Category: Latest From High Reaches

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Using Plant Identification Keys

Several of my plant guidebooks include plant keys. The directions for using plant identification keys are simple.

How to Use a Key

Each numbered entry has two choices. You pick the one that describes your plant. It directs you to the next numbered choice. One choice at a time you progress through the key until you arrive at a name for your plant.

I had my students devise keys in my classes. Each group was given a set of cards with imaginary creatures on them. They made up a series of choices and passed it to another group who was to use this key to identify the creatures.

It sounds so simple. Why is it so difficult?

using plant identification keys to confirm this is a black walnut bud
I thought getting a bud from a tree I knew would help me learn about the winter plant key. This is from a black walnut and has a very distinctive look. One part of the key asked me to split the twig lengthwise to see the pith. This is the soft center of a twig. In the case of the black walnut, the pith has a line of chambers. Other twigs have a solid pith. In cross section the pith can be round or have shapes. The practice did help a little.

Do you speak botanese?

The trick to using plant identification keys is understanding what the choices are. This understanding depends on knowing what the terms mean.

I have a new guidebook: “A Key to Missouri Trees in Winter” that uses terminal buds. I’ve looked at small plants for years, ignoring the trees. They are far over my head and I don’t climb trees.

That must change if I want to complete the Dent County Flora. This winter I am trying to identify some of the many trees growing around the place.

This book uses terms like opposite and alternate which I know. I think I know lenticels. Then there are leaf scars, pith, rounded or pointed and bud scales.

The terms aren’t too hard. It’s identifying them on the buds.

oak buds
Oak trees don’t drop their leaves so I could look at the dried leaves on this tree and see the silvery bark in long strips. The leaves put this tree in the white oak group. There are several species in the group. The winter key was the place to try. Except I ended up at Carolina Buckthorn, not oaks. I backtracked from oak and might know where I made a mistake, not that I won’t make the same mistake in the future. On the oak key, the bud keyed out to white oak. I’m waiting for spring leaves to confirm this.

How am I doing?

So far the oak bud – I know it’s an oak – keyed out to Carolina Buckthorn. The black walnut bud did key out correctly. I cheated on the Osage Orange and Sassafras.

Simple as they are, using plant identification keys is not simple. There are several more trees I do know like redbud and dogwood I can practice on.

Then again, spring isn’t that far away. Leaves will appear.

cover for "Exploring the Ozark Hills" by Karen GoatKeeper
Many of the nature essays in this book are about plants found in the Ozarks.
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New Year Planning

Beginning a new year in January is an arbitrary thing. Still, coming in the middle of winter makes new year planning easier as fewer distractions are happening.

Resolutions are self-defeating for me. I miss a few days and give up on what may be a very good idea. I prefer setting goals with a looser timetable.

Garden Planning

My new year planning begins with the garden. Usually the garden is mulched and waiting by the end of December. I’m looking forward to next spring.

Garden planning has changed a lot in the last few years. I love growing potatoes, but can’t now. The springs are too cold and summer comes too suddenly leaving my potato plants frozen, then cooked.

Still, seeds will be ordered in January. Seedlings will get started in March. I do need more room for the winter squash and don’t know where to find it yet.

Livestock Planning

February is time to order baby chicks. Last year I raised Columbian Wyandottes. Which breed will I order this year? Chick catalogs are fun to browse through.

New year planning for goat kids is in October
Nubian does are getting fat. There are five bred for March kids and all look like they will have twins. Their new year planning now is centered on eating enough food to keep both them and their kids healthy and warm. My planning is in having the barn ready and kid friendly by the beginning of March.

Goat kids will arrive in March. Even though I don’t keep any new kids now, they are still special. In a few years there will be no kids to enjoy, so I will make the most of these before they are sold.

One aspect of my new year planning stays much like last year. I will go hiking and taking plant pictures. This has been a good year. I’ve added over 30 new plants to the Dent County Flora.

As usual, there are many I found, but didn’t get back for those last pictures. And the stash of unidentified plants remains long.

In many ways, the new year will look a lot like the old year. In one respect it will be very different. A health scare has made my new year planning special as I want to make the most of it.

