​The transition from winter to spring on the farm is marked by oodles of time spent outdoors. The robins have returned, as have the sandhill cranes. We venture outside en masse, decked out in fewer layers; we pick up where we left off late last fall. We adjust fences, remove brush piles, reorganize the barn and outbuildings, clean pens, and prepare the garden for planting. The work is truly endless, yet enjoyable. The farmkids delight in mud-play and stick stacking. 

​Just as tiny sprouts of green erupt through the thawing soil outside, our little indoor seedlings are thriving and growing into a medusa-like tangle of green. Farmboy checks on their progress multiple times a day, lest he miss any growing action. 

On Wednesday, the Post Office called at 5:30 am to inform us that our chicks had arrived! It was Farmboy’s first experience with receiving new chicks and he welcomed them with squeals of ‘Ooh! And Ahhh!!’ 

Farming is fraught with unexpected little emergencies in need of immediate attention; a goat’s head stuck in a feed trough, a chicken caught between straw bales, a fence knocked down and escaped goats, an eruption of potato bugs, a leak in a roof. Most situations are not unmanageable, and often a bit of ingenuity and rapid response fixes most problems. 

The day our little chirping fluffballs arrived, the very future of our laying hen flock, Mother Nature sent us ‘The Perfect Storm.’ Freezing cold winds blasted out of the southwest, penetrating every crack and seam on the south side of the barn and drafted the chick brooder. The situation was dire and we could have lost the whole batch of baby chicks if we didn’t act IMMEDIATELY.
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We rapidly MacGyvered make-shift walls around the brooder to block the drafts and added another heat lamp. We retrieved some blue tarps from a pile nearby and stapled them to the interior barn walls. As the chicks huddled together and absorbed warmth from the extra heat lamps, now protected from drafts, they began to settle.  It was with great sadness that we lost a few chicks; however, we were immensely relieved that we saved all the rest and they are doing well and growing like chicks do. 

​With the recent crisis managed and averted, farm life continues. Goats are truly browsers, not grazers like sheep. They prefer to eat broad leaves from trees and herbaceous woody plants. They graze on grass secondarily. While the broad leaves of spring are still a few weeks away, the goats enjoy crunching on fresh cuttings trimmed from the orchard.

​Our family often enjoys late afternoon chores together. Farmgirl excels in tracking down all the eggs and carefully placing them in the egg racks, this is a new system for egg collecting that will reduce cracking and facilitate packaging. Farmboy enjoys just being outside and marvels at watching all the different animals. Our Rosie De is always present wherever there is action in the farmyard too. 

​Last week, we cooked up an old favorite to warm us from within: hearty vegetable lentil soup. We dug through and found some frozen peppers, tomatoes, carrots and parsley from the garden as well as some storage garlic and potatoes. We added a side of home baked drop biscuits made from our goat milk kifer; our version of buttermilk biscuits.  

​Much to my dismay, the farmkids’ CRUD was contagious…. It settled into my head and lungs just as the kids regained energy and lung capacity. Before my own energy waned, we all took advantage of a warm, spring-like weekend and enjoyed lots of fresh air. The farmkids excitedly helped us clean up the polebarn. Farmboy, new on his feet since last season, is a master of the broom in the house and discovered similar pleasure and skill in raking outside. Farmgirl assisted with filling the trailer with wheelbarrow loads of spent hay and straw. Practical and thoughtful as she is, Farmgirl updated her birthday/Christmas list with a request for a ‘real wheelbarrow.’ According to her, the small, plastic kid ones give her backaches! 

​Spring fever, not solely a human affliction, strikes animals too! With each passing day, unseasonably warm for early March, the snow melted away, and the chickens ‘flew the coop’ with unrestrained exuberance. The girls exercised their legs and filled their lungs with fresh air as they expanded their foraging range across the farmyard in search of bugs, grubs and other delectable treats. They scavenged through the fallen apples in the orchard and scratched in the field behind the house. Relative calmness and contentment emanated from the coop as the girls resettled on their roosts each night.

​The does and bucks enjoyed the sunshine and fresh air as they lounged in their permanent winter pens. Just as we tire of eating winter stored foods from last season, so too are the goats tiring of dry winter hay. They anxiously await the emergence of fresh green on the pasture. The broad green leaves of spring surely cannot come soon enough! 

​Our indoor seedlings are ‘growing like weeds!’ A veritable jungle of leek and onion stems overflows the trays in brilliant summer green. The herbs and celery daintily reach for the light and soak in the humid warmth. As our plans for the garden grow, so too did our need for more seedling starting space. With the help of a good friend, we constructed another sturdy plant stand, fitted it with new growing lights and situated it in the far corner of our mudroom. The increased capacity to start and grow more plants from seed falls in line with our goal of producing high quality food for our family and the local community.

​As winter is drawing to an end, so too is our supply of farm raised food. We still pull what we can from the deep freeze (largely frozen peppers, corn and meat) and our root cellar (potatoes and garlic). The taste of spring and summer are just around the corner!