Periwinkle

We've got a foster dog now from Shelter from the Storm. I know, we've already got three dogs, four cats, and five alpacas....but one more dog in this sometimes chaotic herd isn't going to make a difference. We fostered once before, when our oldest was a baby. That dog, Bailey, lived with us for about three months. It was hard to see him go, but it was nice to see him go to his new family.

We decided to foster again because it seemed like the right thing to do. Raising alpacas is a bit indulgent or something, and this is a way for us to give back to the animal kingdom.

Periwinkle (Peri for short) is a lab mix. Click on the her name to meet her!

Patty and Her Winter Bath

This is Patty, taking a winter bath. This dog sure loves snow!

Happy Birthday Lukey!

It's my youngest son's birthday today. He's two. He's way more excited about it than the dog...

Video of Sweet Caroline

I do a DVD every year at Christmas that showcases our family activities for the past year. This year, it included alpacas! Here's some video of Sweet Caroline, a few week after she was born.

Time Flies

I can't believe it's been TWO months since I've posted. Since the weather's gotten cold, we're spending a lot more time indoors, away from the animals so there aren't as many stories to tell. Here's what you've missed:

We took Bam Bam's cast off last Saturday. Hey, it was the vet's idea, and saved us a house call! He is doing better than we hoped. He walks with a slight limp, once in a while, and is definitely putting weight on the bad leg when he stands. We're hoping the leg muscles will re-gain strength and the limp will disappear.

Our alpacas do NOT like winter. They spend most of their time huddled up in the barn. Today, I realized who's in charge: I was out shoveling a path in the alpaca pasture, watching my alpacas and their thick coats of fiber frolic in the newly cleared snow. I'm working, you're playing??

Our Pyr, on the other hand, seems to love the snow. She sleeps in the deep, fresh, piles. She's also started bringing all of the alpaca feed buckets outside with her. Think she wants the company?

Alpaca socks are just about the best thing ever. Really! They're warm, soft, and just make your feet feel good on these cold winter nights. (And, we're just about sold out....)

We ARE sold out of yarn. There's a little bit of roving left, but all in all, I think this was a successful year.

Bam Bam Update

Bam Bam has been home for 4 days now. He looks remarkably good, considering the circumstances. He's sporting a bright pink fiberglass cast on his injured leg. We think he's feeling better, because he sure likes to kick us with his cast. I don't blame him - he was getting shots twice a day, every day to prevent infection. Fortunately, the shots are done. Bam Bam is also confined to a pen in the barn, to limit his movement. He hates it, but it's going to help him heal.

This was a bad day

I went out to the barn this morning to do chores. Everything was fine on the girls side (Hula, Sabetha, Caroline, and Patty the dog). However, in the boys' pen, there were drops of blood all over the floor. Huh. This is not good.

I put some feed in their bins. Usually, Titanium and Bam Bam are fighting each other to get to the feed. (We call them "The Clowns" - they fight just like brothers, but they also stick up for each other too. It's pretty neat to watch them.)

Anyway, only Titanium comes in to eat. No Bam Bam. I went to look for him with a sick feeling in my stomach. Found him in the dark, standing up, but limping. I'd been to an alpaca meeting a few days earlier, and they said that alpacas are very stoic animals, and rarely display symptoms of injury / illness. So, I knew this was a bad sign.

Bam Bam had a cut on the back of his left hind leg, just above the knee. My husband and I tried to bandage it, but it was very deep. We were thinking stitches. Because he was upright, and not spurting blood, we waited a few hours until the vet clinic opened at 7 a.m. (Yup, this was all happening at 5 in the morning).

Our vet, Dr. Mike Etter from Lodi Vet Hospital came in the afternoon. My poor Bam Bam has a ruptured Achilles Tendon and went back to the clinic so Dr. Mike could work on him. I just feel sick. Bam Bam got his leg stuck under one of our new steel barn doors, and it sliced right through his tendon. Fortunately, Bam Bam is not a horse, so he can survive with a gimpy leg. If all goes well at the clinic, Bam Bam will have to spend some time confined to his pen in the barn, but will be able to live a near normal life, palling around with his clown friend, Titanium.

