Has Spring Arrived?

Finally! SPRING! That wonderful time for breaking ground, planting a few early crops, and starting seeds indoors so they will be ready to go in late spring; the time when Crocus’ and wild lilies bloom, dotting the landscape with color missing since the onset of winter; the time when goat babies frolic in the pasture and mama goats wander aimlessly about soaking up the sun; the time when the grass in the pasture turns from dull brown to radiant green. Buuuzzzzzz…it’s 5 a.m. and the alarm clock drags me from the glorious land of dreams. As the fog lifts from my mind, the stark reality sets in that it is still winter, albeit nearing it’s end (not as cold), and I get dressed for the twice daily trek to the barn for milking. It is not really an unbearable duty, as I keep reminding myself of Proverbs 27:

Pro 27:23 Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds.

Pro 27:24 For riches are not forever: and doth the crown endure to every generation?

Pro 27:25 The hay appeareth, and the tender grass showeth itself, and herbs of the mountains are gathered.

Pro 27:26 The lambs are for thy clothing, and the goats are the price of the field.

Pro 27:27 And thou shalt have goats' milk enough for thy food, for the food of thy household, and for the maintenance for thy maidens.

You see, God has given me a duty to know my flock, to set my heart after my herd. For He has told me in advance that hard times will come (riches are not forever). But He has also told me that my goats will bring the price of a field (hence the name of my blog) and that I would have enough goat’s milk for my family’s food. What an awesome God we serve! Knowing my flock and looking well to my herd has taken on new meaning over the last couple of days. Wednesday it meant disbudding the babies. Now this is something that I have been dreading since the wee ones were born. Disbudding is the process by which you remove the horn buds from the goats so they will be hornless. It may sound harsh, but it the best thing for the little guys as I see it. They tend to be less aggressive as they age (something about horns gives them confidence—sometimes an overconfidence) and it prevents them from getting their heads stuck in the fence when they inevitably try to get some of the “greener grass” on the other side! Some people recommend that it be done at no later than a week after birth, but I have found that if you wait a little longer, you have a better chance of getting all the horn bud cauterized. Yes, I said cauterized! Disbudding involves taking a special iron, searing hot and burning the horn buds into oblivion. Now before you think it is cruel and painful, the horns on a goat, I am told, have no nerve endings…they are kind of like a fingernail. And the little goats do not seem to be in any pain during the process, even though they scream bloody murder, mostly from being held in place. They do seem to get a little antsy when they see/smell the smoke from the burning hair, but I guess I would too if someone were holding my head and smoke starts to billow from my cranium! After the disbudding, we let all the little guys out for a romp in the future garden for a little fun and green grass and weeds. No sense hand pulling weeds when you can get wee fur balls to do it for you. They enjoyed it immensely. They especially enjoyed munching on the sage growing in the corner of one of the terraces.
Daniel was a big help yesterday in getting the garden beds ready for planting. Since a large part of our garden is on the side of a hill, we have terraced it to make it easier to deal with. Some of the terraces are narrower than others and are not conducive to plowing with a tiller. So, this year one of the narrower terraces was “hand-plowed.” We used the shovel to turn the soil, a hand-cultivator to break up the clods, and the garden rake to smooth it all out. It is all now ready to accept the broccoli and cauliflower plants that we hope to set out this weekend. Just a little more plowing (motorized kind this time) and we will have the other area ready for cabbage, snap peas, snow peas, and onions—all early crops. And then there are the raised bed boxes to fill with lettuces, spinach, and other early greens. Hopefully all that will be accomplished this weekend, which by the way, is supposed to be absolutely gorgeous (highs in the mid-70’s!).

Yesterday was also the day that the feta cheese was set to age. I opened the containers that held the drying/aging feta to be blown back by its pungent aroma. It was not so bad of a smell, just overwhelming…almost too overwhelming for my gagging wife and kids. I filled a gallon-sized pickle jar with the salt brine that I had prepared and dropped the chunks of feta into the solution for a few weeks of aging. I am very excited about crumbling some of that rich feta onto a salad!
Jamie and I were last night discussing the need to slow down. The pace of our life has been far too fast for far too long that we often fail to enjoy the life we have. There is always something to do it seems—garden to tend, laundry to wash, meals to prepare, and the list goes on ad infinitum. We are going to try and exit the rat race as much as possible from now on. Funny thing about the rat race: the life expectancy is not that long for rats! So we are going to try and create a place outside where we can slow down and enjoy life. It may be an area with the picnic table, the grill, and a fire pit. We are not sure about the shape it will take, but we are determined to make it a place of escape…a place where the buuuuzzzzz of the alarm clock will not awaken us, a place where the stark reality is that we are enjoying the life that God has given us! Shabbat Shalom!