Moose Maple Stew with Bannock Topping

Posted on March 23, 2017 by Just another day on the farm

When the Canada 150 Food Blog Challenge announced March’s month as Maple, I think everyone smiled!

March is sugaring season locally and I have indulged in tapping the tree’s and learning how to boil it down, I have helped friend doing it over big open fires, leading to super dark smoky flavoured syrup, I have boiled it over a clean burning wood stove and then finished it on Propane stove to get that stunning lighter first run syrup.

I felt pretty sure that other bloggers would cover the basic’s, Maple Taffy in the snow, Maple sugar, Sugar Pies and tarts, and of course Pancakes..

Locally, everyone makes super thin crape like pancakes, where I show my western roots with Flapjacks. So I had better share my favorite flapjacks recipe in case you want to try them

Our Flapjacks are high and fluffy!

My current recipe is this..

3 Cups of milk (whole), 2 eggs, 2 tbsp. of melted butter, 3 cups of flour, 2 tbsp. of baking powder, a good pinch of salt.. Mix and cook on a med hot griddle..

My mother says the traditional one is this.

2 cups flour, 2 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp salt, one and half tbsp. of sugar, mix together in a bowl, then one egg in a well in the middle, large mixing spoonful of oil (approx. quarter cup) and then milk to make correct thickness of batter.

While we are talking about local fresh real Maple Syrup, its worth sharing my dear Grandmas pancake syrups recipe from the farm. They could not afford to buy Maple Syrup so Grandma did what she did best.. find a way 🙂

Two cups of brown sugar, one cup of water, bring to boil, and simmer for five min, remove from stove and add half a tsp of maple flavour, can be used hot or cold..  Very running but good flavour

The Second must have when it comes to Maple syrup.. Fried Corn Bread.. Heavenly!

This is a nice and easy recipe to make a cornbread that you are going to slice and fry up golden to be served with butter and syrup..

  • 1 1/2 cups  buttermilk ( you can use powdered buttermilk, really buttermilk or whole milk with two tsp of lemon juice in it to turn it)
  • 1/3 cup oil
  • 1  large egg
  • 1 cups yellow cornmeal flour or cornmeal
  • 2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/4th cup of sugar
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 half teaspoon salt

Mix in order, wet to be added to dry, Do not over mix, grease pan or spray it, 350 time depends on what you cook in, cool in pan, cut into squares, lift out and slice in the middle fry in bacon fat or dry or in a touch of butter till golden brown and serve as fried cornbread instead of pancakes.

However I wanted to talk about using Maple with meats.. it’s a delight to add some rich Maple Syrup and use it to make a truly Canadian Recipe.

Moose Maple Stew with a Bannock Top.

  • 1 Pound of stew cubed Moose or Venison or Lamb or Beef
  • 2 large Onions
  • 3 cloves of Garlic
  • 3 large potato – Peeled and cubed
  • 1 Large Carrot-Peeled and cubed
  • 3/4th cup of maple syrup
  • 1 tsp of fresh cracked Black Pepper (you need the pepper to cut the sweetness and add a depth of heat to the sauce)
  • 1 tsp of salt
  • 1 tsp of Montreal Steak Spice
  • 1 tsp of Salad Herb Blend
  • 1 tsp of Basil

Add the above and mix it together, then pour into your baking pan and add enough water to cover everything, cover with lid or tinfoil and bake for an hour at 350

Make a Basic Batch of Baking Powder biscuit for the top, if you have extra, bake them on a sheet afterwards, mine nicely grew together forming  a solid top.

One cup of flour, 2 tsp of baking powder, a pinch of salt, 1 tsp of sugar (if you want) 1 tbsp. of cold butter or lard or tallow and half cup to 3/4th  of a cup of cold whole milk.. it’s a tricky one, half a cup is not enough, and 3/4th  is too much but if you have to pick on, then go with 3/4th  a cup..

Cut your butter with a knife into little pats, then blend it with your fingers in the same way I taught in regards to your pie dough mixing, or use a pastry cutter, your choice, DO NOT Mix this with a spoon    Once rubbed in and all the above are mixed well together, then make a well in the center of your flour and add your milk

Mix together with a wooden type spoon till it comes together enough to clear the sides of the bowl.. Do not overmix, do not knead, do not turn out onto a floured surface and work it..  REPEAT.. just till it comes together! I know, I know but its important

At this point, you can do it two ways, you can do a spoon drop style cut and put on top of the stew (which if you covered it, would come out dumpling style) or you can just lightly flatten the dough into the shape you need, cut it into squares and move them over to the top. Bake for 30 to 40 min till Golden Brown and wooden stick comes out clean..

