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	<title>Four Country Gals</title>
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	<link>http://fourcountrygals.com</link>
	<description>Certified Organic Garden - Home-Raised Custom Meat - Hogs, Lambs, Goats.</description>
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		<title>Wild birds at Four Country Gals</title>
		<link>http://fourcountrygals.com/2012/02/22/wild-birds-at-four-country-gals</link>
		<comments>http://fourcountrygals.com/2012/02/22/wild-birds-at-four-country-gals#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 22 Feb 2012 23:22:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>therealshari</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Critter Central]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bald eagles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bird feeders]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[golden eagle]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[long eared owls]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wild birds]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://fourcountrygals.com/?p=399</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Rarely mentioned, but an integral part of our little piece of desert is our wild bird population.  We&#8217;re fortunate to have numerous species nesting as well as visiting on their migrations from north to south and back again. We have several different bird feeders in our front yard, and several large trees for all sizes [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Rarely mentioned, but an integral part of our little piece of desert is our wild bird population.  We&#8217;re fortunate to have numerous species nesting as well as visiting on their migrations from north to south and back again.</p>
<p>We have several different bird feeders in our front yard, and several large trees for all sizes of nests. Because we have such natural habitat, to date we&#8217;ve not built any specialty bird houses. Things could change, though, if we thought we could attract even more wild birds.</p>
<p>Our largest resident bird is a Golden Eagle who roams over about a 50 square mile area. We often see him perched on a telephone pole looking for some unsuspecting varmint to swoop onto and carry off to his nesting spot.</p>
<div class="wp-caption alignleft" style="width: 394px"><img class=" " title="Bald Eagle" src="http://fourcountrygals.com/wp-content/uploads/wppa/28.jpg" alt="28 Wild birds at Four Country Gals" width="384" height="254" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Bald Eagle in a nearby dead tree</p></div>
<p>Next are several Bald Eagles, who have a nest just down the road. We have seen young eagles as well as mature Bald Eagles. Imagine my surprise a couple years ago just after a winter snowstorm. I looked west out our sliding glass door to see three Bald Eagles, a Golden Eagle, and several Ravens and Crows on the ground. The eagles were sharing a large jackrabbit, while the ravens and crows were politely keeping their distance. I&#8217;d say the total distance from our house to them was about 300 feet, still well withing our property line.</p>
<p>A couple years ago, a pair of Long-eared Owls nested in the big pine tree at the southeast corner of our house. What a sight! They were so used to us being around that they would allow us to stand and ogle at the little grey/brown fluff balls.</p>
<div id="attachment_402" class="wp-caption alignleft" style="width: 235px"><a href="http://fourcountrygals.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/100_4413.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-402" title="Long-earred owls" src="http://fourcountrygals.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/100_4413-225x300.jpg" alt="100 4413 225x300 Wild birds at Four Country Gals" width="225" height="300" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Here are our owls.</p></div>
<p>We had gotten Mom a puppy for her 80th birthday, and just as the puppy needed to go out during the night for a potty trip, the owls were getting flying lessons, and the parents were looking for food. As quiet as the owls were, we had great concerns for the puppy, always keeping her on a short lead.</p>
<p>Other raptors that come to visit include Sharp-shin Hawks, Cooper&#8217;s Hawks, Red-tailed Hawks, and American Kestrels. We welcome them as they help keep the rabbit population in check. Another tasty treat for them is what we call &#8220;chislers&#8221; (a distant cousin to the prairie dog). These little critters can tear stuff up faster than we can get it built.</p>
<p>Mom operates a &#8220;wild bird feeding station&#8221; in the front yard, and we&#8217;re sure the word has been passed along the migration routes. Each year we enjoy many different species including sparrows, wrens, finches, robins, swallows, doves, cowbirds, and grackles. We could do without the last two, but apparently we get a &#8220;package deal&#8221;.</p>
<p>Some birds only drop by every few years. They include the blue birds who passed through the area the other day, and the wild canaries. We&#8217;ve also seen an occasional meadow lark, both Western and Cassin&#8217;s kingbird, Black-billed Magpie, the Mockingbird, and the Red-Winged Blackbird.</p>
<div id="attachment_405" class="wp-caption alignleft" style="width: 310px"><a href="http://fourcountrygals.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/100_2496.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-405" title="hummingbirds" src="http://fourcountrygals.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/100_2496-300x225.jpg" alt="100 2496 300x225 Wild birds at Four Country Gals" width="300" height="225" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">A couple if our hummingbirds</p></div>
<p>Our favorites are the hummingbirds. We have Ruby-throated and Black-chinned, as well as the aggressive Rufous hummingbirds. Again, because we are outside quite often, these little clowns treat us to quite a show most of the day and evening.</p>
<p>Just like Mom&#8217;s Hen House, the wild birds are &#8220;her domain&#8221;. That means we build and maintain the feeding stations, or purchase them, and we buy the bird seed and sugar for the hummingbirds. How much is that? We go through nearly 100 lbs of bird seed per month, and up to 100 lbs of sugar for a season of hummingbirds.</p>
<p>In return, the birds provide hours of enjoyment, awesome bug control, and critter control. They are an integral part of our stewardship program.</p>
<p>To attract more of the birds to the garden area, we are going to inter-plant, and ring our garden with &#8220;bird friendly&#8221; sunflowers and herbs. That way, they&#8217;ll also be available for the occasional ravaging insect.</p>
<div id="crp_related"><h3>Related Posts:</h3><ul><li><a href="http://fourcountrygals.com/2011/08/02/cedar-city-farmers-market-aug-3-at-4pm" rel="bookmark" class="crp_title">Cedar City Farmer&#8217;s Market &#8211; Aug 3 at 4pm</a></li><li><a href="http://fourcountrygals.com/2011/03/16/weve-had-2-weeks-of-early-spring" rel="bookmark" class="crp_title">We&#8217;ve had 2 weeks of early spring</a></li><li><a href="http://fourcountrygals.com/2011/10/17/garden-season-over-winters-coming" rel="bookmark" class="crp_title">Garden season over, winter&#8217;s coming</a></li><li><a href="http://fourcountrygals.com/2012/01/21/cindy-gets-her-horse" rel="bookmark" class="crp_title">Cindy gets her horse</a></li><li><a href="http://fourcountrygals.com/2011/11/02/raising-sheep-wasnt-really-part-of-the-plan" rel="bookmark" class="crp_title">Raising sheep wasn&#8217;t really part of the plan</a></li></ul></div>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>You know you don&#8217;t know sheep when&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://fourcountrygals.com/2012/02/15/you-know-you-dont-know-sheep-when</link>
