First year
Wow it has
already been one full year since we purchased this property and began our life
as farmers. It sure has been interesting and definitely very busy. When
we decided to get into this venture, we put a plan of action together,
outlining how we would proceed, defining our every step, forecasting a 5 year
plan….. and then we found this place and our life went into high gear! I would
like to share some of those highlights with you today..
We settled
into this beautiful home surrounded by its 100 + acres in July 2012. Our son
Joshua, his wife Lindsay and baby Xander became part of this settlement.
Together we are committed to this farming lifestyle, while still working full
time at our current jobs. Shortly after our arrival, we agreed that the first
order of the day was getting fire wood ready for the upcoming winter season as
this home is heated by an outside wood furnace. The previous owner left us a
very limited supply of wood. This highly physical chore soon became Joshua’s
responsibility. Every spare moment was dedicated to skirting the area for trees
that would meet our needs. Joshua spent a good part of the summer, fall
and winter at this task. Needless to say, he looks pretty fit these days.
Another area that required our immediate attention was the barn yard. We had
already committed to a small herd of 5 Alpacas and we needed to get the area
ready for their arrival in the fall. Ray and I (and Josh when available)
started to clean & remove, repair & replace anything that needed
it. We soon realized that we needed to get ourselves a tractor, which we
did. It has not stopped working since. J We finally got a couple of sections ready with fencing,
feeders and buckets. The small herd arrived in October 2012, 3 girls and 2
boys. We put the boys into their pasture and put the girls in a separate
pasture. Though the two areas were adjacent to each other, they were separated
by a fence. Shortly thereafter we introduced a Llama to the female group;
llama is used as a guard as they tend to fight off intruders versus fleeing (as
alpacas do). So now we are entering the winter season and all is well on the
home front. We take care of our small herd, deal with the mountains of snow,
continue to cut and pile wood and learn a thing or two about caring for alpacas.
During these few months of cold weather, Ray and I discussed our plan of action.
We decided to look around and see what deals were available out there;
you know, just sort of getting educated for when the time comes for us to grow
a little more. Well a long story short, we ended up committing to a herd of 8
animals (4 girls, 4 boys) as well as a herd of 6 animals (4 girls, 2 boys) by
the time spring came around. The first herd arrived early March and the second
herd arrived the first week of May. So, here we are, a little more than ½ year
into our plan of action and we own 9 pregnant females, 1 maiden, 3 yearlings (1
girl, 2 boys) and 6 boys, and let’s not forget the llama…….. 20 animals in our
care!.... OK, so we are a little bit ahead of our plans, I say. Joshua tended
to say something else, but I am best not to repeat it here! As I have always
thought him, the best way to learn something is to ‘immerse’ yourself into it!
Well we are immersed all right!!! Now comes the real learning; shearing, drug
administration, health issues, babies, social skills, does and don’ts and so on
and so forth…….. So MAYBE immersing that quickly was not the best approach, but
we are in it full force now as a result of this decision! No looking back from
here on end………….. Marching forward and living the dream is what matters now!
Second year
Learning
about ALPACA shearing, fibre sorting, fleece handling, and the entire
process of turning Alpaca fleece into an saleable, high quality,
unique end product! Many of these skills and knowledge are
being developed through reading, participating to workshops, seminars, college
programs and hands-on activities.
Learning
about GARDENING - what is our land going to grow, garden locations, water
source, customer preferences, selling outlets and avenues, and so on.... being actively involded in farmers markets, discussion with
local farmers, trial and error efforts and mega reading, we are moving along
once step at a time to create a best of its kind, naturally grown vegetable and
seedling.
Learning
about chicken CARE, alpaca care, egg care, and our own care.............. how
do we make it all work together in harmony....... family and business discussion are the key elements to
making `care`on of our priority..........
Learning
to COMMUNICATE ideas, desires, preferences, etc.......... and still
maintain the family unity and respect........ wriitten plans, discussing preferences, sharing ideas and
listening to each other are basic skills and practices that enable us to
maintain respect for each other; we are `family`first and foremost!
THIS WAS A
YEAR OF LEARNING ................ AND what wonderful lessons.......... we are
all embracing this opportunity, from baby Xander chasing chickens, to Lindsay
from city girl to country life, and Joshua the muscle man for the operation,
and Ray & I realizing we are not as young as we once were.......... but we
are all determined and therefore............. living the DREAM!
Updated December 30, 2017