Moving forward...

Things have been pretty quiet the last two weeks, but I've been busy planning. There are many things that need to happen in the near future in order for my beautiful goats to take up residence at El Rancho and start making more goats. The needs are not difficult, but they are needs and not wants:


Land
Fence
Water
Forage
Security


Once I have these five things nailed down, I can start buying goats!  I have the land (the most expensive piece, btw) so that's a great start.  The next two, fence and water, are 'in the works.' On water, I have spoken to two drillers and am planning to contact a third. I have never drilled a water well, so this is brand new territory. We've consulted people we trust, but still it's an unknown: How deep will they need to drill? Will the water be potable or have tons of iron or sulpher like LB's? Where should the well be located? Near the barndo or the future house?

On fencing, we have already done our homework and shopping. Fencing is not cheap! Sheep and Goat wire seems to be the best choice for the perimeter, using t-posts. That way, the escape artists will be foiled (hopefully!). For cross fencing, we plan to start out with electric fencing. That way we can wait and see what works, what size areas we want for rotation purposes. We found that Producer's Cooperative has the best price overall. Last week, I turned in my application to become a CoOp member. The board meets at the end of the month to decide on all of the applications they received. The State granted me a farm use sales tax waiver already, so.....Fingers crossed! It is a member-owned coop, so that means we share in the profits each year-- taxable income called patronage (We received a patronage check from Capital Farm Credit, which is where the land is financed).

Once I have fencing and water, we can start getting goats! We have sufficient. forage for them to eat without our having to feed them grain or pelleted feed each day. Probably need to keep some hay (large round bale) and plenty of fresh water. Last week, I received a gift box from Native American Seeds, sent by my friend Zynobia from Junction, Texas. She sent a variety of native grass seeds, including small bluestem and shade tolerant varaities and a Lady Bird wildflower seed assortment. I feel good about planting native grasses that are time-tested by Mother Nature.

So, once all that's done, I just need to find animals-- goats and a donkey. Right now I am leaning towards a donkey for goat security. Many goat farmers rave about the great job done by dogs, but a dog needs to be fed each day and a donkey can eat browse and hay like a goat (they are a little equine, but can live off browse like a goat). One of the smartest things I've done is join a couple of goat email groups. I'm starting to learn the ropes, figure out who's where in Texas, what the going price is for goats, and so forth. I'll be asking some of them for advice as I get closer to purchasing some does. For the donkey, there are hundreds which have been abandoned in the last couple of years, so hopefully I will be able to find a jenny with an amiable personality. Dan has pretty much nixed any discussion of llamas...

We are not Sheeple

First off, no disrespect to actual ovines," the 'ships' in the field, the little baa baa baas", but I want to proclaim my distance from sheeple- you know, folks can't think for themselves and just follow the one in front (notice I avoided the term 'leader'). A more recent usage of the term refers to those who blindly allow the government to herd them around. Well, that ain't me! Ever!

I grew up in Houston, but thankfully had strong-minded parents and had the opportunity to spend a lot of time in "the country"-- as a Girl Scout, riding horses, spending time in Polk County, lounging on the Island. I learned how to do things with tools, make my own clothes, and, best of all, improvise.  I have always been drawn to the country, particularly animal agriculture. Westheimer Stables and the HLSR were places I belonged and where I learned about all things ag. I knew where eggs, milk, steaks and leather came from and it didn't make me squirm to clean fresh-caught catfish at Lake Livingston. As a adult, I earned an Animal Science degree, worked on a cutting horse farm, and loved getting dirty and being productive. Still do.

I currently live on five acres in the county, surrounded by large trees and few neighbors. Unfortunately, town has moved towards us in the last twenty years and we decided it was time to move further away from the city, so last year we bought our 19+ acres across the mighty Brazos River. So now, we will be 20 miles from College Station, but only 10 miles from Caldwell or Snook (home of Slovacek's Sausage!)

Which brings me back to sheeple and why I got on that topic. Knowing I wanted to have animals at the new place, I talked to my county extension agent, Dusty Tittle (who is a sheepman, but not a sheeple), and goats seems to be the best choice for me. For the past six months, I've been studying up on all things goat: from breeding and feeding, to selling and showing. On the information highway, I discovered that animal agriculture is under attack, that most folks have no clue where food comes from, and that I can have a positive impact on both. I've chosen several ag/farmer blogs to include on this page, and encourage you to read some of them. In particular, Farmers Fight is one that gives me hope for the future.  Next week, the ag students at Texas A&M will be out educating campus on where food comes from and why they should care about it, and what the truth is about farming and ranching. Kind of an "un-sheepleing" process. For too long, we've let the media and others (don't even get me started on HSUS) tell the public what we do and they haven't been telling the truth. But sheeples just follow. Time to make agvocates of them instead!  There are lots of other groups with similar missions, like Protect the Harvest  and the U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance. So, take some time to find out where dinner comes from and what you can do to make sure breakfast isn't cancelled...