Allow to sit for a few min and then serve up together, ideally to be put with a green salad on the side.

This recipe is a favorite among my friends and I get asked to bring it to potlucks and get together’s I make it more often with lamb than with moose or Venison. It is sweet and savory with its own built-in Biscuit Crust.

Enjoy the spring Maple Season of 2017

 

 

 

 

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High Bush Cranberry- Shrub Drink for the Win

Posted on March 22, 2017 by Just another day on the farm

I loved this months Shrub challenge, At the Food in Jars Blog, we even had a Shrub Party.. I made four different kinds, Elderberry, High Bush Cranberry, Elderflower and Homemade Grape.

What we learned at the party

  • the younger crowd all voted Elderberry with vodka for the win
  • If you don’t like vinegar, you will not like the smell of a Shrub, even if you don’t mind the taste itself.
  • Do consider a hot Shrub.. it does not need to be only served cold!

The Winner per all the data crunched.. High Bush Cranberry Shrub, Ice Cold with Polar Ice vodka.

  • 2 Oz of High Brush Cranberry Syrup
  • 1 Oz of White Wine vinegar
  • 1 Oz of Polar Ice Vodka
  • Top up with Cold Water or Sparkling Water or Ginger Ale works as well!

High Bush Cranberries grow wild all over Canada and they say up and down the States as well, it is also grown in Europe in many places. We hunted up and down the back roads till we found a patch that we liked the flavour of the berries on and we dug out a number of the suckering babies (filling the holes back in with compost from the barn to say thank you to the parent plants, which also means that the wild harvest from the bushes have more than doubled in amounts for years to follow)

Over the years they have grown into fine bushes in our food forest area..

We like to make sure that the berries get some good hard frosts on them to help sweeten them up just a touch, and then we use the Steamer to steam the berry’s and collect the juice.

From Which I tend to make awesome jars of homemade High Bush Cranberry Jelly for the next years use. I did not save any Juice only for the Shrub Challenge but I did have a single batch I had made into pancake Syrup instead of Jelly and that is what I used for the Drinks.

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Warm Baggy Method- Stage Two..

Posted on March 21, 2017 by Just another day on the farm

So we talked about the warm baggy method of starting seeds, that was very much focused on using it to test for seed germination rates.  A great way to check older seed from storage, a MUST for checking home grown and saved seeds and for sure checking any free seeds that have been gifted in a number of ways.

 

Nothing is worse then planting whole rows of seeds and wasting weeks waiting for plants to come up.

But now we can move it over to the next step if you want.. pick and choose the seedlings. As you can see the germ rate on these Brussel sprouts seeds was outstanding.. I left them in the baggy till they were turning into true wee sprouts, then I moved them carefully and planted them up into their pots..

 

A mear 24 hours after being planted.. they are up and looking fab! They are now set up with a greenhouse topper, under the grow lights, once they get big enough that they move from the starter shelf to the grow shelves they will remove the top. In total I planted out 30 strong seedlings, and feed 11 of the didn’t make it to the chickens bucket.

Compared to dropping two or three seeds per pot, I used a lot less seeds, so if you are seed frugal, this is a very useful tool.  (you often hear about this type of seed saving in square foot gardening books)

Now, I say that one of the perks is that you don’t get to just select your seedlings based on the true starting leaves but also on the root as well. Now is time to start your cull process.

Anything that does not have even proper true leaf was removed.. Anything with very short or with reduced root structure or the few that had very very long and thin roots was culled out.. at this stage, being part of the pack is just what I am looking for.

41 one seedlings, and I culled 11 or 26 percent of them.. we will see if all the once planted out make the grade.. I am game for all 30 but I really want 24 plants, and I am hedging my bets by doing a few extra.

I took a training course on growing plants with seed saving and plant breeding improvements and it was outstanding,  I have never looked at gardening quite the same way..

I used to garden for what was in front of me right now.. Now I garden both in the here and now but also with a eye to the future of the plant genes and what could be 🙂

 

 

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Garden Plans for 2017-Spring Garden

Posted on March 20, 2017 by Just another day on the farm

 

Well, it’s the first day of spring.. and my garden’s are covered in feet of snow with sharp hard ice coverings and the ground is frozen under that..  but I know that spring is coming and I am giving this year after the drought year a hard look indeed.

