Weeks 12-14--2016 (Mar 18-Apr 7)

Spring Break and Blizzards

As we enter our 5th spring on this Northeastern Wisconsin peninsula, our 4th at the farm, Mother Nature has sent us several reminders that spring is a season not to be reckoned with. It is unpredictable and extremely variable.

This year, it seems that spring, angry and resentful of the mild, even-tempered and recently departed winter, has ‘roared like a lion’ ferociously and much more often than it has ‘baaa-ed like a lamb.’ Our ill-tempered, angry spring has gusted frigid winds and covered us in snow, only to give us short reprieves with a bit of sun and unsustained warmth. Our goats started blowing their winter coats (i.e., shedding) only to have to curl up in warm beds of straw during cold subfreezing nights.

​Spring, whether it arrives with the ferocity of a lion or the calmness of a fuzzy lamb, is accompanied with endless projects to work on across the farmyard. The farmkids have helped with moving compost and mixing soil for planting seeds. Weather may dictate whether we work indoors or out, but it will not stop our forward momentum of getting ready for the coming growing season!

Farmgirl atop a mountain of compost!

Farmboy is eager to help Farmdad with preparing soil for starting new seeds! One day he may be ready for this wheelbarrow!

Preparing soil blocks for planting more seeds for the coming growing season.

In nature and the farmyard, spring is marked by love. Our male Bourbon Red turkey (a heritage breed turkey), Junior, displays love for our single turkey hen, Penny, through beautiful dancing, strutting and wing ruffles. He dances for the chicken hens too, though they pay him little notice.

Our turkeys know that spring is here, even if the weather doesn't know whether to snow, rain or shine! Turkey displays of affection are beautiful and full of feather dancing!

Miss Rosie De is still working on her manners around the poultry. While she generally keeps a 'low eye' and her distance around the birds, once in a while she gets excited and gives them a brief chase. She continues to work on her patience.....

​Spring break arrived a day early for Farmgirl as a spring blizzard descended on the peninsula and our farm. The recently departed 70 degree weekend evaporated into memory as predictions of 8-12 inches of wet, heavy snow scrolled across the screen. Snow fell and we were forced to pull out the ‘snow plow’ one last time. 

A late March blizzard brought with it an early start to Spring Break!

A late spring blizzard necessitated bringing out the 'Snow Plow' once again! This trusty implement worked hard and strained against that wet heavy snow!

Farmkids and dogs, immune to the unpredictable nature of spring, delighted in the new snow and tossed snowballs and built the last snowy stately structures of winter-past. Inside, Farmgirl and I enjoyed an afternoon of egg dying for Easter while Farmboy napped one afternoon. We proved that farm eggs, variable in every shade of brown, white and green can be artificially colored. There was no need for us to run to the store to purchase white eggs from factory raised, caged hens!

Spring blizzard and school snow day = one more fantastic romp in the snow! Snowballs to throw and catch!

A Hoppy Easter was had by all. NOTE--no rabbits were harmed in the making of this fantastic sculpture.

Farmmom and Farmgirl enjoyed dying eggs for Easter. Regardless of their variable colors and shades, farm eggs can be dyed many beautiful colors! No need for tasteless store bought eggs from factory raised hens.

As winter continued to roar outside, new farm tools arrived by mail. The latest and greatest to arrive, a Wheeled Hoe, was received with enthusiasm and a mad dash for the nearest screw driver! Our Farm-mechanics in training worked alongside Farmdad to put the new gadget together. In all its shining glory, it stands for all that we aspire to on our farm—little to no dependence on oil and gas to till our garden. 

Amidst the blizzard, new farm tools arrived. These two Farm-mechanics took their job very seriously as they put together our new Wheeled Hoe.

Farmboy may be following in his Papa's footsteps in becoming our new farm mechanic! Always happy if he can be fixing something on the farm!

Though it sits on its side in this photo, our new Wheeled Hoe held up well as Farmdad gave it a test run after the snow melted. This takes us one step closer to moving away from tilling or using gas-powered machinery in our garden.

