Welp, do you want to hear the good news or the bad news first?
I really don’t want to start a #farmphotofriday post with bad news (keep reading for the good news, though!), but I just want to get it out of the way. Cool? Cool.
Welcoming May on the farm allows us to stand on a threshold that holds all possibilities at once.
We know at our cores that we can still see blossom and fruit killing frosts and freezes through the end of May, though the warm Aprils consistently try to trick us into pushing the envelope. The stores put out their lush transplants and the trees often blossom in their excited glory.
I try to remain hopeful when I see Nature starting to stretch after her Winter nap, but I don’t hold my breath until we’ve at least passed Mother’s Day and I can see a clear and warm ten-day forecast.
And so, when the orchard flowered out early due to the non-winter, hot-snap in March, and continuously warm days and nights through much of April, I remained uncertain.
And then we got a cold snap. Seven hours under 32*F with the lowest temp hitting 26*F for several of those hours.
Yeah… I do believe we have lost the entire orchard harvest again this year, making two years in a row that climate chaos has smacked us upside the head and left us fruitless.
Luckily, if we can get past the May/June hail storms, we should have plenty of raspberries and blackberries alongside herbs, flowers, and the kitchen garden produce to fill our plates and hearts.
Growing food is nothing if not a continuous lesson in perseverance and humility.
On another note, I finally got a shot of these two wanna-be-mamas sharing their blended nest of duck and turkey eggs. Aren’t they cute as hell? And still getting along just fine.
I can’t wait to share mama/baby and fluffy butt photos!
Good news, no?
OK, I have to ask: Do you like goats? I’ve learned most people either love them or are creeped out by them 😉
Well, wherever you fall on the goat-love scale, I hope you don’t mind meeting Lucy. She’s 11 years old and has always been our sassiest goat, begging for head scratches and pushing her way to the front of every snack line. Gotta love her. She’s our second oldest goat (we got her when she was just a babe) and hasn’t slowed down a bit.
Last, but certainly not least, I wanted to share this sweet photo of Barley, our oldest Spanish Mastiff Livestock Guardian Dog (LGD) at six years old. He works alongside our Great Pyrenees (Akuna, 11 years old) and our younger Mastiff (Rue, two years old) and they’ve all been working hard every night to keep the property safe when the predators are out.
He’s a big fan of day-time porch naps and I can’t blame him one bit.
That’s it for this #farmphotofriday! I’m enjoying pulling these posts together (hope you are, too) and plan to keep at it on an every-other-week basis 🙂
How are things in your neck of the woods? Anything exciting (or hard) happening in nature around you? I’d love to hear all about it!
Onward,
Melissa
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So sorry to hear about your harvest….but you have so many glorious things to celebrate.
No doubt! It’s all such a balance and every harvest is a good harvest 🙂
I am sorry about the fruit trees. Happy about all the other good things that you have on the farm. What are you most excited about when it comes to your new green house?
I love goats, and dogs and are a tiny bit jealous that you can be around them every day 🙂 Great post! My daughter has the chicken pox right now and therefor I am not spending time in my garden right now..
Oh goodness, I hope your daughter has a speedy recovery. I remember having the chicken pox and it was zero fun!
To be honest, I’m most excited to have started some luffa seeds! I’ve always wanted to grow some but our season isn’t quite long enough so I’ve never had a harvest! I’m so hopeful that the season extension will help bring this little goal to life!
Hope your week ahead is a good one <3
Oh, no! So very sorry to read about the frost and your fruit trees. How terrible! The unseasonably warm weather messes up so much.
I so enjoyed the pictures of the animals, every single one of them, especially Lucy. In truth, I cannot comprehend why some people loathe certain animals, be they goats or cats or whatever. What the heck!
Thank you so much for your kind words, Laurie.
I’m so glad to hear that you enjoyed the photos 🙂 I, too, have a deep love and appreciation for all animals and can’t quite wrap my head around such aversions but, it takes all kinds so… 😉
Hope your week is a good one!
What a shame about your harvest! We’ve had unseasonably cold weather as well. How interesting that a turkey and a duck became friends! And goats are adorable. How could anyone disagree with that?! Sleeping dogs are adorable too. Barley looks supremely content there. 🙂 Livestock Guardian Dog is a breed I wasn’t familiar with. Thanks for the education! Off to do more research… Wishing you a wonderful week!
Hi Debbie! Thanks for your patience with my reply, I’ve had a helluva week+ :-/
Thank you for your kind words! Did you look up LGDs? Barley is a Spanish Mastiff and learning about the breed has been such a cool experience!
Hope you have a great weekend!
Sorry to hear the weather has not been kind to your crops. I fear it is only going to get more unpredictable and destructive. The turkey ducks are really something.
So sorry for the loss of the orchard fruits. That’s tough to know that you’ll go through the seasons without that produce.
Beautiful photos! Goats are great — especially in photos.
Sorry to hear about the orchard harvest. The weather has been up and down. We just planted 4 new trees, and I’m hoping we’re past the worst of the weather rollercoaster.
I love all the pictures you shared. I found a baby bunny yesterday. It was hiding right beside my back door. He was so sweet with his little ears and tiny body. I believe that his family is living under my shed because we see bigger bunnies just outside of my dog run all the time.
Happy Wednesday, Melissa.
Oh my goodness! Baby bunnies are so adorable! I hope it grows up nig and strong in your yard 🙂 Happy Week-ending!
Oh I am so sorry to read about your fruits trees/crop for the second year in a row. The weather really has been quite erratic. I can’t say I am a huge fan of goats but I definitely don’t mind them when they aren’t trying to jump on me– so therefor photos are the best.