by OogieFarmBlog | Mar 27, 2010 | Uncategorized
A bit late with my blogging. But we finished the shearing for the year. Several fleeces sold off the shearing floor. Skirting will start in the next few weeks and be up on our web site for sale later. Desert Weyr Farm Blog
by OogieFarmBlog | Mar 23, 2010 | Uncategorized
We got the shearing set-up built yesterday. We rebuild the catch pen and shearing floor each year under the hay barn. As always it looks like we will have snow and rain for shearing. So I am yet again scrambling to see if I can keep all the sheep dry. We will shear...
by OogieFarmBlog | Mar 10, 2010 | Uncategorized
More snow. This is the lane under the hay barn. The fence on the right is 4 feet tall. So far the rams haven’t decided to try to escape. The hay seems to be keeping them occupied. It’s going to be a very muddy spring when all this melts. Desert Weyr Farm...
by OogieFarmBlog | Feb 28, 2010 | Uncategorized
Well I am nearing the end of my Ravelry Knitting Olympics. I was on 2 different teams. Team WIPS2010 with 2 projects for WPIS Dancing. Sadly I will not medal in this event with either project.However For Team Tardis I have medaled in 4 events with a total of 5...
by OogieFarmBlog | Feb 24, 2010 | Uncategorized
Desert Weyr BaaBaa and Desert Weyr Martha are traveling to their new home via back seat of a Subaru Legacy. Black Welsh are small and fairly well behaved. I bet not many folks carry sheep in the back of their cars. BaaBaa is going to be a ram buddy and Martha will be...
by OogieFarmBlog | Feb 22, 2010 | Uncategorized
This is what the front looks like today. We had to put a bit more fence up. This is one of the adult rams thinking about trying to jump out. So far only 1 ram lamb has escaped but I bet by tomorrow these guys would be out if we hadn’t put up more fence. Desert...
by OogieFarmBlog | Feb 21, 2010 | Uncategorized
I sure hope the rams and ram lambs (left and right pens respectively) don’t decide to go walkies! There was a path up this aisle this morning. Desert Weyr Farm Blog
by OogieFarmBlog | Feb 21, 2010 | Uncategorized
We got another 8 inches or more of snow and it’s still snowing. Sheep tend to walk in the same trails once they have made them. Here are the adult ewes coming up for hay.This ewe lamb is about to step over the fence. Those are 4 foot fences she’s ready to...
by OogieFarmBlog | Feb 20, 2010 | Uncategorized
We had a lot of snow last night. Our power was out for about 8 hours. It’s a heavy wet snow and it warmed up enough that all of the snow fell off the barn roof at once. I sure hope there are no sheep under that. They usually run to the end of the pen and wait it...
by OogieFarmBlog | Feb 20, 2010 | Uncategorized
Back Window ViewOriginally uploaded by Oogie McGuireLast night we got between 1.5 to 2 feet of snow. This is the view out the upstairs back window of the house. The snow is building up on the porch roof. Desert Weyr Farm Blog
by OogieFarmBlog | Feb 15, 2010 | Uncategorized
Ewe LambsOriginally uploaded by Oogie McGuireHere are some of our ewe lambs and retired ewes in the winter pens. Everyone has settled into their new pens now, as long as the hay keeps coming. Desert Weyr Farm Blog
by OogieFarmBlog | Feb 14, 2010 | Uncategorized
The RavelympicsOriginally uploaded by Oogie McGuireHere I am working on my Simple Socks for the WIPs Dancing Event for Team WIP 2010.I have also finished Aerial Unwind for Team Tardis. Frogged an unidentified garter stitch something. Desert Weyr Farm Blog
by OogieFarmBlog | Feb 13, 2010 | Uncategorized
We got the new ram lamb feeders installed today. Here are the boys before we moved them back into their normal pen.New feeder 2 pieces that connect to make one big feeder. Desert Weyr Farm Blog
by OogieFarmBlog | Feb 10, 2010 | Rants and Raves
I’ve been a loyal user of SplashShopper on the Mac and on the Palm for years. It’s one of the best shopping applications out there, fast, responsive and allows the creation of many lists and stores. When I got my new iPod Touch I was looking forward to...
by OogieFarmBlog | Feb 3, 2010 | Uncategorized
The west side of the orchard has been completely pruned this year and a majority of the east side has also been pruned. For some of the trees it has been nearly 20 years since they were pruned last. There is a huge amount of brush and wood. We’re trading the...
by OogieFarmBlog | Jan 31, 2010 | Uncategorized
We got the backup rams out of the ewe pens today. The 2 backups, Desert Weyr Kevyn and Desert Weyr Kirk, and the one live cover primary ram, Desert Weyr Kai, are now in a tiny pen to get used to each other. We’ve found that by cramming the boys in together until...
