{"id":1748,"date":"2020-01-03T15:38:13","date_gmt":"2020-01-03T15:38:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/maebefarm.com\/?p=1748"},"modified":"2020-01-03T16:43:39","modified_gmt":"2020-01-03T16:43:39","slug":"january-happenings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maebefarm.com\/index.php\/2020\/01\/03\/january-happenings\/","title":{"rendered":"January Happenings"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Janurary<\/a>Download<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Download the PDF format by clicking the button above or read it below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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May Be Farm Happenings<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

January 2020<\/strong>
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Happenings on the Farm<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A new year on the farm!\nJanuary is a fun month spent pouring over catalogs and planning the upcoming\nyear as well as reviewing what went well (and what didn\u2019t) the previous year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

            So\na quick look at what went well last year. We had an incredible crop of healthy\nlambs, the most lambs ever born on Mae Be Farm! It was exciting to see all the\nbeautiful babies produced by my new ram Brugge. He really did a good job for us\nand I am looking forward to seeing what he produces this year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

            On\nthe other hand we ran out of hay before the grass started growing. It left me\nscrambling to find hay at the end of a hard winter. I ended up with 2 large 1\nton bales. That was a real adventure. They were loaded on the trailer for us\nbut since I\u2019d never handled bales that big before I didn\u2019t realize that even\nthe whole family pushing couldn\u2019t get them off the trailer. So plan #2 was to\nfeed off the bales until they were light enough to pull off the trailer. That\nwas a great idea but (yes another plot twist) to get the rectangle bales on the\ntrailer they had to be placed so they were taller than they were wide. This\nmeant that for every flake of hay you pulled off the bale, the top half of the\nnext flake fell down on your head. The bale was falling apart as it was fed and\neven with careful management it was too messy. I ended up with a huge trailer\nstored in my barn for awhile. That was a whole lot of fun since I had to climb\nover the trailer and walk down the fenders to feed and water the horse and pet.\nAs far as things going wrong on the farm that was a pretty good one,\ninconvenient but not a huge disaster. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead of New Year\u2019s\nresolutions I like to set goals for the farm. I find having a specific goal\nhelps keep me motivated even when the going gets tough. So my goals for the\nfarm this year are: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Publish May Be Farm Happenings once a month on the first non- holiday weekday of the month.<\/li>
  2. Take Lad to a herding class or seminar. <\/li>
  3. Create and keep to a garden plan calendar.<\/li>
  4. Knit 2 items a month.<\/li>
  5. Redesign my livestock pens to better match their use and implement the design.<\/li>
  6. Create a mobile shelter for the sheep that I can use in the pastures. <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    These are my big goals for the farm this year. Keep\nreading the newsletter to see what Mae Be Farm is doing this coming year!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    On the Needles<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I am busily preparing for my new Spin-A-Long Spinning\nwith Intent<\/em><\/strong>. We will be meeting the second and fourth Saturdays of each\nmonth starting Saturday March 28th<\/sup> Getting to know each other and our wheels<\/strong>. The plan is for us to\nstart at Super Bulky yarn and work our way down to true lace weight. The one\nSaturday will focus on spinning and the other Saturday we will be knitting with\nthe yarn we spun. This will be a fun group of people getting together and\nworking on our spinning and knitting. If you are interested in joining this\nfree Spin-A-Long please email me at Rebeccasromneys@gmail.com<\/a>\nfor more information. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Winter Morning Headband our first project!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"https:\/\/lh6.googleusercontent.com\/jY879nRKCg-66qwIBVtRrYGGh_SCqbWxURN7KdjsjWjXrdJQueAF1Vz3H2oULM8iccozzkVLREznfH7y-TMcbvkI__s2GaaSsljqoM9umrtz3NREHBtGDp2MHeuGrbPNLDbxmOod\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n


