Mountain Hollow Farm

History Visits MHF

2011-09-02T11:21:00.008-04:00

It’s a slow morning in the store and there are about a dozen things I should be doing other than writing this blog post, but we’ve had a couple very special visitors this week that I can’t wait to tell you about.

On Saturday, Cornie Belle McCloud stopped in the store. She is the daughter of Hugh Vancel and niece of Curt Vancel, the man who originally owned our store. Her grandfather (Hugh & Curt’s dad) and grandmother raised their children in the house we live in.

She explained the family tree to me, which had been a mystery to me since I’ve heard of all these Vancels but could never figure out how they are all related. Here’s what I can remember: William and Mary Vancel had several sons (5, I think), including Jessie, Curt & Hugh, and a daughter. I should have written down the information while she was telling me.

Cornie Belle & Her Friend, Lon Yeary

Cornie Belle lives in Nashville now and she promised to send me more information about the family and the property. I can’t wait. In the meantime, I have to get my fingers on the book Cumberland Gap’s Hillbilly Preacher, written by Cornie Belle about her father.

This morning a man walked up to our house and introduced himself. To my great surprise, it was Tom Vancel, Curt Vancel’s son. He showed us where the grist mill used to be and gave us a photocopy of the following newspaper article about the mill.

He also explained that his dad started the store, then sold it to Mr. Cline. Mr. Cline moved his store up to the old highway, which is now Blairs Creek Road. It is the house at the intersection of Blairs Creek Road and Harbor Road. Then Shelby Day reopened a store in the original store building.

Curt was also a fertilizer salesman and would finance farmers’ fertilizer purchases until the tobacco crop came in.

Curt built his house across the creek from the store from building materials that he salvaged from the old Tazewell courthouse that burned down. That house is the house that Tom was born in and it is still standing.

Tom confirmed that the door and shutters are original to the store, and he told me that our house was not the first house on this property. The original house was much smaller and right next to the creek pretty much in front of the current house.

He went on to talk about the tobacco allotment, the 100+ acres the family used to own, the raceway and tailrace paths of the mill, walking on the waterwheel, the kerosene generator and glass-encased batteries they used to power the house and store before they had electricity back here, and other tidbits of life “back in the day”.

Tom Vancel

If I’ve gotten any of the facts mixed up, please let me know. I love learning about the history of this property and the people who used to live here.

What a Farm Day!

2011-08-29T22:06:00.002-04:00

Today was a true farm day. First thing this morning I took our 2 LGDs (livestock guardian dogs) – pups, really – Hans & Franz, to be neutered at the Claiborne County Animal Shelter. I also took Ember, our outdoor cat, but they couldn’t spay here because it turns out that she is very pregnant. I have mixed feelings about that. It is heartwarming to watch her take care of her kittens. She is a good mama. But the last thing we need is more kittens.

FYI – cats can start having kittens when they are 6 months old. Their gestation is only 9 weeks and they tend to get pregnant before or right after they wean the current litter. And they talk about rabbits… If she has her kittens in the next couple days, I am making a reservation for the October 11th spay & neuter clinic.

On the way home from the animal shelter, I stopped at the fairgrounds to enter 2 knit items in the fair. I’ve never entered anything in a fair before. I’ve admired the displays but it never occurred to me to enter until this year when a friend encouraged me to. It was fun to get a “sneak peek” at the entries. There were lots of vegetables, canned goods, flowers, baked goods, and handmade items. I don’t care if I win. It’s just fun to be part of the local festivities.

This afternoon, Ryan and I stopped at Rigsby’s, our local Hunting & Fishing store, so I could talk to the owner about buying a handgun. I’ve never owned a gun. In fact, I never even shot one until last December when we went to the shooting range with my father-in-law. He let us shoot a rifle and 2 handguns. I’m proud to say that I hit the bulls-eye a couple times.

I plan to get a concealed weapons permit. It’s not that I particularly feel like I need a gun. I think I’m embracing my inner redneck and I’ll feel safer knowing how to use one in case I ever need it.

From Rigsby’s we headed out to put up hay, but we had to stop at the vet’s office along the way to drop off a sick kitten. He was an outdoor cat and had diarrhea. Unfortunately, he had to be put down. He had a badly impacted colon.

For the benefit of my readers who are not farmers, putting up hay means we went to the farmer’s field, picked up 189 bales of hay (it took us 3 trips), stacked them on the trailer, brought them back to the barn and unloaded them. It’s the WORST farm job ever! By the time you’re done, you’re hot, sweaty, tired and ITCHY from all the hay dust. It gets everywhere – and I do mean EVERYWHERE!

Fortunately, I am usually the driver. That means I don’t get nearly as tired, dirty or sweaty as the guys doing the grunt work. Today I did just enough heaving lifting to be truly thankful for a shower.

After our first load of hay, I ran back to the animal shelter to pick up the pups and locked them in our bathroom so they don’t get too rambunctious or dirty. You’d never know that they’d had surgery, though. They are happy as ever.

That's when I noticed a bunch of tiny bugs crawling on the wall in our back hall. I don't know where they came from - a feed bag maybe - but I grabbed the bug spray and took care of those little buggers in a flash.

So now we’re done with our work, I am freshly showered and sitting on the couch writing this post. We treated ourselves to ice cream on the way home after the last load. It was a yummy ending to a productive day!

After the Flood

2011-08-22T21:55:00.002-04:00

It’s been 2 months since the flood. A lot of people have asked me recently if things have returned to normal. I’m really not quite sure how to answer them. We have a regular routine so, in a sense, things are normal. Or maybe I should say, stable.

One of the things I’m learning is that it takes a long time to recuperate from a flood. Immediately after the flood, Brett took a week off work and we took care of the things that had to be done immediately: moving the live animals, disposing of the dead animals, getting the wet hay out of the barn & deworming the animals. It doesn’t sound like much, but it took the whole week.

We still have a lot of cleanup to do and it saddens me every time I drive by our pastures. What once held our goats is now an overgrown mess. But we are making a little progress.

Last weekend, Brett, Ryan and a family friend were working on the barnyard fence. They deconstructed it and now it is ready to reconstruct. You see, the fence is down but it is still attached to the fence posts. Before it can be rebuilt, it has to be torn off the posts. Not an easy job.

We qualify for a grant through the NRCS to pay part of the cost of restoring the fencing and watering systems. The grant will cover about $4,600, which we are VERY thankful for. However, the total cost of the fencing and watering systems was around $30,000, about half of which was covered by grants. Since we can reuse a lot of the materials, our cost should be substantially lower to rebuild – especially if we can do a lot of the work ourselves.

A couple of weeks before the flood, I was encouraged because it seemed like things were finally coming together on the farm and we would soon be reaping the rewards of our hard work. Now it feels like everything has come to a screeching halt. Projects that I had planned to have done by now are still not started because we’ve been dealing with flood stuff. The ironic thing is that we’ve not gotten much flood cleanup done either. Aside from the barnyard work last weekend, it feels like we’ve gotten nothing significant accomplished in the past 8 weeks, yet we’ve been busy.

Friends have come to our aid and we’ve gotten things done. I think the problem is that there is so much to do, that the work ahead overshadows the work that’s been done.

It’s been hard to ask for help. It’s very humbling to ask for help and I’ve struggled with whether I should even ask. We’ve not had damage to our home like so many others have, and our damage does not severely impact our daily lives. And I don’t like feeling in debt to others. I’d much rather be the helper than the helpee.

I hate that this post sounds so depressing. But this blog is about life on our farm and this is part of our life. In spite of it all, I love this life and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

I heard this song on the radio the other day and it encouraged me. God is always there to help us through the tough times. You can listen to the song at here.

MATTHEW WEST - "STRONG ENOUGH" LYRICS
You must, You must think I’m strong
To give me what I’m going through
Well forgive me, forgive me if I’m wrong
But this looks like more than I can do
On my own

I know I’m not strong enough to be
Everything that I’m supposed to be
I give up, I’m not strong enough
Hands of mercy won’t You cover me?
Lord, right now I’m asking You to be
Strong enough, strong enough
For the both of us

Well maybe, maybe that’s the point
To reach the point of giving up
‘Cause when I’m finally, finally at rock bottom
Well that’s when I start looking up
And reaching out

I know I’m not strong enough to be
Everything that I’m supposed to be
I give up, I’m not strong enough
Hands of mercy won’t You cover me?
Lord, right now I’m asking You to be
Strong enough, strong enough
For the both of us

‘Cause I’m broken
Down to nothing
But I’m still holding on to the one thing
You are God
And You are strong when I am weak
I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength
And I don’t have to be strong enough
I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength
And I don’t have to be
Strong enough, strong enough
Oh yeah

I know I’m not strong enough to be
Everything that I’m supposed to be
I give up, I’m not strong enough
Hands of mercy won’t You cover me?
Lord, right now I’m asking You to be
Strong enough, strong enough
For the both of us

The Flood

2011-07-07T05:58:00.009-04:00

On June 20, 2011, our area was hit hard by a flash flood. I don’t know the official readings, but one neighbor told us he collected 7” of rain in his gauge in 4 hours. Another neighbor told us 9” for the day. We live along Blairs Creek and had at least 4’ of water in our pastures and 3’ in our barn. Yes, feet, not inches.

Fortunately our home, store and vehicles were not affected. However, we lost 7 goats, our pasture fencing was destroyed and about half of our hay was ruined.

I awoke around 3:30 am that morning to the thunderous roar of rain and hail on our tin roof. It was the heaviest rain I had heard since we moved here but I didn’t give it a second thought and I went back to sleep. The electricity had gone off and my alarm didn’t ring so I did not wake up again until 8:30 am.

I realized that something was very wrong the first time I looked out the window. There was water everywhere so I rushed to get dressed, put on my rain boots and went outside. Then I just stood there. What does one do when one finds a creek where the road used to be?

The water had obviously receded from its high point, but there was still A LOT of water. Questions ran through my head: Was it safe to walk in? Could I drive our truck in it? Were the animal OK? Could I get to them? What would I do if I did? Where’s my camera?

The road outside our front door, looking toward the barn

Did I mention I was home alone?

I ran inside and grabbed my keys and camera. The water on the road was about 8” deep so I took the truck and headed down the road but I didn’t even get to the barn before the water was a foot deep and there was a tree across the road.

Our neighbors came out and walked to the barn with me. We saw 1 goat kid and our 2 livestock guardian puppies on top of a wood pile. There had been 8 goats in the barnyard. The gate was wedged shut with debris and the water was at least 2 feet deep in the barnyard. So we left them there momentarily to go check on the bucks.

The barnyard, after the water receded

We walked a few hundred yards down the road until the water was up to our thighs and the current was so strong it almost knocked me over. We could not get to the bucks. Another neighbor who lives on the other side of the creek could see part of our pasture and told us he could see one buck. That was reassuring and disconcerting at the same time. There were 6 bucks in that pasture. Were they OK? Maybe, maybe not. We would have to wait until the water receded to find out.

I headed back to the truck to go check the remaining pasture where most of the does, kids, llamas and sheep reside. I didn’t get far before another tree blocked the road so I turned around and headed back to the barn.

Our neighbor, Charlie, climbed the gate to rescue the kid and pups. Amazingly, he found 3 more surviving goats behind the barn. After moving them to a safer area, I drove down to the girl’s pasture. A neighbor had come by on his tractor and moved the downed tree.

