Farm Fresh: Warm Spring

The weather this spring has been gorgeous. Highs in the upper 60's (even 70's this week) and lows in the low 50's with regular intervals of rain. We have not had any frost days in April.  Very odd! I keep checking the 10 day forecast for cold spells, but none are predicted.   Blossoms are everywhere and everything smells wonderful. 

 These are my flower collectors.

 With cats assisting and approving

 I think they have quite a knack for flower arranging.

 The first batch of 20 chicks went out with the big ladies about 2 weeks ago. This fluffy lady is Anna, big sister A's favorite.

 With the young chicks in the white coop, the older ladies have not had access to their nest boxes. They got creative and I love the egg-laying spot they chose.

 In the hay above the rabbit grow-out cages... so easy to reach, tidy, and secure.  Good job ladies.

The garden and plant starts have been enjoying the warm spring weather. Everything is looking well filled-out and ready to sell at the fair. 

I potted up a bunch more elderberry volunteers. I already sold most of the hardwood cuttings that I potted in March. 

 Rhubarb is suffering a bit for the warmth. Two of my plants are already blossoming, but I think their will still be enough stalks for all of our pies and jams between the five plants.

 Peas are well on their way - growing up their rustic trellises.

 Leeks, chinese cabbages, and kale came out from under their row covers yesterday. After seeing the rhubarb blossoming I worried that they might get too hot under cover. 

 Hard to see, but little brother S and miss L helped me plant two 70ft rows of onions and carrot seeds last week.  They are good companion plants and the onions help me remember where the carrots are, since they take so long to come up.

 Our W family buddies dug up 4 sturdy old blueberry bushes for us before they moved from their old house.  Look at all the buds on this one! All four made the transition well and are budding and sprouting. It makes me so happy.  I hope they flourish in this new sunny spot.

 I am a little behind getting the potatoes planted.  I ordered from a different company this year and they were not pre-cut like I am used to. I had to warm them to encourage budding, find agricultural sulfur, cut and cure them. 

Hubby and the neighbor made a bunch more fence progress yesterday and cut down a massive dead tree that was near the fence line.

Pro Photo Shoot: Courtesy of Clockworks Photography

 

Family Schooling Summary: Swimming, calves, and Lancaster

The dairy farmer that we get our milk from has a cow that calved a few hours before we picked up our milk. The mama was a nice gal and let us get up close.

 We went to Lancaster this week without our W family buddies. It was not as fun.

 Big sister A did some carpentry at cub scouts. 

Brother M's den went to city hall to meet the mayor and have a flag ceremony. 

 Last week was the end of a swim lesson session. 

 Big sister A has some good friends there that she plays with during the free swim session. We try to coordinate our sign-ups so she has friends to hang with and swim with. It is 45 minutes of free swim and 45 minutes of lessons.

 Brother M's teacher used him for demonstrating several techniques during the course of their lessons.  He recently told me that he likes to go fast, which of course made my swimmer self smile with understanding. He will likely swim with the non-competitive swim team starting in the fall.

 Little Miss L and Brother S made huge progress during their FIRST ever session of formal lessons. They loved Miss Cathy's class and "HuMMM"ing under the water (to make air exit their nose instead of their mouths).

 During free swim time, L & S practiced diving for rings with me. They were afraid to dive under before, but now they have got the hang of it.  We have one 6 week session of homeschool swim lessons left before summer (Then all the school kids start taking lessons and it gets waaaaay to crazy in the pool).

Field Trip: NY to visit Grandparents

 We went to visit my Dad, Grandma J, and Goomie this weekend. Goomie was happy to see us, but very frail.

 They were having a quarantine for a flu that was going around and we all had to wear masks. Miss L refused to put hers on.  P.S.  Three of four kids had a stomach bug that started a few hours after we arrived home. I don't think the masks helped.

 Big sister A  played guitar for Goomie. Brother M was focused on his puppies from Goomie.

 We had a photo session and then everyone was excited to see their pictures.

We watched General Conference while we were there.  The following are some candid shots from Grandpop: