Missing Willow Farm

Summer will be weaned in a few weeks.  We’ve started cutting her formula back and assuring she can hold her own at the grain feeder.  All the babies are eating grass.  She’ll eventually get only water in her bottle then it will disappear.  I think we’ll tell her the Easter Bunny took it.  🙂

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We’re getting ready to plant our bed of potatoes for the year, aside from the few plants we have remaining in the greenhouse.  We ordered Yellow Finn seedling potatoes.  They come with small eyes already growing on them.  We cut them into chunks that have around 3 eyes on them then let them sit overnight.  We saved some starter potatoes from our batch of red, blue, and white fingerling potatoes from last year.  They’ve been sitting in a vegetable drawer in one of our refrigerators since last summer.  Those have quite large eyes growing on them!   Here’s hoping for a banner crop.

Apple blossoms are bursting everywhere on the trees we planted six years ago.  We are really lousy at growing enough apples to actually eat.  We usually only get a few on each tree then deer and insects take them before we can get to them.   This year, we’re hoping to get more apples to start with, so we’re hand pollinating.  I hate the idea of fencing the orchard, but maybe we can put up some fishing line fence if we get a lot of fruit.   Does anyone have suggestions on spraying for bugs?  I think we’re too late to apply dormant oil.

Gratuitous adorable lamb photo because there are no photos of yesterday’s discovery.  The good news is our guardian dogs killed a snake in our pasture… the bad news is there was a serpent in our pasture!!!  I hate this time of year, and the rest of the warm months when those legless lizards are on the move.  I grew up in Florida and was terrorized by them my entire childhood.  Chased around the yard by one?  Yep.  Slammed one in the front door trying to get in?  Check.  7 foot rattler waiting for us at our bus stop?  Yep, and a deputy had to come shoot it before they let us of the school bus.  Coral snakes in the yard?  More than once.  And hognose rattlers.  And diamondbacks.  Oh, and the water moccasins when we lived on the lake.  What’s that under the refrigerator?  Lovely discovery.  Just last year I dug one up in a flower bed with a hand trowel.  My heart almost burst open!  At least I can spot one a mile away now, I think my brain constantly scans the ground for them.  Thank goodness Brian’s not afraid of them!  If he was, we’d probably have to move somewhere really cold.

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We got our annual delivery of compost.  I think it’s about 2 tons worth.  We’ve already mixed it into our exterior raised beds, filled an empty interior greenhouse raised bed and stored as much of it as we could in bins and pots in the greenhouse for use later this season.  Those round pots are the size that full grown trees are sold in.  I think we’re all set!

Asparagus came early this year, but I’m not complaining!  By the time the Farmer’s Market opens next month it will probably all be gone.   More for us!   Bacon wrapped asparagus with Siracha dipping sauce.  Yum.

Beatrice says ‘hey’ as she heads to the sheep feeding pen for some grain.  Jenna brings up the rear those mornings that they need a little prompt.  The grass is growing again, so they don’t always notice when it’s feeding time.

We’ve been working a lot in the garden lately.  Jenna joins us and watches Brian work.  She’s so attached to him, he never leaves her sight.  I always know where he’s at in the yard by noticing where her gaze is focused.  She’s probably hoping they’ll go on an adventure together and doesn’t want to miss out.  She begrudgingly greets me first thing in the AM when we’re heading out to the pasture.  After that, it’s all about Brian.  I swear she watches to make sure he doesn’t float away.

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We had dinner two hours from here last night … so totally worth it!  We got invited to an evening of the celebrity chef tour, which is a fundraiser for the James Beard Foundation.  The first course was a beef dish prepared by Ashton Carter, the host chef.  Second course was duck heart prepared by Top Chef Masters contestant Jen Carroll.  Third course was a duo of lamb prepared by Top Chef Masters finalist Mike Isabella.  Next came a smoked trout salad from National Geographic fellow Barton Seaver.  Dessert was a play on french toast prepared by Next Great Baker winner Dana Herbert.  One of our most memorable meals ever!

http://bdtonline.com/local/x1437245134/Celebrity-chefs-prepare-distinct-dishes-for-good-cause

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Since we start our tomato and pepper seeds crazy early, we’ve been potting them up and storing them in the greenhouse until our last frost date.  It’s been so crazy warm lately, we really want to move them to the back deck for the season but have another 5 weeks until that’s safe.