I was thrilled to find all of the animals in that pasture were safe. But the fencing was ruined so I had to find a new home for them quick. It was around 11 am when I called a farmer friend. Within an hour, he sent a large stock trailer and 2 men to help move the animals. With the help of 4 neighbors, we rounded up all the surviving animals and moved them to a barnyard behind our vet’s office, about 10 minutes away.

The hills to which the goats retreated to stay out of the water

We were still not able to get to the bucks but we heard from other neighbors that they could see at least 3 survivors. Brett got home just in time to help me catch the bucks. By 2:00 pm the waters had receded enough that we could finally get to the buck pasture. Indeed, there were 3 survivors but 3 were missing. We loaded the surviving bucks into pens in the back of our truck and took them to the vet’s office, hoping that they would have a place that we could keep them. Thankfully, they had a large empty stall in their barn.

It was 6 pm before we had the animals all settled and fed. Brett and I headed to a friend’s house to shower because our electricity was still out. After we got cleaned up, we went out to eat and headed back home. By then, the electric was back on. Exhausted by the physical and emotional strain of the day, we went to bed after talking briefly about what to do now. We ended the day like I started the day: with more questions than answers.

Settled in their temporary (and dry) new home

Check back over the coming days and weeks as I update this blog on our flood recovery.

We’re Growing

2011-05-06T07:08:00.001-04:00

Things are moving and shaking here at Mountain Hollow Farm. We just installed a bus parking lot so we are better equipped to handle large groups. It required 108 tons of stone, that's 216,000 pounds!

Two weeks ago I called Goins Hollow Quarry to find out what kind of rock would be best to use for a bus parking lot. I thought we just had to dump a bunch of rock and level it out. Fortunately, the lady on the other end of the phone was a little wiser. She explained that to build a good parking lot, you have to scrape the vegetation away, compact the soil if it is soft, lay the rock, spread the rock, compact the rock, and deal with possible drainage issues. Oh my! I had no idea that there was so much work involved with creating a stone parking lot.

I was in a jam because I had just pulled out the paperwork for a grant that we had qualified for to cover part of the cost of this project, thinking that we had until May 31st to finish it. I was wrong. The deadline was May 1st.

Fortunately the quarry not only sells stone, they also build parking lots. Dan came to our rescue and finished this parking lot with a couple days to spare.

I believe that God was watching out for us. He knew what was going on even before we did and arranged things so that Goins Hollow Quarry would have the time to do a small last minute project.

I know some of you think that sounds crazy. There was a time when I did, too. But now I have comfort in knowing that amidst all our chaos, there is a God who is in control.

Guard Dogs in Training

2011-05-03T06:41:00.001-04:00

We just purchased two livestock guardian dogs (LGDs). They are a mix of Great Pyrenees and Anatolian Shepherd. It amazes me that they instinctively know what to do. They are only 8 weeks old but they already show signs of guarding. Especially their food! ;)

We decided to purchase LGDs because we want to run ducks with the goats. Last year we bought 15 ducklings and raised them in a pen near the house until they were big enough to go into the pasture. After we put them in the pasture, half of them escaped underneath the gate and half of them were killed by a predator – one duck each night until they were gone. That is why we bought LGDs.

The puppies are in training in the kidding pen with the new mommas right here beside the house so we can keep a close eye on them, and we have a new batch of 10 ducklings that should be ready to put in the pasture about the same time as the dogs.

The dogs already have experience with chickens so I think they will do alright with the ducks. We’ll introduce them by putting the ducks in a cage right next to the kidding pen. When the ducklings are a little bigger, we’ll put them in the kidding pen. Then we’ll move them all to the pasture.

Are you wondering why we would go through so much trouble and expense just to keep some ducks? Click here to find out.

Our Babies Are All Grown Up

2011-04-30T07:32:00.006-04:00

This evening I am home alone because Brett is at work and our youngest son, Ryan, is at the Senior Prom with his friend Karri. It causes me to pause and reflect on the past 18 years with him.

Ryan & Karri

Recently he has started showing signs of adulthood. One of the big changes I’ve noticed is that he is taking his responsibilities here on the farm more seriously. Not that long ago, it was like pulling teeth to get him to do his regular chores. Now he does them (mostly) without reminding and sometimes he does extra stuff without me having to ask.

He is also growing spiritually. We are doing the Experiencing God Bible Study together and he has started reading the Bible daily with the goal to read the whole thing in a year.

Our oldest son, Andrew, has two milestones coming up. He graduates from college in a couple weeks and he is getting married to his wonderful fiancée, Rebecca, the next day. It is going to be a crazy fun weekend, and I can’t wait!

Andrew has earned a bachelors degree in math in 4 years. I had to mention “in 4 years” since so many students take longer to graduate nowadays. We are very proud of him and we are excited that Rebecca is becoming part of our family.

Rebecca & Andrew

Leadership Claiborne Tours Our Farm

2011-04-21T10:04:00.007-04:00

Ag Day is a special day for the Leadership Claiborne class to learn about local agriculture and it's economic impact on the community. One of the agricultural businesses they visited was ours!

At our farm, students learned how a sweater is made - from the goat to the garment. They also learned about the trials and joys of starting a farm. The most exciting part of the tour for some was holding the adorable 2-week old goat kids.

Beth Bohnert, owner of Mountain Hollow Farm, explained that they are developing an agritourism business, therefore the farm has multiple aspects to it. They raise cashmere goats; offer farm tours, birthday parties, and knitting, crochet, and spinning lessons; and they have a store on the farm that sells yarn, fine handcrafts, loose leaf tea, goat's milk soap, and gourmet food mixes.

The 3 paragraphs above were part of a press release I just sent to the local newpapers. What I did not include in it was that I love giving tours of the farm and this group was fabulous!

Leadership Claiborne class members try their hand
at harvesting cashmere during the “Goat to Garment”
presentation at Mountain Hollow Farm.

A Peek and a Glimpse

2011-02-24T14:54:00.004-05:00

It's been raining all day and I've done a great job of procrastinating from what I should be doing, which is preparing our tax info for our accountant. I've reviewed my Bible study, washed dishes, looked up cool knitting and crochet patterns on the internet, checked email and Facebook, and a myriad of other little things.

So to further procrastinate (I really hate doing tax stuff!), I am going to give you a peek at our living room and a glimpse into my yarn addiction...

So, how many knitting bags do you see? I'll give you a hint... there's 6. The green one on the ottoman is my purse. Why do I have so many knitting bags? Well... 3 contain afghans that are in progress, one contains a crochet sweater that is almost finished, the paper bag is full of yarn I bought last weekend (yes, I occaisionally shop at other yarn stores!), and one is for small projects that I take with me when I go places that I might have time to knit or crochet.

The adorable cat on the ottoman is Kitty. She's a wonderful lap cat and has learned to respect the yarn!

Upcoming Knitting & Crochet Classes

2011-01-21T05:00:00.002-05:00

We've just scheduled knitting & crochet classes for February and March. We'll be offering beginner classes as well as classes on knitting cables, knitting hats, and crocheting hats. And don't forget about Stitch & Spin and Block of the Month Club - both are FREE, except for the materials you need. Click here for more information. We'd love to have you join us!

Just Call Me "Doctor"

2011-01-20T12:36:00.002-05:00

Yesterday, I performed my first surgery. Two of them, actually - on goats. That's right, I finally took the plunge and wethered (castrated) two goats. Since I had never wethered a goat before, we took the larger goat, Elvis, to the Harrogate Hospital for Animals to do it under the supervision of our vet. I was quite nervous to make the cut, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be and the whole procedure went off without a hitch. That gave me the confidence to go home and wether the other goat that needed to be done.

Our son, Ryan was helping. He held the goats still while I did the dirty work. He did a great job, but he couldn't bring himself to watch. It is a clean and simple procedure with almost no blood, but if I were a guy I would probably be squeamish about it too!

When we got home, I gathered the supplies we needed, caught the goat, cut him open, removed the first testicle, went for the second one and it wasn't there. Oh no! It had not descended. Thankfully, I had my cell phone on me so I called the vet. We took him to the vet and she was able to coax the shy one out.

So it was done. I had not even thought to check to make sure they were both "there" before I started. I won't make that mistake again! Moral of the story: measure twice, cut once.

Both goats are recuperating without problems. They bounce right back like nothing ever happened. It makes my wonder why a vasectomy is such a big deal for men...

Not Your Average Snow Day

2011-01-08T13:05:00.003-05:00

It's been snowing a lot here in NE TN lately. Personally, I LOVE the snow, but as a store owner - not so much. Business has been terrible lately. However, we are still busy on the farm.

Brett and Ryan are almost done demolishing the wall around our fireplace. We needed to do it because our fireplaces are old and unsafe so we opted to install a wood stove. The installer told us that he would have to place the stove 16" away from the wall because the wall is combustible. Hence the demolition. We didn't want the stove in the middle of the living room.

We now have the wall down and the entire brick fireplace & chimney exposed. The bricks are dirty and the grouting was sloppily done, but it was probably always supposed to be behind a wall. That's OK for now - our house is an old farmhouse and a fixer upper, so it kind of "fits". We can always reface it later.

I wish I could post pictures but I lost the USB cords to both my cameras. So until I find one of them, this blog will be photo-less. :(

I have been tending a sick goat. She is 8 months old and I found her when I got home yesterday laying in the pasture, nearly dead. Her temperature was below 92* (that's the lowest temp my thermometer will register). The normal temp for a goat is 101* - 104*.

We brought her into the kitchen, called the vet, stationed 2 space heaters next to her, put warm towels over her and heated up 2 rice packs to help warm her up. I treated her with an antibiotic and pain killer. The prognosis was not good. The vet said that it is very possible that her organs began to shut down because of her extremely low body temperature and that she would probably die within 24 hours.

I was delighted that she survived through the night and now she is holding her head up, drinking, eating, and pooping. She still can't stand up on her own though, so we are not out of the woods yet.

Our oldest son, Andrew, spent the morning setting up a Facebook page for our farm. There is a link to it on the right sidebar of this blog. Click on it if you'd like to be kept up-to-date on our farm activities and store specials.

This evening we are having steaks on the grill for supper. I love having a roof over our deck so we can grill in any weather. I think it will be a well-deserved treat for a hard day of work!

So, tell me, what's the most interesting snow day you've ever had?

Our Farm in the Snow

2010-12-16T14:55:00.006-05:00

This week has been unusually snowy here and last night we had freezing rain. I think we are going to brave the sloppy roads to go out for dinner tonight. I am feeling terribly shut-in!

Here is a virtual tour of our farm in the snow. I hope you enjoy it!

The holly tree in front of our house looks particularly festive in the snow.

Our male cashmere goats taking a break from lunch to take advantage of a photo op!

Our house. Soon there will be smoke coming from the chimney. The fireplaces are shot so we just ordered a wood stove. I can't wait until it gets here!

Ryan looks happy in this photo, but believe me, feeding in the snow is not much fun. But it's better than feeding in the rain!

Our dam. Or, as the real estate agent called it, our waterfall. Either way, it is beautiful no matter the season.

Can't you just hear these boys saying to each other, "Do you think that thing is edible?"

Sheep & Llamas.

Our barn. It's old & rustic, but I love it! I'll never forget the feeling of satisfaction and pure joy I had the first time I swung open "my" barn doors!

Don't worry about the animals being cold. They all have their winter coats on!

The Store is Open!

2010-10-08T22:52:00.003-04:00

After months of planning and weeks of blood, sweat & splinters (from sanding antique apple crates), our store is finally open! Here is a virtual tour of the store...