I'll breathe much easier when he's home. I know you're not supposed to have favorites, but Bam Bam is such a beautiful boy, and he's got great fiber. He's also got a lot of personality, and is the perfect size to hug. It was really tough this morning seeing him in pain.

Socks for Sale

We are members of the Alpaca Fiber Co-op of North America. We send them some of our fiber, which gets made into wonderful alpaca products!

We currently have an assortment of alpaca socks available for purchase! Why alpaca socks? The fiber from alpaca is unusually strong and resilient. Raised at high altitudes in freezing cold, the alpaca has developed more thermal capacity in its fiber than almost any other animal. The fiber contains microscopic air pockets which create lightweight garments with high insulation values.

If you would like to purchase any of our socks, please send us an e-mail at offbeatacres@gmail.com or call 608-219-6369. We will deliver at no charge in the Madison area, or you can come pick them up yourself, and meet our alpacas! All prices include tax.

Extreme Alpaca Socks - $22

In our opinion, these are simply the best alpaca socks being made today! Cushy softness to be enjoyed whenever winter chills the toes. Wear these thick, terry knit socks as slippers inside. Wear outside in hiking, hunting, wading, or work boots. They will extend the enjoyment of winter activities. Made in USA of North American alpaca fiber. Sizes 9-11, 10-13 and 13-15 available.

Extreme Boot Alpaca Socks - $24
Made to wear with work boots or ski boots. Just like our # 1 selling Extreme sock with a longer calf. Sizes 9-11, 10-13, and 13-15 available.

Alpaca Slipper Socks - $17
After the stress of a typical day, it's nice to slip into our Terry Slipper Socks. Same great construction and yarn as our Extreme Alpaca Socks but knit to stop just above the ankle for inside wear. Nothing is better than the cushy, soft warmth enveloping your toes on a drafty floor. Sizes 9-11 and 10-13 available.

Alpaca Dress Socks - $15

Solid dress socks are 70% Baby Alpaca with 28% Nylon and 2% Lycra for comfort and easy care. Machine wash and dry. These socks are incredibly soft and luxurious. They are available in beige, brown, and black, and in men's and ladies' sizes!

Offbeat Acres Open House!

October 11 & 12, 2 – 5 p.m.
5453 Pierceville Road
Cottage Grove, WI 53527

Questions? Call (608) 219-6369 or e-mail offbeatacres@gmail.com

Here are the directions from Madison:

• Take I-94 East towards Milwaukee (4.1 mi)
• Take exit 244 for CR-N toward Cottage Grove/Sun Prairie (0.2 mi).
• Turn left at CR-N (0.2 mi)
• Turn right at CR-TT (3.0 mi) Note: about a mile up TT, Pierceville Rd will go off to the right. This is NOT your turn.
• Turn left at Pierceville Rd, we’re the third place on the left (0.9 mi)



Meet our alpacas and see our renovated barn! We will also have a limited supply of alpaca yarn, roving, and socks available. Come and sit a spell!

Like Mother, Like Daughter?

Sabetha (and Caroline) have been gone for a few weeks. Alpacas can be bred just a few weeks, after giving birth, so Sabetha went back up to Oshkosh to see Clint again. We went to visit them last weekend - and neither wanted their picture taken!

Don't worry, they'll be back next weekend, in time for our open house.

Our Patty

Patty is a wonderful guard dog. There's been a suspicious critter lurking lately, so Patty has set up shop near the fenceline. She's such a beautiful dog - and such a hard worker. We're incredibly lucky to have her!

'Paca Update / Open House

We just got our yarn and roving back from the fiber mill. It is gorgeous! It's an incredible feeling to hold the yarn in your hands, knowing it came from one of our animals. Bam Bam's yarn is a smooth khaki color, Hula's is a rich mahogany brown, and Sabetha's is a nice black. I can't believe how dark the yarn is, compared to the animal standing in our barnyard. How cool is that?

