture. I heard it but couldn't see it (dark night, no moon, no flashlight) or help him.

By the time I got to him with a light and a gun, the fight was over. He was lying on the ground panting heavily. No signs of injury except a small cut on his ear. I thought (hoped) he was just worn out from the activity. I brought him some water and covered him with a blanket.

Checked him again a few hours later. He was dead. Internal injuries?

We'll all miss him.

I like wine. Just about any kind of wine. I'm by no stretch of the imagination a "connoisseur". I just like the taste and the mellow, relaxed feeling I get from drinking a glass of wine. There have been several periods of time in my life where I'd enjoy one or two glasses a night. (For medicinal purposes, you understand.) Haven't been able to do that for a few years because the price of even a bottle of cheap wine was prohibitive.

I like wine but cannot justify spending the money for a bottle. What do I do?

Make my own, of course! Homemade wine. I made my first homemade wine many years ago and wasn't very good at it. Luckily, I've found a great wine making ebook/course that explains exactly how to make delicious homemade wine.

I'm getting the materials and equipment together now looking forward to my first batch.

A couple years ago I had some timber cut so I could pay the property tax and insurance. Of course, lots of vegetation grew in to the open areas. I characterized the vegetation as "weeds".

I've had a casual interest in Herbs for many years but whenever I tried to learn more about them, I quickly got overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information. Fortunately I was recently introduce to John and Kimberly Gallagher (and many other herbalists through them). I download the free educational materials,bought their Herbal Medicine Making Kit, and joined their membership site. I've learned more about herbs in the past few months than I did in all those previous years.

I've learned that those open areas aren't full of useless weeds. Many of those weeds are actually useful herbs. Herbs waiting to be harvested and used in teas, tinctures, or oils.