Visitors

We've had some visitors on the farm over the last couple weeks and we've loved it! So have the animals!
Here's a photo of A (Annah), B (Bennett) and C (Corinne) checking out one of the raised beds with D (Danny) was helping my mom figure out what some of her plants were that were starting to pop up.
We love when ABCD visit the farm - it's always a fun time filled with little projects (or learning fun tips from Danny), talking, laughing and often hearing some silly comments from Bennett. This visit's (which was on March 9th)? As we walked around the yard and came on the garden, Bennett looked right at Aunt Connie (my mom) and said, "This isn't very much of a garden!" Mom's response? "It's winter!"

Now, Bennett's no stranger to what a good garden looks like and thankfully, after a little exploring, he started to see what will soon to be a great looking garden.

Oh yea, Annah had a pretty good time in the garden too...

Wish we could plant her and grow some more - she's so darn cute!!

And lets not forget about the sheep! The sheep liked ABCD visiting too. I caught this picture of little Annah tonguing up the glass door as the sheep were walking by outside early on in their visit.
We went out to see the sheep not long after this shot, so ABCD could meet Ava, the little lamb, and Bennett got the chance to give the girls (and Franklin) some "cookies". Those sheep sure love their cookies and Bennett did a really good job giving them out to everyone. Annah was pretty happy just wandering around and playing with the gates.

On the 16th, we had another visit from Brenna, Kim and Emma. Emma was so excited about the sheep that she kept chasing them around. Unfortunately, that's not the way to make friends with them and they just kept running away. Maybe next time they'll get off on a better foot. Emma didn't leave without some love though - here's Beau Beau excited to get a pet and some treats.
Emma also got to pet little Ava who Shelly was nice enough to hold for her and left seeming to be pretty determined to talk her dad into letting her have a pet chick. She took home two farm fresh eggs too ... to eat, not hatch though.
Did I mention we love visitors to the farm?

update

Exciting things here!

There was a baby sheep born last week, lots of little plants coming up inside, new chickens ordered, peas planted, raised beds are doing well, onion sets are ready to plant, garlic is 3 inches tall and I am going to have a wonderful garden this year!

Baa baa baby black sheep

That's right - there's a new baby on the farm!! Michelle and mom called to say there was a new little black, female sheep on the farm and, obviously, she's adorable!

Who's the proud mama?
Little miss Rain, the black ewe born spring of 2010 (on a very RAINy day)!

Personally, I love Rain. I think she's just a perfect example of a Babydoll Sheep. She's got a great smile, is cute sheered or woolly and although she was a little shy when she was younger, she's gotten more bold and social. As it turns out, Rain is also a wonderful, wonderful mom! Little baby was screaming away and once in their bonding pen, Rain was all over her - cleaning and kissing the baby. It was really cute!

Quote of the day goes to my mom: {Rain} is the only one I thought wasn't pregnant.

So, there are more babies to come this spring/mild end of winter here in Jersey, but for now we'll spoil you with photos of our first this season...

planting has begun!

Mom wrote today that she planted 10 herbs ... and she kept on going, I guess, because she later texted me: "Basil, oregano, dill, chives, rosemary, sage, lavender, cilantro, thyme, broccoli, eggplant - so cool! And pototo eyes in cold frame."

A Successful Farm Day!

First thing this morning, a family came to pick up several of our very beautiful (very annoying) wild chickens. My mom saw a post online last night of a family looking for some more to add in with several young hens they had.. So we went out to catch a few. 3 roosters and 2 wild hens less here! Slowly we are getting rid of them!

Moving along with the farm day, we also had conversations with several people about our broken tractor and possibly selling it after posting it on craigslist. We found a great group of people down the road interested and came to a deal! And, they said they'd be able to help from time to time on the farm, something we could use..

Babies!!

Just when we were sure that there were no babies arriving this spring, we were shocked!!

On May 4th, 2 days before Shelly was coming home from school and two months after most of our lambs have arrived, little Fawn was outside in the pasture when we went to feed the sheep that night. We were shocked! Mom actually cried a bit she was so happy..

Fawn is a gorgeous baby black girl sheep. She looks just like a little baby deer - very leggy. I don't know if it's just the fact there is only one this year or what, but she looked gigantic as soon as she was born!

She's a month old now and beautiful! She hops around, jumps, leaps, kicks her little legs and chases the wild roosters (definitely my favorite hobby of hers). She's often in places she shouldn't be making me wonder if the "bad" gene is in Arthur's blood since her half brother Franklin is also a big brat! Sure, we had 4 babies last year, but just this one is pretty fun too.

Why the plural with the subject when there's just one lamb??
My you're quick!

Well, we've got baby ducks too!!

As of yesterday, there's one adorable baby :) The ducks (because, yes, there are two ducks on one nest!) have been sitting on a nest for some time now and I think we were all starting to suspect that much like the sheep, the ducks were not going to have any babies either ... but we shall see.
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Tips On Tuesday

Basil repels flies and mosquitoes.

To deter ants, use catnip by sprinkling it in their paths.

Tips On Tuesday

Smelly shoes? stick a piece of well-burnt toast in each one and leave them overnight – the carbon will absorb the bad smell.