Gift Horse

Just a quick post to let those in blogland know that Isaiah and I each got an early Christmas gift yesterday.  In the form of four -well eight- legs, manes, and tails.  Rosie is a 15 year old grade paint, and Cork is her 2 yr. old son.  Rosie is well trained, Cork not so much.  Isaiah has fallen in love with him and his gentle disposition, as this photo attests:

 

We were lucky enough to get them home yesterday before it started snowing, though we've only gotten about three inches.  Gives me time to study up on training this new boy for my boy.  My mom was kind enough to remind me that it was twenty years ago that they gifted me with a horse for my sixteenth birthday present.  Rusty and I had a few good years before I had to sell him and head to college.  Hopefully Isaiah will have many years with Cork (or whatever he changes his name to) to come. Merry Christmas!

Rolling in to November...

Really, November?  Crazy.  I admit that I have been neglecting the blog, but will make an attempt to update more often. 
Things have been busy.  We finished off the summer with Farmers Market and lots of get togethers.  The Cook Area Farmers Market had a great year.  We all had a fun time while making sales too. 

GARDEN: We had a very good growing year.  The "new" front garden produced an abundance of produce that filled our bellies, freezer, jars, and plenty of shopping bags.



RED WATTLES: Gwennie, the red wattle sow, had a litter of 9 babies in the middle of September, sealing our commitment to selling meat at farmers market next year.  She's getting ready to wean the piglets in the next week or so, and then she'll have another visit from Lyle, the red wattle boar.  Unfortunately Lyle is now over three years old and over 800 pounds, meaning he will soon be sausage.  We will use him to breed Gwennie this month and then reassess our breeding program next Spring.  There are a few nice looking gilts (girls) in this batch of piglets, so I may hold them back for breeders and then buy a red wattle boar in the spring.  Lots of months before a decision has to be made. 

Isaiah giving Gwennie a bath.

SHETLAND SHEEP/LAMB: We had a good year of lamb sales, 12 ram lambs were butchered last month, and all but two have already been sold.  There is getting to be more and more interest in locally grown meat, which is a good thing! My plan is to put Hero in with his breeding group this coming week.  Jameson will be getting the six ewe lambs this season. They have all been getting high quality hay and lots of pumpkin in addition to the remaining pasture for the last two weeks, gearing up for breeding season. 
HIGHLANDS: The cattle are doing well, they are mostly Nate's domain at this time of the year.  We've been feeding hay for the last month. 
GOATS: We ended up with only one goat kidding this year, which meant I was only milking one goat, and a first freshener at that (first time she kidded/milked.) This lead to lots of work for not a lot of milk.  I just quit milking last week.  Nora, and Brie are currently residing with the cows, and with the boer buck we picked up from some friends. Billy Boy (or stinky Billy) as the boys call him, has hopefully done his job and I will have baby goats in the end of February.  Pippa will be heading to the pasture next door this week to have a date with him too.
POULTRY: We have been having some rough luck with the chickens and turkeys this summer.  The fox has become expert at picking off chickens, and it seems like he only gets the hens!  Our last batch of baby turkeys made it to three weeks, and then they all died within 48 hours.  We aren't sure what caused this, since they were in a jug in the barn with their momma hen having access to come and go at will.  We had also raised 15 guineas to 5 weeks old, before the fox decided they were tasty too.  It looks like we wll be paring down for the winter.  I have a few roosters that we hatched out this spring still to cull, so we will head into winter with about 15 chickens, 5 turkeys, and some of the magpie ducks.  Their numbers will be determined by what we can winter comfortably in the extra coop. 
CATS: The cat count currently stands at 5 (though Nate swears he has seen a stray around as well.)  We have Hank, TwoThree, Angel, and Curious living outside, with Purry being in/out as she pleases.  They have plenty of warm spots, along with a supply of food in the woodshed. 

BOYS: Last but not least, my boyos are growing.  Isaiah will be 5 in three days!! Koe will be 8 in just over a month.  They have had a busy summer and fall as well.  One of their favorite summer activities was taking the paddle boat on the river.  They knew their boundaries and spent some time fishing and having fun with friends.  Their interests now lean toward legos, video games, and more legos.  Last weekend we had a halloween party, with 50 kids in attendance.  Add in the adults and it was a busy house!  Food, games, and a hay ride made for lots of memories!

