Missing Willow Farm

 Chick Days at Tractor Supply!  I won’t even walk in there this time of year unless we’re ready for chicks because I can’t walk out without a couple or dozen.  I got four red sexlink layers and ten cornish rock for the freezer.   Bindi was fascinated by the little peepers.  They also had ducks and bantams.  I think I need to visit Chick Days again….

The lambs are getting braver about being away from mom.  They are no longer stuck like glue to them.  This little guy went missing a few nights ago.  We heard his mom screaming for him after dark and went out with our ATV and a floodlight and did a grid search of 8 acres after exhaustively searching the barn.  After over an hour in sub freezing weather, Brian found him wedged between our sliding barn door and the side of the barn.  We had to dismantle the door from it’s track to get him out.  We gave him a disappearing magician’s name.  David (Blaine/Copperfield) was too common.  Houdini and Siegfried were too fussy.  Meet Roy.

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There were many doubters about this crazy plan…. but it worked(!)  How to get a lamb on a spit, coals and fire included, from a festival location to an after party 8 blocks away?  Hook it to a golf cart and drag it through rush hour traffic, of course.  There were zero issues on the trip out, a cop even moved the barricade for us.  On the trip back at 4AM, a cop pulled up and suggested there might be a better time to do this.  Seriously?  A better time than 4AM?

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We don’t get off the farm very often, which makes those rare excursions pretty special.  We had the privilege of supporting a good friend and shepherd with spit roasting his lambs at the Charleston Wine and Food Festival last weekend.  We also got to tag along to amazing parties, after parties and an impromptu midnight gathering by the water featuring oysters, lamb sloppy joes and famous chefs.  I’m tired!

I took Mo to visit the hen house.  We didn’t stay long because the chickens freaked out.  I guess because he’s about the same size as a raccoon.

We are really enjoying produce from the greenhouse.  I’ve been making stir fry and quiche with the broccoli we’ve harvested.  This variety is called DeCicco.  It makes small raab-like heads vs. the big ones.  The carrots are finally big enough to harvest and the kohlrabi finds it’s way onto our table often.

Putting out a new bale of hay is a production.  The bales are stored outside of the pasture in stacks under tarps. Everyone needs to be put up, or else they follow the tractor and risk being crushed.  The sheep go in their feeding pen, the goats in the barn and jack in the tractor bay.  A brand new bale is a treat!

Lambs and kids spend a good amount of their day leaping and frolicking about.  After a few months, they become more ‘grounded’.  Until then, they’re fun to watch!

Can you stand the cuteness?