Greetings Lamb Ranch Friends! Christmas is behind us, and the new year is looming on the horizon. As usual, Fall was a very busy season for us, so I have not had time to catch up on the blog until now.
We are reflecting on our year, and find that we made a lot of progress. The major project was getting all of the fencing replaced, which was huge, and should last a lifetime. We hired it out, despite Bill’s reluctance to let anyone else do such an important task, but they did a great job. Every day I walk the fence line on my way to the irrigation box, and just gaze at the fence feeling so happy that we finally have a secure boundary, and dividing fences for pasture rotation. One day I was walking along and saw a big hole in the upper fence. What the …? At first I thought “what creature had the strength to punch through a brand new steel fence?” Then I realized that was crazy, and started looking around. This part of the fence is at the bottom of a steep hillside, and I figured that maybe a rock had rolled down and busted through. I looked around and saw lots of rocks just sitting there looking all innocent, not saying anything. It was clear that none of them were going to fess up, so I went into CSI mode and finally figured out who the culprit was. It was sitting right on top of the indentation on the ground where I had picked up the hose the day before. And there was a bunch of crushed green grass underneath it, whereas all the other rocks had just dirt under them. Aha! I gave this rock a life sentence of sitting in the same place forever. Bill patched up the fence the next weekend.
This year we had a nice pile of compost, so I had plenty to use on the garden. After I harvested everything, I put a thick layer on the beds, and then covered that with leaves. I managed to get some garlic in the ground this year so we should have a nice crop next summer. It was so gratifying to be able to get everything put to bed before the first cold snap.
Meanwhile, Bill has been busy putting up the firewood. He cut down all the dead trees around the barn area and split and stacked them under the sheltered area of the barn. It’s so much nicer than having them under a blue tarp in the driveway. We’re starting to feel almost civilized!
Now that we have our barn and fencing done, we are looking forward to next year when we will start rebuilding our shop. We have a dream of installing a micro-hydro power generation system as well, so we thought it would be a good idea to figure out what equipment would be required so that we could design the space for it in the shop building. We had a consultant visit us to look at our creek and go over the options, and found that we have plenty of flow and head to generate what we would use and then some. So, we made a space in the shop to accommodate some inverters, etc. So exciting to think that we could be a net zero operation someday!
Now that we have our barn and fencing done, we are looking forward to next year when we will start rebuilding our shop. We have a dream of installing a micro-hydro power generation system as well, so we thought it would be a good idea to figure out what equipment would be required so that we could design the space for it in the shop building. We had a consultant visit us to look at our creek and go over the options, and found that we have plenty of flow and head to generate what we would use and then some. So, we made a space in the shop to accommodate some inverters, etc. So exciting to think that we could be a net zero operation someday!
Of course the holiday season is the big sale season. Our community is lucky to have several businesses that promote locally made products, so I have a place to sell all the hats that I knit during the year, along with the yarn. It was the best year ever for us, sales-wise. I am almost out of yarn, and sold all the knitted items. Thanks to Twisted Knitters, the Community Center Christmas Bazaar, Sun Mountain Lodge, the Mazama Store, and Cashmere Cottage Yarns. Now I have to get busy and start washing and dyeing.
The next few months will be busy with that, plus helping out with the Okanogan Valley Fiber Festival planning. We have more people to help this year, which is a huge relief, as my plate is getting pretty full. I was elected Secretary of the North American Wool Co-op, which is a group of fiber farmers who have collaborated to market their fiber. There are many exciting things happening there that I will be writing about during the coming year, so stay tuned.
Bill and I wish you all a very happy and prosperous New Year!
The next few months will be busy with that, plus helping out with the Okanogan Valley Fiber Festival planning. We have more people to help this year, which is a huge relief, as my plate is getting pretty full. I was elected Secretary of the North American Wool Co-op, which is a group of fiber farmers who have collaborated to market their fiber. There are many exciting things happening there that I will be writing about during the coming year, so stay tuned.
Bill and I wish you all a very happy and prosperous New Year!
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