We have become a very lazy society. People want things at their fingertips. Online ordering of goods has spoiled the majority of the young. They can have, at their doorstep, anything there is to buy in the world, without getting off the chair or lift a finger to go get it. No money changes actual hands, and every thing is virtual. Ordering is a click of a key and paying the same. 

So, to drive to the Farm Store from the local towns, Bonnyville, St. Paul or Elk Point, is just too far. Since organic living is not a popular topic here either, there is little lure to come and purchase clean healthy body products. Soap can be bought at the farmer's market, but even that is not well attended. People go for baking and produce and skirt the rest of the offerings. Home parties and pyramid marketing further complicates the problem and a great deal of misinformation is circulating in this area, some of it even dangerous. 

The Farm Store would be a success if it was near Calgary, Nelson of Vencouver. There the people value organic living and hand made items. My daughter in law from Calgary said if I was closer to Calgary, she knows people would come and buy my things. But I am not. 

So, again, I need to find a way to sell what I like to do HERE. If that means online sales, then I will give it a try. I do not like the shipping part of online and the record keeping. I understand with Paypal an invoice can be created and payment recieved is recorded so the record keeping is easy. That might be the way to go, but Paypal takes a hefty premium for their service. And I still have to package and post the items. 

I am going to work on that. Uniformity has never been my style. Making soap is great and I have done it for years without concern that each recipe is identical to the previous of that type of soap and that each bar is the same as every other in colour size and weight. For me that is more difficult, so I will continue to market the soap by weight in chunks. Lush, the famous bath and body shop, does that. They do not sell natural or organic anymore, but when they did, they made the soap in their stores and broke it into random pieces which were weighed for sale. That sounds good to me. 

The "other' goods in the farm store can be sold online too. It is a matter of taking excellent photographs of the merchandise then knowing how to package and ship it. Yuk. The photographs I can do, but I need a camera. I have been researching camerals and am leaning to the Nikon 3300 for ease of use. It will do what I need it to do. I have done some professional photography, but that was long ago. I need to be able to sell the majority of what I own over the next 4 or 5 years and since I cannot seem to entice the locals here, I will have to sell online. Even on the local Facebook buy and sell and auction sites, the people want the items delivered to their town. They simply do not want to drive the 5-20 minutes. That is how it is. Like it or not, that is how it is. So, the task of creating an online store is about to begin. 

Are you online with me? 

I think most people who switche to the Paleo diet or some form of gluten free or carbohydrate sensitive diets, miss home baked goods.  I used to bake frequently, but I also ate what I made. Home made fresh cinnamon buns, still warm from the oven, just cannot be left for guests. 

So, I experiment with recipes and create my own versions of healthier baking. This morning's creation was biscuits using Bob's Redmill flour. It is a chick pea, potato and "other" mix that I use quite often. At least the chick peas provide a bit of protein. I want to try making a fermented "Dosa", an Indian pancake, next. 

The Recipe for Skillet Biscuits:

1 cup of cold butter. You could use other fat, such as lard or tallow if you wished. 
2 cups of the flour mix . Sometimes I make my own from various flowers I have. Today I used Bob's
1 tsp of salt. I ground coarse sea salt. 
2 tsp baking powder or 1 cream of tartar and 1 of soda.

Mix this together with a pastry blender until just crumbs are evident and no large pieces of butter/fat remain. 

Mix together in a small bowl
1 beaten egg
1/3 cup of liquid (I used water, but you could use milk, coconut milk, any milk )
1 tsp of apple cider vinegar

Dump the liquid into the crumb mix and stir until combined. Do not over mix. 

The cast iron skillet was preheated on low. No grease is necesasry since the mixture is fat heavy. I tried to form patties with my hands, but once handled the mixture bacame sticky. I scooped out a small lump and put it in the pan and when there were 5 or 6 lumps, put a lid on that let the steam escape and left it for a few minutes on low. Then I flipped the biscuits with a spatula and flattened them somewhat, put the lid back on and waited a few more minutes. The biscuits were done when they no longer changed shape (indented) when touched. 

