Enjoying Spring

What a beautiful weekend!  The last two mornings have been so beautiful I could have just burst into a poor rendition of "Oh What a Beautiful Morning!" - remember Oklahoma?

Kevin spent most of the weekend in his happy place - on the seat of a tractor.

Why is he plowing? Normally we try to minimally disturb the soil in a sustainable farming operation, but since we also grow organic and are not spraying to kill weeds, at some point it just gets overrun too bad and we start over with a new soil base. This field has been overrun by grass so we are burying it deep. The other field being plowed is one that we have started renting that had soybean conventionally grown on it and it is hard as a rock. The top inch was pretty good, but most of the nutrients were gone and it was full of weeds. They also used a land roller on the field and some believe that causes compaction, so this field was getting tilled deep also. We will see how things go in these fields.

Now that the weather is warmer, I finally let Peanut and the poults out of "turkey jail".  The first thing Peanut did was head for the woodshed for a dust bath!  Then she went back to the coop and coaxed the poults (all two of them!) out into the wide world.  Big Tom is so happy to have someone to impress with his manliness!

Dahlia will be four weeks old tomorrow and Briar is two weeks old today.  They are enjoying life like only goat kids can - sleep, eat, and play!  They come out with their mamas at milking time to explore.

And play outside in the sun.

Hickory came home on Saturday - he looks a little plumper than when he left - guess he was pretty well fed (spoiled?) at Bonnie & Duane's farm!

That's the weekly update!  I thank you for stopping by the blog! Take care and be well friends!

Little Goat Hijinks - or High Jinks

Gotta love spring and little goats! 

Thursday morning chores - 5:30 AM.  When we arrived in the barn with the milk pails, etc., the does were coming in from outside - why were they outside anyway?  Vinca was being gamey and went right back outside.  Fine - Echo first then.  She hopped up on the stand and I looked for Briar - just days old - he was no where to be seen in the barn!  I poked my head out the little goat door - Vinca, Dahlia, no Briar in sight.  Only a little concerned at first, I went through to outside and shined my light around.  No Briar, no little kid sounds, nothing.  I started walking the pasture area, shining my light and Kevin joined me.  We looked and looked - just before my breakdown point Kevin said - "well he's right here!"   We have no idea where he had been - is he just that well camouflaged? 

Sometimes the kids come out to play at milking time - this day they ventured over to visit with Poppy and Tamarack.

Poppy apparently decided she would like to visit a little more - somehow she got out of her pen and in with the does and kids.  She has some impressive jumping skills I think.  We decided to let her stay and brought Tamarack over too.

All the goats enjoyed a little outdoor time today.   Poppy shows the little ones how tasty pine boughs are:

In the poultry department, Kevin caught a cute picture of Peanut and one of her poults. (Just pretend you don't see the poo in this photo!)  We haven't let her out yet because when we do she will likely not return to the coop at night and it has been too cold.  Pretty soon though.

We successfully moved this broody hen to the summer coop so we'll have chicks in three weeks.

It's a strange time we are all going through outside of the farm, but here at home life goes on!

Until next time, be well friends!

Another Spring Baby!

The wait is over!  After two barn checks during the night, I went out at 5:00
on Sunday morning to find Echo with a newborn buckling already on his feet!  Meet Briar the Easter kid!

We thought that perhaps Echo would follow up with another kid but she did not.  He's a cute little guy, not sure what is up (or rather not up) with his ears though...

Dahlia has grown so much in her two weeks of life!  Vinca is making plenty of milk so I am perfecting my one handed milking technique.  I always enjoy milking but with Dahlia providing the entertainment it's even more pleasurable!

Another part of spring - the deer are coming out in groups and feasting on the wheat that is greening up the field.  The evening view from the milking stand usually includes a few varmints.

One of the deer is exceptionally bold and comes right up to the winter coop to nosh on the poultry food!

Out in the garden, the rhubarb is up but more exciting is the garlic!

Still under lights in the basement, the tomatoes are looking good!  We'll' be moving this flat out to the greenhouse soon and it won't be long before they will need to be transplanted.  I will have to recruit some help with that!  I don't grow as many varieties as I used to; this year it's Amish Paste, Brandywine, Climbing Triple Crop, Kathy's Red Barn, and Punta Banda (a cherry).

Well, that is as much one-handed typing as I am good for. Until next time, be well folks!

Highs and a Low

The view from the milking stand is quite different from last week - most of the snow is gone! The wheat field is getting a little greener each day.

 

Tuesday was a VERY long day.  Two hour barn checks beginning at bedtime Sunday (I had a feeling) were followed by hourly barn checks all day.  The blessed event did not get started until 8:00 PM - I texted Kevin who was working in the grinding room - Here we go!

Dahlia was born first and Vinca really had to push hard!

Little sister Camellia wasn't far behind.

Sweet Camellia was very weak from the start. We gave her a supplement shot to help out with her wobbly hind legs and gave her bottles as she just didn't get the hang of nursing from mom.  She continued to lose ground and we lost her on Wednesday.

Dahlia is doing just fine but cannot keep up with the milk supply.  She enjoys hopping around at milking time!  We are looking forward to Echo providing some playmates for her!

This post is not just about goats, fascinating as they are - The turkey poults are getting some feathers.

And the pea sprouts are ready to harvest for salads - they are delicious!

As my broken arm heals, Kevin continues to experience new things - he baked the Saturday and Sunday morning muffins!  He also has to wash the milking things twice a day - not a new experience but one he has mostly avoided in the past!

We were very excited on Wednesday when the truck delivering our new Winnow Wizard (seed/grain cleaner) arrived!  Because of the muddy condition of our driveway, Kevin met the truck out on the road.

He did not get to the uncrating and the simple assembly until Saturday.

I watched, waiting to see the art on the side! As you can see, there aren't many of these innovative machines out there yet!

Here it is!  This will be a great labor/time saver in our grain milling processes.

That's it!  Until next time, stay home if you can and be well friends!