We found this wonderful hutch in PA while visiting family. It is perfect for our loose leaf tea & tea accessories. There's always a pot of hot water on for you to sample the tea while you shop.

Yarn, Knitting, Crochet & Spinning Supplies

This cabinet is going to be used to display gourmet food mixes. They'll arrive in a couple weeks - just enough time to get the cabinet fixed up. On top of the cabinet is a sampling of the fine handcrafts we're carrying. These wooden villages are made by The Village Idiot and are available in flat paint, crackle paint & wormy chestnut. They are better looking in real life.

Aren't the plant & flowers lovely? My family sent them with an encouraging note.

We found a very cool antique checkout counter and a sweet child's chalkboard to write our specials on. Notice the handpainted slates behind the chalkboard. The wash basin at the far end of the counter holds goat's milk soap.

We're open Thurs 10-8, Fri 10-6, and Sat 10-4. Other times by appointment or chance. Stop by and check us out! Click here for directions.

An Average Farm Day

2010-06-23T10:24:00.004-04:00

Today is an average day at Mountain Hollow Farm, except that Ryan is on a mission trip so he's not here to feed the animals. Therefore, I got up at 7:45 am, ate a banana for breakfast, checked Facebook, email & Twitter (a great form of procrastination), and then fed all the animals except the chickens. They lay their eggs in the afternoon, so we feed & collect the eggs in late afternoon.

Feeding the animals usually takes less than an hour. It took a little longer this morning because I cleaned the rabbits' water bottles, put out mineral blocks for the goats, moved the bucks to a new paddock, and cleaned their water bucket. I never used as much bleach in all my life as I have in the past 2 years since we started farming. There's nothing better for cleaning water buckets & bottles.

After I'm done writing this post, I'll start doing paperwork. Two of my least favorite jobs are housework and paperwork, but it has to be done. I've not recorded our farm expenses in a couple months so I have a large pile of receipts to sort through - not to mention mail and bills. It'll probably be a multi-day job.

I've been surprised at how much paperwork I've had to do. When we started farming, I thought I'd spend more time with the animals than behind my desk, but that's not been the case. If I'm not paying bills and recording expenses, then I'm ordering products for the store or farm, updating animal records, designing knitting & crochet classes, marketing classes & tours, or researching everything between the best method for controlling parasites in goats and which yarns to carry in the store.

This afternoon a student is coming over for Algebra II tutoring. I have a bachelors degree in math, so that will be no problem.

Then it'll be time for dinner. After dinner, I am going to watch a couple of episodes of Burn Notice on DVD while I design a flyer to promote educational farm tours to teachers. The past few evenings (while watching TV), I've been researching the TN curriculum standards to figure out which standards we can help the teachers reinforce with a tour of our farm.

Normally, I'd be knitting or crocheting during my evening TV but I need to get the flyer done by Friday because we have a booth at the White Lightning Festival on Saturday in Cumberland Gap. If you are in the TN, KY, VA tri-state area, visit us at the festival. We'll be there 10am - 7pm. Admission is free. Our booth is in the pavilion at Berkau Park, across the street from the Old Mill Bed & Breakfast.

Exhausted & Rejuvinated

2010-06-14T21:27:00.012-04:00

I've been in Columbus, Ohio for 5 days and I've only seen about 5 blocks of the city. Why, you ask? I've been at the National Needle Arts (TNNA) Show. It is a huge trade show for yarn and needlepoint stores.

It has been an exhausting 5 days of knitting classes, business classes and an enormous trade show. It was hard to narrow down what to buy for the store. I could have easily spent $50k, but my budget was much, much, much smaller. Most of my purchases will be shipped to the store, but I am coming back with a few goodies including some absolutely adorable baby sweater kits.

I've learned a lot at this show and have met some incredible people. I met Gwen Bortner, a national knitting teacher, and we discovered that her husband and my sister were classmates in elementary school.

I am exhausted and overwhelmed, yet I also feel rejuvinated and excited. I can't wait to get back to the farm and implement some of my new ideas.

New Classes

2010-05-26T21:20:00.002-04:00

Things are really shaping up in the store. We've added 10 flavors of loose leaf tea , tea accessories, yarn, and some new classes. For more information about any of these classes, contact Beth at (423) 869-8927 or b@mtnhollow.com.

Block of the Month Club (Knit or Crochet)
Knit or crochet a beautiful afghan one square at a time. Classes will start on June 1st and will be the first Tuesday of each month at 10 am and 6 pm. You can come to one or both classes – they will be the same. We’ll encourage each other, compare blocks, and learn the new stitches for the block of the month. The only cost is for the pattern book and yarn, and you can join in any month.

Beginner Knitting Lessons
Wednesdays June 9, 16 & 23, 3 – 4:30 pm at Mountain Hollow Farm. Master the basics of knitting in the continental style: casting on, knitting, purling, increasing, decreasing, binding off, and pattern reading. You’ll knit a scarf and dishcloth. When you are finished with this class, you will have the skills and confidence you need to begin a new project. The cost is $50, which includes the 3 lessons, a beginner knitting kit, & yarn for the projects.

Stitch & Spin
Every Saturday, 10 am – noon AND every Tuesday, 6-8 PM (except the 1st Tuesday of the month which is Block of the Month Club). Bring your current knitting, crochet or spinning project to stitch or spin as you make new friends in an inviting community of yarn lovers. Sessions are free and open to everyone.

It's Been a While

2010-05-15T17:59:00.002-04:00

It's been a while since my last post. We've been very busy. Here's a summary of what's been going on this spring.

We started combing goats in March. That's how we harvest the cashmere. It's called combing, but really we brush them with a dog brush. It takes about 2 hours per goat. We had 23 goats to comb.

Before we were done combing all the goats, the does started having kids. We've had 12 kids so far but 2 didn't make it. One died because the momma was small and it was too big for her to deliver. We ended up taking her to the vet for a c-section but it was just too much stress on the kid. Momma is doing fine. The fence jumper that got her pregnant is in our freezer.

The other one that died was a triplet. We were at church when they were born and I think the momma was too tired or distracted by the other 2 to take care of it right after it was born.

The 10 (7 girls, 3 boys) that we still have are doing great. They are full of life and fun to watch. There are 2 more does that are supposed to be pregnant, but I'm starting to wonder if they really are.

A few weeks ago, the Claiborne Leadership class toured our farm. It was a great time and the newspaper printed a story about it on Wednesday. That was great free publicity! We already received an inquiry about farm tours as a result of the article.

The store is starting to feel like a real store. Last week, I placed a large orders for yarn, books, and loose leaf tea. The tea is in and the rest should arrive in a few days.

I am starting a Block of the Month Club in which participants will knit or crochet a beautiful afghan one square at a time. More details can be found at http://tinyurl.com/mhf-lessons.

Whew! I can't wait to see what summer has in store for us!

Kidding Season 2010

2010-04-18T21:06:00.003-04:00

Kidding season has begun! We had 4 kids on Thursday. Two sets of twins - all girls. They are all silver just like their dad. We're expecting 10-14 more kids over the next month.

Here are some photos of the darlings.

Mocha & Her kids

One of Violet's kids

Knitting on the Road

2010-04-03T12:26:00.004-04:00

This is an excerpt from the Wall Street Journal. I couldn’t resist posting it since I’m a knitter and Brett’s a truck driver. Maybe after reading this he’ll become interested in knitting! Here’s a link to the complete article: http://bit.ly/TruckerKnitter

Some truckers are finding themselves with more spare time on the road. Loads of goods delivered by truckers fell 15% in 2009, to 170 million loads, the largest drop in modern history, said Bob Costello, chief economist for the American Trucking Associations.

With declining freight, truckers who drive hundreds of miles to make a delivery may not immediately have a load lined up for the return trip. So they bide time at truck stops, where they can shower, dine and sleep in their rigs. A couple of years ago, a driver might drop off a load and pick up a new one in two hours; now the wait can be two days, said Mr. Costello.

Kevin Abraham-Banks, a 37-year-old trucker with a shaved head and dragon tattoos, passes time at truck stops with his cocoa and knitting.

Mr. Banks, who lives in Sioux Falls, S.D., and hauls romaine lettuce between California and the Midwest, learned to knit last year after load-volumes slowed. Creating something tangible beats sitting around the truck stop "talking about who has a bigger radio," he said. He's finished a scarf and socks, and is working on a sweater for his wife.

"The fact that you can take strands of thread and basically make something out of it, that's awesome I think," he said. "It's pretty cool stuff, man."

Spring Has Sprung!

2010-02-27T14:13:00.004-05:00

Our Ducklings

Yes, it's still cold outside and there are even patches of snow on the ground, but it feels like spring here at Mountain Hollow Farm because we received 15 ducklings in the mail yesterday.

In a month or so when they are ready to go outside, we will put them in the pasture with our goats. These ducklings are Khaki Campbells, one of several breeds that are excellent foragers. They love to eat plants and bugs, including liver flukes and other nasty parasites that can infect goats.

Parasite infestation is one of the leading causes of death in goats and the parasites are becoming resistant to medications. Therefore, the more we can do to prevent infestation, the better.

Another benefit to this breed is that they make good mothers, so maybe next year, we'll have more little ducklings.

Young Adult Khaki Campbells

(photo compliments of Cackle Hatchery)

http://www.cacklehatchery.com/khakicampbellpage.html

A Sad Day at MHF

2010-02-17T23:37:00.004-05:00

Today was a sad day. We found Spotless, our mascot goat, dead. He got twisted up in a cross fence in the pasture and couldn't get out.

You hear about things like that happening, but you never think it will happen to yourself. It is really terrible to lose a goat to something like that. When we erected that fence, it never crossed my mind that a goat would get tangled in it. It's electric, so one touch and they should back off. Of course now I look at it and think "I should have known better".

When we first erected the fence, it was 4 electric wires and some of the goats would sneak right through between the wires. So we added more wire but it was loose and loopy. That was our mistake. No more loose and loopy fences for us. A new, safer fence is going up tomorrow and the boys who don't respect the fence will be wethered (fixed), sold, or taken to the butcher.

Spotless was a wonderful goat. He was beautiful, had a great personality, and respected the fence... until last night.

Contact Us

2010-02-15T11:34:00.004-05:00

Mountain Hollow Farm is a cashmere goat farm situated on the historic Vancel Mill property along Blairs Creek, just 1.2 miles off Route 25E between Tazewell and Harrogate. While the mill is no longer standing, the original home, store and barn are.

The directions are the same whether you are traveling from the north or south.
1. From Route 25E, turn onto Blairs Creek Road directly across from the RO Giles Flea Market.
2. Turn right onto Harbor Road.
3. Turn left onto Vancel Road (it is a gravel road).
4. Travel 0.9 mile to the farm on the left.

Mountain Hollow Farm
553 Vancel Road, Tazewell, TN 37879
(423) 869-8927

info@mtnhollow.com
www.mtnhollow.com

http://mountainhollowfarm.blogspot.com
Twitter: MHFCashmere

Moving the Coop

2010-02-13T14:25:00.004-05:00

Generally, I think we live a pretty normal life. But sometimes we do very un-ordinary things. I wish I would have remembered to take a photo of this one.

The other day, Brett decided it was time to move the chicken coop.

We also call it the poultry palace because it turned out so big. It was our first building project. We were trying to build a floorless coop that could be easily moved so the chickens would always have access to fresh grass. Well... it's a great coop but it is way too heavy to move easily.

