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The spring green-up…
…is well underway at Thistle Hill! And Nala seems appreciative of the work we’ve done to improve the pastures. The over-seeding we did a year ago has really taken hold. Perennial rye and and cereal rye and several clovers have all thickened our sward significantly. Not apparent but a big contributing factor we feel certain was the conditioning of the soil with the work of turnips, radish and cow peas. The cover in the area pictured here was very thin and the soil quite sandy. Our hope is that continued rotational grazing and the addition of more cover crops will put this pasture on a par with our very best.…
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Hi-tech preg check…
…Dr Kiel Hausler of Rose Hill Vets using ultrasound to preg check one of our young cows. It’s a little more reliable predicting calving days and it has the added benefit of revealing the sex of the embryo. The wranglers are son Church to the left and son-in-law Curt to the right. Putting more than 50 cows and calves through the chute can leave you pretty wiped out. David
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Three little maids are we…
…enjoying a snack while their Moms are being preg checked. Actually they’re not entirely in the clear. They’ll also being getting their shots tho that’s not the trauma their male counterparts have to endure. This is also steering day! David
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Two young bulls…
…pictured at just over a year old…that we held back to monitor development. H242 (nearer the camera) and H243 were chosen to grow out here at Thistle Hill…selected from a class of about a dozen bulls. H242 in the foreground doing well in the early stages. We’re particularly pleased with his heart girth. He and his herdmate, H243, were both sired by a pure English bull in our inventory, Essington. H243 is descended from the Champson Tulip line, one of the most renowned in England. Tulip has been a little elusive for us so we are keeping an eye on this young bull. David
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Just friends…
…we hope. Our cover bull Prince…who is causing something of a stir in Devon circles…and is our cover bull this year. Prince is on the left…sharing some unrolled hay with a cow we hope he doesn’t get to friendly with. WMD2 is the female…a cow we hope is carrying a Potheridge President embryo. The job of the cover bull is to find any cow that is open…that is where the embryo hasn’t taken…and finish the job. By the calendar two cycles should have passed without heat…so we’re hoping this Tête-à-tête-is just a coincidence.; that she is indeed carrying the Potheridge embryo. We won’t know for sure until there’s a pregnancy…
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Ready to start…
…the main herd reporting for their preg check. The calves have been separated to be worked separately…vaccinations, dehorning, steering. Curt is the chief wrangler today…waiting for the signal to start bringing them in. David
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Our guard donkeys…
…have asked for equal time with the farm dogs we featured awhile back. Jenny, pictured here, and Jack are our miniature donkeys…a kind of early warning system protecting our herd from stray dogs and coyotes. They stay with the herd year around no matter the weather. They’re incredibly low maintenance…and they survive on the grass alone…no supplements and never seem to get sick. They’re 20 years old now and still going strong! David
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From the kitchens of Thistle Hill…
…and yes while we have two kitchens…son Church continues his triumphs on the Kamado Joe grill. This time it’s a pork belly smoked by that apple wood tree we harvested a few weeks ago. Church recommends scoring the fat side diagonally and then rubbing all sides with Bone Suckin’ Seasoning and extra brown sugar. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Place over indirect heat and smoke until the meat reaches 200 degrees. My preference is to hold off and make a midnight sandwich. While pork belly isn’t very popular in the States, I have Asian friends who consider this the peak of American cuisine! It is also very popular in Scandinavia, Latin…
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Our cows…
…are built around the great English cow Tilbrook Cashtiller. She won three consecutive national grand championships and a host of ribbons and silver. And to top it off three of her sons were the top selling bulls in the annual Devon breeders sale. We’re indebted to Tibrook’s Gavin Hunter…who again today is serving as president of the British Society …for permitting us to flush Cash twice! TDA 7 was out of that first flush 12 years ago and not showing her age. Her sire was another British champion, Cutcombe Jaunty. Cashtiller is gone now but we have several of her daughters and granddaughters and other descendants in our herd…and some…
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A sign of spring…
…along with Forsythia and Daffodils…baby piglets. And again this year we’re importing our “weanlings” from Indian Summer Farm in Forest, Virginia. Berkshire is probably the leading pig among the heritage breeds and these are 3/4 Berks. But we also like the leaner meat, and particularly the bacon, the Tamworth produces…so these piglets also have Tamworth in their background. Our thanks to Indian Summer Farm for once again sharing their pig crop! David