Since things slow down a little around here on the weekends I've finally had some time to take in my surroundings, compose my thoughts, write some letters, and just breathe a little bit. Things were moving at such a breakneck pace early in the week I was getting a little worried that I wouldn't have anytime to just enjoy where I am and what I've been doing. Other than taking care of the baby turkeys, the only other thing I had to do today was visit the Madison and Charlottesville Farmer's Markets so I could get a feel for them before I start running our booths there next week, and that was really more fun than work. The Charlottesville market is pretty cool because there are people selling art and handmade things in addition to the typical vegetable and plant vendors. There were lots of musicians too, including these guys who were playing amazing bluegrass/folk music.
The guy sitting down was playing guitar, harmonica, tambourine, and using a foot pedal to play his suitcase like a bass drum--now that's skill!
Back at the farm things are going really well. We've been tying up berry bushes to get them ready for picking which should start next week, doing a lot of weeding and basic maintenance of the fields, and we've been trying to finish the last of the planting for the fall harvest. We're just getting into the really productive part of the season, so we should be starting to harvest a lot more in the coming weeks.
My daily responsibilities include feeding all the animals in the morning, collecting the eggs from the hen house, washing and packaging the eggs, and taking care of the turkeys. I was also just given the job of kombucha maker, so I have to start new batches of that every few days so we have enough to sell at the market.
A lot of our attention lately has been focused on the many new arrivals to the farm. Twenty or so of the goats are pregnant right now and every day a couple of them have their kids. So far we have about a dozen or so goat kids (moms usually have twins or triplets) and we're still awaiting a bunch more. These were the first two to be born.
Then came these...
The best part about having all these baby goats around is that if you're having a bad day you can just go outside and hold a baby goat and all your problems just melt away.
Tomorrow's my day off, and I'm going hiking in Shenandoah National Park!
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