Therefore, Brett got the tow-rope out and hooked the coop to the back of his truck. Not a pick-up truck, mind you, but an 18 wheeler cab. Like I said, I wish I would have taken pictures. It was quite a sight. Especially when he got stuck in the yard.

The Poultry Palace

Stitch & Spin

2010-02-06T13:33:00.003-05:00

Today was my first Stitch & Spin session. I was a little nervous about it, but it turned out great! Five knitters attended. We had a great time sharing knitting tips, getting to know each other, and looking at each other's projects. The conversation was varied; everything from knitting tips to funny stories about children "flipping the bird" (don't worry, there was nothing vulgar about it) and before we knew it, it was time to go.

Now I can't wait until next week's session. Stitch & Spin is a free 2-hour session on Saturdays from 10am-noon for yarn lovers. If you knit, crochet or spin, bring your current project and join us. For more information, contact me at (423) 869-8927 or info@mtnhollow.com.

Interesting Egg Facts

2010-02-04T12:34:00.001-05:00

1Our chickens are finally laying enough eggs that we have some to sell. A friend asked me recently how long eggs stay fresh. I knew (the kind of know that you’ve known as long as you can remember but you don’t know why) that eggs stay fresh for a couple months but I had no official documentation of that so I did a little research.

A hen puts a protective coating (called the bloom) on the egg as she lays it. The bloom keeps contaminants from entering pores in the shell (eggshells have up to 17,000 pores). Processing plants wash the eggs and coat them with mineral oil to replace the bloom. This protective coating is removed when you wash or boil the egg. [Source]

I could not find an official governmental agency that would state how long an egg stays fresh from the time it is laid, but I found enough sites that said basically the same thing that I believe the following information is accurate.

This answer from wiki.answers.com sums it up the best: Farmers have 30 days from the day an egg is laid to get it to stores. Then, the stores have another 30 days to sell the eggs. The USDA recommends a maximum of 5 weeks in your refrigerator before you discard your eggs. What does this all boil down to? On April 1, you could be eating an egg that was laid on Christmas.

I'm not suggesting that you eat 3 month old eggs, but do you really like the idea that your eggs could be a month old before they even get to the store? Wouldn’t you much rather buy them from a local farmer? You’ll get better eggs, support the local economy, and they’ll be way healthier than the factory raised eggs sold in the supermarket.

According to motherearthnews.com, eggs from hens raised on pasture show 4 to 6 times as much vitamin D as typical supermarket eggs. If that’s not reason enough to buy eggs from chickens that actually get to eat their natural diet, then consider this: compared to official U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) nutrient data for commercial eggs, eggs from hens raised on pasture may contain:

• 1⁄3 less cholesterol
• 1⁄4 less saturated fat
• 2⁄3 more vitamin A
• 2 times more omega-3 fatty acids
• 3 times more vitamin E
• 7 times more beta carotene

So there you have it… Properly handled farm fresh eggs are healthier, will last longer in your refrigerator, and taste better than factory-farm-supermarket-eggs. Now support your local farmers and go buy some farm fresh eggs!

Our Farm in the Snow

2010-01-31T14:43:00.015-05:00

Yesterday we had the biggest snow storm since we moved here 2 1/2 years ago - about 8". It made it difficult to feed the animals, but I carried my camera along and took some good pictures... and had a great workout! Here is a pictorial walk around our farm in the snow:

Cool snowcicle on our back porch roof

A photomerged panoramic view from our back porch. We start our feeding routine at the house. The dogs and rabbits are in the yard. From there we feed the chickens and goats just outside the far end of the yard.

Grover (pictured) & 2 bucklings are near the house. We'll move them back with the other boys this week if we can pull the trailer through the snow.

The dam is about half way between the house & pasture

We've made it to the "big" pasture and loaded up the hay cart.

Ryan is pulling it through the snow. I helped by pushing.

It was quite a workout for both of us!

Hungry goats chasing after the fresh hay

Our Cashmere bucks enjoying their hay

Elvis is trying to sneak an extra share

On our way from the pasture to the barn, we go back past the house...

... and the store

The barn is our last stop. We need to feed the sheep
and llamas. Unfortunately, they were being camera shy.

This one is for my friend, Christy, who loves the
scraggly old holly tree in front of our house.

Making Lye Soap

2010-01-29T11:57:00.000-05:00

I never thought I would make lye soap, but that is exactly what we did the other day. It all started with raising pigs and the butcher telling me that you can make soap with lard (melted pig fat). So I took many pounds of frozen pig fat home and made lard. You can read about that in this post.

The only ingredients in lye soap are water, lye and lard. Other ingredients can be added for fragrance and lather but they are not necessary. We bought lye at our local farm store.

It was an easy process. Just combine lye with water and when it cools to about room temperature pour the melted lard into it and stir until it is well combined. Pour into a mold (we used a plastic sweater box) and let it cool completely. The next day cut it into bars. A few days later dump the soap out of the mold and let it cure (air dry) for 6 months. That’s it. (If you want to try this at home, Google “How to make lye soap” for more specific instructions.)

We didn’t wait 6 months. I started using our soap about a week after we made it. Lye soap is not like store bought soap. In many ways it is better. It has a very high concentration of glycerin so it is great for your skin.

Commercial soap makers strip a lot of the glycerin out of their soap to use in other products. They also add agents to make the soap lather but, contrary to popular belief, it is not the lather that cleans you.

I always thought that lye soap was harsh but that is not true unless you use too much lye. In the old days before lye was commercially available, people made lye water by straining water through wood ashes. It was not an exact science so sometimes the lye was too strong and the soap was harsh.

Another great benefit of making your own soap is that it is cheap. The only direct cost we incurred was for the lye, which cost about $6.50 and made 30 bars. That’s about 22 cents per bar. I don’t know how much it would cost if we had to buy the lard.

I almost forgot to tell you what scent we made! I’m calling it Country Breakfast because I scorched the lard so it smelled like bacon grease. I added orange zest, cinnamon, and vanilla to try to diminish the bacon smell but it didn’t work. We won’t use it in the shower but it won’t go to waste. We can still use it to wash our hands and for general purpose cleaning.

Rendering Lard

2010-01-25T12:00:00.000-05:00

Pigs were our first farm animals. We received 2 free piglets from a pig farmer who didn't want to fuss with bottle feeding them. After raising them to a good weight, we had them butchered. We sold one and kept the other for ourselves.

When the butcher asked if we wanted the fat, I asked him what we would do with it. I think he was kind of amused that this city girl didn't know, but he respectfully told me that we could make lard. The only thing I knew about lard was that people used to use it instead of shortening, so I asked him what I would do with all that lard and he said, "make soap".

Shortly after we received our pork, I made a batch of lard and it turned out perfectly. I froze some of it and kept some in the fridge to use for cooking.

When we decided to make soap recently, I dug out the rest of the fat from the freezer and made another batch of lard but I think I scorched it because, rather than being white and odorless, it was off-white and smelled like bacon grease.

Rendering lard is actually very easy. You just put a little water in the bottom of a pot, add chunks of fat and cook it slowly. As you cook it, the water evaporates and the fat melts.

In that fat are little pieces of meat that become deep fried. They are called cracklings and are quite tasty and terribly fattening (like all good food!). As the fat melts, the cracklings rise to the top. The lard is done when they settle back down to the bottom. The cracklings are what got scorched in my last batch of lard.

When the crackling sink, strain the lard through cheese cloth or a coffee filter to separate it from the cracklings. In liquid form lard is yellowish but it cools to white. It can be stored in the refridgerator or freezer. For more specific instructions on rendering lard, click here.

While researching how to render lard, I stumbled upon some surprising information on how healthy lard is. That's right, HEALTHY... at least compared to most of the fats you find at the grocery store.

Stayed tuned for my post about making lye soap. If you've never made it, you'll be surprised how easy it is and how great the soap is. The only ingredients are lard, water and lye. Other ingredients can be added to promote lather or add fragrance, but they are not necessary.

Fixing the Car

2010-01-22T18:00:00.005-05:00

This story is a continuation of my prior post titled Redneck Week at MHF. The car is fixed! I forgot to take photos of it before they started working on it, but I've included photos of the hood after Andrew & Ryan cut it open with a sawzall and bolt cutters and a photo of the finished car.

The whole project cost about $300. The new hood and headlight cost $190, the very cool looking hood pins were $10, and we paid our neighbor, Andrew, $50 for his help (which was quite a bargain but he wouldn't take more).

We wouldn't have even attempted this if my brother-in-law, Tim, hadn't encouraged us to try it. Anyone can tell that it was wrecked but we are satisfied with the results, and relieved that we could fix it so cheaply. I think they did a fantastic job given that our Andrew had no experience working on cars and we don't have mechanic's tools.

I love that we keep learning new things to make us more self-sufficient! All the projects around here can become overwhelming but it is very satisfying when we are able to conquer a project unlike any we've ever done before.

February Lessons & Bible Study

2010-01-14T11:49:00.004-05:00

I've just posted the new lesson schedule here. In addition to beginning knitting and crochet classes, I am excited to be offering a hat class on circular needles and free session called "Stitch & Spin".

If these class times don't work for you, let me know and I'll add a class that suits your schedule. Want to learn something I'm not currently teaching? Let me know and I'll schedule a class or private lesson with you.

Click here to see the upcoming classes.

On a different but related note...

On February 8th, I am starting a 10 week knitting bible study in my home for women ages 16 and older. Each week we will study scripture that has a knitting related theme to help "knit" God's Word in our hearts. We’ll discuss the lesson and how it applies to our lives while knitting. Knitting lessons will be available for beginner knitters. Experienced knitters are encouraged to bring whatever project they are currently working on.

This bible study is limited to 8 people, so if you are interested, let me know ASAP. The only cost is for the yarn and supplies you will need for your knitting projects.

Redneck Week at MHF

2010-01-12T15:07:00.003-05:00

First, I have to say that I love being a redneck, even if I can only claim part-time status.

This story started about 3 weeks ago. Andrew wrecked our car on his way home from college. He is fine but the car is pretty smashed up. Since it is 12 years old, we decided to try to fix it ourselves. We've never worked on our cars before other than the standard oil changes, etc.

Yesterday we finally got tired of waiting for the weather to warm up and we started. We couldn't get the hood up so after removing the bumper and grill, Andrew used a sawzall to cut a hole in the hood so we could open it and assess the damage under the hood.

That project is on hold until tomorrow when we get a new hood and headlight to install.

Today, I took a goat that died 2 weeks ago (she was frozen because of the cold weather) to a man to be skinned. Gruesome, I know, but she was in full cashmere and will make a fantastic pelt.

I wonder what other new experiences we'll have this week...

Merry Christmas

2009-12-24T10:27:00.004-05:00

Five days ago, I wrote the following note to include in our Christmas cards:

In mid-November I thought I was in good shape for Christmas this year. I had the hardest part of the holiday almost done – deciding what to buy for everyone on my list. I knew I was going to do the Black Friday craziness with my mom and sisters so I’d buy most of the gifts then. Life was good.

Life is still good, but here it is 6 days till Christmas and I’m finally getting around to sending Christmas cards. The shopping is done but none of the gifts are wrapped. The tree is up but it is not decorated yet, and neither is the house. So 6 days and there is still a lot to do. Where did the time go???

Here it is now, Christmas Eve, and somehow everything that needed to get done is done. Our tree has lights and candy canes on it but no ornaments and our house is not decorated, but we are all OK with that. The shopping is done, gifts are wrapped, cards are sent and the cookies baked.