We've also joined the Alpaca Fiber Co-op of North America. (We're on page 9, if you look at the member list). The co-op is a great idea - we send our fiber there, and can purchase alpaca products from the co-op to sell to our customers. Today, my husband ordered our first shipment of socks. I know what everyone on our Christmas list is getting this year....

Mark your calendars - we've got the weekend of October 11 / 12 pencilled in for our open house. We'll have our yarn, roving, and socks available, and you can come meet our beautiful animals!

Article about our fiber mill

Interesting article from the Wisconsin State Journal about Willow Bridge Fiber Mill, and alpacas in Wisconsin. Willow Bridge is the mill currently working on our yarn

Lessons Learned, 2008

It's Labor Day weekend, and summer is drawing to a close. This was our first summer as a business, so I wanted to capture a few things:

-Ten inches of rain and a few small hailstones wreak havoc on your fruit harvest. We had deluges of rain back in June. Our peach crop was coming along very nicely. However, at harvest, most of the fruit had tiny holes on them, where the skin was bruised and the fruit was rotten. Jeez. We didn't even get enough peaches this year to make a batch of jam for ourselves, let alone have enough to sell.
-Strawberries, on the other hand, benefitted greatly from the rainy June. We had a wonderful strawberry yield. If only we had enough of them to sell...,.
-I make a kick ass hot pepper sauce. We just discovered a great recipe today - some roasted cayenne peppers, garlic, and vinegar. It's got heat, but still has plenty of flavor. Next year, we're thinking of planting an entire section of peppers just so we can sell the sauce. We'll have to go back to the business plan and re-evaluate this idea.....
-Slightly underripe tomatoes make great sauce. If you pick the fruit before it ripens completely, the plant will put it's energy back into producing more. We have an incredible bounty of salsa and tomato sauce this year.
-Four year old boys are really good at watering. Just have them pretend to be firefighters, and have them point the hose at the garden. Voila - they're occupied, and you can cross something off the to-do list!

Introducing....Sweet Caroline!!

We have a name! My husband thought of it, actually, but I love it. Our farm name, Offbeat Acres, is derived from the fact that we're both musicians, so we wanted all our cria names to have a musical theme as well. We were originally thinking of blues singers, but she just didn't look like a Susan Tedeschi or Billie Holiday. (We actually thought of the name June Carter too, but had a hard time figuring out what her nickname would be - great suggestion, though!)




So....I admit, I'm a huge dork, and a huge Neil Diamond fan. Sweet Caroline is one of those songs that just makes you smile, and this cria makes me smile every time I see her. We'll call her "Sweetie". Perfect!

Update on the Boys

Don't our boys have it rough? I wish I could spend my days lounging in the sun....

Check back in a few weeks, we'll have yarn and roving available, from fiber produced by our very own Offbeat Alpacas!

(Btw, the baby is on the right in the background - she is growing like a weed)!

Out of the mouths of babes

My husband and boys were home when the cria was born. Our older son is almost 4, so my husband was trying to explain to him what was happening with Sabetha, without being too graphic. My husband said "Sabetha's baby is coming today". To which my boy replied, "Good! When Dick and Patty get here, Dick can push me on the swing!"

Gotta love that logic. Dick and Patty are the breeders where we got our first alpacas, so our course, they're going to bring the baby. My son got his first lesson in the birds and the bees that day.

Btw, the cria is now 7 days old, and has gained 1.5 lbs. She loves to run along the fence line so the alpaca boys on the other side can chase her. Sabetha has little tolerance for this, though, and scolds the boys. What interesting creatures they are.

Baby pictures!!!

We have a cria! Baby was born on Tuesday, August 12th, at about 12:45 in the afternoon. She is primarily dark brown, with a black face and black stockings. What a beaut.....except, we still don't have a name. Johnny Cash won't work, for obvious reasons....




Our thoughts:
Melody in the Mist
Black Sunshine
Riley
BB Queen

Any other ideas?

Name that alpaca

Hey folks,

It's August 6th, and still no cria. In the meantime, if any of you have an idea for a name, post a comment. I've already warned my husband that if it's a black male, he WILL be named after Johnny Cash. Any other ideas?

