Just Farmin'

Hello!  Yep-I'm still here.  I now have use of my honey's work computer and it does do pictures, so I think I'll start this thing again.

We're still struggling to put in the garden.  Today I hope to get the potatoes and corn in.  I have about 2/3 of the garden left to do.  We've had rain and rain and cold.  I haven't checked the tomatoes yet this morning, but we may have had frost last night.

We've had nine calves so far and I think we have one more to go.  We ended up with three open cows this year and shipped a bunch.  I have ducks that are setting and refuse to be moved.  I think the eggs are probably getting pretty old and I'd best remove them.

I purchased five little Red Bourbon turkeys.  I lost one, but the rest are feathered out now and at the cute stage.

I am now the proud owner of a little pot bellied pig.  My Mother's Day present from my son.  Her name is Lily and she is cute in a piggy sort of way.  I'll try to post pics on here later.

So that's the update from the farm.  It's been great to read everyone's blogs and get caught up on the news.

Growing Fodder

With the temps hovering at a balmy -5 today and a promise of almost -35 tonight, I thought I'd feed extra to our critters.  I grabbed the sugar beets out of the cellar and sliced them up for treats.  I've never fed out sugar beets before, I knew that horses usually love them, but didn't know how everyone else would react.
Well...the donkeys love them, the goats love them, the rabbits love them, I ran out before I got to the chicken coop, but from what I've read, the chickens should love them, too.
I grow extra pumpkins and corn every summer to help out with our feed costs in the winter.  Nettles and comfrey are dried and fed out to the chickens and the goats, too.  I've now decided that sugar beets or mangels will be grown to help out.  I think I'll go with the mangels as they get larger. 

  (picture from wolftree farms)

I found a great site that talks about growing your own fodder on your homestead.  http://www.themodernhomestead.us/article/Growing-Poultry-Feeds-1.html
This site looks to have a lot of information for anyone thinking about cutting feeding costs.
I don't know if I'll be able to grow enough to keep our herd of beef cattle through the winter, but I'm excited to try growing this new crop.

A Question-Cattle and Minerals

So here's my question.  I would like to be able to raise our beef cattle from foods we've grown here-if we have to.  I realize that I can't get my own salt for them, but what about mineral supplements?  What vegetables and grains would be wise to grow that would include the minerals that the cattle are now getting from the loose mineral we purchase?  What did Pa Ingalls give his cows?  Our soil is lacking selenium here.  Would the grains and vegetables grown in it be lacking selenium too?  Is there a way to add selenium to the soil?  Any extension agents out there?
Thanks...