A New Face on the Farm
We welcomed a new calf this week. Lovely brown color and full of spunk.
We welcomed a new calf this week. Lovely brown color and full of spunk.
We can always use help:) Lovett helped me pack a few orders on Monday this week. Neither of us were prepared for the cold in our summer clothes. We keep a few spare layers in the barn for this occasion.
Rooted in the energy of the Wood Snake year, this 3-day gathering is an invitation to gently release what no longer fits and reconnect with the wild, wise, and worthy self that’s been there all along.
Growing up in the city of Boston, I didn't find country radio until I moved to Indiana for college. I remember laughing with friends at the lyrics of songs on our local country radio station. Since my first job working on a farm I now laugh for different reasons. There is a beautiful blend of tragedy and lightheartedness that keeps a farmer going, even when the bad news keeps coming.
We had a wonderful visit from our cousins William and Kora this week. Lovett showed off her ducklings and Kit Kat was not to be left out.
Spring feels like hatching, that is what I have learned this week. We started to notice the first "pips" on a few of the duck eggs this week.
There are so many stories to tell this week, I'll have to play catchup over the next few weeks, we've had new faces arrive on the farm, big excavators and bull dozers arrived to start a project and cows are grazing. This week I thought I would share the story of how chicks get to our farm and how sometimes things do not go as planned.
Chickens on pasture! It is always a wonderful day when the first chickens head out to pasture. We've all been waiting for the pastures to green up, and the cows and pigs get an early start.
Day old chicks come every week now and Lovett cannot get enough. Last year she took to sneaking them home to her bedroom and while she has not gone that far this year she has been asking if we can hatch any of her duck eggs. She even learned that her friend Miranda has an egg incubator. Racey and I have not been ready to embrace hatching ducklings, but that all changed on Friday.
During these four years, much has changed and many things have remained the same. In the spirit of the coming fall and the close of the fourth year of writing, I will share some of my reflections on the last four years of growth and perspective, surgery and recovery, and healing and introspection.
In honor of fall we made a new flavor of chicken sausage — Tomato Basil! These links are amazing on the grill or in the skillet. They are made from local, organic and fresh ingredients. Plus, chickens on a ferry and a late night chicken party with our friends at Maple Wind Farm.
All of us here at the farm have settled into more seasonable weather of cool mornings and sunny afternoons. The chickens are grateful the deluge has abated and our pastures are bursting with vigor. The pigs have been loving life, and this week during chores the pigs had made “shade houses” under some shrubs.