Thanks!

Sabetha & cria watch

This is Sabetha. She is a true black alpaca. It is August in Wisconsin, and today it was 86 degrees. To make matters worse, she is 11 months pregnant. Do not be alarmed (yet); alpacas normal gestation period is 11 1/2 months. But still - she must be hot.

We have decided to take the plunge into alpaca breeding. Instead of wading into the kiddie pool, we dove into the deep end, without a life jacket. Oh well - it was a calculated risk.

Sabetha is a beautiful animal, and is bred to Clint, "AKA A Fistful of Dollars". This should be another gorgeous animal, and we can't wait to meet her...or him.

Check back in a few weeks for baby pictures! We'll also have an open house in September, if you want to meet the critters in person!

Home Sweet Home

I had to go to Orlando for business this week. The trip was okay. I know, Orlando is a great place to vacation, but it was the last week in July (over 90 degrees and terribly humid), and my family stayed home. The meetings were okay, and I got to see my best friend from college (Hi Pen!) so the trip wasn't a complete loss.

Things you've missed:

-Our raspberries are done for the year. I don't get it - last year we had berries coming out of our ears. I made 2 batches of jam, and froze over 20 pints. This year, there was one batch of jam, and only 2 pints put up.
-We are still on cria watch. Sabetha is due August 11th, and there is no news to report. This is our first cria, so we're a bit anxious.
-Nature trails in Wisconsin do not have signs that say "Warning - do not touch poisonous or dangerous animals such as snakes or alligators". There IS a silver lining for our terrible winters.
-And finally, it's good to be home. This was my first trip away from my boys, and it seemed like an eternity.

Our watchful dog

I think I enjoy Patty as much as the alpacas. She's beautiful, she's sweet, and she's the best behaved dog I have ever had.

This is Patty, checking out the stranger taking pictures in the field. "Hey, you, stay away from my alpacas!"

Attack of the Mulberries

A few years ago, we discovered a mulberry tree growing in the fence line across the field. The mulberries were sweet, and delicious to eat right off the tree. So, the next spring, my husband took a cutting of the tree to plant in our yard. He lovingly tended it and watered it for a while. Then, one day, it fell victim to the lawn mower (ouch). We were crushed.

A few weeks later, we made a startling discovery: there were mulberry trees already in the yard. (I told you, we're city kids). One of the trees was at least 12 feet tall, and loaded down with fruit. There was another tree growing next to it, and one next to our old stone building, and behind the house. Now that I know what they look like, I see them everywhere! They're almost as bad as the purple coneflowers...


Here's my very own recipe for Berry Lemon Cobbler. The first time I made it, my husband wrinkled his nose...until he tried it. The tartness of the lemon plays perfectly off the sweetness of the mulberries.

Ingredients:
1 whole lemon
3 tbsp white sugar
2 1/2 - 3 cups berries
3/4 cup brown sugar (if using a tarter berry like blueberries, increase to 1 cup)
1 3/4 cup biscuit mix
3/4 cup milk
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup white sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Zest lemon into small bowl. Add 3 tbsp white sugar, stir to combine, and set aside.
Pour berries into 8 x 8 pan. (Berries should cover bottom of pan completely)
Sprinkle brown sugar evenly over berries
Squeeze remainder of lemon evenly over berry / sugar mix
Stir together biscuit mix, milk, vanilla, and 1/4 cup white sugar. Batter will be stiff.
Drop batter by the spoonful (a spring loaded ice cream scoop is perfect) over the berry / sugar mix in pan. You should have 10 - 12 spoonfuls.
Sprinkle lemon zest / sugar mix over the top of the batter.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, or until golden brown.

Delicious served warm with whipped cream.

This New Barn

Pictures of the new barn. Enjoy!

Raspberries

It's raspberry season! The crop is a little small this year, but the berries we have are very nice. They freeze well too. $2 / pint pre-picked, $1 / pint if you do the work.

offbeatacres@gmail.com

Our little herd

I couldn't resist - here's one more picture with all of the alpacas, and Patty too.

