Wild-simulated ginseng: sowing your seeds and applying gypsum

Picking up from my last post, let's assume you have your wild-simulated ginseng site all prepared. You are now ready to plant the high-quality, stratified seed that you have purchased or stratified yourself. But how much should you sow? Let's refer to what Scott Persons says in our book Growing and Marketing Ginseng, Goldenseal and Other Woodland Medicinals:

"From my own experience and that of other growers, I am convinced that at least one, but no more than two, mature plants per square foot is best. Anything denser courts disaster by facilitating the spread of disease. Anything thinner does not optimize the financial potential of the operation, though I'd certainly recommend erring on the side of caution."

To get this density, you need to plant four to eight seeds per square foot. Why so many? Because even with the best of seeds, you can expect to lose a large percentage of your seeds to birds, insects, rodents, poor soil contact, drying out, being washed away, etc. During the first few years of growth you will lose even more to the same causes and to winter kill, being crushed underfoot, being covered too deeply with leaves and branches, and to other causes I can't even think of right now. By the time the plants are three to four years old, you should have just about the right density.

Scott estimates that there are 6,400 to 8,000 seeds per pound, or between 400 and 500 in an ounce. So, according to Scott's calculations "if you sow one ounce of seed on 100 square feet of land or, as I prefer, two ounces (between 800 and 1,000 seeds) on 200 square feet, you can achieve an average planting density of between four and five seeds per square feet, or about 25 pounds of seed to the acre."

Scott is a very practical and well-organized person. He plans his seeding trips out carefully so he can be quick and efficient when he reaches his planting site.

"Just before going into the woods to plant, weigh out your seeds into multiple plastic bags and place them in a small cooler, or at least a covered bucket."  If you prepared 200 square foot sections, weigh out 2 ounces per bag. Using one bag per section, you will have a final sowing rate of one ounce of seed per 100 square feet. Scatter the seeds to the left and right of you as you walk slowly over your section. After the first few times, you will get a good feel for how to get the seed spread evenly over the section.

In another post, we will talk about gypsum (or you can read about it for yourself on pages 64-65 in the book), but for now let's assume that you have decided to apply 10 lbs of gypsum on your 200 square foot section of planting area. Scatter it evenly over the planted area. I just put the weighed out gypsum in a small bucket and scatter it by hand. Some people use a small hand cranked fertilizer spreader.

Then, and this is the slick part of this method, "stand on the strip that you've just sown, reach straight uphill with your rake, and, again using the five-foot mark on the rake handle as a guide, rake down the next five feet of leaf litter directly onto the stip you've just seeded." In this way you are mulching (covering up) the area you just planted while at the same time, uncovering the next area to be planted. Sow seed and gypsum on that new section, and then pull down another five foot swath of leaves to mulch that area and expose a new planting area.  "Note that you have not moved any leaves more than once, and with the exceptions of the bottom and top sections, every rake stroke has accomplished two tasks." On steep slopes, you might want to lay limbs and small branches on top of the leaves to hold the mulch in place. 

If you are serious about growing woodland medicinal herbs, whether for a business or your own personal enjoyment, this is the book to have. Written by two well-know authorities, the book is chock full of information and hundreds of pictures on how to grow ginseng, goldenseal, ramps, black cohosh, and many other native herbs.

How to Get a Copy of the Book: We suggest you order the book through the publisher, New Society Publishers, or your favorite local book store; that way the authors can receive their full royalties. It is available in bookstores where native plant gardening is popular. You can order the book through all the big on-line discount book sellers. Many sellers offer the book on Ebay. The book is also available as an ebook through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, New Society Publishers, and elsewhere.

The book is a high-quality soft cover book with 508 pages. It has a center color photo section and black and white photos throughout. Here is detailed information about the book and a link to the table of contents.

Growing Wild-Simulated Ginseng: Preparing the Planting Site

 

I am so pleased at how many people are buying ginseng seed this year to start their own wild-simulated ginseng patches. That is wonderful news! They are creating their own income producing areas and helping to conserve the wild populations.

But so many of these people don't know how to grow wild-simulated ginseng. Today's short lesson will be on preparing the site. I am going to assume that you have already selected the perfect site for your ginseng. You have your high-quality, stratified seed on hand, and you are ready to plant. Reading from Scott Person's section on Wild-Simulated Planting in our book Growing and Marketing Ginseng, Goldenseal and Other Woodland Medicinals:

"Before you plant, you need to rake aside the leaf litter, and it is difficult to rake efficiently where there are dead limbs and rocks lying around or lots of small saplings, vines, and shrubs growing. Even if you cast seeds on top of the leaf litter and then till them into the top inch or two of ground-an approach that some growers swear by-you'll need to clean and clear to make space for the tiller to operate."

