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Weight loss “silver bullet”….
….no such thing, of course. But we’ve found the Paleo diet and variations all under the heading of “low carb” do a pretty good job. So if you’re wondering about some latest fade “superfood”, take a look at this list of the real thing. And note what is listed in first place: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jj-virgin/superfoods_b_4555731.html?utm_hp_ref=email_share As a seasoned citizen, I can also report that, taken together, these foods seem to dramatically reduce the aches and pains afflicting most of my age group. When I wander off the righteous path, my body tells me so when I get up in the morning.
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Coping with the cold….
….hasn’t quite been the proverbial “piece of cake”. Wooz has done pretty well and of course I’m inside the tractor. Here she checks our first-calf heifers to see how they withstood below zero temperatures the night before. When it gets this cold we do relent and give the young ladies some grain….not only to stay warm but help with their first re-breeding. If this looks like pretty meager fare, it is; less than two pounds per cow. (Wooz gets a little more) They’re also getting high quality alfalfa-mix hay and we believe that helps them through the cold, too.
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Two that got away….
….that Regina Tesnow is a sharpie! She snapped up two of our really good, older cows awhile back. And they didn’t let her down. On the left is Thistle Hill Shenandoah and on the right Thistle Hill Brandy Station. They’re both two now and ready for breeding. Both were sired by our herd bull U2 Double Trouble. He’s made a big impact on our herd, too, and will be going back into the herd this week once we let the AI work settle. Actually, it sometimes pains Wooz, but it is our policy to sell our good animals. We always save one to protect the line, but after that we…
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“Mad cow” in Germany….
….for the first time in five years, a case of “Mad Cow” disease has been discovered in Germany and several of her offspring did make it into the food chain. Others were still on the farm, but the story doesn’t say if they were infected. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-18/germany-finds-mad-cow-disease-in-bovine-in-first-case-since-2009.html If you read carefully, you can see that the experts really don’t know what causes “Mad Cow”…..generally it is claimed it is due to contaminated feed…or feed made from animal by-products. My own non-expert opinion, with absolutely no scientific training, is that the “experts” should consider the pesticides that are routinely sprayed on commercial cows….particularly those that attack the nervous system. Examining the chemicals…
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The best things in life are….
….made with grass fed beef! Like this beef stew. (Pardon me, my daughter the English major may see this: Such as this beef stew!) And it was only the proverbial “gilding the lily” to toss in some Hennessey’s. We first tasted it at Linda Maurer’s house, she of Springhaven Farm near Madison (sorry, address not available), and it was absolutely the best stew we ever had. Linda being a dear friend, and quavering only slightly due to the gun pointed at her, volunteered to share her recipe. She called it “Parker’s Beef Stew”. Well, being a fanatic about such little things I had to track down “Parker”. Turns out he was a…
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Where to begin….
….well, to coin a phrase, “start at the beginning”. Posting has been non-existent for almost a month, but not because there’s been nothing to report. It’s breeding season and Wooz here discusses strategy with our vet, Dr. Monica O’Brien. AI comes first, and we’re using two sires across some of our best cows: Traditional Devon’s Falcon (our English bull) and Rotokawa 243, who has given us some wonderful calves in the past. After that, came sorting the herd into groups….getting the right bulls with the right females. In all, we’ll be using four bulls this time: Jackpot and U2 plus limited use of two Traditional Devon bulls, a son of…