    \n<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Sudoku<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n  <\/strong> \n <\/td>\n 2\n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td>\n 5\n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td>\n 8\n <\/td>\n 7\n <\/td>\n 6\n <\/td><\/tr>
    \n 7\n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td>\n 1\n <\/td>\n 8\n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td>\n 5\n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td><\/tr>
    \n 8\n <\/td>\n 5\n <\/td>\n 9\n <\/td>\n 7\n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td>\n 4\n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td><\/tr>
    \n 5\n <\/td>\n 9\n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td>\n 4\n <\/td>\n 6\n <\/td>\n 8\n <\/td>\n 1\n <\/td><\/tr>
    \n  \n <\/td>\n 1\n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td>\n 3\n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td><\/tr>
    \n  \n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td>\n 8\n <\/td>\n 6\n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td>\n 9\n <\/td>\n 5\n <\/td><\/tr>
    \n 2\n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td>\n 7\n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td>\n 8\n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td>\n 9\n <\/td><\/tr>
    \n 9\n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td>\n 4\n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td>\n 7\n <\/td>\n 2\n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td>\n 8\n <\/td><\/tr>
    \n  \n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td>\n 2\n <\/td>\n 4\n <\/td>\n 6\n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    All\nRiddled Up<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    A Farmer buys 100 animals for $100. The\nanimals include at least 1 cow, 1 pig, and 1 chicken, but no other kind. If a\ncow costs $10, a pig costs $3, and a chicken costs $0.50, how many of each did\nhe buy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"Image<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

    <\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Laugh the New Year In<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    My Friend asked me where I see myself in the New\nYear. How should I know? I don\u2019t have 2020 vision. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    What do you call a sleeping bull?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    A\nbulldozer<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    What\u2019s a cow\u2019s favorite Holiday?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Moo\nYear\u2019s Eve<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    What did the farmer give his wife\non New Year\u2019s Eve?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Hogs\nand kisses
    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    January 2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n Sunday\n <\/td>\n Monday\n <\/td>\n Tuesday\n <\/td>\n Wednesday\n <\/td>\n Thursday\n <\/td>\n Friday\n <\/td>\n Saturday\n <\/td><\/tr>
    \n \n <\/td>\n \n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td>\n 1\n <\/td>\n 2\n <\/td>\n 3\n <\/td>\n 4\n <\/td><\/tr>
    \n  \n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td>\n New Year\u2019s Day!\n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td><\/tr>
    \n 5\n <\/td>\n 6\n <\/td>\n 7\n <\/td>\n 8\n <\/td>\n 9\n <\/td>\n 10\n <\/td>\n 11\n <\/td><\/tr>
    \n  \n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td>\n Full\n Moon\n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td><\/tr>
    \n 12\n <\/td>\n 13\n <\/td>\n 14\n <\/td>\n 15\n <\/td>\n 16\n <\/td>\n 17\n <\/td>\n 18\n  \n <\/td><\/tr>
    \n Increase\n Ewes food\n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td><\/tr>
    \n 19\n <\/td>\n 20\n <\/td>\n 21\n <\/td>\n 22\n <\/td>\n 23\n <\/td>\n 24\n <\/td>\n 25\n <\/td><\/tr>
    \n  \n <\/td>\n Holiday\n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td><\/tr>
    \n 26\n <\/td>\n 27\n <\/td>\n 28\n <\/td>\n 29\n <\/td>\n 30\n <\/td>\n 31\n <\/td>\n \n <\/td><\/tr>
    \n  \n <\/td>\n Prune\n Orchard\n <\/td>\n Frost\n Seeding Starts\n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td>\n Check\n Lambing Kit\n Crutch\n Ewes\n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td><\/tr>
    \n  \n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td><\/tr>
    \n  \n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td>\n  \n <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    List of\nEvents: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Feburary\n1st<\/sup>     Pre-lambing\nvaccinations for Ewes <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    March 6th<\/sup>         Lambing Starts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    March 21st<\/sup>       Spring on the Farm \u2013 come visit the\nlambs!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    March 28th<\/sup>       Spinning with Intent \u2013 Getting to know\nyou                 9-1                               at DFA<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    March 29th<\/sup>       Shearing at Mae Be Farm                    

