Texas Road Trip Part 2

The landscape in and around the Edwards Plateau in Texas is rocky and rugged. There are windswept canyons and craggy hillsides. The region is commonly referred to as the Texas Hill Country. Angora goats were established in this area of Texas because they were able to survive on range unable to sustain cattle or sheep. These goats are thrifty browsers and soon populated the Edwards Plateau in great numbers.


Many ranches have utilized the native limestone for building structures to house and work goats and other ranch species. This ranch near Boerne is set out in the canyons. The colors of the hills this summer were a verdent green -- very unusual for Texas in July. Fortunately for all concerned the Spring and Summer of 2010 had brought with it an exceptionally large amount of rainfall to Texas Hill Country.
Two of our new breeding bucks for the Fall of 2010 came from this ranch where the family raises cattle in addition to Angoras.
More later ....

69 Days 'Til Spring.

What we did on our Summer "Vacation"

The last time we drove to Texas was 2005. We visited some old friends, made some new ones and brought home two of the best stud bucks in the state.
Fast forward to 2010 and we were in need of some new breeding bloodlines. But this year we had a bit more in the "works". Dan decided that he wanted to try and gather raw wool fiber from a number of local sheep growers and design a blanket project. The project would involve evaluating and collecting the wool from each producer ; delivering the fiber to a scouring plant in the USA ; trucking the fiber to a New York State processing and weaving mill and finally marketing and selling the blankets. The goal was, and is, to pay local wool producers a better rate for their raw wool, than the average wool pool and all the while keep production of the blanket within the USA. This was a very important aspect as there are some fiber farms and groups that claim to do business in the USA and/or with local producers in their area but somehow feel justified in shipping fiber out of the country to be processed and continue to claim its a local product produced sustainably . Go figure ?
During the months of March, April, May and June we traveled around to local wool growers and collected wool. In late June we packed the trailer full of 1200 pounds of wool and 2000 pounds of raw mohair. The wool was headed to a scouring plant along our route and the mohair was making the long trip all the way to Texas with us.




Why take mohair to Texas ? Well, Texas is THE mohair capital of the USA. There are more Angora goats in the state of Texas than any other state in the Union. Consequently a system of warehouses for collecting, storing and brokering sales of mohair developed. We took those portions of our fleece that we do not generally use for roving or yarn to the warehouse to be sold.

The warehouses are very large and hold many producers clips of mohair. Local and foreign buyers travel to Texas to buy large quantities of natural fibers for their businesses. Having the raw fiber located in central locations within the state makes it easier --otherwise buyers would have to visit individual producers who may be located hundreds of miles apart in distance.

The fiber is then made into garments, rugs and home accessories .....like blankets !

We'll post part 2 of our journey later in the week.
Until then.....

75 Days 'Til Spring !

Happy - New - Decade !

This year we had a white - day after Christmas - and the day after that, and the day after that.

Drifts as deep as 4 feet side by side with bare ground. The wind blew and the turbine turned producing record amounts of power. A good thing.

The snow never seems to bother our maremmas. In fact they LOVE snow .....

Love to lie in it, stand on it and ......

Sit in it.

Wishing everyone a great new year !

79 days "Til Spring.

More Puppy Pics

The puppies are growing by leaps and bounds. As of a week ago we have assigned a few puppies to groups of goats and/or sheep for them to work with regarding their livestock guardian puppy skills. Even at this age they position themselves BETWEEN the livestock and the "intruder" ( who in this case is the person taking the photo ). They are not behind the animals but in front.
Folks always ask us if we need to train the puppies to guard. The answer is plain to see here - they will position themselves and guard instinctively despite their current small size. What needs to be learned is interspecies socialization -- how to interact with people, how they are to behave around the animals they are guarding. Puppies LOVE to play and it is difficult for them to understand that the sheep and goats do not want to play along. We have found it beneficial to have a couple of puppies together in one pasture. They play with each other and do not try to get the livestock to participate. The real trick is to intervene immediately when negative behaviors, such as chasing, are demonstrated so those behaviors do not become routine.
Regardless of "training" it is essential that a would be Maremma owner understand that these pups will not be responsible adults until somewhere between 18 and 24 months of age !


78 Days 'Til Spring !

All Good Things Must.......Continue !

This Sunday past and the Sunday before Buckwheat Bridge Angoras was invited to participate in the Rhinebeck Farmer's Market. A couple months ago Cheryl, the market's manager, asked if we would like to "fill in" for one of the fruit vendors who, at this time of year, really did not have much produce to bring to the market. We jumped at the chance to attend this wonderful market!
The market bustled this weekend with shoppers eager to select the perfect accompaniments to their Thanksgiving feast. It was great to be in the midst of fresh greens and root vegetables sure to depart their savory aromas in homes this Thursday.
We met a bunch of great folks, sold some socks and a couple of hats, and reconnected with a few old friends.
Sadly, this was the last day for the outdoor farmer's market in Rhinebeck for 2010. Happily the market will continue through the winter INDOORS at the Rhinebeck town hall on ....appropriately .......Market Street ! The indoor market begins on Sunday the 5th of December and runs through April 24th - every OTHER Sunday. Stop by and buy Local !

Windmill - Another Perspective

So, as we mentioned the other day - we have this windmill. Here it is on the perimeter of one of our pastures. These boys really do not seems too taken with the thing, They are much more interested in the photographer standing right next to their feed troughs.
People have asked us if the windmill is loud. I can assure you it is not. If the wind is blowing with enough force to cause the turbine to generate electricity all you hear is the sound of the wind - no turbine noise at all.
When the idea of the windmill being erected on our farm was brought into the public domain - which was only necessitated by the local zoning rules restricting the height of the windmill to 100 feet - by our application for an area variance, some neighbors closed ranks, passed a petition, contacted newspapers and government offices and did most everything they could think of to stymie the effort. A number of those neighbors have since stated that " it's not nearly as bad as we thought" and "it's not that big". Not a resounding endorsement but none-the-less possibly an acknowledgment that maybe they really had not gathered all the info necessary to evaluate the project before establishing a stance "against". It's important to mention this because ...unless more of us take a serious look at "alternatives" we may find ourselves in quite a mess here on planet Earth in a few year's time. And that's about as political as I intend to get.
Buckwheat Bridge Angoras is now, most likely, the only farm in the USA that grows and processes all it's own animal fiber using exclusively solar and wind produced alternative energy. I think that goat just might be smiling !

Puppies as Promised

We are pleased to introduce you to our first litter of Maremmas in quite a while - about 5 years.
There are 4 female and 5 male pups. This photo is from about two weeks ago prior to eyes opening - so they are all in one place. Kind of a "pile 'o pups". Now they are up and about keeping their mother mighty busy keeping track of them all.