Rough Couple

I originally wrote this post a month ago, but couldn't get it to post.  Well here it is.  I'll update more soon.
It has been some rough times in our household the last few weeks.  July began with a bunch of thunderstorms in our area.  One of which caused a lightning strike/power surge to our electrical system.  Which caused my kitchen appliances and other assorted electronics to malfunction.  Like my range, which just continually beeps and gives an error code and 1-800 number, without allowing you to cook anything.  We are still in the process of an insurance claim, but this means it has been farmer's market days without fresh baked scones.  The weather has been VERY warm for northern Minnesota, so I was ok without cooking each day.  However, it is getting old.
We also lost our only heifer calf.  A combination of a mom with a poor udder, wet weather, and flies.  She did live in my kitchen for 20 hours, along with a bath in my bathtub and lots of tlc, but we couldn't pull her through. 
This last weekend was full with Kohen's tball tournaments.  We left our house early Sunday morning, but had a phone call from my dad during the first game.  When he drove down the driveway towards his place he saw a pig laying dead in the pasture.  It was Gertie, one of our breeder sows.  Frustrating because she was pregnant and would have given us piglets in September.  Nate posted her and the only abnormality he found was lungs filled with blood.  She hadn't shown any signs of infection, no coughing, or irregular breathing.  Needless to say, I have been watching Lyle and Gwennie extra close the last few days.  They are in a nice pasture with lots of shade and access to the pond, so heat isn't affecting them too much.  We now have decisions to make because it isn't cost effective to have only one sow and boar.  Of course this happened after our best farmers market of meat sales all summer.  Decisions, decisions. 

Beautiful Weather Grows Things

Our weather has been beautiful, if a bit windy some days.  The seventeen lambs are growing much quicker than they did last year.  We will see how it works lambing this month later than our usual schedule.  Scar is the last ewe left to lamb.  She looks miserable, but not ready to lamb yet.  All the sheep and goats are turned out to graze during the day and then locked back in the small pen with the barn in the evening.  River is learning to be a good herder, though he still has the occasional episode of "chase the donkey."  Last night Darla took exception to his herding and ended up chasing him all the way down to the Rice River. 
The ducks and chicks continue to grow as well.  I haven't planted anything in the gardens yet.  It is still getting below freezing at night.  My hope is to get onions and lettuce in yet today.  Best be heading back outside, the pigs are looking for some fresh cool water on this warm, windy day.

Lambing Continues & General Stuff

As of this moment we have 16 lambs. Annafleece and Scar have yet to lamb.  Our lambing stats are as follows:
live
7 ewe lambs
9 ram lambs
lost two: one ewe lamb to electric fence, and Cooley's ram lamb, stillborn

The color breakdown is as follows (of 18 lambs):
8 black
3 moorit
4 white
3 black & white spotted

We turned all of them out on pasture last night for a few hours, and then I turned them out this morning.  Yes, even poor recovering Cooley.  She's still not out of the woods, but just wants to be with the rest of the flock.  I've ceased her prevail shots, but I can tell she is still sore.  Heck, my hands hurt for two days after that event.
Nate and I made the decision to avoid rotational grazing with the electronet fence for now, after losing the lamb last weekend to the fence.  We will turn them out for the day, and then everyone will be locked back in the smaller pen by the barn for night.  After losing two lambs last year to an owl/eagle, I am more cautious.  Daisy and the three dairy goats (Nora, Brie, and Pippa) are in the field with the sheep this morning. 

 River, who likes to sleep in my closet, which can lead to some issues.

Last night was the first time I used River, the border collie we got this winter, with all the sheep.  He does a great job herding the sheep, but we have to work on his donkey skills.  River helped get all the sheep back to the barn last night, but instead of "turning off" he decided to chase the donkey a few rounds.  Guess we need to work more on recall.  After five minutes of laying still while I shut the gate he was back in his own head. Right now he can see all the sheep and goats from the great room window.  It is driving him crazy.  I know if I turned him outside he would spend the day walking the fence line.  

This little ewe was Pamela's contribution this year.  My sixth graders named her Portia.  She is small, but vigorous.  Pamela is a ewe that came with the rest of the shetland flock four years ago.  She had a ram lamb at her side.  She also had a case of a blocked teat, and a horrible looking udder that was quite large, hence the name Pamela.  Pamela is one of our oldest ewes, and a horned ewe.  However, this trait has never been passed on to any of her daughters.  Last year she had a single ram lamb.  Two years ago she gave us Cornelia and Marie, who are still part of the flock.  When we sheared I was not impressed with Pamela's condition.  She was much thinner than the rest of the flock.  Wish that happened to me as I get older!

It is a frosty morning, and I am still anxious to get to work on the gardens.  The back porch again resembles a greenhouse, and my tomatoes are growing faster than ever.  Nate is off enjoying the fishing opener and I have to wait until we till the gardens and put fence back up.  My onion sets, lettuce, and peas are ready to go in the ground. 





DIG, my new favorite beer.  I love the artwork on the bottle too.

A quick Purry post.  Purry is the cat that I brought home as a "door prize" from last falls Farmers Market Party.  She is a very sweet kitty but had wanted to start going outside this spring.  We had her fixed, since we have some feral cats around.  For about four days we had been letting her outside during the day, and she would not venture much further than the front yard.  Well, last Wednesday we came home to find her dragging herself across the front yard.  She was paralyzed.  The next day I ran her to the vet on my lunch break.  X-rays and exam later, the vet believes she was hit by a vehicle.  Her pelvis was crushed.  So, we brought her home with pain meds and it's been a week of TLC. She has regained use of her left hind leg, and is able to move around the house.  Slower than perfect Purry, but she's doing ok. 

We live at the end of a dirt road. Not a lot of traffic.  However, they are replacing our underground power lines, so there has been a lot of vehicles and equipment.  That is probably what happened to our poor Purry.  The power company has also annoyed me greatly with all the unscheduled power outages the new lines have caused.  I have eggs in the incubator that are two days away from hatching.  We'll see if they hatch or not!

Better head back out to check the sheep, Enjoy the beautiful weekend!

Cooley Update & New Lamb

After the barn drama of last night, I slept fitfully, worrying about Cooley.  As I walked down to the barn this morning the first thing I see at the gate is Pamela, cleaning off a newborn lamb.  What a peaceful, happy image to replace the birth trauma of last night.  She is now in a jug with her beautiful moorit krunet ewe lamb (brown with white on her head, girl.) 
In the jug next to her Cooley is still with us.  Sore and swollen, I hope she makes it.  She had another dose of Prevail and antibiotic this morning.  She has passed the afterbirth, but still weak.  Enough energy was present for her to stand up and stomp at me once when I went in to give her a shot.  Time will tell.
That leaves five ewes still to lamb.  Our current lamb count is at eleven.  We lost Time's ewe lamb, Foxface, on Saturday in the electronet fence.  First time we have ever lost a lamb to the fence, and we've been using it for six years.  Nate, the boys, and I spent Saturday evening replacing the electronet fence with hog panels.  Won't make my goal of twenty lambs this year.  Hopefully everyone continues to be born healthy, and no more difficult births. Such is life on the farm.

Barn Bucket List: Activities hope NEVER to repeat

This is going to be quick, and definitely rambling, but I had to get the thoughts out of my head.  With the hope of never repeating the experience.
WARNING: GRAPHIC, AND A BIT SAD, DON'T READ IF YOU DON'T WANT A TRUE FARM EXPERIENCE.
Nate and I arrived home within minutes of each other this afternoon, and both headed to the barn to check on the sheep and lambs.  We had seven ewes still to lamb, and ten busy little lambs bopping around.  Cooley (2011 lamb Cocoa/Marshmallow) had evident signs of birthing soon by looking at her back end.  I decided to jug her (put her in small lambing area) to keep her from everyone else bugging her.  After 1/2 an hour I could only see one hoof, and she wasn't pushing too much, even though she had signs of having HAD a large water bag previously.  A bit more watching and I decided there was a problem.  She wasn't pushing in the typical style, more straining as if having a bowel movement, and not laying down and "getting to business".  I investigated and found two large front hooves, but no head.  A quick call up to the house for Nate's assistance and I attempted to find the lamb's head.  It was way back, unable to be passed through Cooley's small pelvis.  Not good.  I tried every technique I could, even referencing my sheep handbook.  It was a situation of impossibles.  Big lamb, poor presentation (he kept turning his head back instead of between his front legs, which is "normal" presentation.) 
Tears, frustration, hitting head against jug wall.  We moved the whole operation to the main barn area, more room, more leverage.  No good.  Lots of iodine, lube, and things still weren't moving along.  Poor Cooley was in so much pain and so tired.  Finally I was able to get a rope around the lambs head and get that to move through the pelvis, only to have the legs slip back in.  More invasive moves by me found one leg, and finally with Nate pulling the lamb, and me holding poor Cooley, we delivered the large black ram lamb. 
As poor Cooley looked on in shocked relief we tried everything to get that baby breathing.  Spinning, rubbing, straw, even mouth to mouth.  After over five minutes we accepted that he wasn't ever to draw a breath.  Gently we put Cooley in a jug with fresh hay, water, a shot of prevail (pain reliever) and some antibiotics, and a hope that she can pull through this traumatic experience.  Traumatic for all involved.  Including this shepherdess who would have looked at you in disbelief if you had told her she would be up to her forearm in the back end of a sheep, ten years ago when I was living in town, thinking that the stress of getting paperwork done was the end of the world. 
It's an experience crossed off my bucket list.  That means I don't have to repeat it, right?

Lambing 2012: The Hunger Games

Lambing 2012 began late last Sunday night with Northwestern (1/2 Jacobs, 1/4 Shetland, 1/4 Suffolk) giving birth to an all white ewe.
Our naming theme for this year is The Hunger Games.  I read the book with the sixth graders this year and we all loved it so much that I figured it was a good theme.
So, meet Clove.   

On Tuesday morning Time greeted me with a moorit/krunet ewe (who unfortunately I don't have a picture uploaded of yet)  named Foxface.

Nate text me right before lunch that a "small brown one with

a metal ear tag was in labor.  Tyrconnel, one of last year's lambs, gave birth to this sweet, very small ewe lamb.  We named her Rue. Despite her size she is doing well.  When I checked her teeth yesterday morning they still hadn't erupted through her gums (she was definitely early.)

 On Thursday morning I did barn check to find J.J cleaning off a gorgeous black ewe lamb.  This lamb is 3/4 shetland, 1/4 icelandic, a mix that we are really appreciating.  She has the easy temperament of both her mom and grandmom, Fiona.  We named her Prim.

If you are keeping track, at this point four lambs, all ewes, with no crazy coloring or markings, and all singles, which had Nate stressing a bit.  Our market for lamb meat continues to grow and we've been taking lots of deposits for lamb come fall.  We have never butchered a ewe lamb.  They are always retained for the growth of our flock or sold to others. 

Darla finally broke the pattern on Friday morning (4/27).  She was cleaning off this ram lamb at 5:30 in the morning.  Again another single.  At this point I'm not complaining about singles because all of the lambs have been healthy, vigorous and with the exception of Rue, bigger than lambs we've had in the past.  Because of his flashy markings he is named Cinna.

Saturday morning I spend quite a bit of time with the sheep, Moving all the moms and babies except Darla out of the jugs since it was a warm, sunny day.  Everybody was getting along well, Daisy was curious of the new little arrivals, but was being well mannered and protective.  I should have taken a picture yesterday morning of her meeting little Rue for the first time, Nate and I were both on guard because she could have taken out the little lamb with one blow.  She sniffed her, watched her carefully and then went on eating. 

No one looked like they were doing anything exciting so I continued with the variety of other farm chores: transplanting seedlings, planting seeds, feeding baby pigs, entertaining two boys with a picnic....

At 2pm I checked the barn and Jacobs was just cleaning off a colorful ram lamb.  Jacobs has been with us since the beginning of my shepherding, given us ten lambs (twins each year) with Northwestern being the sole girl in all those lambs. I could tell that Jacobs was going to twin, but she took her time about it.  My mom came out to see the new lambs and was able to witness the birth of the second lamb, a beautiful HST ewe. 

Peeta                                                                  Katniss

So current lamb count is at seven, five ewes and two rams.  Six ewes have lambed, with ten to go.  I sure hope we get more twins and more rams.  We are very pleased with the quality of lambs this year.  All look very healthy, though I have to admit that my ewes all look very well fed, even after giving birth. 

In other farm news, baby pigs are being weaned, and getting ready to head to their new homes.  We have sold all of them as feeders this year.  The baby ducks are doing well, having been moved to the garage.  We also have 12 chicks that made the move to the garage yesterday.  I am expecting a hatch of turkey poults in the hayloft in the next three days.  The rest of the turkey hens have become experts at hiding their eggs, so we have not incubated any.  No new calves to report and we have 1 1/2 months or more until baby goats.

