Woo Hoo! It's Harvest Time in Georgia!

     Have you SEEN all of the crops that are now appearing in stores and farm markets all around Georgia these days?(See the widget at the top of my blog) Wow! It's been a pretty good spring, after we got over the late frosts...

     We've been extra busy with caring for the chicks and doeling these past few weeks. The chicks have been divided out into chicken tractors into our front yard (broilers in one, and layers in another). This has freed up my screenporch where they were initially in the brooder. Whew! My hope is to super clean in there and get it painted and decorated for human use, lol!

     As with just about everything we do, there has been a learning curve for us with getting this nubian doeling. Since she has no mother to protect her from the other older does, she can't be left in the pasture alone. So we have been grazing her after her bottle feeding. She follows us around while we do our morning chores. I have to watch that she doesn't nibble my eggplant or pepper plants though. I do let her nibble the blueberries, raspberry, and blackberry plants a little ; )  We do graze her inside the pasture with the others once a day also, and let her out into the barn when replacing her stall water and feed. They are getting used to eachother gradually, and "Bella" is growing. Soon she will not be able to get out of the fence! Unfortunately, it was fenced on two sides with 6" square which she can still shimmy out of : (

     There are a few pineapple pears on the tree, but we lost ALL of our regular pears this year. There's not ONE on the tree. I'm not sure exactly what happened, though I think it was that last frost. There were tons of blossoms like usual, even baby pears...

     Our watering got a bit easier since my Sweetie made 4 new stand sprinklers.Thankfully, it has rained some this week and we've enjoyed a reprieve from the watering chore!

     Next up on my "want to/must do" list, is to bathe both horses. This is a job that I actually enjoy and am trying to make time for. 

   

  Life is full and rich. 

Our New Doeling from South Carolina!

Introducing,....Bella  " )     Born April 13th, she's a registered Nubian. She is really sweet-natured. She has had loose stool, but things are firming up with  time and getting used to the routine and new home. Here she is enjoying being around us while we work in the garden planting more tomatoes. I believe one of the greatest stresses to her is being isolated, so we try to spend time with her walking around the property and inside the pasture with the other goats. She is too small to leave alone with them yet, so we are her "herd" for now...We are using a dogpen and moving it around to let her graze and be outside of her stall.

We are even busier around here with her and the chicks too!  (Tomorrow we plan to divide out the broiler chicks-they are twice as big as the layers!-into a chicken "tractor" to give everyone more room to grow.)

Here come the rest of the home crew to investigate...

Getting acquainted with her new home pasture...

Venturing Out into the Market...

Top  o' the morinin' to you from Uphill Farm!

It's a beauty out there today!  After what seems like endless rainy, grey days, sunshine and warmth return " )

I'm excited to report that we at Uphill Farm will be venturing out once again into the farm market arena.  A new, small medical center in our area has begun a "community engagement" program to call attention to their new facility and services (and to offer positive, productive opportunities for education, recreation, and interaction!)

They will be allowing local vendors with homemade/Georgia-made items to set up in an area of their parking lot each Tuesday afternoon from 4:30-

6:30. The space is first-come, first-served. There are no commitments and no fees to participate! When I contacted the Director, she was very excited and encouraging. The season goes from May-September, but we will have to begin late due to my daughter's involvement in dance classes on Tuesday nights which do not end until recital at the end of May...

Hopefully, our oldest daughter and daughter in law will also participate with us offering crafted and homemade items as well...I will keep you up to date on the happenings " )

This morning I am going to skim over the chores and run over to my folks house to visit with my only sibling, my older sister, for one last day before she returns to the North. Hopefully, she will be back to participate in our parents' 60th anniversary celebration in June.

Tomorrow hubby and I plan to jaunt over to South Carolina to purchase a registered Nubian doeling. There just AREN'T any around here, and we are hoping she will get along nicely with our new buck, "Jett", and kids will be forthcoming at some point. We may very well be the ONLY farm offering registered dairy goats for sale in a large area...

Well, I'm off to hug and kiss horses ; )

Have a great day!