Life goes on at the farm. Sometimes I feel that everything is the same - year in and year out, but I carry on. This year 2 sets of boy / girl twin lambs were born, naughty little shits that are small enough to get through their fencing and destroy my newly planted shade garden. Lost Ruthie the sheep to a coyote attack, they killed her in the back chicken yard so lost her twins too. Have a roll of sheep fence to replace the field fence, I saw Lisa slip through one of the holes the lambs use.
I’m milking again. Bobbin has a heifer calf, Amba, on January 22, 10 months after I got her, so she was definitely not pregnant, the seller lied. The calf was named for my aunt Amber, who was eagerly awaiting her arrival and then she wasn’t here for a few days and missed the birth. I bought Ruthie the Jersey cow to replace JuneBug who just up and died. Oliver has turned out to be a lovely bull. He’s 4 already, but hasn’t turned mean. I can still move him where I want him, or don’t want him. He gives me the eye sometimes, but has never pawed the ground or made a threatening move against me. I took Gus to butcher as he just impossible to keep contained. He climbed out of every pasture, just because he could. I’d come out in the morning and he’d be lying in the hay outside the lower barn enclosure, I’d open the gate and in he’d go ‘til the next time. I sold him to Herbies’ eldest and the family who bought the lambs, so at least I got some money for him.
Egg sales have been patchy, the wind took my hoophouse down, I have 3 new beehives, our fist blueberry crop is currently ripening, and we got our first good harvest of asparagus too.
Lost most of the things I panted in the hoophouse as the snow lay on the South side bed, my gorgeous big rosemary bush, the kumquat, guava, granadilla, and the huge lemongrass but the yarrow survived. I ordered 2 Winter hardy almond trees, and they sent 2 Golden peaches that won’t survive a Michigan Winter. I planted them in pots so that they can Winter in the hoophouse, but so far there aren’t any green leaves or anything that shows they’re even alive. But I’m hopeful, the turmeric I planted last year died completely, but a few weeks ago, there are 2 shoots !
Went sweet cherry picking earlier this week. Made a double recipe of cherry preserves, specifically for serving on ice cream. Had some today, it’s yummy.
My dad came and stayed a few a few days and taught me a little about electricity, and how to change a lightbulb in the buggy, and change the rubber on my milk parlour squeegee, damn, I missed that squeegee for 4+ years ! I’m trying to fix stuff on the farm. But I seem to break more stuff than I get fixed. The sheep feeder started making a funny noise while I was mowing the barbed wire pasture a few days ago. Can’t see anything amiss, but there’s something wrong.
My to-do list is still pages long, but I try hit a few off every day. Some days are more successful than others, and I once even just went and lay in the hammock. Tomorrow I need to get the gemsquash planted, have already had a flower on one, and the Amish Paste tomato starts I picked up in Cedar Springs this afternoon.
I went to an allergist, and am on a homeopathic drops regimen. Going to Grand Rapids every week for a shot just wasn’t practical and after 2 years of weekly shots in South Africa years ago, I thought I’d try the drops. Plus I got a script for 3 months worth of allergy tablets, so should be good for this year, with the government only letting me buy them for 9 months a year.