Come Visit Us at Earthfest!

We are gearing up for Saturday, and the fourth annual Iron Range Earthfest. This is a local event that has grown to include three venues and over 80 exhibitors and speakers. Visit here to get the details. This is our third time having a booth, and this year we have lots of pork to sell along with a limited supply of goat milk soap, some fleece, and some great birdhouses built by Kohen. We are also going to be taking deposits on fall lamb. So if you are in the area, please stop by. Nate and I will be at our booth or right next booth at the Cook Area Farmers Market booth. Should be a good time.
In farm news, we now have 15 magpie ducklings residing in the back porch, along with 15 chicks that have hatched in the incubator the last few days. It's a noisy room! Still no lambs, though that is ok. We had our first snowday of the year for school, on Monday, April 16! It rained all day Sunday and then turned over to snow late Sunday night. By the time all the phones in the house began ringing at 5:45 am (school alert system proclaiming school was closed) we had ten inches of heavy, wet, snow. The boys thought it was great, and I won't complain about the day off. It did make the school week a bit rougher with rescheduling state testing and the like.
As of today most of our snow has again melted, raising the river and lake levels considerably. This is a good thing considering we had very dry conditions before it. Now hoping for green grass, warmer temps, and lots of lambs!!!

5 MInute Update

Yes, I actually set the timer for five minutes and am typing a quick update post.

Calves- still only Choice. Not sure what the rest of the girls are waiting for. The bulls are not happy about their separation, but it will last for a few more months at least.

Pigs- Would you believe Gertie and Gwennie both went into labor at the same time? On a Monday morning, of course. Between the two we have 16 beautiful baby red wattle piglets, over half of them are already spoken for. We haven't decided if we will be raising any feeders this summer or not, we'll see what the demand looks like after Earthfest. A new pasture area for the pigs is in the works, as soon as Nate and I get time to fence.

Sheep- Shearing went well, our assistants all oohed and aaahhed over the wool, there may have been some wheeling and dealing, and plenty of claiming, but at the end of the night 10 of the 20 fleeces had new owners! Sandy C. has already begun working with Darla's fleece, and claimed it for next year! She even sent a skein of it over for me. My poor spinning wheel hasn't seen any action since last summer.

Boys- The boys are both doing well, getting anxious for summer and more time at home with their animals. Isaiah's having a rough day of it today- his ear tube (place two years ago) is coming out, and causing him some pain. They spent time this morning at the local easter basket extravaganza, and both came home happy.

Growing things- I have heirloom tomatoes, herbs, and peppers under lights in the back porch, my seeds and potatoes should get here next week. Now for more warmth in the soil so things can begin to grow outside.

My five minutes is up, More to come!

Hi Don M!!!

Shearing Date Set = Spring Must Be Near!

Yes, and Shearing is only a week away! I won't be shearing as close to lambing this year. Ewes aren't due until mid April, but I was happy to get our wonderful shearer Brian Fitzpatrick booked again this year. This is the fifth year he has sheared for us, and the fifth year we have had sheep to shear! Don't mess up a good thing right?
We have had wonderful, very warm for northern MN, temperatures lately. Most of the snow is melted, and we are all hoping it stays that way.
The sows are ready to farrow, we are waiting on more calves, and the lambs. I also ordered 15 magpie ducklings. Magpie's are a heritage breed, listed as critical. They are known for their good foraging habits, and a taste for those nasty slugs and snails that carry the dreaded deer liver fluke our area is lucky enough to have. We lost three sheep to it last year. Not a fun thing. We are excited for some ducks again. Not to mention less snails!

Pork For Sale

Finally! After hours of researching, phone calls, and debating, we found a USDA inspected processor that sounded like a good fit for processing our red wattle pork. The only hitch- 250 miles away! One of the disadvantages of living in northern Minnesota I guess. Nate's logged 1,000 miles in the past few weeks to deliver six pigs to the processor and then a return trip to bring home 44 boxes of processed pork. We are now able to sell pork by the package. Delicious, pasture raised, red wattle pork. The ham and bacons are smoked, uncured, nitrate and nitrite free (processed with celery juice, organically.) It was worth it- I think. If I can sell this round of product we may have some more available in the future. Otherwise, we may be moving out of the pork business. Keeping the pigs is the most costly venture on our diversified farm. They may be on pasture, but they still want grain, and grain is expensive, especially when you live in the woods!

