Harrowing

So this is the harrow; the spike harrow to be exact. We'd gotten a larger one some years ago and used its spikes (just railroad spikes) and other hardware to make this slightly smaller one for one horse to pull. It isn't that it is difficult to pull but smaller is easier to maneuver and we don't have acres and acres we're trying to do.

This is the first pass. The ground is rough from the plowing but as that's been several weeks ago, there are also things sprouting and re-rooting. The harrow's job is to even things out a bit, break up clods, things like that. It doesn't have to do it all in one pass and in fact cannot. This is not a machine that plows, disks and lays out your seed bed. Time is your friend with this modus operandi. I mean, what else are you going to be doing with a couple of perfect May mornings? And if you did actually have something else to do, it couldn't possibly be better than harnessing the horse and walking behind him for awhile, taking in that wonder rich smell of the good earth.

This is the second pass the first day. You can see there are still some clumps of perennials that are well rooted. A pass with a shovel took those out. And everything, all over, is getting more even.
This is the rest period place. Although he didn't blow much at all in doing the harrowing. Still, he gets to blow and cool off and rest.

This is the second pass on the second day. We didn't get any photos that really showed the consistency of the soil but it is good and rich although you can still tell the parts of it that have had more manure over the years and the parts that have had less. Our gardens have been worked twenty years and that is really what permaculture is about if you ask me.

And this? This is what we found when we quit harrowing the second day! We're now a three cow family! And then we went swimming. And those are only a few of the pleasures of life on the farm.

Addendum: or What I forgot to say when I got in a hurry:

I finished harrowing and walked the horse up to the house and took his harness off. Donkey didn't follow us right away to the field and so I left the gate open and looked around for the cow. I saw old cow down near the bottom. I took the horse path around the side of the knoll to get a view of more of the back bottom. When I caught a glimpse of new cow, she was facing away from me with her head in the grass like she was grazing but I could see afterbirth hanging. I hurried a bit knowing she was probably licking a baby but still thinking of all the other possibilities -- maybe she'd had it and it was stashed and she was grazing, maybe she hadn't had it yet, etc. When I got close enough to see that it was lying on the ground, flat out on the ground, not moving at all, with her licking it, I thought oh gawd it is dead over and over until I got close enough to see its eye and then I thought that eye is NOT dead! and all the while I was watching how she would react to me coming up to her this soon after birth, and if old cow was going to intrude too, and if either one of them was going to feel threatened by me. Old cow stayed back for a good while, new cow was a little concerned about my presence but not much. All the other animals gave the goings on a wide birth until introductions the following day.

Once again I will say that the hardest thing about midwifery is not interfering. Yet it is also the most important thing. Make sure nothing goes wrong but don't cause anything to go wrong yourself.

Triplets

valentine's day triplets

Well, perhaps they were really born on Friday the 13th, a lucky day in our book. It was late when the kids heard the first one ba-aa-ing, probably while the second was being born. When we got there, the second was still very wet. I'm so glad they weren't born during all that cold. I'm still amazed at how they can come out, so wet, and dry off without losing too much body heat. We actually saw the third one get pushed out.

And my midwifery skills and philosophies were tested, as always with births (and deaths): if possible, do nothing. Nothing. Of course, we violated that right away by going to watch! And I took a towel with me and I did wipe off that second one a bit. And when that third one was on the ground, and the good mama goat was eating the sack from around her feet and her head and nose was still solidly covered by membranes, and when she wasn't moving for what felt like forever but was maybe 20 seconds, I did slip over and clear the membrane from her head and wipe her nose. I would have done none of this if the mother hadn't been calm and very accepting of me. Shoot, I saw her born. Her mother was our first milk goat. She's old and she well knows me.

The firstborn (stretched out in the middle of the photo) is big, big for a newborn goat. The second born (lightest one at the bottom) is tiny tiny tiny. Third born (at top) is probably normal, maybe a bit on the small side. Boy, girl, girl. Tiny girl took about 16 hours to stand and is still shaky but so far, so good. We've held her to nurse and she nurses well. We left them all in the woods for the night but brought them in the barn this morning when it was obvious that little girl couldn't stand yet. I hate moving them too soon -- it disturbs their bonding. Just like it does with people.

