Farm Reality

It's hard to believe it's May 22nd already; seems like time speeds up in the spring.  I know a lot of folks around here already have their gardens planted since it's been so warm.  I do not.  I'm still working on soil preparation, but not panicking at this point - it's not yet Memorial Day so I figure I am good.  And safe from late frosts.  It's gotten pretty dry out there, but rain is predicted.

Field work progresses too.  The wheat is planted.  The view from my kitchen window has changed quite a bit.  The bee man brought his hives out again this year, so they are in the foreground there.  Then the pigs, which Kevin has moved out further.  Rollie is out there plowing along the road.  There will be sunflowers along the road, and also closer up to the east of the house will be our main crop sweet corn and I think the pumpkin patch too - Kevin will correct me if I have that wrong.

I read an article just this past week about how when we post on facebook or blog about our farms, or even just talk to people, we tend to mostly talk about the good things and paint a pretty bucolic picture.  I do that too.  The thing is, if you've grown up on a farm, or are living this life now, you know better.  It's not all cute chicks, adorable goat kids and piglets.  Crops fail, eggs don't hatch, tractors break down, and animals die.

We lost Daisy this week.  She was a poor dairy goat, cantankerous, and before we removed her horns, a bully.  I milked her for three seasons and she was a problem on the milking stand the entire time, requiring hobbles or she would kick the milk bucket away.  But somehow, despite her character flaws and poor production, somewhere through the years that little goat crept into my heart.  I will miss her for a long time to come.

So kind of a somber ending to the post this week.  But that's the way it is here on the farm, and in life.  And we move along.  Stop by next week, and I'll let you know how our very first Farmers' Market went - even if it wasn't great.

Be well folks.