To Spray or Not To Spray

I'm a gardener. Well, first and foremost, I LOVE to eat....and cook. It's so much fun to go out in the garden every day and see what's ripe and is ready for picking / canning / freezing / jam. Last week, we were eating mulberries and radishes. This week, it's raspberries and tomatoes.

People always ask if we're "going organic". I truthfully don't know how to answer that. My growing philosophy is simple: I don't plant anything that needs to be coddled. I plant it, water it, and say "good luck to you". I do occasionally weed, but that's about it.

I think we ingest enough nasty stuff already, through the air and water, so I don't put chemicals on my food. We've had decent luck with our fruit with that philosophy. Yes, our peaches were a little buggy last year, but we still had a plentiful yield. We also had significant hail damage with our apples this year, but no spray in the world will help that. The raspberries don't seem to mind at all.



However, our bottom line is derived from a much simpler place: my boys. They go out in the yard, pick something off the vine / tree / bush, and in the mouth it goes. They love to eat vegetables (even broccoli and asparagus) because they watch it grow (and probably helped along the way). I never want to lose that freedom.

The Alpacas Are Here!

Yes, it's true. All of our hard work over the past few months has paid off, and we have now (finally) taken delivery of the alpacas.

For now, the two boys and two girls will be sharing a pasture, but eventually, we will separate them. A few observations:

-If you have alpacas peeking out of a livestock trailer, people WILL inevitably ask about them. "Are those llamas"? No, they're alpacas. "Cool! I love Waupacas". Umm...okay....


-Alpacas are very curious, like cats. I think they like to watch us as much as we watch them. But, don't try to pet them, unless it was THEIR idea.

-Boys stick together (and so do girls). For a while today, I was having flashbacks to a junior high school dance. The boys were on one side of the pasture, the girls were on the other, and there was a whole lotta space separating them.

-Alpacas DO have a communal dung pile. Well, in our case, there are two communal piles. You guessed it: one for the boys, the other for the girls. I'd like to say there was a fancy ritual for picking the spot, but it seemed like it was the first place someone squatted. (Sorry. We're alpaca people now. Dung will now occupy a significant portion of our conscious thought.)


I know: all the posts have been about the critters lately. It is raspberry season, and the peaches are not far behind, so check back for updates on the fruitier end of our operation.

Ahhh....

My job can be pretty intense sometimes.   Today was easily one of the crummiest days I've had in well over a year.    One of the things I'm really enjoying about the farm is the physical labor.  I sit at a desk (or in meetings) most of the time at the day job.   Oh goodie - today I made some more spreadsheets.   Where's the joy in that?

So, I was fried when I got home today.  It was the perfect mindset for weeding.   I needed some way to vent my frustration / rage, and feel like I make a difference in the world.    Ripping out that *&#!(@* crab grass just felt good.    My watermelons, peppers, beets, and other veggies are now beautiful again.     I also made baked fish, wilted beet greens, and potatoes with fresh dill and scallions for supper.  Mmmm - maybe this day wasn't a complete loss....

Talk about intense jobs - my husband is a stay-home dad.    I wouldn't want to trade with him....

Little Farm Boys

Here are some pictures of my real boys.   Why do little boys like tractors so much?

Vintage Tobacco Poles for sale!

Hey everyone,

Our big old barn was once used as a tobacco drying shed.   So, we have (literally) hundreds of really long wood poles.  Most are at least 16 feet long, and 4 inches wide.   They are solid pieces of wood, and look like tree trunks with the branches trimmed off.    We've been using them for fence posts, and they work great.   However, we need room for hay.

Act now - we're having an inventory reduction sale.   $4 / pole - take as many as you want.  Or, make an offer: offbeatacres@gmail.com.

Don't Fence Me In

We are celebrating our 4th of July this weekend by putting up a fence.    So far, all of the corner posts are in.  My husband rented a post hole digger a few weeks ago, but that didn't cut the mustard.   We're now the proud owners of a post hole digger that attaches to our old tractor.   That's an impressive machine, and cuts through rocks, compacted soil, etc, like butter.

