Pinkie and some of her duck friends contemplate a lovely autumn morning. Those fleeces look so thick and luxuriant at this time of year. Too bad we can’t shear now and have to wait until spring by which time the ravages of a wet winter will have taken their toll!
Posted in Blog, Ducks, Sheep, Uncategorized
When I start clearing out a bed, it doesn’t take long for volunteers to come along behind me to clear out slugs and other undesirables. This is one of last year’s hugel beds, to which I’ll add a bit of compost before planting some garlic. I’ll mulch with a mix of hay and goat droppings from the goat pen and then sit back and wait for spring. Ah, garlic scapes…
It seems I am spending a lot of time these days staring at sow udders (yes, swelling – larger each day), squeezing sow teats (Pearl has been secreting milk for a week now, Cora not yet) and examining bedding for signs of excessive fluffing. Waiting for piglets to arrive is nerve-wracking! It’s good to be on hand at farrowing time to minimize squishing of newborns, but those sows don’t always provide details of their planned delivery times!
The girls are sure getting big!! Today we moved the portable electric fencing so they could forage in a new area of the forest and they took turns standing politely just inside the gate and snacking and rooting just as far as they could stretch. Given that pig necks are not that long, that wasn’t very far! I’m sure when they realize what treats await them in their new area they’ll be quite happy to explore every nook and cranny. While they are busy doing that, the area they’ve just vacated has been re-seeded with a nice pasture mix, all ready for the next round of piggy snouts!
What’s not to love about summer? The abundance of the harvest is making its way from the field and garden to The Alderley Grange… And, from there, to local dinner tables. The whole process from seed to crop to chow time is still a bit miraculous to me. Come share the joy and visit the farm stand Wed and Fri 3-7 or Saturday mornings 8:30-noon.
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