Pot Hole Potatoes

Things are dry this spring so I'm planting out house potatoes in a dry pot hole up by the lake at the new raspberry patch.  We won't have to worry about watering them but may need to float them out in the fall!

Berries!

Yesterday we activated a vacant piece of land between two hay fields and put in about an acre of berries.  Hopefully they will give us an indication of potential for commercial berry production up here.  We are using a commercial raspberry grown in Alberta and another from the Pacific North West USA.  In all we will know a year from now what is best from four varieties of raspberries and six varieties of blueberries.  They are all being certified organic.  About half the root stalk is being stuck in outdoor nursery status to fill in gaps next year..

First Black Pair

This little gal was born this morning.  She is getting her first bath from mommy who is one of the three blacks from the Soldatna herd.

Number Ten

The oldest daughter of Arctic Tierra had a little black bull.  Another black calf with two white parents.

Chloe's Line Strikes Again

Chloe's third daughter had her first calf- a bull- with white ears.  She had picked a nice dry bowl with a southern exposure.  They are both well but still in seclusion.

Last April Calf for 2010

One of our black heifers had a heifer with red points.  She was still wet but already nursing when I got there.  She was talking bovine guttural grunts to her daughter about the intruder but she held her ground.  A good mother.

Another Elusive Birth

The second oldest daughter of Chloe had her calf (a bull with black on the inner ears) off in the far corner sometime early Sunday morning.  I had followed her Saturday afternoon and knew she was in that birth walk mode.  By Sunday afternoon she was up with the rest of the cows eating hay and I found the calf under a birch tree where he was born.  Didn't bother him lest he run off and complicate things for mom.  Yesterday, Monday, they were back together but she is still keeping him away from the other cows.  She did a pretty good job of keeping him away from me.  I went around the pasture three times before finding them huddled down beside the extreme east fence.  This cow lost her first calf last year and we never saw it so I'm keeping a close eye this year.