Dear friends,
We are excited at Hill House Farm to enjoy the warmer weather and round the corner to spring. The signs already started with the arrival of white Early Snowdrop flowers, geese pairs spread across the property, the arrival of more song birds and mallard and wood ducks, as well as the greenhouse filled with seedlings. And of course, green beer, for today we are all Irish.
This is a generally quiet time at HHF as the lambs complete their stunning transformation from newly delivered, needy newborns to weaned, self-sufficient lambs, in just 8 weeks! They are now ready for purchase for 4H projects. Five have already been sold and we are hoping to sell 2-3 more for projects, leaving primarily ewe lambs for breeding. The students are excited for their projects and deserve a lot of credit for taking on the responsibility for their lambs, as well as saying goodbye to them in September.
The chickens are also now increasing their productivity with even oranger yolks with the extra time outside. I completed our order for 75 more peeps with delivery expected near the end of May. I will also start compost deliveries to "early bird" gardeners getting a headstart on the Spring. Please let me know if you are interested in compost this spring. The firewood "march" for next year, and the year following, continues with greater focus on cutting, collecting and stacking "rounds" from the woods. I will soon be taking orders for summer delivery
Winter, however, did not depart without drama. Our pond aerator lines froze with condensation, essentially taking away Lucky Duck's safe haven and putting her on hard land for the predators. The morning the pond completely froze and Lucky Duck was homeless, the temperature was 3F. I was quite worried, how in the world was I going to coax Lucky inside? If I didn't, she would certainly perish. It was early in the morning and very dark. As I completed feeding and walked outside to find Lucky, well, she was quacking away just outside the door waiting for me. I shooed her in, picked her up and put her in an empty stall. The typically loquacious duck was surprisingly quiet as I carried her to her new home. Amazingly, this is a duck that has never been touched the past few years, if ever. And certainly was not held. I felt a special bond with that silly duck that up until then we only saw from a safe social distance. She then spent the next 3 weeks in the barn until the pond thawed and we could fix the aerator. The entire time she quacked out directions to me, the sheep, chickens and anyone that would listen. Now she is happily back on the pond chasing the honeymooning geese.
Fun fact: St. Patrick's Day is celebrated every March 17th, the anniversary of St. Patricks' death in the fifth century. St. Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland. He was kidnapped as a slave at the age of 16. He later escaped, but returned to Ireland and was credited with bringing Christianity to its people. Therefore, today is a particularly important religious holiday for the Irish the past 1000 years. During this season of Lent, Irish families typically attend church in the morning and celebrate in the afternoon. Lenten prohibitions against the consumption of meat were waived and people would dance, drink and feast on the traditional meal of Irish bacon and cabbage.
Today, more than 100 parades are held across the US, with particularly large celebrations in New York and Boston. The NY parade is the world's oldest civilian parade and the largest in the US, with over 150,000 participants. Each year, nearly 3 million people line the 1.5 mile parade route that takes more than five hours. The huge parade is a function of the large Irish population in America, brought here by the great Potato Famine of 1845. One of the most famous traditions is the dyeing of Chicago's river, something that started almost as an accident when city workers realized the dye they used to trace illegal sewage discharges could be used to dye the river for St. Patrick's day. The first year they released 100 pounds of green vegetable dye and the river stayed green for a week. Now they only use 40 pounds and it stays green for just a few hours. St. Patrick's day is also celebrated in Canada, Australia, Japan, Singapore and Russia.
As we (hopefully) approach the Covid finish line, thank you to everyone for getting their shot!
We hope you all enjoy some Luck of the Irish,
Harry O'Hawkes
