Where did the year go?

It has been a very busy year on the farm. So busy, in fact, that I abandoned my normal attempt for seasonal updates to our website. Instead, I'll just try to recall the highlights.

We are already waking up to frosts in the morning, and even enjoyed our first dusting of snow last week.  With the cooler temperatures Craig has been busy chopping wood to keep our house warm and as we are finishing up harvesting the remaining apples and grapes from the fall.  All the crops this year were about a month late because of last year's long, cold, wet spring, but we did have a bountiful yield of cherries, plums, apples, and pears from our trees, along with tomatoes, cucumbers, and even a big pumpkin from the garden.

Summer was short but hot, and we all tried to keep cool.  The alpacas seemed a bit more comfortable with the shearing experience this year, and although they had grown quite a bit from last year, they still look remarkably (and somewhat ridiculously) smaller when they are defluffed.  July also brought along "Kitty" who adopted our farm and us and now has endeared herself to us enough that she spends nights inside.

The biggest summer addition though was our flock of chickens.  We had been wanting laying hens for a long time, and the right opportunity presented itself on craigslist, so all of a sudden we had 23 chickens.  There are 19 hens in a variety of breeds and sizes, 3 black roosters, and our main rooster who is a very handsome mix with impressive spurs.  He is also really nice and gentle - we like him a lot.  In general we really enjoy having the chickens wandering about the property and doing all their chicken stuff.  They free range during the day and tuck themselves into their coop at night.  During the peak of laying season we were getting 10 - 12 eggs per day, but as the days got short the hens stopped laying for their winter break.  We are hoping they start up again shortly after the winter solstice.

Along with the coop and the chickens came about 20 eggs that one of the hens had been brooding in a van at their previous owner's home.  We transported the eggs and set up a makeshift incubator for them, but did not expect anything to happen.  Then one day, while turning them over, one peeped at me.  We then delighted in watching two chicks (who came to be known as yellow chickie and black chickie) hatch and grow.  They are now pullets who spend the days out in a pen getting to know the flock, but are hand trained and get carried into their tank in the garage for the nights.

"Mama Hen," the broody hen responsible for the 20 eggs from the original farm, promptly sought out another nesting spot and began sitting on another clutch of eggs:  9 this time.  Craig fenced in the area to protect it from predators and sure enough, 3 weeks later, all 9 eggs hatched and suddenly we had a lot more chickens (though we did lose one when they were still very small, quite possibly to Kitty).  The chicks are so cute and have already molted into their proper feathers so they should be able to weather the winter comfortably.  They still all sleep with Mama Hen in her nesting spot but seem to be pretty comfortable with the flock, based on how they act when they find a hole in the fence and escape now and then.

Back in spring we enjoyed the gray skies, as did the 250 or so Christmas Tree seedlings that Craig planted.  He is learning more and more about how to give the seedlings their best shot at surviving the summer without spraying to kill all the surrounding grass or having to water them excessively.  By planting them in the shadows of the larger trees on the hillside, they are protected from the sun during the hottest, driest times and each year we seem to have more seedlings that have weathered the summer.

Of course spring also brings amazing blossoms and flowers and just feels good as the days grow longer and the air smells sweet.  But it also brings an end to winter which, for us at least, seems to be the most magical.  And so every year, around this time, as the days grow shorter and the sun becomes more scarce, we take great pleasure in the crisp air, the crunchy grass, and the excitement we feel for the rapidly approaching Christmas Tree season, when we get to share a little bit of the beauty and magic that nature brings to us here on the farm.

Morning frost on the grass:

Craig outfitted to cut firewood:

Deek leading the way down the trail:

Chickens foraging around their coop:

Al and Paco, freshly sheared early in the summer:

Suddenly they are so small:

Al wondering what on earth just happened to Paco:

Happy hens, with Main Rooster in the middle:

Christmas trees along the trail:

Our biggest pumpkin (I mean the squash, not Craig):

Amanita mushrooms peeking up:

Then opening into full glory:

Frost edged leaf:

Grape harvest:

Campfire:

Gorgeous sunset:

Clouds pouring down into the valley:

Mama Hen looking after her chicklets:

This hen gave me a pretty stern look:

Main Rooster:

Al and Paco under a full moon:

Craig bringing out Yellow and Black Chickies for the day:

Sun and clouds:

Golden light through the trees:

Apples ready for picking:

We were excited to discover one of the trees Craig uncovered from blackberries produced fruit this year, and it was a pink flesh apple tree:

Pears were also delicious:

Farm animals:

Enjoying the blackberries:

Mama Hen with her brood:

The chicks are about a week old here:

Praying mantis:

Mama Hen keeping a close watch on her chicks:

Al and Paco playing:

Yellow and Black Chickies, from the eggs we incubated, at about 36 and 12 hours old:

Our first full dozen day:

Early adventures out of the nest:

Main Rooster:

Yellow Chickie in the process of hatching:

Newborn:

Planting seedlings:

Pretty purpleness:

Collecting eggs:

Rainbow!

Craig processing the seedlings:

Another beautiful sunset:

A visit from the Evening Grosbeaks:

Craig unpacking the seedlings:

Meet Kitty:

Summer blooms in the evening:

Big bright lily:

Red evening sky:

After all the snow the creek was running very full:

Butterfly visits:

One of their favorite flowers:

We have lots of owls around, but it's pretty spectacular to see a Great Horned Owl in full daylight:

More commonly we see them perched to hunt at dusk:

Thick clouds coming in:

Dew on peony:

Summer blooms:

Thank you pollinators:

Deek:

Cherry blossoms:

Gold finch:

Trillium:

Apple blossoms:

Plum blossoms:

The forest just before spring turns it lush again: