Twins !!
We were rewarded this morning with a beautiful set of twins from our ewe Naomi. One big ram lamb and one very tiny ewe. In the keeping of Biblical names, we have named the ewe lamb, Abigail, who was a wife of King David's. So Abigail joins Ruth, Naomi, Esther, Miriam and of course our handsome ram Boaz. It is our intention to raise the ram lamb for the freezer. Our first little ewe of the year, Miriam, has grown by leaps and bounds. She is as black as coal and has become so popular with all who drive by our farm. Every one stops and looks for the "little black lamb". This farm raised sheep over 100 years ago. We still have a barn on the farm that used to house the sheep. It too is over 100 years old. I think it is so special that we have brought sheep back to this land.
In other news regarding the sheep, we are so excited to be having Calvin McCutcheon on our farm next week. He will be here on Monday to shear our sheep and the Angora goats. He is 7 times state champion shearer and 2 times national champion. He has been so much fun to talk to on the phone and we are thrilled to be meeting him in person. I will try to get lots of pictures of that event. Our goal in the next few days is to keep the sheep nice and dry for him. Any sign of rain and the sheep must stay in the barn. Their fleeces are amazing and I can't wait to get them on the spinning wheel. We can never thank the girls over at Sheeps and Peeps Farm for such quality animals they have started our flock with. Whoever visits our farm and sees our sheep always wants to know where they came from. They are so beautiful. I encourage you to visit their blog at http://sheepsandpeepsfarm.blogspot.com/ They had surprise lambs yesterday.
In other news on the farm, we have sold all the Nubian kids that we are going to sell this year. We have kept back 4 doelings as replacement does. This is more than we usually keep but the herd had started to dwindle down and we would like to do some building back up. We have put a deposit on a buckling in Ohio who has some incredible bloodlines, both show and milk, so we are excited to put him into the mix.
We have 14 baby call ducks in the barn and another duck hen that has started a clutch. The chicks that we had ordered are in and thriving. We are still waiting for our Sebastapol goose to start laying. So far, she is not cooperating. We have sold 12 baby bunnies, just in time for Easter, thank goodness. We also are still waiting for the arrival of our first baby miniature donkey. Our jenny, Sunflower, is huge and I have begun to think she is carrying an elephant instead of a donkey.
We will be starting up the greenhouse this weekend. The pepper plants have been started in the house for weeks now and are ready to make the trip to the greenhouse. It has been too wet to till up a spot for lettuce and onions but maybe in the coming weeks. We have had a very long, cold spring. We have heard spring peepers a couple of times but they seem to always get covered up by a snowfall. Hopefully we are done with snow for now but you never know. The wood frogs have come down to the koi ponds and laid their eggs and headed back to the woods. The ramps are up and we will be taking a trip up into our woods this weekend to hunt for morels. The turkeys are gobbling on the hill and I can hear the hens starting to cluck for the toms. The rhubarb is popping through the ground and the pussywillows are swelling. Robins sing to me while I milk both morning and night. Spring is in the air but if you have any doubts, a trip to the barn will take care of that. I hope you are enjoying this time of the year.
In other news regarding the sheep, we are so excited to be having Calvin McCutcheon on our farm next week. He will be here on Monday to shear our sheep and the Angora goats. He is 7 times state champion shearer and 2 times national champion. He has been so much fun to talk to on the phone and we are thrilled to be meeting him in person. I will try to get lots of pictures of that event. Our goal in the next few days is to keep the sheep nice and dry for him. Any sign of rain and the sheep must stay in the barn. Their fleeces are amazing and I can't wait to get them on the spinning wheel. We can never thank the girls over at Sheeps and Peeps Farm for such quality animals they have started our flock with. Whoever visits our farm and sees our sheep always wants to know where they came from. They are so beautiful. I encourage you to visit their blog at http://sheepsandpeepsfarm.blogspot.com/ They had surprise lambs yesterday.
In other news on the farm, we have sold all the Nubian kids that we are going to sell this year. We have kept back 4 doelings as replacement does. This is more than we usually keep but the herd had started to dwindle down and we would like to do some building back up. We have put a deposit on a buckling in Ohio who has some incredible bloodlines, both show and milk, so we are excited to put him into the mix.
We have 14 baby call ducks in the barn and another duck hen that has started a clutch. The chicks that we had ordered are in and thriving. We are still waiting for our Sebastapol goose to start laying. So far, she is not cooperating. We have sold 12 baby bunnies, just in time for Easter, thank goodness. We also are still waiting for the arrival of our first baby miniature donkey. Our jenny, Sunflower, is huge and I have begun to think she is carrying an elephant instead of a donkey.
We will be starting up the greenhouse this weekend. The pepper plants have been started in the house for weeks now and are ready to make the trip to the greenhouse. It has been too wet to till up a spot for lettuce and onions but maybe in the coming weeks. We have had a very long, cold spring. We have heard spring peepers a couple of times but they seem to always get covered up by a snowfall. Hopefully we are done with snow for now but you never know. The wood frogs have come down to the koi ponds and laid their eggs and headed back to the woods. The ramps are up and we will be taking a trip up into our woods this weekend to hunt for morels. The turkeys are gobbling on the hill and I can hear the hens starting to cluck for the toms. The rhubarb is popping through the ground and the pussywillows are swelling. Robins sing to me while I milk both morning and night. Spring is in the air but if you have any doubts, a trip to the barn will take care of that. I hope you are enjoying this time of the year.
Congrats on the twins!! Hope they grow & thrive :)
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