You see I have been tracking my farm for 13 years this spring.. and so I have my data on what I had the year after my last drought year and it says that I will have an early spring, a very wet spring with a mini-drought summer and a very long, long fall, with a few short hard frost nights.

On the last year, the El Nino was acting correctly but this year, not so much.. the models are all over the place..  some says we are going to have back to back runs, others say no, we are seeing something but its an unknown or that it will run around the equator instead of coming up and down.

The truth is, the data is there enough to say that we will have one or the other or a middle factor..  That is enough for me to go ok..  Time to layer up the garden plans and that is just what is going to happen this year..  Now I know that most people have  a main garden area and they put a huge amount of time into picking its placement and working to improve the soil and I see the pictures.. they are so pretty..

I  mean look at my mom’s awesome spring start to her raised garden box’s, they are as awesome and I am so glad that she has them.. they grow an amazing amount of food and she collects her rain water, she has fruit bushes and tree’s in her yard and she has more pots for growing fresh food.

But me.. I am a big believer that if you have the space for it.. you should have many garden spaces! I have the garden nursery spot, the main garden, the big garden, the front garden, the food forest garden, the teepee garden, the grapevine garden, the back garden and the side garden..  and these are not small.. most of them are as big or much bigger then the average “town or community garden” each has positives and each has negatives.

This is the front yard gardens (well part of them) and it was created because its the first area on the farm to melt out, its all natural free form raised beds that are six to a foot above the soil, its shifts all the time as it composts down and this year.. the oldest beds will be turned over and into the soil and then beds remain with the mix.

(that photo is from 2016, we are not near that melted yet!)

This is the backbone of the outside early spring garden plan, I always do some colder spring planting, smaller amount that fall into the “season” extenders and I have learned a lot doing this.. but this year.. this year, its going hard core.. we are not just trialing and learning and hoping for a few bits of this or that to add to the kitchen..

Nope, this year we are going to be using the greenhouse that is going up, we will be making and using a hot compost box, covered grow area, and I have plans for a temp hoop garden. See the old farmgate  in the garden, and you see the metal climber garden.. they are both getting plastic covers that will create micro greenhouse effects and protections to really push those growing areas forward.

The biggest change for the spring garden.. intent!

Normally, I grow for fresh eating in the spring, I like to forage in the spring, its a great time of the year for it, and it does not take me long to find, harvest and dig up enough goodies to fill our plates so normally I give a tiny bit of space to some early things and then I use the rest for things that can handle a cold start and are long season plantings.

This has worked very well for me on normal years.. but as I don’t think this going to be one.. and look at my detailed records, I am flipping it..

I plan on forage to keep our fresh food plates filled.. but the spring garden is about short and fast harvests. In keeping with that, I have been on the hunt for anything that will produce within 45 to 60 days.

I am not worrying about seed saving, I am not worrying about long producers, I am after poundage! and putting up..

So what am I going to be growing?

  • Pea’s -Snow
  • Pea’s- fresh harvest
  • Pea Greens- Harvested, dried and ground for green powder
  • Radishs- Fresh for eating, Roasting, and for canning and for grated-dried use.
  • Radish greens- Dried to be used as a spice green
  • Beets- Greens-Fresh, dried
  • Beets- Canning
  • Kohlrabi- Canning -Grated and dried for soups and stews
  • Broccoli- Fresh eating a touch, but mainly for harvest, drying for soups and stews
  • Turnip- Canning -Pickled and Regular
  • Turnip Greens- Drying for soup-mix greens and for ground for green powder

That’s all the space I will have in those area’s that can be worked on.. If all goes as planned, these will be in April and harvested by end of May to replant these area’s into the heat loving plants that will all be pre-started.

Some of these will be pre-soaked, pre-started if they can be..

I will be posting and updating on how this goes!

So are you looking at your local weather patterns? Are you looking at your gardens and wondering how can you increase its production? Are you worried about a cold year, a hot year, a drought year? do you think you are going to have a average garden year, or a short one or a extended one?

What is the one thing you are doing this year that will help extend your garden growing season?

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Sunday- Photo- A gentleman and his lamb..

