The New Ewe(s)

Welcome Home Laverne and Shirley!

And Happy Birthday Danny!

Here's some sweet pics of the brand new pregnant sheep that Danny took. They're Tunis sheep from Al and Yvonne Bessin. They both should have twins in September. They're super nice; Laverne is a little more outgoing than Shirley, meaning that she's more dominant. They're both getting a little pushy when they know you have corn. We feed them cracked corn almost every morning and evening and we have a little red bell that we ring. We also say "Hey sheep...Hey sheep." They have the pasture to roam as well as the electric netting section of the front yard that Danny and I just set up. They look so blissful out on the front yard munching on the lush lawn.

We also just set up the pig pen. We'll get two castrated male piglets within the next couple of weeks from Lance and Valerie Graves. The pigs are descendents from Warren Wilson stock. They were raised completely organically. Now they'll get compost from Penland as well as corn.

Sheep Shed

Cold and Rainy...Finally!

Well, I'm glad I posted in March because I almost missed 3 whole months on the blog. I know you guys were desperately awaiting my next post (haha).

Let's see...since March, I've seeded virtually all of the flowers and veggies for the summer, potted a lot of them up, planted a dye garden, Lupine, Hollyhock, and Monarda, planted green onions, leeks, lettuce, cilantro, dill, kale and chard, harvested parsley, spinach, mustards, turnips, and collards, weeded a ton of vetch, got chicks, bees, and sheep, went hunting for ramps twice, had a huge party and found out our band is playing on the main stage with Doc Watson and the Carolina Chocolate Drops in July!

Whew...so its raining and cold for what feels like the first time since February so I'm finally back inside writing this. It has been SO warm here! We've only had about 1 frost in the last 2 months. We've had plenty of rain in the form of thunderstorms just like summer, mostly in the afternoon. We just had a pretty crazy storm that took down about 7 trees in the main center of the Penland campus. Stuff is so far ahead! I've seen fireflies, potato beetles, and even some bugs I've never seen before. There's a Red Hot Poker in one of the gardens at Penland that is about 3 feet high and getting ready to bloom, something that normally happens here in Julyish!! It feels like jungle here already and I'm conscious of it in a way that I have not been before. After the sparseness of winter, all this green and lush vegetation seems to be closing in on me. Summer!

At Penland, the compost went pretty well this Spring, filling up my pallet bins faster because I have been adding so much more yard waste. The greenhouse is full of flowers and veggies waiting to go outside. Marigolds, Scabiosa, Geraniums, Petunias, Tithonia, and Zinnias are waiting and I'm planting Snapdragons, Cosmos, Nicotiana, Delphinium today. Green Onions, Lettuce, Dill, Parsley, Peppers, Tomatoes, Tomatillos, Squashes and Cukes, Okra, Lemongrass, Rosemary, Lovage and Lavender are all waiting as well. The Tulips, Daffodils, Alliums and Hyacinths were incredible this year, so were the Dogwoods, Redbuds, Serviceberries, Lilacs, Azaleas, and Rhododendrons. The Peonies, Iris, Fringetree, Poppies, Snapdragons, Foxglove, Roses, Spiderwort, Sedums, and Candytufts are all going off right now, along with a ton of other stuff. Its pretty beautiful!

Marie and I went and picked up 3 lbs. or 9 thousand bees and I carried them to Penland on my lap from Wilkesboro...that was exciting!

At home, I got two lovely pregnant Tunis ewes from Al and Yvonne Bessin. I can't wait to tell that crazy story (thanks Ray!). Anyway Danny and Heather have been helping me a lot with them and we built a sheep shed so that I can keep them away from the chickens this year. I also just fortified the garden fence to keep the sheep out this year.

I also got 12 Aracauna chicks that are Clapton's offspring and they're doin great.

Gotta run...maybe I can write the next time it rains~

PEACE