The Busiest Time at Hearthside Farm

We got a bit shortchanged in our dose of winter rest with the birth of baby goats a month earlier then I expected (get a calender mom!!)

We still have two does left to kid, but the fun is just beginning with all but two ewes in our flock set to lamb over the following few weeks. Kevin and the children are busy collecting scraps of lumber form every corner and building small pens (jugs) in the middle-sized barn. Mama goats and their babies will have to reside in pens with one another now at night and learn some hay sharing manners. Each individual ewe has to stay in a nice, small pen with her babies in order to bind properly with them. The 4H lamb wethers that the children purchased to raise for the fair will go out into the outer sheds with the yearling ewes.

Inside the farm we are covering every bit of surface space out of "corgi-pup-reach" with egg cartons full of our precious seedlings. Our fantastic heirloom tomato collection, which will have its very own area at the farm, is given lots of TLC watering and turning and brushing...... I cannot wait for my first taste of tomato! We are growing lots of old favorites like Black Krim, Black Sea Man, Suddeth's Brandywine, Amish Paste, Lemon Boy and Cherokee Purple. We are trying some new varieties as well such as Hillbilly Potato Leaf, Blondekopfchen, Lemon Drop, Cream Sausage and Dr Wyche's Yellow.

The back porch greenhouse is full of heirloom eggplant seedlings of several varieties such as Pingtung Long, Casper, Listada de Grandia and Applegreen. Brussel sprouts are growing side by side with Amish Snap Peas and bunching onions as well as seeds that need the warmth to germinate, such as Chocolate Peppers.

Today we filled the raised beds with Albino Beets, Chioggia Beets, Bull's Blood Beets and Amish Deer Tongue Lettuce.

Everyone here at Hearthside Farm is aching for the fresh taste of homegrown veggies and the warmth of the summer sun. Today Rose made a fantastic meal with polenta and black beans, sadly using the very last of last season’s canned heirloom tomatoes. But the sorrow was quickly cast aside when one of the children ran in with a handful of parsley to add to the meal - straight from the herb beds!! At last –fresh greens! Both the meal and our spirits skyrocketed to new heights by the addition of that one fresh ingredient.

Later Gwynneth was pruning old asparagus "canes" in the raised beds and came running to report that the first of the asparagus were breaking through the ground!

Last week we welcomed 150 peeping chicks into our home, soon to join the ladies already laying in the coop. These little fluffs will be providing us with eggs by late June or early July. Speckled Sussex, Rhode Island Reds, Buff Brahmas, Australorpes and many more are gracing our living room. Tucked away cozily by the woodstove, they entertain us with their cheerful chirping. We love it! Kevin has already begun a massive effort rebuilding the coop and creating a large run in which our ladies can roam without disturbing our gardens.

We are still busy each day as well making soap! Our newest creation is a gardener's soap made in honor and by special request for the wonderful Carolyn Felderman - the flower lady at Stoney's Produce. She sells tons of our soap at her wonderful little antiques/ garden/ gift shop. This soap has cormeal in it to scrub away garden dirt and is scented with essential oils of cedar and lemon verbena. We've topped it with calendula and sage for their soothing properties. It's lovely!

Happy, happy, busy busy spring!!!