Posted by Lucas Fletcher on July 27, 2010 at 9:29 AM
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Howdy Everyone,
I have decided that perhaps it might be fun to blog. I'm not entirely sure why as my life is not exactly exciting. I try my best to live an uneventful life, with varying degrees of success. So this blog is for those of you either interested in a small hobby farm in Vermont and want to know what it is like and for those lucky enough to know and want to keep tabs on Lucas...time will tell if I am going to find things worth blogging about!
Vermont has been home my entire life and frankly I cannot imagine living anywhere else. Its a very special state that has figured out how to blend a rural agrarian life with all of the culture and amenities of the rest of the world. I work full time as a private duty caregiver (which for now pays for the livestock) and have aspirations to continue on in the medical world with some sort of an advanced degree. The farm itself is just livestock, no crops, and is all run on leased land which is not my ideal, but works for the time being. But enough about me, now on to the blog....
So far this has been a pretty good year, except for the heat wave that has gripped the northeast. Last summer we were blessed (at least in my opinion) with a cool and rainy summer and a mild fall that kept the grass growing well into October, this year I'll be lucky to keep the animals grazing through September. Such is life I suppose. Thankfully my first cutting of hay has already been delivered and with any luck my second cutting will follow along quickly.
My second season of lambing out the Columbia's was a great success. They have truly been a pleasure to raise. The ewes are excellent mothers who lamb out quickly and easily without any help from me and the lambs grow incredibly well on milk and pasture alone, no grain supplements at all. I sold my lambs pretty quickly but I retained two beautiful ewes for myself. I also added a stunning new yearling ram (see the photo below) from my friends Gene and Mary Langhus in Montana (many thanks go to Richard and Mary Ann Johnson for transporting him from North Dakota). I'll be breeding him to 8 ewes this fall and I am terribly excited to see what he produces for lambs next spring.
Hopefully I also have 5 llamas are bred for 2011. HRR Cimmarron arrived from Washington state this spring as a junior herdsire prospect to be used next year but showed a great aptitude for breeding so he was given the chance to prove his stuff. After I ultrasound the girls we will know if he was successful in his attempts :-)
Thats pretty much all that is coming to mind for now. My various other horses, rabbits, parrots, dogs, and whatever else will also appear on the blog roll as time goes on, so stay tuned. The website is a work in progress so please bear with me as you browse around. I love hearing from friends, new and old, so never hesitate to email or phone. I hope everyone is having a great summer...have fun, Lucas
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