A Good Dog on a Good Truck

 Having a good truck is important on the farm. Having a good dog is even better! 

A photo I took last Summer of our Border Collie Riot on the truck. We don’t let him ride back there but he enjoys sitting on the tailgate sometimes. 

Colter’s first week at the county fair

 

We are adjusting back to our normal schedule after a week of fun at the Otsego County Fair. The week begun with the open goat show, and Colter helped his momma show. 

Since the goat show was before the fair officially started, our week was pretty mellow. We slept in a little, took care of the goats, got breakfast at the maple place each day and just generally hung out and watched the livestock and horse shows. 

We also took the down time to do some planning for the coming year. If you grew up in 4H then your New Year starts right after county fair is over. Therefore we made goals of where we hope to be and what we’d like to achieve by next year this time. 

Colter enjoyed spending time in the goat barn, catching everyone’s eye and being in the center of attention. Safe to say he’s well on his way to being a show kid. It was great to see all the people who we really only see during fair week and catch up. Now onto another year, my biggest wonder is how on earth we’ll keep up with Colter next year when he’s on his feet! 

Storms and Rainbows ( Be Prepared for Any Weather)

 

Storms never last, but there's always more to come. We've been lucky here, storms have come but nothing disastrous. We've reached a point on this earth I believe, where we need to take any storm seriously. It seemed no one expected the rains last week to cause so much flooding, but they did. Canada hasn't seen this much wildfire in years, but it happened. It seems the weather is growing more severe, and less predictable. I am not going to get into the climate change argument, you can believe what you want to believe. Regardless of a cause: hurricanes, wildfires, earthquakes, and more are getting worse. 

Here in New York we are lucky to be a place that doesn't often deal with disastrous weather. I think in my lifetime that will change. If Ontario can get terrible wildfires, there's no reason why it couldn't happen here. Flooding has happened terribly here in the past, and it will happen again and probably worse. Nature is a beast, and it does what it wants. It doesn't live with our rules. It doesn't care about money. Weather comes and goes as it pleases. Water goes where it wants. Fires go where they want. You can sure as hell try, but there's often times nothing you can do to stop it. 

Preparedness is the best you can do against extreme weather. It's not a guarantee of safety but it's better than nothing. So my farming friends especially, have a plan in place for you and your families safety and your animals. You might think your property won't flood or that your region won't get a wildfire, but if it does; you have to be prepared. There have been a good few instances of extreme weather occurring in places that have never really had to deal with it before. 

I am not trying to preach at anyone here, more so just writing down my thoughts on the wild weather that has been occurring. It's something I pay close attention too, with a little one and animals to take care of; I do not want to be caught by surprise. It's important to be prepared, and also to remember that storms will come and go. They won't last but there will be more again. Take it day by day, and stop and enjoy the rainbows when they come.   

A Resurrection of Legacy- Trillium

 

Trillium was less than a week old when we brought her home. Despite what most seasoned highland breeders warned, I went out and got a bottle calf to start the herd. Her mother had some sort of health issue that resulted in her needed to be raised this way, so with that; we took our little ford focus out to Amenia, NY and brought her home. She fit in the trunk , and after the initial start to the drive she settled down just fine for the ride. 

She warmed up to us fast as most bottle calves do. She started out in a calf hutch with a small panel run. Though we often let her out to run around the yard and follow us around. I recall thinking how much she reminded me of a bison calf in these early days. 

Trillium was the name we gave her, Trilly for short. My favorite wildflower, it was the perfect fit of a name. When I see trilliums, I think of my Grandmother, who strategically made some appear in her garden each Spring. She worked hard on her gardens and they were a staple on the property that was Unique Acres before me. It's the flower I remember best from her gardens, therefore it seemed a great name to restart the legacy. 

Trillium wasn't registered or registerable, which was okay with me. The idea of getting a bottle calf was so that I could raise her from a calf and really learn how to take care of one cow before I bought more. An incident in attempting to bring a different cow home a few months earlier made me realize that I needed to start simple. So I did, and she was quickly becoming very friendly and easy to handle. The worry with bottle beef cows is that they can be headstrong and a potentially dangerous as adults. It was worth the risk for me though, I knew with any cow comes the potential to make a tough decision some day regarding safety. 

She would grow to be a little much at times, but not unsafe; just bold in her approach to me. In her youngest days, she enjoyed running around the farm. She did not enjoy halter training but she learned well. She loved her bottle but grain was quickly beginning to grow on her. Trillium was working out to be a lovely first cow. 

I had no idea what the future held with Trillium, I had no major plans, other than to raise her well and see where that took me. As she grew, and Aine (our Holstein) grew it was apparent we would soon need a pasture to put these cows in. Unique Acres would soon start to take shape, as we began to plan the move to their first fenced in field. More on this later. 

Trillium marked the start of a new generation for Unique Acres. Though she was not from the lineage of my grandfathers cows, she was my first and that is what counts. My grandfather wouldn't have cared about lineage, he would've just hoped I'd be enjoying myself and doing it all for the love of the cows. I like to think he would've been proud to at least have his farm name back active again. This is the beginning to a story that means a lot to me to tell. A story of growth and adventure, I hope you'll enjoy following along. 

Unique Acres - Past, Present, and Future

 Unique Acres. A name that my grandfather came up with to summarize his farm that had a little bit of everything. Cows, chickens, peacocks, goats and more. He had a well put together herd of Scottish Highland Cattle registered with the American Highland Cattle Association. Visiting as a kid, I always loved seeing the cows. 

I started my own little fold about four years ago. Using the same name, I was able to bring the farm back. It wasn't the same farm or even in the same area, but it was the legacy of family. There is so much to tell about this story, and I will in time. 

For now, these three were the first animals around (pictured above). Ruby, a level headed quarter horse mare, full of that chestnut mare sass. Trillium,  my very first Highland cow. Aine, a Holstein sweet as candy and dumb as a rock. 

I started with one. For awhile I felt the Highland was the only representative of Unique Acres. As time passed I realized they were all part of the fold, and I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. Unique was the perfect description of it. Especially as the fold grew from 3 to 4, 4 to 6, and eventually seven animals. 

 Four years, I grew as a person. I gained a newfound responsibility to my animals. I had something to take care of. It was a journey full of stress and reward. Life has a way of changing, and my time with cattle was coming to an end this past Spring. 

Responsibility is a great thing to learn, but it means making hard choices. Letting the cattle go was a decision I made for me, so that I could be more present for my wife and newborn son. 

Colter Jess, his middle name the first name of my grandfather. Though Unique Acres is quiet right now, the legacy is still very much alive. This blog is a way for me to recapture the four years that taught me so much. It is a way for me to share the past, the present and plans for the future.