Remove the biscuits to a platter or rack. But of course you must try one. I used a little butter, though they are butter rich and I found that they needed nothing. 

When they are cool I will keep them for sandwich bread or egg muffins in the morning. 

Enjoy!

Robbie is my dog. He is my right hand man on the farm. He sleeps in the house and is extremely well behaved inside. 

But Robbie has a serious problem. He is hgihly aggressive. When he is in the car or truck and sees another dog, I cannot control him. I am afraid to open the door so that he does not attack the dog outside. He goes crazy and once he has bitten me, though he did not know it was me. I stuck my hand insdie the window when I was outside with a strange dog, and Robbie bit my hand thinking it was the dog. He has never bitten me otherwise, nor growled at me or shown agression towards me. But to other dogs he is terribly uncontrollable. I grap his collar and his skin and it has to hurt him and still he won't quit trying to kill the dog from the inside. 

He also can be agressive with animals, particularly the llama and some sheep. When he was young, 2 years ago, he led the pack to kill the young llama Karin. I ran out to the pasture, but the dogs were young and packed on the llama. They would have killed her had I not set them off and rescued her. That same summer Robbie chased and played rough with a lamb and then rougher and when the other dogs joined in, he ripped the skin off her stomach. It healed but she suffered, I am sure. She is the same sheep that Mike and Joe used as a chew toy and marked her ears for life. And today, Robbie led Joe, the dog who is supposed to protect the sheep, to chase and attack that same sheep, badly hurting her. 

I was busy with a visitor to the farm, but outside. Robbie does not bark when he chases and hurts, but Joe does. I heard Joe barking and immediately thought about where he was and where Robbie was not and put two and two together, too late for the ewe. She is badly chewed up. I treated her wounds with liquid copper for bacteria and gave her a shot of penicillin but she needs a pain killer. I will try to find something for her pain tomorrow. She is sitting crying. 

Sheep do not make a sound when they are being chased or hurt. I am so very sorry for this pretty little girl. She is a good sheep, a quiet girl, quite friendly, and she is a mother this year. I know she is in pain and I feel totally responsible. 

Tomorrow Robbie will wear his shock collar and he will wear it for the rest of the summer. Joe does not initiate trouble, but follows. Unless he displays more incorrect behaviour, Joe will not wear a shock collar at this time. Every time Robbie runs from me when I call him back, he will be shocked. He will be trained to stay by my side. If he fails, I may have no choice but to try to rehome him and if that does not work, his fate is not good. I love that dog. I have had him since he was 7 weeks old and he is my 11th border collie. He learns quickly and loves to do tricks. Other than his agression issue he is a great dog, but he cannot be here on the farm if he is going to hurt the animals. I am sad about this. It is akin to a wayward child. The mother does not want to kill or disown the child, but help correct the behaviour, though what if it does not work? 

The shock collar may be all the reminder he needs. I am not happy about resorting to that, but less pleased that he is agressive and can be uncontrollable. He needs to get in line. He needs to never chase and hurt the animals. Never. Will he succeed? I surely hope so, I do. 

I have just gone through this year's fleeces and was amazed by the Karakuls once again. They are spectacular sheep and we should have more of them. In Canada there are very few purebred Karakuls and coming by a ram has been impossible. 

In the 1950s, the Karakul sheep were imported to North America for the fur trade. The pelts of the unborn or newborn Karakuls are black or brown tightly curled wool which retains the curl only if the lambs are slaughtered at birth. Thousands of Karakul sheep were brought in for the popular lamb fur coats and hats of the 1950's, that is until the  people learned where the pelts actually came from. Once it was discovered that the fur was not fur, but wool from newborn or in some cases lambs taken in utero, people were outraged and quit buying the fur coats and hats. So, the sheep were slaughtered by the thousands. And that was the shame of it all. 

