We were very busy over the summer. I lost my mother, who had been with us for five more weeks before that. That is why this blog has been neglected. And not just this one. The weeds are growing, the monitoring has been suspended, and we are just starting to reconsider what is important and what has priority. 

Im Juni, als ich mal wieder in Deutschland war, ist unsere gesamte Herde ausgebrochen und hat sich über die Weinstöcke und viele andere Pflanzen von unserem Nachbarn her gemacht. Daher haben wir höhere Zäune gekauft und mittlerweile rings um den zusammenhängenden Teil unserer Weidefläche als Sicherheitszaun zusätzlich zu den bisher genutzten Elektrozäunen aufgebaut. Nun hat die Müllabfuhr festgestellt, dass sie an einigen Zäunen mit den großen ausgeklappten Spiegeln nur schlecht vorbeikommt. Wir dachten eigentlich, das drei Meter ausreichen würden. Das Umsetzen der Zäune hat also heute Priorität, denn morgen werden die Mülltonnen geleert.

There is quite a bit to do on such a small self-sufficient farm. In this difficult time of the last few months, I have come to question whether we will be able to keep the farm going. I think it is important to think about what is essential for one. Otherwise, one can easily become overwhelmed. We also have to limit the number of animals. So far, all healthy female sheep and goats have been able to survive. However, this year the pasture area does not provide as much food, perhaps also due to the drought. The herd is often moving away from the enclosure earlier than in previous years. If we want the herd to get through the winter healthy, we have to slaughter many of the animals. That is also part of holistic management. The sooner one starts slaughtering, the more remains for the rest. But which females are allowed to stay and which have to go? What criteria are important for breeding? Right now, I can hardly keep the lambs apart, let alone say anything about their character. At least, everyone we couldn’t easily identify with their mothers has now been given a colorful collar with a number attached. I hope we’ll get a better overview once we separate the boys from the girls. We’ll do that no later than the beginning of September.