The winter season was long and cold, and saw little work completed on the farm. These past few weeks we have witnessed a thaw, and as we head into March, all signs point towards a hint of spring.
Today mark’s the one-week birthday of Porky’s eleven healthy piglets. Venturing out into the corral, they move as a group to and fro unsure about the new experiences…especially with me in the mix twice daily to handle feeding, stall / corral cleaning, and general health check-up. Soon enough they will be out in our spacious paddocks or off to new homes. The cycle on the farm continues.
Not to be outdone, our Nubian goats have been preparing for kidding this spring. An low and behold, just yesterday, Buttercup delivered her first set of kids, with a healthy Buckling and Doeling. We have been like new parents as well, as we have been insuring the new Mom is taking to the task of caring, cleaning, and nursing the babies on a regular basis. Buttercup seems to be doing a good job, as we have another two pregnant Does preparing to kid anyday.
Lastly, the weather had been prime for garden prep… or at least good enough to get into the garden and contemplate the forthcoming sowing season. In the meantime, we have introduced our poultry to commence tilling, loosening, and fertilizing the soil, as well as patrolling for pest larvae, to give the garden a charge for when we do finally start to sow new seed and plant greenhouse transplants.
As we head into the weekend, we are eager to see how our recently installed wildlife den plays out down in the Crater Garden. We did place our mini-lop rabbits in the den a few days ago, and we are pleased to say they are alive and well. We even installed a camera off the den to monitor any activity while away. Watch the video of the den construct here on our ABC acres Youtube channel. We will post some pics and any news next week on the rabbits’ status.
That’s it for me… I’m off to handle Livestock duties this Friday afternoon. Have a great weekend everyone, and make a point to stop by the farm, send us a note on Facebook, or stay a week at one of our rental homes. All the best, Tim