Scott goes on to describe exactly how to do this, what to remove and what is better left behind, and how to prevent erosion on slopes.

Scott also describes how to mark off your planting area so you have some control over planting density:

"I like to plant 40' wide sections (or only 20' wide, if 40' isn't practical), beginning at the lowest part of the planting site and moving directly up the face of the slope to the top of the site. Then I go back to the bottom and plant an adjacent and parallel section and so on, until the entire area is sown."

He goes on to describe exactly how to do this and the pros and cons of using small wooden stakes, surveyor's flags or heavy-duty surveyor's stakes.

The next step is raking off the leaf litter:

"Take a large rugged leaf rake, measure five feet from the tip of the tines to a spot on the handle, and make a highly visible permanent mark there. Then, start at the bottom of one of your measured sections, face directly uphill, and, using the mark on your rake handle as a guide, rake the first five feet of leaf litter down and off the soil across the entire width of the section."

Scott goes on to describe how to do this up the entire hill and signs of some pesky critters to look for.

This is what your planting area should look like prior to sowing your seed and spreading your gypsum. I'll cover that in a future post.

If you are serious about growing woodland medicinal herbs, whether for a business or your own personal enjoyment, this is the book to have. Written by two well-know authorities, the book is chock full of information and hundreds of pictures on how to grow ginseng, goldenseal, ramps, black cohosh, and many other native herbs.

How to Get a Copy of the Book: We suggest you order the book through the publisher, New Society Publishers, or your favorite local book store; that way the authors can receive their full royalties. It is available in bookstores where native plant gardening is popular. You can order the book through all the big on-line discount book sellers. Many sellers offer the book on Ebay. The book is also available as an ebook through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, New Society Publishers, and elsewhere.

The book is a high-quality soft cover book with 508 pages. It has a center color photo section and black and white photos throughout. Here is detailed information about the book and a link to the table of contents.

Pasture Raised Beef Available Soon and Reflecting Back on the Growing Season

 

We will have our pastured raised Black Angus beef available very soon. Right now the meat is dry aging. Then it will be butchered, vacuum-packed, frozen, and packed into quarters. And then we will make it available for sale to you direct from the farm. We won't have prices or know the size of the quarters until we have the meat on hand, but you can reserve a quarter now. Just use the contact form on the right side bar (if you are using a smartphone or tablet and don't see a side-bar, scroll to the bottom of the page and click on "View web version"). We will post all those details as soon as they are available.

For two years these boys have been living the good life roaming free in our pastures and down into the bog. They got personal attention from us every day, i.e., we spoiled them rotten! They loved to run up to the gate to get their ears scratched and lick our hands. When we took the tractor into the pasture to move their portable lean-to or put a round bale of locally-grown hay into the hay ring, they would run around like giant puppies, challenging the tractor as if it were a new animal in their pasture. We miss seeing them every day, but thanked them for sharing their lives with us and for providing high-quality meat to feed our family and yours.

It is a beautiful fall in western North Carolina. I don't ever remember the colors being this brilliant. As we enjoy the colors and cooling temperatures, we reflect on the growing season and say thank you to our customers for making this a profitable year for us.

The garlic crop was of excellent quality and we sold all of it on-line, much of it to repeat customers, so we must be doing something right.

It has taken us several years to rebuild our hives after losing almost all of them to colony collapse, but this fall we got enough of a crop to again offer honey for sale. The demand for local honey is strong and we sold out at the Hendersonville Apple Festival. So we won't have honey at the Holiday Market at the Mills River Farmers' Market this year.

So all in all, it was a good year. Now it is time to sit back, enjoy the sunshine and my donkeys and decide what we want to do next year. Should we raise the same crops? Should we try something new? Should we raise more Black Angus steers or try another breed?  Should we board donkeys instead of horses (that is my idea which isn't going very far with the rest of my family). If you have any ideas you want to share, please let us know. Thank you for supporting Our Tiny Farm.

