November Phenology

November comes 

And November goes,

With the last red berries,

And the first white snows.

With night coming early,

And dawn coming late,

And ice in the bucket,

And frost by the gate.

The fires burn,

And the kettles sing,

And earth sink to rest,

Until next spring.

by: Clyde Watson

With the farm welcoming in snow and saying goodbye to the kids, there have been some changes on the farm.

 

Bonnie was dried off and moved into the Heifer Barn (HB)

Also soon after the kids left Bones, Jalapano, 

and Daisy were moved into the Heifer Barn

Heifers hanging in the first accumulation of snow (about 1")
on 11-16

The Garden Pond has completely
frozen over several times now.

All the wheelbarrows are cleaned and fix and put away for the winter.  And all the water tubs and hoses where brought inside to thaw before also being put away for the winter.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Ours started another round of calves.

Wasabi born 11-23-17
Dam: Whisper

Apricot born 11-26-17
Dam: Amethyst

Hollyberry born 11-28-17
Dam: Cranberry

With the weather continuing to fluctuate between warm and cold the dry cows are still out on pasture; but all the heifers were moved into the Heifer Barn on the 24th.

Heifers running toward the barn 

Ashley leading them into the heifer barn

The rest are following

Gary herding the last heifers toward the barn

Heifers relaxing in their new home for the winter.

Goodbye November, Hello December!

 

City Kids - Week 37

I can't believe it, the last week of our City Kids program for 2017, 

just zoomed past.

(I will now be doing posts at the end of each month, instead of once a week, as the season starts to slow down.)

Our big excitement this week was SNOW!!, 

there were flurries in the air and then today there was some that stuck onto the ground.

It is really becoming winter.

Snow at the Dorm

Ice

The heifers, who were in the heifer pasture on the farm,

were moved to the heifer barn.

Winnie and friends inside the Heifer Barn

Rodney and the 2 white hens were moved from 

the garden and into the layer coop with the young hens.

All seem to be getting along so far!

Rodney and hen

Rodney looking over all the laying hens

Thank you all students, staff, and teachers for a wonderful 2017 season!!!
(The farm keeps going, even when kids are not here.  So feel free to leave a comment to see what is going on here.)

City Kids - Week 36

Sorry to be late with last weeks blog, there has been a lot going on with the closing of the seasons.

So, here is a recap of all the adventures that happened last week.

Halloween!! 

Deana's decorations 

Students' carved pumpkins

All the staff dressed for the
Halloween Party!!

Then there were SO many calves born:

Joey and her calf Janis (10-30-17)

Janis sleeping

Chestnut….Carol's calf, born 11-2-17

Skye…..Trinidad's calf, born 11-2-17

As the weather gets colder the garden is all ready for bed,
though I still found some flowers blooming :).

All the raised beds covered with fertilizer!!

Greenhouse emptied and pumped pulled
from the pond.

Flowers blooming still!!!

Then below are some photos of other animals and views from around the farm from last week.

All the apples picked by the farmers!

Meat chickens growing like weeds

Luna!!

The cows were really into there molasses tubs last week

Garden pond in the fog of early morning

November's Photos

The leaves have fallen and the garden has been put to bed.

But the heifers are still in pasture and there are still apples on the trees.

Garden

Farm

Woods

Meditation Path

Apple Orchard