Sheep Love

Over the winter our neighbor asked us to feed and water her sheep while she was away. We kind of grew fond of the big sheep dog (a Great Pyronese) named Akiva. Until this winter I was always terrified of her, believing that she would tear off one of my arms if I got that close. She's actually a big, soft-hearted puppy who likes her belly rubbed. But with that menacing bark and towering stature of hers, she could fool you.

Akiva, the guard dog. Don't let that smile fool you. She's 100 pounds
and measures up to my chest when she's on all fours. 

Within the past couple of weeks, lambing season brought Akiva a whole new flock. Nothing says spring like little, bleating lambs bounding around a green pasture. There are also a couple of baby goats. 

In exchange for our farm-sitting, our neighbor plans to pay us in the form of goat cheese and lamb chops. Not a bad trade. 

Baaaaa.

Spring Update

Breakin' Wind

We put (nearly) the finishing touches on the windbreak today. The latest additions include a row of Rocky Mountain Juniper (which weren't available last year when we put our order into the seedling nursery), and a handful of replacement Ponderosa Pines and Doug Firs that didn't make it through the winter. For the most part, though, it looks like well over 90% of our shrubs and trees are budding out and looking great! There are a few more unfilled holes waiting for trees, but we got the bulk of the work done and are super happy about it. We now have 400-ish trees/shrubs in the ground. Tonight: Aleve and early to bed.

Rocky Mountain Juniper

Big Blacks

Soon to come to the Blue Cloud farm are two "little" pigs. We're switching over from pink Hampshire hogs to a heritage breed called Large Blacks.  The hogs are appealing as they are meant to graze. Apparently, they are very docile, in part to their large floppy ears that block their vision. We'll train them to a hot wire, so that we can easily rotate their pasture, and see how they do. We will be getting our two black piglets from a breeding farm (Cranky Carl's) up north in Eureka, MT, within the next few weeks. This year is a test run. Hopefully, if it all goes smoothly, and if the bacon is up to par, we'll look into breeders next year.

In with the Black....

...out with the Pink.