Elephant Garlic Bulbs On Sale-Mountain Grown, Reasonably Sized

Sold Out-thanks for supporting Our Tiny Farm
PRICE DROPPED TO $45.00 PER 4+ LB. BOX (SAVINGS OF $13.00)

Every year when we grow Elephant Garlic we grade out the bulbs that are about the same size as our German White bulbs and package them separately. We refer to these as "reasonably sized" Elephant Garlic. This is excellent Elephant Garlic with well-formed, firm bulbs that are about 2 inches in diameter. We sell it as eating garlic but we are also using it as planting garlic. We currently have four boxes of "reasonably sized" Elephant Garlic left. Each box contains at least 4 pounds and 28 bulbs. We will ship this directly to you via Priority Mail. Just click on the appropriate "Add to Cart" button on the right (If you are on your smartphone and don't see any Paypal buttons to your right, scroll to the bottom of the page and click on "View Web Version").

These garlic were grown on our small family farm in the Blue Ridge mountains of western North Carolina. We grow all our produce using only practices and products in accordance with the USDA National Organic Program. No pesticides, fungicides, or herbicides were used to grow these garlic. We carefully rotate our crops every year, fertilize with well-aged manure from our animals and homemade compost tea, and weed with hands and hoes. We hand-pull the garlic in late June and dry it on racks in our open air sheds. It is then trimmed, cleaned, and packed for shipping. It was an excellent garlic year for us and this is all we have left of our 2015 'Elephant Garlic' crop.

Do you like the taste of Elephant Garlic but not the huge bulbs?

SOLD OUT

About five years ago we had a group of customers tell us they like the taste of Elephant Garlic but they don't like the huge bulbs. So every year when we grow Elephant Garlic we grade out the bulbs that are about the same size as our German White bulbs and package them separately. We refer to these as "reasonably sized" Elephant Garlic. This is excellent Elephant Garlic with well-formed, firm bulbs that are about 2 inches in diameter. We sell it as eating garlic but we are also using it as planting garlic. We currently have four boxes of "reasonably sized" Elephant Garlic left. Each box contains at least 4 pounds and 28 bulbs. We will ship this directly to you via Priority Mail. Just click on the appropriate "Add to Cart" button on the right (If you are on your smartphone and don't see any Paypal buttons to your right, scroll to the bottom of the page and click on "View Web Version").

These garlic were grown on our small family farm in the Blue Ridge mountains of western North Carolina. We grow all our produce using only practices and products in accordance with the USDA National Organic Program. No pesticides, fungicides, or herbicides were used to grow these garlic. We carefully rotate our crops every year, fertilize with well-aged manure from our animals and homemade compost tea, and weed with hands and hoes. We hand-pull the garlic in late June and dry it on racks in our open air sheds. It is then trimmed, cleaned, and packed for shipping. It was an excellent garlic year for us and this is all we have left of our 2015 'Elephant Garlic' crop.

Garlic and Ginseng Seed, Rootlets, and Book for Sale at Our Tiny Farm!

This is what we currently have for sale at Our Tiny Farm:

                                                                        SOLD OUT!

Right now we are selling 4 lb boxes of mountain grown, whole bulb garlic. We are selling it as eating garlic but we are using it as planting garlic, too. We have one box of German White garlic and 4 boxes of "reasonably sized" Elephant garlic left. All is firm, healthy, and oh so tasty. Order by clicking on the appropriate Add to Cart button on the right (If you are using your smartphone and don't see those buttons, scroll to the bottom of this page and click on "View Web Version"). More details about the garlic in the previous post (Sept. 29). Later this fall we will be selling packaged cloves, appropriate for gift giving or your own kitchen use.

  SALE OVER AS OF 11/3/2015.

We still have our special with three-year-old ginseng rootlets plus book offer going on. This is for 10 three year old ginseng rootlets from High Valley Ginseng in north Georiga with a lead author (me) signed copy of our book Growing and Marketing Ginseng, Goldenseal and Other Woodland Medicinals. See the post from Sept. 15 for details.

 SALE OVER AS OF 11/21/2015

We also still have our special for ginseng seed plus book offer going on. This is for 2 oz of high quality, water tested, stratified seed from Green Gold Enterprises with a copy of our book Growing and Marketing Ginseng, Goldenseal and Other Woodland Medicinals signed by Scott Persons. See the post from Sept 15 for details. 

