Full Bloom

All of the fruit trees in the orchard are in full bloom. The weather this year has so far been good and the trees are doing great. The past few years we have had a late freeze and all the blossoms froze. We have several trees that should produce a small crop this year. I am excited to finally sink my teeth into a home-grown, farm-fresh peach!!!!

Big news!!!!

Just a sneek peek at Mabel.

Sad day

Lola has been here on our farm for over two years and I have to say I am quite attached to her. We were excited that she was expecting a beautiful calf any day now. I had been worried about her for the past few weeks. She just did not have the motherly appearance she should have had for a healthy pregnancy. We had her artificially inseminated back in July which would make her due right about now. We had her pregnancy checked by a vet last fall and all was well. Today after no signs if impending labor I had her checked again and we found her to not be pregnant. She must have lost the calf at some point. This is truly sad news. We tried five times before we were able to get her bred and have waited 9 months for nothing. She has had twins before and the man that checked her thinks that she possibly has some internal damage that won't let her carry a pregnancy to term. We are heart broken. She will go to the sale barn tomorrow. I feel sick at the thought but have no other option. I pray that she will be treated with kindness and respect. She is a wonderful loving cow and our farm will never be the same without her.

Happy Family

Danielle had triplets... two boys and a girl!! Kids are so cute!

Stewy the mower

Violets

We really need to mow the grass. The weather has been wet and just right for the grass to really go crazy. This time of the year I love our yard. It is full of these beautiful violets. They just pop out to remind us it is spring and when it gets hot they die back. I hate to mow them down so our yard is beginning to look like a jungle. I tied Stewy out to "mow" the front so at least it looks like I am managing my yard. I had several cars stop and tell me my cow was out I guess they didn't see the lead rope.

Full Pond

The pond is full for the first time since we have owned this farm. We even have had some ducks checking things out. Just before we moved here the previous owner had someone come and turn two small ponds in to one decent size one. Since then it leaks out the back to make the lower pasture a swamp. We were told to just wait things out that it should repair on it's own. Finally it is holding some water but not completely. It still leaks, so we will see how long it stays full.

The future.....Tomato cages

We have about 50 tomato cages from the last few years. This year with the increase in production we need about 80 more. I love the concrete reinforcement wire cages. They are tall enough and hold up well. I just hate making them!!

How many ya got in there?

Danielle has been avoiding labor and is tired of me checking in on her every couple of hours. She has been on labor watch now for several days. We just bought her two weeks ago and the man said he wasn't sure when she was due so it is a guess. Her bag is full and she really waddles when she walks. I expect kids soon. I'll keep ya posted

Lettuce

This is what happends when you get up from planting at least two dozen times to help children... no straight rows! We should re-name the farm "crooked row farm".

Sheep

When we started our small farm dairy I was making cheese like crazy. I love making cheese and most of all I love eating it. When we lived in Puerto Rico we ate a beautiful sheeps-milk cheese at every chance. I thought it would be fun to try to make my own version of that beautiful cheese so I bought sheep. East Friesian are one of the milkier breeds but they tend to be fragile from what I have read so I opted for a cross. We purchased a wonderful East-Friesian ram and then began the search for a few girlfriends. I did a bit of research and decided on Katahdin hair sheep. They tend to be very hardy and great mothers. Five months later we were blessed with beautiful lambs. The only problem.... they were all RAMS!!! Sometimes I have to learn patience the hard way. At least we like lamb, so my freezer will be full this winter

Larkspur!!

We are planning a cutting garden for the CSA shares this year and the first flowers are comming up! Larkspur is a favorite of mine. It works well for fresh arrangements and it also dries beautifully.

Tomato babys

The tomatoes are having a growing spurt in the greenhouse. I have been pleased with the new growth. They are just about ready to go outside. I think the early ones like German Johnson and the Early girl will go out later this week. We have been getting lots of rain and I am behind on the tilling. We have most of the early root crops and such in but haven't gotten the rows ready for the tomatoes. The chickens decided to do a bit of tilling in the peas. I looked yesterday and I had a hard time finding any seed. I will have to re-plant. Darn chickens!

SMOOCH!!!!

Sun roof in the green house????

I went out to check the temp in the greenhouse and found the wind had ripped the top off. Lately we have been getting wind gusts and my poor greenhouse is suffering. Hopefully we can get things repaired this evening. We are expecting rain tonight. Missouri weather is so crazy in the spring!

Thinning continues...

We finally sold one of the horses. I love horses but with hay prices being what they are we made the decision to thin things down. A family came Saturday and bought Sioux. I think they will be happy with her. She is a great horse and needs someone to spend time with her. They plan on using her for 4-H so she should be getting lots of love.
Penny is left here alone and we have noticed a big difference in her attitude. She was sweet with Sioux here and now she is a doll. I will hate to see her go. I really do love her. She is so gentle with the children; it is difficult to find a trustworthy horse and she really fits the bill.

Queen of the milking stool

We were goat sitting and the mama had three beautiful babies. This doeling has the best time jumping on and off my milk stool. Oh to have that energy!!