Karakul are hardy sheep, able to thrive in harsh environments and fatten on marginal forage. Compared to the modern breeds, the Karakuls remain plump just from pasture and hay, while the newer breeds must have grain to put weight on the carcass. Even the Karaul cross Cotswold ewe I have is a large sheep with a good thick body. But the Karakuls also produce fantastic fleece, not wool for spinning, but coarse long fibre, as long as 14 inches in a season at no cost to their meaty carcass development. The modern sheep are either wool or meat with a few exceptions, while Karakuls easily produce their spectacular wool and keep their meaty frames filled. They are also pest resistant and have very good feet. 

Karakul ewes are exceptional mothers, raising twins easily and nursing lambs well into four months without condition loss. The rams spot spectacular frames with large horns and are magnificent to look at, though I have only had the pleasure of seeing them in photos. 

I commented on a picture on Facebook recently and contacted the owner of the photo who sent along some with permission to use them in this writing about Karakuls. She is a professional photographer and also has her own Karakul sheep, so the photos are spectacular. I would like to find a ram and next year will diligently try to bring one up from the states. Then I can breed the three Karakul ewes I have and produce some more amazing sheep, hopefully interesting others in the fabulous breed. They are fat tailed, that is the nutrients and nourishment and water is stored in the tail, as a camel stores such in the hump. A well fed prosperous Karakul will have a fat tail. In poor times the tail size diminishes considerably allowing the Karakuls to thrive where others would fail. Amazing! 

Thank you to Betty for the use of her photos. They too are amazing. Amazing pictures of amazing sheep! Amazing! The photographer is Betty Gillis from Texas. Thank you Betty. 

I went to Vermillion to connect with a transporter who was taking one of my favourite lambs to the interior and while I was in the city, I decided to see how the fair was. It was fair. My favourite was the big horses, so majestic and magnificent and at the same time gentle and quiet. The  power in the horses was evident, yet there was a young girl who was threading her way in and out of their legs and bellies with no fear, and then she climbed up and drove a team. Amazing. 

I looked at the sheep display which was pathetic. I should bring my sheep in for others to view and learn about, but I don't have a stock trailer. Maybe it might happen another year. I also looked at the brids, primarily the ducks and chickens. There were some Chantecler chickens there and also a friend of mine. I chatted with him for a while and asked about purchasing a rooster since I lost my Chantecler rooster this summer. He just up and died and I found nothing to indicate his reason for death. I do not lose many chickens, so it was an oddity. 

I was  inquiring about purchasing a rooster to replace the one that died and was told that there were none for sale, because my friend beat me to it and bought a pair of Partridge Chanteclers, but he said he will give me some chicks when they hatch. Since I do not require show chickens and that is the whole focus of his chickens, I will take the not so perfect birds. Actually, I just need one rooster. The chickens I have readily reproduce and there are always lots of females, but the new blood comes from switching roosters yearly. I have an Ameraucana rooster and will be acquiring a new one this fall along with two new hens. The Chantecler/Ameraucana cross chickens are wonderful bringing the best of the two breeds to the cross hens. 

The fair was quite good all in all, especially for a small town. West Coast Amusements supplied the midway. Seeing the signs on the booths reminded me of an early job I had working the Pacific National Exhibition as a ride operator for West Coast Amusements in Vancouver. I was there from 11 am to 1 am daily for the 2 weeks the PNE ran. It was good money and I learned a lot, but never considered doing that job again. Carnival life is not for me. 

The only complaint I had about the fair was the long, long lineups-half a city block for sure. Every food booth was lined up, as were the rides and games. I ended up buying only some fudge and caramels and then stopping at the A & W on the way home and had sweet potato fries instead of lining up forever. The ladies at the entry were very friendly and pleasant and remembered me as I left. How endearing. But that is part of the charm of a small town, isn't it? 

It is very common for people to come to visit the farm. Sometimes they stay 4 or 5 hours, if I can spare the time. These are usually people I have never met and do not know, so I cannot say they are friends dropping in. They are strangers who may become friends, but interested parties who enjoy the animals and love the farm. Lots of questions are asked usually and I don't mind sharing what I know. Some are intrigued by the different way of doing things and want to learn more, while others just enjoy being in the middle of the chaos of ducks and geese and baby birds running around, comforted by the big dogs with soft fur who enjoy pats, and hearing the bleating and baaing of the goats and sheep in the near distance. 

