How do you people do it? Keep up with farm and work and family AND manage to crank out the blog posts? I’m thinking of you, and you, and you. I’ve been a little overwhelmed (mostly pleasantly) the last few weeks.

Planting potatoes was a job and a half, but we finally got them all in, and they’re coming up. I’m hanging on to tomatoes and peppers. I usually plant them out end of May or first of June, and some of the old timers around here are saying there’ll be a frost May 27, so I’m in no hurry. Besides, I started them a little later this year, and they’re still happy in their pots in the greenhouse.

We sold piglets and Beowulf and Dixie, so things are mellow on the pig front: we just have Bill, who needs to be eaten, and three piglets—a gilt named Gloria for breeding, Pink Pig, to raise for eating, and a little gilt with an umbilical hernia that we’ll eat as a roasting pig.

ED has dried Pearl up, as she’s due to calve July 4th. We were wailing about not having milk, until we sold a refrigerator on craigslist to a previously unknown neighbor who is milking a cow and was willing to trade milk for part of the price of the fridge. Now it’s not bright yellow, grassfed Jersey milk (I think they have an Angus Holstein cross) but it will certainly do for a few weeks!

We had the good luck to get a small flock of Anconas from a blog friend—three ducks and a drake. They’re very gentle little ducks, and already good layers. I’m waiting for a shipment of Holderread Khaki Campbells any day now.

My four hens and a bantam rooster, who are living rather happily in a chicken tractor in the garden, are averaging three eggs a day, and are keeping the garden pretty clean.

I’ll try for a better update soon!