Well, I have even considered stopping my posts because I am so behind, but here I am. Winter is done. Hurrah!! Healthwise I was OK until January and it has been pretty rough since then.
The pictures are not too recent, but one is Lily kissing a Valentine. Emma and Valentine are big girls now and almost weened. The other is of Lillian carrying the box of baby chicks back to the barn the morning they came. The chicks are 4 weeks old now and we have had only 4 casulaties out of 30 chicks. Lillian is slowly coming to terms with the fact hat some of these birds will be food and some will be for eggs. In the spirit of Animal, Vegetable, Miracle she knows that extra eggs will be hers to sell. She has already lined up a few customers. She is an absolutely outstanding farmer and I am so proud of her. She often accompanies me on chores. She has learned how to milk--especially if it meand squirting the barn walls! She helps feed and water too. Now that the goats are out on pasture, she feeds the kids dandelions while I milk. She loves her chocolate milk and Lizzie mozzarella!
Lillian was very proud to have mom and Valentine visit preschool for farm week. School is almost over now (only 2 weeks left!). She has loved it and it has been great for her. She has really blossomed in the past month or so and is now a little chatterbox at school. We want to keep the momentum going and have signed her up fro dance, soccer, and four sessions of Zoo Camp.
Our farm is really going now. The goats are doing great. We made it through deworming, birth, disbudding and milking in 4 below! The chickens are doing well and almost ready to move outside. The garden is fenced in and I have had mostly great successed with starting my own veggies from seed. Paco gave me my heart's desire for our anniversary--a small greenhouse which is packed full of wonderful things like green sausage tomato, wonderberry, mexican sour gherkins, triamble squash, and zucchino rampicante plants! When you are buying heritage seeds and not just the same old hybrids from the grenhouses, it is amazing what you can grow.
In about 3 weeks, we will be receiving fruit plants---strawberry, rhubarb, raspberry, blackberry, 3 kinds of grapes, and even a species of kiwi! I am so excited--as well as overwhelmed, tired, and sunburned!
