Stella has found a new home with a wonderful family in the nearby town of Granite Falls. Here she is being led to the trailer. 
It was not an easy decision, but one that should put us in a better place to work on all the other aspects of Seven Trees we have planned. Having a milk cow was a great experience, but with both of us working full time, we were running full speed to keep up. We may look for another cow in the future, but for now we'll enjoy working with Gemini and raising the two boy cows.
Now it's time to get ready for winter. We expect first frost any night now, and most of the garden has been harvested. We're both suffering from some horrific cold/flu bug, so the chore list is much too long for the time we have. With the economy going nuts, planning nexts year's garden is even more crucial. We'll be evaluating veggie varieties that we have tried to see what we want to repeat, and eagerly awaiting new seed catalogs for new things to try.
It was not an easy decision, but one that should put us in a better place to work on all the other aspects of Seven Trees we have planned. Having a milk cow was a great experience, but with both of us working full time, we were running full speed to keep up. We may look for another cow in the future, but for now we'll enjoy working with Gemini and raising the two boy cows.
Now it's time to get ready for winter. We expect first frost any night now, and most of the garden has been harvested. We're both suffering from some horrific cold/flu bug, so the chore list is much too long for the time we have. With the economy going nuts, planning nexts year's garden is even more crucial. We'll be evaluating veggie varieties that we have tried to see what we want to repeat, and eagerly awaiting new seed catalogs for new things to try.
3 comments:
Came as a shock to my system ... getting rid of Stella. Did you give a warning and I missed it?
We made a slight mention in the last post, I think.
When she came up not pregnant, on top of all the other busy-ness going on, we decided it was just a better choice for our household. I had stopped milking her due to time constraints (even though she was still in milk), it was going to cost a lot to get Bob back up here to breed her, plus fencing work, or we'd have to wait til April when Ryder is old enough.
To top it off, we found a dairy 3 miles away that has great milk, is only locally distributed, and is working for good critter practices.
Once we ran the numbers (and factored in this hellish economy) we decided to offer Stella & Ryder for sale. Naturally Stella sold right away, so Ryder will most likely be the freezer steer for 2010.
Her new family is great, but it's still a big shock to us too. We miss her BIG personality, though she'll be working better as a family milk cow in her new home.
Sounds like a logical decision; thanks.
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