Prepping for National Alpaca Farm Days!

As usual we have been working hard on the farm and are beginning to prep for winter and fall events. You know... the list one last barn door to replace, spit offs to be sure all are bred and the daily work of animal upkeep. (Above pictures are from the Lansing Harbor Fest)

We will be open the the weekend for National Alpaca Farm Days (Sept. 26th and 27th). The farm store will be open, animals in pens with new babies to be seen. It has been another good year on the farm and we look forward to sharing it with you this weekend. We are distributing our fall events schedule and will be around at local festivals, farmers markets and will be having open houses at our farm...and in between we will be knitting ;-)

For more information on our events go to our website at www.angeltreefarm.com !

Puttin' up hay!

Hay you alpaca farmers...I got lucky! You know when you get that call from "the hay guy"? Well if you are not familiar with it, it is kinda like that call that that proclaims"the baby is coming"...you drop everything and run...only in this situation it is to the barn! Depending on the weather and when the farmer will show up with the hay wagons...you just take it when you get the call. Well, I was preparing for a graduation party at our house/farm...when I got "the call". Not quite knowing what to say I said "okay"! When you are getting second cutting hay you take it when it is ready because you don't want it sitting on the wagon and drying out or let it get caught in the rain...so I took it! Well about midway through the party..."Ray the Hay guy" shows up with about 175 of the bales (we had already put up two wagons ourselves!)...my husbands farmin' family (and friends!) pictched in and we had the hay put up in about 20-25 minutes! It was fun and is always a bit of a thrill in a weird... exhausting... sweaty way...but on this day it was really special whenpeople took their positions and we did the tedious job of putting up hay...together. (Did I mention I was the photographer on this day?)

We bought a used hay elevator from a local farmer and were thankful for it this season...it was worth every penny!

Belated Blogging!

Hey bloggers...I want to say that here at Angel Tree you are sure to get the scoop on the latest...but it might be a day late! I am struggling with getting all the hapenings onto the blog quick enough. Also finding that between web, tweeting, blogging and facebook I am not able to "get it all done". And to top it off I am doing the countdown for going back to school. When not farming and doing the family thing I am teaching kindergarten...and we all remember kindergarten. So I am prepping for the first day and trying to do "it all" as my husband says...and have only shed a few tears. But...would I do it again? Absolutely...so enjoy the ride and forgive my belatedness! :-) Thanks, Carol

Cornell Labs held at Angel Tree!

Well, it was that time of year again

and Cornell asked once again to have Angel Tree host the vet students for one of their first labs on various farms. The students started arriving and getting into their blue "jumpers" as I call them (you'd have to ask the students about their nick names for them! :-).They quickly rallied around and started to learn about "the alpaca". We here at Angel Tree use llamas as guard animals for the alpacas...and we have a young female llama that has decided that she wants to be the star of the show. "Liberty" quickly won the hearts of everyone and allowed us to demonstrate, poke and prod for the sake of learning about the llama and alpaca. There were 4 goups totally 90 students in all that came through the farm on two days. They filed in and filled the lawn with cars and seemed anxious to learn about some of their potential future "clients"...the llama and the alpaca. We vaccinated, trimmed toenails, drew blood, completed blood cards...and even sedated a few of the adult llamas for their pedicures! Yes...can you imagine having to be sedated for YOUR pedi??? The animals tolerated the barage of students fairly well...but everyone was ready to be put out to pasture when all was said and done. A lot got done and it was beneficial to everyone...the students, professors and us! (PS: I did the "chipping" or microchipping that night...without an audience!) It was a few days packed with learning! Thanks students (and Dr. Smith!) for all your hard work...sometimes it's not easy wrestling an alpaca :-) but they are incredible creatures and we hope you enjoyed them as much as we do!