Check out this week’s Essex Farm news from the recent update at Kristin Kimball‘s blog:

“What a warm close to the year. Last year at Christmas, we were dealing with frozen pipes and frost-bitten ears. This year, our neighbor Ron brought us some oyster mushrooms that sprouted up on his woodpile, and at our house, we went the whole of Christmas day without lighting a fire in the woodstove. Today, we worked outside without jackets, faces to the bright sun. The ice has melted from the farm roads, which makes getting around less treacherous. The fields are nearly clear of snow, exposing the garlic, which is two inches tall. The animals eat so much less in warm weather; they don’t need the extra energy to keep warm. So we are saving on firewood, and on feed. A brown Christmas is not quite as pretty as a white one, but it is easier and cheaper on the farm.

Pancake the orphan pig is a fine big guy now. He is weaned, but still gets some cow’s milk for breakfast, plus some broken eggs, and all the water and grain he wants. A couple times a day we open the greenhouse door so he can come outside and root in the mud. He and Mary mess around like energetic siblings now – sometimes friendly, sometimes mutually exasperated. As soon as we wean the litter of piglets that is closest to Pancake’s age, he’ll go out to join them, and discover what it is to be a pig….” Continue reading this Essex Farm Note.

Related articles

• Essex Farm: Pancake the Piglet (www.essexonlakechamplain.com)
• Essex Farm: From Flat to Fat (www.essexonlakechamplain.com)