Last week a gentleman stopped for duck eggs and stayed four hours. Yesterday a lady came for chicken eggs and stayed 5 hours. It was a pleasure to speak with her. She was jovial and friendly, not from here, which gave us a lot in common immediately and she was as willing to share stories of her life as she was to listening to my tales of farm. Today a young man of 30 came by. He comes quite often and has always offered his kind assistance for anything I should need help with. How very sweet. He is a pleasant young man and it is nice to know that he finds the farm as stimulating as it is relaxing. 

The only unwelcome farm visitors I have had are those with four legs. Today the dogs were chasing something in broad daylight and I am thinking it must have been the fox. The fox was seen in the afternoon a few weeks ago right behind one of the slumbering livestock guardian dogs. It was young and bold and did not seem to worry about the proximity to a dog. Foxes are one of the few predators that the dogs miss. They come downwind on tiny quiet feet. 

If you would like to be a farm visitor, you are always welcome. Some days I do not have much time to spend, which means you might just be following me around as I work. But the coffee is always on, or a cold drink on a hot day is waiting for you. Come on down! Visitors always welcome! 

The farm is always a busy place. With so many animals and birds, something is going to need special attention every day, yet there is always time to do a little something. Today a person called looking for duck eggs, and spent 4 hours on the farm. Usually, I do not have that much time to spend with folks but he did seem genuinely interested in all that was happening, from the permaculture straw bale gardening to the miniature cows. He kept remarking that there were a lot of projects for one person. 

That is so true. For one normal person, this would be overwhelming. It is for me sometimes too, but only when I get frustrated not being able to do something that needs to be done. Then I have to devise a better way to do it and tackle it again. With some thought, it works out. 

Lelu was loaded up for delivery to the transport tomorrow. She was a the cutest lamb on the farm this year. I am hoping to sell a whole lot of the lambs to keep the numbers down. The goats have already been sold and only those staying are here on the farm. It was a beautiful day, warm but not hot and sunny and a little cloudy. The kittens were playing and it was fun to watch. The mamma Saxony ducks finally hatched some of the babies they have been sitting for and they are still on the nest. They communicate with the little ones in the eggs, the babies peeping to the mothers and the mothers talking to the babies. Piglet's coop was moved to give him fresh ground. A bucket of soaking wool for the suint fermenting method tipped over and had to be refilled. Smokey's kittens were found, but they are wild and not approachable. I am guessing they are 3 months old or so. There are two more pregnant cats as well. The kittens will have to be trapped and destroyed or they will become too inbred and real problems will result. The three feral cats are not approachable. 

I managed to get time to run to town for a few groceries and bought two ice cream pails of fresh Saskatoon berries. I will freeze them to make some pie or pancake syrup with honey in the winter when there is lots more time.  Then finally, it was after 10 pm and time to call it a day. A good day. Thank you Creator for such good days and the not so good days. All are perfect and just as they are meant to be. 

Romney sheep are an old English breed from the Romney marshes. They are larger sturdy sheep with thick soft wool. The wool is not as soft as Merino sheep, but is easily worked and spun and can be made into sweaters and socks that are worn next to the skin. Romney sheep come in black, which looks brown, or white. The Romney lambs are fast growing and are ready to slaughter for meat lambs by 4 months if grain fed or 6 months if forage based fed. The breed has been in close contact with humans for many many years and is usually quite personable, unlike the hill sheep which were left to their own means of survival for hundreds of years. 

Romney ewes are known for their easy lambing and are good mothers with strong maternal instinct. A Romney ewe sired by a Babydoll ram creates a miniature Romney, a small hardy sheep with longer wool than the Babydolls and a somewhat larger meat carcass too. Both Babydoll sheep and Romney sheep are pleasant to work with and friendly natured. 

These lambs came all the way from Langley, BC, well, actually Whonnock, but no one knows where that is unless they are from that area. The breeder has had Romney sheep for 30 years, has been a judge and has won many show competitions for her sheep. She is considered the foremost breeder of the Romneys in Canada and is well respected and well liked. 

