There is a lamb in our house. For the last three mornings he has served as my alarm clock, emitting a loud "meaaaahhhhh" at precisely 4 am--about the time his 1am bottle feeding has worn off. I get up and let him out of his puppy crate so he can muzzle-bump the back of my legs with vigor while I make his bottle and my coffee. I am his mother now, so I must be hiding my udder somewhere in the proximity of my knees? As such, another day on our farm begins.

In the meantime, how is spring going for you? I hope you're managing to get all your spring tasks taken care of between rain storms. Holy moly, the rain this spring! But life goes on and so do we, I guess we just wear rubber boots.

I know it's been awhile since I've been able to say hi so I wanted to tell you a bit of what we've been up to. We've been, ummmm, busy. Spring on a farm is equal parts exhilarating and exhausting and it's my favorite time of year. The sense of renewal and relief that comes with watching the world wake up is what I wait for all winter. Blooming flowers, new babies, singing birds, growing grass, livestock in the living room...

If you couldn't tell, we are in the middle of lambing and calving season. In fact it all got started last week during that cold, wet spell. We worked over, over, over time making sure the cows and sheep had a place to keep out of the wind or wet. Temps in the 40's combined with constant rain and a hard wind is hypothermia weather, even for livestock. Our calves and lambs stay right on pasture to be raised by their mothers, so it's our job to make sure they all have what they need to do it well.

The cow herd came down to the home farm where the hills and hedgerows eliminated the wind and we built the sheep their very own prarie-schooner of a pasture shed using gates and recycled baleage plastic. It looked a little bit like the Clampetts moved to NY to raise sheep but it really did the job. Thus, into a wet, grey world the first lambs and calves were born and their farmer/shepherds waddled through it all in plastic rain pants.

Fortunately the weather warmed up and the hard work has been worthwhile; we have 18 healthy lambs and 12 happy calves out in the pastures at the moment. We are expecting about 40 lambs and 36 calves this year. Oh wait, about that one lamb in the house! His name is Arthur.

It has been a long time since we've had a bottle baby, which is a good thing! We want those youngin's with their mamas. But on a farm, things happen and so Arthur lives with us for now. The plan is to get him back with his flock when he is old enough to do some grazing and get by on less-frequent bottle feedings. Once he is completely weaned (from the bottle and my knees, apparently) he will be a friend for the ram who gets to cool his heels in a bachelor pad all summer. There I imagine they will laze about, swapping manly sheep stories and chewing the cud, perhaps while playing some checkers...?

Ok, back to being serious. Spring on the farm is hectic, tiring, inspiring, messy, magical, and perfectly imperfect all at the same time. We push and push ourselves to offer best care possible for our animals because we know you expect it of us. We expect it of ourselves. High welfare livestock care is really hard work--your support and encouragement for our farm helps make it happen. Thank you from the bottom of my heart and lamb-worn knees for that. I'm so glad you are here to share in it all.

Please read on for details about upcoming markets, where to find our food, how to support our farm in the coming weeks (farms always need that), and a great recipe from a customer. Onward and upward together folks! Now, if you'll excuse me I hear a "meaaaaaaaah" coming from the other room...

Love,
Kelly