Time Flies...

As the saying goes, "Time flies when you're having fun" is true in my situation. My brother gave me a coffee cup that says, "Do what you like. Like what you do." This farm life that Greg and I have created can be both heaven on earth, or hell -- depending on the situation.

Spring, summer and fall are our busiest times on the farm. From planting the garden, planting a pollinator garden, goat forage, welcoming kids to our goat herd, gathering in produce from the garden to dreaming of our next year. Whew! It's all so exhausting! The squeaky wheel always gets the grease around here!

I started our spring with planting about a dozen pollinator plants not too far away from the bee hives. With all the spring rain, the drought hardy plants are doing remarkably well. Their will to survive is inspiring. Greg planted "Hay Grazer" for the goats, and they now can hide in the tall grass. The kids would be lost for sure.

We welcomed 4 kids to our herd. Lily had 2 boys: Pinto and Bean. Bean had some difficulty figuring out the nursing, so he was bottle fed for about 3 weeks. I still make sure he nurses while Lily is on the milking stand. It's hysterical.

Bean on the Left; Pinto on the right

Jasmine welcomed a boy and a girl: Cole and Ivy. Ivy got pink eye and also had some corneal abrasions on her eyes. I took her to the vet and her eyes were sutured shut for about a week and eye drops were administered about 3x a day. Lots of back and forth to the vet. She became a real favorite of the staff. I was able to have her lay in my lap on our journeys and she slept the entire time; so much better than having her cry the entire way to and from the vet! The kids are now beginning to eat some hay and drink water. It won't be long before they'll be on their own.

Allison and Ivy

I'm working on different products for the farm store: Dyeing Mohair, dyeing sock yarn and mini skeins. We purchased a freeze-dryer, so I am processing goat milk for sale. It will be sold for animal use to moisten dry kibble or used for baby animals that aren't getting enough nutrition. You'll be able to purchase all of these things in our farm store. I'm just waiting for the goat milk labels to arrive and then to take pictures. <sigh>

One of the many colanders of tomatoes that I harvested.

Next up will be canning the tomatoes that grew in the garden. Bountiful harvest! I'll be canning stewed tomatoes and making tomato sauce. We checked the bees last weekend and they were still making honey, so we'll check them during the July 4th weekend. Honey will be coming soon for those who are waiting!

My next huge project is a "Pocket Prairie". Greg and I just staked out the square footage of my prairie this morning. I have the seed. Now all I have to do is prepare the soil. I'm not really looking forward to doing this in the high heat and humidity, but come next spring, I'll be grateful for all the hard work I put into it. If you want some information on this topic, check out this link: Make a Pocket Prairie - Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

That's about all that I can think of to say. Lots of hard work going on here at the farm. Let me know if you have any questions or comments. Thank you for taking the time to read my ramblings...Until next time...

Stay cool and hydrate!