		<comments>http://fourcountrygals.com/2012/02/15/you-know-you-dont-know-sheep-when#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 16 Feb 2012 01:15:13 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>therealshari</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Farm Tales]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ewe lamb]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ewes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[raising sheep]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://fourcountrygals.com/?p=395</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[As I&#8217;ve said before, Mom, Bev, and Cindy are from an island in Lake Erie. Both Bev and Cindy were police officers, and many years ago, Mom owned a fish business on the mainland. Bev had also grown up on family farms with some sheep and harness horses. When they decided to move to Beryl, [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>As I&#8217;ve said before, Mom, Bev, and Cindy are from an island in Lake Erie. Both Bev and Cindy were police officers, and many years ago, Mom owned a fish business on the mainland. Bev had also grown up on family farms with some sheep and harness horses. When they decided to move to Beryl, it was going to life-changing&#8230; just how life-changing was yet to be discovered.</p>
<p>Shari moved here from Oregon. She at least had some &#8220;agri-business&#8221; background, having grown up in the Portland suburbs, and later in western Washington County, where she raised rabbits commercially and also owned a USDA-inspected rabbit processing facility. She joined the party in Utah in late 2006, shortly after the others acquired their first lambs.</p>
<p>Around here, most folks have livestock of some sort. They either have chickens, sheep, goats, cows or horses. Only a few are truly retirees, who may simply own a dog or two. Even they tend to have gardens.</p>
<p>It was a neighbor, Dixie, who brought us our first lamb. Mom named him Taco. A little later, he was joined by Paco and Wooly. As told in other stories, these little guys began their lives in the house and then in the backyard. After they cleared the yard of all the weeds, they were moved to their own pen, and thus began the saga of the Four Country Gals raising sheep.</p>
<p>One day in late fall, they found Taco dead, no real cause ever known, but they remembered later he would often choke on his bottle milk, sending it spraying out his nose. Obviously something wasn&#8217;t right with him. The girls hauled him out to the border of the property and gave him up to the coyotes, eagles, and other varmints, as the ground was frozen and they couldn&#8217;t bury him.</p>
<p>That left Paco and Wooly. They really had no idea what they were going to do with them, other than get a kick out of their antics. Shortly, a ewe lamb became available (from Dixie). Since the other lambs had all been neutered, the plan was that they would sell the remaining two boys and keep the ewe lamb to breed the next year.</p>
<p>Bev and Cindy were working for a gentleman farmer several miles up the road. He agreed to purchase the lambs and have them custom butchered for his freezer. That took care of that!</p>
<p><img class="alignleft" title="The Lambs" src="http://fourcountrygals.com/wp-content/uploads/wppa/153.jpg" alt="153 You know you dont know sheep when..." width="384" height="288" />Not wanting to leave Chiquita (the first ewe lamb) alone, they also acquired &#8220;Merino&#8221; a black merino/polypay cross. She was quite a little sweetheart.</p>
<p>Now the winter of 2006 going into 2007 was extremely cold and very snowy. It seems like the temp stayed below freezing for better than two months. We very dutifully cared for our little sheep and the horses. That meant making trips to Enterprise every 2 weeks for baled alfalfa. We loaded the hay onto the Avalanche, and then home to unload it into the barn and sometimes another small trailer for the sheep. No small feat for us in the cold and snow.</p>
<p>In early March, Dixie called and suggested we join her to help with getting her sheep ready for lambing. &#8220;Sure, we&#8217;ll be there. What should we wear, and what should we bring?&#8221;</p>
<p>We were told to dress warmly as we&#8217;d be out for several hours, and would possibly get muddy and wet if the pen ground thawed. Gloves and hats were a definite. If we had some coveralls, those would be very handy as would good boots.</p>
<p><img class="alignright" title="dixies flock" src="http://fourcountrygals.com/wp-content/uploads/wppa/172.jpg" alt="172 You know you dont know sheep when..." width="384" height="288" />I remember that sometime around 9:30 AM, we piled into the Avalanche and drove over to Dixie&#8217;s, about a mile by road. We pulled in and were greeted by the dogs and then Dixie. She filled us in on exactly what we&#8217;d be doing. We had to move the pregnant sheep (and the younger ewe lambs) to a small pen, leaving the ram by himself.</p>
<p>Now, rams are never to be trusted. They are especially dangerous to women. Seems as though they think of us as ewes, something to be bred, not respected.  So, here we are&#8230; all three of us (Bev, Cindy, and myself) out in this 1/4 acre pasture working to move the ewes to a small pen, without having the ram join them.  None of us had ever moved sheep. We had no idea where to stand, how to move, when to put pressure in certain directions.</p>
<p>What a roundup!</p>
<p>We spent several minutes working the sheep into the right formation to get through the gate, only to have them bolt away. All this time, we had to worry about that ram. Finally, Dixie said, &#8220;Let&#8217;s bring the ram into the pen, and we&#8217;ll deal with him from there.&#8221;.</p>
<p>Now, that&#8217;s comforting. The ram is going to be in the small pen, where we&#8217;re cutting out ewes and checking to see if they&#8217;re pregnant. Oh, this is going to be fun&#8230; watch your backside while watching your hips, knees, and anything else they can hit you with, as they all run by.</p>
<p><img class="alignleft" title="moving sheep" src="http://fourcountrygals.com/wp-content/uploads/wppa/176.jpg" alt="176 You know you dont know sheep when..." width="384" height="288" />The plan was that the three of us would capture a ewe and put it on the ground on it&#8217;s back. That way, Dixie could check it for imminent lambing, and trim the excess wool away from it&#8217;s teats, a process called &#8220;crutching&#8221;. Of course, we&#8217;d be holding the ewe down&#8230; and the ewe wouldn&#8217;t be happy.</p>
<p>To capture a ewe, we had lassos (great!&#8230; none of us had used those). The pen was almost small enough to walk right into the flock. Dixie tossed some hay for them to eat and showed us how she would sneak up behind one and very quickly grab a hind leg and hang on.</p>
<p>You should have seen us trying to sneak up on a ewe, grab a leg and hang on. First off, two of us are packing enough weight for another person, and really are pretty slow. Finally, what seemed work as a form of &#8220;dogging&#8221;.</p>
<p><img class="alignright" title="tackling a ewe" src="http://fourcountrygals.com/wp-content/uploads/wppa/178.jpg" alt="178 You know you dont know sheep when..." width="384" height="288" />Bev and I would sort of corner a ewe, and then flush her down a fence line, where Cindy would throw herself onto the ewe, tackling it and taking it to the ground by rolling it over onto herself. Not a pretty site, but relatively effective.</p>
<p>We&#8217;d get to laughing so hard, it was really difficult to keep cornering ewes. Remember, that darn ram was in that pen, too. The ewe&#8217;s would circle around him, protecting hm. That was fine as long as there were still 7 or 8 ewes. Once we depleted that stock, we were really in danger.</p>
<p>Time out to get the ram moved back to his pasture. We&#8217;d been processing the ewes and then coercing them into a pen to the right. Any ewe lamb that wasn&#8217;t pregnant was returned to the pasture on the left side, where the ram would be going. Did you know sheep could leap nearly 3 feet off the ground while running full speed? Neither did we. Time out to hold our sides laughing again.</p>
<p>Some of the ewes were so tired and traumatized that we had to nearly carry/drag them to their new home. What they didn&#8217;t know was that we were in nearly the same condition. It was a race to see who would give up first.</p>
<p>Surprise, once the ewe round up was over, we turned our attention to lambs which had been born in the last week. Dixie figured this would be good training for us, so off to the lambing area, where she presented Bev with a little lamb.</p>
