It has been a crazy two weeks at the farm! Our chickens are thankfully laying more eggs now that the weather has warmed up slightly. All the animals are loving their Christmas trees we have scattered around. The goats devour them, the pigs rub and scratch on them and the donkeys spend their days nibbling and playing tug of war.
Misty one of our Nigerian dwarf goats was due to have a single baby this Friday the 20th. So we were shocked to find 3 babies last Tuesday morning. Two boys and one girl. Goats have a 5 month gestation period and a short window of around 10 days to give birth to healthy babies without complications. Last year we learned a lot when we almost lost Midnight during an impossible birth. She is 48 pounds and had a 12 pound baby that unfortunatley did not survive. We are lucky she pulled through after months of care. I never imagined we would have 3 healthy babies earth side 10 days before their due date!
When I was pregnant with Declan I had given Farmer John naming rights to any new animals at the farm as long as I could have final say on our child’s name. What was I thinking? Twelve days after Declan was born Marigold graced us with her presence and we didn’t share her name for a long time because it had been a great debate between us. Then Misty had her first baby and Spring was the perfect name for her. Neither of these names John had chosen since I unceremoniously had revoked his naming rights less than 2 weeks after Declan was born. To this day he still calls Spring, Cloud Be Sky Toucher and Marigold, Alice. Long story short these new farm kids have names despite me wishing they all had flower names because compromise is important in marriage and farm life.
We are pleased to introduce Allister, Crowley and Lillith (Lily) born 1/10/23
.
They are so tiny! Check them out next to the chickens for a size comparison!
We will be offering limited meet and greet and baby goat snuggle sessions starting this week. Sessions include 30 minutes to meet and snuggle the baby goats, snap photos and watch their different personalities shine. Allister loves to be snuggled. Lily is an adventurous bundle of energy and joy. Crowley is the biggest and probably the one seen on the ultrasound. He is always up to something and getting into trouble like his father. Book your session by clicking the link below!
Book a Baby Goat Snuggle Session
Our team has finally had a chance to dig up all of last years dahlias and Edgar has begun the giant task of dividing them all! I am hoping to spend sometime in the greenhouse dividing next week. We will be selling tubers in March so keep a look out if you want to get some for your garden!
Alli our CSA coordinator used those snow and ice storm days to plan a phenomenal CSA and has been hard at work on the field plan. If you are interested in a CSA subscription we have 4 different styles for this summer. Please check out our website as they are now live to the public and they will sell out fast!
Our team has finally had a chance to dig up all of last years dahlias and Edgar has begun the giant task of dividing them all! I am hoping to spend sometime in the greenhouse dividing next week. We will be selling tubers in March so keep a look out if you want to get some for your garden!
Alli our CSA coordinator used those snow and ice storm days to plan a phenomenal CSA and has been hard at work on the field plan. If you are interested in a CSA subscription we have 4 different styles for this summer. Please check out our website as they are now live to the public and they will sell out fast!
February is right around the corner and we have curated some very cute and romantic gift boxes for the special someone in your life. We will share the details on these in our next newsletter. We also have specialty tulip pots in our farm store so make sure you stop by before February 14th! Our Farm store Winter hours are currently 9-5 Monday – Friday.
We will be open select weekend dates as well which will include farm visit options. I was hoping to have the link to our calendar for the year ready but mom and farm life had other plans this past week with Declan getting his first stomach bug and us having a baby goat surprise. So stay tuned for our events calendar and Valentine’s Day offerings! We have lots of fun things planned as Spring inches closer. Thanks so much for being a part of our extended farm family!
Thank you,
Chelsea, John and The Red Barn Farm Team