I can feel it and I can smell it….
Yeah I know it’s odd – but it’s true. Joe already has seeds started in the basement – some unbelievable amount of tomato plants and peppers – but they are in the dirt! Herbs have already started to come up. It’s always fun to see the leaves coming up – I visit every day down there just to look.
With the snow melting the lambs are springing around…. yes they actually do that jumping thing – it’s fun to watch so if you don’t catch me at the house there is a good chance I’m out there watching them if the weather is nice. Turns out we have 15 lambs instead of the 14 we thought we had. Joe came in today and asked how many we had and I stated 14 – so we had to go out and count and sure enough – another ewe gave birth. I swore they were all done but once again I was wrong.
The chickens are selling quickly – so we are already looking at how we are doing the coming batches. Whew – who thought they would do that well in the first week! It was exciting to see everyone come up and want the chickens at the market.
Oh and exciting news – it’s not official in my hand yet – but it looks like we are in the Leesburg Summer Farmer’s Market!! This is a HUGE deal for us as it is a really busy market and it’s only our second year. Thinking about it changes the way we look at what we are doing. It’s expensive to run a farm – especially when you have people who like to have the right tools all the time (completely understandable in my opinion). This means that we might actually have the money next season or even later this season for fall for a green house! Fingers crossed – but not planning on it as of yet.
The kids are even excited – though they have to give up most of their Saturdays completely as we will start at Leesburg at 9am then end at South Riding at 5pm. At least at South Riding they run around, have kids to play with etc. It’s a more relaxed market for us.
Me? Well I see it as a job. Yes, my house is becoming a job. It’s interesting as I don’t mind it completely. At least it’s a job that I enjoy and hey – I don’t have a bad commute! I’m doing a lot of planning and marketing work right now trying to get ready for the up-coming season and it’s really nice to know it’s paying off. We already sold 1 1/4 of the 4 steers we have coming, we have interest in the pork (which won’t be until next season by the way since we are getting a breeding trio in April – more on that at a later date), the lambs are here, and the chicken and eggs are selling great! One of my jellies is in the mail to go to VA Tech to get analized for water activity so I can be on my way for my kitchen inspection so that this summer I will sell my home-made and grown salsa and spaghetti sauce – plus jellies but not a big deal on that.
Right now though seems like a good time to read a book and relax 
