It has been a long time since I have posted on the blog. There have been some changes. I have new horses that I will write about soon. I cut my hair and remodeled the house. Spring this year launched itself with a vengeance after a relatively mild winter. Almost everything is at least two weeks early. This will have some repercussions for the summer.
I decided to move away from the fjord horses for several reasons. Their smaller size meant that I had to use three horses for some jobs. Ever since my beloved Tora has grown too old to work a regular longer session, I have not found a team that I like. I have been spoiled. The new fjord Molly is stubborn. The problem with having tractors is that it is easy to use them when horses are a bit of a pain. If I had to work the horses to get anything done, I would work through the difficulties. Instead, I fully admit that I am on the look for the "perfect" team. For me, this is a kind and easy going pair that even beginners could drive. I purchased Brandy and Babe last year. They each had colts and that was fun but Brandy has proved to be less easy going than I had hoped and I have replaced her with Bonnie, a percheron mare. With the early spring, I will be able to begin work with them on Sunday.
When the weather turns warm, do you hope that you can plant early and step up your planting schedule? For some things, it is too late because they take a certain amount of time to grow. Stretching out the season would also take more ground to plant extra plantings of say broccoli. I am shooting for adding one extra week on the front end and having some things ready for an earlier delivery, sugar snap peas for example. The internal rhythm that runs my farm clock will be off and so I will have to plan and scheme more than usual. There are many questions... Will the insects arrive earlier? Will potato bugs be past their peak when the potatoes are up? What should I plant to fill in the gaps that will be left from planting earlier.
The greenhouse is heated (as much as you need in a mild year like this) and is beginning to fill up. It is nice to be back to working outside and being active. With this job, you have to roll with what ever the weather brings. I try and enjoy the warm, mild days and the early greening up and push away the feeling of dread that this is another sign of global climate change.
I borrowed a boar to breed my two sows and he is happily established on the farm. Sows heat cycle is 17-24 days. Gumdrop came back into heat and has been bred again. I hope she settles so I can return the boar to his home. With corn at $6.50 a bushel, it is expensive to keep him. Piglets will be born in July. I'll keep you posted.