This is actually very exciting for us.   The fence is the last thing we need to finish before we can go get our alpacas.   We've "owned" them for about 3 months now, but it still doesn't seem very real.  If all goes well, we'll pick them up next Friday.  Wish us luck!

Btw....our barn is done, and it looks terrific.  We'll post pictures of the finished product soon.

Alpacas "R" Us?

We're actually getting 4 alpacas.    You've already met Bam Bam and Titanium (see the post on "The Boys"); we're also getting 2 girls, named Hula and Sabetha.   They have fancy registered names too, but la la.   You won't find me out in the pasture saying "Come here, KAOA Rum BamBoozle" - Bam Bam is much easier.    You get the idea.

Hula is a female, born last June.  She's not quite full grown yet, and will be bred next summer (2009), and have her first cria in 2010.   See how we got suckered in to buying alpacas?   She looks like a teddy bear.

 People always ask us where you buy alpacas.    Well, I haven't found an Alpacas "R" Us store, yet.   We've had really good luck with the alpacanation website, which is where we found our breeders, Apple Orchard Alpacas.   The Kandiko's have been great - they've been in the business for a long time, and are really good advocates for the industry.   Be sure to buy from a reputable breeder, it makes your life a lot easier.

Patty

We have coyotes on our land.   They are approximately 1/4 mile away from the pasture, but I know they're out there.  I can hear them howling at night, and have seen them wandering out in the fields.

One of our alpacas is going to have a cria (baby, in alpaca-ese) in mid-August.   Knowing that we have a potential predator problem, we have invested in a Livestock Guardian Dog (LGD).   We were fortunate to find a fully trained Great Pyrenees named Patty.    Isn't she beautiful?

Patty is a big dog, weighing in at over 100 pounds.  She's a working dog, and will live out in the pasture with the alpacas.   She's also very sweet.  Just don't try to mess with her herd - you'll be sorry!

This is.....work

One of the tests the IRS uses to determine if we're a business (rather than a hobby) is the amount of time invested per year.  500 hours is the magic number.  I think we hit that by May 1.

In the past week, we've compiled all of the barn items needed for alpacas: feed, hay, medical supplies, birthing supplies, feed bins, water buckets, mats, etc.   My husband is also working on the fence.  I've been working on the books.   Trust me folks, this has gone far beyond a hobby.  A few months ago, I never knew there was a store called  the Tractor Supply Company (aka "TSC").   Now, I can tell you how to get to the closet store.   We've also become acquainted with our local camelid / equine nutritionist at the local co-op, and found a large-animal vet.  

However, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.  Tomorrow, we start putting up the fence fabric.   My husband put in the corner posts a few weeks ago, so we've got a little start.   Our orchard grass is sprouting nicely, is ready to be mowed.   Our alpacas should be here in the next week or two, so all of this effort will be rewarded.

The boys

 

I have two boys.   Well, I have two human boys, and two alpaca boys.   My mother gets really annoyed because I have more pictures of the alpacas than of her grandsons.     Oh well.

This is Bam Bam and Titanium, my two alpaca boys.   Bam Bam is on the left.   

Why are we getting alpacas?   Why not horses, or sheep, or cows, or llamas?    Well.....I'd like to say that we did hours of research, studied vet books, went to fairs/shows, etc.    Simply put, it was the one animal my husband and I agreed on.   They're small enough to be easily handled by a couple of newbies (us), they produce wonderfully soft, lanolin free fiber (so they're practical), and they're just beautiful to look at.     Done.    

Next up:  laying chickens.     Know where we can get some?

Progress!

 

The windows are in, and the doors are on!    This is the view from the pasture.   In a few weeks, this is where our alpacas will reside.  

I have a feeling the view will be lost on them....

Barn Boards

I almost forgot - we have lots of barn boards lying around now.    They are extra pieces that are being taken off in the renovation.  Send us an e-mail if you're interested in them.  Some of them would make nice picture frames or furniture.

