Its really starting to feel like spring again. Yesterday our toddler decided we all had to go out and enjoy the weather together in the yard. Not something we might have decided for ourselves, but it was actually really nice. Today we start another busy day of spring activity so I’ll dive right into this week’s update!
One sure sign of spring is that the birds are back. Sure, there have been robins for a bit, and already weeks ago migrating flocks of geese. But for us today, meat chickens are back! We pick up batch one of our chicks this afternoon. We already have their home cleaned and mostly prepped for their arrival and pre warmed to their delicate standards. Looking forward to getting the little peepers moved in!
With spring arriving all around us it is only another six weeks until the start of our Summer CSA season. People are already signing up, and while there is still plenty of time to sign up before the season starts, this could still be a good time to start thinking about it! This week in CSA we have Lettuce, Carrots, Rutabaga, Beets, Bok Choi, and Cabbage.
With spring come lambs. Not yet, but soon. We are making progress toward being ready. On Saturday the rams went for a ride home so that is one step. There is a little more manure that could use cleaning out before we set up the lambing pens, but if that didn’t happen before lambs arrive it wouldn’t be a disaster. Officially 10 more days to go, but we’ll see what really happens.
As daily average temperatures are tending more towards the plus side we set up the water timers for the greenhouses. Running nine sprinkler zones manually every other day was getting to be a lot, and we have the technology to do it for us so it was time to get back to using it. But nothing ever goes completely smoothly so some monitoring is still required. Yesterday we found one valve with nothing attached to it was apparently running a program and just flooding the end of a greenhouse. And some other zones had ice in hoses that led between greenhouses so the water couldn’t get through. And there were connections to tighten or replace. It will be nice, but setting it up is a lot of work each year.
We are trying to re pick up our fencing projects from last fall. We got a lot of posts dug in last fall before freeze, but hadn’t made much progress since. But this week Nathan managed to build a few brace panels to make sturdy ends and corners to stretch the wire between. Hopefully there is time for a few more this week and maybe we can even get some wire up! We have serious ambitions for fencing this year, but any progress is at least a start. Isn’t there some saying about a fence of a thousand metres begins with one post? It was something like that anyway.
Well there is lots to do. The guys are already harvesting lettuce and we need to check the brooder one more time to make sure it is ready for the chicks.
Until next week,
Happy ordering!
Nathan and Aleta Klassen
https://www.localline.ca/nith-valley-organics
