Friday, March 15, 2019

windfalls

Tsuga looks pretty pleased with her branch.

We've had some strong winds recently,
which have brought down many small - and some not-small - branches.


Fern was perfectly happy with her branch.
Until she saw Tsuga's branch.

At this time of year, I only move branches and fallen trees if I'm going to trip over them. I can't afford the extra leaning.

Fern says, "Mama, why don't we share?"

The goats spend hours nibbling on branches and downed trees.
I believe they find nutrients in the bark, buds, lichen and moss, and even the wood.

Iris has found a little stick All For Her Own Self!


Or so she thought.
Brother Rocket decided he would like that stick
.



Tansy found a nice branch, but then reconsidered.

"I'll have my timber 'straight up' today!"


In other goat nutrition news, I had 1400 pounds of hay delivered yesterday.
This made me deliriously happy.

It's in two massive bales.
Each one is 8 feet by 3 feet by 3 feet.
They were delivered in about 10 minutes with a skid-steer:
up my ice-covered driveway and straight into the roundtop.
It was beautiful to watch.

Unlike standard bales, which are carried one by one from the roundtop to the barns and then opened up and distributed to the paddocks,
these bales will have to be opened in the roundtop and then large amounts of loose hay will be transported over ice and snow and - soon - mud.
I hate wasting hay, and loose hay is...loose. I don't want to leave a long trail of hay everywhere I carry it, twice every day.
So I'm going to try to come up with one all-season transport method that will be effective, efficient, and which I hope will not require buying anything.

Fortunately, I don't mind a challenge. And there's a weekend ahead.

What new fun are you planning this weekend?
~~~~~