And now, more Blackjack cuteness! :)
Saturday, February 5, 2011
And the baby's name is......
...Blackjack! Before we even really had a chance to tally up the votes, the girls suddenly took to calling him Blackjack, and so he was named. He is unfortunately hard to photograph because he is so timid, but I have included a few snaps below. Visit our Boggy Hollow Farm blog for the full deets on our new herd, including a few more photos.
And now, more Blackjack cuteness! :)
And now, more Blackjack cuteness! :)
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Tell our President to stop GMO alfalfa!
Here is a link to a site called Take Action, (which I found via Organic Gardening Magazine) hosting an email campaign to plead for President Obama's intervention in the scheduled release of genetically modified alfalfa. If you value the very concept of organic, unmolested foods, then stopping GMO alfalfa from being released is imperative.
Alfalfa is the mainstay of most dairy animals as well as other creatures - anything that eats grass, hay or pellets - cows, sheep, goats, horses, rabbits, even guinea pigs and hamsters - are consumers of alfalfa to some degree. Genetically modified alfalfa presents a risk to our country's ENTIRE alfalfa supply, as it's pollen can easily be spread and contaminate neighboring organic/non-GMO alfalfa, as has been the case with GMO soy.
Montsanto's GMO products have a long and ugly history of destroying biological diversity and wiping out organic/non-gmo farms with their legal bullying. (Google "Montsanto" and note that the auto-fill result #2 is "Montsanto evil".)
I could rail on this topic for days, but will instead simply ask you to look into it for yourself and offer you some resources for doing so.
Movies (Most of which are available through Netflix, if not your local library.)
*Food Inc.
*The Botany of Desire
*Food Matters
Books (Some of these books are old favorites, some have come highly recommended and are on my library waiting list.)
*The Omnivore's Dilemma
*Animal, Vegetable, Miracle
*Deeply Rooted: Unconventional Farmers in the Age of Agribusiness
*The Unsettling of America: Culture & Agriculture
Online
* Wikipedia's entry on GMO's A basic introduction to concept & process genetically modifying organisms.
*Organic Farming Research Foundation
*Non-GMO Project Information on third party certified, GMO-free products and information about the risks involved in growing and using GMO crops.
* Agricultural Giant Battles Small Farmers, CBS News
*OrganicConsumers.org A call to action against Montsanto and the Obama administration's green-lighting widespread use of GMO seed in agriculture, and to require "truth in labeling" of products produced with genetically modified plants and animals.
Here is Take Action's pre-written letter, including my additions (the last two paragraphs) below. If you are as impassioned about this matter as I am, I urge you to send your own letter and get the word out to other to please do the same.
Dear President Obama,
The USDA has approved Monsanto's Roundup Ready genetically engineered alfalfa. This is the wrong decision and will likely lead to wide spread contamination of other crops, including organic alfalfa. You have the power to stop this. I urge you to reject the USDA's approval of genetically engineered alfalfa.
I care about the integrity of the food I eat, and don't want organic and other non-genetically engineered crops to be contaminated by genetically engineered alfalfa. Please take immediate action to stop this approval.
Once this frightening genie is out of the bottle, there is no going back. Please don't let hard working, small organic farmers like me and my family down by forever tainting American alfalfa solely for the benefit of a corporation who has no one's interests at heart but their own.
I have faith that you will do the right thing and stop GMO alfalfa from being released. Please don't let us down!
Sincerely,
Michelle Jackson,
Boggy Hollow Farm
SPEAK NOW and stop this irreversible agent from permanently altering another precious life form! Save your food!!!
Alfalfa is the mainstay of most dairy animals as well as other creatures - anything that eats grass, hay or pellets - cows, sheep, goats, horses, rabbits, even guinea pigs and hamsters - are consumers of alfalfa to some degree. Genetically modified alfalfa presents a risk to our country's ENTIRE alfalfa supply, as it's pollen can easily be spread and contaminate neighboring organic/non-GMO alfalfa, as has been the case with GMO soy.
Montsanto's GMO products have a long and ugly history of destroying biological diversity and wiping out organic/non-gmo farms with their legal bullying. (Google "Montsanto" and note that the auto-fill result #2 is "Montsanto evil".)
I could rail on this topic for days, but will instead simply ask you to look into it for yourself and offer you some resources for doing so.
Movies (Most of which are available through Netflix, if not your local library.)
*Food Inc.
*The Botany of Desire
*Food Matters
Books (Some of these books are old favorites, some have come highly recommended and are on my library waiting list.)