Today, after the animals are fed, we will clean house, do laundry, pick up a few groceries, and go to the Christmas Eve service at our church. Not a glamorous Christmas Eve, but not a crazy-stressed-out one either - and for that, I am thankful.

I am also thankful for Jesus, whose birth we celebrate tomorrow. We like all the secular festivities of Christmas, but we don't want to lose sight of the real reason for celebrating Christmas. Take a few minutes to read the Christmas story. It is found in the Bible in the book of Luke, 2nd chapter. To read it online, click here.

Making Paddocks, Part 2

2009-10-25T15:30:00.002-04:00

I am very excited that our new pasture is almost ready for the goats. We hired professionals to do the boundary fence and watering system and we did the interior fencing today. Now we just have to hook up the energizer and clean up some leftover fencing materials. If all goes well, we'll get the goats moved in later this week.

The hardest part will be moving the goats. That pasture is about a quarter mile from where they are now so we'll probably load them into the livestock trailer to haul them down there.

I'm sure it will be easier than loading the pigs. That was a fiasco! You wouldn't believe how hard it is to get a pig into a trailer. After many failed attempts, including chasing pigs down our road and falling in the poopy end of the pig pen, we finally left the trailer set up with their food in it overnight so if they wanted to eat they had to go into the trailer. It worked and we just closed the door behind them. Why didn't we think of that first?!? But I digress...

We now have 4 paddocks in the pasture so we will be able to rotate the does in 2 paddocks and the bucks in the other 2, and still have an empty paddock between them at all times. That's a good thing since we don't want any accidental breedings. We should really have about 3 times as many paddocks, but the pasture is not big enough. We have plans to add more pastures.

I am a little nervous about having the goats so far away from the house, but we have a neighbor whose house overlooks the pasture and I'm sure he will let us know if there is any trouble. Not only that, we installed a 4' high 4" wire mesh boundary fence that has barbed wire underneath it and 3 strands of electric offset to the inside. Our fencing contractors thought I was a little crazy to put in such an expensive fence but at least I won't be up at night worrying about our goats. Besides, if it prevents even one coyote attack it will have been worth it.

Making Paddocks, Part 1

2009-10-24T13:16:00.005-04:00

Farming in the rain is not fun. Though if you have good rain gear and can connect with your inner child, it's not too bad. It has been raining a lot here lately but today it is sunny and we are going to install semi-permanent fencing in our new pasture to divide it into paddocks to facilitate rotational grazing.

Rotational grazing is used to maximize food production and minimize parasite problems. Basically, you do a multivariable calculation involving the number of goats (or other livestock) you have, the size of the pasture, how long it takes the grass to grow, and the life cycle of parasites to determine the size of the paddocks, how many you need, and how long the animals should remain in each paddock before moving to the next. Ahhh... the simple life; who knew I'd be able to put my math degree to such good use as a farmer!

If we were living in a perfect world, I would calculate all that and have a perfect pasture with perfect animals and a perfect life. But we don't live in a perfect world and the reality is that our herd has grown faster than our pastures. So, we are going to use the less scientific method and wing it. Since we are using semi-permanent fencing for the paddocks, it will be easy to adjust them as we fence in more pasture area.

Tomorrow I’ll post the results with photos.

(Side note: if you are looking for a farm, it is a REALLY, REALLY good idea to purchase one with good fencing or expect to spend a ton of money installing it.)

Rabbit Food Everywhere

2009-10-12T19:20:00.000-04:00

This is what a 50 lb bag of rabbit food looks like when it is dumped on the floor. Not pretty! Apparently the bag had a tear in it and when Brett slung it over his shoulder it ripped apart.

Brett was a really good sports about cleaning it up (and me and Ryan laughing at him). He used a dust pan as a shovel and Ryan helped to vacuumed up the stray pieces. I took pictures and snickered ;o)

Cumberland Fall Festival

2009-10-09T17:47:00.003-04:00

I was invited to demonstrate spinning at the Cumberland Fall Festival last weekend. They also let us set up a booth about our farm. It was the perfect opportunity to publicize our farm and upcoming knitting, spinning and crochet lessons. We took a cashmere goat kid and Angora rabbit.

It was a lot of work and some very long days but we had a great time. People were more interested in the animals than in spinning, especially the Angora rabbit. I think I could have sold 10 of them if I'd have had them. I'll be more prepared next year!

Lessons

2009-10-01T00:12:00.019-04:00

Join us for classes to learn how to knit, crochet or spin, or to improve upon your existing skills. For more information, to request a specific class, or to schedule private lessons, contact Beth at (423) 869-8927 or info@mtnhollow.com

Stitch & Spin
Saturdays 10 am – Noon
Tuesdays 6 pm – 8 pm
Free
Bring your current knitting, crochet or spinning project to stitch or spin as you make new friends in an inviting community of yarn lovers. Relax, be inspired by other participants, and enjoy great conversation! Sessions are free and open to everyone. No reservations required.

Block of the Month Club
First Tuesday of each month 6 pm – 8 pm
Free
Complete a beautiful knit or crochet afghan one block at a time. Two blocks for each afghan will be offered each month. You decide whether to do one or two blocks per month. Just buy the pattern book and yarn and knit or crochet along with us. Join any month. Participants must have basic knitting or crochet skills.

Beginner Knitting Series
Thursdays, February 10th & 24th
6 pm – 8 pm
$60, includes 2 classes, tools & materials
Make a felted purse while learning the basics of knitting, including how to cast on, knit, purl, bind off, felt, and read a simple pattern. When you are finished with this class, you will have the skills and confidence you need to begin a new project.

Beginner Crochet Series
Thursdays, February 17th & March 3rd
6 pm – 8 pm
$60, includes 2 classes, tools & materials
Make a felted purse while learning the basics of crochet, including the chain stitch, single crochet, double crochet, felting and simple pattern reading. You’ll walk away from this class with the confidence you need to begin a new project.

Knitting Cables
Thursday, March 10th
6 – 8 pm
$15, includes the class & pattern. You will also need yarn, cable needle, & appropriate size knitting needles.
If you’ve admired cabled garments but you’ve been intimidated to try them, this class is for you! You’ll get the hang of cables while knitting a beautiful cabled scarf – and you’ll be surprised how easy it is. Participants must know how to knit & purl prior to attending this class.

Crochet Hats
Thursday, March 17th
6-8 pm
$15, includes the class & pattern. You will also need yarn & the appropriate size hook.
Crochet hats are very popular right now. This is a great class to learn how to crochet in the round. Participants must know how to chain, single crochet and double crochet prior to attending this class.

Knit Hats
Thursday, March 24th
6 – 8 pm
$15, includes the class & pattern. You will also need yarn, circular needle, & a blunt yarn needle.
Knit hats are fun and fashionable. You will learn the Magic Loop method of knitting in the round. Participants must know how to knit and purl prior to attending this class.

Private Lessons
Individual lessons and customized classes are available to anyone who wants to polish their skills at knitting, crocheting, or spinning. Contact us to make arrangements.

Basic Supplies
Students should bring these items to every class:

Class Registration & Policies
Beginner classes normally have 3-6 students. Advanced classes may be larger.

Please register in advance. Classes that do not meet the minimum enrollment requirements 3 days before the first class may be rescheduled.

If homework is required for class, please complete it prior to class. Contact us if you need help.

Please purchase class materials at Mountain Hollow Farm.

No refund or credit will be given for cancellations or no-shows on the day of the class.

Cumberland Fall Festival

2009-09-29T10:15:00.004-04:00

I am excited to tell you that I've been invited to demonstrate spinning at the Cumberland Fall Festival in Middlesboro, KY this weekend, October 2-4. My booth is going to be in the "big tent" with the other demonstrators. We'll have a goat kid or 2 and an angora rabbit available for petting and I will be giving introductory lessons for knitting, crochet and spinning.

For more information about the festival, visit http://www.thefallfestival.com/

Please stop by and say hi. I'd love to see you.

My Favorite Cleaner Gone Awry

2009-09-18T18:20:00.001-04:00

Yesterday when I needed to clean the chicken nest boxes, I decided to use my favorite cleaning solution: a bucket of hot water with dish detergent and bleach. The dish detergent cuts the grease and grime and the bleach kills all the nasties.

Instead of lugging a bucket of hot water from the house out to the coop, I decided to use the hose, so I mixed up some concentrated bleach and dish detergent in an old squirt bottle. That was a mistake! The bleach caused the dish detergent to foam up, right out of the top of the bottle. And the bottle got hot. Hmmmm…. It would have been a cool science experiment if it didn’t stink so badly.

Apparently, Palmolive has ammonia in it. Upon further inspection, I discovered that there is fine print (which I can barely see) on the back of the bottle stating “Do not use with chlorine bleach to avoid irritating fumes”. I guess when you mix them in a big bucket of water, they are diluted enough to avoid this reaction. Still, I think I’ll look for another dish detergent that would be safer to use.

I hate to switch from Palmolive; it really is “soft on hands”. In fact, I often use it to wash my hands because it leaves my skin softer than most soaps – even the expensive ones. If I can find a dish detergent that’ll work, I’ll use it for cleaning but Palmolive will always be my kitchen sink dish detergent.

Woo-Hoo & Cock-A-Doodle-Doo!

2009-09-17T22:12:00.004-04:00

Our chickens started laying eggs. So, this morning I put aside my carefully planned to-do list and cleaned the nest boxes. I fed these 4 eggs to the dogs since I wasn't sure they were laid today. The dogs loved them!

We have 10 hens – and, unlike last year, we know they are all hens. Therefore, we will have more eggs than we can use. If you’d like to buy delicious farm-fresh brown eggs, let me know. We will sell them for $2 per dozen.

I ate grocery store eggs my whole life until last year. I was pleasantly surprised at how much better farm-fresh eggs looked and tasted. So, if you prefer grocery store eggs, I won’t hold it against you – especially if you give me your empty cartons. However, for you locals who have never tried fresh eggs and would like to, I'll give you 1/2 dozen for free. Just tell me you read it on my blog.

To read about last year's chicken experience and how we made sure to get all hens this year, click here.

This photo is of the back end of the chicken coop (or poultry palace). The drop-down door gives us easy access to the nest boxes. We hung the solar light there but it doesn't give much light, which is OK since we don't usually visit the coop at night. For a side view of the coop, click here.

Wow, writing this post is making me hungry. I can't wait till morning. Hopefully we'll have some eggs to fry!

Save the Puppies

2009-09-11T11:21:00.006-04:00

Someone abandoned 4 adorable puppies in our pasture. We already have 5 dogs, of which 3 were similarly abandoned, so we can't keep them. We need your help to find them good homes. If we don't find homes for them by Monday, we will take them to the Bell County Animal Shelter where they will face near certain death.

Please forward this to everyone you know. Use email, facebook , twitter, blogs - any method you can. If we spread the message to enough people, we can find them good homes. Paste the link to this page into your message: http://www.mountainhollowfarm.blogspot.com/

The puppies are very friendly and well-behaved. They look like a german shepherd mix, so they will be medium to large sized. They have short hair.

I really don't want to take them to the shelter. Please help! If you'd like to adopt one of these puppies, contact us at (423) 869-8927 or beth@mtnhollow.com.

Show Season

2009-09-10T16:20:00.000-04:00

I've just sent 4 cashmere fleeces off to the Eastern Cashmere Association Cashmere Goat Show. The show is in Richmond, VA the end of September. It is an interesting event. The fleeces are submitted in 2 gallon ziploc bags. When they are judged, they are taken out of the bag and the judge examines the fleece for the characteristics listed below.

