The Quietness of Winter

   For the most part, I have been enjoying the quietness of winter. Although there are no garden chores, other than ordering seeds for spring planting, the barn chores have more than doubled in the winter months. It seems I just get done cleaning the barn, chicken house and duck house, when I have to leave the comfort of the woodstove in the house and go out into the frigid air and do it all over again. This is the first winter in a few years that we have had a cow in the barn again, and I must have forgotten how much work it is to clean up after a cow confined to the barn to have decided to do this again! Oh well, spring is coming and soon the sheep, cow, chickens, and ducks will be outside all day only coming in at night.
   I have started to order my garden seeds and have already received all my vegetable seeds. This year I ordered all my vegetable seeds from High Mowing Seeds, an organic seed company right here in Vermont. For years I have ordered all my veggie seeds form The Cook's Garden, but this year decided to "keep it local." This week I will order my cut flower garden seeds. I always order the flower seeds from Johnny's Selected Seeds in Maine. I have tried other companies but my best flowers seem to come from Johnny's. I am especially excited to try some new varieties this year, as well as, the tried and true sunflowers (6 varieties), zinnias (5 varieties) and celosia (4 varieties). I am looking forward to growing "Blue Boy" bachelor buttons, pincushion flowers, snapdragons, and China asters. Wish me luck!
   The prospect of starting seeds soon is so exciting, but the thought of my laundry room being taken over by grow lights and flats of seedlings on tables is a little daunting. I do so love the smell of the damp soil though! So I think I'll make a cup of tea and sit by my woodstove, and do my flower seed ordering right now.

Chickadees having breakfast on the farm this morning.

 

Temperatures finally warm enough today for the ducks and chickens to venture out.

 

The quietness of Winter in our field.

 

The herb garden at sunset last week.

 

Spring Chirping

   Have you noticed the birds chirping lately? I have a pair of cardinals who nested and raised a family of three in a bush in our yard last year. Well, they seem to be thinking of doing the same this year. Every morning just as the sky begins to lighten up I hear them calling back and forth to each other. I'm not sure what this ritual means, but the bright red male cardinal sits on the very top branch of the highest tree on our property and calls out to the female. I love it! But why does it have to be the tallest tree? I wonder. The gold finches were at my bird feeder yesterday chatting away in the sunshine as well. Although the gold finches have fed at my bird feeders all winter they just seemed to chirp now and then, yesterday was the first I had heard them doing their little giggle and chatty talk that you hear them call in the spring and summer. It is so great to hear the birds announcing that spring is on the way! And now I am seeing robins everywhere.
   It is time to put my "lambing kit" together for Charlotte's lamb delivery next month. All the things you need for the impending birth of a new lamb. Things you will need, and items to assist in the birthing that you hope you will never need! So with the old adage "better to be safe than sorry" it is every shepherd's job to have everything on hand for the  "just in case" scenario. I'm praying I will only need lots of towels to dry off the little lamb and my camera to take lots of pictures. That would be perfect.
   I've finally used up all my carrots from last year's harvest. My frozen basil supply is just about depleted, as are my beets stored in my cellar. I seem to have only frozen green beans left (which I am sick of) and about 1/4 of the onions I stored away. I think the onions and basil were my most "go to crops" this winter, so I will plan accordingly for this year's garden for use next winter. No green beans!
   This past week I have had quite a time keeping the sheep from trying to eat Francesca's duck feed in her duck house. George and Martha are the main offenders, but Charlotte and Francis are more than willing to follow their lead. They think nothing of squeezing into the duck house for a snack. It is really a tight squeeze with a year's worth of wool on, but they manage to do it. We had a Jersey cow who figured out how to open the door to the nesting boxes in the chicken coop to inspect the eggs, then she would slam the door shut again. All day long... bam, bam, bam. I wanted a farm to have the pleasure of raising animals, not to be yelling " get out of the duck house" or "leave the eggs alone." It is funny though and makes life interesting.

George squeezing into the duck house for a snack- yes, he gets all the way in!

Why isn't George in the barn eating hay? He's in the duck house!!

 

My new favorite garden find. A 1940s repro tin can of Nutscene garden twine from Great Britain. I hate to use- it is so cute!