<p><img class="alignleft" title="Lamb getting docked" src="http://fourcountrygals.com/wp-content/uploads/wppa/186.jpg" alt="186 You know you dont know sheep when..." width="384" height="288" />Instructions were to turn the lambs belly towards her, and raise the little guy up so she could inspect his little balls (scrotum). She had this device that looked really wicked. She slipped a fat little rubber band onto the end prongs and grabbed the little guy&#8217;s balls, gently releasing the band. Ouch!</p>
<p>Then Bev had to reposition the little guy and do the same with his tail. By now, this little fellow was not a happy camper. All he wanted was down&#8230; but no, Dixie still had to give him a shot of vaccine, called CD/T. That&#8217;s supposed to help with &#8220;overeating disease&#8221;, scours, and tetanus.</p>
<p>I guess we probably went through a half-dozen lambs before Dixie said we&#8217;re done.</p>
<p>Remember I said we turned the ewe lambs aka &#8220;springers&#8221; back into the same pasture with the ram? The reason was that the Polypay breed is supposed to breed twice a year. That said, Dixie recommended we bring both Chiquita and Merino over to be bred by her ram.</p>
<p>Deal!</p>
<p>The only trick was how to get the girls from our place to hers. Let&#8217;s just walk them across the desert. No matter there&#8217;s 6 or so inches of snow on the ground. I know enough math to know that the long side of the triangle is generally shorter than the two sides, if those two sides are nearly equal. Ok, but how we gonna do this?</p>
<p>Easy, we put a dog (choke) collar and lead on Chiquita and led her. Merino just kind of romped along with us. I couldn&#8217;t believe my eyes&#8230; and neither could Dixie.</p>
<div id="crp_related"><h3>Related Posts:</h3><ul><li><a href="http://fourcountrygals.com/2011/11/02/raising-sheep-wasnt-really-part-of-the-plan" rel="bookmark" class="crp_title">Raising sheep wasn&#8217;t really part of the plan</a></li><li><a href="http://fourcountrygals.com/2012/02/14/two-weeks-til-lambing-and-kidding-time" rel="bookmark" class="crp_title">Two weeks &#8217;til lambing and kidding time</a></li><li><a href="http://fourcountrygals.com/2011/10/17/garden-season-over-winters-coming" rel="bookmark" class="crp_title">Garden season over, winter&#8217;s coming</a></li><li><a href="http://fourcountrygals.com/2011/05/24/certified-organic" rel="bookmark" class="crp_title">Certified Organic!</a></li><li><a href="http://fourcountrygals.com/2012/01/21/cindy-gets-her-horse" rel="bookmark" class="crp_title">Cindy gets her horse</a></li></ul></div>]]></content:encoded>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Two weeks &#8217;til lambing and kidding time</title>
		<link>http://fourcountrygals.com/2012/02/14/two-weeks-til-lambing-and-kidding-time</link>
		<comments>http://fourcountrygals.com/2012/02/14/two-weeks-til-lambing-and-kidding-time#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 14 Feb 2012 18:44:56 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>therealshari</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Custom Meat Program]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Goats]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sheep]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ewes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[goats]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[lambs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[little dogies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[newborn lambs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sheep and goats]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://fourcountrygals.com/?p=393</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[After a very mild winter, it&#8217;s now raining and snowing, with more in the forecast, just in time for lambing and kidding&#8230; wouldn&#8217;t ya&#8217; know it! This year, we have 4 pregnant does (goats), and at least 12 maybe 13 pregnant sheep. The ram and buck went to breed on October 14 and 16, 2011. [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>After a very mild winter, it&#8217;s now raining and snowing, with more in the forecast, just in time for lambing and kidding&#8230; wouldn&#8217;t ya&#8217; know it!</p>
<p>This year, we have 4 pregnant does (goats), and at least 12 maybe 13 pregnant sheep. The ram and buck went to breed on October 14 and 16, 2011. That means that somewhere between 145 and 155 days later, we should be very busy with the newborns.</p>
<p>The past weeks have been dominated by getting things ready, inventorying what we have, and purchasing what we need. We&#8217;re upgrading our supplies and have also been retrofitting the horse barn to prepare for the larger flock of sheep.  Who knows, maybe the goats will take over the sheep pan. If they do, we&#8217;ll have to rearrange the milking stand, as it&#8217;s a long walk from the sheep to the goat pens.</p>
<p>We&#8217;re busily preparing for the inevitable bottle babies. We really prefer to have the mama&#8217;s take care of their own, but we&#8217;re also seasoned enough to know we&#8217;ll have a few bottle babies, both sheep and goats. We&#8217;re building a &#8220;teat bucket&#8221;, which is a big bucket with nipples around the bottom. You pour the lamb or goat formula in, and then the lambs and kids suckle as if the big plastic bucket is their mother.</p>
<p>We&#8217;ve also got heat shelters, lambing jugs, heat lamps and fresh straw ready. This week I ordered the branding irons (we use a special marking fluid like paint), polar fleece lamb coats, and ear tags. We&#8217;ll make a last minute trip to the co-op for lamb and goat milk, the marking fluid, a couple of &#8220;thermocubes&#8221; to control the lamps, and the ever necessary &#8220;nutri drench&#8221;.  That last stuff really helps little ones when you have to help them along.</p>
<p>This year&#8217;s plan is to foster as many babies as we can, keeping them drinking the natural milk, as they seem to grow much faster without putting on so much fat. Using the teat bucket as necessary will mimic the drinking schedule much better than putting the orphan lambs or goats on a &#8220;convenience schedule&#8221;.</p>
<p>This is our first year with the goats. We&#8217;ve helped a neighbor with their goats, but have not gone through the whole process. We&#8217;re getting educated and are discovering many differences. The sheep have their babies standing up in most cases, while the goats lay down, and scream a lot.</p>
<p>What we don&#8217;t know is whether the goats will be like the sheep and have most of their kids during the day. Our feeding schedule encourages going into labor mid day, rather than during the night. Over the years, we&#8217;ve only had one ewe present us lambs over night.</p>
<p>As soon as the lambs and kids are all here, it will be time to plant seeds in the greenhouse preparing for our organic gardening season, and the Cedar City Farmers&#8217; Market.</p>
<div id="crp_related"><h3>Related Posts:</h3><ul><li><a href="http://fourcountrygals.com/2012/02/15/you-know-you-dont-know-sheep-when" rel="bookmark" class="crp_title">You know you don&#8217;t know sheep when&#8230;</a></li><li><a href="http://fourcountrygals.com/2011/10/17/garden-season-over-winters-coming" rel="bookmark" class="crp_title">Garden season over, winter&#8217;s coming</a></li><li><a href="http://fourcountrygals.com/2011/11/02/raising-sheep-wasnt-really-part-of-the-plan" rel="bookmark" class="crp_title">Raising sheep wasn&#8217;t really part of the plan</a></li><li><a href="http://fourcountrygals.com/2011/03/16/weve-had-2-weeks-of-early-spring" rel="bookmark" class="crp_title">We&#8217;ve had 2 weeks of early spring</a></li><li><a href="http://fourcountrygals.com/2011/05/24/certified-organic" rel="bookmark" class="crp_title">Certified Organic!</a></li></ul></div><h4>Incoming search terms:</h4><ul><li>lambing calendar gestation 145</li><li>lambing jugs</li></ul>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Cindy gets her horse</title>
		<link>http://fourcountrygals.com/2012/01/21/cindy-gets-her-horse</link>
