There is a lot in bloom already. Phlox, tulips – some looking taller than ever before, Magnolia, bleeding heart, jack-in-the-pulpit, azalea and other spring blooming beauties. The forsythia and narcissus have long faded. Some of the lilac are already blooming and some are just forming buds. The night air is fragrant and wildlife is stirring.

The farm animals seem to know spring is here too. The chickens are laying a ton of eggs and of course the roosters are constantly going after the hens. Last night we butchered four chickens with the help of a friend. They took two and we put two in our freezer. This time we chose to butcher four Rhode Island Reds. They seem the most agressive of all the breeds we have and also are harder to keep in the chicken area. They want to roam the entire yard which would be fine if they were not inclined to go across the street and eat or dig any flower that was emerging.

The goats escaped the fence the other day and trashed several of my trees. Darn goats! Jerry has to try again to fix the fence so it will hold them. I am hoping the trees survive. At this rate I am never going to have mature plants!

Beauty the horse is much calmer this year. I still cannot get to her tail to brush it but when the vet comes out I am going to ask her to sedate Beauty so I can get those cockerburls out. She is letting me brush her butt some – but only briefly.

Having a cashmere goat is a bit different. Tulip is still quite shy and has to be lifted onto the milking stand. She does not like being brushed but tolerates it. I trimmed all of their hooves this week. Darla was the real pain. First she jumped on the milk stand, then jumped off behind it, tipped a shelf over and finally ended back up in her stall. I did get her hooves trimmed but made her wait until last. She didn’t like watching the other goats get ginger snap cookies when they were done so after I finished all of them I called Darla and she jumped right up on the milk stand!

The vegetable garden is growing too. I have tiny plants of carrots, kale, sugar snap peas, spinach, turnips, brussels sprouts, sugar beets, cabbage and we are already harvesting radish and lettuce. Some of the lettuce we planted the year before has sprouted on its own. I will be digging and moving those plants once we get ready to till that area. Adding the compost has done wonders for the ground! There are still many plants to get into the ground that are in the greenhouse as well as more corn and green beans to plant.

I am debating growing flax this year for fiber. I already have small cotton plants growing.

The bunnies have not had babies and I am wondering if maybe one of them cannot breed. They have been together for several months now but my female has not shown a single sign of being pregnant.

If you are in the area I invite you to come spend some time at our farm and wildlife habitat. Please email or phone ahead for reservations.

Sheri