2015 CSA Share Information and Barn Plans

Moved upstairs until they can return outside.

This post was started more then 2 weeks ago and got pushed to the background as new kids were born. At the risk of giving you all whiplash, I am posting it anyway...

It is very much like the game of getting the fox, chicken and the grain across the stream intact. Sean is working at changing the goats about in preparation of business of real kidding season to begin now that pre-season has run its course with two successful kiddings.

We begin to milk tomorrow morning. In order to get the milk stands set up and ready, the turkeys needed to be moved upstairs in the barn this week- which meant that upstairs had to be cleaned up from supplies, shelves, and the other useful bits that had accumulated over the winter and were in need of some serious sorting. Tonight, the kids all need to be separated into one stall together and away from their Mommas for the overnight. And here is where the logistics become interesting.

Asher cannot be housed with the other young bucks while the doors are still kept closed (most of the time) to keep in the heat. He can be housed with Jane, so she is moving back there. Lilly and Bailey need to be moved from a stall without doors, to one where kidding can be more comfortable and fully accessible. The best spot would be living with Abigail and her kids, Sarah and Levi. But, we can't just throw them in there and hope for the best. So, while Sean deconstructs the wall between Jane and Abigail, Lilly and Bailey can chill in the milk room. Ellie, Cassie, and Jem will be moved to live with Leah, Rachel, and Keziah in the main doe stall so that Keren and Naomi can vacate the stall with Abigail and move in with Haddie and Meme in the 2nd kidding stall. They are all due to kid next month, are the same age and grew up as kids together and should get on well. Once all this shuffling takes place, Sean will reintroduce Lilly and Bailey to Abigail while he deconstructs the temporary wall which kept Abigail and Jane apart and use that lumber to create an overnight kid pen all the while watching for any trouble between Lilly, Bailey, and Abigail. Dizzy yet? When all is said and done- for the next 6 weeks- during the daytime hours:
* Asher will live with Jane and their twins on one side of the buck stall
* Jesse, Judah, and Eli will live together on the other side of the buck stall
* Ellie, Cassie, Jem, Leah, Rachel, and Keziah will share a 10x10 stall
* Abigail and her kids, Sarah and Levi, Lilly, and Bailey will share a 10x10 stall
* Meme, Haddie, Keren, and Naomi will share a 10x10 stall

Once the weather breaks and Keren kids, she, her kids, and Jesse will all move to their new forever home to start a brand new herd and provide milk for their new family. The doors to the pasture will be reopened. All three 10x10 doe stalls will have their dividing doors open to allow free access during the day. The wall separating our three bucks will be removed and they will also enjoy free access to their stall and pasture. Once the weather breaks. Boy, that has a nice ring to it!

*************** Back to the Drawing Board*****************

Our make-shift plan doesn't work.

1. Lilly & Bailey began aggressively butting heads with Abigail and the kids upon introduction. While the goats in other stalls gave a few token pushes and feigns while they settled in to who is in charge, the sisters tried using their much larger size to run Abigail outside and not let her back into the barn- over and over and over. *Sigh* Seriously.

2. In Jane's absence, Asher decided he likes having a bachelor pad and tried to pick a shoving match with Jane's kids. Unlike Jedi who was sweetness itself with kids, Asher immediately tried to show his dominance. That lasted all of one minute before Asher was granted his wish to have his own stall, again.

We considered letting Jane and her twins live in the milk room with Ebony, the pig. This will not work. Both bouncy kids tried climbing the stairs already and that is a recipe for disaster! So, for overnight tonight, we'll move Abby to the milk room alone. Jane will sleep in with Asher and all the kids will have a sleep over together in a stall to themselves. In the morning, after we milk, we'll pick up more wood and make some changes.

*********** Success! (Or, a close approximation of it, anyway.) ************

It is not the best solution to our dilemma, but it works for the moment. We pray daily for the weather to finally break. These animals are stir crazy from being cooped up all day and who can blame them? Not I.

Keren, Piper, and Jesse will be leaving our farm to begin their new life together at their new home sometime in the next week or so. When that happens, we'll rearrange stalls slightly and it will look like this come April...

The reality is, we already need a bigger barn. While I realize that perhaps some of you might suggest keeping less goats, doing so is contrary to our reaching the goal of maintaining this lifestyle by working for ourselves. I confess, I worry about finances and whether we are making the right choices for our family, but when we weigh working for others and being away from home and our kids all day with the delight and joy our schedule has been since Sean's February lay off... well, it is not even a close call. The girls education has become more of a family focus. Working together each week in our ministry has strengthened us and brought us closer together. So many projects are getting done with time to spare for US. We are creating more of our products at a better pace in preparation for the coming season. Sean half-jokingly remarked to me that he's never worked harder, but the meals are better. It is hard work, but I don't consider that a "downside". In fact, it is really hard to find a down side. It shouldn't be so in the wake of uncertainty and the loss of a steady paycheck, but Sean, the girls, and I have never been closer or happier than we are right now, today. I understand that perhaps it won't last. Perhaps the financial bottom line will necessitate Sean's return to full-time employment elsewhere. If it does, I will choose to look on these past few months as a wonderful gift. But, how will we know for sure, unless we press forward and TRY with all our might?