		<comments>http://fourcountrygals.com/2012/01/21/cindy-gets-her-horse#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 21 Jan 2012 20:56:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>therealshari</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Farm Tales]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Horses]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[beryl]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[colts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[good horse]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[horse barn]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[living the dream]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://fourcountrygals.com/?p=355</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This little piece of paradise includes a &#8220;treasure&#8221;&#8230; what looks like some kind of &#8220;barn or shed&#8221;. It&#8217;s way out on the north property line, and has the big open side facing south. We&#8217;re not real sure what it was used for, or when it was last used, but there was a ton of old [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>This little piece of paradise includes a &#8220;treasure&#8221;&#8230; what looks like some kind of &#8220;barn or shed&#8221;. It&#8217;s way out on the north property line, and has the big open side facing south. We&#8217;re not real sure what it was used for, or when it was last used, but there was a ton of old dried cow manure, tumbleweeds, and &#8220;Beryl Dust&#8221; crammed into it.</p>
<p><a href="http://fourcountrygals.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/100_1045.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-357" title="old barn" src="http://fourcountrygals.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/100_1045-300x225.jpg" alt="100 1045 300x225 Cindy gets her horse" width="300" height="225" /></a>Whoever built it, used heavy stuff, like railroad ties, and iron slabs. It&#8217;s about 24 x 16 and looks as if it had a couple of stalls. At any rate, it could be a good horse barn.</p>
<p>Cindy used to ride when she was a young teenager (many moons ago). She had her own horse(s) and competed in barrel racing. Bev rode when at her grandparent&#8217;s farm, and really wanted a horse to enjoy.</p>
<p>What they found, wasn&#8217;t what they were looking for.</p>
<p>This &#8220;gentleman farmer&#8221; they were helping, had a daughter-in-law who was taking her grandfather-in-law&#8217;s racing rejects and getting them adopted out. Generally speaking, racing rejects don&#8217;t face the best of lives. Often, their personalities make them poor pets, and health issues can break the bank in a hurry.</p>
<p><a href="http://fourcountrygals.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/100_0998.jpg"><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-358" title="Dusty" src="http://fourcountrygals.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/100_0998-300x200.jpg" alt="100 0998 300x200 Cindy gets her horse" width="300" height="200" /></a>At any rate, Cindy and Bev got to talking with her, and went to the farm to see the horses. Dena had a couple that really needed to be &#8220;fostered&#8221; until she could find permanent homes.</p>
<p>That&#8217;s all it took for the gals to agree to take care of these two colts. &#8220;Dusty&#8221; was a long yearling, and &#8220;Kid&#8221; aka &#8220;Comanche&#8221; was about the same age. Dusty had a slightly deformed cannon bone on his right front leg, so would never be able to race. Kid simply hadn&#8217;t been to training yet, and was keeping Dusty company.</p>
<p>Before the girls could take these horses off Dena&#8217;s hands, they&#8217;d have to clean this barn, and make it horse ready and escape-proof. With no tractor, and not really knowing anyone yet, this was going to be a daunting task.</p>
<p>Bev and Cindy set to, dragging tumbleweed out, hauling junk out, and finally shoveling sand out. Several days of back-breaking labor later, they were finally able to begin the &#8220;construction&#8221; phase. Good thing Bev and Cindy are handy with power tools.</p>
<p>Dena was able to borrow her father-in-law&#8217;s small John Deere and came to help with the project. There was a post hole digger as well as a front-end loader on the tractor, so the girls got things going rather quickly. Once they got the remaining sand out of the stalls, and the big, heavy dividers out, as well as the original feed crib, it was time to dig post holes, and build the corral.</p>
<p>Around here, railroad ties make great fence posts. They are plentiful, as there is a railroad through the area. When the railroad does maintenance, they sell the old posts locally. They are quite rot-resistant, too. It&#8217;s not hard to find railroad ties that are over 100 years old, still in service as fence posts, root cellars, etc.</p>
<p>So, they set the posts every 8 feet making a corral that was about 24 x 24, plenty large enough for a couple of colts. They topped the &#8220;fencing&#8221; with 2&#215;6 lumber and attached field fencing below that. Then they ran a single strand of electric fencing around the inside of the corral, and hooked it up to a solar fence charger.</p>
<p>The two horses were in Enterprise and would have to be trailered to Beryl, a distance of about 17 miles. No problem, Dena got that job done easily. In early April 2006, Bev and Cindy officially became &#8220;foster mom&#8217;s&#8221; to Dusty and Kid. Their job was to love them, feed them, and teach them a few manners&#8230; yeah right (on the manners).</p>
<p><a href="http://fourcountrygals.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/100_1159.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-366" title="Dusty at the feed barrel" src="http://fourcountrygals.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/100_1159-300x225.jpg" alt="100 1159 300x225 Cindy gets her horse" width="300" height="225" /></a>The two boys were pretty rambunctious, with Kid being the real brat. He&#8217;d steal Dusty&#8217;s hay, and push him away from the water barrel whenever possible. Now, you&#8217;d think that is a precursor to the future.</p>
<p>After a few months, Kid was sent to &#8220;race horse training&#8221;, and Dusty became ours, complete with his adoption papers. Now the real work could begin.</p>
<p>Cindy and Bev felt they would like to train Dusty using &#8220;natural methods&#8221;. That means teach him with love and discipline, rather than fear and pain (the old-fashioned way to break a horse). To do this, they researched and chose the Parelli method. Soon they found themselves in Las Vegas attending a Parelli seminar.</p>
<p>Cindy began working with Dusty, teaching him to follow her, and maybe play a game or two, like push the ball with your nose. Dusty, brat that he was, had other ideas. He would follow&#8230; and fail to stop. Push the wall was beneath him.</p>
<p>Soon time came for him to enter the grownup world. That meant a visit to the vet. He wasn&#8217;t going to be a herd sire, so time to get &#8220;cut&#8221;. Also, his hooves were overgrown and in need of trimming. This would be an excellent time to check everything and give him his shots.</p>
<p>It only took an hour or so to get him into the trailer. A one hour trip to the vet in Cedar City, and some &#8220;sleepy juice&#8221;, he&#8217;d soon become a gelding, have properly trimmed hooves, have his teeth checked, and updated shots. Not only that, he would be in &#8220;la la land&#8221; for the trip home. One home&#8230; all he had to do was step out of the trailer.</p>
<p>Three days later, he decided he felt good enough to get out of that trailer and into his stall and corral.</p>
<p>As it turned out, Dusty never really forgave Cindy for that trip. He waited patiently and a few months later, she was in the wrong spot when he leveled a very well-placed kick into her ribs. That left a mark<br />
Between his attitude and Cindy&#8217;s short fuse, training never went very well after that.</p>
<p>A couple years later, Clinton Anderson did a seminar in St George. His theory is &#8220;keep the horses feet moving&#8221; and they will soon figure out that to stop, they only have to obey. His methods are very natural, using add pressure and the horse will respond, moving away from the pressure and perform the proper movement. That technique was much better suited to both Dusty and Cindy.</p>
