Some Things To Know About Owning Angora Rabbits

#1 Rule of Angora Rabbits:  Start with ONE.  Do not get overzealous and buy four (like I did).  Start with one and get your feet wet in the wonderful world of fiber animals.  Plus, when you have four, you find that they, um, breed like rabbits, and you end up with more rabbits than you want to own.

#2 Grooming:  Be prepared to brush them many times a week.  Do not let the wool get wet.  Angora fur is soft and lovely, but it mats very easily.  Plan on trimming fur around their privates so it doesn't get poopy.  Trim their nails often.

#3 Feeding:  Angora rabbits need fresh water, a very high protein feed and lots of good fresh hay.  The hay is essential to keep them from getting wool block - a problem when they ingest to much wool while cleaning themselves and it blocks their intestinal tract.  Occasional treats.

#3 Processing Fiber:  Know what to do with the fiber when you get it.  Research, research, research!  Otherwise you'll find that you end up with bags of wool and you're not quite sure what to do with it.

#4  Be prepared to fall in love.  If you do decide to start raising angora rabbits, you will find they have the most wonderful temperament!  Who can pass up those adorable faces?  They're sweet and forgiving. 

But... 

After about a year of owning my rabbits I decided to sell them all.  I found that the time and care commitment I needed to give them was more than I wanted.  I have so much going on on this little farm and I found I couldn't give them the time they needed.  It wasn't the rabbits themselves (they're lovely), but the care of their fur that became a problem.  The person to whom I sold them owns rabbits and knows the level of care they'll need.  I miss the little buggers, but I feel relief that I don't have to give so much time to their care!   

Sometimes, You Just Need A Break

Sometimes, you just need to take a break.  On March 28, 2013 I decided I had just had my fill of blogging and I wasn't going to do it anymore.  I felt like I was getting stale.  Blogging had lost its joy for me.  I simply stopped.  

Now, 6 months later, I miss writing, taking pictures, and seeing my farm around me through the eyes of a blogger.  Blogging give you an interesting and fun perspective and really makes you look at what you're doing.  So, I've decided to get back to it!

I have lots of changes to talk about!:

New pigs

Maple and honey focus

Rabbits gone.

New barn.

More!

Fingers Crossed, But Maybe, Maybe, We'll Have A Maple Season?

The weather forecast looks great for maple season for the next five - and possibly, ten - days!  I've learned not to look too closely at the ten day forecast because the weather tends to change too much in that longer time.  But... yesterday, I picked up sap from our tanks.  With the next (maybe) week of proper temperatures we may see some sap flow!    Then we get to boil that lovely sap into delicious maple syrup!

Sap dripping from a tree.

Still Waiting For The Weather To Break/Potter-Tioga Maple Weekend

Not a lot to report today.  We're still waiting for the weather to break so that we can get some maple sap.  I'm happy to watch my garden seedlings starting to sprout.

Although our Sugar Shack has not evolved to the point where we're ready for lots of visitors a lot of other area Maple Producers are opening their doors to be visited this weekend.

Don't miss the Potter-Tioga Maple Weekend!

Click on the link for more information and locations.

9th ANNUAL

Maple Weekend

March 23 & 24, 2013

For those of us who turn up our  noses at “pancake syrup” and crave the deep, pure taste of real maple syrups, creams, candies and even ice cream—our time is coming. The Potter/ Tioga Pennsylvania Maple Weekend, held the last weekend of March, is a true tribute to all things maple. Now in its ninth year, the Maple Weekend is a “traveling festival” that allows visitors to observe tree tapping, sugar boiling, and other maple-related activities in Potter and Tioga counties. Fourteen members of the Potter/Tioga Maple Producers Association open their sugar shack doors during Maple Weekend for a deliciously educational experience. Bring the whole family and celebrate this truly American Tradition. Visit several Sugar Shacks as each is unique in production and variety of products.

Maple Patience

"Life on a farm is a school of patience; you can't hurry the crops or make an ox in two days."

~Henri Alain

...Nor can you make maple syrup when the temperatures are too cold for the sap to rise in the trees.  Patience, and the acceptance of the inevitability that nature follows its own schedule are all that's possible.  

Maybe next week...

Waiting for Sap To Flow

P.S. I finished the last of my spring planting and moved the leafy greens into an indoor window box.

It May Be Snowing Outside, But I'm Planting Inside!

After lots of time figuring out what my family wants to eat and how many plants that will require I finally put together my planting chart for inside and outside the high tunnel.  I'm still planting a lot of varieties of vegetables, but not in the quantities that I've planted in the past.  My 2013 Garden Plan:  Feed My Family, Can and Preserve, Have A Little To Give Away, Have A Little For Farmer's Market

This is my chart for inside the high tunnel.  Note that it's written in pencil and you can't tell, but there are lots of erasures and rewrites on it.  Everything is subject to change.

This is my planting chart.  I have flats with 72 cells.  So I printed out the chart and now I'm adding the plants.  The color coding allows me to write the plant name.  Something I learned.  Use a pen.  Do not write your plant names in marker.  A drop of water smears and destroys them!  

Some lettuces and greens I planted a few weeks ago.  They desperately need to be planted.  I think I'm going to pull out a window box and plant them in that!

I grow plants for many reasons: to please my eye or to please my soul, to challenge the elements or to challenge my patience, for novelty or for nostalgia, but mostly for the joy in seeing them grow.

 ~ David Hobson    (www.brainyquote.com)

Mother Nature Scoffs

I believe that Mother Nature is scoffing our feeble attempts to make maple syrup!  We need above freezing during the day and below freezing at night for the sap to flow.  Maybe tomorrow we'll get some sap.

Keep warm!

5 Day Forecast

Updated: Mar 14, 2013, 9:18amEDT

TodayMar 14

29^°F

20^°F

Flurries / Wind

CHANCE OF SNOW:

30%

 

WIND:

WNW at 22 mph

Details

FriMar 15

38^°

30^°

Rain / Snow Showers

CHANCE OF PRECIP:

50%

 

WIND:

WSW at 15 mph

Details

SatMar 16

31^°

23^°

AM Snow Showers

CHANCE OF SNOW:

60%

 

WIND:

N at 6 mph

Details

SunMar 17

32^°

24^°

Partly Cloudy

CHANCE OF PRECIP:

20%

 

WIND:

NNW at 8 mph

Details

MonMar 18

31^°

30^°

Snow Shower

CHANCE OF SNOW:

60%

 

WIND:

SE at 14 mph

Details