I am pleased to add the two new ewe lambs and ram lamb to the Fat Ewe Farm flock. Currently I am trying to get to know them and have them become accustomed to me before they go off to join their sheep. They do not mind coming to me for food, but are shy when I try to pat them. I think they will fit in just fine, don't ewe?

I don't raise ducks for meat. It is a by product of the natural reproduction of the ducks, except I did incubate about 40 this summer and should not have. No one wants to buy ducks here. They like chickens. Gross. 

So, out of the 40 some hatched, all survived to adulthood. A couple succumbed to one dog's bite when she had food and did not want to share. She is under correction for this behaviour and is encouraged to eat her food away from the ducks and chickens. 

I did sell only half of the hatch. The remainder went to the Hutterites to be processed, but what a waste of time and money that is. They do not get the small feathers, called pin feathers, out of the carcass, so the skin is useless. The pin feathers can be painstakingly removed after thawing. The skin is delicious and crispy when roasted so the effort is worthwhile when there is time. The young ducks were 12- 14 weeks old, perfect for slaughter, but they are not meat breeds. The average carcass dressed weight was a meahgre 2.5 pounds with only  afew reaching 4 pounds. There is not much meat on a duck carcass at best, so perhaps a pound of meat on a 2.5 pound carcass is what one can expect. The processor is1.5 hours from here. I drove there and back twice, so 6 hours. The cost to process 19 ducks was $178.00. If you count the fuel cost and not my time, adding another $50 to the $178 would bring the total to $238 for 19 skinny little ducks. They would be better killed and used for dog food which costs me $1 a pound. As it is the cost works out to be about $12.50 per duck, so $12.50 per pound of meat. That does not include the feed cost for the past 3 months or my time. If we add in feed costs, that brings the cost to about $15 per pound for roast duckling, still no labour accounted for. 

See, it is just not worth it. The geese and ducks are $9 each for processing plus the long drive there and back twice in a day. I am going to try to find a local hunter here who will simply skin and gut the birds in the fall. Then I will wash them and freeze them and hopefully trade some for the hunter's time and labour. 

There are 15 ducklings recently hatched to two mothers and several ducks still on nests, plus 4 chickens on nests. Last year I vowed to not incubate birds and did not abide by my thought, but for sure next year I will unless I have prepaid orders for them. 

No wonder farmers cannot make a living with animals. If I sold the ducks for $20 to another farmer, then that is my best bet. Otherwise, I do not know anyone who will gladly pay for a scrawny duck with pin feathers at $15 per pound. I am not allowed to sell them anyhow, according to Alberta regulations. In Saskatchewan or BC farmers can sell their meats, but not here. Go figure. 

Anone for roast skinny duck with feathers?

Dominique went to  a local farm to be one of the breeding rams for the fall. For a ram, that is a pretty good place to go. He gets to have his way with a whole variety of ewes, or lady sheep and then has the rest of the year olff to eat and ponder how much fun it was. He was a skinny little fellow when he was born, but fairly robust and active. It was a good thing, because he was born in January and it was ccccold. 

The farm that bought him is quite pleased with him. He turned out very well for a ram and had good feet and good shoulders so his babies should not be too hard on the mothers as they are born and the hooves would not require too frequent trimmings. 

Lelu was born in April this year to a Sheltand/cross ewe and her father was a Babydoll. She looks very much like a Babydoll Southdown sheep though since the genetics are very strong on that side. Most lambs sired by Babydoll rams will look like Babydoll sheep. The Jacob/Babydoll ram is indistinguishable from the purebred his age. Lelu is going all the way to Armstrong BC! She will be a breeding ewe next year for a small farm operation and will delight the new owner I am sure. 

It is always a pleasure raising the lambs and then knowing they are going on to good homes rather than to the slaughter house. This is much more fulfilling, though not all of them are destined for the best. Those who don't make it have only one other choice, or rather, there is only one other choice for them. 

Good bye Dominique and Lelu. May your days be lived out in the sun and be long.