Belle Rock Farm

I was hopeful back in March. The goats were about to kid, the chicks were going to arrive, and green grass had to be right around the corner. I thought I was past the worst when Nellie kidded in mid-March when it was only 17 degrees outside. (The quads were fine thanks to the quick help of our neighbors, and only one had frostbitten ears.) Then, when it was snowing in April when the chicks arrived and I needed three heat lamps to keep them warm, I thought I only had to hang on one more week. When we got 10 inches of snow the last week of April, my patience was wearing thin. When we got 18 more inches of snow on May 2nd, I was about ready to give up. It has barely quit raining since it stopped snowing, but at least the grass is green and the dandelions have finally bloomed. I got my bees installed late enough that I didn’t have to worry about it being too cold, and thanks to the late spring they still got to enjoy the dandelions.

The pigs had a tough spring…their plot was pretty muddy and wet. They are perhaps undersized yet, but are going to the butcher tomorrow. They were supposed to go in last week, but a loading debacle wherein one pig refused to go anywhere near the trailer until we had given up and were trying to get the other pig out of the trailer forced us to postpone their fate.

We have purchased our first tractor, and spent some time starting to repair last year’s pig pen spots. I’m hoping to plant some grass in an effort to improve appearances. I don’t intend to raise any more pigs until we move out to our new property.

The final straw of this rotten spring was the day a young raccoon climbed into the brooder coop and wiped out 30% of my flock. We had a large bonfire that night…with a dead raccoon to top it off.

So here’s hoping for a smoother summer. The goat kids are sold, and school is nearly out. I think things can only go up from here!