You Wanted A Photo Of Me

Well I got it on here and haven't broke the camera or computer so far!

Save the World Train Oxen And Sell Your Tractor

Stop the madness of easy, couch potato homesteading, and dreaming about a little house on the prairie, where you can live the same way you did in the city, getting fatter, lazier, less healthy and then handicapped. The Homesteaders life style is all about the opposite. Making your dream of little house on the prairie come true, and though your dream tricking you and your loved ones into better health , caring for All - each other - your live stock - your grandparents - your neighbors - your county - your country - the Earth... It's about living on less and making more of what you need and when you do need to buy some thing , buy it locally- or nationally-made , that's caring , caring that your neighbors or countrymen and women have a job.

OXEN are better for your homestead. You can get 2 at a dairy or action for about $110. Bottle feed the calves, and if you don't have milk goats to feed them your own milk, 2 bags of milk replacer will cost you about $130. In a year you will be doing light work with them. The fun you and your family will have raising them and training them , will last a lifetime in all your minds. For less then 500 dollars you can plow your garden and pull fire wood from the forest. A tractor is $20,000. Go to YouTube look up oxen plowing. Google oxen; there are books, videos and classes on doing it. And ask yourself how many carrots or what ever will you have to grow to pay off that $20,000 for a tractor. Ask, do you wish to keep being a slave to the bank, tractor repair and the gas station?

What comes out the back end of an ox will grow some great veggies, but what comes out of the exhaust pipe of the tractor will not.

The Goats and Calves

The lady called from the dairy and said she would have more calves in June, so some time this month training will start on the Oxen. The 5 momma goats have had 10 babies so far. One more momma to go and so far 6 are baby girls . Hopefully some one will help me get those photos out of the camera and on here for you all to see all that's going on here. The garden is really looking good. Eating fresh veggies out of it and canned some dill pickles the other day.

Chattanooga Sorghum mill and Oxen Training

Well after looking for a sorghum mill and a new Nubian buck goat for over 2 years I found some one with nice show quality Nubian goats. When they were showing me around their place, I almost tripped over a sorghum mill laying on the ground, and told them that I had been looking all over for one, and that I had missed getting one a little over a year ago on the shopper newspaper for $200 by just a day. They walked me around the barn and showed me the one that they already had set up and working and said that they didn't need 2 of them and for the $200 I could have this newer one that was in very good condition. The steel still had its factory paint: international harvester red.

A new Nubian buck for the herd and a sorghum mill from the same place. And that was the last place I was going to call this year about finding a new Nubian buck! And that was after about 25 calls this year, and not finding one. That's God's funny way of saying I'm here and looking out for you and your project. I sure was feeling good driving home with them all loaded up. The mud flaps were dragging at times. The mill weighs #1158.

I got the milking parlor built just in time! Last week Poppy the goat had two kids, a girl and a boy. Two days ago, two more mama goats had their babies, two girls each. Far OUT! I'll try and get some photos of the babies and the milking parlor when I can. (It's hard to at the library, and my computer is dead.)

The weather has been very good and I have been planting the garden. The lake is up and the fishing is good. I have been taking walks through the Sabine National Forest to the lake in the morning. It's very nice. Found a wild walnut tree and a coral snake this morning. Getting more eggs from the chickens than I can eat. Wish I had some people around to share them with and to go kayaking with on this big beautiful lake (Toledo Bend), but I guess not many wish to live this homesteader's lifestyle.

The goats finished cleaning up the first pasture and wonted more brush so I just finished a second pasture twice the size of the first one. They're very happy now! With all the milk I'm going to start trying to make Cheese.

2010!

Another year, and 4 inches of snow in east Texas Piney Woods! It's planting time, so I'm getting that garden going. The goats will be having there babies in a month, so I'm building the new milking parlor and getting ready for that great milk. And the first test at making cheese. Also with the new milk flow I'll be raising another set of Holstein calves to train as oxen. Any one wishing to help out please write me at srh@juno.com Thanks and have a great day!

Pictures of the goats.

The black nubian goat is Star, who had two does a couple of weeks ago. The other picture is of my multi-colored nubian, Poppy, and two Oberhaslies. The two larger goats both had their babies.