or an extended Mother’s Day my sister, mom, and I are heading to the beach!  We will be there today through tomorrow.  So I’ll see you all when I get back from relaxing and celebrating my mom! :)

{sunny orchard and the sheep}

t is absolutely one of the most pastoral looking scenes on the farm when the sheep are in the orchard grazing.  I always look forward to having them munching away so close to the house.  You could just watch them for hours.  I actually will go out with my camera, a glass of ice tea and a magazine and sit under a tree in the paddock with the sheep are milling about or sleeping around me.  I hope that the mamas start having their babies while they are still in the orchard!

 

This photo and the one at the beginning of the post are both of one of the twins born earlier this year.  They are getting so big already!

On these hot spring days, the sheep really appreciate being able to relax in the shade.

They are helping ease our load of tasks each week by keeping the orchard grass and front yard mowed down so we don’t have to as often.  Maybe someday soon we’ll have a riding lawn mower to cut down on the 3-5 hour/week mowing chore, but until then, we use the animals as often as possible.

Mr. Farmer Jones moved the herd this morning to a fresh new paddock in the orchard.  After they eat down the grass there, we’ll move them to the back Westley pasture to graze the grass that is growing back where the pigs were last year and part of this winter.

{happy mother’s day mom!}

{mother’s day 2010}

No language can express the power, and beauty, and heroism, and majesty of a mother’s love.  It shrinks not where man cowers, and grows stronger where man faints, and over wastes of worldly fortunes sends the radiance of its quenchless fidelity like a star.

-Edwin Hubbell Chapin

{Let the gardening begin!}

ovingly, Tyler’s middle brother, Kyle, has spent hours on our garden for the past 3+ years we have been here.  He has been the one in charge of pretty much all things garden.  Kyle will be our Garden Manager for the Free-Choice CSA.  We are super excited about this!  It means that the produce has a much higher probability of making it to your tables, than if I or busy Mr. Farmer Jones were to try to head-up a large-scale garden right now.

Kyle has been working on growing starts up at his house, but now the tomatoes are ready to plant.  So we moved the layer chickens out of the garden and into the larger pasture.  Tyler’s Dad {Bradd The Rad Day- B.R.D.} and Tyler worked a little bit on the new layer mobile {pictured below} which is where some of the layers will live.  The ground is dry enough, and the boys were able to start prepping one small portion of the garden space.

This all could have happened a little earlier but we were experiencing another domino effect.  So now is when we are starting the garden! Hurray!

{the view of part of the garden looking East}

{the view of part of the garden looking West}

While Kyle whipped the grass off, Tyler raked and loaded up in a wheel barrow.  Then he went and gave the pigs in the barn something to munch on.

We needed to give the oak grove a rest, so we moved the pigs into the barn.  The rest of the pasture has been too wet still and we don’t want the pigs to ruin it.  We have also had no luck with finding near-by land to raise our pigs in.  We are still on the hunt and will be beating the streets again soon to hopefully find a place where our piggies can enjoy themselves a little bit more.

{I think this one looks like a painting!}

While Mr. Farmer Jones fed the pigs and checked on the brooder, Kyle started to till up the one patch they were working on for the day.

Inch by inch we are getting closer to the bounty!  Can’t wait to munch into all the home-grown goodness!

{Cutie pies: Baby Days 2}

ll these adorable little faces I got to stare at while editing the photos, totally brightened my day!  Some day Mr. Farmer Jones and I will have wee ones of our own, but until then, I think I’ll keep inviting cutie pies over to the farm for me to just look at :)  I’m really looking forward to the next family & kid event at the farm on Monday June 4th.  Until then, take a look at all the little munchkins I got to be with earlier this week.

 

Everyone had a great time!  If any parents want one of the pictures they see here or on Afton Field Farm’s Facebook page, just let me know and I’ll send it to you!

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{spring sheep}

e brought the sheep up to the front yard to help us mow down the grass, and so that the kids could all get a close look at them for Baby Days earlier this week.  We have a breed of sheep called Katahdin.  They are a hair sheep, so they shed their hair this time of year. It is always humorous to see them while they are shedding because it looks like they have dread-locks.  Total hippie-rockers :)

 

It usually takes a couple of years for all the hair to be ready to shed.  So you will see some of the sheep that look like they have wool {which a few do only have wool and no hair} but really they are just young katahdins waiting to mature.

Most of the sheep are also pregnant- very pregnant- right now.  We were hoping to have some lambs born before Baby Days, but we didn’t.  But by the looks of things, we should have quite a few to see during the other summer family & kid events we are having.  Right now the herd is eating, resting, and scratching their hair off on anything that can stand the jostling and pressure :)

{Baby Days- part 1}

ur first Baby Day event was a great success!  We all had so much fun!  I had a great time getting to know the younger part of our local community and their parents.  I also got some great photos of the day!  Yesterday, my friend, Shawn of Shawn Linehan Photography, came over and spent most of the afternoon with me.  She taught me a few tricks with my camera and taught me an incredible amount about editing!!!  I’m so thrilled because with the skills and knowledge Shawn imparted to me, more of my photos are able to actually turn out as I am seeing them in my head :)  I’m still working on a few editing things of the Baby Day photos and I think I got a little cold-bug from my new friends, so I’m going to try to take ‘er easy today :)  But check back here and on Afton Field Farm’s Facebook page to see more adorable faces like Matilda above!

{david bazan was here}

avid Bazan and a small gathering of fans came to the farm for a House Show this past Saturday evening.  It was great to hear David in person.  His voice is so powerful and yet soothing at the same time.  We got to meet a lot of great people, see old friends, and after the show a couple hand-fulls of us stayed and hung out with David in the Boiler Room for a couple hours.  I’m not going to lie, I am a little bit exhausted from the week of preparing and other daily tasks, and then the late night {or early morning}.  But it’s our first Baby Days event today, and that excitement is keeping the fire lit.  I’ll probably crash after all the kiddos are gone ;)

{Bula and I enjoying from the stairs}

{quotable sunday}

Great difficulties may be surmounted by patience and perseverance

Abigail Adams,The Quotable Abigail Adams

In a tradition started by my friend Kyrie of Are So Happy and carried on with Kerry of Young Ones and Linnea of PeppermintAlley, they invite you to post a quote on your site every Sunday. Quotations can be old favorites or new inspiration, funny or sentimental, famous or personal, just give credit {where credit is due} and have fun.

Feel free to join in on the fun each Sunday.  When you have a quote to share, make sure to post the link on one of the blogs above.  You can also join the flickr group and add your weekly contribution there.

{our first official CSA member!}

Thank you and congratulations to Cinnamon for being our first official CSA member! She came to the Farmers’ Market this morning and gave us the first CSA check.

We’ve had lots of people sign up for the CSA and we are thrilled to have more join the fun!

Now it’s time for half the AFF team to continue selling at the market while Mr. Farmer Jones and I head back to the house to finish getting ready for the house show tonight! It’s a full weekend but it’s going to be a blast!