Dear friends,
First day of Spring!!
After a relatively mild winter, it still feels great to see the sun, warmer temperatures and snow drop flowers breaking through the soil.
As always, busy times at Hill House Farm. After 8 weeks since the last born lamb, the weaning process started Monday with the usual cacophony of cries throughout the barn. Fortunately for the ewes, they will be outside soon enjoying the growing pastures and in another 1-2 months the lambs will also be out of the barn. We already sold 4 lambs to 4-H members and hope to sell a few more for The Great Geauga County Fair.
We started selling the next round of laying hens, with 1 more delivery in early April. Due to some shifting of orders, we have 10 extra birds if you would like to purchase chickens to start or add to your own flock. They are now 14 weeks old and should will laying in 1-2 months. Laying hens are $15 each. Please let me know if you would like to buy some !! We have a great mix of Buff Orpington, Welsummer, Barred Rock, Easter Egger, Rhode Island Red and Austra White hens. Of course, eggs and peppers are in the fridge for sale
We start compost deliveries this week and added another 4,500 Composting worms and European night crawlers to the latest bin to start doing their job. They eat nearly their own body weight each day and double their population every 90 days. Please let me know if would like compost and I'll add you to the waiting list.
Lots of focus on firewood as we complete splitting of the dead logs for next season. We have wood split 1 year ago ready for sale now !! I would like to move it out asap to make room for the 36 logs kindly left by Dave VanCuren of VanCuren Tree Service who recently cleared County Line to prepare for a new road. Please let me know if you would like to buy firewood. All orders placed and delivered before June 1st will avoid any potential price increases. Currently firewood costs $150 a rick delivered and stacked. We also have a "woodsman special" running on wood that is too thin, short or old to sell with our premium firewood. It is $20 a pick up load and $60 if delivered and stacked.
Unfortunately we lost our old wether sheep named Clyde last week. He was 11 years old and part of our first crop of lambs. Despite his age, arthritis and blindness, he never missed a meal and was very hardy in all weather. He and the early days of Hill House Farm will always be remembered with great fondness. My first entry into our farm journal says it all about our adventures. Despite our aspirations for a farm and Cyndi growing up on 150 acres, we were truly clueless!
Today we moved into the new house. Cyndi is unpacking boxes and the mover mentions sheep are loose in the front yard. I am not even to the house yet. After several attempts to lure them in with fish food, we give up for the night. The next morning they are still there and slightly more comfortable with us. We continue to feed fish food for two more days ...still they stay in the front yard. Sunday morning I go out to feed them again hoping to lure them back. With the family watching from the window, they begin backing up 15 yards and ramming each other, initially we thought they were enjoying themselves, we were wrong. With 7 rams and 5 ewes, it was a bar fight all day long during the start of breeding season. After a short while, they relent and I open the gate, spread fish food on the ground and they enter. I close the gate and return to the house a hero. Our first victory.
Fun fact: The astronomical first day of Spring starts at 5:58 PM at exactly the same time around the world when the length of the day is nearly equal in all parts of the world and when the tilt of the earth is zero relative to the sun
Thank you for your support and wishing you a great Spring !!