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Raising Bottle Baby Kids

When I started raising goats almost fifty years ago, the few books around recommended raising bottle baby kids. Now I let my does keep their kids and everyone is much happier.

There are times when raising bottle baby kids is unavoidable. The third of triplets, small kids, rejected kids, sick mothers are all reasons. And the bottles and nipples appear on the sink.

Supplies I Use

After trying several methods, I settled on one easy for me. I usually use lamb nipples, although the ones for a lamb bar are easier to put on a bottle, but harder for me to get locally.

Soda bottles work well. I prefer the 20 ounce size. If one gets too dirty or doesn’t work well, it’s easily replaced. Different brands have different shapes, so I can use one bottle every time for one kid marking it for the amount of milk.

There is a supply of frozen colostrum in my freezer replaced every kidding season.

raising bottle kids creates pet goats
I should know better. This Nubian doe kid was rejected by her mother who preferred buck kids. At that time I could take time to walk out with the herd in the morning. My little doe was delighted. When I couldn’t go, she would stay behind calling me. High Reaches Agate still stands by me as the herd goes out to be scratched (her favorite spot is over the shoulders) and still asks me to go out with her.

Raising Bottle Baby Kids

I’ve used replacer, but prefer fresh goat milk. Newborns get colostrum for twelve hours.

Newborn kids don’t drink much at a time. I feed them often that first day or two, whenever the kid is hungry. Temperature is important for them, about 100 degrees.

Once a kid drinks six ounces at a time, it’s ready for a four times a day schedule. There was a time when I did this every six hours. Now I leave an eight hour gap at night so I can get some sleep.

Bigger kids eat more, up to eight ounces a time. Using fresh milk lets me feed as much as a kid wants each time.

Once the kid starts eating at around ten days old, the bottles of eight to ten ounces can show up three times a day. The kids are sleeping through the night so I generally do bottles at milking times and noon.

At about six weeks old a kid is ready for twice a day, twelve ounces a time. And so am I.

raising bottle kids at work
Pest was a small Nubian buck kid and couldn’t nurse his mother. So he moved into the house and a bottle. The problem was that I worked cleaning at a local laundromat. The solution was to take this kid that had trouble standing up with me. He had a wonderful time captivating all the laundromat patrons and walking around on the tough carpet. Pest is now a two hundred pound spoiled brat of a wether blissfully unaware he was supposed to be goatburger several years ago.

The Problem with Raising Bottle Baby Kids

Dam raised kids are friendly when handled a lot. Bottle babies are pets.

And I must sell all my kids now, even the bottle babies.

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Saving Chilled Kids

I’ve always had my goat kids born in March as the weather had settled. No more. Now, even in March, I may be left saving chilled kids.

There are few things about raising goats worse than going out to find a doe had her kids on a frosty dawn and they are lying there, limp. It doesn’t take long for a newborn kid to die of hypothermia.

My Preparations

Before I go out to the goat barn on cold mornings, I start the fire in the wood stove. Wood heat is radiant heat. It warms you quickly, completely.

There is a supply of kid goat coats in the milk room. A few old towels are in another pile.

Next is checking the barn for new kids. Goats usually twin and I’ve been watching my does as I can usually tell whether they will single or twin. This is important as newborn kids can get separated.

saving chilled kids success newborn Nubian buck
Newborn goat kids are small and wet. They can not keep themselves warm for several days. That sets them up to get chilled. Hypothermia is an emergency to watch for and treat when kids are born in cold weather.

Saving Chilled Kids

If I find a newborn kid, the first step is to dry it off as much as possible. This is what the old towels are for.

A chilled kid can seem normal, but its mouth is cold inside and it doesn’t want to nurse. Such a kid is bundled up and taken to the house, put in a box bedded on old towels and placed near the wood stove.

If the kid is limp, I towel it off anyway. It may be alive and will move a little, usually trying to cry. The prognosis isn’t good, but this kid is also put near the wood stove.

Getting Kids Warm

It’s tricky telling when a kid is warmed up. They warm up on the outside quickly, but not on the inside. If such a kid is taken out to the barn, it will chill again.

