Spring Gardening with Alpaca Manure

by admin on May 13, 2012

Spring gardening with alpaca manure:

 Eggplant, zucchini, squash, and green beans.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Roma tomatoes

 

 

 

 

 

tomatoes and green beans

 

 

 

 

cucumbers

 

 

Here is my garden. It took a while to get going as I let the garden get over run by weeds over the fall and winter. What a nightmare to clean! I will never let it get that bad again.

To begin with I have to say that Tommy must have found the poorest dirt around for these plants to survive in. He didn’t do it on purpose because he asked for garden dirt but never bothered to look at what was being brought in. The dirt is partly clay with huge rocks in it. I was surprised to see anything grow in it last year but everything survived and grew wonderfully. I credit the alpaca manure we mixed in.

This year I started planting the garden about 3-4 weeks ago. Each of tomato plants had all their leaves pinched off except for the biggest 3 and planted 2/3 of the plant in the ground. To aid the poor dirt we purchased top soil to plant the young vegetables to give them a good start. As you can see in the pictures they are all happy and growing. However, nothing is growing faster than the zucchini. They are huge plants that have already begun to flower. It won’t take long before I will be harvesting fresh organic zucchini.

I planted a lot of tomatoes as I plan to can this year way more than I did last year. I do have pepper plants not shown above which will be part of my homemade salsa. Yum!

I don’t seem to be having any insect problems at the moment. I am out in the garden almost on a daily basis pulling out grass or small weeds that are appearing. So far I’m winning the battle. My biggest problem at the moment is that I have an armadillo that is digging by the plants and uprooting some of them trying to get to the insects in the dirt. Until Tommy has time to put up a gate to the garden I stuck two lawn chairs in the opening. It is helping some.

Alpaca manure is wonderful to use in gardens. It can be composted or used fresh as it doesn’t burn. The beans are easy to handle and best of all there is no smell. Alpaca manure is rich in nitrogen. Last year we had zucchini as thick as baseball bats. I didn’t take pictures then but I will be blogging more about gardening this year and taking pictures of my harvest.

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Next Step for Desert Mountain Alpaca Ranch

by admin on April 29, 2012

Next step for Desert Mountain Alpaca Ranch:

Tom and I have been in the alpaca industry for seven years now. We have come a long way over the years. Our breeding program has improved awarding us with champion alpacas, blue ribbon winning alpacas, and other ribbon winning alpacas. We are proud to say that we have sold quite a few of our ribbon winners who have gone on to ribbon at other shows as well or produce ribbon winners for their new owners.

Tom and I have also hosted seminars to help new and existing alpaca owners to become successful in their operations. This is quite rewarding in itself, especially to hear the feedback after we held the seminar.

Each year Tom and I are very active in the shows. I try to volunteer where possible in both halter and fleece shows. Of course I recommend any person interested in alpacas to do just the same. Not only do you get the opportunity to network with other alpaca ranchers but the knowledge gained at the job is sometimes invaluable. One example I can relate is when I volunteered at the fleece show. I was so impressed at how willing the judge was to answer questions and reveal what it is they are looking for in the fleeces. This helped me tremendously in my skirting efforts and also improved my placements at the show.

So why am I telling you all this? Well I feel it is necessary to continue growing and with that I have made the decision to take the next step and submit my resume to AOBA to become an apprentice fleece judge. If I am accepted then I will go to the clinic this August and will have to qualify. If I pass the qualification then I stay the extra 3 days for the clinic where I will have to pass a test or tests. After that I should be on my way to become an apprentice fleece judge where I will have to work on so many fleeces before I can become a full fleece judge.

I’m very excited at this point. I simply love the alpacas, their fleeces, and the industry as a whole. Tom and I have made many good friends and look forward to learning more and growing with the alpaca industry. Wish me luck!

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After 388 Days of Gestation Carina Delivers Male Cria

April 21, 2012

After 388 days of gestation Carina delivers male cria:                               Finally after 388 long days of gestation Alpha Carina gives birth on 4/18/12 to beautiful, healthy, and strong male cria. It all started that morning right after I gave out the [...]

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DMAR Armani’s Challenger Born 4/9/12

April 12, 2012

DMAR Armani’s Challenger born 4/9/12:                         GLA Peruvian Alexis gave birth to 19 lb. DMAR Armani’s Challenger on April 9th at 7 pm. The birth was different from Alexis’ previous births. To begin with I noticed she had passed the cervical plug at 3:30 [...]

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DMAR Chanel Has Her First Cria

March 27, 2012

DMAR Chanel has her first cria:             On Sunday, March 25th our maiden, DMAR Chanel, gave birth to her first male offspring we named DMAR Royal Temptation. He appears to be light fawn and at birth weighed 17 pounds. A little dysmature with ears drooping slightly and down on all four pasterns. However, [...]

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DMAR Happenings March 25, 2012

March 25, 2012

DMAR happenings March 25, 2012: First RV Guests Arrive to Spend Night:                         Last year we were approached by a person who is running an RV directory. The idea is to have farms provide lodging space for RVers as they travel for a night free of charge. In exchange [...]

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Down to 3 Maremma LGD Male Pups to Sell in GA

February 24, 2012

Down to 3 Maremma lgd male pups to sell in GA:  I’m very pleased to announce that this young, big Maremma lgd male puppy will be leaving tomorrow, Feb. 25th, to his new home at Green River Alpacas in Rhode Island. He will do a fine job of guarding their herd of alpacas.     [...]

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12 Week Old Maremma LGD Puppies for Sale in GA

February 16, 2012

12 Week old Maremma lgd puppies for sale in GA:  Santino and Gianna’s litter is now 12 weeks old. Out of the ten puppies four males are currently available for sale. If you are looking for Maremma lgd males to add to your breeding program you really don’t get much better than one of these [...]

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Huacaya Male – DMAR Remington for Sale

January 30, 2012

Huacaya male – DMAR Remington for sale:               DMAR Remington is 2 years old and a gorgeous male with full coverage of fiber. He is carrying royal baby alpaca quality with his 2011 histogram of 16 microns.  His fleece is full of bundles, is dense, crimpy, and lustrous. His color [...]

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Maremma LGD Puppies for Sale in GA – Born 11/10/11

January 28, 2012

Maremma Lgd puppies for sale in GA – Born 11/10/11: Can you believe these Maremma lgd pups are now 10 weeks old? They are growing so quickly. The greeting I get each morning is remarkable. OK, so it is mostly because I am the carrier of the food. However, these Maremma lgd pups do love [...]

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