<p>Eventually Dusty became quite a gentleman, even to the point of saddling and riding in the round pen.</p>
<div id="crp_related"><h3>Related Posts:</h3><ul><li><a href="http://fourcountrygals.com/2011/10/17/garden-season-over-winters-coming" rel="bookmark" class="crp_title">Garden season over, winter&#8217;s coming</a></li><li><a href="http://fourcountrygals.com/2011/11/02/raising-sheep-wasnt-really-part-of-the-plan" rel="bookmark" class="crp_title">Raising sheep wasn&#8217;t really part of the plan</a></li><li><a href="http://fourcountrygals.com/2012/02/15/you-know-you-dont-know-sheep-when" rel="bookmark" class="crp_title">You know you don&#8217;t know sheep when&#8230;</a></li><li><a href="http://fourcountrygals.com/2011/03/16/weve-had-2-weeks-of-early-spring" rel="bookmark" class="crp_title">We&#8217;ve had 2 weeks of early spring</a></li><li><a href="http://fourcountrygals.com/2011/08/02/cedar-city-farmers-market-aug-3-at-4pm" rel="bookmark" class="crp_title">Cedar City Farmer&#8217;s Market &#8211; Aug 3 at 4pm</a></li></ul></div><h4>Incoming search terms:</h4><ul><li>cindy gets</li><li>getss for horses</li></ul>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Raising sheep wasn&#8217;t really part of the plan</title>
		<link>http://fourcountrygals.com/2011/11/02/raising-sheep-wasnt-really-part-of-the-plan</link>
		<comments>http://fourcountrygals.com/2011/11/02/raising-sheep-wasnt-really-part-of-the-plan#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 02 Nov 2011 19:11:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>therealshari</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Farm Tales]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sheep]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ewes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[lambs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[little dogies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[newborn lambs]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://fourcountrygals.com/?p=330</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[After living here in Beryl since August 2005, the &#8220;girls&#8221; finally began meeting some of our neighbors. One of those neighbors, Dixie, stopped by to introduce herself one spring morning. She mentioned that she was helping one of the local sheep farms with their lambing season. Cindy told her that Mom would be totally enthralled [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>After living here in Beryl since August 2005, the &#8220;girls&#8221; finally began meeting some of our neighbors. One of those neighbors, Dixie, stopped by to introduce herself one spring morning. She mentioned that she was helping one of the local sheep farms with their lambing season. </p>
<p>Cindy told her that Mom would be totally enthralled to see some little newborn lambs. Little did she know about what she&#8217;d just said.</p>
<p>Later that afternoon, Dixie returned, with a little white bundle of joy. What she said was&#8230; &#8220;Here&#8217;s your first lamb. He really needs a mother. Take him, love him, feed him. I gotta get back to work.&#8221; This poor little fellow was weak, and had been rejected by his mother. </p>
<p><a href="http://fourcountrygals.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/100_1097.jpg"><img src="http://fourcountrygals.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/100_1097-300x225.jpg" alt="100 1097 300x225  Raising sheep wasnt really part of the plan" title="Mom and Paco" width="300" height="225" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-332" /></a>You gotta know, Mom absolutely fell in love with the little guy and named him &#8220;Taco&#8221;. I have no idea how she came up with that name, and I&#8217;m not asking, either. Since they already had dogs (hence dog crates), it was easy to set up a crate for Taco to use while he lived in the house. </p>
<p>Great idea, but nobody could believe how he missed his mother. He &#8220;ma-a-a-a-a-ed&#8221; for his mama all night long, keeping everyone, including the dogs, awake.</p>
<p>So, Mom felt the best thing to do, would be for her to become &#8220;his mother&#8221;. Each night, Mom would get a couple of clean towels and swathe Taco like a baby. She would then put him in her bed under the covers to keep him content. Peace and quiet returned to the household. </p>
<p><a href="http://fourcountrygals.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/100_1149.jpg"><img src="http://fourcountrygals.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/100_1149-300x225.jpg" alt="100 1149 300x225  Raising sheep wasnt really part of the plan" title="Three Lambs" width="300" height="225" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-334" /></a>Not long after that, Dixie stopped by with two more little &#8220;dogies&#8221;, (that&#8217;s Southern Utah-speak for &#8220;bummer lambs&#8221;). These two were in pretty good shape, having been separated from their mothers after a couple of days. Bummers are lambs that &#8220;lose&#8221; their mothers, and then go around bumming milk from all the other ewes. </p>
<p>Since it was still quite cold and windy, the three little guys were allowed to live in the backyard in a large dog kennel that was well wrapped with an old Hertz moving blanket. They built a bit of of a fence to give the lambs a way to get relief from the big dogs, each of whom wanted to raise the little guys.</p>
<p><a href="http://fourcountrygals.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/100_1152.jpg"><img src="http://fourcountrygals.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/100_1152-300x225.jpg" alt="100 1152 300x225  Raising sheep wasnt really part of the plan" title="Dogs managing lambs" width="300" height="225" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-340" /></a>Missi, the old Chocolate Lab, was the pack matriarch. At nearly 14, she was losing both her hearing and sight. Mindy, the Black Lab, loved to herd the little lambs. Koda, the Shepherd/Siberian Husky thought they were playmates. Then there was Coco, a Chocolate Lab/Red Bone Hound cross. She didn&#8217;t know what to make of these lambs, but found it hilarious to continually jump into the lamb pen.</p>
<p>This &#8220;back yard&#8221; was really a neglected space enclosed by a 6&#8242; high concrete block wall. The dogs considered it their space to do whatever they wanted. There were high weeds, and lots of junk to play with. These lambs were encroaching in their space. </p>
<p>Just because they suddenly had a few lambs didn&#8217;t mean they knew squat about raising them. One thing though, they provided hours of entertainment, as they played with the dogs.</p>
<p>After a couple of months, it was time to create a dedicated &#8220;lamb pen&#8221;. </p>
<p>North of the house, about 150 feet, there was an old chain link fence. One section ran about 70&#8242; and then there was a break (for a drive), and more chainlink for about 12 feet to the fence line that runs along the road. There was also a run of field fencing going north from the west end of the chainlink fence. </p>
<p>The southwest corner looked like a pretty good place for a lamb pen. It wouldn&#8217;t take much to fence off the other two sides.</p>
<p>Cindy and Bev were working for a &#8220;gentleman farmer&#8221;. They were helping him clear and clean up an old homestead. This guy was pretty good about letting them take old fencing they found. Most of it was pretty rusty and in poor shape. He also had a big wooden box which had contained irrigation parts. </p>
<p>They took that big box (about 6&#8242;x4&#8242;x2&#8242;) and turned it upside down. Then they cut a door into one end, so the lambs could get in and bed down out of the elements. By using old pieces of rebar they found laying around the property, they were able to rig up a form of fencing that contained the little lambs.</p>
<p>The next step was to get the lambs from the backyard to the new lamb pen&#8230; a distance of about 500 feet. Now, while these lambs knew the house, the backyard, maybe even the walkway down the north side of the garage, they had no concept of &#8220;open land&#8221;.</p>
<p><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=asshabpgtofag-20&#038;o=1&#038;p=8&#038;l=as1&#038;asins=0306818442&#038;ref=tf_til&#038;fc1=000000&#038;IS2=1&#038;lt1=_blank&#038;m=amazon&#038;lc1=0000FF&#038;bc1=FFFFFF&#038;bg1=FFFFFF&#038;f=ifr" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0" align="left"></iframe>What&#8217;s worse, Cindy and Bev weren&#8217;t skilled sheepherders.</p>
<p>These little lambs would come when called while they were in the backyard. But, would they continue to do that when there were &#8220;no walls, no fences&#8221;? Only one way to find out.</p>
<p>After making sure the new pen was ready and the &#8220;gate&#8221; was open, Bev and Cindy began the great adventure. First get the little lambs down the confining north side walkway along the garage, and through the first chainlink gate.</p>
<p>What they didn&#8217;t know, was how the lambs would react to the confining space, the shade, and the prospect of wide open land on the other side of that first gate. </p>
<p>Game on!</p>
<p>Once the girls realized the lambs weren&#8217;t going to come when called,  they took the chance and got behind the lambs. Well, let&#8217;s just say the lambs were much quicker than either Bev or Cindy. </p>
<p>Once they tasted their freedom, it was time to investigate. &#8220;Yep, the lawn tastes great. Oh, you don&#8217;t want me to eat the lawn? What do you mean I have to go that way? Wait&#8230; I have to pee!&#8221;</p>
<p>Good thing that chainlink fence was there. At least once the lambs were headed in the right direction, it was a matter of being patient (while the sheep nibbled on tumbleweed) and vigilant (in case something looked better a few yards away). The fence at least created a boundary that helped contain the little lambs.</p>
<p>Now, the dogs had been left in the backyard, since none were proven &#8220;farm dogs&#8221; or &#8220;herders&#8221;. No since complicating matters. The three lambs were going to keep Bev and Cindy more than busy.</p>
<p><a href="http://fourcountrygals.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/100_0337.jpg"><img src="http://fourcountrygals.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/100_0337-300x225.jpg" alt="100 0337 300x225  Raising sheep wasnt really part of the plan" title="Three lambs plus one" width="300" height="225" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-346" /></a>You know, it&#8217;s much easier to move a flock of 20 sheep than it is to move three little lambs. These little guys had no concept of &#8220;flock&#8221;. All they knew was there were new smells, new tastes, new feel under their feet, new shadows to jump, and no walls!</p>
<p>After about an hour of the sheep roundup, the little lambs were safely ensconced in their new pen. Not bad, no broken bones, no turned ankles, no lost sheep&#8230; just a few swear words, and the need for a cold beer to celebrate their first herding experience.</p>
<div id="crp_related"><h3>Related Posts:</h3><ul><li><a href="http://fourcountrygals.com/2012/02/15/you-know-you-dont-know-sheep-when" rel="bookmark" class="crp_title">You know you don&#8217;t know sheep when&#8230;</a></li><li><a href="http://fourcountrygals.com/2012/02/14/two-weeks-til-lambing-and-kidding-time" rel="bookmark" class="crp_title">Two weeks &#8217;til lambing and kidding time</a></li><li><a href="http://fourcountrygals.com/2011/10/17/garden-season-over-winters-coming" rel="bookmark" class="crp_title">Garden season over, winter&#8217;s coming</a></li><li><a href="http://fourcountrygals.com/2012/01/21/cindy-gets-her-horse" rel="bookmark" class="crp_title">Cindy gets her horse</a></li><li><a href="http://fourcountrygals.com/2011/08/02/cedar-city-farmers-market-aug-3-at-4pm" rel="bookmark" class="crp_title">Cedar City Farmer&#8217;s Market &#8211; Aug 3 at 4pm</a></li></ul></div><h4>Incoming search terms:</h4><ul><li>raising organic sheep</li><li>big dogs</li><li>raising sheep in utah</li><li>raising sheep</li><li>bad to the bone lambs</li><li>raising sheepe in ohio</li><li>raising sheep organically</li><li>raising sheep in ohio</li><li>on raising organic sheep</li><li>little lambs and ewes</li></ul>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Garden season over, winter&#8217;s coming</title>
		<link>http://fourcountrygals.com/2011/10/17/garden-season-over-winters-coming</link>
		<comments>http://fourcountrygals.com/2011/10/17/garden-season-over-winters-coming#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 17 Oct 2011 21:24:14 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>therealshari</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Certified Organic Garden]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Do it yourself time]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Horses]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sheep]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[beef]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[certified organic garden]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[eggs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[farm]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[goats]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[home-raised meat]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[lambs]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://fourcountrygals.com/?p=313</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[As our 2012 garden season has come to a close, it&#8217;s now time to concentrate on getting ready for winter. Around here, winter can arrive in a heartbeat. The hay is all in place, over $7000 for the the 7 blocks this year. At that price, we bit the bullet and invested in a professional [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>As our 2012 garden season has come to a close, it&#8217;s now time to concentrate on getting ready for winter. Around here, winter can arrive in a heartbeat.</p>
<p><a href="http://fourcountrygals.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/000_0049.jpg"><img src="http://fourcountrygals.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/000_0049-300x225.jpg" alt="000 0049 300x225 Garden season over, winters coming" title="Our hay for the year" width="300" height="225" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-317" /></a>The hay is all in place, over $7000 for the the 7 blocks this year. At that price, we bit the bullet and invested in a professional hay tarp. We had the hay all put into one place this year, since we have the tractor to move bales. We&#8217;re also installing gates at each access road.</p>
<p>So far, we&#8217;ve pretty much dismantled the gardens, except for some parsnips, beets, turnips, cauliflower and cabbage. We had a hard freeze on the 5th, and that pretty much took care of the garden.</p>
<p>We&#8217;re adding a &#8220;storage container&#8221; to our little farm. That will allow us to properly store our garden and farm tools someplace other than in &#8220;Mom&#8217;s garage&#8221;. That has meant clearing a large area of loose sand and tumbleweed, and moving stuff (including an old truck) so the big truck has enough room to make the correct turns, and back into the spot for the container.</p>
<p>The horses are all gone. We put down the one gal that had eye cancer, and then gave the other two to our neighbor&#8217;s grandson. He&#8217;s great with horses. The day he came to load them, it only took about an hour to get them into the trailer. Not bad, considering Dusty (the gelding) had only been trailered once (and he didn&#8217;t have pleasant memories, having been gelded, vaccinated, and hooves trimmed), and Dakota had never been in a horse trailer.</p>
<p>This past weekend, we put the ram in with the ewes, and the buck in with the nanny goats. In about 5 months, we should have lambs and kids popping out all over the place.</p>
<p>A month or so ago, we took our &#8220;old cow&#8221; to the butcher. She was 4 years old (had 8 teeth), and didn&#8217;t breed last year. After the younger heifer presented us with a beautiful heifer calf, the old gal was &#8220;excess inventory&#8221;. She&#8217;s in the freezer now, and the steaks and burger are absolutely awesome. Except for her poor confirmation, her meat would grade out at prime or better. We got 452# of meat, nearly a freezer full.</p>