A fully warmed up kid is up, active and asking to nurse. Its mouth is warm inside.

This kid gets a goat coat and taken out to the barn where its mother is usually delighted to have her kid back.

Cold, Not Chilled

Nubians talk a lot. The kids talk to their mothers. Sometimes a kid will have a higher, begging sound and call over and over.

If the kid isn’t hungry, it is cold. A goat coat will often warm it up.

Saving chilled kids isn’t always possible. But those that survive to run and play later on make the effort worthwhile.

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Keeping Kids Warm

Lately I’ve been asked about keeping kids warm when they are born in very cold weather. Living in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan gave a whole new meaning to this problem.

First Dry the Kids

When a goat kid is first born, it is covered with fluids. Its fur is sopping wet. Wet fur loses heat fast. The first problem is to get that kid dry, really dry.

I’ve seen recommendations for wiping kids off with newspapers. I tried it. The paper did scrape off any membranes and squeegeed off some liquid. The kid was left wet.

Old towels are my choice for drying off newborn kids. They clean the kid off like newspapers. Towels are made to absorb liquid. Rubbing off a kid leaves it damp.

goat kid goat coat
Goat kids do fine in their coats. How long the coats stay on depends on the kid and the temperatures. It’s best to take them off in the morning so the kid can get used to not wearing one before a cold night moves in.

This is not good enough. Up north, we had no electricity. Heat lamps were not an option. Here in the Ozarks the barn is a hundred years old and a tinderbox. We brought the kids in and stashed them by the wood stove. It didn’t take long for the kids to be dry.

Dry kids can take a lot of cold, if they have protection. I have two approaches to keeping kids warm.

Second Get Kids Warm

The easy one is a goat coat. My big goats have sweatshirts. My kids get coats made from the sleeves I cut off. These work very well in the Ozarks.

goat coats keeping kids warm
My Nubian doe High Reaches Drucilla is totally unconcerned about the goat coats on her kids. This is typical. The kids don’t seem to mind them either continuing to run and play the same as always.

Up north coats help, but are not enough. In really cold weather we kept the kids in by the wood stove taking them out every so often to nurse. In a week, these kids were ready to stay out in the barn even at zero or below.

My other solution is a cubby hole. I place a line of three hay bales, two high against a wall. Two more bales are placed in front of these with a gap slightly smaller than the length of a bale between them. Another bale is placed over the hole. Using a board under this bale is a good idea.

In no time the cubby hole is keeping kids warm as they pile in.

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Wildlife Surprises

When we first moved here, I thought wildlife surprises were turning around to find a black snake where my foot would go. And that is a surprise.

Another such encounter was reaching into a hen nest and grabbing a black snake. I don’t know which of us had the biggest heart attack.

Chills still come up my back when I remember walking in the woods and looking down on my jeans to find them crawling with ticks. At least the snakes want as little to do with me as possible and vanish quickly. Ticks must be removed as they don’t want to leave.

Perhaps I’m giving the wrong impression. Although there are unpleasant wildlife surprises, there are more pleasant ones.

A group of tom turkeys spent months walking around in the pastures eating grass seeds and insects. An eight point buck stood in the back of the yard one morning. Baby grey foxes played in the back yard one year.

Every year brings a new set of wildlife surprises. Some seem routine as coming across box turtles while walking in the hills. Others are treats as when the bald eagles visit the valley or turkey vultures roost in a tree across from the house.

albino animals are wildlife surprises
Albino animals have some genetic reason for being unable to make melanin which gives animals their color. In the Ozarks, a white animal has trouble blending into the scenery and often has a short life. That makes spotting one such as this albino grey squirrel one of my wildlife surprises.

The latest surprise is an albino squirrel. It came hunting black walnuts in the back yard one afternoon. I’m glad I got a picture as it hasn’t been back since.

Each day brings something different, something special. Cold, frosty mornings put icy lace around leaves while freezing fingers and toes. Sunrises are never the same, but that first light sparkles on the icy coatings on tree branches.

Who knows what today will bring. All it takes is going for a walk, looking around outside or out the windows to see both special sights and maybe wildlife surprises.

