New Rooster?

A few weeks ago, a little bantam rooster showed up in the goat field.  We thought that he might be a runaway from a near by farm.  We asked around, but thus far no one has come to fetch him.  It appears that he is here to stay for a little while... though he appears to like the lower goat field and hasn't yet decided to visit our hens up on the hill. 

Hay!

Last weekend, our hay was cut and baled.  Getting ready for winter!  Who knew grass was so precious a commodity?

Lower field all cut and raked

The Baler

Square bales in the upper field.

This is the second cutting of the summer.  The first cutting went into round bales which we sold.  The second cutting was made into square bales.  We divide the amount with the nice people who cut and bale it for us.  Hope that it is enough to last all winter... especially now that we have a pony to feed!

Cast of characters



the does



the herd





the billies













the hens



the barn cat



A farm with a name



Sugar Maple



More than a decade ago, a dream of owning a log home on a little farm began over a cup of coffee at Mill Mountian Coffee and Tea, a quiant coffee shop a hop, skip and jump from our college campus.   A few years ago, the search began.  After much looking and hiking over a myriad of properties in the Blue Ridge Mountains, we finally settled on and purchase approx 58 acres of woodlands and pasture between two ridges.

The address is Groundhog Lane.  True to that, the property has no shortage of groundhogs, also known as whistle pigs.  We've also seen or heard deer, turkey, coyote, and even an occasional bear.  There are at least three springs.  One feeds a pond that is neighbored by two old sugar maple trees and one old black walnut tree.  The other two emerge within fields and eventually flow into a creek that runs by part of the driveway.



Two little billy goats



In an effort to start our farm, we built fencing and a shed.  We bought a heard of Boer goats and chicks.   Evenutally, we built a log home that we moved into almost exactly a year ago.  The adventures of beginnings and house building can be found in another blog: http://www.landandlogblog.blogspot.com/.

We dubbed our place "Whistle Pig Ridge" in reference to our address.  Despite the fact that groundhogs are one of God's creatures, they are troublesome on the farm and do not seem to be the embodiment of our farm's name.  As everything in the farm relies on the water from the spring and the sugar maple trees are a very prominent feature, it seemed appropriate to name the farm "Sugar Maple Springs."

So far, we have sold a number of little billy goats (to other farms, not market) and dozens of of dozens of eggs.  We're contimplating expanding to include possibly dairy goats in the future.  It's always an adventure here and we plan to keep the world up-to-date with our farm happenings on this blog.  Check back ever-so-often.