Monday, after a productively desctructive weekend

[aldersprig]

This weekend, T. spent large chunks of time ripping large chunks of overgrown undergrowth out - what had thought was razor-wire-like-vines over a bush turned out to be razor-wire-like-vines over more of the same, for instance, and there are grape vines growing over everything; there are entire TREES that have been choked out by grape vines in our

Comments

Yay!

[ysabetwordsmith]

>>And, indeed, we have pine-apples (A small apple tree growing right up against the pine tree, putting out different apples than either of the other two apples on the property...)<<

Then it's probably a birdgift tree. Here we have a two apple trees twined together, one producing tiny yellow crabapples, and the other small yellow sweet apples.

Thanks for boosting the signal on my poetry discussions. haikujaguar has an awesome one about book cover art today. Also, I'm glad I could help with the name suggestion.

>>our theoretical pygmy goats deserve a castle.<<

I have long thought that it would be nifty to build a hollow mountain out of concrete. The goats could shelter inside it and climb on top of it. And if you give them something coarse to climb as nature does, there's little if any need for hoof trimming (otherwise a nuisance for pasture goats). A particularly enterprising fan might decide to model Mount Doom or the Lonely Mountain or some other favorite landmark.

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[bovidae]

Hoof growth rate also depends on genetics and percentage of protein in the diet. But yes, rough & dry surfaces help!

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[ysabetwordsmith]

The main issue is that goats primarily evolved as mountain animals; their fancy little hooves are designed to give traction on rocks. In a grassy pasture and/or hay-filled barn, they have nothing to wear down the walls of their hooves. That can lead to a lot of trimming, and many of them hate it. With access to rough climbing structures, they get more proper wear. Slow-growing hooves may not need extra trimming, and even faster-growing hooves need less.

Often farmers will just put some rocks or chunks of concrete in their pasture. I figured it would look spiffier to have a real goat abode.

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[bovidae]

Not just mountain, but desert mountain. Goats hate water with a passion, and their hooves are even more susceptible to disease from standing in the wet than a sheep or cow's. (Not that it's good for sheep or cows to stand in water all day either, but...).

One of the most hilarious things I've ever seen was when my herd of goats decided they wanted grain I was carrying so bad, they went through a shallow, broad creek for it instead of going the long way 'round to the bridge. Swear to god, they were trying to walk /on/ the water, they hated it so much. Jesus goats!

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[aldersprig]

Jesus goats! :-D

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[ysabetwordsmith]

>>Goats hate water with a passion, and their hooves are even more susceptible to disease from standing in the wet than a sheep or cow's.<<

That's another advantage to a goat abode: it gives them a drier place to stand if the pasture gets soggy.

>>One of the most hilarious things I've ever seen was when my herd of goats decided they wanted grain I was carrying so bad, they went through a shallow, broad creek for it instead of going the long way 'round to the bridge. Swear to god, they were trying to walk /on/ the water, they hated it so much. Jesus goats!<<

*laugh* Now there's a cartoon waiting to happen.

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[aldersprig]

"Birdgift..." love it. :-) These look like the nicest apples of the bunch, sadly (sadly, because the tree is nearly choked out and will be hard to rescue).

The mountain sounds beautiful - and the beauty of getting pygmy goats is that in that small a scale, almost anything is possible.

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[ysabetwordsmith]

>>These look like the nicest apples of the bunch, sadly (sadly, because the tree is nearly choked out and will be hard to rescue).... )

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[aldersprig]

Hee, that's an adorable idea, with the mini-mountains.

And grafting might be our best bet. I've been wanting to try it for a long time anyway, and now that we have a yard...