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My Goats Are Dressed Up for Winter

One thing for sure: Being cold is no fun. When the temperatures drop to the low twenties, my goats are cold. That’s when they’re dressed up for winter.

Originally I would cut old blankets in half, fold the half and tie it onto the goat. As soon as they found they were warm, they left the blanket alone, sometimes for days. That was up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan where cold meant zero or below.

The Ozarks can get that cold, but it’s rare. Low twenties is more common. The goats got too hot, felt itchy and pulled the blankets off.

Then the goats started shivering again.

There are patterns for goat coats. I looked at them, even had a couple I saved. Somehow I never got around to making any as each had to be individually fitted.

Nubian doe Agate is dressed up for winter
The sweatshirts don’t seem like much protection for the goats, but they are. Cold goats don’t give much milk. Sick goats do better if they aren’t cold too.

Repurposing Sweatshirts

There were sweatshirts in my drawer. I never wore them. My preference is a vest with a hoodie over it.

I cut the arms short on the sweatshirts. Then cut a long arc out of the belly. These became the new goat coats.

It’s not much of a hassle putting these on a goat when they are on the milk stand. I slide the neck opening over their head. Pull up one front hoof and put it through an armhole. Pull up the other front hoof and put it through the other arm hole.

The goat gets warm. The sweatshirt stays put until I take it off.

Dressed Up for Winter

Now I have sweatshirts for all of my goats. They range from medium to double X for the does. Augustus takes a triple X as does Pest, my resident wether.

The does came in the first really cold morning shivering. They would go out and bask in the sun to warm up for the day.

I set up the sweatshirts. Each goat would have the right size.

My herd is a colorful array now. No one shivers in the morning. And they are easily spotted this deer season since they are dressed up for winter.

My Nubian goat herd is dressed up for winter
Goats are rough on sweatshirts. They tear them. Arguing goats can grab them and tear holes in them. Replacing a sweatshirt is much easier than replacing a goat coat. And the array of colors is pretty as the herd goes out for the day.

Side Benefit

Those sleeves aren’t thrown away. The cuffs are cut in half. Two leg holes are cut out. They become goat coats for kids.

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Hidden Bushes

Over the summer all the plants leaf out. Hidden bushes are there in plain sight, but hiding among all the green leaves.

Autumn arrived. Yellows blazed out. As those leaves fell, the oranges and reds glowed on the hillsides.

Now those leaves are gone. Most of the trees are bare brown and gray branches. Most bushes are the same. Not all bushes.

The hidden bushes are now easy to spot. They are the ones still hanging onto some of their red leaves. These are often the bushes I didn’t know grew here.

hidden bushes include Carolina Buckthorn
This Carolina Buckthorn is a native shrub in the family Rhamnaceae. It can be a large bush, but is usually smaller and hidden by other bushes growing around it. In the fall it is one of the last to lose all of its leaves. Then its red to yellow leaves with the strong ribs are easy to spot. Some even still have black berries although those are relished by many birds.

All summer I’ve been walking the trails at ShawneeMac Conservation Area because I saw many bushes I never saw here. Some I was glad I didn’t see as they are invasive. Some I assumed didn’t grow here.

My Hidden Bushes

The hidden bushes are proving me wrong in several cases. Carolina Buckthorn is one of them. It’s a pretty bush and can get ten feet tall. I’d never seen it except around the Lakes.

Burning Bush is one I’m not as glad to know grows here. It can become quite a nuisance. There are several still sporting red leaves and fruit.

The advice is to kill out invasive species. I’m sure the reasons are good. But it is a lost cause. Nurseries still sell these plants. People still plant these plants. They have spread into many places.

Eliminating these plants in one area does nothing about the rest. As soon as you look the other way, more of them are growing where you thought they were no more.

another of the hidden bushes
At first glance this bush is a lot like the Carolina Buckthorn and may be called that by some people. There are several differences in the shape of the leaves, the darker coloring and the occasional thorns on the twigs. Now that these hidden bushes have been spotted, I can watch them in the spring to verify what its name is.

