The Taming of Taco the Cow

 video of Taco's taming (here)

So Saturday was going to be our day for putting up the fence for the garden....BUT the ground was too muddy to work due to all the rain the previous days. We decided to continue to work with Taco trying to tame her so we can use her as a dairy cow in the future. Again we lured her in with some sweet feed and the little calf wasn't as hesitant today as the days before. Today she even let me pet her in long strokes down her neck - and at one point she approached me when I had no food and licked my hand! There is continued hope with her!!

On another note, Eli is doing very well considering only four days ago he had diarrhea, dilated pupils, and hardly any strength. He has been eating well, his pupils are back to normal, and no longer has diarrhea. He also has a very healthy appetite. He is still not out of danger, but every day he survives and eats as well as he has been and continues to get stronger, I get more optimistic about his full recovery. The main issue at this point is he needs to put on a great deal of weight. 

Jason and I sat down at the end of the day and decided what we wanted to plant and talked about who we know that saved seeds - you see we also want to learn how to save our seeds after we harvest our veggies. Jason met Ali last year when she got a chicken tractor and some chickens from him. They stayed in touch and she continues to learn about how to live sustainably. Her goal is to one day not have to go to the grocery store for every little thing, but to be able to provide through growing her own and bartering whenever possible. She is also a big inspiration to us in the upcoming year. There HAS to be a way that a working class family can have the time to grow their own food and eat healthy.

The upcoming week still has Eli's health and Taco's taming as top priorities, but we will also try to put up the fence for the garden that should be approximately 25' x 30' and provide enough produce for several families if everything goes as planned (fingers crossed!). We will post pictures of our progress with the garden fence as well as with the animals. Stay tuned!!