The curse of the purple coneflower

I know this is a little off topic, but I need to vent.      A few years ago, I decided to rip out the old, overgrown juniper bushes in the flower beds in front of my house.    I replaced them with lots of perennials, including stargazer lilies, peonies, columbine, clematis, butterfly bush, and purple cone-flowers.   To make the beds look pretty, I also laid down a few cubic yards of shredded wood mulch.     It was a beautiful thing.

Flash forward 5 years, and 2 kids later.     Did you know that purple cone-flowers shed thousands (millions?) of stupid seeds every year?   Do you know what those seeds do in pretty shredded wood mulch?   I wound up with flower beds of nothing but purple cone-flowers!    Argh!    I want variety!   And, with 2 little boys, I don't have time to weed!

So, early this spring, I dug out ALL of the old wood mulch and purple cone-flowers from the 3 beds around my house.    I had a few wheelbarrows full of the stuff.   (The other perennials remain).    

I am an avid gardener.  Where did I put the old purple cone-flowers and spent wood mulch?   In my compost pile.   Life was good.     I dutifully spread my compost on my garden, and tilled it in.    My garden was doing okay, even with all of the rain and cool temperatures we've had.   

However, there are these peculiar weeds growing all over my garden.  It almost looks like someone sowed them, there are so many weeds.   And, it's not crabgrass, creeping charlie, or any of the normal culprits that inhabit my garden.    Imagine my surprise when I realized what they were - those stupid purple cone-flowers.... 

Pictures of our old barn

Our old barn at sunset, a few years ago.

Here's the south side.   You can see some of loose boards, as well as the covered windows on the bottom.  Now, all of the bottom windows have been replaced, and there are 5 windows upstairs on this side.   It's an incredible view.

Dave's Construction from Baraboo is doing the work.   We are incredibly lucky to have found him - everyone else told us to tear the barn down and put up a pole building.   Dave specializes in restoring old ag buildings, like our barn.   I really think he's almost as excited about this as we are.

This Old Barn

We're having our barn renovated.   When it's done, it will have a new steel roof, sides and doors.  We're also putting in 12 windows in the upstairs hayloft, and replacing the windows on the lower floor.   

I have lived at this place for 12 years, and bought it 5 years ago.   When I bought it, I hated that barn - it was a waste of space, and it ruined a perfectly good view.   The only money I thought I'd ever spend on it was picking up it's pieces after it caved in.   

If all else fails on our little enterprise, I will never regret saving the barn.   It was actually in fairly good condition for its age (built in 1917, you do the math).  Our builder can't believe how straight and level everything is.   Plus, now that we're using it for livestock, I am beginning to appreciate all the pens, hooks, storage spaces, and holes in the floor (for throwing down hay bales).   My husband is also going to use half of the hayloft for his studio (he's an artist / illustrator), so he'll have the beautiful old timbers, lots of natural light, and a huge open space.   

It's funny how wrong first impressions can be.... 

What are we doing?

My husband and I have (foolishly) decided that it's the perfect time to start a business.  Not just any business, mind you, an orchard and alpaca farm.     We've got about ten acres and are growing peaches, raspberries, apples, and yes, alpacas.    We are keeping it small, trying to keep it simple, and learning as we go.   And I forgot to mention: we're both city kids.   The adventure begins.

Things we've learned:

• Old tractors can be incredibly useful.   The best money we've spent so far is on an old 1952 Ford tractor.    It was relatively cheap, solidly built, and does a lot of work.
• If you plow, you must disc.   Turning over even a few hundred square feet of pasture by hand may seem like a good idea, but it's not.  
• If you plant grass seed for the pasture, it will not rain for at least a week....except for the torrential downpours that wash all the seed away.
• Peaches will grow in Wisconsin.  Yes, Wisconsin.    We've got another bumper crop this year, even with the miserable winter and 100"+ of snow.  
• Plan.  Plan, plan, plan.    Before we planted our first tree or bought our first alpaca, we laid out about ten guiding principles for our business.  This sounds crazy, but it's been very valuable.