Great Pyrenees Livestock Guardian, Chief

Here is our boy, Chief! He turned 2 years old in Januray and the lights went on and he started guarding the sheep, chickens, cats, and small dogs!! We're still working with the goats, not because he's not good with them but because they are still scared silly of a big dog in their area. I introduced him again (after living next to them for the last year) to the goats and things are going well in the last few weeks, I even caught Chief licking the bucks ear - and Cochise was letting him!

This is a look: Can I get a cookie?

Here is his way of lounging so he looks like he is awake...his head is wedged in a square to hold it up so he can sleep and not look like he's asleep! Smart dog!!! That'll fool the coons!!

Moldy Soil?

Using Low Tunnels In A Very Wet Marine Climate


We put up some low tunnels last year to help us with our project of over wintering produce. I limed the soil, fertilized, and added some composted manure, then rototilled it all in. I planted a variety of winter lettuce, kale, onions, broccoli, cauliflower, and garlic. The broccoli and cauliflower were an expirement in what will over winter and give us produce earlier in the spring. They died almost immediatly of course. The rest died when we had a really hard frost in December. So today I decided to go out and uncover the tunnels and see what the damage was and what I needed to do to try it again with early plantings, testing the limits of how early I can start in these low tunnels. Low and behold....I've got mold, although someone said it might be algae since it's been so wet this year. I sent a picture to an expert and we'll see what gives when I get an answer. If this is going to be a re-occuring problem I might as well wait until spring to do all that work before planting.

Carding Fiber For Spinning

Patrick Green Super Carder & Me

I've got a lot of spinning to do.....mostly alpaca for a friend, but I've also got some angora, mohair, and wool to spin up too from my own flocks. The alpaca is slow going, I thought I had a handle on it but there are still so many bags of it to do yet I fear I'll never get through it all! The good news is that two ladies are going to be helping me in exchange for spinning lessons!

Above you see my weighing method, after it's washed & dried I measure out 2.2 to 2.4 ounces and then put it on the carder below...once the carder kicks out misc dirt and dibris it usually winds up with a carded bat that is 2.0 ounces exactly give or take a thenth or so.

Below you see the beautiful bat being pulled away from the carder, so soft and easy to spin!! Alpaca is one of my favorite fibers for softness, but it's not as nice as angora! Last month I finished up 3 more fleeces...I hope to get through another 5 this month before the baby goaties start hitting the ground in March!