Posted on March 19, 2017 by Just another day on the farm

Today has been a busy Sunday, we have had new lambs in the barn, we have moved this and that.. milking and much more going on.. so I was grateful when we stopped and took a break to work on this photo idea I had. I am grateful that my DH was winning to work with me in getting this shot..  This Black and White Hunk of love it is Top Hat, our first born Lamb of the Year in 2017 out of Tess and Hairy and Fine Wee Ram Lamb he is.

Working with animals is always a interesting thing.. working with photos and then working in photo editing is as well.. I like this photo very much but they are so very different from each other 🙂

And this one makes me laugh.. Photo bombed  by not one horse but by both Caleb and Mr. Bojangles! I know that its backlit, but I love the softness in both of the horses.. not only to do they like Hubby but they very much like each other as well..

Last but not least.. Miss Sofie posed for a photo on the way into the house.. one quick snap and she was running for the door.. turns out that one was all  I needed 🙂

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Spring Eggs Collecting for hatching

Posted on March 19, 2017 by Just another day on the farm

O dippy egg, you are my favorite.. I like eggs in so many ways but I truly adore a good dippy egg fried up in home rendered duck or beef or pork fat, the edges crisp, the white set and the yolk, golden an runny.. I keep a great winter color to my hens eggs because they have daily access to a bit of hay to peek at.

But with spring comes better weather, more sun and a new purpose to my hen house.. its time to move the birds to a breeding program, different birds are in different programs, we are down to three chicken breeding programs on the farm, the Icelandic chicken (j line) breeding pair, small, outstanding layers of med whitish eggs

Salmon Faverolles, med-heavy birds that lay large eggs on the pinkish side and then my mixed breeds, med-heavy layers, they are a mix of green-brown egg layers with good size to them.

each breeding program is a touch different, one is layer only, one is purebred with the goal of heavy layers with good meat sizing and the other is all about the grow rate and meat..

What they all have in common at the moment, top line feeding of the birds, health checks, multiply egg collection checks, fresh bedding touch up all the time, because you need the cleanest eggs possible, daily records out of the pens, egg checks and egg culling, twice daily turning while waiting at room temp.

Yesterday the temps went up above zero during the day, it was plus one with sunshine and the birds were all out in their outside pens, soaking in the sun, breeding like mad and they are starting to lay.. 9 eggs out of 12 hens yesterday..

So this week, we will start collecting, not sure I will make my 48 eggs in 7 days but it will be close and I can always fill the extra space with a friends eggs if needed.. Keep you posted 🙂

The Turkey, duck and geese have all been moved to the higher breeding-laying-setting rations, from their overwinter lower protein rations and feeding programs

 

 

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Irish Lamb Stew

Posted on March 17, 2017 by Just another day on the farm

“Irish stew is a celebrated Irish dish, yet its composition is a matter of dispute. Purists maintain that the only acceptable and traditional ingredients are neck mutton chops or kid, potatoes, onions, and water. Others would add such items as carrots, turnips, and pearl barley; but the purists maintain that they spoil the true flavour of the dish. The ingredients are boiled and simmered slowly for up to two hours. Mutton was the dominant ingredient because the economic importance of sheep lay in their wool and milk produce and this ensured that only old or economically non-viable animals ended up in the cooking pot, where they needed hours of slow cooking. Irish stew is the product of a culinary tradition that relied almost exclusively on cooking over an open fire. It seems that Irish stew was recognized as early as about 1800”

Lamb Stew (my favorite lamb stew recipe over the years)

1 tsp duck fat (can use whatever oil or fat you want to start your dish)
One Large Onion
6 Large Mushrooms-Diced
2 cups of chopped greens (a mix of spinach, kale, horseradish and Beet Greens, frozen for winter use)
1 tsp of minced garlic
1 tbsp of green onions and leeks (white and green parts), I used a cube of each frozen in water
2 Large Carrots-Peeled and sliced
3 Med Potato’s -Peeled and diced
1 pds of small diced lamb stew meat*
Salt, pepper, Keens Mustard, Turmic, Basil and Ginger to taste
1 quart lamb bone stock, with 1 quart water (this was a very light broth, if you want darker/heavier use a second quart of lamb stock or veggie stock to go with)

I cooked the onions, mushrooms and lamb till onion clear, and meat browned, then I added in the rest and simmered for around 40 to 50 min at a low-med heat, till the veggies were tender and done. Simple, easy and all done in one pot, a good hearty but very healthy winter soup..

