I can’t believe that we are already a quarter of the way through 2012. 
I just realised that I have been slowly adding to this post since January! I am sorry that I didn’t post it sooner. Hopefully I will be able to post more frequently in the future. So this post is a collection of reflections of 2011 as well as some more recent happenings here on the farm.
Our market garden was a success again last year. 
This year we plan to do the vegetables a little differently as we are going to do a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program. It is the first time for us to do a CSA program and we are excited about figuring it out. We have planted the majority of our transplants now, including about 150 tomato plants and at least 65 pepper plants! Hopefully they will all grow!
My brothers both did very well with their laying hens last year. They have both increased their flocks this spring and are excited about getting back into business.
We spent the afternoon of Dad’s last Saturday in March without market making potting mix. We used some of it to make into soil blocks to start our seeds in. We sift most of the ingredients, before we mix them together, to make the potting mix finer.
I think we should start a saga about our Dairy cows! We seem to be unable to keep just one jersey cow. We now are pleased to introduce to you our latest jersey cow, Gina. She is about to calf any time now, and we are all getting exciting about having lots of milk to drink and enough to be able to start making cheese again!
Hendrika and her calves are now with the other mama cows and their calves because she doesn’t seem to have enough milk to nurse two calves as well as supply our family with the amount of milk we use.
We are always trying new things. One of our big trials this past year was growing, mixing and milling all of our poultry feed. It was a great learning experience which resulted in a lot of research this spring trying to find a better ration.
We also trialed some heritage breed chickens and turkeys last summer. It has sent us on a search to find a way to be able 
to raise all heritage breed poultry and not have to raise any hybrid chickens or turkeys. Mom has recently taken interest in hatching our own eggs to raise for meat birds, instead of purchasing day-old meat kings. We bought an incubator and filled it with six turkey eggs and 34 chickens eggs of various breeds. We are all eagerly awaiting their hatching which should start on Tuesday.
My brothers tapped a couple of maple trees this spring and enjoyed collecting and boiling down the sap. They built a little enclosure around an old stove that we had and used it to boil the sap down on. They did a great job and the maple syrup tastes great!
The month of April has thrown us into the beginning of the busy growing season. 
As things continue to grow and the pace of our life here on the farm speeds up, we hope that you will be able to enjoy this season with us. You are always welcome to come and visit and experience life on our farm.
