A chicken and egg problem

You’ve got GRIT. Whatever you are working towards, your ability to persevere will get you there. Keep on keepin’ on.
— Sweet ‘Tater, who is persevering in her effort to hatch a pile of wood shavings.

Here’s What’s Happening At Good Spirits Farm

• The hot weather is coming. Ugh! One of the challenges of intense rotational grazing is that, when it gets hot, you have to make sure your animals always have access to shade. I asked a friend to make me a “shade-mobile” that I will pull behind our small tractor, but it’s not done yet. These next few days I’ll have to move the gals specifically into areas of the farm that have trees, even though it kind of interrupts my overall grazing plan.

• It’s not only hot, but it’s bone dry. Last weekend I planned to plant my corn, but there’s been no rain in the forecast for two weeks, with at least another week of dry weather ahead. We’re hand watering what’s already in, but with city water, that gets expensive, fast. The corn is on hold until I know rain is coming to soak it—otherwise, the crows will eat it all before it can sprout!

• Our cattle working setup is in and the vet comes out next week to do shots and castrations. I’m SO nervous about using the setup correctly - it has all these levers that do different things! So! Many! Levers! There are oh so many times when I wish I’d grown up on a farm instead of having to learn everything in my 30s.

Here’s What I Loved This Week

Seeing friends again! I had dinner with two fully vaccinated friends last weekend and boy did it feel special to gather. In 2019, I worked really intentionally to make friends in this rural community. I was finally starting to feel a little bit of connection and then, well, you know. Here’s hoping 2021 is a better year for building and reveling in community.