This Week on the Farm: June 14, 2014

Summer is almost here! Wild blackberries are growing profusely and everything everywhere is green and growing so quickly. All the animals have been spending large parts of the day stretched out in the shade, trying to stay cool.

This week we had to begin tying up our ram Tiberius before going into the pasture to care for all the animals in there. He's just been getting too feisty and mean, beginning to challenge us by lowering his head and pushing into our legs or simply refusing to back up when we're trying to walk near him. Rams can be dangerous animals and we knew from the start that we couldn't make a pet of Tiberius. He's a big boy of at least 200 pounds and full of testosterone and a desire to keep his ladies safe. At any rate, tying him up keeps us safe and him from being sent to the freezer for becoming too dangerous towards us. He definitely doesn't like it though and using the one halter we have that's bright purple probably doesn't help his dignity.

We've gotten so much rain in the last week that our pasture was practically a swamp. It began stinking to high heavens and all the animals were coated with mud. Thankfully we've had a few dry days and I've been able to get back into the garden to tackle some of the weeds that sprang up during all the rain.

Tonight I made the first big harvest of the year: a giant bunch of kale that I blended up to be frozen into ice cubes for smoothie making, a couple handfuls of green & yellow beans, a gorgeous Autumn Beauty sunflower that sprouted from last year's scattered seeds, a small bowlful of Yukon Gold potatoes, and three big ol' zucchini that are a cute round variety. 

We've also got a crazy amount of eggs sitting on our counter. Really, something like 6 dozen. It is out of control. Since getting pregnant I've had so many food aversions and have been unable to cook without getting nauseous, so the eggs have been piling up as the hens diligently laid 3-5 per day as usual. We ended up listing the hens on Craigslist and all but one sold. It was sad to see them go but all of them went to homes in folks' backyard where they'll be well-loved. The 2 month old chicks we've got will begin laying towards the end of my pregnancy and my fingers are crossed that I can cook by then!