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The skis are on the front porch ready to go, but the temperature this morning was 27 below so our planned jaunt around the farm will have to wait. The dogs want to play outside too but within minutes of being out there, they're lifting their icy cold paws and wanting to come back in. The sheep in their wooly coats look the most comfortable under the lean-to and the goats are grouped together in their houses keeping each other warm. Tank heaters keep their water thawed and we haul buckets twice a day to refill, (the luxury of refilling with hoses, a distant memory.)
Every year, it seems that the seed catalogs come earlier and earlier. (Robin says they come at the same time but Gigi is not so sure). Before we've had a chance to practice writing 2010, Robin is already pondering what new varieties we might try. The pictures of vegetables and fruit from the Johnny's Seeds Catalog are vividly colorful and she reads the descriptions out loud until we are both salivating.
Before we can ponder the fields of next season though, there will be lambing and goat-kidding. The birthing dates begin in late March with 18 ewes and 6 goats all due (we hope). If anyone was thinking of a late winter/early spring visit to the farm, that's a great time to come up.
As we begin this new year, the wood stove warming the house and the snow decorating the fields and roads, we think of you, our farm family of last year and the farm family for the season to come. We wish for you a year of hope and peace, and the simple pleasures of good food and friends and family to share it with. Happy New Year to all of you.
Robin and Gigi