Texans are proud of a lot of things, some even justifiably. One thing most are crazy for is bluebonnets, Lupinus texensis, the state flower of Texas. It's not our only flower, but it's OUR flower and we have a long history with it.  Newspapers hold contests on best bluebonnet picture, websites are devoted to Texas Wildflowers, motorists stop on busy highways to put the toddler and puppy in the flowers for a glam shot (never mind the fire ants, snakes and empty PBR cans...), and TV reporters use the blue backdrop for every story they can, even if it has nothing to do with being outside. We don't mow the highways until the flowers have dropped their seeds for next year, ensuring a tradition. Even I fell victim this year, creating a facebook album of the first 'bonnets on my new land at El Rancho.

Despite the catastrophic drought last year, the heavy winter and spring rains have brought up a swelling ocean of floral color this spring. Indian paintbrush, daisies, beebalm, black-eyed susans, Texas toadflax and more, all here for our delight in every shape, color and size (check this out for photos to identify your favorites).  Even wild onions add to the landscape, as do the Texas redbud trees and lantana.

Last year after I bought El Rancho, there was no water to be found and things were pretty brown and dusty and just plain hot. We had several established trees die and hope the rest aren't too weakened. But right now, those grim thoughts are far from my mind as I sit at El Rancho and just, well, sit. Flowers are blooming, the trees have burst out their canopies and even the grass and clover are green, green, green. All of the birds are singing rather loudly and looking for mates, from the lovely cardinals, to chickadees, and even including the turkey vultures (I guess there IS someone for everyone...). In fact, the birds were so loud I could hear them through my hearing protectors while on the tractor Saturday!

Dan and I drove to Waco for lunch with friends on Sunday. About a mile from the house, he stopped the truck and rolled down the window. He thought the truck was making an odd noise, when it was just the birds, happy to have spring. The drive up Highway 6 to Waco was gorgeous and I realized how much I love driving across this state. Sadly, this morning the Infomaniacs on WTAW reported a sharp decrease in butterflies due to the heat (it's already 80+ here). So, it's a little less colorful, but hopefully the rains will continue this year and we won't be facing more drought.

"Placing" El Rancho

Anytime Dan and I go out to El Rancho, we typically check-in at fb with our phones, sometimes including pictures. So, we had a "place" on fb and could tell friends to follow directions to el rancho. Then we made a facebook page for el rancho. Dan went to merge the two and the fb gods asked him for a copy of a utility or phone bill, address, incorporation papers, vendor lien and whatnot. I've been trying to merge the page and place for my office for three months, so I knew it might be a battle.

I figure a digital presence can only help show intention and be helpful. I'll whip up a webpage and later I can use it to market my goatlings. In my research I learned that when doing taxes, feed, fence, tractors are deductible if it's a farm with a business plan that occasionally makes a profit but it's a hobby if it doesn't make a profit and you can't deduct a hobby. (Thanks, Purdue!). 

In true Severn fashion, he fired back a missive to the fb gods about why he could supply none of those things for his goat farm.... (goats do not answer the phone, it's legal to farm in Texas without a license, I don't wanna...) and it worked!  So, we now have a complete fb page, a webpage and this blog!

El Rancho is definitely a work in progress, literally and digitally, so my work is cut out for me (had to throw a needlecraft idiom in here somewhere!). Keeping this blog will keep be on task, kinda like if you don't tell anyone you're working out or on a weight-loss diet, you can procrastinate. Once you throw it out to the world, you're committed!  

UPDATE:  Read a story in The Eagle this morning about a sinkhole in Bryan. Need to keep an eye on our 'water feature' at el rancho and definitely not put a house there!

Water---

Owning land in the country that you plan to live on  is different than buying an 1800 square foot ranch-style in a cookie cutter neighborhood. Most city folks don't give a thought about water most days, but we will have to drill a well and keep our water potable. We have neighbors on two sides with different water in their wells. One has good, sweet water; the other has water full of rust!  I have contacted a couple of well drillers and can't wait to find out what they project on costs... probably a five-figure amount. 


Electricity is readily available on our property, so that's a wonderful thing! Plus, it's an electric co-op, Bluebonnet Electric.  But first, water.