She could yet not make it. But I firmly believe she has her best shot with her mom.

Not interfering. It is so important when you can do that, when people can learn to do that -- or not do that as it were. Sitting there. Waiting. Shutting up. Honoring enough. Honoring that it was already enough. Not having a clue on that is what is so out of whack in our whole society.

In other news, we have seed potatoes, pontiacs and yukons anyway. We're still hoping for cobs which they said would be in in about 10 days. Places say they are hard to come by and selling strong. Seeds seem to be out late this year and more sparse too. I'd advise getting yours now. We try to get as many as possible from our local mom and pop places and order only what we can't find locally. You should be starting the hardy stuff now too. I think we may have spinach up. Husband is pretty amazing in that garden.

New Goat #1

the new addition
Originally uploaded by Contrary Goddess.

Yes, there's been another since him, another boy, but I couldn't find him while I had the camera with me.

Farrier & Midwife

White Billy
Originally uploaded by Contrary Goddess.

Remember that little white goat whose momma had a problem with one of her teats? Well, that's him now. Without a reference it is hard to tell, but he's nearly as big as his momma, and she's not small goat. Since we've always had Nubian crosses, and he has no Nubian in him, he looks funny to me, so goatful. Anyway, he is intact and I guess we'll keep him. And the other billy who is black too? We'll see. Or if somebody needs a billy . . .

Speaking of billies (or not), last week in the cold snap and between the birthday party and the visitors, we killed a wether goat. I think this is the first wether we've killed and eaten. He became tamales mostly, and last night some soup. And we ate the ribs BBQ'd the day we killed him. Anyway, the meat really was milder. But then, we've eaten some wooly billies who would announce their goatness a mile ahead of them before.

So, anyway, yesterday I decided to trim the donkey again. His hooves got a little bad and I'm trying to trim them every week to 10 days until I can get them back in shape. I've been doing the big horse too, which is a huge challenge to my back. Just a little at a time, just a little shaping, it doesn't have to be perfect, and it works out pretty well. The goat herd was on the hill but the two most pregnant girls weren't so I knew something was up. We've been checking a couple times a day for more than a week now.


1st Two Babies
Originally uploaded by Contrary Goddess.

Remember the goat that was sick back in December and in the house? Well, that's her. She kidded first and had them dry and standing (well, one was still wobbling) when we found them. Both boys -- they'll be wethered. So cute. This is her first batch and her bag is HUGE. We may well go ahead and milk her. Although gosh darned I don't know what we need the milk for. We usually let them just nurse with their first kidding. As with so many things, we'll see what ends up happening.

We left her to look for the other missing goat. We knew she was in the woods. I could tell she was in labor (as if I didn't know just from her not being with the herd) but her contractions were not close together. They were hard though. Being part midwife myself, I stayed with her. "With" being about 50 feet away that is. Really, birth needs to be let happen. Because it does happen. A daughter joined me and we just sat, observing. At first when she had a contraction (and she was pushing), the bag would bulge. Then she laid down. She faced away from us so we couldn't see, but I could tell the fore waters broke. Next time she pushed I could see just a bit of white so I knew that was hooves.

Then she went forever without having another contraction. Forever. More than half an hour. But we sat pat. See, goats are very nearly wild animals and they birth fine. All this advice to interfere, to "get in there" and "see what's going on", to drug and pull and treat and poke and prod, all that is advice from people trying to make themselves feel better rather than the goats. Women are like that too. We've birthed 99% fine for millions of years and now 1/3 of babies have to be cut out? I don't think so. We sat on the hill and waited.

Finally, right at sunset, in one big laying down push, she had the first one. I left the kids watching and went on back home to milk the cow and almost before I could get home, she'd had the second one.


Baby Goats framed by Hen
Originally uploaded by Contrary Goddess.

The one that's a little lighter is a girl. I love that photo, framed by that hen. I also love that momma goat's horns. She's still got a little afterbirth hanging but we'll just keep an eye on her. She's not bleeding, there is nothing to treat. Goats (and women) birth fine.

(I'm suddenly trying to imagine us "helping" chickens lay eggs! and I'm laughing!)