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Category Archives: Farm
Orchard Harvest
This has been a great year for fruit in Southwest Michigan. Even my little orchard has produced like magic, and I don’t know if it was due to the good weather in the spring or just what I should have … Continue reading
Taming the Lambs, and Reupholstering
I have been speed-taming my new lambs, sitting with them quietly several times a day, knowing that by Tuesday they must be released into the pasture. I’m not sure a week was enough. They don’t seem as afraid of me … Continue reading
A Promising Spring on the Farm
You know how farmers are, eternally pessimistic and complaining about the conditions every single year. In that, I am not a natural farmer because I tend to be an optimist and forever look on the bright side. Some people find … Continue reading
Preparing a Sheep Trap
I’m waiting anxiously for the sheep shearer to contact us to say what day he will be here to shear Eddy and the girls. It has dragged on for weeks with us on alert for that call to come. The … Continue reading
New Goat, New Sweater
It has been a surprisingly busy month, with travel plans, spring chores, band concerts, and prepping for new animals in the barnyard. We were waiting for a stretch of dry weather to bring home the new goat, but it never … Continue reading
Posted in Farm, Farm Animals, Fiber crafts
Tagged lambs wool sweater, pygora goat, shetland lambs
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Adding to the Farm Family
Spring is sprouting and it is baby animal season! We made a decision not to have our Shetland ewes get bred, and instead to buy a couple more babies to fill out the herd. We are going to the breeder … Continue reading
Gray days of February
Covid precautions, doctor visits, snowstorms… It seems that not much is moving in February. We are planning a mini-getaway in March but my husband’s recent back pain has been putting things into suspended animation for a few months. I think … Continue reading
Posted in Farm, Fiber crafts
Tagged bluebirds, designing a sweater, Knitting, shetland wool, spinning, weaving
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Nothing Special
I love those blessed days of “nothing special.” We already had most of the holiday rehearsals and concerts, the parties, the present-buying, etc. Now, it is happily a smooth ride into the final holidays of the year. I find myself … Continue reading
Lessons Learned About Grapes
Ok, last year I thought I was smart to prune my concord grapes in the early summer, giving the lovely little green baby bunches lots of sunshine and air. At the end of the season, I was so disappointed to … Continue reading
September Shift
We are moving into the next stage on the farm, with new crops coming ripe and new colors taking precedence in the fields. The goldenrod is becoming king of the landscape, and all other flowers are stepping back to make … Continue reading
Posted in Farm, Farm Animals, Gardening
Tagged goats and sheep, goldenrod, orchard, parsnips
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A Couple Interesting Things
This week I attended the Michigan Fiber Festival, at the Allegan County Fairgrounds. I go every couple of years and it is a special treat if I can take a class while I am there. This year I signed up … Continue reading
Posted in Farm, Fiber crafts, Gardening
Tagged homespun, insect eggs, michigan fiber fest, spinning yarn
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Reptilian Repose
We have our own “Brutus” the snapping turtle living in the pond this year. I normally only see him (or her) in the spring at egg-laying time, but I was surprised to see that he dragged himself up onto the … Continue reading
Posted in Farm, Farm Animals
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The Busy Season
August and September are crazy busy on our farm. All the summer crops are ripening up and we are switching out the spring plantings for new fall crops, such as spinach and lettuce. My husband went to town planting potatoes … Continue reading
Moist Days in Michigan
After an unusually dry spring, the weather has finally caught up and it is very humid and rainy. We needed it! The prairie fields around us are waving in the long-awaited yellows of cone flowers, brown-eyed Susans, and tall clover, … Continue reading
Cat in the Patch
Mickey, the barn cat, is lonely. The other cat does not come around much and doesn’t want to play with him anyway. When one of us is out at the barn and Mickey shows up, he “meows” loudly, rubbing against … Continue reading
Posted in Farm, Farm Animals
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The In-Between Weeks
Ah, the sweet moments between Spring and Summer! The fields are back up to a foot or two of growth after their spring mowing and the earliest wildflowers are beginning to bloom — purple vetch and bladder flowers. The concord … Continue reading
Posted in Farm, Farm Animals, Gardening
Tagged asian bittersweet, feeding produce to goats, poison ivy, spring crops
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Fleece As White As Snow
The sheep are sheared and vaccinated, and now on to the fiber! I am amazed how much wool came off those two little sheepies. I decided to work on Cookie’s first, as she is smaller than her sister. I laid … Continue reading
Bluestem Pond 