Spring has Sprung, new babies

Life has been quite busy the last few weeks with the birth of our first babies.  We couldn't be more pleased!  Jellybean had two delightful little boys about a week ago.  Birthing went smooth and she's a good mom.

We were ready for bottle feeding just in case.  As it has turned out, Jelly has plenty of milk to take care of her children.  The boys have been growing at a rate of 1/2 - 2/3 lb per day and have plenty of energy to race around, explore, and get into general mischief.  

Now all we need to do is think about names.

Secret Stuff, Spring 2016

We have a little secret that we're very excited about: two of our goat girls are pregnant!  Due at the end of April we're doing our best to ensure that they are all safe and well taken care of.  Special hay and lots of extra attention has been the rule of the day.  If you thought the girls were spoiled before, you haven't seen anything yet!  Boer goats are well known for having twins, but triplets and quads are not unheard of.  We're just hoping that the girls are all able to take care of their own babies and are good mommies.
For now, all is aglow at our house as we enjoy the happy thoughts about dancing baby goat feet!

New ways to follow us: correction

Yesterday we let you know about our new facebook page and, unfortunately, the link had a typo.  Sorry about that.

The correct link is: www.facebook.com/myhappyacres .  Sorry about any confusion,  We appreciate you liking and friending us and, of course, your patience as we, too, learn about setting these applications up.

I heard the internet thing has cookies.  Can I have a cookie?

Maple Sugaring weekend

I almost let it get by!  This is the first weekend of Maple Sugar Weekend in New York!  What does that mean?  It means that the air is filled with the lovely aromas of maple sap being boiled down to make maple syrup, maple spreads, and maple crystal candies.  This last winter was perfect for the sugarers in our area.  We had deep snows, slow melt, and a long cold spell for the trees to rest and recover from last summer's drought.

The Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum) is a native tree of North America.  Trees were tapped by Aboriginal tribes well before Columbus arrived by inserting a hollow wooden tube into the side of the tree.  As the sap rises in the Spring, some of it is deverted to come out the tube.  A similar principle is used today using more modern materials.

  

 Once the sap is collected, the water is boiled off and syrup bottled for use.  A sealed bottle of fresh maple syrup will keep for about six months.  Maple sugar will keep quite a bit longer if stored in an airtight container in the freezer.

Including Canada, Northeast America provides the majority of the maple syrup to the world (also see: http://www.canadianmaplesyrup.com/maplehistory.html). 


For more information about next week's events including places where you can see and purchase NY maple products: http://www.mapleweekend.com/locations.php
For more interesting facts about maple sugar: http://maple.dnr.cornell.edu/FAQ.htm

Looking to the future

When listening to people planning for the future, one cannot help but smile.  While young, one speaks about education, marriage, and raising childen.  When the person gets a little older, one plans for the children's education and retirement.  At My Happy Acres we're making plans for the future.



We're constructing an animal barn and hopefully next year will begin setting the foundation for a Boer Goat herd.  We're very excited about our plans.  So stay tuned for future developments.