by OogieFarmBlog | Jan 20, 2010 | Uncategorized
I’ve moved all the Daily Shoot pictures to a new blog Oogie’s Daily Shoot.It was cluttering up the Farm Blog so all those posts are being moved. Desert Weyr Farm Blog
by OogieFarmBlog | Jan 12, 2010 | Uncategorized
Winnie is in with the adult rams right now. She stays nice and warm in among the woolly sheep. Desert Weyr Farm Blog
by OogieFarmBlog | Jan 9, 2010 | Uncategorized
Yesterday we got the 2 backup rams in with the ewes. Desert Weyr Kevyn is in with the live cover ewes. He immediately started sniffing and chasing them and trying to mount the ewes but none are in heat. Desert Weyr Kirk is the backup for the AI ewes. He went in and...
by OogieFarmBlog | Dec 25, 2009 | Uncategorized
Got the primary ram Desert Weyr Kai out from the ewes pen late today. He is the first ram for the control group of ewes. There will be no rams in for 2 weeks and then we’ll put 2 new rams in as backups for the AI group and the control group. Desert Weyr Farm...
by OogieFarmBlog | Dec 21, 2009 | Uncategorized
Farms mark the year by the solar calendar. The solstice, the traditional mid winter festival when the sun starts to return. For us too the solstice is turn-around time. The days when the sun seems to stand still are our time to do a yearly reflection on the past year....
by OogieFarmBlog | Dec 8, 2009 | Uncategorized
We woke up to a lot of snow today. The ram lambs are covered with snow. A couple were just resting comfortably in their sheep nests. Cwningwn AKA Bunny was staying in her private house. She is getting alfalfa pellets because she doesn’t have many teeth left so...
by OogieFarmBlog | Dec 3, 2009 | Uncategorized
Next day is the ewe insemination day. this is the insemination pipette. It’s a modified pig insemination device. It is carefully threaded into the ewe.Ken had to hold all the ewes in the chute. Without a squeeze this time it was the only way to control them. It...
by OogieFarmBlog | Dec 2, 2009 | Rants and Raves
Recap: I needed a faster way to take notes during brainstorming sessions After reviewing traditional shorthand, LiveScribe and a couple other choices I narrowed my choices down to EasyScript and QuickHand. To get a feel for the two systems I bought two books off Ebay,...
by OogieFarmBlog | Dec 2, 2009 | Uncategorized
With the USDA folks back we collected semen again. This time it will be a slightly different freezing protocol. Here are the rams in the sweep ready to go. They are not happy, they know what’s coming. One ram Desert Weyr Kai got to go in with the ewes. He is in...
by OogieFarmBlog | Nov 29, 2009 | Uncategorized
Well it’s been almost a year since we installed the solar hot water system to provide both domestic hot water and supplemental heat for our radiant floor system.Several things we learned early on that have not changed over time. We need to plan on doing most...
by OogieFarmBlog | Nov 23, 2009 | Rants and Raves
PBS is the only TV channel that has actual useful programs. Real news via Nightly Business Report and the Newshour and interesting shows, documentary and entertainment. Unfortunately for much of rural America the vaunted digital transformation is a joke. You see a...
by OogieFarmBlog | Nov 19, 2009 | Uncategorized
Next on the sheep AI project is getting the ewes heat cycles synchronized. We put CIDRs in all the ewes today. First group will be the AI girls. The second batch is a control group that will be bred via a live cover ram to test the sync procedure. Here is Beatrix, Ken...
by OogieFarmBlog | Nov 10, 2009 | Uncategorized
We got one batch of the ewes sorted out. This group will go to the live cover ram as a control for the AI procedure. They are all now sorted into the breeding pen and have had their fall dewormer to kill the nose bots. The potential AI girls are now in the other pen...
by OogieFarmBlog | Nov 4, 2009 | Uncategorized
Today was doing part one of the 2009 sheep AI experiment with USDA-NAGP people.Today we collected semen from 14 adult Black Welsh Mountain rams. Each ram has his picture taken in front of a size marked tarp for future reference. No pictures of semen collection. It...
by OogieFarmBlog | Nov 3, 2009 | Uncategorized
Sheep are in the winter pens now. Here are the ewes eating hay and later a nearly empty feeder.We are going through more hay than normal, but we also have more sheep than normal. A good selection of ewes, ewe lambs and ram lambs for sale if you want your own flock of...
