It’s finally Spring again!  Spring starts our “busy season” on the farm.  The truth is we’re still pretty busy in the winter, especially because every job we do from caring for animals, to moving dirt, or just dressing children, takes 400 times longer in the cold mud.  Every winter I wonder why we don’t live in Georgia, or Ecuador, ideally somewhere where the temperature never drops below 80.  But then spring comes and for about seven months Kentucky is the best place in the world.

We have exciting work going on here this spring.  We are reshaping the land surrounding our pond to make it more wheelchair accessible and to put in a sizable aquaponic system.  We have a new high tunnel set up in our top field that should allow us to grow produce all year long.  

We are starting over with chickens again.  We ordered some purebred, multi colored egg layers.   They will not lay much until the end of this summer, but when they do they will lay rainbow eggs!  Maybe not every color of egg admittedly but with a flock of Ameraucanas, Whiting True Blues, White Leghorns, Dominiques, Buff Orpingtons, Black Australorps, and (hopefully soon) Copper Marans, we should have some pretty exciting eggs.  Beyond the eggs these chickens will be separated into breeding trios so check back with us next spring if you want to start your own rainbow flock.

The daffodils are everywhere and they are absolutely my favorite flower.  I love everything about them, and their tendency to spread and naturalize here just makes me love Kentucky more.  Each year when they come up I spread them out a little more.  Eventually the entire farm will be covered.  Also each year I try to save them in a new way, and reliably it fails.  They just do not lend themselves to preservation.  I have tried to dry them, but they look sad and dead.  

Too flat.

Not flat.

So this year I ironed them.  Was it a success?  Absolutely not.  Total failure.  The first few I tried I cooked.  The ones I didn’t cook are flatter, but in no way dried.  There is a high likelihood that someone on the internet can do this, and do it well, but it’s not me.  So I must turn to pinterest where several articles have given me, the probably false, hope that I can sew a convincing bouquet of daffodils.  We will see…