    \n<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Lad\u2019s Barking News<\/strong>
    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Life on the farm can be\npretty boring in the winter. I don\u2019t get to boss the sheep around because they\nall stay in their winter pen, eating. I\u2019m told they are expecting babies soon\nand that will be a lot of fun. I really like babies but I have to be careful\nbecause some of the ewes don\u2019t like me sniffing their babies. My favorites are\nthe orphan lambs who will play bounce and race with me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Even though there isn\u2019t\na lot of work to do I\u2019ve been learning a new job. I guard the gate so my girl\ncan carry hay to the feeders without having to stop and open and close gates.\nThis can be a lot of fun! I get to stand at the gate and it isn\u2019t very long\nbefore a ewe decides that it\u2019s taking too long and she\u2019s going to help herself\nto the hay from the hay stack. Then I get to tell her she\u2019s being naughty!\nThat\u2019s my favorite part! Sometimes I let a ewe through the gate just so I can\nboss her around. I get in trouble for it but I like bossing ewes around. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The rules are no sheep\nin the barn except for the old ewe, Sabby. She gets let out for special food\nbut only at night! She tries to tell me she gets out in the morning too but I\nknow better and make her stay in. I like to wait next to her and watch her and\nthe gate. I\u2019m good at multi-tasking! I have to keep reminding Sabby she can\u2019t\ngo to the other end of the barn and look for chicken and cat food. Those are not\ngood for her and she isn\u2019t allowed to eat them. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Lad by Sabby watching her and the gate.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

                While\nguarding the gate is fun, it\u2019s mostly standing waiting for the ewes to be\nnaughty. So I\u2019m not getting as much exercise. To keep me fit and handsome my\ngirl has made me a special jungle gym all my own but I like her to play on it\nwith me though. I have stairs up one hay stack, a bridge across to the other\nhay stack, stairs down and then a tunnel to run through. I keep trying to tell\nher that the tunnel is much more fun to go over though. I know that work comes\nfirst so I help feed the animals before playing on my jungle gym. It\u2019s a lot of\nfun! One day I discovered that a stupid hen had laid an egg right in my way. I\nwasn\u2019t happy and grumped until my girl came and took the egg away. Those hens\nshould use their special nest boxes and leave my special gym alone.  Running my own agility course is almost as\nmuch fun as bossing ewes around. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Lad by the bridge across they hay stacks<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The Harvest<\/strong>
    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    January is the best time to start pouring over the\npretty pictures in the seed catalogues and start planning next year\u2019s garden.\nIt takes a lot of consideration to decide what variety I want to plant. This\nyear I want to do succession planting so variety is very important. One\nvegetable will be harvested and the next one will be planted. Once varieties\nare chosen I make a calendar like the one below. This helps me determine what\nto plant, where to plant it, and when to plant it. Of course its color coded. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    This year the special varieties being planned are: a\npurple bell pepper (they were very tasty last year and produced well); multi\ncolored carrots; bantam popcorn from a friend\u2019s farm; scarlet runner beans; as\nwell as seed pumpkins.  It should be a\ncolorful year for us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Assuming the weather behaves and we get enough water\nI should be overrun with vegetables all summer long. I can\u2019t wait!
    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Winter\non the Farm<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Winter officially\nstarted December 21st<\/sup> ! It always seems weird to me that it is so\nlate in the year but the start of winter is officially determined by the solstice.\nThe dictionary defines solstice as \u201ceither of the two times in the year, the\nsummer solstice and the winter solstice, when the sun reaches its highest or\nlowest point in the sky at noon, marked by the longest and shortest days. So\nthe winter solstice is always a happy day for me because I know that the days\nwill be getting longer now and my time of feeding in the dark by flash light will\nsoon come to an end. I defiantly won\u2019t miss that. Counting sheep is hard enough\nbut counting black sheep by flash light is a real challenge. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"Image
    26590814 – illustration of winter solstice on december 21 globe with north america and south america, sunlight and shadows<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

