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- #601
SageHill Ranch Journal
- Thread starter SageHill
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- Thread starter
- #602
SageHill
Herd Master
Last week was roasty toasty, not much grazing going on, a little but the heat came on quickly so everything was short and sweet. This week has been blessedly cool. So we did get some good grazing in, but had to do a bit of catch up from the heat. Yeah - I know, nothing like TX, but hot for here, well hot for ME! 
I did some reading of the Shepherding book - love, love love that book. I see so much of what I do in it - albeit on a much smaller scale. It's nice to know that what I'm doing and seeing is right.
It was cool and damp yesterday so I harrowed the big arena and took Zo with. Poor boy isn't used to riding in the UTV. Fell out ungracefully while I hooked up the drag harrow. It didn't look good, but I of course laughed it off and gave him treats for being a clown. The boy really tried hard not to fall out, but it was on a hill and there was no level surface to get his balance. He's fine, and did well. Taught herding lessons today and used Obi to put the sheep away. I've decided he needs to learn to work with the UTV -- ohhhh 'tis another skill to learn. Poor dog
. It's a bit of a hike to the big arena and uphill to the barn.
I started up the Sheep On The Wild Graze so I can keep track of the good, the bad and the ugly of what I have here on the ranch. Having been left alone for 15-20 years before we bought it the land has been in a process of returning to a natural state. Which is good and what I want, but I need to remember what, when etc. a bit more accurately than I have been the last 6 yrs.
Last week I bit the big bullet and am waiting for a delivery. More later when it gets here and works.
But we also got a remote control brush hog - super sweet, those untractor-able hills are gonna' get whack-a-rooed. If you've ever watched BattleBots I've got mine now!! but I'll only be battling weeds and brush. It was kind of a rush as come Jan 1 good ol gruesome won't allow things with small gas engines - weed whackers, lawnmowers, chainsaws, etc. 'Tis a get it now or never (or figure out another option).
I did some reading of the Shepherding book - love, love love that book. I see so much of what I do in it - albeit on a much smaller scale. It's nice to know that what I'm doing and seeing is right. It was cool and damp yesterday so I harrowed the big arena and took Zo with. Poor boy isn't used to riding in the UTV. Fell out ungracefully while I hooked up the drag harrow. It didn't look good, but I of course laughed it off and gave him treats for being a clown. The boy really tried hard not to fall out, but it was on a hill and there was no level surface to get his balance. He's fine, and did well. Taught herding lessons today and used Obi to put the sheep away. I've decided he needs to learn to work with the UTV -- ohhhh 'tis another skill to learn. Poor dog
. It's a bit of a hike to the big arena and uphill to the barn.I started up the Sheep On The Wild Graze so I can keep track of the good, the bad and the ugly of what I have here on the ranch. Having been left alone for 15-20 years before we bought it the land has been in a process of returning to a natural state. Which is good and what I want, but I need to remember what, when etc. a bit more accurately than I have been the last 6 yrs.
Last week I bit the big bullet and am waiting for a delivery. More later when it gets here and works.
But we also got a remote control brush hog - super sweet, those untractor-able hills are gonna' get whack-a-rooed. If you've ever watched BattleBots I've got mine now!!
but I'll only be battling weeds and brush. It was kind of a rush as come Jan 1 good ol gruesome won't allow things with small gas engines - weed whackers, lawnmowers, chainsaws, etc. 'Tis a get it now or never (or figure out another option).
Ridgetop
Herd Master
Poor Zo! When something like that happens they always look so embarrassed. DGD1 shut the car door on the end of Sirius tail the other day. He yelped but no damage, probably just caught the tip and pulled some fur. She felt terrible.
Ridgetop
Herd Master
Can't wait to hear how the remote control brush hog works. My fear would be that it would tip over in some unreachable place and I would have to climb a cliff to fetch it back.
Baymule
Herd Master
Remote control bush hog! WHOOP! NEW TOY!!
- Thread starter
- #606
SageHill
Herd Master
I soooo wanted to baby him, but we all know if you do that they decide a monster caused it and then never go near the monster thing again. Laughter and treats always the best medicine.
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- #607
SageHill
Herd Master
It’s on treads like a bulldozer, low low to the ground. There will still be some areas we won’t put it in. We could use the tractor with a chain if something really not good happens. The maiden voyage it took on the fill slope of the barn. Not much there because I had the sheep work on that area.
- Thread starter
- #608
SageHill
Herd Master
Nice cool morning and out we went to graze, added some more things into the Sheep On The Wild Graze. I'm including things the don't eat too. It's a bit of a rabbit hole, at least until I've gone through everything that is here. Learning a ton at the same time as well. Wish I had done more checking on things that were in the hydroseed mixes that were used when we built both house and barn. I've bemoaned somethings and now finding out some are invasives! GRRRRRRRRR
The delivery came today, sheep need to acclimate to it. But they definitely watched the offload. - no, not more sheep.
Camper weighs in at 80# and harvest is in Dec. looking good and am looking forward to it, he is a bit of a pig - jumps in the bunk feeders and, well, he's a pig. Hmmm maybe there's bacon to be had!
Camper in the dryland pasture mix by the arena.
Graze today chosen by the sheep after ~15 minutes in the dryland pasture area the sides of the ranch road. Pretty tasty and big mouthfuls. This stuff was over my head in the summer and is now beaten down by the wind and yummy according to the sheep.
The delivery came today, sheep need to acclimate to it. But they definitely watched the offload. - no, not more sheep.
Camper weighs in at 80# and harvest is in Dec. looking good and am looking forward to it, he is a bit of a pig - jumps in the bunk feeders and, well, he's a pig. Hmmm maybe there's bacon to be had!
Camper in the dryland pasture mix by the arena.
Graze today chosen by the sheep after ~15 minutes in the dryland pasture area the sides of the ranch road. Pretty tasty and big mouthfuls. This stuff was over my head in the summer and is now beaten down by the wind and yummy according to the sheep.
Baymule
Herd Master
I research everything before I plant it. Invasive? Nope. Not planting it.
- Thread starter
- #610
SageHill
Herd Master
Yeah - learning the hard way. I didn’t even think of the use of invasives. The one thing I did check exhaustively was if anything was poisonous to dogs. I mistakenly thought invasives would not be allowed in hydroseed mixes esp because we were required to do that on the cut and fill slopes. Sigh.
