April showers bring muddy pastures and restless
animals. With the weather unpredictable
it has been difficult for us and the animals to fall into a steady
routine. However, I think Mother Nature
has finally graced us with warm weather and sunshine! We all need it!
The first Saturday of the month we had the joy of meeting
fifteen students from a university group called Farm Mob. This student-run group is a work share program that brings student volunteers from the UW
campus to Madison area farms. Students work with farmers on various tasks while
simultaneously getting the experience of what life on that particular farm is
about. We had the students help
us move the laying hens into their summer homes and escort our three pigs down
into their summer pastures. We had a
gate tied in a circle with the three pigs in the center and all of us following
along around the outside. Jim, Diana,
and Alicia had been debating how to go about this task for some time, but never
fear Farm Mob is here. With all of us
around, they behaved and walked right to their pasture. It was quite slick, and went much better than
we had envisioned. Many thanks to the
farm mob and their hard work!
The kidding is complete!
Our last doe had triplets on April 17th. We have all the little ones running in
outside pastures now. They are enjoying
the freedom to run, skip, and jump. We
are slowly weaning them off the milk and encouraging them to graze and eat hay
and grain. With most of the kids on milk
replacer now, we are able to save more of the milk for cheese making. Last week we made our 17th batch
of cheese! The farmer’s market has
opened! The first weekend was bitter
cold but the sun did appear and warmed up our toes and hands. We are happy to be back and look forward to
seeing many of your faces this summer.
And the first CSA delivery went out Thursday May 2nd!
In other barn news we lost our 18 year old sheep on April 17th. Saralee graced our farm for many years and
provided us with her beautiful wool and many sets of cute lambs. She was the
matriarch of our herd and is missed by us all.
However, on a happier note, Jen, our Jersey cow, had her calf on May 5th. Jim has named him Ben and he is quite a
handsome fellow. Jen is Jims’ sweetheart
and it is quite amazing to see how Jen trusts him. He will be milking Jen twice a day once the
calf is weaned. Diana and Alicia have
plans to make will cheese with the milk.
Yum! We got three more little
pigs over the weekend as well. To go
along with the theme of our three older pigs, Crosby, Stills, and Nash, we
chose the name Mumford & Sons (for lack of better names for the last two…). The ducks have started to lay again. It went from absolutely no eggs for 5 months,
to consistently getting three every morning.
A duck egg is bigger in size compared to a chicken egg, but in our
opinion tastes the same and looks the same, except for the whites; they are a
bit clearer looking. And I have heard
that they are great for baking!! Stop by
the market and pick up half a dozen.
We welcome the warm weather as much as the critters on the
farm.
Happy Sunshine!
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