As you read this consider that in order to be considered cashmere, the goat's down has to be less than 18.5 microns. A micron is one millionth of a meter or one thousandth of a millimeter. It is really small so the judge has to have an exceptionally well-trained eye to judge cashmere. That is also why cashmere is so soft. Wool is itchy because the fibers are thicker, and consequently stiffer, so they jag the skin. Cashmere is so fine that it bends rather than jag.

Cashmere fleeces are judged on:

Diameter
Fiber diameter is defined as Mean Fiber Diameter (MFD). Fiber must be fine, with a histogram MFD of 18.5 microns or less.

Style
Style is defined as the crimp or curvature of the individual fibers, and is represented on the histogram as deg/mm (degrees of circular arc per mm). Individual fibers should exhibit three dimensional, irregular crimp along their entire length. Mean style measurements on the histogram should be no less than 45 deg/mm.

Length
Fiber length is measured in its relaxed (crimpy) state, and must be no less than 1.25 inches (32 mm).

Uniformity
Fiber diameter should exhibit minimal variation in a given sample or “swatch,” and transitional fibers should not be present. Uniformity is represented on the histogram as Coefficient of Variation (CV) and must be no greater than 24%.

Differentiation
Guard hair should be coarse enough to be easily differentiated from down fibers.

Total Down Weight (TDW)
The total amount of cashmere down that is obtained from the fleece of a single goat. Represented as Total Down Weight (TDW), it is measured after cleaning and processing, and should be no less than 2 ounces (60 grams).

For the complete North American Cashmere Goat Breed Standard, visit
http://www.easterncashmereassociation.org/pages/evaluations.php

The Old Store

2009-09-03T12:40:00.001-04:00

We have an old country store next to our house. It was THE store to go to many years ago but has since fallen into disrepair. When we bought the property, it was just a shell and the rock pillars that formed the foundation were sinking.

We had contractors rip off an addition that was falling down, shore up the foundation, put on a new roof, install stairs, a wall, electric and lights. We refinished the original wood floor and painted the interior. The back part of the store will be a wood turning shop for Brett and the front part will be a store and fiber studio where I can do my spinning, knitting and other fiber-related crafts.

I was hoping to open our store on September 1st, but that didn’t happen. It is all fixed up and I’ve moved all my knitting and spinning stuff in. I’d been praying about what to do because I’ve been very stressed out lately. I had been putting so much effort into getting the store done that I was neglecting other things that needed to be done around the farm.

Last week, I finally got an answer… Wait. I sense that God is saying, “Why are you rushing this? The store will open and it will be great; just not yet”. I hate waiting! So that fact that I am at peace with this means it has to be a “God thing”.

In the meantime, it is going to be a fiber studio. It is wonderful to have the space to set up my spinning and knitting equipment and not be tripping over it all the time! I can’t wait to get caught up on the chores I was neglecting so I can spend more time knitting and spinning.

Summer Recap

2009-08-28T18:23:00.000-04:00

Since I’ve not blogged in a while, this is a highlight of what’s been going on here at Mountain Hollow Farm.

Between kidding and new acquisitions, we are up to 31 goats. We have several adorable bucklings for sale.

Last month we had a roof put on over our deck. It was either put a roof on the deck or build/buy dog houses for our 5 dogs. We decided on the roof since we could enjoy it too. We reused the tin from the roof we replaced on the old store and lumber left over from the fence we built so we didn’t have to buy a lot of materials.

I didn't have time to clean up the deck before I took this photo. Oh well, this blog is about real farm life, and this is as real as it gets. I wish I could keep it clean but it just doesn't happen!

Then we hired our neighbor, Charlie, to power wash our house, and he brought his whole family. Emily and the kids helped with lots of odd jobs like sanding some old planters, cleaning up piles of wood scraps, weeding, cleaning up the store, and scrubbing deck furniture. Jobs are always more fun when you do them with friends. We could not have accomplished half as much as we did without their help. It was an exhausting but productive week.

We took a little break from all the work to join Brett’s family in Ocean City, MD for a week. We left the beach a couple days early to visit my family in PA. It was a great vacation.

After vacation, we spent most of our “free” time working on the store. We finally finished the interior. More on that in a future post.

Farm Fix-It Day

2009-08-27T13:52:00.002-04:00

Today started out as a “fix-it” day. I fixed the goat feeder and their shelter. Then during a break, I got sidetracked on the computer. When I was ready to go back outside, it was raining. So the water trough, chair, mineral trough, and goat stand repairs will have to wait.

That’s OK… We have plenty of inside work to do. I think I’ll go paint the bedroom wall that’s been bare for about a year now.

Here Kitty, Kitty

2009-07-09T06:06:00.002-04:00

We don’t have trash pickup in our area so we have “convenience centers” located around the county. Each convenience center has a bunch of dumpsters and recycling containers where county residents can unload their trash for free. It is more convenient than going to the landfill and cheaper than trash pickup, but I hate loading trash into the back of our van.

On a recent trip to the convenience center, Ryan and I found an adorable stray kitten so, of course, we brought her home. Brett – being the sensible one when it comes to stray animals – was not thrilled about it when we told him on the phone but he warmed up to her when he met her in person.

She’s content to sit in our laps but she’s also got spunk. She might be a curtain climber. Fortunately she hasn’t discovered them yet but she scales our baby gate without a problem. Here right eye looks a little funky because we're treating her for pink eye.

Oh, and we named her Kitty. Bbbbbbbbbbbbb’;’vfr (That is kitty-speak for “I like to walk on the keyboard”.)

More Cashmere Goats

2009-06-29T17:23:00.001-04:00

Ryan and I drove to the North Carolina coast on Friday to pick up 9 cashmere goats. We weren't planning to expand our herd, but these goats became available and the price was right.

We wanted to leave around 5 PM on Saturday for the 9 hour drive home. We didn't want to travel during the hottest part of the day. Travelling is stressful for goats even without them roasting to death in a trailer.

One of the 3 pregnant does had another idea. She had a kid about 4 PM so we delayed our departure until 9 PM to give her time to rest and bond with her kid before we moved them. We arrived home at 6 AM Sunday morning. Ryan promptly went to bed but I ate breakfast and unloaded the goats. Then I took a 4 hour nap.

This afternoon one of the other does surprised us with twin girls. We thought that all the does were due in July or August. Moms and kids are doing fine. I'm ready for another nap!

Look What We Found

2009-06-22T17:30:00.006-04:00

The goats that are temporarily residing in our yard ruined our well cover. That’s not a big deal since it was an eye-sore anyhow. The previous homeowner put an old dog house over the well and filled it with insulation. We are going to replace it with a fake rock.

As we were cleaning it up, we found a bees' nest in the insulation. I’d call them bumble bees, but I’m not a bee expert. All I know is that they were big! I’ve never seen a bees' nest like this before so I thought it was blog-worthy.

In the foreground of the photo, the nest is undisturbed. The top of the nest it is broken open so you can see the larvae. Lying to the left of the nest is an adult bee. It looks completely black but I think it had a bit of yellow that is hidden at this camera angle.

Farm Truck

2009-06-17T20:21:00.004-04:00

I've been busy this week trying to find a farm truck. I was hoping to find one for about $2000 but realized early on that it would be nearly impossible to find one at that price that was also dependable.

Thank God for the Internet. I found a 1997 Dodge Ram I really liked at a local dealer and it seemed like a good deal. I looked it up on the Internet and discovered that that particular model is plagued with transmission problems. Suddenly that $3700 truck was not looking so great. A new transmission and other minor repairs would total about $3000.

Bummer! The search continues...

Goats Do NOT Eat Everything!

2009-06-10T17:44:00.001-04:00

Goats like to eat leaves, weeds, shrubs, tree bark, and garden vegetables. They do NOT eat everything. In fact, they don't even prefer grass, but they will eat it if there is nothing better. Sheep make much better lawn mowers.

I just returned from a 4-day Goat Browsing Academy. It was an intensive seminar about raising goats, focusing on what goats eat and renting goats out for land enhancement projects.

My first land enhancement project started today in my own yard. It is filled with clover. Goats like clover when it goes to seed. Therefore, I put my 2 bucks in the yard to feast on the clover seed heads. Hopefully, we will have a lot less clover sprouting up in our yard next year. That is, if I get the goats out of there before they poop the seeds out...

Many seeds will pass through a goat's digestive system unharmed in about 3 days. Therefore, you can "transplant" vegetation by letting goats eat the seed heads and then move them to another location. I will move my goats back to their pasture in 3 days so that the clover is replanted there for next year. Seed and fertilizer in one convenient portable package! Gotta love it!

Building Projects

2009-05-30T10:15:00.000-04:00

As I was painting some dressers for our bedroom the other day, I was reflecting on our first 1½ years on the farm. We knew we were in for a lot of work when we bought our farm. All of the buildings were in need of repair and the house was (is) a real fixer-upper.

We didn’t have any building experience so we’ve hired contractors for all of the big jobs. But we’ve done our fair share and have learned a lot along the way. The first “major” project we tackled ourselves was to build a chicken coop, then a duck pen, rabbit cages, a rabbit hutch, goat feeders, a fence around our yard, and a goat stand.

Then there are the projects that don’t require building in the traditional sense. Those would include building portable goat shelters, installing a hand pump at the barn to pump water out of the stream so we don’t have to carry buckets of water anymore, erecting electric fences, patching & painting walls, and refinishing dressers for the bedrooms and vanities.

It’s hard work but we have a wonderful sense of accomplishment when each project is finished, and we’ve learned a lot. Our future projects include building a goat shelter out of lumber from a recent demolition project and putting a roof on our deck.

I can’t wait to get a roof over the deck!

Roosters in the Garden

2009-05-26T20:14:00.000-04:00

Brett spent most of the day in the garden last Thursday and got most of it planted. Feeling good about it, he came in got a shower and we ate dinner and went to the awards ceremony at Ryan's school.

Upon returning home we discovered that we forgot to close the garden gate and 2 roosters were in the garden. They had eaten ALL the tomatoe plants and scratched up a bunch of seeds. Brett was seething.

Saturday morning, we caught 5 of the roosters and took them to the flea market and sold them. We kept the 3 with the nicest temperaments.

I wish I would have had a video camera to film Brett chasing those blasted chickens out of the garden.

The Things They Never Tell You

2009-05-22T13:08:00.005-04:00

Molly & her baby girl

All of our cashmere goats have had their kids. We had 14 kids from 8 does. Unfortunately 3 of the kids died. I think if we would have had prior experience at this, we could have prevented all 3 deaths. I spent a year intensively researching how to raise cashmere goats, but there is only so much you can learn from books, classes and farm tours. The rest you have to experience.

One thing I never dreamed I would experience is treating mastitis in a goat. Mastitis is an infection in the udder. I’m not sure if Molly has it or not, but she has not been letting her kids nurse. We did not realize that until we found one dead. I’ve learned a lot about how to recognize unhealthy kids this year.

Mastitis is a common reason that a doe stops nursing her kids. To treat it, I purchased a large plastic syringe filled with antibiotics and injected half the medicine into each teat. It was not nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be and the medicine only cost $5.20. I wish human medicine was so cheap!

We secured Molly on the goat stand and gave her a bucketful of oats. Ryan held one of her back legs up so she couldn’t kick. I injected the medicine while Molly happily munched on her oats. It didn’t seem to bother her at all. We bottle fed her doeling to allow time for the antibiotics to work. The next morning I milked Molly so her baby wouldn't ingest the antibiotics, then reunited them that afternoon. That was 3 days ago and mom and kid seem to be doing well.

