| February is our calmest month on the ranch, however the weather has been crazy! It’s too early to do a lot in the garden, though SOME things can be planted. Lambing is over and the baby lambs are so fun to watch! Enjoy! Amy | Table of Contents: Livestock News Garden Report Woodland Adventures Woodshop Updates Thank You! |
Livestock News
We’ve decided to wean earlier than previously mentioned! Weaning date will be March 20th, castration date will be March 25th and lambs will be ready to go April 1st! The waiting list is long so I really don’t know what we will have available when the time comes. Doesn’t hurt to send us a message just in case though!
Please check out our 2025 Hair Sheep Price List!
Categories include: Market lambs (those who didn’t make the cut as breeding stock), Commercial Unpapered (those that didn’t make the cut for Registration/Recordation, but were better than Market), Recorded Katahdin (these are percentage Katahdin that come with paperwork and follow the same standards as Registered animals), Registered Katahdin & Registered St Croix.
We’ve been asked how the lambs use the creep pen, and it just so happens I grabbed a video of it!
We had some very cold and snowy weather for a few days just before and during Valentines day. Fortunately it was short lived! We were pretty well prepared for it though, and managed just fine.
Prepping for bad weather at the barn:
Some pics of the ewe & lamb flock during the snow.
Shane loves to get a photo of his chickens out in the snow. It was cold, however, and not many wanted to be out in it, not that I blame them!
Chicken egg laying has picked up tremendously so we are back in the egg business! With egg prices so high at the grocery stores, we have a lot of customers!
Garden Report
Nothing much to report! I didn’t plant peas or sweet peas this month because the weather was just too cold! The garlic even looks to have gotten a little frost bite from those nights down in the teens! Think I’ll wait until March!
Don’t forget!
I’ve compiled a list of planting dates for 2025 based on the moon phases:
2025 Planting Guide – Zones 7/8
March is great for things like Broccoli, Kale, Spinach, Peas, Asparagus, Rhubarb, Berry crops (Strawberries, Cane Berries, Blueberries, Currants, Gooseberries, etc), and several Herbs like Chives, Oregano, Sage, Rosemary, and Parsely. Indoors start Tomatoes, Peppers and Eggplant.
Woodland Adventures
Wasn’t much to see on the trail-cams this last month. Lots of deer, coyotes occasionally, squirrels, raccoons, opossum, birds, etc. No bobcat and no beavers.
Shane went for a walk in the snow since he couldn’t get into work for a few hours on Valentine’s day. He looks like one happy man out there getting snow in his beard!
February 24th, in the early evening, we had a tornado warning! We’ve never had one here before so it was a bit exciting for a few minutes. Tornadoes are super rare but not unheard of in Oregon. My daughter has some trauma from the 2020 wildfires so was a bit scared when she heard the emergency alert on my phone. I just put her and my mom in the hallway then went to watch out the window to see if anything was coming (Shane was out feeding the sheep and pretty unconcerned haha). Nothing ever did, thankfully, but a few neighbors had some odd wind damage that makes us think, hmmmm. The next day the National Weather Service called me (I’m a registered weather spotter) to get feedback from the storms that day. First time that’s ever happened too! Kinda neat.
Now we have 3-4 days in the mid-60’s closing out the month of February! March looks to be back in the 50’s and rainy to start. Back to normal it seems.
Woodshop Updates
Shane has been working hard on his shop, getting it ready to start making videos for YouTube.
The March blog post should have more to share on his endeavors.
Thank You!
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These cute Katahdin babies says they’ll see you all again April 1st
for the March Homestead Happenings!
Hollow Hills Ranch 