While gardening and planting plans move forward into the growing season, so too are preparations for goat kidding season. Over the next couple of weeks, our goats will begin to have babies. We wait anxiously each season for new babies to arrive and we hope that all will run smoothly. We are putting together our ‘kidding kit,’ a box of necessities like dry towels, iodine, plastic gloves, etc., to have ready if and when the need might arrive to assist a goat mom with her new baby(ies).

Miss Ardennes, our golden Nigerian Dwarf Doe, enjoys the sun when it shines and loves scratching her very pregnant belly on her favorite concrete block. This doe will be due to kid in about 2 weeks! Getting excited for goat babies very soon!

​Following their stressful arrival amidst an angry spring storm of high winds and chilling temperatures, our chicks are growing and feathering out into chick-adolescence. Though they no longer look like the adorable little fluffballs, their feathers are coming in and they are maturing into little chickens. As they start to test their wings, they jump up onto their water holders and they race around their warm brooder. In just a few more weeks, they will move to a new pen where they can start to venture out onto pasture to capture bugs and pick at new green shoots. 

Baby chicks at 3 weeks are entering their adolescence phase. As they are starting to feather out, not only do they look a little awkward, not like hens, not like cute fluffy chicks, they are preparing to move to their next pen in which they can get outside and start learning how to forage on pasture.

These 3 week old chicks are growing fast, eating lots of organic feed and running around and growing new feathers. Won't be long before they start to look like mini-chickens!

As our farm is growing and maturing and we are venturing into our first season offering memberships in a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), our needs for erecting a greenhouse/hoophouse are meeting with success. Last week, with the help of a good friend, Dale, and supporter of our farm, we began construction. Framework was cut, pounded and fastened together. Soon, plastic will be attached and we will prepare to move our first seedlings of 2016 outside! This has been a long time in coming, or so it feels. So much of what we have already accomplished as well as what we hope to achieve here on our farm would not be possible without the love, help and support of our family and our closest, new friends.

As our seedlings are 'growing like weeds indoors' we are starting to prepare for their move outdoors. Construction began last week as we started to erect our new hoophouse. We are exciting looking at the ways we can put this to use once completed.

Our farm, and all the we grow and produce here, would not be possible without help from and support of our family and good friends. We were so thankful to have help from our good friend, Dale, in starting to put up our hoophouse.

The cold and lousy, windy snowy weather didn't hamper progress on the hoophouse. Can't wait to see it to completion in the coming week!

While so much goes on around the farmyard, it is hard to believe there might be time for anything else. However, when snow flies and temperatures remain cold, I find it fulfilling to cross a few things from my ‘homesteading to-do list,’ like making homemade lotion bars. Though I have to order the (mostly organic) ingredients, I put everything together right on my stove-top. These homemade lotion bars, consisting of Cacao Butter/Shea Butter, Coconut Oil, and Beeswax nourish and moisten our dry, heavily worked hands/skin throughout the year. I also make sunscreen bars, a variation on these, for use during the summer to protect our skin from the sun. This year, I also ventured out and made our own chapstick. It’s a lot of fun, doesn’t take a lot of time and feels great on the skin. 

Farmmom stayed busy during the cold, windy and snowing spring weather by catching up on some homesteading projects, like making homemade lotion bars from organic Cacoa Butter, Beeswax and Coconut Oils.

Freshly poured homemade lotion bars ready to cool and harden.

We use these lovely homemade lotion bars to moisturize our hardworked hands/skin throughout the year. We also make sunscreen bars and chapstick. No need (or at least very little) for storebought lotions that come filled with petroleum products or other potentially toxic ingredients.

​I don’t know how many families out there still cook and sit down together each night for dinner, but it is something our family values and does most nights of the week. We continue to pull from our freezer and root cellar, the remaining of the 2015 bounty. As our supplies are starting to dwindle, I am getting anxious for the coming season, and I am hopeful I can remain patient for spring to release its lioness grip on us.

They say pictures are worth a 1000 words. While this one may not be, nor is it truly a beautiful example of the wonderful things we eat, it does remind me that we are still eating from last summer's bounty. Frozen sweet peas mixed with storage garlic and some chicken giblets made for a great little stirfry.