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Ahead of the storm…
…Church is seeding clover just ahead of our most recent snow storm. For our “civilian” readers, the clover serves several important purposes: It provides additional forage during the summer slump in the grass growing season. It counter-balances the toxic effect of the endophyte which is more prevalent in fescue in the summer. And it fixes nitrogen in the soil to such a great extent that we haven’t had to fertilize in a dozen years. All this without plowing. The nighttime freezing and daytime thawing…coupled with the melting snow…provides the ideal growing conditions for the seeds. And the snow did come just as Church was finishing. David
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Bill Gates…devil or…
…conspirator. Gates is by no means the first well-meaning billionaire to float his save-the-world schemes. And in the process cause as much harm as good. Not surprisingly he has a technological solution for everything and that has put him cross-wise with the regenerative ag movement. Gates’ recommendation now that rich nations all abandon meat for the artificial stuff is nonsense but it’s getting a serious hearing. Our neighbor down the road Joel Salatin neatly skewers the pretensions of Gates in his latest blog. https://www.thelunaticfarmer.com/blog/2/18/2021/who-will-censure-bill-gates At Thistle Hill we’re satisfied with our 20-year experiment of doing things naturally. Raising grazing animals on grass without chemicals…fertilizers or poisons…producing meat that is…
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A winter wonderland…
…at Thistle Hill captured by MacKenzie Mason.
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A bunch of hams…
…is what we’re raising…not baby beeves! I’d swear whenever Church unlimbers his iPhone our calves “assume the position” and proud mama poses in the background! THF 3 is a young heifer combining four of our pure traditional English Devon bloodlines: Tilbrook Cashtiller, Cutcombe Jaunty, Essington Buttercup and Ashott Barton Falcon. I’ve said before that I think this year’s calf crop may be our finest…and I place this five-month old heifer at the top of the list. My guess is she’s destined for our own herd but we encourage you to talk to Church about the entire group. After all you get to check out our new 4-wheeler! David
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A new arrival…
…and making it easier to check out Thistle Hill Devon…is this Kawasaki Mule four-wheeler. She seats six comfortably and in just a few days we’ll be adding an enclosed cabin and heater! Visiting Thistle Hill has never been more pleasant…year around! David
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The more things change…
…the more alike they seem. And the more Monsanto…the chemical giant…gets its tentacles into the White House…left or right. We try to stay non-partisan here, but Biden’s new Agriculture Secretary is warmed-over bad news! https://www.organicconsumers.org/blog/back-future-tom-mr-monsanto-vilsack-part-i David
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Breakfast at Thistle Hill…
…and Churchill qualifies as an “eager eater”! He’s also the senior bull in our herd…still active in his 10th year. Churchill is descended from the great Tilbrook Cashtiller who along with Cutcombe Jaunty were the first building blocks of our traditional pure English Devon herd. And here’s another good-looking herdmate, Essington, from Brian Drake’s former Essington Park herd. Essington has been used on the bulk of our herd for two years now and we think his calf crop this year may well be Thistle Hill’s finest ever. If you’ve been wanting to introduce something special into your herd, we suggest you contact Church to inspect Essington’s progeny…male and female! David
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It’s a pretty scene…
…we don’t like to see. Thistle Hill has turned into one giant hockey rink following last weekend’s snow storm. The snow was capped off with a combination of sleet and some melting…and the resulting ice cap is the one thing cows can’t graze through. We spotted extra bales of hay throughout our pastures so feed isn’t a problem…and this kind of condition fortunately doesn’t last long in temperate Virginia. The very real danger is the slippery footing. We’ve lost several cows over the years to falls…broken hips and shoulders don’t mend. David
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DNA confirms it…
THF 1 is indeed an off-spring of the great English bull Champson Defender. He’s the second bull in partially obscured by an American herdmate. Again note the difference in coloring of a pure traditional English animal versus the American variety! This was Church’s first try at artificial insemination and it’s a great success for the farm! We now have three very separate English bull blood lines to work with. Wooz and I saw Defender on our very first trip to England in 2010. Breeder Robert James had purchased him for what was then a record price of 14,000 guineas! When we started we had no idea how difficult it would…