Sean has been taking odd jobs as he can find them to help supplement our income until shows, craft fairs, and farmer's markets begin in earnest. We hope that one of these opportunities will become a steady 2-3 day/week employment, leaving him available for the farm the other 4-5 days/week. I am creating as fast as my fingers will allow it. And, we are working on our goal of supplying goat's milk soaps, massage melts, scent tarts, eggshell jewelry, and bee's wax wraps to 8 additional stores in Maine. We are planning for this year's CSA garden shares (Click to read.) Goat rentals (click to read.) begin April 1st. And, we have enough eggs being laid regularly to satisfy 6 of our 10 regular CSA Egg Share (Click to read.) Customers. This will increase daily with the daylight. If you are interested in signing up for any of our shares, you can use this form (Click to read.) or call to talk with Sean or myself at 207-323-4982.

Sean and I spent a couple hours this week planning on the barn expansion we'll need to frame and sheath this year. Most of the year, the does will have open access to three of the stalls and their field. Once breeding season comes in the fall, we'll be able to separate our pairs into private and semi-private kidding stalls. We've planned to create four kidding stalls (marked in light blue). If we can breed the way we did this year, with several weeks between each kidding, this will suit us perfectly. We'll increase to breed 8 does each year, alternating years so the does have plenty of time to rest and recuperate after breeding.

This is our ambitious, 2-year barn plan:

2015:
*Pour cement pad for addition
*Frame & OSB sheath 10x10 Dedicated Milking Room
*Frame & Cement Board sheath 10x5 Dedicated Milk Processing Room
*Frame 10x5 Wood Shed
*Frame and Metal Roof Addition
*Typar entire barn
*Move and install windows and doors (as necessary)
Cost of Materials Approx. $900

2016:
*Aluminum siding on entire barn
Cost of Materials ?????

When I wrote this two days ago, I felt nothing but excitement at all of the possibilities ahead of us. I knew it would take a lot of hard work, but we're up for that. Today I spent most of the day working on gathering information for a grant I want to apply for. If we are successful, we'll have the funds to expand and complete all the garden beds we want to have, a greenhouse to cover a good amount of them, and the barn expansion completed this year. It would be a HUGE jump for us and allow us to apply for our dairy license as well as more than double our CSA shares. My dream is to be able to focus part of our CSA shares towards supplying low-income and elderly families with fresh, local foods. For some reason the potential to be able to take that leap so soon leaves me feeling overwhelmed and just a little lost. It is all perception. Nothing has changed between this day and that, other than my perception and mental attitude.

I think it is time to get off this silly machine and put my hands to work. Nothing helps change an attitude so much as a little physical work help to distract the mind. I need to make another three batches of soaps to give us a fully stocked supply and there is no time like the present.

Thanks for stopping in for a visit friends.
I am glad you came.

~Sean & Sonja ♥

Growing New Goals

We posted on October 31, 2012, how pleased and thankful we were to reach over 2,000 visits in one month. I remember how I danced around the kitchen in the glow of happiness. "Thank You To You!" Post   This morning re-reading that entry, I smiled all over again. Though, this blog is many things for us; a diary of this venture, a way to connect with you, a place to learn and grow, when I see the number of new visitors and readers, I feel a sense of accomplishment- that we are not in this alone. So, when we ended December with 3,572 visits and gained our 50th reader (Welcome, Stephanie!), my happy dance was pulled out all over again. (Mentally this time, since I have succumbed to Sean's flu and leave the couch only for bare necessities.) Again, I send my grateful thanks to those of you keeping us company on this journey.

"You must have long term goals to keep you from being frustrated by short term failures."

- Charles C. Noble

With the start of a spanking new year before us, once more we look ahead to growing. The landscape is all of what we want to accomplish, among these are a completely constructed, painted, and usable barn, garden plots enough to feed the many, and a breeding program that supports our working for ourselves. The landscape is vast and far off still.

Details are where we live today. How many eggs have we collected from the coop? How can I continue to grow in the sales of our products? How can we attract visitors, gain readers, and keep them coming back? I don't know that there is a magical formula for any of this. Most days, I feel like Dory, "just keep swimming, just keep swimming" along.

One thing I am certain of is how motivated I am to continue on, as I reach for small goals. The first month I began writing, I was surprised to have been visited by over 1,000 people. I set the goal to keep that number steady. After a few months, living around 1,500 visits, I challenged myself to try to reach over 2,000 people. The thought of ever reaching over 3,000 people, was just a dream in my eyes. But, months later, here we are! So, my new goal is to hold onto those 3,500 visits each month and by the end of this year, I hope to hit the 5,000 visits mark. Completely candid? I want so badly to edit those words and reduce that goal. It feels a little overwhelming right now. But, I remind myself, 5,000 visitors is landscape. Today, I only have to focus on the details of living this day and recording what adventure lays in store for it alone.

So, to that end, it is time to visit the barn and coops, open the doors to allow the animals their freedom to roam or not, feed and water the critters, and check on their health. Then, if nothing dire presents itself, more cold medicine, a warm fire to thaw my body, and perhaps, a movie afternoon with our family- just swimming all the while.

Thanks for a wonderful first year. I can't wait to see what 2013 holds in store for us.
Sonja ♥

PS: I have added a new page element, tracking all the eggs we collect from our coop for the whole year. You will see the counter change regularly in the top left corner of the blog home page. This morning, we started the year with 2 eggs and more to come.