Hen Shelter, Box Jumping, A Long Walk
Jumping into spring mode. This is my favorite time of year. And the most overwhelming time of year. Too many things on the list. I think I need about 12 months of just spring. People ask how I’m sleeping with the new baby. I think the baby might be sleeping better than I am. Ha. Can’t seem to get my mind turned off at night.
Still feeding cows, but cutting back on their hay as grass grows. Our bred heifers should start dropping calves in the next week or so.
We’re trying out a new egg laying setup. Most of yesterday was devoted towards assembling a new moveable chicken shelter for the egg layers that we can move daily to fresh pasture along with our meat birds. Of course, as with most of my assembly projects, it took twice as long as it should’ve due to undoing and re-doing several steps. By mid afternoon, we had the laying ladies settled in their new home. I hope it serves both them and the land well.
Our laying hens spent the winter in the brooder. Now that they’re back on pasture, it’s time to clean out the brooder to get ready for the first round of baby chicks in a week or so.
This year Hasten has decided to get in the egg business with Hallie as they’ll take care of a few hens in their backyard chicken coop.
On Tuesday we filled beef herd shares for March. The kids helped some and played some. If they weren’t helping us empty out boxes of meat, they were piling up empty boxes to jump in and on them. Who needs a tablet when you have a cardboard box?
More broth making in the on-farm kitchen. We’re throwing meat on the smoker this evening for more ORVF pulled pork. Instead of the Abingdon Farmers Market tomorrow, Amy will be pulling pork. Saturday markets start back 8:00-noon in April.
The highlight of the week for me was a long family walk on Sunday afternoon. Though probably not making the highlight reel for the kids, hopefully it will at least be logged into their memory file. Our family of seven drove 10 miles up the valley just in to Bland county, where we parked and walked the back roads back home.
Less than a mile in, we were second guessing our decisions and considered whether or not to turn back. Carter’s short little legs had to maintain a steady trot to keep up with our walking pace. She often hitched a ride on the stroller with her 3 week old little brother. A beautiful day for a walk in a beautiful valley.
Though Leon was fussy for a spell, the other kids kept their complaining to a minimum. I think it helped that Amy and the kids had just finished listening to A LONG WALK TO WATER by Linda Sue Park on their last delivery. In the story, Nya had to walk roughly 8 hours everyday through scorching heat just to carry water back home for her family.
“Home for just long enough to eat, Nya would now make her second trip to the pond. To the pond and back, to the pond and back. Nearly a full day of walking altogether. This was Nya’s daily routine seven months of the year. Daily. Every single day.”
This helped keep our leisurely Sunday afternoon walk in perspective. As well as a grateful appreciation for fresh clean water and a hot shower when we finally made it back home.
Have a good week.
Will