*The Omnivore's Dilemma
*Animal, Vegetable, Miracle
*Deeply Rooted: Unconventional Farmers in the Age of Agribusiness
*The Unsettling of America: Culture & Agriculture
Online
* Wikipedia's entry on GMO's A basic introduction to concept & process genetically modifying organisms.
*Organic Farming Research Foundation
*Non-GMO Project Information on third party certified, GMO-free products and information about the risks involved in growing and using GMO crops.
* Agricultural Giant Battles Small Farmers, CBS News
*OrganicConsumers.org A call to action against Montsanto and the Obama administration's green-lighting widespread use of GMO seed in agriculture, and to require "truth in labeling" of products produced with genetically modified plants and animals.
Here is Take Action's pre-written letter, including my additions (the last two paragraphs) below. If you are as impassioned about this matter as I am, I urge you to send your own letter and get the word out to other to please do the same.
Dear President Obama,
The USDA has approved Monsanto's Roundup Ready genetically engineered alfalfa. This is the wrong decision and will likely lead to wide spread contamination of other crops, including organic alfalfa. You have the power to stop this. I urge you to reject the USDA's approval of genetically engineered alfalfa.
I care about the integrity of the food I eat, and don't want organic and other non-genetically engineered crops to be contaminated by genetically engineered alfalfa. Please take immediate action to stop this approval.
Once this frightening genie is out of the bottle, there is no going back. Please don't let hard working, small organic farmers like me and my family down by forever tainting American alfalfa solely for the benefit of a corporation who has no one's interests at heart but their own.
I have faith that you will do the right thing and stop GMO alfalfa from being released. Please don't let us down!
Sincerely,
Michelle Jackson,
Boggy Hollow Farm
SPEAK NOW and stop this irreversible agent from permanently altering another precious life form! Save your food!!!
Sunday, January 30, 2011
It's a Boy! And a girl and a girl and a girl...
No, the Gertster didn't have babies yet (that is if she is pregnant at all, it's still impossible to tell.) We got a little impatient with the uncertainty of goat fertility and decided to look for some additional does that were for sure pregnant. And hooboy did we find them!
We found a breeder of Nigerian Dwarves and Mini Lamanchas on craigslist, and decided to go check out a pair of his bred does. Long story short, we ended up with the two bred mini lamancha does, and a Nigerian Dwarf doe and her baby buckling. I don't have any pictures of my own to share yet, but the link to the website of the breeder shows our ladies and gentleman.
Dreamcatcher Ranch
Our ladies are Fritzen, Chardonnay, Blue Steel (who will probably be known as Blue from here on out, poor thing) and Blue's baby boy, who has yet to be named, which brings me to the point of this here post. Check out our little man and let us know what you think his name should be.
Photo by Wayne Kiser, Dreamcatcher Ranch
Please cast your vote via comment from the following choices-
*Angus
*Blackjack
*Fergus
*Blackberry (the girls' choice)
I don't know why I'm so partial to the Scottish names for my goats, but it just seems fitting that an intense wee man have an intense wee name. Picture it Fehrrrrrrrrgus! Cohm an' git yer grrrain, lad! See what I mean? It just works.
Anyway, I'm looking for a little outside input, since we are completely indecisive on the matter. So leave a comment and be heard!
More info about our new, ginormous herd, pictures and the results of the great naming question to follow soon. :)
We found a breeder of Nigerian Dwarves and Mini Lamanchas on craigslist, and decided to go check out a pair of his bred does. Long story short, we ended up with the two bred mini lamancha does, and a Nigerian Dwarf doe and her baby buckling. I don't have any pictures of my own to share yet, but the link to the website of the breeder shows our ladies and gentleman.
Dreamcatcher Ranch
Our ladies are Fritzen, Chardonnay, Blue Steel (who will probably be known as Blue from here on out, poor thing) and Blue's baby boy, who has yet to be named, which brings me to the point of this here post. Check out our little man and let us know what you think his name should be.
Please cast your vote via comment from the following choices-
*Angus
*Blackjack
*Fergus
*Blackberry (the girls' choice)
I don't know why I'm so partial to the Scottish names for my goats, but it just seems fitting that an intense wee man have an intense wee name. Picture it Fehrrrrrrrrgus! Cohm an' git yer grrrain, lad! See what I mean? It just works.
Anyway, I'm looking for a little outside input, since we are completely indecisive on the matter. So leave a comment and be heard!
More info about our new, ginormous herd, pictures and the results of the great naming question to follow soon. :)
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