  SALE OVER AS OF 11/21/2015 BUT BOOK IS STILL AVAILABLE

Keep checking back for information on when our beef sales will start. The cattle are still on the pasture, but as you can see, they have sized up nicely. We also have donkey and horse manure available for free. It is aged but not composted. This is a good time to get it so you can compost it yourself and have a great weed free soil amendment for next year's gardens.

Garlic for Sale from the Mountains of Western North Carolina

SOLD OUT FOR THE SEASON

It is garlic season and Our Tiny Farm has beautiful garlic for sale! We have large German White (many bulbs are over 2 inches in diameter), Spanish Roja, and what our customers call "reasonably sized" Elephant Garlic (about 2 inches in diameter).

It was a great garlic growing year for us and the garlic is all healthy and firm. The garlic was grown in our market garden where we have followed the USDA National Organic Program standards for at least 13 years. We carefully rotate our crops every year, fertilize with well-aged manure from our animals and homemade compost tea, and weed with hands and hoes. We hand-pull the garlic in late June and dry it on racks in our open-air sheds. It is then trimmed, cleaned, and packed for shipping.

Our on-line offer this year is for a box weighing between 4 and 4.5 lbs shipped priority mail for $58.00. This will include about 28 bulbs of the German White or Elephant Garlic and more of the Spanish Roja. To order, click on the Add to Cart button on the right (if you are using your tablet or smart phone and don't see any Add to Cart buttons, please scroll to the bottom of this page and click on "View web version" which is just above my picture)

 

This is a German White above and a "reasonably sized" Elephant Garlic below.

Our current inventory is:
SOLD OUT German White Garlic
SOLD OUT Elephant Garlic
SOLD OUT Spanish Roja
(there may be more available when we finish planting)

THREE Fall Ginseng Planting Specials!!!

Here are THREE special offers to help you get started growing your own "Green Gold" (that's ginseng, if you haven't guessed it).

THIS SALE IS OVER AS OF 11/3/2015.

Offer #1: 10 three-year-old ginseng rootlets from High Valley Ginseng & Herb Co. in Suches, GA and the book Growing and Marketing Ginseng, Goldenseal and Other Woodland Medicinals signed by the lead author, Jeanine Davis. Both for a total of $58.00 (plus tax in NC). This includes priority mail shipping on the rootlets and media mail shipping on the book. The ginseng rootlets will be shipped directly from the nursery and the book will be shipped in a padded envelope directly from the author. The rootlets will be shipped early in the week so they don’t sit somewhere over the weekend. Please have them shipped where they can be picked up right away because they are living plants.

THIS SALE IS OVER AS OF 11/21/2015

Offer #2: Two ounces of high quality ginseng seed from Green Gold Enterprises and the book Growing and Marketing Ginseng, Goldenseal and Other Woodland Medicinals signed by the second author, Scott Persons. Both for $60.00 (plus tax in NC). Scott will ship the book and seeds together.

 

THIS SALE IS OVER AS OF 11/21/2015. YOU CAN STILL BUY THE BOOK 

Offer #3: The book Growing and Marketing Ginseng, Goldenseal and Other Woodland Medicinals signed by the lead author, Jeanine Davis for $30.00 (plus tax in NC) and shipped in a padded envelope via media mail. This is $3 off my regular website price and $9.95 off the standard bookstore price.

Please note that Johnny Crisson of High Valley Ginseng retains full responsibility for his plants. All questions or concerns about the ginseng rootlets or goldenseal rhizomes should be directed to him through (http://highvalleyginseng.com). Scott Persons of Green Gold Enterprises retains full responsibility for his seeds and the book he ships. All questions or concerns about those should be directed to him at wasp3@frontier.com. Any issues or concerns about the book from Offer #3 should be directed to me by using the private message box on the right sidebar.

2015 Honey Crop is In-Available First at the Hendersonville Apple Festival!

SOLD OUT FOR THE SEASON

Glen has worked long and hard to rebuild our hives after losing most of them, several times, to colony collapse. But the hard work and persistence has paid off and we once again have enough of a crop to offer it for sale to the public.

Our first sales are today at the Apple Festival in Hendersonville. Look for Glen representing Our Tiny Farm at the Henderson County Beekeepers Association booth. There you will also find a demonstration hive, bee suit, smoker, and sign-up sheet to get information about the next Bee School. Glen said the interest was high yesterday. Looks like we may have a whole new crop of beekeepers in 2016!

Apple festival picture from the NC Apple Festival website

Special Pricing on Three Year Old Ginseng Rootlets and THE Book on How to Grow Them

Photo from High Valley Ginseng Website

WE ARE SOLD OUT OF THIS SPECIAL OFFER FOR THE SEASON. THE BOOK IS AVAILABLE FOR SALE THROUGH LOCAL BOOKSELLERS

High Valley Ginseng has sold out of one year old rootlets, so we are making a new special offer that includes THREE-YEAR-OLD GINSENG ROOTLETS:

High Valley Ginseng and Our Tiny Farm have come together to make you a special offer of 10 three-year-old ginseng rootlets AND a copy of the book Growing and Marketing Ginseng, Goldenseal & Other Woodland Botanicals for just $58.00. That saves you $4.67 compared to buying the products from the individual websites. The book alone goes for $39.95 in the bookstore, so this is a great deal. ROOTLET PLUS BOOK SALE OVER AS OF 11/3/2015.

 

The book will be signed and dated by the lead author, Jeanine Davis. It will be shipped directly from the author at Our Tiny Farm in Etowah, NC via media mail within one business day of receiving the order.

The three year old ginseng roots will be shipped directly to you from High Valley Ginseng in Suches, GA via priority mail. To learn more about High Valley Ginseng, check out their Facebook page or Website.

To provide the best quality and service, the ginseng rootlets and book will be shipped separately from each business. High Valley Ginseng suggests you have the plants delivered to where you can be sure to pick them up right away so they don't lose quality from staying in the packaging too long.

Each company retains responsibility for their own products and any questions or concerns should be directed to the relevant company.

This is a limited time offer and will be discontinued when High Valley Ginseng can no longer ship rootlets.

Ginseng Wild-Harvesters are Growing their Own 'Sang, Too!

 

David Coates studying how to grow ginseng and other botanicals. Photo taken by Charity Hope Coates.

Ginseng harvest season opens in a few days and wild-harvesters are excited about getting out into the woods to harvest this valuable native herb. But the popularity of ginseng could soon lead to its demise and a possible ban to wild-harvesting if we don't make greater efforts to protect this plant. This means only harvesting mature plants that have had a chance to produce seeds, carefully planting the seeds from the plants you harvest, and growing more ginseng on our wooded lands.

One long-time harvester of wild-ginseng who has embraced growing his own ginseng is David Coates. David LIVES for ginseng. His business is Coates and Taylor's Roots and Herbs in Bluefield, WV. He buys ginseng and other roots from wild-harvesters and growers. He fills Facebook with posts about hunting ginseng, reminding readers to stay legal and only harvest mature roots in season. He also sells ginseng seeds and encourages his harvesters to grow some of their own.

I love this photo of David reading our book. Of course it is great free advertising for our book, but it supports what I always tell potential growers. If you want to be successful growing these plants, you need to learn everything you can about how to do it. Read our book, attend workshops and presentations by people who are actually doing it (beware "the expert" who never gets their hands dirty), and visit other growers (most are willing to share, especially if you offer to help or pay a consultation fee).

If you want to grow your own ginseng, now is an excellent time to get started. I am offering two specials right now :

• One special is 2 oz of high quality ginseng seed from Green Gold Enterprises with a copy of our book Growing and Marketing Ginseng, Goldenseal and Other Woodland Medicinals signed by Scott Persons. 

• The other special is 25 one-year-old ginseng rootlets from High Valley Ginseng with a copy of our book Growing and Marketing Ginseng, Goldenseal and Other Woodland Medicinals signed by me.  UPDATE ON 9/1/2015: JOHNNY IS SOLD OUT OF ONE YEAR OLD ROOTLETS. I  MODIFIED THE OFFER TO INCLUDE A SMALLER NUMBER OF THREE YEAR OLD ROOTLETS HERE.

 

 A wild-simulated ginseng root from Avery County, NC.

Here is a short excerpt from our book about wild-simulated planting as written by Scott Persons:

"The wild-simulated approach takes the longest time from planting to harvest, but it is by far the simplest method, the least expensive and time consuming, the most compatible with the natural ecology of your land, and it can be implemented on steep hillsides where nothing else is practical. Seeds are planted thinly with minimal disturbance to the forest floor and left to grow naturally so that extremely desirable roots, indistinguishable from truly wild roots, are harvested. In effect, the grower develops a naturalized population of wild ginseng within his woodlot. Wild-simulated growing requires only a modest investment in seed and labor, and the bulk of the labor is in the digging, which is not done until profit is nearly assured. It can be profitable on either a small or large scale. One person can plant and maintain many acres without mechanized equipment. In my opinion, it is the method of choice, if you have the right spot to do it, especially if that spot encompasses multiple acres. (If your woodlot is not ideally suited for ginseng, there is an alternative, more labor-intensive variation-see The Hankins Method at the end of this chapter)."

