The lamb storm

Okay, its now officially a lamb storm. Since last check 22 lambs on the ground out of 12 ewes. That's pretty good, we we're not quite at the half way mark 35 ewes left but its possible we will be today. We have 16 goat kids who are all being bottle fed three times a day and now we're milking eight goats twice a day. Things are absolutely insane here. A set of twins was born yesterday morning and they were incredibly small. One extremely small, she was being ignored by mom so without hesitation she's in the house. Whats lambing with out a bottle baby?

Dinky is adorable, when we found her she was alone in the shelter mom and twin far away, shivering and hungry. After a day on a heating pad and small servings of colostrum we have reserved for just this occasion, she really shaped up now she seems pretty strong and healthy just very very dinky.

I also wanted to write a short post about the incredibly kind and hard working folks that showed up last Saturday morning to help a farmer in need. With lambing and kidding and the general day to day of the farm I found myself in a desperate situation, I was hopelessly behind and if I didn’t catch up quick I wouldn’t have anything to sell at the farmers market which is just around the corner. It’s hard to ask for help, even though people will tell me all the time they would love to come out and help sometime if I need it I often see the work probably being way more than they bargained for.

But I was desperate so I reached out to the people who have reached out to me and we pulled together a “crop mob” 12 of us all together spread compost over 2 acres, unwrapped the twine from the pepper and tomato steaks, pulled up the remainder if the dead plants from last fall and got the ground ready for the season to come. It would have taken me two weeks what 12 of us did in 6 hours, and during all that we pulled two lambs from a ewe that needed assistance. Beds are ready for the first planting of green onions, sweet onions, potatoes, spinach, arugula, chard, broccoli rabe, lettuce, kale and so on. The soil looks very easy to work with its fluffy and brown and with that compost and manure I think I’ll have a really good growing season.

The comfort of friends put me at ease, we all worked so hard and I’m sure everyone was feeling it the next morning, I know I was, but this type of soreness is what makes a day worth living it’s the essence of being. My body tells me I have lived, my mind told me I did good, and my heart feels large and full of love. I’m full in all ways. There is something so beautiful to me about working to the point of hunger, or standing in a shower and washing real dirt and sweat off. Of laying down in bed and being completely exhausted, waking up In the morning feeling my body express its limitations, and stretching and meditating so I have the ware withal to do it again, today, tomorrow and the next and the next after that. I love this life and the gratitude I have for the helpers that allow me to continue at it.

So I'm trying to hold it together. doing the best i can. planted 2000 onion plants yesterday. today potatoes, and so on. one thing at a time. No multi tasking, to tired for that and that's how mistakes are made. one foot in front of the other.