Spring is in the Air (Sort of)

We've had more than our share of winter this winter.

It is cold, bitterly so, and the white stuff just keeps flying

And flying....

And flying....

We are hunkering down, dreaming of day lilies and apple blossoms and long, light-filled days. Won't be long now....

Near as I can tell, late winter on a farm is all about plans and dreams. A time to hold a clear image of what will soon be so strongly it seems just around the corner. We are most definitely counting our chicks and also our lambs and tomatoes, apples and blueberries, peaches and plums...

We've put in our spring poultry orders: 15 more turkeys (5 Giant White, 5 Broad-Breasted Bronze, 4 Narragansett and 1 Chocolate). Can't say I'm missing our last flock much. (Definitely NOT missing the telltale mess they left in the barn, yard and wherever else they wandered, or rounding them up at the neighbors and down the road and in the deep woods) Okay, well, I am missing their general liveliness about the place, their cool sounds and strutting.

We've also ordered ducklings this year. The ducks will be the kids' project. They will care for the critters and clean up after them. (A mom can dream can't she?) The kids heartily enjoyed selecting their breeds out of the Murray McMurray catalogue. They settled on Swedish and India Runners mostly, though I added a few buff and Khaki Cambells to the order. I've heard ducks are sweet and duck eggs are really nutritious and great for baking so, here goes.

We are also pretty much set on getting a few pigs this year. Yes, I know I was dead set against eating livestock after my awful trip to the slaughterhouse in the fall. But I've been reading Wooster's "Living with Pigs" and it seems a little more possible now. However difficult this path, we have really enjoyed NOT contributing to factory farming this year. We haven't bought any meat (With the exception of "humanely raised organic bacon" and local producer Wheel View Farm's Grass fed ground beef) since summer. And we like it so much better this way. The slaughter we know (and cringe through) is so much better than the larger, unseen and much more horrendous agribuisness slaughter.

The pigs won't be just food. We plan to use them to turn sheep bedding into garden-ready compost, clear land for future sheep pasture and to mitigate our summer worm loads (Running different species on the same land really helps). To avoid another traumatic trip to NH, I've got the name of a local butcher who will come out and slaughter on site. (Wooster says to give the pigs vodka on their final day and they'll pass out and remain unstressed.) So it's another Maggie's Farm leap, partaken perhaps before we've fully looked.

But for now, it's winter. We shiver and wait, watch the gray skies, build a few snowforts, all the while dreaming of daylilies and ducklings, apple blossoms and pastured pork.