Spring on the Farm & Visitors

In the last ten days or so I have spent time with an amazing group of women for a weekend of  laughing, sharing, practicing yoga and pampering ourselves.  This was quickly followed by family arriving for a busy week of catching up.  It is spring after all and even when we have other things going on, we must pay attention to the farm, even if it is in short bursts.  Over time we have found that these bursts can be concentrated bits of energy where we get a ton done in a short amount of time.  It leaves us feeling very accomplished and quite sore.

We did some minor repairs to our chicken tractor and moved it to a new location for the season. The ducklings and goslings have quadrupled in size and we were thrilled to move them from the indoor brooding area outside to the chicken tractor.

The pigs are growing by leaps and bounds and really behave like big dogs.  It is so fun to watch them run around and play.  As I mentioned they were fast friends and virtually inseparable.  They sleep together, play together, and have taken to grooming one another.  The year we moved in we lost a giant willow tree.  The logs have been piled behind the granary since then.  As this is now part of the pig enclosure, we moved all of the logs to the newly cleared out bonfire pit, and left lots of new rooting space for Mabel and Penelope.

The cool weather growing season is well under way!  B added compost to and broad forked several beds preparing them for planting.  We have lettuces in the cold frame that are absolutely gorgeous, and only a few weeks from harvest.  The asparagus has begun to emerge, onion sets are in the ground, radishes beginning to get little bulbs, and the cabbage/broccoli/cauliflower bed is looking robust.  We're off to the races!