February 9, 2021
Life can be so crazy sometimes. Here we are already into February...of 2021!!! How crazy is that? Well, OK, admittedly not as crazy as 2020 was...or as crazy as 2021 is starting out to be. The winter has not been as harsh as it has been the last couple of years, and for that we are incredibly grateful. It hasn't been as cold or as wet and we are only just this weekend expecting our first real snow of the winter. Don't get me wrong, the property has been wet...very, very wet. But not the 12" of standing water that we normally have all winter. We are starting some really exciting things this year. Call me superstitious, but I don't want to jinx anything since we are still so early in the process. But stay tuned and as things progress we will update you. I will say that this year is going to be a huge year for Hayseed Acres. One of the things that is going to happen is that Kari will be starting her own blog. 2 1/2 weeks ago she started WW. We don't want to clutter all of the exciting things happening on the farm, so she will keep updates on her journey on a different blog for those that would like to follow along. We are also thinking of starting one for the kids for those that want to follow their crazy antics. They are amazing kids and amaze and amuse us every day. On a super exciting note, we have new piglets. They were quite a surprise over the weekend since we thought that when we separated the boars in November we did it before they had a chance to impregnate anyone. We were obviously wrong. We really wanted to avoid any winter babies since we don't have our dry pads in yet, however, we are grateful that we opened up that back pasture last weekend so that they were born in long damp grass instead of puddles of water and mud. We got them all moved up to the front pasture and into their large shelter with nearly a full bale of warm dry straw. I have to say that we really have amazing pigs. Not only are the mom (Pineapple) and dad (Hoss) doing an amazing job at protecting them and keeping them warm, Licorice has been helping to protect the perimeter. Surprisingly, Sequoia hasn't been as involved in the group as she normally is. I have seen her coming in from the back pasture, so she may be enjoying the dry ground and since we think she is pregnant she may be scouting nest sites to use in the next couple of months. The chickens are still not laying as much as we would like, though the young chickens are starting to lay which is helping. We have installed the first roll-away nest box which is working better each day, though we are going to have to make a couple of small changes to the design. We also have plans for a better roost that will hopefully give everyone more personal space and encourage them to lay more readily. We also have some plans to give them some dryer ground in the pasture around the currently permanent coop to encourage the younger chickens to get outside more. We are preparing the seasonal garden plot for planting this spring, though it is gathering more water than I remember it having before, so I don't know if it will be ready. Our plan is to build raised beds so that moving forward spring prep will be faster and easier, not to mention easier on our old backs and knees. We plan to use the failures of the past couple of years to make the garden as weather and vacation proof as we can this year. We are all really looking forward to finally enjoying our own homegrown produce and showing the kids what hard work can produce. There is so much more that we can talk about, but I will save it for another post. Stay tuned, and thank you for visiting. See you soon.