by OogieFarmBlog | Oct 28, 2009 | Uncategorized
Early morning on Garvin Mesa. Desert Weyr Farm Blog
by OogieFarmBlog | Oct 14, 2009 | Uncategorized
Mt. Lamborn has a skiff of snow on it. View down the North Fork valley. Fall colors are really nice this year. Desert Weyr Farm Blog
by OogieFarmBlog | Oct 8, 2009 | Uncategorized
Lovely fall day with snow on Mt. Gunnison. Winter is coming. Desert Weyr Farm Blog
by OogieFarmBlog | Oct 5, 2009 | Uncategorized
We decided to see if the melon I harvested was any good to eat. It was wonderful, so we ate the entire melon.Very sweet and tasty! I’ve saved the seeds because it’s an open pollinated variety. Desert Weyr Farm Blog
by OogieFarmBlog | Sep 30, 2009 | Uncategorized
With a frost expected it was time to harvest the last of the garden stuff. My only other 2 crops were melons. One a watermelon and one a cantaloup type.The only one that got very big was the cantaloup. It’s not ripe yet but I harvested it anyway. Better...
by OogieFarmBlog | Sep 28, 2009 | Uncategorized
Judd got the last of the hay baled and delivered today.We buy hay from the neighbors and this second cutting looks especially good.There was more than we expected. We won’t need any additional hay for the year and are well set for winter. Next job is to send a...
by OogieFarmBlog | Sep 27, 2009 | Uncategorized
Sunday AM down to the Town Park for the Mountain Harvest Festival Farmers’ Market.Ray came to help at the booth and took care of it so I could take a break occasionally. Monica from Small Potatoes Farm selling potatoes and garlic braids.A good day, lots of sales...
by OogieFarmBlog | Sep 26, 2009 | Uncategorized
No Pictures. This morning before the big main farm tours started as part of the Paonia Harvest Festival we sorted out some of the sheep and put coats on. They are now in the winter corrals on hay. They look a bit silly in their coats but it keeps the wool clean....
by OogieFarmBlog | Sep 18, 2009 | Uncategorized
Today we sorted out all the ram lambs from their mothers. We have several who are already sniffing the ewes. I just hope they weren’t fertile yet! We also weighed all the lambs. Most are looking really good. A few are not as big as I would hope for but they are...
by OogieFarmBlog | Sep 18, 2009 | Uncategorized
Sun after the storm. Desert Weyr Farm Blog
by OogieFarmBlog | Sep 17, 2009 | Uncategorized
Here are the new laying hens.A Silver Grey Dorking.A Welsummer. Desert Weyr Farm Blog
by OogieFarmBlog | Sep 15, 2009 | Uncategorized
We were invited to the Culinary School of the Rockies dinner at Zephros Farm. Here the students are busily working on the feast.I got several shots of the students, both with and without the chef instructors. This was just before the rain. We had a brief downpour and...
by OogieFarmBlog | Sep 9, 2009 | Uncategorized
We’ve started our fall sheep sales. This batch of lovely yearlings is heading off to MO to a new flock there. They are also getting two adult rams. Meanwhile another small flock of three ewe lambs and a ram lamb will also go to another new flock but they...
by OogieFarmBlog | Sep 8, 2009 | Uncategorized
The Culinary School students came back today for more farm work. Today we evaluated all the adult rams, trimmed toes and gave dewormer as needed. Then we took a field trip to Karla’s to pick up our chickens that were butchered yesterday. The students got to see...
by OogieFarmBlog | Sep 7, 2009 | Uncategorized
Today we had 4 students from the Culinary School of the Rockies out to help on the farm and learn about where food comes from.We had a busy day, starting at 7:30 this morning we worked most of the flock. We had several task to perform, most important was to vaccinate...
by OogieFarmBlog | Sep 6, 2009 | Uncategorized
The Kids Pasta Project here in the North Fork servs up a pasta meal every Monday. all proceeds after expenses go to various local non-profit organizations.This coming Monday, 7 September, the recipient will be the North Fork Historical Society.Cost is a minimal...
by OogieFarmBlog | Sep 5, 2009 | Uncategorized
We’ve got the adult rams in the corrals to let the grass grow a bit before letting them go graze again. I guess this ram got tired of being butted while he slept and decided to find a more secure place for a nap, in one of the empty water tanks! Desert Weyr Farm...
by OogieFarmBlog | Sep 4, 2009 | Uncategorized
The second crop from my garden was going to be corn. However this is the sum total of the ears we got. Most of them are only partially filled with corn kernels. This is the best of the lot.I threw away a lot that looked like this. I noticed that when I was picking...
by OogieFarmBlog | Aug 29, 2009 | Uncategorized
Today was the third annual Garvin Mesa Day. All three wineries on our mesa, Terror Creek Winery, Stone Cottage Cellars & Azura Cellars and our farm coordinate to have an open house day. We did farm tours and had our smoked sheep kolbassi sausages to sample....