Another hidden bush is not identified yet. The tentative name is for a bush unknown in the area and rare in the Bootheel. Now these hidden bushes are spotted, I can keep an eye on them in the spring when all those green leaves try to camouflage them again.

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Homesteading Tragedy

So many people moving to the country think this is an excuse to get at least one big dog and let it run loose. This is a possible homesteading tragedy.

I grew up with dogs and like dogs. Now my favorite dogs belong to someone else, not me.

I was talking with a man about living in the Ozarks. He mentioned his dogs killing some of his neighbor’s chickens. I snapped back that, at my house, it was a dead dog. Chickens lay eggs, provide meat on a homestead. A chicken killer is worth nothing. He barely said good-bye before vanishing.

homesteading tragedy Nubian doe victim
I have been very lucky. The homestead tragedy of dog attacks has been only a few over the years. My High Reaches Isabelle was the first victim. This was an old Nubian doe at the time so I was concerned when she didn’t come in with the herd. As I entered the north pasture, two dogs ran off. She was lying on the edge of the creek bed with her throat torn out. Those dogs came back, they usually do, a month later to kill again, an Alpine doe named Chuba. By that time I had found their home. They didn’t come back again.

Possible Homesteading Tragedy

The phone rang. A friend was frantic. Dogs had attacked one of her young goats. What should she do?

I grabbed supplies and drove over to check out the injured goat. One puncture wound went into her nose so blood dripped out her nose. Her side behind her front leg was swollen, possibly going to abcess. Her rump was scraped and bloody. She was unresponsive.

This goat had two big enemies now. One was infection. Topical antiseptic went on the wounds. A penicillin shot, first of a series for a week or so, hopefully dealt with it.

The second is much more insidious, but deadly. Shock. This young doe was in shock. Left that way, she would die.

My first remedy for shock is molasses. It doesn’t take much, only a tablespoon or two. It is easily absorbed and gives a boost.

As I shoved molasses covered fingers in this goat’s mouth, she protested and struggled to her feet. A couple more fingerfuls and she started blinking and looking around.

When the other goats came over, this goat talked to them. She wasn’t ready to join them as they rambled around the yard. She was ready to watch them. She was out of shock.

Country Dogs

At one time people lived far apart around here. My nearest neighbors are almost a half mile away. I still hear their dogs barking.

Dogs have come nearly two miles to roam up and down this valley on their own. Their owners had no clue to where they were.

Two or three dogs become a pack. They chase and pull down anything that runs. This is natural to them.

It is a recipe for homesteading tragedy.

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Mysterious Squash

Late last spring I planted Tahitian melons. At least I thought I did. Instead I picked these mysterious squash.

Tahitian melons are more winter squash than melon. They have a crook on the top and a bulge for seeds on the bottom. Their thick skin is tan. These are good winter keepers often lasting into the next spring, if not eaten first.

I don’t really grow these for my eating pleasure. My goats love them. One melon lasts them several days as dessert after mealtime grain.

The vines are something of a nuisance as they get forty feet long or more with side branches, huge leaves and a tendency to grow over all their neighbors. These were one of my monster squash, or so I thought.

Instead I ended up with a mysterious squash. It definitely is not a Tahitian melon.

mysterious squash
These winter squash are big weighing in around 10 to 14 pounds each. The coloring reminds me of cushaw, but the shape is different. They seem to be an excellent winter squash and the vines are certainly prolific. The problem is that I have no idea what kind of squash they are.

What Is It?

These squash are mostly green in a lacy pattern on white. They have no crook and no bulge. In size they rival Tahitian melons. I brought in one and weighed it at 12..6 pounds.

So far I have a pile of these mysterious squash in my pantry. There are still a few summer squash to consume before they go bad. Zephyrs are delicious, but have limited keeping even in the refrigerator.

There was one of the winter squash that didn’t finish growing. It had dropped off from frost and I had left it there meaning to pick it up later. The chickens found it first.

Chickens do like melons and squash. They pecked this one open revealing a golden yellow interior.

Next week I will cut open one of the ones in the pantry to cook up some for dinner. As most are far too large for two people, the goats will help eat them.

In the meantime I am looking over seed catalog winter squash pictures trying to identify my mysterious squash.