Welcome Spring

Last Saturday - the Ides of March - my father would have been 101 years old. 

To celebrate his life, I scratched a few furrows in the little raised bed that was still partially frozen, and planted peas. Since then I've gotten a few more flats seeded and now its officially time for gardens to get going.

Red Currant Tomato

Pansy

 My window sills have a few seedlings started in January and February, but now its time for the big push. 

Lupine

The humorous part though, is I don't have a big enough garden for all that I'm starting. As a matter of fact, the yard is a mess from the garage construction, and still has a massive pile of snow from the plow.  

But hope springs eternal - at least for the gardener!

Blooms

Hens, Eggs, Light And Spring

Rhoda, a Rhode Island Red, who is NOT on a diet.

People who have had layers (that's LAY-ers) always ask the big question in the winter. "Are you getting any eggs?". The first year of a hens life she usually lays all through the first winter, although not necessarily every day. The eggs might be smaller, "pullet" eggs depending on her maturity, but eggs nonetheless. The older hens, which define six of my eight, may slow down as the days get shorter, and after Thanksgiving or so, sputter to almost nil.  This winter we only had two or three days with no eggs at all. My new, adopted Rhode Island Reds, Rhoda and Red, kept us in their nice eggs through out, with an occasional supplement from the older girls.

You may wonder what use there is to keeping these old hens if they don't produce all year, but here at On the Pond Farm, they are also maintenance workers, and do preventative health care. Every day, after their morning feed, they work their way behind me to each stall as I clean them. They scratch for grubs, bugs, parasitic worms in the stool, and left over grain and seeds. By doing this clean up, they make it difficult for rodents to thrive, and parasites to spread.

In the video you see the girls waiting their turn to lay.  Until recently, they all waited to lay in the same box. I think because production is up, they have now split the eggs into two nests.  We used to have more boxes, but they always seemed to put all their eggs in one basket (Ha!). Fine with me, although come summer, I bet they will start hiding them around the barn again.  Always fun to have egg hunts for visiting kids!

After the video at the evening egg gathering, we we amazed to find this.

Yes! EIGHT eggs. 

All girls appreciated the great summer weather of the past two weeks and were in full production.

Its officially Spring!

Victory!

I finally got the 22 goats to the fields without having to prod, carry, or drag a single animal this morning. All the nannies and kids made it to the field on their own, and all I had to do was close the gate. Yes!

VIDEO OF THE GOATS ALL ARRIVED IN THE PASTURE.
Its a bit wobbly, but so am I in the mud!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yizU0xZao4

This means that when we have to get them to another gate or field, they will likely follow pretty well from now on.

Don't worry. There will be sure to be that one goat every day or two to be a bugger, but better just one or two than the whole bunch.Zola's boys climbing around for a taste of hay.

Our clear, spring fed water.

Fun In The Sun

It was a great spring day, and Jock and I took a long slow walk around the fields and woods this morning.We came out on Kristin's Trail, and as you can see, things are still brown and dead looking.

Things are a lot more lively down by the barn. The newest twins are outside for the third day.
This means there are four herds going into separate fields right now. After fence training this week-end, these little dudes will join the rest of the "nursery" herd.

These bucklings are doing so well, and I am trying to decide if I am keeping one as a commercial buck.
Tempting.Today I managed to get the crocuses in focus, although the breeze had to play around while I zoomed in.
It IS Spring.

Five Out Of Six

The weather has been erratic, but we are getting consistent signs of Spring. Five out of six hens are laying more regularly, so that we are up to five egg days.
Summer will be here soon enough!

Sometimes You Get What You Wish For - Groundhog Day

VIDEO OF GROUNDHOG DAY HAILSTORM

All our complaining about the cold and snow and this is what we get.

A warming warning! A sure sign of spring is mud, and yesterday's thaw that took us into the mid to high 40's, gave us a taste of it.All the manure that was getting hidden by the daily two inches of snow became exposed.
The underground springs that erupt from our hills started to flow.
Grass appeared in spots. So did the slush. Unfortunately, the puddles started at the barn door, so it took a little coaxing to get a couple of the fussier goats out. Also hampering the task was the high winds that did not allow me to block the door open with the usual rock. At one point the gust was so strong, it was all I could do to hang on to the door with all my weight, so that it didn't smash three goats in the head as they were thinking about stepping in the mud.

Walking through the calf deep, sloppy snow was akin to walking against the surf in soft sand at the beach. Boot sucking work!
Midday I had to drive along the Loyalhanna Creek just as the ice was breaking up and rushing downstream. Huge ice blocks were thrown up onto the causeway access road.

The causeway itself way blocked with ice and submerged in the rising water. I can't imagine what flooding problems we could have had if the freeze didn't return so quickly in the afternoon.

Aside from Punxsutawney Phil not seeing his shadow to predict milder weather in our futures, we have our own predictor at the farm. Egg production. Just a month ago we were counting the zero egg days, but soon enough the count picked up to four this week. Considering we are down to six hens(just lost one a week ago), that is great. There is one other way to know spring is coming - the calendar. If we are patient enough, Spring will be here soon, bringing her sultry friend Summer.

Floral Jewels

The violets are at our kitchen path. The kitchen door is our "front door". They'll be everywhere soon.Sundays we often take the time to walk through our woods. Half our property is woods, and at the top of our hill. There are many small flowers opening in between the leaves,......and along the paths.The prior owners had planted these along the horse trails. An unexpected find in the woods.The bluets are blanketing the fields. Back home, I was happy to see that the primroses were in full bloom.
These flowers are just so cheerful.

Welcome Spring! Time For Outdoor Auctions!

The hens were waiting to break out of the barn this morning. They were eager to find the bugs and worms that the still snow moist ground, and the warm sun, bring out. The grass, and everything green, are brightening up. What a change from February. The turkey vultures are here for a few weeks, as is their ritual. They seem to have the yearling kids a bit unnerved. Today's auction was at a farm in nearby Stahlstown, and was attended by every shape, brand, and color truck. More than a few were hauled out by a tractor and chain, when they found the snow moistened ground, that became axe deep mud. We managed to avoid that fate. There were all sorts of John Deere's. Large... ...and small.In the farm fashion world, there was every plaid shirt variation known to man and woman. Baseball hats with logos of every team, machine, farm, and contractor were seen, with a strong showing for -PENN STATE! It was a great spring day to be outside and enjoy the company of strangers. As for my buys - I didn't get these rolls of fence, but I got a pallet of wooden stakes and posts. And MORE plant pots. Total spent. $17.50. Good deal!