I would be remiss, however, if I did not point out that theft is going to be your major production problem. Do not take this lightly. Security should be a major component of your ginseng growing plan.

Ginseng Seed and Our Ginseng Growing Book-Special Sale!

SOLD OUT OF THIS SPECIAL OFFER FOR THE SEASON. 

THE BOOK IS STILL AVAILABLE FOR SALE ON ITS OWN

My coauthor, Scott Persons of Green Gold Enterprises, has a well-earned reputation for selling some of the best quality ginseng seed. His customers return year after year to purchase his seed. These are stratified, water tested seed that will germinate in Spring 2016.

For $60 you will receive 2 oz. of ginseng seed (about 800 seeds) and a copy of our book Growing and Marketing Ginseng, Goldenseal and Other Woodland Medicinals signed by Scott Persons. To protect the seeds from possible heat damage and to have them arrive in time for fall planting, the book and seed package will be shipped out after September 14. All orders will be shipped early in the week to avoid weekend storage en route. But don't wait to order your seeds! Scott sells out of seed every year.

Please note. Green Gold Enterprises does not have a website. This is the only on-line opportunity you will have to purchase seed from Scott. If you would like to buy additional seed, please send me a message using the private message box on the right, and I will get that information for you. Prices per ounce and pound decrease the more you buy.

This is a limited time offer and will be discontinued when Green Gold Enterprises runs out of seed.

Special Planting Season Offer: Ginseng Rootlets & Book

UPDATE ON 11/3/2015: THE BOOK AND ROOTLET SALE IS OVER FOR THIS YEAR.
For the second year, High Valley Ginseng and Our Tiny Farm have come together to make you a special offer of  25 one-year-old ginseng rootlets AND a copy of the book Growing and Marketing Ginseng, Goldenseal & Other Woodland Botanicals for just $58.00. That is $4 less than last year and saves you $9.67 compared to if you bought the book and roots separately from each of the business websites.

 

The book will be signed and dated by the lead author, Jeanine Davis. It will be shipped directly from the author at Our Tiny Farm in Etowah, NC via media mail within one business day of receiving the order.

The one year old ginseng roots will be shipped directly to you from High Valley Ginseng in Suches, GA via priority mail. It may be several weeks between when you order and when you receive the rootlets because each shipment must be inspected prior to shipping. This is to ensure that you are getting disease and insect free material. To learn more about High Valley Ginseng, check out their Facebook page or Website.

To provide the best quality and service, the ginseng rootlets and book will be shipped separately from each business. High Valley Ginseng suggests you have the plants delivered to where you can be sure to pick them up right away so they don't lose quality from staying in the packaging too long.

Each company retains responsibility for their own products and any questions or concerns should be directed to the relevant company.

This is a limited time offer and will be discontinued when High Valley Ginseng can no longer ship rootlets.

It is harvest season and there is a hint of fall in the air!

It is mid-August and life has slowed down just a little bit on Our Tiny Farm. I noticed this week that there are some tree leaves on the ground, the late afternoon light is changing, and there is just a hint of fall in the air. I know we aren't even close yet, but change is in the air.

The garlic is dried and cured and hubby started the process of trimming and cleaning it today.

It is very beautiful garlic and we had a good yield. We will be offering it for sale soon at the Mills River Farmers' Market and on-line here and on Ebay.

Our very senior horse has put on weight and is looking good this summer. We feed him grain and soaked alfalfa twice a day. It is a lot of work, but we want his golden years to be comfortable.

And here is a picture of the absolute sweetest dog in the world. He is always smiling and gets along well with all the other animals on Our Tiny Farm.

The donkeys are very easy keepers and started to really put on weight this summer. So we now confine them to the paddock during the day and just put them on the pasture for the evening and overnight. As long as they can always see and touch noses with the horse, they seem okay with it.

And we will end this update with a shot of one of the gardens on the farm. In a few weeks I will provide an update on the honey, popcorn, and potato crops and where we will be selling them. We will also have an estimate on when we will have our pasture raised Black Angus beef for sale.

Enjoy the rest of your summer!!!