I still haven't progressed much further with the mule's training though. And Cookie Man the donkey hasn't been harnessed more than once in the last year...
I planted Saskatoon berries (a berry that tastes like blueberries) and have an order in to the Missouri Conservation in Licking, MO for more trees.
http://mdc.mo.gov/your-property/seedling-orders-and-planting-guide/seedling-order-how
They have Shellbark hickory trees that have immense nuts on them. Should be interesting.
I adopted two Pit/Labrador puppies (3 1/2 months old) a month or so ago and they seem to be really attached to me already. I still have the older dogs but the Livestock Guardian dog, Tasha the Anatolian, has gone up north to Chicago to live with her beloved Vince (my son). She's perfect for him and they adore one another.
I came down sick with a terrible upper respiratory infection a month or so ago and am still struggling to overcome it.
The Feast of the Hunters' Moon 2015 was a great success, as usual! We sold lots of soap and Sweet Annie (I adore Sweet Annie). So much so that I sent away for and got a Sweet Annie charm that I intend on attaching to an ear cuff for the Feast.
I gleaned gourds and pumpkins from a local pumpkin patch and fed the pumpkins to my American Guinea Hogs and am drying the gourds to tinker with containers and such. Should be fun. Never on the level of friends of mine, but something fun for the farm.
Daikon radishes, turnips and mangels (sugar beets) continue to fascinate me and I hope to have a large planting of same for the pigs, equine and goats. I'm not sure if sheep like mangels, but it could be a nice treat for them.
The two ewes (Border Leicester and Border Leicester/Finn) should be bred to a Finn ram but if they don't have lambs in March, I'll rebreed to a Tunis ram if I can find one...
I have just three Oberhasli dairy goats now. One really nice buck and two non-related does. I'm a bit edgy about the newer doe as I was told after purchasing her she didn't take (wouldn't settle/breed) after 4 or 5 "driveway" breedings. I'm hoping with her great genetics and the buck's superior genetics she'll settle and give me at least one doe. It'll be nice to have fresh goats milk again!
I'll post pictures of as much of the above as I can find asap. As usual, please feel free to visit my FaceBook White Pine Soapworks page!
https://www.facebook.com/White-Pine-Soapworks-160474870637649/?ref=hl
Hope you all had a great Christmas and New Year!