Spring has swept across the farm like a slow, steady symphony, with an emphasis on slow this year. While we’ve got off to a cold start, things do seem to be warming up a bit now. Each day on the farm brings its own rhythm of work, starting with milking and feeding the cows and bringing bottles of milk to the calves. The regular chores quickly give way to all the extra jobs that come with the arrival of spring. In the early days of spring, I spent some extra time at the barn separating cream to churn it into butter to restock our freezer. But soon the fields were humming with the tractor and cultivator ripping through the dirt for the first time in 6 months. Shortly behind the cultivator, Erik planted the first corn seeds in mid-May, which is early for us by the standard set over the last few years. The cold nights kept following made for a slow emergence of those first corn plants, but they all seem to be up now and of decent colour. This past week brought the sweet scent of freshly cut grass and hay drying out in the afternoon sun; this is by far a favourite aroma of the farm. And at the same time, we cut our first-cut alfalfa. If all goes well there will be three more cuts before the season finishes up late August or early September. We have also started to plant our bean seeds, but we must wait a few days to see if these temperamental little seeds will emerge evenly in the field. While it has rained now, we are well on our way with the spring planting for the year. Another week of dry weather will be more than enough to finish the last fields off. This season, and especially the last few weeks, have been full to the brim — and we wouldn’t have it any other way.
My oldest started milking part time on our farm, taking a milking or two per week.
Cream separating to make butter is a favourite job from the youngest, as he loves to switch out the skim milk bucket.
Calf feeding time and this one is taking a peek if her bottle is coming.
Cayden (the oldest) working ground again. This is his third year running the cultivator in the spring.
Getting the corn planted in mid-May. Brody waited the whole winter for this day as he had been asking since February when we could start planting.
The whirling sound of the disc mower filled the air, and the fresh aroma of drying hay filled our noses! Making our first dry hay of the season.
Preparing the bean planter for a day of planting. The weather was changing quickly, and as shown in the photo above, you can see how windy it was and how dark the clouds moving in were. Ultimately, we were rained out later in the evening.
I hope you enjoyed the little update and photo share. Lots more to come as we are just getting started with another full season of farm life! I will also provide a separate update on the garden and the challenges we have faced so far this season, stay tuned for that!
Farm on, friends!
