February's To-do List

Ugh. I'm tired of winter, but am tired of being cooped up in the house. Here's what we have to do this month:

-Taxes. Done. Yuck, but not so yucky (there is one advantage to the farm....)
-Shots. On the 14th. Yes, that's right: Valentine's Day in the barn, with a bunch of syringes and a bottle of Dectomax. How romantic.
-Halter training. Our first show of the year is in mid March. We're doing okay.
-Plan for spring planting. We have to replenish the raspberries, at least. Not sure what else we're doing this year.
-Do the budget for the year. See item #1. Tax refund = farm budget.
-Work on promo materials for Lord Muireach. We've got his breedings discounted at $500 for the first ten. He's a beautiful boy, with an interesting heritage.

Ugh. That's enough of a list. Next month, we'll also have show prep! So much for our winter lull!

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone has a wonderful 2010! Someone posted this on my Facebook page, and I thought it was too good not to share: "May your BEST day in 2009 be your WORST day in 2010"!

We went to a sledding party at our neighbor's place yesterday. This is the view of our farm from the top of their sledding hill. It's a good distance away - maybe 1/4 mile? Anyway, I thought it was a neat picture.

A few reflections on 2009:

We suffered our first herd loss this year, when Willow died. Both my husband and I were having second thoughts about this alpaca business. She was the only cria we were supposed to have last year, and she died. That was a major setback.

Instead of throwing in the towel, we dove into the deep end of the pool and bought 4 more girls (Meridian, Kacie, Millie, and Roni) as well as Muireach, our junior herdsire. Check out our new AlpacaNation page to meet them. Two days after we bought Meridian, she had a beautiful female cria. We were already excited about the cria because it's out of Invicible's Brookhollow Superstar, and to have a female cria was the icing on the cake. We've named her Felicja, which is Polish for "fortune" or "luck". Thank you to Joanna Stephens from Robasia Alpaca Ranch for help with the translation!

Our raspberry crop all died too. What a bummer that was, as we should have had berries in 2010 to sell. I'm not exactly sure what happened - they were mulched, watered, etc. This year, I'm going to make a trip to the bare root room and pick out the stock myself (and plant it directly). I'm also going to plant more.

Our first peach tree (planted in the yard in 2004) died too. Maybe I was lulled into a false sense of security with the warm winters we've had over the past several years. Good thing we've got lots of other types of trees planted (plums, pears, apples, paw paws) that should thrive in Wisconsin.

2010 will be a challenging year for us. This is our third year in the business. We've been hemorrhaging money for the first two years, and it's time we start bringing in more than we spend. We are well positioned for it though - most of the major expenses like animals, fencing, and equipment are behind us. We did pretty well with our holiday sock sales, and our new redesigned website will have an online farm store added soon. We're also hoping to sell some Muireach breedings too.

After two years, I'm still glad we did this. It's been a lot of hard work, a lot of money, but it's also incredibly satisfying. I have no regrets.

How can it be July already?

This has been a really good summer for us, so far. Most of our new trees are growing really well, and about half of the raspberries. We've had a decent amount of rain and nice temps too. The new pasture is beautiful, and the alpacas love it. Looking back, I can't believe the ugly patch of dirt they were on last year. Oh well - live and learn.

We're on Facebook now too, so feel free to friend us. Search under Erin Egan. There's some different pictures up there.

Raspberries are in, and we've also got a bumper crop of tart cherries. This is still our personal patch. Next year, though, the raspberries growing next to the alpaca pasture should be ready for public picking! That's pretty cool.

I am keeping up on the garden better, and flower beds too. We now have 4 acres of grass to mow (our lawn plus the new pasture). We've also got 6 foster puppies right now. It's all a lot of work, but it's also a lot of fun.

More pics will be posted one of these days. Last weekend, 4 fighter jets from the base in Madison flew right over too. That was awesome.

Ah...summer

Sorry for neglecting the blog. Here's what we've been doing:

-We planted 21 trees and over 50 raspberry bushes. Most are growing nicely, and the orchard is sure taking shape.
-Our neighbor planted 2 acres of orchard grass / pasture for us. That is coming along really good. (Now Paul has to fence it all it!)
-PAUL LANDED HIS FIRST CLIENT! How cool is that? He's doing a logo for a fellow alpaca farm in Illinois!
-Chewy died. I'm still sad. We lost a cat (long story). We have two new foster puppies, adopted a new cat for the boys (to replace their cat who died in March), and inherited an 11 year old Dalmation when Paul's stepfather passed away. Phew.
-My garden is in. I promise, this will be the year that I keep it weeded......or not....

As always, folks, stop out for a visit if you're in the neighborhood. Sabetha's next cria is due in mid-August, and we're planning another open house in September. I'll post pictures soon!

We're on the web

Check out our website: www.offbeatacres.com!

It's pretty stylized, because my husband is an illustrator. And yes, it's still a work in progress. You're getting a sneak peak. What do you think?

It's April

Spring is here.....and soon, our fruit trees will be too!

We've ordered another 20 trees, including peaches, plums, apples, pears and paw paws. Hey, a place called Offbeat Acres really needs paw paw trees, doesn't it? (The fruit tastes like banana custard, but apparently, the flowers smell like rotting flesh in the spring).

We're also getting another 50 raspberry plants, and some blackberries too. On one hand, I'm really looking forward to seeing all my new nursery stock. On the other hand, it's going to be a lot of work.

Hey, if you're free, we'll always take volunteers! We may even send you home with some alpaca beans for your flower beds!

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!

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.