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Spring on the Farm

Hello GREEN! Wow, I didn’t realize how much I needed to see green this year, I’m sure you can relate.

Spring on the farm is always filled with projects, some larger than others but all necessary. This spring we decided to focus as much as possible and keep as few irons in the fire as we’re able. Since buying this farm a year and a half ago Matt and I have realized that while there is an endless list of projects, we can’t maintain our past pace. We miss out on a lot of important pieces of life if we’re constantly working on farm projects.

Building our hay and equipment barn

This spring our biggest project is the hay and equipment barn. The barn is well underway and the roof should be on by first crop in late May or early June. Last season we were storing hay in every nook and cranny and outdoors making feeding a challenge. I’m so excited to have a dry place designed to make storing and feeding hay easier next winter.

I will be sure to share a more complete picture of the barn as we make more progress towards the finish line.

clearing and seeding

Just like last spring we’ve put more time into clearing and seeding areas of over-grown pastures. While Matt’s attention has been on the barn build, I was able to focus on the clearing projects for a couple weeks this spring. I brushed out a good portion of the sheep pasture and got some seed on the ground. There is still a lot of work to get this back into shape but I’m thrilled to have made a little more progress.

we welcomed lambs

This was our second lambing season and I can’t say things went smoothly. While I was far less stressed than last year when it came to worrying about our ewes delivering without my help the last couple ewes brought bottle babies and vet visits.

We ended up with twelve little Cheviot lambs, all spunky and with a desire to live. Our first four ewes delivered with ease, their babies nursed with ease and all was right in my world. Then ewe number five delivered triplets. Like I had read she did indeed reject one of the triplets, a little girl I named Annie. She became my first bottle baby and my mom had to help me teach her to nurse. She quickly figured it out and is doing very well on her own. Ewe number six gave birth to two little boys. However, I quickly realized one couldn’t walk and the other wasn’t figuring out how to nurse. So, I took the little one who couldn’t walk into the vet. They splinted his front two legs because the tendons needed strengthening. He was up running in 24 hours and is full of love. I was feeding his little brother with a bottle but he has learned to nurse and I’m hoping to wean him off the bottle in the near future.

I certainly learned why people say bottle babies are work. Boy have I been absolutely exhausted since we welcomed those three. It takes a lot of my mental capacity to worry and flex my schedule to accommodate them in such a busy season. I’m so thankful that I have family to help.

With that said our final count for 2019 is 7 girls and 5 boys. I’m so thrilled everyone is doing well and I’m hoping for less bottle babies next season.