<p><a href="http://fourcountrygals.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/HPIM0400.jpg"><img src="http://fourcountrygals.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/HPIM0400-300x225.jpg" alt="HPIM0400 300x225 Garden season over, winters coming" title="Growout pen" width="300" height="225" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-319" /></a>We also hatched 11 chicks in September and they (along with their mothers) have moved to the &#8220;grow-out pen&#8221;. Soon we&#8217;ll put their mothers back into the big coop, leaving the youngsters to grow. First one that crows is a Sunday dinner. Any others that crow will seal their fate, too.</p>
<p>Over the winter, watch for &#8220;farm tales&#8221;, stories about the Four Country Gals living their dreams. They&#8217;ll be here on the blog, so will still be doing more &#8220;re-arranging&#8221;.</p>
<div id="crp_related"><h3>Related Posts:</h3><ul><li><a href="http://fourcountrygals.com/2012/01/21/cindy-gets-her-horse" rel="bookmark" class="crp_title">Cindy gets her horse</a></li><li><a href="http://fourcountrygals.com/2011/08/02/cedar-city-farmers-market-aug-3-at-4pm" rel="bookmark" class="crp_title">Cedar City Farmer&#8217;s Market &#8211; Aug 3 at 4pm</a></li><li><a href="http://fourcountrygals.com/2012/02/22/wild-birds-at-four-country-gals" rel="bookmark" class="crp_title">Wild birds at Four Country Gals</a></li><li><a href="http://fourcountrygals.com/2011/03/16/weve-had-2-weeks-of-early-spring" rel="bookmark" class="crp_title">We&#8217;ve had 2 weeks of early spring</a></li><li><a href="http://fourcountrygals.com/2011/11/02/raising-sheep-wasnt-really-part-of-the-plan" rel="bookmark" class="crp_title">Raising sheep wasn&#8217;t really part of the plan</a></li></ul></div><h4>Incoming search terms:</h4><ul><li>hay tarp</li><li>winter season is coming</li><li>Why does winter season come</li><li>with the season come in to winter</li></ul>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Rain or shine, we&#8217;re at the Cedar City Farmer&#8217;s Market</title>
		<link>http://fourcountrygals.com/2011/09/14/rain-or-shine-were-at-the-cedar-city-farmers-market</link>
		<comments>http://fourcountrygals.com/2011/09/14/rain-or-shine-were-at-the-cedar-city-farmers-market#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 14 Sep 2011 19:14:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>therealshari</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Cedar City Farmer's Market]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Certified Organic Garden]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cedar City]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[certified organic garden]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[eggs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Farmer's Market]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[organic vegetables]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[produce]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://fourcountrygals.com/?p=309</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[That&#8217;s right&#8230; we&#8217;re really fair weather farmers. After all, we live on a desert, and the sun nearly always shines. Except for today&#8230; it&#8217;s raining on the Cedar City Farmer&#8217;s Market, but thanks to our canopy we will be there. We&#8217;re bringing some new stuff&#8230; eggplant, potatoes, spearmint, leeks, rosemary. Of course we&#8217;ll have Swiss [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>That&#8217;s right&#8230; we&#8217;re really fair weather farmers. After all, we live on a desert, and the sun nearly always shines. Except for today&#8230; it&#8217;s raining on the Cedar City Farmer&#8217;s Market, but thanks to our canopy we will be there. </p>
<p>We&#8217;re bringing some new stuff&#8230;  eggplant, potatoes, spearmint, leeks, rosemary. </p>
<p>Of course we&#8217;ll have Swiss Chard, turnips, beets, crookneck squash, onions (yellow, scallions, red), and great big bunches of Sweet Basil.</p>
<p>Are you ready to make some pesto? We&#8217;ve got you covered with extra large bunches of basil. </p>
<p>We&#8217;ll also have a limited supply of Mom&#8217;s Hen House Fresh Brown Eggs. </p>
<p>See you there!</p>
<div id="crp_related"><h3>Related Posts:</h3><ul><li><a href="http://fourcountrygals.com/2011/08/10/cedar-city-farmers-market-week-4" rel="bookmark" class="crp_title">Cedar City Farmer&#8217;s Market &#8211; Week 4</a></li><li><a href="http://fourcountrygals.com/2011/08/02/cedar-city-farmers-market-aug-3-at-4pm" rel="bookmark" class="crp_title">Cedar City Farmer&#8217;s Market &#8211; Aug 3 at 4pm</a></li><li><a href="http://fourcountrygals.com/2011/08/16/fresh-organic-produce-what-to-do-with-it" rel="bookmark" class="crp_title">Fresh Organic Produce: What to do with it</a></li><li><a href="http://fourcountrygals.com/2011/07/20/cedar-city-farmers-market-today" rel="bookmark" class="crp_title">Cedar City Farmer&#8217;s Market Today!</a></li><li><a href="http://fourcountrygals.com/2011/07/27/cedar-city-downtown-farmers-market-4pm-today" rel="bookmark" class="crp_title">Cedar City Downtown Farmer&#8217;s Market &#8211; 4pm today</a></li></ul></div><h4>Incoming search terms:</h4><ul><li>fresh eggs cedar city</li></ul>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>We&#8217;re between crops!</title>
		<link>http://fourcountrygals.com/2011/08/31/were-between-crops</link>
		<comments>http://fourcountrygals.com/2011/08/31/were-between-crops#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 31 Aug 2011 18:06:26 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>therealshari</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Cedar City Farmer's Market]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Certified Organic Garden]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Custom Meat Program]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cedar City]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[certified organic garden]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[custom meat]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Farmer's Market]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hogs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hogs for sale]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[home-raised meat]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[organic vegetables]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[produce]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://fourcountrygals.com/?p=307</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[So sorry, we won&#8217;t be at the Cedar City Downtown Farmer&#8217;s Market this week. We&#8217;re between crops. Our summer crops are pretty much finished, and our fall crops aren&#8217;t quite ready. So, what&#8217;s in the fall crops? We&#8217;ll have leeks, turnips, tomatillos, more beets, and more squash. Also, we may have some potatoes. They&#8217;re pretty [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>So sorry, we won&#8217;t be at the Cedar City Downtown Farmer&#8217;s Market this week. </p>
<p>We&#8217;re between crops. Our summer crops are pretty much finished, and our fall crops aren&#8217;t quite ready. </p>
<p>So, what&#8217;s in the fall crops?</p>
<p>We&#8217;ll have leeks, turnips, tomatillos, more beets, and more squash. Also, we may have some potatoes. They&#8217;re pretty popular with Mom, so will only bring what she doesn&#8217;t want. Oh, and our tomatoes are finally ripening.</p>
<p>Watch for new recipes, as we&#8217;ll also have plenty of green tomatoes. </p>
<p>With the high price of pork, we have the best deal going. Order your winter pork from us. We hand-raise your hog with high quality natural foods. Your hog is sheltered from rough weather and carefully fattened for your freezer. </p>
<p>Cost of your whole hog is $425 (plus about $110 for cut and wrap). That makes your finished pork cost an average of $4.25 per pound. </p>
<p>Compare that with bacon at $6.99 and chops running anywhere from $4.99 up. </p>
<p>If you&#8217;d prefer a 1/2 hog, your price is $225 (plus about $55 cut and wrap). Still an awesome deal.</p>