We haven't named this baby girl yet. She is small and sweet, and she has the biggest set of lungs of any of the kids. She's LOUD! Leave a comment with your suggestions.

Our Garden

2009-05-21T13:38:00.005-04:00

We’ve had small gardens in the past – mostly tomatoes and peppers – but this year we’re putting in the “big one”. Well, at least it’s big for us. A neighbor man with a tractor plowed it for us. He only wanted $5. We convinced him to take $20 because he saved us A LOT of backbreaking work.

It is well fertilized since we strategically positioned it where we raised 2 pigs and kept the floorless chicken coop last year. We’ll also use natural fertilizer from our goats, sheep, llamas, rabbits and chickens.

We are planting tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, radishes, butternut squash, string beans, watermelon, and cantaloupe. If we have room, we’ll add brussel sprouts and other cool weather crops in July.

The fence around the garden is electric netting to keep the roosters out. Based on how fast they ate my hostas, they'd devour our new garden plants in a flash!

Busy, Busy, Busy

2009-05-07T17:32:00.000-04:00

I haven't posted in a while because life has been BUSY! So here's a summary of what's been happening on the farm ...

Combing Goats
Cashmere is harvested by either combing it out as it sheds or shearing. We choose to comb. It took me about 2 hours per goat to comb out the cashmere and trim their hooves. I got much faster after the first few as I refined my technique. There is still a little bit to do, but most of them are done.

Renovating the Old Store
We have the original county grocery store next to our house. It was basically just a shell - no utilities, sagging foundation, old roof, etc. We've had contractors here for about 3 weeks working to fix it up.

To save a little money, I am the errand girl. Everytime they need materials, I run for them. Not to mention that I need to be on hand to answer questions and make decisions about how we want things done. I'm excited to get it done, but the construction process is a bit disruptive. Fortunately, we have a great contractor.

It will become a woodturning shop for Brett and a fiber studio for me. More details on that later...

Vacation
I took a whirlwind vacation to the Maryland Sheep and Wool festival and to Pennsylvania to visit family and bring our son home from college. It was a great trip but I was exhausted by the time we got home.
The festival was awesome and I bought about a dozen different kinds of wool and fleeces so that I could spin them to learn first-hand the differences between them. I'm not sure how many breeds of sheep there are, but there's got to be at least 50 - all with different wool. I am focusing on those with wool soft enough to wear against the skin.

Hickory Chickens

2009-04-23T18:43:00.004-04:00

I had never heard of Hickory Chickens before we moved to Tennessee. They are odd little things. They don't cackle or crow and you don't have to feed them like traditional chickens. They live in the woods and you hunt them.

More sophisticated folks call them Morel Mushrooms. I've been told that this has been a banner year for them. Our friends, Steve & Rhonda, gave us some because they had found more they could eat.

We had them for dinner tonight. We almost tricked Ryan into thinking it was fried chicken, but he was too smart. Brett and I were finished eating by the time he took one bite. He liked it.

We sliced them in half lengthwise, breaded them with flour and a little seasoning, and fried them in a pan of oil. Ryan and I both thought that they would be rubbery, but they were crispy on the outside and a little mushy on the inside. They were good, but we didn't think that they tasted like chicken.

Peeps

2009-04-21T14:13:00.004-04:00

Last year we purchased our first chicks. We wanted to try out several different heritage breeds so we bought 2 or 3 each of a number of breeds.

If you are going to buy a large number of chicks, you can order them via a catalog or internet and choose whether you want males, females, or straight run (a mix). We did not want a large quantity so we bought our chicks locally, straight run. Of the 16 we purchased, we now have 9 left – all roosters.

That would be OK, but we really wanted laying hens.

Much to my delight, the farm store had Black Sex-Link chicks this morning. They are a cross between a Rhode Island Red or New Hampshire rooster and a Barred Rock hen. They hatch out black, but the males have a white dot on their heads and the females do not.

I purchased 10 female chicks (pullets). No roosters in our future this time! We will keep them in a brooder in the house until they start to develop feathers and it gets a little warmer outside. Then we will move them to the chicken coop and in about 6 months they will start laying wonderfully delicious eggs.

The Simple Life

2009-04-06T10:11:00.003-04:00

Our Sunday School teacher read a verse from the Bible yesterday that really struck a chord with me: “Make it your goal to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands... Then people who are not Christians will respect the way you live, and you will not need to depend on others.” 1 Thessalonians 4:11, 12 (NLT)

I think this verse captures the essence of living a simple life. But our lives are far from simple. We live in a fixer-upper house, we have started a farm, Brett has a full time job off the farm, and we have a son in college and one in high school. We have enough farm and house projects to keep us busy for a very long time.

Operating a profitable farm requires more than just building fences and taking care of the livestock. It also requires recordkeeping, financial projections, product development, research on animal care, market research, advertising and marketing, networking, attending conferences and shows, educating potential buyers, etc, etc…

Despite all that, I think the simple life is worth striving for. We are in a busy season of our lives right now but I envision a day when we transition from building our farm to running our farm. A day when we will still be busy but there will be more order. A day when life will be simpler.

The Rabbit Hutch

2009-04-04T22:01:00.003-04:00

After a week of feeling like I couldn’t get a project done, it was nice to actually finish one today. Nothing glamorous, but satisfying nonetheless. We sheared the last of our 4 rabbits and cleaned the rabbit hutch.

The rabbit hutch consists of 4 wire rabbit cages (which we made) and a shelter to keep the rain off of the rabbits. They don’t need much protection from the cold – they have angora – but they do need protection from the rain, wind and scorching sun. We positioned our hutch right outside our backdoor in a nice shady spot.

The plastic all around it is to help keep it from getting too cold in the winter. We’ll take it down for the warmer months to allow the breeze to help cool them down.

Cleaning the hutch is pretty easy. Most of the droppings land on the ground since the cages are made of wire. However, some get caught so we use a small shovel or hand trowel to clean them out. Then the fun begins. We use a propane torch to burn the shedded hair off the cages. Ryan was more than happy to do that job. After the cages are clean, we scoop the poop and put it in the garden.

Rabbit poop is great fertilizer and it’s not “hot” so it does not need to be composted like manure. It can go straight into the garden. Now if only the garden fairy would come and dig up our garden so we can plant our carrots…

What do Sheep and Baseballs Have in Common?

2009-04-03T11:07:00.003-04:00

Wool, of course!

A baseball has three basic parts: the round cushioned cork pill at its core, the wool and poly/cotton windings in its midsection, and the cowhide covering.

Wool was selected as the primary material for the baseball's windings because its natural resiliency and "memory" allow it to compress when pressure is applied, then rapidly return to its original shape. This property makes it possible for the baseball to retain its perfect roundness despite being hit repeatedly during a game. A poly/cotton blend was selected for the outer winding to provide added strength and reduce the risk of tears when the ball's cowhide cover is applied.

The wool yarn is wound so tightly that it has the appearance of thread when a baseball is dissected. Three layers of wool are wound around the baseball: the first, 121 yards of four-ply gray yarn; the second, 45 yards of three-ply white; and the third, 53 yards of three-ply gray.

A layer of 150 yards of fine poly/cotton finishing yarn is wrapped around the ball to protect the wool yarn and hold it in place. The wound ball is then trimmed of any excess fabric and prepared for the application of the external cowhide covering by being dipped in an adhesive solution.

The cover of an official baseball is made of white Number One Grade, alum-tanned full-grained cowhide, and it must be stitched together with 88 inches of waxed red thread.

Source: http://www.answers.com/topic/baseball

In Full Swing

2009-04-02T08:25:00.010-04:00

This is Ryan's first time on a baseball team and he is loving it. After weeks of practice, the J. Frank White Academy had its season opener this week on the field of Lincoln Memorial University.

Ryan did great. He had one of the few hits of the game and is enjoying his perfect batting average. Unfortunately, he was marooned on first base since the next 3 batters struck out. They have a young, inexperienced team so this might be a tough year BUT the future looks good. The kids have great attitudes and a lot of potential, and they are working hard to improve. GO KNIGHTS!

Playing with Angora

2009-04-01T20:34:00.007-04:00

Finally, after all the work of shearing our Angora rabbits, I get a reward! The photo above is a basketful of their wonderfully soft fiber; 1.9 ounces to be exact. Our best producer this quarter was Jamie. She gave us 5 ounces of Angora.

Last night while we were watching the new James Bond movie, Quantam of Solace, I had the opportunity to play with some of it. I spun a 2-ply 100% Angora yarn and knit a small swatch (photo below). That swatch was made from 0.2 ounces of fiber.

Angora is very lightweight, amazingly soft, 7 times warmer than wool, and it has a halo (which is a fancy way of saying that it is fuzzy or fluffy).

I will probably combine most of our Angora fiber with a very soft wool like Merino or Corriedale to reduce the halo and give the yarn memory. Memory is an important characteristic in yarn because it keeps garments from losing their shape. Wool has memory, Angora does not. But what it lacks in memory it makes up for in luxuriousness.

Rabbit Shearing Day

2009-03-28T20:34:00.010-04:00

Jamie, before her haircut

Ryan and I sheared 2 of our 4 angora rabbits today. It happens 3 or 4 times a year. It's a messy job; the fur gets EVERYWHERE. The photos are of Jamie, our female German Angora. She is even more beautiful in real life. I don’t know why, but it is hard to get a good photo of an Angora rabbit.

It took us 4 or 5 hours to shear 2 rabbits. I’ve been assured that it goes much faster with more practice. Hmmm…. I hope so! We tried using electric clippers for the first time today. Ryan did a lot of the shearing. I think with better clippers and more practice we will be able to do it much faster.

Jamie, after her haircut

Yes, it is the same rabbit in both photos. Jamie’s fur is brown and gray at the tips and white at the base.

As soon as I get a chance, I want to spin some of the angora into yarn and try felting some of it. I don’t know what I’ll make with it yet, but one thing’s for sure… it’ll be soft and warm!

Goat Shelter

2009-03-27T15:21:00.030-04:00

It's raining today which reminded me that lots of people have asked me what type of shelter is necessary for cashmere goats. Since cashmere goats grow cashmere, they don't need shelter for warmth. However, they tend to seek shelter from the rain and wind.

As a beginning farmer, I was surprised to learn that a lot of farmers nowadays don't keep their animals in barns. Crowding a bunch of animals in a barn leads to respiratory infections, a condition that goats and sheep are particularly susceptible to. Another benefit of not keeping animals in the barn is that there are no stalls to clean. We use our barn for storage (hay, camper, building materials, tools, etc.) and for temporary animal housing, such as when we need to quarantine an animal because it is sick or new to the farm.

In our goat pastures, we've built sturdy, inexpensive and portable goat tunnels. It is extremely important to build these tunnels with sides that are nearly vertical so the goats cannot climb on them. Also, place the tunnel where goats can access both ends so that none of your “bullies” can block the entrance and hog the whole shelter for themselves.

While one person can build a goat tunnel, it requires at least 2 people to set it up. The following instructions are for building a 13’ x 4½’ tunnel. We purchased all materials at the local farm store except the tarp, which we bought at Wal-Mart, and the lumber, metal strapping, and screws. The total cost was about $140. It took us a few hours to build one tunnel. This is how we built ours and they work well for us. Please consider your unique situation before building this stucture.

