We have officially crossed that line of, I’m grateful just to have green colors again, into “boy do we need to mow the lawn…again”.
The race is on to effectively manage the grazing for the cows and sheep and to keep them healthy and pest free while we do it.
Tomorrow we plan to move the cattle from our farm, back to our friend’s farm near Little Sand Bay Rd. The pastures there are growing tall from not being grazed earlier this spring, but the benefit to the cows is that the tall grass helps to swish away the bugs that bite at their legs, and it hides the young calves who then find shade and relief from the flies. Moving the herd is an all day event and it can be a little stressful to be handling such big animals. Some of our cows hop right into a trailer. Those cows get to live the longest. They’ve made this trip before, and they know that there will be better grass on the other end of the trip. Even more exciting, when we move the cows, I am going to put two of our smallest cows in with our mini highland bull, Mocha. Fuzzy white calves anyone???
Mocha is a very social guy and he hates being in with the two rams. He sleeps in the barn all day, and then comes out at night to eat and bellow at the mini cows in the adjoining pasture. Lucy and June Bug could care less, which only means he yowls more. I thought he’d give it up after a couple of weeks, refilled his water and made sure it was sparkly clean, gave him hay bales in case the grass wasn’t good enough, new mineral…but no, the guy’s just mad that his ladies are gone.
Just wait until we introduce him to Bell and Cece. Mocha is going to be thrilled. Bell and Cece? They’ll probably not be super happy with me, but hey, the shaggy highland bull mixed in with our most petite British Whites will make some adorable calves.
The real cows however, will all be grazing at the other farm soon, and its a great excuse to go and sit by the ponds located in the pastures. The two ponds are centrally located in the fields and teaming with life. The cattle are fenced out of the ponds to prevent erosion of the bank, and the turtles, frogs and birds are protected while still being able to come and go as they please. I love it there, and I know its time to bring the cows because we are running low on pasture, due to its growth slowing down, and because the temperatures are heating up. On long hot days, the Sand Bay Pastures provide all the relief our cows need. Let’s hope that this time, nobody decides to make a break for it and go on a weeklong rampage throughout the Town of Russell. If you remember, that was not ideal.
Back at the farm, once the cows are moved, the sheep will need to be separated from their lambs so that they can start to put more weight on, and lambs can be weaned. Louise is the most loyal dog and has been enjoying her time out on pasture with her flock, and Maddie. Maddie is last years’ bottle baby calf and she firmly believes she is a sheep. We’ve tried to put her back with the cows but she gets the shits and sprays liquid diarrhea out her rear end in total distress mode. She also “moos” and carries on as loudly as possible, pacing the fence and screaming in our general direction until we decide to interrupt the flood of liquid green long enough to put her back in the sheep flock. All we have to do is open the fence and she bolts back in, immediately happier, she goes back to eating like she hadn’t just thrown the biggest fit of the century. So, Maddie lives with the sheep.
The taller Maddie gets, the sillier our flock looks, but whatever. She’s happy, I’m happy. We haven’t quite figured out how we will ever introduce her to a bull though, if she thinks she’s a sheep, the entire relationship may be off to a rough start. This years’ bottle baby, Nettie, is a twin and as adorable as it gets. She’s in the horse barn, learning to walk on a lead line and hating it. She’s adorable, smaller than Maddie was at her age, and she thinks she’s a horse. I’m hopeful that we can introduce her to the minis, who also live with the horses for now, June and Lucy so that at least she will identify as a cow. Unfortunately if we had left her with the cattle herd we couldn’t have fed her as often as she needed, or given her the care she deserves, so she had to be closer to the house. Leaving the babies with mom is just always ideal, but in this case, Nettie needed a new mom, so here we are.
Hopefully both Maddie and Nettie will be able to stay on the farm long term and their early intervention and more human interaction will mean that they’re more tame as adults, which will make caring for them all that much easier.
In farm product news we are loaded with beef. I’ve had to put the steaks in the drawer in the freezer because of how frosty the freezer gets after being opened too many times. It’s great that so many people are out there shopping, so its a problem I can live with. There is plenty of ground, steaks and roasts as well as lamb to get us through the summer and well into the fall so if you are looking for something specific, please reach out to us so that we can check the inventory if its not in the store.
As always, our efforts have focused on bringing more life, more energy, and more food back to the community via the farm. We absolutely love being able to produce good food from animals that have lived a happy life and I think it shows when you finally get to taste it. Like most years, we’ve worked to enhance our environment here too. Last year planting 151 trees, this year and most others, adding bird houses, and finally we’ve gotten Audubon certified! Seeing how many more birds are here this year and the bluebirds’ happy fledglings just now learning to fly, I know we are heading in the right direction. A few quiet minutes out on the pasture and you can identify a handful of grassland species happily diving at bugs and bouncing across the willows.
As we get closer to the fall season we will begin to market the whole and half bulk lamb option again. We take deposits for lamb, $75 per half and $150 per whole as it covers the cost of the processing and travel time. This year we are prepared to have a lot of lamb so pay attention to our newsletters so that you know when to get on the list!
Finally, This month on the 21st a 299 foot cell tower is set to be decided upon at the Bayfield County Board room at 4pm. This tower just feels like a heartbreak when we’ve worked so hard to make this corner what it is. While I understand that people have the right to their own opinions, I am firmly rooted in the believe that this will be a grave error.
I want my daughter to have the same dark skies as I did when I was her age. I want the birds we’ve welcomed to the farm to feel welcome here in the years to come, and for the farmland that we are losing so fast and so often, to be valued for what it is, fragile and beautiful, and quite literally, the foundation that allows us all to exist. There are a million reasons why a cell tower of this size doesn’t belong on Turner Road, and plenty of other locations that wouldn’t have quite so many negative effects. Towers and regenerative farming just don’t feel like compatible uses.
Please consider signing the petition and adding your name to the long list of local organizations who have spoken out about this particular application, here, https://chng.it/kPWKSgXym8 ( don’t donate to change.org if they ask ) and if you’d like to, write to the town of Russell clerk at clerk@townofrussellwi.gov and to Bayfield County zoning at zoning@bayfieldcounty.wi.gov before this Monday at noon to let them know that we need better planning, applications that include facts and information, not broad statements, and to preserve our wild and rural landscapes. Once we lose them, they’re gone.
As always, thank you to our customers for sending friends, family, and others to the farm. We hear you greet the horses in the morning, and we see the notes you leave in the farm store. It makes the “chaos” as Nori affectionately calls it, all worthwhile. I love that her life is full of beautiful chaos, and that she is growing up to truly understand and appreciate the Northwoods, and maybe even more importantly, a damn good steak.
Want steak too? Stop by!
See you out here,
Esme, Josh, Nori and the cranky Mocha
Lmk when you go sit by the ponds and I’ll join ya