                They\nsay that if you like winter you\u2019ve never been a farmer and that\u2019s somewhat\ntrue. Winter defiantly brings its challenges to a farm. Keeping drinking water\nliquid for the livestock is a big one. Thankfully we have invented electric\nheaters that will keep the water just above freezing. Sometimes though the\npower goes out or the silly horse flips them out of the water (which is a big\ncause of barn fires!) or they break down and suddenly you have ice. The winters\nhere are pretty mild so I can generally use a shovel to break the ice but some\nplaces they have to chop a hole with a hatchet. Anyway you do it, it is still a\nlot of work and must be done at least twice a day. It\u2019s vital that the\nlivestock get enough to drink during the winter. This is because they use the\nwater to help move their feed (dried plants) through their digestive system.\nThey use both the energy provided by the food and the process of digestion to\ngenerate heat to keep them warm. Without enough water their ability to move\ntheir dry feed would be compromised and they would be prone to cold stress,\neven with their amazing winter coats. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

                It\nis also important to increase their feed during cold weather since they need it\nas fuel for their internal fires. There actually is a calculation to tell you\nhow much extra will be needed. Critical low temperature is 32*F. So if you were\nexpecting your night time lows to be 32*F with a wind chill of -4 degrees you\nwould end up with 28*F. Energy adjustment is 1% for every degree below 32*F so\nin this case your adjustment would be 28% and would feed them 128% of their\ndaily ration. If you were feeding 4 lbs of hay per head of sheep before you\nwould now be feeding 5.12 lbs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    This is doubly\nimportant here on Mae Be Farm since the majority of our animals are also\npregnant so they have an additional nutritional demand on their system. This is\nan important time for the lamb\u2019s development. The quantity and quality of the\nfeed the ewe is given determines not only how healthy the lambs are at birth\nbut also their wool quality, their nutritional needs, their size, and to a\ncertain extent how much milk the ewe has for her lambs. Feeding correctly can\nmake a world of difference for a shepherd in the spring when the lambs are\nborn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The ewes really start\nfeeling the lamb\u2019s need of extra feed about Christmas time and get really\ngrouchy if their meals are late. Eating is a serious business and nothing gets\nbetween them and their dinner. Suddenly that huge hay stack that I worked so\nhard to put up in the summer isn\u2019t looking big enough to last. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

                Winter\nalso brings the need to muck the barn because the animals are housed in the\nbarn and dry lots to allow the pastures to rest over the winter. It\u2019s
    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    not my favorite task but I love the resulting\ncompost. You can almost hear the garden sing with joy when you fertilize with\nthe barn cleanings. Each sheep produces about 4 lbs of manure a day (plus\nthere\u2019s bedding) so you can imagine how much my little flock of 17 ewes\nproduce. The math is a little scary. Thankfully I have a good spot to stack it\nall and let it compost down. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

                While\nwinter does bring it\u2019s challenges and  a\nlot of work (usually involving a shovel) it does bring it\u2019s joys. The days are\nquieter, the pace slows down. It maybe cold but that makes curling up with a\nblanket and a good book much more fun. The sun may sleep in and go to be early\nbut it makes it easier to see the stars. I do enjoy winter, warts and all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    The ewes out enjoying a sunny winter\u2019s day
    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Lad and Rebecca on a hike<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Lad watching over the elderly ewe Sabby<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Knit Lamb Ornament

    <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Read all about it! Read the brand new Mae Be Farm Happenings to meet our animals and get caught up on all the latest news. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[25],"class_list":["post-1748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-newsletter"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maebefarm.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1748","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maebefarm.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maebefarm.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maebefarm.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maebefarm.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1748"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/maebefarm.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1748\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1766,"href":"https:\/\/maebefarm.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1748\/revisions\/1766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maebefarm.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maebefarm.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maebefarm.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}