If you would like to purchase some of this delicious product PLEASE, please, send me a message and I will hook you up. (tifanybriggs at yahoo dot com) All quantities are limited to the stock on hand. Though right now that involves a number of freezers full! I did sell 1/4 of our available pork chops yesterday though!

Pork Prices
Description Price per Pound
Butt Roast 4.49
Chops 6.75
Spare Ribs 5.25
Tenderloin 10.49
Loin Roast 6.15
Breakfast Sausage 4.99
Breakfast Sausage Links 7.49
Bacon 8.20
Ham Steak 8.25
Ham Roast 6.75
Pork Steak 8.25
Bratwurst 7.49
Wild Rice Mushrm Brats 7.49

Bratwurst

Pork Chops

Farmers Please!

Nate just returned from the Minnesota Organic Conference, so I'm sure some of the ideas will be spilling over to this blog. First idea, if you are a farmer (no matter how small) sing up for the census of agrigulture form. If they don't know we are here, they ignore us.
The link is here. Give small farmers a voice. I'm going there now.

New Header Picture

You might notice that I finally changed the lush July clover picture to a picture more suiting of the season. I haven't spent much time outside with the camera lately, but last week I managed to snap a quick picture of a couple of the Highlands before they mobbed the gate for treats. From left to right: Sophie Lou, a glimpse of Goldilocks in the back, Wooly Bully, and Nonie.

Those are our goats!

Yes, Nora and Brie have made their debut on a blog much larger (and more frequently updated) than mine.
Jackie Clay blogged about our breeding barter here . It's weird not to be greated by maaaing when I step out the door, but I'll be very excited to see what we get come June. We bred the girls to a boer cross last year, and were very pleased with the resulting offspring, one of whom is Pippa. This time around Nora and Brie are both being bred to a 100% Boer buck, and Pippa to a Boer/Nubian cross buck. Jackie chooses her Boers from milky lines, so I'm excited to see what rate of milk production we get out of Pippa. Thankfully since the babies won't arrive till summer I won't have to be doing any milking while school is still in session.
The goats are not Nate's favorite, though he does appreciate their milk. He hasn't said anything about missing them this week though...

I know,,,

7 years old!

4 years old!

Our newest addition, Purry.

yes, it's been way too long since I've blogged. No excuses, though I have to blame pinterest for some of my computer time being pulled away from blogging. It's addictive!

Quick recap of Fall: it was filled with busy times, kids' activities, lots of butchering, lots of chores, breeding groups arranged, and a few birthdays.

We finally had the opportunity to enjoy our home-grown red wattle pork. Five pigs were butchered in November, and were delicious! I can honestly say that it is the best pork I have had (especially the bacon!) We have been enjoying it!

Ten lambs were also butchered this fall, with less satisfactory results- the meat was great, just not a lot of it. The lack of rain in the end of summer and poor pasture management on my part led to lambs that were smaller than average. We did butcher a 2 1/2 year old ram, and he tastes very good. I was skeptic, but other than a bit tougher meat, the flavor is excellent! Plus the chops are more than one bite.

Lyle was moved back in with sows Gertie and Gwennie in November, and Hero was moved to the herd of 17 ewes in November too. It will be a busy spring! The goat girls- Nora

, Brie, and Pippa just made a trip to Jackie and Will's farm this past weekend for a visit with two of their bucks. This puts goat kids arriving in June, but that's ok. T-Rex our berkshire boar also made the trip to visit their gilts.

Our weather has been so mild that the cows are eating a lot less hay than projected. Nate has been spending time at some workshops to increase his expertise on the beef and marketing front. I'm just happy he's so willing to do extra chores before he leaves. Doing chores by headlamp has its challenges!

School is going well and I am still very thankful I made the move. Learning how to deal with sixth graders on a daily basis has its challenges, but we are managing! The realization of how much stress I was under at my old position is more evident now that I have some time to step back and look at it. I take the time to relax and enjoy my family more now. The biggest difference is probably my ability to leave work at work.

With our crazy warm weather this January well up until today, (it was 41 yesterday, but 8 degrees right now) the spring bug has definitely imbeded itself in my skin. Seed orders, planning for the farm, lots of ideas. Our biggest challenge right now is determining how fast to grow the size of our operations. More to come on that front!