Ann Davis

Ah, nice! Yes I’ll contact them and see if I can’t sample some of the milk.

Oh and maybe I missed it, but when reading through the breeder’s blog, it stated that they can be milked, but I didn’t see anything about them actually going through the process with their own herd.

My eventual goal is around maybe 12 does and a couple bucks for diversity. I think it’s smart to start out with just a few of the breed to make sure it works for me first though. It would be great to taste the milk ahead of time.

I’ve been reading up on livestock breeds to add to our property soon. I have a lot of experience with milk goats, but I wanted to have a fiber animal as well. I really like the way Nigerian milk tastes, and I find them easy to work with. I had been thinking of trying out nigoras, but then I stumbled upon the Navajo angora breed. They are supposed to be good milkers as well as very parasite resistant. There is a breeder locally, but unfortunately, they do not milk them. It seems like none of the breeders milk them, despite the claim that they make good dairy animals. Does anyone have experience with them? Is the milk rich and creamy? What is the yield like? Are the teats super tiny? I’m pretty picky about milk flavor (don’t get me started on alpine milk!). I would love to be able to help preserve such an endangered breed, but I also want something that fits my needs. Thanks.

Thanks guys, I’ll look into both sites. Seems experiences have been pretty lukewarm, but I still think it could be worth trialing in my climate.

Does anyone have a source for Turkish hazelnuts (C. colurna)? Some of the traits from this species seem really ideal for my climate (drought & alkaline tolerance). I’ve been unable to locate a grower in the USA, I did find one source in Canada, but I don’t believe they ship to the states. I have been able to find many growing of the Grand Traverse hybrid, but I’m unsure if it carries any of the aforementioned traits of its parent. Anyone have experiences with it?

Thanks for all the tips and ideas guys, sorry I haven’t responded, I’ve been mighty busy working to save more money for the move plus putting in the infrastructure before the snows hit (planning on settling here after the snowmelt in spring). We are currently building our road, but the might have to break out the hand shovels due to the slope (we have to put the access road in a specific location due to our easement rights). The road is just in the beginning stages, we’ll need to flatten it and possibly add gravel depending on the cost. The animal life up here has also been amazing, the amount of pronghorns and grouse is just mind boggling, unfortunately no pheasant as far as I can tell.

Mike,

When I last visited the land (haven’t moved in yet, I need to build a road first!), it rained hard, but not prolonged, I noticed the water didn’t run off, it was actually a bit odd. The water seemed to pool in the top soil layers. It seemed to not penetrate more than 1/4” if I can recall correctly. The soil reminded me of kaolin, I believe it’s mostly dolomite.

Tony,

In my experience, fresh mulch absorbs water, but as it breaks down, the lower layers become more and more useful. At least in my old climate (18” rain annually, extremely hot/dry summers). Do you think it’s better to compost the mulch before applying? Or would it still be helpful fresh?

I want to get into rainwater harvesting, but the cost of water storage tanks is pretty high. Anyone know of any alternative storage solutions, preferably non-plastic? Besides a well and rainwater, the other thing I want to complete is a series of pond systems, I was hoping something like Sepp Holzer’s setup might work, but I feel like the learning curve for installation is pretty high. I don’t want to destabilize the hillside.

I’ll be sure to give the nursery a glance, Reno is pretty far, but I can definitely make a trip to Elko.

I really feel that bio-char will be a great asset. I really don’t know much about it, but my fiancé has brought it up to me multiple times. I’ve heard that it can increase pH, but then I read conflicting information. I need to do more research. I want to keep as many trees as possible, but I’ll definitely remove any junipers that are too close. The junipers seem to grow well with at least the pinyons, do you know any other (especially edible!) trees that grow well near the junipers?

Definitely like the pathway idea, I’ve done something similar at my parents place with front yard fruit orchard, cardboard definitely keeps those weeds down.

I’ve read up on it, while black locust is toxic, it’s considered unpalatable to equines so unlikely to be ingested. I still won’t be including it in the horse pastures just in case.