Circle M Farm

Thank goodness, Piggy Lou has put off pigging for another day at least. Unless she delivers tonight… continued »

Our voluptuous sow, Piggy Lou, is due to pig today, but I’m praying she holds on for a few days more. continued »

Last night just at dusk, little Lena, a yearling ewe, quietly sneaked off behind the barn to give birth to a single sweet tiny ram. When I came upon them during my evening check of the animals, he was curled up, dry and clean in the bright new grass like a delicate porcelain figurine, with Lena hovering on guard beside him. They made such a darling picture, all alone in an intimate circle of new motherhood, that I involuntarily gasped in wonder. continued »

Certainly I’m not the first over-zealous farmer to sneak into a garden at night with a flashlight to see if lovingly planted rows of seeds have yet sprouted. Am I? Well, my obsessive hovering has been rewarded this week with a flush of popping cotyledons squiggling out of the suddenly warmed soil. The worry and waiting of early spring’s damp, dark and chilly days have quietly evolved into an April that makes growing almost effortless. continued »

We ate our first harvest out of the garden for dinner last night. Or, more accurately, the last harvest of 2007. Parsnips! continued »

Spring on a homestead typically involves growth in all directions at once. Now our chicken flock has grown. By 50. Thanks to the US Postal Service and Murray McMurray Hatchery in Iowa, we’ve got buckets of adorable peeps in front of the woodstove this morning. Which means none of us will get any sleep around here for a little while. continued »

This weekend we picked up our two bottle-baby calves for the spring. Adorable! And one has blue eyes, the first I’ve ever seen on a calf. So of course, his name is Blue. The other, a sweet delicate reddish boy, is named Brownie. continued »

At 9 am this morning Polly expelled the gargantuan afterbirth of her beautiful family, so we can all relax and get down to the business of keeping the triplets warm and fed. continued »

As of 6 this morning, Polly had delivered three white, large and healthy lambs. Two rams and a ewe. continued »

I’ve been on hourly barn checks tonight because I felt certain Polly was soon to deliver, and sure enough, at about 2:45 this morning she began the arduous task of ushering a sheep family into the world. continued »