NOTE: These instructions say to use cattle panels, which we did for the first 2 shelters we built. However, if you have horned goats, I strongly recommend that you use goat panels. They are more expensive but they have 4"x4" openings which are too small for the goats to get their heads stuck in. The total length of your tunnel will be 12" shorter because the goat panels are 48" tall rather than 52" like the cattle panels.

Materials
3 cattle panels (52” x 16’)
9’x12’ tarp
4 – 5’ T-posts
2 – 16’ 2x4s
Metal strapping with holes (about 1/2" wide; it comes in a roll from the hardware store)
1” or 1½” outdoor screws
Fence wire
T-post wires
Twine

Tools
Bolt cutters
Tin snips
Hammer
Saw
Screwdriver
T-post driver
Pliers
Work gloves
Safety goggles

Instructions
1. Using bolt cutters, shorten 3 cattle panels to 10’6” to 12’ (we did 12’, but if I had to do it again, I’d do 10’6”). Make the cuts so there is a closed rectangle on the good piece.

2. Cut the 2x4s down to 14’.

3. Cut the metal strapping into 2” pieces with tin snips.

4. Lay the cattle panels side by side and attach them to a 2x4 using the metal strapping and screws (there should be about 6” of 2x4 sticking out at each end).

5. Attach the other 2x4 to the opposite end of the panels.

6. Using fence wire, attach the panels together in 3 or 4 places along each seam.

7. Set 2 of the T-posts 12’6” apart to form the supports for one side of the tunnel.

8. Set the cattle panels on the ground with one of the 2x4s next to the T-posts. The 2x4s should be under the cattle panels so they end up on the inside of the tunnel. Carefully (you don’t want the bent panels to spring back and hit you) push the other 2x4 toward the T-posts and bend the middle of the cattle panels upwards to form the tunnel. The sides of the tunnel should be nearly vertical.

9. While one person holds the tunnel in place, the second person should install the remaining 2 T-posts to form the supports for the 2nd side. (Alternatively, you can install all the T-posts first and lift one side of the tunnel over one row of T-posts to carefully bend it to fit inside them.)

10. Connect the panels to the T-posts using T-post wires. If all has worked out correctly, the T-posts should be positioned just outside the tarp area.

11. Using twine, tie the tarp to the cattle panels.

Viola! You have a goat shelter. Now, give yourself a pat on the back, get a cold drink and sit back to admire your work for a while.

International Year of Natural Fibers

2009-03-21T18:51:00.005-04:00

The General Assembly of the United Nations has designated 2009 as the "International Year of Natural Fibers". The objectives are to bring attention to and stimulate demand for natural fibers, to encourage worldwide governmental support, to foster international partnerships, and to promote the sustainability of fiber industries.

As a cashmere goat farmer and natural fiber enthusiast, I find this very exciting. Around 30 million tonnes (1 tonne = 2204 pounds) of natural fibers are produced annually. However, since the 1960s, the use of synthetic fibres has increased dramatically causing the natural fiber industry to lose much of their market share.

Textiles made of natural fibers have been a fundamental part of human life since the dawn of civilization. Fragments of cotton articles dated from 5000 BC have been excavated in Mexico and Pakistan. According to Chinese tradition, people began using silk in the 27th century BC. The oldest wool textile, discovered in Denmark, dates from 1500 BC.

While the methods used to make fabrics have improved since then, their functions have changed very little. Most natural fibers are still used to make clothing and containers and to insulate, soften and decorate our living spaces.

“Keep the Fleece” is an international natural fiber contest open to anyone. Final judging will be done by a panel of international experts in October at the New York Sheep and Wool Festival in Rhinebeck, NY. Visit http://www.keepthefleece.com/ for more details. To learn more about natural fibers and the “International Year of Natural Fiber”, visit http://www.naturalfibres2009.org/en/index.html.

Now, read those clothing tags and buy clothing made with natural fibers! No synthetic can compare - IMHO ;o)

The Good, the Bad, and the Yuck!

2009-03-16T12:58:00.001-04:00

The Good
After about a week of rain, the sun is finally shining! We had 8 goat kids in a week and all but one are still living. The little guy who was struggling seems to be pulling through.

It's fun to watch those kids playing. They jump around kind of like rabbits, hopping rather than running sometimes. They are very amusing. I'm looking forward to some sunny days so we can watch them without getting soaked!

The Bad
It was a tiring week. All of the goats kidded without problem, but as I mentioned before, one buckling died and his brother was not doing well. We kept him in the house the past several days. Consequently, I did not get much of anything done except tending to him. It's not that he required that much attention, but I couldn't help just watching him. Goat kids are very cute. Besides, I was not concentrating very well from lack of sleep. Just like human babies, goat kids need to nurse in the middle of the night.

The Yuck
Don't read this if you are eating... Part of nursing this little goat back to health included giving him enemas. Honestly, I've never given an enema to anyone or anything before. I sat on the edge of the tub with his hind-end hanging into the tub. I'll spare you the details; suffice it to say it was messy! Fortunately the tub is easy to clean. Once he started pooping normally again, he pooped a lot. Our dogs cleaned up after him, which was DISGUSTING but convenient. I have never, and will never, let dogs lick me!

Just Kidding Around

2009-03-14T15:02:00.004-04:00

We've had 7 goat kids this week - 5 bucklings and 2 doelings. We were hoping to have more doelings than bucklings, but since 4 of our 8 does have kidded, it looks like that is not going to happen.

One of the bucklings that was born yesterday died last night, and his brother is struggling. I have him by a heater in the kitchen right now.

Several hours later...

My day has been consumed by kidding activities. The little guy I'm nursing along has had most of my attention. I actually brought his mom inside so he could nurse. I kept her just inside the back door. When he was done nursing, I put them both outside in the rabbit hutch with a thick bed of straw, just outside our back door so I could keep a close eye on them.

In the midst of all that, Violet gave birth to twins around noon, which I've checked several times. They are snow-white.

Cashmere goats are very hardy, but in the cool, wet weather we've been having kids are susceptible to chilling. When they are chilled, they won't nurse. When they are cold and don't nurse they get weak and die. It can happen fast. That's why I check on the newborns every hour or so.

I'm looking forward to relaxing with Brett and a good movie tonight. Maybe with a buckling in my lap...

Our First Kid

2009-03-09T12:23:00.008-04:00

We are having an exciting day. Eleanor just gave birth to her first kid and I had the good fortune to watch the birth. I wish I'd have had a video camera... it was amazing! Since his mom is a Roosevelt, we decided to name our new buckling Teddy.

We are expecting 10-14 goat kids over the next month or so. We have 8 pregnant does and Cashmere goats often have twins. There are a number of factors that determines if a goat has twins, including genetics, age (first time moms have a higher rate of singles), and nutrition.

The photos on this post are of Grover and Eleanor, the proud parents on the day they conceived, and Eleanor and Teddy, this morning. Teddy is about 1/2 hour old in this photo.

Intro to Cashmere Goats

2009-03-03T19:29:00.011-05:00

A lot of people are surprised to learn that cashmere comes from a goat. Yep, it’s true – the ultra soft “fiber of kings” comes from a lowly goat. I didn’t know it either until we purchased our current home and decided to start a farm. Most of our property is mountainside and wooded, so we had to find an animal that we could raise on this nontraditional farmland. Goats seemed like a natural choice. I never imagined I would raise goats, but when I learned that they produce cashmere I was hooked.

All goats except the angora goat have 2 hair follicles; one that produces coarse guard hair and another that produces a downy undercoat. Cashmere goats have been bred to produce a lot of down that is at least 1.25” long and less than 18.5 microns in diameter.

Cashmere is not a breed of goat, but rather a type. The North American Cashmere Goat Breed Standard has been recently developed and adopted by the Eastern Cashmere Association as a measure by which to judge cashmere goats. It is an important step toward establishing a cashmere goat breed.

Cashmere goats have a variety of “looks”. Some have short guard hair and some have long guard hair. They also come in a variety of colors from white to brown and silver to black. The goat featured in the photo at the top of this blog is one of our long-haired bucks, Spotless. The photos with this post is one of our does, Desire. Desire is a short haired goat; you can see the light colored cashmere growing out under the dark guard hair. The photo with the log in the backgroud is from the fall. The other one is from last week. She has grown a lot of cashmere since the fall. I love to pet her – she is very, very soft.

Babydoll Southdown Sheep

2009-02-27T19:00:00.012-05:00

4/21/09 Update: This is not a purebred Babydoll Southdown. Read the comments on this post to learn more about them.

Today's photo is of our Babydoll Southdown Ram that I spoke of in the last post. He is cute but unpredictable. One minute he charges me, and the next minute he wants to crawl into my lap. This photo doesn't show how adorable he really is.

The wool of the Babydoll Southdown sheep is very soft. The softness is determined, in part, by the diameter of each piece of wool. These sheep have very fine wool, measuring 19-22 microns (a micron is 1/1000 of a mm). As small as that is, there are a few fibers even smaller and softer, including cashmere and angora.

He is our only BS sheep. I purchased him at an auction because he was "cute and cheap". I don't regret getting him, but I don't recommend the "cute and cheap" impulse purchases of animals. Do your research and know what you are getting into!

Flying Roosters

2009-02-26T17:10:00.005-05:00

Today was a pretty average day on the farm. I took Ryan to school, came home, fed the animals, paid bills, blah, blah, blah... This morning, our little Babydoll Southdown ram (about 24" tall) bucked me. It's happened before, but today he got me at just the right place and my knee still hurts. That little guy is unpredictable; one minute he is all lovey-dovey, the next he's charging at me. I've been trying to come up with a name for him. Maybe Dr. Jeckyl?

After school, Ryan and I set out to vaccinate the goats. We managed to do 8 of them, the other 2 were impossible to catch. We'll catch up with them when they least expect it. Afterwards, Ryan went out to the woods to work on his fort. When he returned he informed me that he cut down a 150' dead tree with his hatchet. His adrenaline was running quite high after his "near-death" experience. Ahhh... life with boys...

Some people were surprised to learn that we have so many animals, so I took some more photos today to share with y'all. Today's photo is of our crazy rooster. Who says roosters can't fly? He sure didn't crawl up the side of that horse trailer! Stay tuned for more photos in the future.

Starting Our Farm - The Cliff Notes Version

2009-02-24T10:32:00.006-05:00

I've been contemplating what direction this blog should take. Should I write about the joys and challenges of starting a new farm? Rural living? Raising fiber-producing animals? Living in a fixer-upper? Our hobbies - spinning, knitting, crocheting (Beth), woodturning (Brett & Ryan), and chopping things down (Ryan)? I think it will be a combination of all these things and more.

We moved from a suburban neighborhood in PA to a rural wooded property in TN in August 2007. Seven months after we moved, we acquired our first farm animals: 2 free bottle baby pigs. We kept them in an extra large dog crate in our house for the first couple of weeks until we finished building an outside pen. It was a little messy, but they didn't start to stink until we weaned them off the bottle and put them on pig food. Fortunately, that was about the same time we moved them outside.

Since then, we've added chickens, ducks, angora rabbits, cashmere goats, llamas, sheep, and dogs to the farm. I have many stories to tell about our adventures to date, and I look forward to the adventures yet to come.

Why Today?

2009-02-23T14:01:00.000-05:00

I've been thinking about starting a blog for a while, so why now? Well, there have recently been some events that I had the urge to write about, but mostly it is because I don't want to do anything on my to-do list today. Ahhh... procrastination... it can be a terrific motivator!