.This spring has been off to a bit of a rocky start.
First, there was no rain for weeks. Then there was so much rain that it kept us out of the fields and put us behind schedule. One day it was warm and sunny, then the next five days were cold and wet. Equipment kept breaking down, one after another after another like dominos. We had issues with some of the peas that we couldn't identify ourselves. Some of the steers figured out how to get either over or under part of the fence (we're not sure which) and trampled part of a strawberry field. Mark has already pulled a handful of 16-17 hour days this spring - a record. My trusty Honda CRV is no longer with us (although I must say, we definitely upgraded - to a Chevy of course.) The outdoor market season started off very slow and very wet. And to top it all off, Smokey the kitten was happy and healthy one day and then the next day at death's door. We have slowly been nursing him with an eyedropper and kitten formula after a very traumatic trip to the veterinarian, but it is still too early to know if he will have the strength to come back to us fully.
The life of a farm family.
My brother-in-law Tom is fond of say, "If I didn't have bad luck, I would have no luck at all." Lately it feels that way. It hasn't even been six months into our marriage and Mark and I have both dealt with illnesses serious enough to send us to the emergency room and an exceptionally challenging spring planting. But there has by far been more ups than downs, at least from my perspective. Though it seems like a very silly thing, we were on the receiving end of an unexpected stroke of luck this past Sunday; the weather was so poor that Mark was able to spend the ENTIRE DAY (besides the two daily steer feedings) with me in the house!! That's right, we had a "normal" Sunday. You know, when you stay in the sweatpants you slept in, you don't do any chores and you watch action movies back to back. It was freakin' awesome.
Now it's back to reality - a.k.a struggling with the corn planter, painstakingly pinching off strawberry blossoms by hand and getting peed on by kittens every three hours.
Ah, farm life.
By the way, here are some videos of Mark and Tom laying rows of plastic in one of our fields. A variety of pepper and tomato plants are going to soon find their way into these babies. Wish us luck! (Good luck, that is!)
First, there was no rain for weeks. Then there was so much rain that it kept us out of the fields and put us behind schedule. One day it was warm and sunny, then the next five days were cold and wet. Equipment kept breaking down, one after another after another like dominos. We had issues with some of the peas that we couldn't identify ourselves. Some of the steers figured out how to get either over or under part of the fence (we're not sure which) and trampled part of a strawberry field. Mark has already pulled a handful of 16-17 hour days this spring - a record. My trusty Honda CRV is no longer with us (although I must say, we definitely upgraded - to a Chevy of course.) The outdoor market season started off very slow and very wet. And to top it all off, Smokey the kitten was happy and healthy one day and then the next day at death's door. We have slowly been nursing him with an eyedropper and kitten formula after a very traumatic trip to the veterinarian, but it is still too early to know if he will have the strength to come back to us fully.
The life of a farm family.
My brother-in-law Tom is fond of say, "If I didn't have bad luck, I would have no luck at all." Lately it feels that way. It hasn't even been six months into our marriage and Mark and I have both dealt with illnesses serious enough to send us to the emergency room and an exceptionally challenging spring planting. But there has by far been more ups than downs, at least from my perspective. Though it seems like a very silly thing, we were on the receiving end of an unexpected stroke of luck this past Sunday; the weather was so poor that Mark was able to spend the ENTIRE DAY (besides the two daily steer feedings) with me in the house!! That's right, we had a "normal" Sunday. You know, when you stay in the sweatpants you slept in, you don't do any chores and you watch action movies back to back. It was freakin' awesome.
Now it's back to reality - a.k.a struggling with the corn planter, painstakingly pinching off strawberry blossoms by hand and getting peed on by kittens every three hours.
Ah, farm life.
By the way, here are some videos of Mark and Tom laying rows of plastic in one of our fields. A variety of pepper and tomato plants are going to soon find their way into these babies. Wish us luck! (Good luck, that is!)
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