* This was young tender spring grass-fed lamb, Its worth noting that this meat was from when I butchered out lamb legs, and that I had made sure to remove all silver skin from the pieces(which can make them tough, and is often left on by butchers) as well as cutting off all extra fat bits, which I used to render into tallow, and I cut the pieces into about 1/3 of the size typically seen in a store if you are buying beef stew meat.. this means that the meat pieces were right around equal to the size of the carrot and potato pieces.

If you are using older mutton or yearly lamb, or from the butcher lamb stew meat, I would recommend simmering for about another hour or so, till the meat is tender.

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The River is Open..

Posted on March 17, 2017 by Just another day on the farm

The farm has two creeks an a big river within easy walking distance..

Love this photo taken off our local one lane old bridge.. it showed more pink-orange to the naked eye but came out more pink-purple in photo.. o well.. its still lovely either way I think.

As the recommendation came out for this year for how many fish of what type per person per month can eat for our local river, it got me thinking that I have never done a post on what kind of fish are our most common locally here on the blog..

Black Crappie

Size

  • length: 18-25 centimetres (7-10 inches)
  • weight: 0.23–0.45 kilograms (0.5–1.0 pounds

    Angling tips

    • move in schools
    • bite during the day, especially during overcast weather
    • bite most often during low light periods (dawn and dusk)
    • best fishing in April and early May as the ice clears, and crappie follow schools of bait into warmer, shallow water
    • eyes are positioned to see upward, so work bait slightly above them
    • use light spinning or fly-fishing tackle and 6-pound or less line

Brown Bullhead

Size

  • length: 20-36 centimeters (8-14 inches)
  • Slow calm waters

Channel Catfish

Size

  • length: 36-53 centimetres (14-21 inches)
  • weight: 0.9-1.8 kilograms (2-4 pounds)

  • Habitat

    • warm-water habitats in lakes and streams
    • cooler and swifter water than most other Ontario catfish
    • fast water downstream from power dams

Common Carp

Size

  • length: 30-75 centimetres (12-30 inches)
  • weight: 0.2-3.5 kilograms (0.5-7 pounds)

Smallmouth Bass

Size

  • length: 25-50 centimetres (10-20 inches)
  • weight: 0.5-1.6 kilograms (1-3.5 pounds)

  • Habitat

    • clear, rocky lakes and rivers
    • shoreline rocks and points, offshore shoals, deep water
    • similar to trout habitat but with a wider range of temperatures

Walleye

Size

  • Typical length: 35.5–58.4 centimetres (14-23 inches)
  • Typical weight: 0.68–1.36 kilograms (1.5-3 pounds)

Yellow Perch

Size

  • length: 15-30 centimetres (6-12 inches)
  • weight: 0.35 kilograms (0.75 pounds)

There are a number of more that can be found now an again but these are the most common.. A good selection, some that like the more open water, some that love the murky creeks, some that love the wide slow swings of  the river..

As for the amounts that are allowed per my fishing permit.. more then I have time to fish an catch lol..  Different ones are better at different times of the year an even different parts of the day.

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Second Hand Shops

Posted on March 16, 2017 by Just another day on the farm

I would love to tell you that I am a tidy person but I am not, I am more of an organized craziness..  LOL  Honestly, I can tell you if I have it, and 98.9 percent of the time I can find it in quickly and its right where it should be.. and I do two deep cleans on the house, barns, buildings and yard twice yearly..

The rest of the time.. we get it done.. there are only so many hours and so many hands on the farm, and things get ranked on what must be done, an sometimes that includes riding your horse or taking that hike or going camping because those times might never come again.

My house is filled with second-hand belongings.. I mean that in totally, It’s a very rare thing to buy something new..  Looking in my living room at the moment, I have original artwork, I collect ravens, I bought the amazing seed starting wooden shelving new, but it was a custom-made support a local buy and I bought my seed starting soil and the lights for that, and other than that.. nothing I see. in any direction  of me looking was bought new.. it’s all second-hand, farm actions, gifts, or hand-made by myself or hubby.

From curtains to couches, to table, chairs, benches and bookcases and more.. all got locally at a fraction of the price of new..

Now just because they are got second-hand does not mean that they are not nice.. I thought I would share some of my finds so far in 2017. I adore finding things that are Canadian made or very well made or handmade with history.

