Say Sheeple Like It's A Good Thing

You are a maker of good trouble. You are too strong to be worn weary by those who want you to be a little less loud, a little less you, a little more like them. — Juliet, who turned four this week! Four years of low-key refusing to bend to authority! May we all carry a little bit of her spirit with us.

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Here’s What’s Happening At Good Spirits Farm

There’s something deeply reassuring about the cyclical nature of farming. When you think you can’t stand one more day of blustery March winds, April arrives with the warm hug of a balmy afternoon. When last year’s stored garlic is shirveled, you see this spring’s crop sprouting. The gentle turn, turn, turn of the planet rocking you like a big, celestial cradle, reminding you that this too, shall pass.

The spring green-up has begun in earnest, with my pastures exploding overnight. It’s time for me to speed up the movement of my cows and sheep, to utilize every bit of this lushness before summer sends the grasses to seed. I move them to fresh paddocks every two days using reels of hotwire and temporary fence posts, but during the “salad days” of spring, I’ll make the paddocks just a bit bigger than normal. Everyone shall feast!

The sheep are always ready and waiting for me to come let them through to the next day’s buffet!

It’s interesting: When I move the flerd forward, the cows go straight for the grass. The sheep, though, get right to work on the awful, invasive multiflora rose.

They, alone, aren’t able to really take the plants down, but they do knock them back. Once the wild blackberries have blossomed (terrific food for the bees), and the ground nesting birds have fledged their babies, I’ll get the tractor out and mow this whole field down, to try and keep the brambles from getting too out of control. Mowing and sheep are my two best tools, since we don’t use herbicides.

Tomorrow, like every other day, I’ll move the critters again. And then I’ll begin my list of spring chores: Plant potatoes, water seedlings, spread compost on the garden. It’s the same things I did at about this time last year, and I hope I’ll be doing these tasks again next year and for many years after that. These repetitive motions helping to orient me in a world that too often feels like it makes no sense.

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Here’s What I Loved This Week

This story of very good boi Buford, who rescued a two-year-old. Of course he’s an Anatolian/Pyranese mix! These gentle giants are so good with kids. Veli says she’s ready to babysit!