News
Hungry Heifers
Dairy heifers aren’t like beef animals. They are insanely curious. And cliquey, like a group of high school girls. At any moment a group of two or three may decide that this crowd just isn’t for them and split off to take selfies in the bathroom or lord knows what. This makes them different to move and to work. Indeed, they were waiting for us, watching our approach and batting their eyelashes.
Read MoreThe Ram Effect
Breeding season is almost here! This year we’re experimenting with ram effect. By putting the rams adjacent to the ewes (with a strong fence between them!) 7-10 days prior to turning them in together, the ewes should be stimulated to ovulate and their estrus cycles should be relatively synced up. This will help to maximize conception rates and shorten the lambing burst to a narrower time span.
Read MorePalm Springs to Fresh Pasture
For the past week they’ve been grazing in “Palm Springs” (pasture, that is). There’s tons of good forage left: rye, kale, vetch and clover as well as all their favorite volunteer plants including mustard, prickly lettuce, and purslane. However, after months of waiting the CrustBuster no-till drill has arrived. That means it was time to move the sheep to new pastures so they can clean up the residual and volunteer grasses and forbs to prepare the ground for “crust busting” and seeding a warm season mix of millet, black eyed peas, cowpeas and sunflowers.
Read MoreChicks Dig Green Grass
We dream of a Green Christmas each winter with the rainy season as that’s our chance to grow green grass and forage. Our hens get frisky with fresh greens afoot and their egg yolks get a golden glow. Carlie cared for the chickens over the holidays and gathered the eggs from their mobile hen house. By moving the hen house daily, the chickens get access to a new pasture of fresh green grass. And chicks dig it!
Read MorePasture Cropping: setting the scene for diversity
Herd It Through the Grapevine
Jess and Owen, our guard dog pup herd sheep the low stress way through our future vineyard site. We are mimicking nature using animal herds to create healthy soil as a foundation for great wine to come. Ewe herd it here.
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