I think I might have to admit that I am getting a slowly growing collection of soup or stew tureens. Not that I mind at all, they are such useful items to have on the farm.. This lovely big handmade one from Quebec, that I am dating from what I can track down from the 1970’s was gotten for 3 dollars..

This was a matter of being at the right place at the right time.. This is another Quebec handmade hand loamed item that was found for a mear 2 dollar.. I expect that this set of three that I got must have come from the same home, I can only assume that someone was downsizing and didn’t understand the value of these table cloths, I got the handmade one (which per their website, is around a 300 hundred dollar value if got new), a handmade one from Spain for a 1 dollar and I got this amazing lace for another dollar. the lace was made in Italy..  Stunning! (they are in the special guest drawer, not the every day or time table cloth drawers, I love table cloths and use them all the time!

Last but not least in any way is a new sweet teapot to add to my fun little collection 🙂

In today’s world, its nice to slow down and take the time to shift though the clutter and find what I consider to be the winning items that make their way into my home. I am grateful for the history that each item has!

The sun is shining today and the temps are going up slowly but surely.. with a high of minus 7 today, compared to the past week, it feels down right warmish out there. I am looking forward to farm sales starting up this spring 🙂

 

Posted in At the kitchen table | Tagged | 6 Comments

One More Storm to go! This and That Post.

Posted on March 15, 2017 by Just another day on the farm

Sunny Cat’s look sums it up so nicely.. its snowing again mom. We had a blast of winter come in.. first we had brutal cold, the deep full moon cold, the sky’s were clear and the cold pressed down onto the farm in breath stealing deepness.  Despite many layers it was the type of cold that you felt in your bones after time outside and that you needed to take breaks between chores to warm up.

Then came the winds-cutting into cheeks and bring redness and blinking watering eyes, double layered hands and three layered bodies, but the real fun was still on the way.. SNOW!

It shut down the State below ours, it turned our area in to a deep snowy mess, those that were on the roads took the brunt of it.. 30, 40 or 50 car pile ups, sadly deaths are being reported, vehicles sliding off roads, a chemical spill that sent people involved to the hospital and 15 of the first responders had to get medical help as well.   In the city up the road from the farm..  people were stranded in their vehicles for up to 13 hours.

Some had a winter kit in their car (as anyone in the north should!) and so had sleeping bags, socks, hand warmers, candles and more.. but many did not, they had no gear, they had little gas (always have as close to a full tank as you can get if you are heading out into a winter storm), no drinks and no food.  So those that ran out of gas, had no way to warm the vehicle.

They went up and down the highway bringing drinks and protein and fruit and nut bars, they brought gas to fill them enough to get the closest gas station. Schools, roads, bus and more are all shut down.

Here on the farm, we had lots of time to know that it was coming, so we prepped, we put out extra hay and bedding, we hauled extra water an we filled two days more water for in the house.. my one area is filled in with many 6 gallon buckets of water.. just in case.

We backed the truck into the very end of the lane, and when morning came, it was dug out and drove in 4 by 4, as hubby is acting manager this week and so he was very determined to get to work today.

Yesterday was a crazy busy day in the barn for me..  Storm babies where coming!  I had taken photo of Jayda for you, but when I was down for my morning check, I had a ewe in labour, it was her first lambing season, and so I wanted to be around for her, a lovely big strong mainly black and white ram lamb that is doing very well.  Then in the afternoon, Mocha one of my oldest girls who is coming ten this year, delivered a massive ram lamb, another brown and white pinto..  and then less then three hours later another girl went, so we delivered a smaller but strong and active white female ewe lamb, again from another first time mom.. she did outstanding.. I am so pleased both of the first time moms bonded really well..

But then we had a touch of confusion, Mocha wanted to steal the new little lamb.. so we have to split them up and move them into different jugs, so that mocha as the older bigger more bossy ewe could not steal the female lamb.

Man are we ever having a ram lamb year.. 13 ram’s born and one female so far.. well two if you count the goat kid.. and we are now more then 50% done lambing..

Last night and todays checks and chores show us full-bellied babies all snugged up with their siblings or their momma’s. Just what you want to see.

Its hump day.. for those that keep track of the week in that work day way.. for me, its the coming tail end of a storm, they say light snow today and tonight but then it will slow down and the temps are coming back up to more normal..

By the weekend, we might?? have a sugaring weather.. if they get it right, the sap will be running and I have tree’s to tap and sap to boil down..

 

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