We couldn't be more thrilled to announce kidding season is finally over. Cassie gave birth to a single sundgau buckling last Friday. She is being permitted to dam-raise him for convenience, she has been an excellent mother and he is a large, growthy buck kid and ate his fill within about 20 minutes of birth without any assistance from us.
The barn is full of fresh, green, sweet smelling hay from our front field. Rog and the guys worked their tails off over about a day and a half to stack and then re-stack about 900 bales in various barns in the neighborhood. Finally a reprieve from these ridiculous hay prices! The new alfalfa hay is certainly helping to play a part in making the delicious cheeses that seem to make their way onto the table at nearly every meal.
The pigs still look like ham. They've nearly doubled their weight already and are much more sociable than when they first arrived. They scramble out of their straw-burrows as soon as the first splash of milk hits the feed pan and quickly burst into a chorus of slurps and snorts and wag their freaky little tail-stubs in slow motion the entire time. So far they seem to like chevre, strawberries and oats the best. Ironically they gobbled up a bit of leftover baked beans earlier..........get it?
We've definitely utilized these beautiful evenings to the fullest. All of the shrubs are trimmed, beds weeded and freshly mulched. The berries are forming, the branches are already loaded with tiny apples and the newly planted gooseberry bush is settling in. The asparagus have already gone to seed, the tomatoes and peppers are flourishing and the zucchini, cucumbers, beans, peas, carrots and potatoes have emerged. The birds screwed with my neatly arranged rows of corn by unearthing several kernels but the kale, turnips, watermelons, cantaloupes, pumpkins, squash and gourds seem ok. I should definitely take pictures very soon before the Canadian thistle wins the war.
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