<p>To order, call us at 868-3024 and be sure to get on our &#8220;Custom Meat Program&#8221; Mailing list.</p>
<div id="crp_related"><h3>Related Posts:</h3><ul><li><a href="http://fourcountrygals.com/2011/08/10/cedar-city-farmers-market-week-4" rel="bookmark" class="crp_title">Cedar City Farmer&#8217;s Market &#8211; Week 4</a></li><li><a href="http://fourcountrygals.com/2011/07/01/cedar-city-downtown-farmers-market-opens-july-20" rel="bookmark" class="crp_title">Cedar City Downtown Farmer&#8217;s Market Opens July 20</a></li><li><a href="http://fourcountrygals.com/2011/09/14/rain-or-shine-were-at-the-cedar-city-farmers-market" rel="bookmark" class="crp_title">Rain or shine, we&#8217;re at the Cedar City Farmer&#8217;s Market</a></li><li><a href="http://fourcountrygals.com/2011/08/16/fresh-organic-produce-what-to-do-with-it" rel="bookmark" class="crp_title">Fresh Organic Produce: What to do with it</a></li><li><a href="http://fourcountrygals.com/2011/07/27/cedar-city-downtown-farmers-market-4pm-today" rel="bookmark" class="crp_title">Cedar City Downtown Farmer&#8217;s Market &#8211; 4pm today</a></li></ul></div>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Meet and Greet Four Country Gals</title>
		<link>http://fourcountrygals.com/2011/08/24/meet-and-greet-four-country-gals</link>
		<comments>http://fourcountrygals.com/2011/08/24/meet-and-greet-four-country-gals#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 24 Aug 2011 17:59:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>therealshari</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Cedar City Farmer's Market]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cedar City]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[certified organic garden]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[eggs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Farmer's Market]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[organic vegetables]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://fourcountrygals.com/?p=304</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[For the first time this year, all Four Country Gals will be at the Downtown Cedar City Farmer&#8217;s Market. Meet us and get pictures at 5 pm. The market opens at 4 pm behind the Pastry Pub. Cindy and Shari will kick things off today with Pat and Bev coming in later. We&#8217;re bringing plenty [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>For the first time this year, all Four Country Gals will be at the Downtown Cedar City Farmer&#8217;s Market. Meet us and get pictures at 5 pm.</p>
<p>The market opens at 4 pm behind the Pastry Pub. Cindy and Shari will kick things off today with Pat and Bev coming in later. </p>
<p>We&#8217;re bringing plenty of fresh veggies this week. Get in line as things go pretty fast. Oh and we also have several dozen eggs.</p>
<p>See you there!</p>
<div id="crp_related"><h3>Related Posts:</h3><ul><li><a href="http://fourcountrygals.com/2011/07/27/cedar-city-downtown-farmers-market-4pm-today" rel="bookmark" class="crp_title">Cedar City Downtown Farmer&#8217;s Market &#8211; 4pm today</a></li><li><a href="http://fourcountrygals.com/2011/08/10/cedar-city-farmers-market-week-4" rel="bookmark" class="crp_title">Cedar City Farmer&#8217;s Market &#8211; Week 4</a></li><li><a href="http://fourcountrygals.com/2011/07/20/cedar-city-farmers-market-today" rel="bookmark" class="crp_title">Cedar City Farmer&#8217;s Market Today!</a></li><li><a href="http://fourcountrygals.com/2011/07/01/cedar-city-downtown-farmers-market-opens-july-20" rel="bookmark" class="crp_title">Cedar City Downtown Farmer&#8217;s Market Opens July 20</a></li><li><a href="http://fourcountrygals.com/2011/09/14/rain-or-shine-were-at-the-cedar-city-farmers-market" rel="bookmark" class="crp_title">Rain or shine, we&#8217;re at the Cedar City Farmer&#8217;s Market</a></li></ul></div><h4>Incoming search terms:</h4><ul><li>countrygals com</li><li>meet and greet custom</li></ul>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Fresh Organic Produce: What to do with it</title>
		<link>http://fourcountrygals.com/2011/08/16/fresh-organic-produce-what-to-do-with-it</link>
		<comments>http://fourcountrygals.com/2011/08/16/fresh-organic-produce-what-to-do-with-it#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 16 Aug 2011 21:18:34 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>therealshari</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Certified Organic Garden]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[certified organic garden]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Farmer's Market]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[organic vegetables]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[produce]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://fourcountrygals.com/?p=291</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Our produce is coming on fast now. This week we&#8217;ll be adding yellow crookneck squash to the inventory. That&#8217;s on top of turnip greens, beets/greens, zucchini and blossoms, radishes, chard, basil, flat-leaf parsley, green onions, fresh yellow sweet onions, shallots and garlic. Each week I write new recipes for you, our Cedar City Farmer&#8217;s Market [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Our produce is coming on fast now. This week we&#8217;ll be adding yellow crookneck squash to the inventory. That&#8217;s on top of turnip greens, beets/greens, zucchini and blossoms, radishes, chard, basil, flat-leaf parsley, green onions, fresh yellow sweet onions, shallots and garlic.</p>
<p>Each week I write new recipes for you, our Cedar City Farmer&#8217;s Market customer. After all, why would you buy something and not have an idea of how to prepare it?</p>
<p>I&#8217;ve found a resource that will help you even better than my simple recipes. You can never have too many cookbooks, but you can have a favorite&#8230; and I believe this one will make the cut.</p>
<p>It covers all kinds of exotic vegetables typically raised by organic produce farmers. While it would be great if we farmers raised only what you wanted to eat&#8230; but I think that would be pretty limiting.</p>
<p>For example, here at Four Country Gals, if we raised only what we like, we would be raising potatoes, corn, raspberries, green beans, strawberries, broccoli and brussels sprouts. Oh, and beef that provided steaks and hamburgers.</p>
<p><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&#038;bc1=FFFFFF&#038;IS2=1&#038;bg1=FFFFFF&#038;fc1=000000&#038;lc1=0000FF&#038;t=asshabpgtofag-20&#038;o=1&#038;p=8&#038;l=as1&#038;m=amazon&#038;f=ifr&#038;ref=tf_til&#038;asins=1460910230" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0" align="left"></iframe><br />
 With all the goodies you find at the market, you&#8217;ll find this resource the perfect complement in your kitchen. This is a brand new book, having been published just this year. If you&#8217;d prefer to read it on your Kindle, no problem, just follow the links once you&#8217;ve clicked on the image to the left.</p>
<div id="crp_related"><h3>Related Posts:</h3><ul><li><a href="http://fourcountrygals.com/2011/08/10/cedar-city-farmers-market-week-4" rel="bookmark" class="crp_title">Cedar City Farmer&#8217;s Market &#8211; Week 4</a></li><li><a href="http://fourcountrygals.com/2011/09/14/rain-or-shine-were-at-the-cedar-city-farmers-market" rel="bookmark" class="crp_title">Rain or shine, we&#8217;re at the Cedar City Farmer&#8217;s Market</a></li><li><a href="http://fourcountrygals.com/2011/08/02/cedar-city-farmers-market-aug-3-at-4pm" rel="bookmark" class="crp_title">Cedar City Farmer&#8217;s Market &#8211; Aug 3 at 4pm</a></li><li><a href="http://fourcountrygals.com/2011/11/02/raising-sheep-wasnt-really-part-of-the-plan" rel="bookmark" class="crp_title">Raising sheep wasn&#8217;t really part of the plan</a></li><li><a href="http://fourcountrygals.com/2011/07/01/cedar-city-downtown-farmers-market-opens-july-20" rel="bookmark" class="crp_title">Cedar City Downtown Farmer&#8217;s Market Opens July 20</a></li></ul></div><h4>Incoming search terms:</h4><ul><li>do organic farmers only raise vegetables</li><li>organic produce gals com</li></ul>]]></content:encoded>
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